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Chear up, poor flock, although your fare be thin,
Yet here is fomething to take comfort in:
You here fecurely feed, and need not fear,
Th' infernal butcher can't approach you here.
"Tis fomewhat that; but, oh! which far tranfcends,
Your glorious fhepherd's coming, who intends
To lead you hence unto that fragrant hill,
Where, with green pastures, he his flocks will fill;
Or which he from celeftial cafements pours
The fweeteft dews, and conftant gracious fhow'rs;
Along whose banks rivers of pleasures flide;
'There his blefs'd flocks for ever fhall abide.
O envy not the worldlings prefent joys,
Which to your future mercies are but toys:
Their pasture now is green, your's dry and burn'd;
But then the fcene is chang'd, the tables turn'd.

CHAP. V.

Upon the Hufbandman's Care for Pofterity.

Good hufbands labour for pofterity:

To after-ages faints must have an eye.

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Rovident and careful husbandmen do not 'only labour to

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fupply their own neceffities, while living, but lay up fomething for their pofterity when they are gone: they do not only leave to their children what their progenitors left them, but they defire to leave it improved and bettered. None but bad hufbands and fpend-thrifts are of the mind with that heathen emperor Tiberius, who having put all into fuch confufions in the empire, that it might be thought the world would end with him; yet pleased himself with this apprehenfion, That he fhould be out of the reach of it; and would often say, When I am dead, let heaven and earth mingle; if the world will but hold my time, let it break when I am gone. But provident men look beyond their own time, and do very much concern themfelves in the good or evil of their pofterity.

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APPLICATION.

HAT careful husbands do, with respect to the provifions they make for their children, that all prudent Chriftians are bound to do, with respect to the truths committed to them, and by them to be tranfmitted to fucceeding faints. VOL. VI.

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In the first ages of the world, even till the law was given,faithful men were instead of books and records; they did, by oral tradition, convey the truths of God to pofterity: but fince the facred truth hath been configned to writing, no such tradition (except full confentient with that written word) is to be received as authentic; but the truths therein delivered to the faints, are, by verbal declarations, open confeffions, and conftant fifferings, to be preferved and delivered from age to age. to age. This was the conftant care of the whole cloud of witneffes, both aneient and modern, who have kept the word of God's patience, and would not accept their own lives, liberties, or estates, no, nor the whole world in exchange for that invaluable treasure of truth: they have carefully practised Solomon's counfel, Prov. xxiii. 23. "Buy the truth, but fell it not," they would not alienate that fair inheritance for all the inheritances on earth. Upon the fame reasons that you refufe to part with, or imbezzle your eftates, Chriftians also refuse to part with the truths

of God..

1. You will not waste or alienate your inheritance, because it is precious, and of great value in your eyes; but much more precious are God's truths to his people. Luther profeffed, he would not take the whole world for one leaf of his Bible. Though fome profane perfons may fay with Pilate, What is truth? Yet know, that any one truth of the gospel is more worth than all the inheritances upon earth; they are the great things of God's law; and he that fells them for the greatest things in this world, makes a foul-undoing bargain.

2. You will not wafte or part with your inheritance, because you know your pofterity will be much wronged by it. They that baffle or drink away an estate, drink the tears of their fac widows, and the very blood of their impoverished children. The people of God do alfo confider, how much the generations to come are concerned in the confervation of the truths of God for them: It cuts them to the heart, but to think that their children fhould be brought up to worship dumb idols, and fall down before a wooden and breaden God. The very birds and beafts will expofe their own bodies to apparent danger of death, to preferve their young. Religion doth much more intender the hearts and bowels than nature doth.

3. You reckon it a foul difgrace to fell your estates, and become bankrupts; it is a word that bears ill among you : and a Christian accounts it the higheft reproach in the world, to be a traitor to, or an apoftate from the truths of God. When the primitive faints were ftrictly required to deliver up their Bibles

those that did fo, were justly branded, and hushed out of their company, under the odious title of traditores, or deliverers.

4. You are fo loath to part with your eftates, because you know it is hard recovering an eftate again, when once you have loft it. Chriftians do alfo know, how difficult it will be for the people of God, in times to come, to recover the light of the gospel again, if once it be extinguifhed. There is no truth of God recovered out of antichrift's hands, without great wrestLings, and much blood. The church may call every point of reformed doctrine and difcipline fo recovered, her Naphtalies; for with great wrestlings fhe hath wrestled for them; "earnestly " contending for the faith once delivered to them," Jude 3. 5. To conclude; rather than you will part with your eftates, will chufe to fuffer many wants and hardships all your lives; you will fare hard, and go bare, to preferve what you have for your pofterity: but the people of God have put themfelves upon far greater hardships than these to preferve truth; they have chofen to fuffer reproaches, poverty, prisons, death, and the most cruel torments, rather than the lofs of God's truth, all the martyrologies will inform you what their fufferings have been, to keep the word of God's patience; they have boldly told their enemies, that they might pluck their hearts out of their bodies, but should never pluck the truth out of their hearts.

