fenfibly to it and thereupon comes in fenfible prefenc upon the back of that; After ye believed, ye were fealed, Eph. i. 13. Now, if you fay, you cannot believe without his powerful prefence, that is true; divine power must be exerted to every act of faith, but then this power does ordinarily put forth itfelf infenfibly and unawares, while we are thinking on, or viewing the object of faith; While I was mufing, the fire burned, Pial. xxxix. 3. The Spirit of God clears the object of faith, that being viewed and applied, the heart is fet on fire with it; there is his powerful prefence ufhering in the fenfible prefence. But if you lay, You cannot believe till you have his fenfible prefence; that is to make sense the foundation of your faith, and not the word of God, or the Chrift of God: therefore, in order to believe, let not your queftion be firft, What find you in yourfelf? but rather, What think ye of Chrift? You will find none of the sweet effects of faith, till you think on Christ the object of it. Again,

13. What think ye of his invifible glories? Faith is the evidence of things not feen. Faith fees not the things that are feen and felt: fenfible enjoyments, for example, are not the object of faith, but fenfe: but faith fees the things that can neither be seen nor felt; it believes contrary to fenfe; yea, things impoffible to nature, and incredible to carnal reafon, confidering only the power of God, that fpeaks in the word, as you fee in the faith of Abraham. The greatest glory of Christ is invisible and incredible to nature; therefore we do not think much of him, if our faith does not terminate on things not feen. Again,

14. What think ye of his tabernacles and ordinances? Surely, if you think much of Chrift, his tabernacles will be amiable to you. The flighter of his ordinances, is a flighter of Chrift; a flighter of prayer, is a flighter of Chrift; a flighter of the word, is a flighter of Chrift: He that defpifes you, defpifes me; and be that despises me, defpifes him that fent me. Again,

15. What think ye of his caufe and intereft, fuch as the much forgotten Reformation-work in Scotland, which our forefathers established by folemn National

Covenants? If, the more it is forgotten among minifters and people, the more nearly it lies to your heart, and the more you long for its reviving, it were an evidence you think fomething of Chrift, when others think little of him. But, alas! How little is this thought of in the age we live in! If the generation thought more of Christ, there would be more zeal for his intereft, honour, and public Reformation-work. And, perhaps, the confufions of our day, the heavy bondage we are complaining of through the land, will never cease to grow to a height of terrible wrath, till we be brought to a sense of our defection, and a humble confeffion and reformation. Further,

16. What think ye of his crofs and crown? Is his cross your crown? Surely they think much of Chrift, that can fay with Paul, God forbid that I should glory, fave in the crofs of our Lord Jefus Chrift. Mofes thought his cross better than a crown, efteeming the reproach of Chrift greater riches than all the treasures of Egypt. They that think much of Chrift, muft refolve upon it, that the world will not think much of them, but that they will be crossed, reproached, and nicknamed; but if Chrift was nicknamed for us, and endured the contradiction of finners against himself, we may well bear a reproach for him, efpecially when he hath faid, " If ye be reproached for the nanre of Chrift, happy are ye; for the Spirit of glory and of God refteth on you: on their part he is evil spoken of, but on your part he is glorified;" his crofs makes way for his crown, and in the mean time, his fweetnefs fwallows up all the bitterness thereof.

17. What think ye of his friends? If you think highly of him, furely his friends and followers will be esteemed as the excellent ones of the earth, in whom is all your delight; and confequently his foes will be difefteemed by 'you: and therefore,

18. What think ye of his enemies? Tho' they were appearing in never fo much worldly pomp, you will think very little of them, if you know them to be his enemies: "O my foul, come not thou into their fecret; to their affembly, mine honour, be not thou united.”— What think ye of his enemies within you? When you

find thefe like thorns in the flesh, like fplinters run into the flesh, does it not make you, with Paul, to befeech the Lord thrice; yea, to pray thrice, and thrice, and a hundred times thrice, with fighs and groans, to be freed from them?-What think ye of his enemies about you? I mean, the world, and the lufts thereof; the lufts of the fiefh, the lufts of the eye, and the pride of life. I have read a pretty story, which I reckon ufeful no other way than for the moral of it; how an angel and. an hermit fhould have been travelling together; when first they went by a dead carcafe, the hermit ftopt his nofe, and the angel fmiled; and, after that, they went by a wanton ftrumpet proudly dreffed, at which the hermit fmiled, and the angel ftopt his nofe. The moral fhews us, that in the fight of God and angels, no carrion is fo noifome as pride is. But the more highly that any think of Chrift, furely, the more humble they are; and pride will accordingly be hid from their eyes. Again,

19. What think ye of the world's thoughts of Chrift? If you think highly of him yourfelf, you will be mightily furprized, and look upon it as a great wonder why the world think fo little of him. O ftrange! that all the world are not taken up with him!

