casion of the Lord's pity, and the motive of his mighty sacrifice. There is, therefore, on the one hand, the belief of God's superintendency over the world, and his not suffering his people to want unless it should be to his own glory; the feeling that we are his own creatures, in whom he will manifest forth his power before men, and that we have nothing to do but to trust him, and resign ourselves up to his wise and gracious purposes, in nothing desiring our own will, but his will to be fulfilled, even as the Lord shewed us the example, who continually said, in things great and in things small, in things most to be desired, and in things most to be suffered, "Thy will, not mine be done." And along with this, on the other hand, there groweth in the soul, the sense of a higher calling, and according as the spirit of faith and holiness is revealed, her knowledge of her destiny is revealed; a new feeling of her enlarged capacity, enlarged even to the entertainment of God himself, who dwelleth with him that is of a humble and contrite spirit; new desires and new cares; the care of the kingdom of heaven, and the desire of its righteousness. And as light expelleth darkness, truth error, and a nobler spirit every ignobler spirit; as the service of a good master makes the service of a wicked master to be despised; so doth the kingdom of Christ cast out the kingdom of Satan, and the belief, and hope, and desire of a world to come, holy and righteous, doth cast out all trust and desire of the world that is full of all deception, and malice, and iniquity. The heart being always where the treasure is, and our treasure being now in the world of faith and hope, not of vision, our

heart is there also. Yet are we not the less anxious after treasure; but it is a treasure in heaven, where neither moth nor rust corrupteth, and where thieves break not through to steal. We are covetous; but it is the best gifts of the Spirit which we covet, at the Apostle's bidding. We have a citizenship, but it is not in an earthly kingdom; and a station, but not in Cæsar's house: our citizenship is in heaven, and our place is in the house of Christ, which is yet to be revealed, and whereof we have the spiritual presentiment, and, as it were, earnest in his church. And we are careful for our children likewise, but it is that they may be established with grace, not with meats; and adorned with the ornaments of a meek and quiet spirit, not with plaiting of the hair and costly apparel, that they may be beautiful in the sight of Christ their husband, and objects of his true affection,-not that they may become objects of attraction, and occasions of deception unto men. But this new region of Care, denominated in the Sermon on the Mount, "the kingdom of heaven and its righteousness," hath in it no uncertainty: being founded upon the stable promises of God, and sued out by placid and assured prayers, desired and received also in obedience to his will and pleasure, and in the spirit of subjection and of contentment, it doth beget no disappointments, but, on the other hand, assurances, in proportion to the earnestness and magnitude of our investments of faith. And why? because God is true, because God is faithful, because God loveth his people, and maketh them a sign and a wonder in the sight of all their enemies round about; but that other kingdom of Satan being under a de

ceiver, one who loves deception, and is a liar from the beginning, whosoever travels and traffics therein is sure to be defeated, disappointed, vexed and grieved, his brain racked with demons, his heart burdened with anxieties, his whole life a drudgery, his whole soul a waste: he is born unto trouble as the sparks fly upward; and as those rising sparks do signify a conflagration and flaming fire from which they come, so do these thick coming troubles and molestations bespeak a fountain of woe and misery, a spirit of fire which these creatures of Satan infold within their breast, and a spirit of pure malignity by which their souls are administered.

In like manner, the Apostle of the Gentiles, when he requires of the disciples to "be careful for nothing," doth at the same time, like his Master, teach them how that deliverance was to be accomplished, saying, "but in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God;" assuring them that the result would be perfect peace and composure of soul. "The peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." Which coincidence of spirit between the Apostle and his Lord, confirmeth the more that truth which we have so constantly taught you, that the kingdom of Satan is not otherwise to be cast out than by the coming of the kingdom of Christ; that the "strong man who hath obtained possession of the house, can be cast out only by a stronger than he; that it is vain for us to think, by any act of our will, working in its own strength, to deliver ourselves from carefulness, or any other of the fruits of the evil

one; that to change the occupation bringeth no rest, and to shift the scene cureth no sorrow; and that the heart must be cleansed of its perilous load, and filled with the living waters of the Spirit, before any of the streams which issue from it can be pure, peaceful, and refreshing. Wherefore we advise no man, as it were by a leap to pass over from Satan's kingdom of carefulness, into Christ's kingdom of faith, which is not possible; but he ought to pray for the Spirit of Christ, to cast out of him the spirit of the world, and according as The receiveth the answer of his prayer he shall be redeemed from the powers of the world, and possessed with the powers of the world to come, and his deliverance shall grow apace as his bondage grew apace, according to that great maxim of the Christian life, that the redemption proceedeth from the inward to the outward, not from the outward to the inward; being first wrought in the spirit, then in the word, then in the sense, and then in the active life. Whereto agree the words of the Lord, which may be called the inscription upon the porch of the Christian temple; "Except a man be born of water, and of the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of heaven:" for the salvation of every soul, and every step in the progress of that salvation, waiteth for and expecteth the coming of the Spirit, without which the law is unattainable, and the Gospel of none effect; which Spirit, proceeding from the Father and the Son, worketh in us that life which feedeth upon the word of the latter, the bread sent down from heaven, which delighteth in the law of the former, and bringeth forth plentiful fruits of faith and hope, and charity and holiness,

and peace and joy in the Holy Ghost, to the praise and the glory of our Father which is in heaven.

Having given you, dearly beloved brethren, for whose deliverance from the cares and troubles of the world, I travail before my God continually both in prayer and meditation, this word of caution, touching the way and progression of that deliverance; lest any of you hastening, in your own strength, or by my persuasion, or the persuasion of others, might, without due advice, counsel, and strength of the Spirit of God, resign any portion of your present industry and carefulness, to the injury of your character and estate, without gaining any promotion in the spiritual life and way of godliness; I do now proceed to devote myself to the arduous task of setting before you the only cure of that evil of worldly care, whereof we have set forth both the description and the effect, earnestly praying the Lord, for your sakes and my own, and above all for the glory of Christ in us his members, and for the spiritual redemption of those talents and creatures of God with which we are entrusted, that he would bestow upon me the clear light of manifestation, and upon you the single eye of discernment, that his blessed word might prove in the midst of us, glorious as the rising and shining of the sun in the firmament, and cherishing to our souls, as the heat of the sun in harvest, after the earth hath been refreshed with the latter rain.

That this looking unto the kingdom to come in this world, is the true and only cure in all the storehouse of faith, for that evil of sight which ariseth from looking to the kingdom which now is, I do most firmly believe, with a faith which is grounded