of religion, have the trade but from the second hand. The devil can fatisfy his curiofity better than the most curious, reafon more closely against religion than any atheist. Only obftinate despisers of reproof and mockers furpafs the devil, for the devils believe and tremble; whereas for a time they do not.

[2.] The pleasure is but momentary, the pain follows hard at the heels, and is eternal. What pleasure can be devised, for which a man would hold his finger over a burning candle for a quarter of an hour? how much more dreadful to endure eternal burnings!

[3.] The ftruggle that confcience makes against corruption, brings more torment than that which corruption makes against grace. Conscience is more dreadfully armed than corruption; there is here as much difference as there is betwixt the hand of God and the hand of the devil. See now what becomes of the pleasure!

(2.) The labour in religion is truly pleasant. It is truly holy labour; for of that we speak, and feripture-teftimony proves its pleasantnefs; fee Prov. iii. 17. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Afk David, and he will tell you, in Pfal. lxxxiv. Paul, in 2 Cor. xii. 10.

[1] It is a labour fuited to the nature of the foul, the better part, their divine fupernatural nature, 2 Pet. i. 4. Believers are partakers of a divine nature. This muft needs create eafe and and delight; the ftream eafily flows from the fountain; birds with pleasure fly in the air. The reafon of the difficulty in religion to many is, they are out of their element when engaged in it.

[2.] Therein the foul carries on a trade with heaven; entertains communion with God, through

the

the Spirit of Chrift, by a mutual intercourse of grace and duty, the foul receiving influences, and returning them again in duties; as the rain falls on the earth freely, fo the waters run freely toward the sea again.

[3] Great peace of confcience usually attends this; and the more labour, the more peace: Pfal. cxix. 165. "Great peace have they who love thy law." Here is a feast which nothing but fin mars: 2 Cor. i. 12. "For our rejoicing is this, the teftimony of our confcience, that in fimplicity and godly fincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have had our converfation in the world." Men cannot take it from us, John, xiv. 27.

[4.] Sometimes they have great manifeftations of Chrift, evidences of the Lord's love raifing a high fpring-tide of joy in their fouls, greater than that which the whole congregation of the world enjoys, Pfal. iv. 6. 7. It is joy unfpeakable, and full of glory, 1 Pet. i. 8.

[5.] It is a lightfome way they walk in, whereas the other is darkfome; the light of the Lord's word fhines in it. The Mahometans have a tradition, that Mofes' law and Chrift's gofpel were written first with ink made of pure light. Sure the fcripture points out duty, as if it were written with a fun-beam.

8. We call you from a labour against yourselves, to a labour for your advantage. We muft either do the work of God or the devil. Every fin is a new impediment in your way to heaven, a new ftone laid on the wall of feparation. What a mad thing is it to be working out our damnation, inftead of our own falvation !

9. We call you not to more, but to other labour. We are all laborious creatures; the greateft idler Dd2

iş.

is in fome fort bufy. Paul calls even them that work not at all, bufy bodies, 2 Theff. iii. 11. Our life is nothing but a continual fucceffion of actions, even as the fire is ever burning, and the rivers running. It is in fome refpect impoffible to do more than we do; the watch runs as faft when wrong as when right. Why may we not then keep the highway while we are travelling.-Confider,

10. That the fame pains that men are at to ruin themselves, might poffibly serve to save them. There are difficulties in the way of fin as well as of religion. Does not fin oftentimes bereave men of their nights reft? Are they more disturbed when communing with theirown fouls, and with God? Do not men draw fin as with cart-ropes? Ifa. v. 18. Why might not labour be employed in drawing the heart to God? If men would but change, and fuck as greedily and inceffantly at the breafts of God's confolations, as they do of the creature's, how happy would they be !

Laftly, Confider that the labour in religion is not greater, nay, it is lefs than in fin, for religion contracts our work to one thing: Luke, x. 41. 42. "Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things, but one thing is needful." Sinners have many lufts to please, the faints have but one God to pleafe; the work of religion is all of a piece, fin not fo. There is a fweet harmony betwixt all the graces and all the duties of religion. But lufts are quite contrary; and as they war against grace, fo against one another, James, iv. 1. From whence come wars and fightings among you? come they not from hence, even of your lufts that war in your members ?" So that the finner is dragged by one luft one way, by another, another. And how hard is it to ferve contrary masters !

THE

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

SERMON XX.

MATTH. xi. 28. Come unto me, all

I

ye

that labour,

and are heavy-laden, and I will give you reft.

Now proceed to the confideration of

DOCTRINE II. That all who are out of Christ, are under an heavy burden, which, by all their labour, they cannot shake off.

In illuftrating which, I fhall only,

I. Offer a few obfervations.

II. Make fome practical improvement.

I. I AM to offer a few obfervations; fuch as, I That Satan has a load on all out of Chrift it is a load of fin: Ifa. i. 4. "Ah, finful nation, a people laden with iniquity." This load is twofold: f, A load of guilt, Gen. iv. 13. " And Cain faid unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear," (Heb. fin.) Guilt is the heaviest load ever was on the fhoulders of men or angels. The fcriptures hold it forth,

(1.) As debt. He that is in debt is under a burden. It is the worft of debts, we cannot pay it, nor escape the hands of our creditor; yea, we deny the debt, care not for count and reckoning, we wave our creditor as much as we can; so it ftands uncancelled. But it is a debt that must be paid: 2 Theff. i. 9. "Who fhall be punished with everlasting deftruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power." They fhall pay what juflice demands.-It is reprefented,

;

(2.) As a yoke tied faft on the finner's neck hence pardon is called a loofing of it, guilt being, as it were, cords of wrath, whereby the finner is bound over to God's wrath. Pardon is also called remiffion or relaxation: Rom. ii. 25 "To declare his righteoufnefs for the remiffion of fins that are paft, through the forbearance of God."-It is pointed out,

(3.) As a burden: Hof. xiv. 2. "Take away all iniquity." Take away, namely, as a burden off a man's back. Hence Chrift is faid to have borne our fins, the burden of the elect's guilt being laid on his back. What a heavy load is it! (1.) It makes the whole creation groan, Rom. viii. 22. It caufed them take their pains five thousand years fince, and they are not yet delivered of their burden. All the groans that ever men gave on earth and in hell were under this burden; it funk the whole world into ruin: "Chrift took our nature," to prevent us going down to the pit, Heb. ii. 16. (Greek, caught hold), as of a drowning man, not of the whole feed of Adam, for great part of it fell to the ground, but of the feed of Abraham, the elect. (2.) This load funk the fallen angels, made them fall as stars from heaven to the bottomlefs pit. And what a load was it to Chrift, that made