The wilful child would

for that, but the difeafe. live without the rod, but the parent fees it neceffary to chaftife him. If God withdraw any thing from thee, it is but to ftarve a luft that would feed on it; if he lay on thee what thou wouldst not, it is but to bear down a luft, that otherwife would carry thee headlong. Give providence a fair hearing, it will anfwer for itfelf. Why thould people then caft out with their mercies, and be angry with their bleffings?

6. Confider, that great things in one's lot have a great burden with them. A man will get a softer bed in a palace than in a cottage, but the mean man will readily fleep founder in his cottage than the king in his palace. People look to the great things which others have beyond them, but they do not confider the burden going along with them. They who want the one want the other too, and therefore have reafon to be content.

(1.) Where there is a great truft, there is a great reckoning, Luke xii. 48. Thou feeft others have much that thou wanteft, grudge it not; they have the more to reckon for. God keeps an account of all his mercies beftowed on all men, and they that have moft now have moft to account for, when the Lord fhall feek an account of his fervants. Look well to thyself, and be content. I fear it be found, that for as little as thou haft, thou haft more than thou canft guide well.

(2.) Great things in the world are great fnares, and bring great dangers along with them, Mark x. 23. They that walk low make not fuch a figure as thofe that walk on high; but the latter are most apt to fall. How fond are we of the world even when it frowns on us? what would come of us if it did nothing but fmile? It is hard to carry a full cup even. Af fliction is often feafonable ballaft to a light heart, that profperity would give too much fail to, till it fhould be funk.

7. Confider, if thou be a child of God, that which thou haft, thou haft on free coft, Rom. viii. 32. And therefore though it be little, it is better to thee than the abundance of many others, which will bring a dear reckoning at length. The children of the family may fare more coarfely than ftrangers; but there is a great difference; the ftrangers have a reckoning for it when they go away; but the children have nothing to pay.

(1.) Remember thou forfeited all in Adam; it is a mercy that thou haft any thing at all. I know nothing but fin and death that we can lay claim to as our own properly, Lam, iii. 39. He that deferves hell has no reafon to complain, while he is out of it,

(2.) Any thing which thou haft a covenant-right to now is through Chrift; it is the purchafe of his blood. So that makes it precious, as being the price of blood; and that fhould make us content with it, feeing we have it freely through him.

8. Confider the vanity of all things below the fun, Eccl. i, 2. A juft eftimation of worldly things would make us content with very little. But a blind judgement first fets an exorbitant price on earthly things, and raises the value of them; and then people think never to get enough of them. But low thoughts of them would clip the wings of our affections to them, and little of them would content us, Prov. xxiii, 5. Riches make themfelves wings, and flee away. There is a wing of change, casualties, and loffes; and though by thy wisdom thou could clip all thefe wings, yet there is a wing of death and mortality that will carry them away.

9. Confider the precioufnels and excellency of heavenly things, Col, ii, 2, More heavenly-mind

ednefs would make us lefs anxious about thele things. If we be in hazard of lofing thefe, it is madness to be taken up about trifles, and concerned with earthly loffes. Will he whofe life is in hazard go up and down making moan for a fore

figer? And if they be fecured, it is horrid ingratinde to be difcontent with our lot here.

World a man that has a fhip loaded with goods coming afhore, vex himfelt for losing a p out of his fle ve, or a penny out of his pocker Heaven will nake up all our lofles; and hell will make men forget their greatest croffes in the world.

Laftly, Confider much of death and eternity. For as little as any of us have, we have perhaps as much as will ferve our turn here. Our time is uncertain. It is folly to vex ourselves, though we have not all conveniencies that we would defire in a house that we have no tack of, but may remove from to

morrow.

I have infifted largely on this point, because it is fo very neceffary. Labour for a full contentment with your condition. This is the way to make a virtue of neceffity; for our difcontent and uneafinefs will not add a cubit to the ftature of our lot. And that which God will make crooked in it, we will not get made ftraight, however uneafy we be about it.