20. What think ye of your own thoughts of him? Surely, if you think duly of him, you will think you have but very poor, mean, low, contemptible, and unworthy thoughts of him; you will think that you cannot think enough of him; who is fairer than the fons of men; the Prince of the kings of the earth; altogether lovely.These are fome probationary queftions, by which you may take your own hearts to talk before the Lord.

But I cannot ftand to enlarge on these things; and I muft own, the thousandth part is not said, that might be fpoken from this text; for, as the whole fcripture does teftify of Chrift, either directly or indirectly; fo I might go through all the fcriptures, and afk what ye think of Chrift, in a fuitablenefs to what is faid of him, in this or that place of fcripture.

Fourthly, This doctrine might again be applied by way of lamentation over all Christ-defpifers, who either

ftand

ftand upon a legal bottom, trusting in themselves, and their own righteousness; or who flight Christ and his ordinances, not loving the place where his honour dwells; who delay and postpone their closing with him, giving away the prime and virginity of their affections to the world, proftituting their precious fouls to their lufts and the ignoble things of time; who fit down fatisfied and content without Chrift, never mifs him, nor feel a want of him, nor feek after union and communion with him. Oh! whence is it that you defpife Chrift at this rate! Alas! it is through ignorance and unbelief, that you fee no form nor comeliness in Chrift, why he should be defired; and the god of this world hath blinded your minds who believe not, left the light of the glorious gospel of Chrift, who is the image of God, fhould fhine into them. Do you confider what a miferable cafe you are in, while you defpife and think fo little of Chrift?-You are in imminent danger of temporal judgments; for God, in his holy providence, may refent the injuries done to his Son; he may leave your houfe defolate.-You are expofed to fpiritual judgments, fuch as that, Ifa. vi. 10. of having your heart made fat, your cars heavy, and your eyes fhut; and to eternal wrath, even everlasting destruction from his prefence; "He that believes not, fhall be damned." Now,

Fiftbly, Let me offer a word of exhortation. O Sirs, feek that the Spirit of wifdom and revelation in the knowledge of Chrift may be fent, that, beholding his glory, your thoughts concerning Chrift may be changed; and you may be brought to esteem him, and to go home with the Rofe of Sharon in your bofom; Chrift in your heart. O finner, will you tell me, do you think it worth your while to take Chrift, and embrace him before you go? If you say you cannot believe, you cannot repent, you cannot mourn for fin, you cannot pray, you cannot obey; and fo, because you have no grace, no ftrength to do any thing, you are difcouraged: I muft tell you, finner, when you conceive religion to be fome great difficulty above your power, and thereupon are difcouraged and damped, you do not think of Chrift

as

as you ought, but of yourfelf, forfooth, as if you were the fountain from whence thefe good things fhould flow. The law may and does difcourage finners; yea, curfes every Chriftless finner unto hell: but the gofpel offers no difcouragement to finners, but all encouragement. Perhaps you will find us that are minifters, fometimes going off from our most gofpel-texts that we can choose; and when we explain faith, we will tell you how many things it includes; fuch as, the forfaking of all fin, and the performing of all duty, and ftudying univerfal holinefs but whatever be the fruits of faith, which the Lord makes to grow out of it, yet faith itself is a great mystery; and whatever you hear us fay, that leads you off from this question, What think ye of Chrift? fufpect it. I will tell you, in the Lord's name, that to believe imports no more than to take Chrift for all; it is to think you have nothing, and can do nothing; but that he hath all, and can do all; and therefore you will take him for all. You think you cannot believe: well faid, but, What think ye of Chrift? If you think to bring faith out of your own bowels, you think unworthily of Chrift, who is the author of faith; and of his Father, who is the giver of it.-You think you cannot repent: true; but, What think ye of Chrift? If you think to bring repentance out of yourfelves, you think unworthi- . ly of him, who is exalted by the right-hand of God, to give repentance. You think you cannot do this, or that duty you are called to; but, What think ye of Chrift? If you fit poring on yourself, and your own abilities, never a good turn will you do: nay, you think unworthily of Chrift, who hath faid, Without me ye can do nothing, but by me ftrengthening you, ye can do all things. You are difcouraged, becaufe you think you have not this thing in yourfelf, or that thing in yourfelf: but that is unbelief, man; for, faith lies in thinking, What am I in Chrift? Ifa. xlv. 24. Surely fhall one fay, (and they fhall not only fay it with their mouth verbally, but think it in their heart believingly) In the Lord have I righteoufnefs and strength. And because, by the mouth of two or three witneffes, every word is confirmed, there are three in the Lord's in that one chapter, ver. 17.

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