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" as seemeth good unto him." And so much of the nature of this duty, that we may understand what to do.

2. Next let me shew you, what encouragements you that are the people of God have to this duty, and they will appear to be great and many.

1. The fovereignty and absolute dominion of God over all creatures, is a fingular encouragement to commit ourselves into his hands, and trust him over all, Pfal. lix. 9. " Because of "his strength will I wait upon thee; for God is my defence." If a man were in danger amidst a great army of rude and infolent foldiers, and were to put himself under the protection of any one, it would be his wisdom to chuse to do it under the general, who had all the foldiers of his army at his beck. Christian, thy God, into whose hands thou committest thyself, is Lord-general of all the hosts and armies in heaven and earth; how safe mutt thou then be in his hands?

2. The unsearchable and perfect wisdom of God is a mighty encouragement to commit ourselves into his hands; With him is plenteous redemption, Pfal. cxxx. ult. i. e. Choice and variety of ways and methods to save his people; we are, but God never is, at a loss to find a door for our escape, 2 Pet. ii. 9. "The "Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation."

3. The infinite tenderness and compaffionateness of our God, is a sweet encouragement to resign and commit ourselves, and all we have, into his hands; his mercy is incomparably tender towards his people, infinitely beyond whatever any creature felt stirring in its own bowels, towards another that came out of its bowels, Ifa. xlix. 15. This compaffion of God engageth the two fore-mentioned attributes, viz. his power and wisdom, for the preservation and relief of his people, as often as diftresses befal them. Yea,

4. The very distresses his people are in, do, as it were, awake the almighty power of God for their defence and rescue; our distresses are not only proper feasons, but powerful motives to his saving power. Deut. xxxii. 36. "For the Lord shall " judge his people, and repent himself for his fervants, when "he feeth that their power is gone, and there is none shut up

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or left." God makes it an argument to himself, and his people plead it as an argument with him, "be not far from me, for trouble is near, for there is none to help."

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5. We have already committed greater and weightier concernments into his hand than the dearest interest we have in this world; we have intrusted our souls with him, 1 Pet. iv. 19. 2 Tim. i. 12. Well therefore may we commit the lesser, who have intrusted the greater with him: What are our lives, li berties, estates, and relations, compared with our fouls, and the eternal safety and happinets of them!

6. The committing act of faith is the great and only expedient to procure and secure the peace and tranquillity of our minds, amidst all the distractions and troubles of the present world; the greatest part of our affliction and trouble, in such days, is from the working of our own thoughts; these torments from within, are worse than any from without; and the refignation of all to God, by faith, is their best and only cure, Prov. xvi. 3. "Commit thy works unto the Lord, and thy " thoughts shall be established." A blessed calmness of mind, a sweet tranquillity and settlement of thoughts, follows immediately hereupon, Píal. xciv. 19. Oh then leave all with God, and quietly expect a comfortable issue: and for the better fettlement and security of thy peace, in times of distraction and trouble, I beseech thee, reader, carefully to watch and guard against these two evils.

Caution 1. Beware of infidelity and distrustfulness of God, and his promises, which secretly lurks in thy heart, and is very apt to bewray itself, when great distresses and troubles befal thee. Thou wilt know it by such symptoms as these : 1. In an over-hafty and eager desire after present deliverance, Ifa. li. 14. "The captive exile hasteneth that he may be loosed, and " that he should not die in the pit, nor that his bread should "fail." The less faith, always the more impatience; and the more ability to believe, the more patience to wait. 2. It will discover itself in our readiness to close with and catch at sinful mediums and methods of deliverance, Ifa. xxx. 15, 16. And this is the handle of temptation, and occafion of apostacy. But he that believeth will not make hafte, Ifa. xxvi. 18. No more haste than good speed. 3. It will shew itself in distracting cares and fears about events, which will rack the mind with various and endless tortures.

Caution 2. Beware of dejection and despondency of mind in evil times; take heed of a poor low spirit, that will presently sink, and give up its hope upon every appearance and face of trouble; it is a promise made unto the righteous, Pfal. cxii. 7. " He shall not be afraid of evil tidings, his heart is " fixed, trusting in the Lord." The trusting of God fixes the heart, and the fixing of the heart fortifies it against fear: But I know what many poor Christians will say in this cafe, their timorousness and despondency arise not so much from the greatness of outward evils, as from the darkness and doubtfulness of their spiritual and inward condition, which, doubtless, is the very truth of the cafe; which brings me to the last use of this point.

Use the third.

Search and examine your hearts, Christians, whether those graces and qualifications, to which God hath promised protection in evil times, may not be found upon an impartial fearch in your hearts; amongst which, I will fingle out three principal ones, as the proper matters of your self-examination, viz.