II. We are to confider the duty of this command as it respects our neighbour. And that is a right and charitable or loving frame of fpirit towards himfelf and all that is his. We may take up this in five things, which are here required.

1. Love to our neighbour's perfon, as to ourfelves, Rom. xiii. 9. For feeing this command forbids us to wrong him fo much as in thought, it plainly binds love to him upon us; not in word only, nor in deed only, by doing him good, but in heart, that our bowels move towards him, and love him for the fake of God. For whatever be unholy in him, yet he is one of God's creatures, of the fame nature with ourfelves, and capable of enjoying the fame God with us.

2. An upright refpect to what is his, for his fake. As we are to love himself for God's fake, fo what

is his for his fake, Deut. xxii. 1. A careless difpo. fition and unconcernedness about what is our neighbour's, can never be a right frame to what is his. So it is an argument of the world's corruption, that all men feek their own things, and are fo little concerned for the things of others. That is not charitable walking, Phil. ii. 4.

3. An hearty defire of his welfare and profperity in all things as of our own, his honour, life, chafity, wealth, good name, and whatever is his. This we owe to our very enemies, so far as it may be confiftent with the honour of God, and their own fpiritual good, which is the main thing we are to defire for all. I add this, because fometimes the lofs of these may be more to the honour of God, and our neighbour's advantage, than the having of them, to wit, when they are abused to fin, Rom. xii. 20. Matth. v. 44.

4. A real complacency in his welfare, and the welfare of what is his, Rom. xii. 15. If our hearts rejoice not in our neighbour's welfare, we covet what he has, and fecretly in our hearts devour it. But as we are to be well content with our own condition, fo we are to be well content with our neighbour's welfare.

5. Lastly, A cordial fympathy with him in any evil that betails him, Rom. xii. 2c. For we are members one of another; and as every member fhares in the grief of any one, fo fhould we in ore another's afflictions. A hard heart unconcerned with the afflictions of others, efpecially where pcople talk to the grief of thofe whom God has wounded, is a fign of a wretched temper and uncharitable frame of ipirit, Pfal. Ixix. 26. & xxxv. 13. 14. 15. III. We muft confider this command as it refpećts the root of fin. And fo it requires original rightcoufnefs, a holy frame of the foul, whereby it is bent to all good, and averfe to all evil; that holy frame of fpirit that was in the firft Adam when he

was created, and all along in the fecond Adam. And thus this command carries the matter of holinefs to the utmost point.

That this is here required, will appear, if ye confider that this command forbids the very firft rifings of original corruption, whofe very nature it is to be ftill coveting; and therefore original corruption itfelf is forbidden, and confequently original righteoufnefs required.

Not only good actions are required by the holy law, but a holy temper of the fpirit, confifting in the light of the mind taking up duty, a bent of the will inclining ever to good, and averfe to every evil, and the orderlinefs of the affections keeping precifely within the holy boundaries fet to them by the law, not to look over the hedge in the least point.

This is certainly required fomewhere in the law; for men are condemned for the want of it; and in none of the commands is it required, if it be not here. And thus ye may fee the utter impoffibility of keeping perfectly thefe commands; for whatever men pretend as to the reft, who of Adam's children do not stick here as foon as they are born?

This command reaches us as foon as we are born; nay as foon as we are living fouls in the womb, requiring of us what we have not to produce, and that is an holy nature. But alas! we are evil be. fore we can do evil; and we want that holy nature naturally, and therefore have at length fuch unholy lives.

If it be inquired, how this command in this point is answered fincerely? Anf. It is by our being renewed in the fpirit of our minds, our partaking of the new nature in regeneration, where old things being done away, and all things becoming new, we are made new creatures. This is that new nature which is the image of God repaired, with a perfection of parts, to be crowned in heaven with a perfection of degrees,