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A reflection for cowardly and faint-hearted profeffors.

REFLECTION S. 1. Bafe unbelieving heart! How have I flinched and funk from truth, when it hath been in danger? I have rather chosen to leave it, than my life, liberty or eftate, as a prey to the enemy. I have left truth, and just it is that the God of truth fhould leave me. Cowardly foul! that durft not make a ftand for the truth; yea, rather bold and daring foul! that would rather venture to look a wrathful God, than an angry man in the face. I would not own and preferve the truth, and the God of truth will not own me; 2 Tim. ii. 12. "If we deny him, he will deny us."

A reflection for fuch as fuffer for truth.

2. Lord! unto me haft thou committed the precious treasure and trust of truth; and as I received it, so do I defire to deliver it to the generations to come, that the people which are yet unborn my praife the Lord. God forbid I fhould never part with fuch a fair inheritance, and thereby beggar my own nd thousands of fouls! Thou haft given me thy truth, and the

world hates me; I well know that it is the ground of the quairel. Would I but throw truth over the walls, how foon would a retreat be founded to all perfecutors? But, Lord, thy truth is invaluably precious. What a vile thing is my blood, compared with the leaft of all thy truths? Thou haft charged me not to fell it; and, in thy ftrength, I refolve never to pafs a fine, and cut off that golden line, whereby thy truths are entailed upon thy people from generation to generation: my friends may go, my liberty go, my blood máy go; but as for thee, precious truth, thou fhalt never go.

A reflection for fuch as are in quiet poffef fion of truth.

3. How dear hath this inheritance of truth coft fome Chriftians? How little hath it coftus? We are entered into their labours; we reap in peace, what they fowed in tears, yea, in blood. O the grievous fufferings that they chose to endure! Rather than to deprive us of fuch an inheritance, thofe noble fouls, heated with the love of Chrift, and care for our fouls, made many bold and brave adventures for it; and yet at what a low rate do we value what coft them fo dear? Like young heirs, that never knew the getting of an estate, we fpend it freely. Lord, Help us thankfully and diligently to improve thy truths, while we are in quier poffeffion of them. Such intervals of peace and reft are usually of no long continuance with thy people. The POE M.

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Public fpirit fcorns to plant no foot

But fuch from which himself may gather fruit,

For thus he reafons, If I reap the gains

Of laborious predeceffors pains,

How equal is it, that pofterity,

Should reap the fruits of prefent industry ?
Should every age but ferve it's turn, and take
No thought for future times, it foon will make
A bankrupt world, and fo entail a curfe
From age to age, as it grows worse and worse.
Our Chriftian predeceffors careful thus
Have been to leave an heritage to us.
Chrift's precious truth conserved in their blood,
For no lefs price those truths our fathers stood.
They have tranfmitted, would not alienate
From us, their children, such a fair estate.
We eat what they did set: and fhall truth fail
In our days? Shall we cut off th' entail,

Or end the line of honour? Nay, what's worse,
Give future ages cause to hate, and curfe
Our memories? Like Naboth, may this age
Part with their blood fooner than heritage.
Let pity move us, let us think upon
Our childrens foul, when we are dead and gone:
Shall they, poor fouls, in darkness grope, when we
Put out the light, by which they else might fee
The way to glory? Yea, what's worse, shall it
Be faid in time to come, Chrift did commit
A precious treasure, purchas'd by his blood,
To us, for ours, and for our childrens good!
But we, like cowards, falfe, perfidious men,
For carnal eafe loft it, ourselves, and them.
O let us leave, to after ages, more

Than we receiv'd from all that went before!
That thofe to come, may blefs the Lord, and keep
Our names alive, when we in duft fhall fleep.

CHAP. VI.

Upon the Husbandman's Care to prove and preserve his Deeds.
Deeds for your lands you prove, and keep with care;
O that for heaven you but as careful were !

OBSERVATION.

WE generally find men are not more careful in trying

gold, or in keeping it, than they are in examining their deeds, and preferving them: these are virtually their whole estate, and therefore it concerns them to be careful of them: if they fufpect a flaw in their leafe or deed, they repair to the ableft counsel, submit it to his judgment, make the worst of their caufe, and query about all the fuppofeable danger with him. If he tell them their cafe is fufpicious and hazard. ous, how much are they perplexed and troubled? They can neither eat, drink, or fleep in peace, 'till they have a good fettlement; and willing they are to be at much cost and pains to obtain it.

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APPLICATION.

HESE cares and fears with which you are perplexed in fuch cafes, may give you a little glimpse of thofe troubles of foul, with which the people of God are perplexed about their eternal condition; which, perhaps, you have been hitherto unacquainted with, and therefore flighted them, as fancies and

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