1. Uprightness of heart and way.

2. Humiliation for your own and others sins.

3. Righteousness in doing, and meekness in fuffering the will of God.

1. Uprightness and integrity of heart and way. To this qualification belong many sweet promises of protection; such is that, Prov. ii. 7. "He is a buckler to them that walk uprightly," Pfal. vii. 10. "My defence is of God, which saveth the upright " in heart." If your hearts be true to God, these promises small be truly performed to you; but beware you deceive not yourselves in so great a point as this is. Thy heart cannot be an upright heart, except, (1.) It be a renewed heart; the natural heart is always a false heart; it is only regeneration that gives the heart a right temper and frame; all the duties and labours in the world can never keep the heart right in its course, which is not first set right for God, by a principle of renovation. (2.) We cannot judge ourselves upright, except uprightness be the settled frame and standing bent of our hearts, Pfal. cxix. 112, 117. It is not our integrity in one or two fingle actions, but in the general course, and complex frame of our lives and ways, that will prove our integrity to God. (3.) Then may we reckon ourselves upright, when the dread and awe of God's all-feeing eye keeps our hearts and steps from turning aside to iniquity, Gen. xxxix. 9. 2 Chron. ii. 17. That is a fincere and upright heart indeed, that finds itself at all times, and in all places, over-awed from fin, by the eye of God upon him. (4.) That man's heart also is upright with God, who purely aims at, and defigns the glory of God, as the scope and end of his life and actions, who lives not up to himself, neither acts ultimately and principally for himself, but lives to God, as a person dedicated and devoted to him, Rom. xiv. 7. (5.) That heart also is upright with God, which governs itself, and its ways, by the directions and rules of the word, Plat. cxix. 11, 24, 133. Happy is that foul that finds such evidences of VOL. IV.

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integrity in itself, when it is brought to the trial of it at the bar of the word, Heb. iv. 12. at the bar of conscience, 2 Cor. i. 12. at the bar of affliction, Pfal. cxix. 87. and at the bar of strong temptations, Gen. xxxix. 9. The eyes of the Lord shall run to and fro through the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of fuch whose hearts are thus perfect towards him.

2. Another gracious qualification, intitling the foul to God's special protection in the worst and most dangerous times, is the true humiliation for our own and other mens fins: " Go, set a

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mark, faith God, upon the foreheads of the men that figh " and cry for all the abominations that be done in the midst "thereof," Ezek. ix. 4. These that thus mourn, when others Jaugh, shall laugh when others mourn. Lot was the only mourner in Sodom, and he was the only person exempted from destruction in the ruin and overthrow thereof, 2 Pet. ii. 7. That is afweet and blessed privilege mentioned in Ifa. Ixvi. 10. "Rejoice ye with Jerufalem, and be glad with her, all ye that "love her; rejoice for joy with her, all ye that mourn for "her; that ye may fuck and be fatisfied with the breasts of her "confolations, that ye may milk out, and be delighted with the "abundance of her glory." Be contented, Christians, to bear your part in Sion's groans and forrows; you may live to bear your part in her triumphs and fongs of deliverance: It is an argument of the true publicness and tenderness of your spirits for present, and as sweet a fign as can appear upon your fouls, that you are referved for better days.

3. Righteousness in doing, and meekness in suffering the will of God, is another mark or note, diftinguishing and defcribing those persons whom God will preferve in the evil day. You have both these together in Zeph. ii. 3. "Seek ye the Lord, all

ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgments, "scek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be ye shall be hid "in the day of the Lord's anger." The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers, I Pet. iii. 12 If righteousness brings you into stanger, the righteous God will take care of you in that danger, and bring you out of it. Oh! it is a fingular comfort, when a man can say, It was not my fin, but my duty, that brought me into trouble; this affliction met me in the path and way of my duty; it is for thy fake, O Lord, that I am in trouble; as the martyr that held up the bible at the stake, faying, This hath brought me hither.

To conclude: Manage all your fufferings for Chrift, with christian meekness: As righteousness must bring you into them,

so meekness must carry you through them; if you avenge yourselves, you take the cause out of God's hand into your own; but the meek Christian leaves it to the Lord, and shall never have cause to repent of his so doing. If thou have an upright heart with God, a tender and mournful heart for fin, and thou fuffer with meekness for righteousness-fake, thou art one of those souls to whom that sweet voice is directed in my text,

Come my people, enter thou into thy chambers, and shut thy doors about thee; hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast.

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ΙΠΛΑΝΗ ΛΟΓΙΑ.

A fuccinct and seasonable Difcourse of the Occasions, Causes, Nature, Rife, Growth, and Remedies of MENTAL ERRORS

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HE reverend author of the ensuing treatises, having in them, explained and defended several gospel-truths, unto which divers things, in the writings of the reverend Dr. Crifp, deceased, do seem very opposite; whereas some of us, who subscribed a paper, the design whereof was only to testify, that we believed certain writings of the doctor's never before published, were faithfully transcribed by his son, the publisher of them; which paper is now, by the bookfeller, prefixed to the whole volume; containing a large preface, which we never faw - till after the publication, together with all the doctor's former works that were published many years before; and are hereupon, by some weak people, misunderstood; as if, by that certificate, we intended an approbation of all that is contained in that volume. We declare we had no such intention: As the paper we subscribed hath no word in it that gives any such intimation: But are well pleased these later writings are published (in reference whereto we only certified our belief, which we fixedly retain, of the publisher's fidelity) as they contain many passages ⚫ in them, that may, in some measure, remedy the hard and hurtful construction that many expressions were more liable to in the former; whereof the doctor seemed apprehenfive himself, when, in the beginning of his discourse on Tit, ii, 11, 12. he speaks

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