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motives or arguments; and I shall only infift a little upon

two.

1. then, Confider that the life of faith is adapted and fuit ed unto a wilderness-lot. And this will be evident, if we con❤ fider,

1, That the wilderness is a folitary place, where there is little communion or converfe about the things of God: it is too frequent with the believer, that he cannot get a friend to whom he can open his mind in the world. Well, faith is adapted for fuch a cafe as this; for by faith believers fee and converse with an invifible God, infomuch they are able to say, Truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jefus Chrift." God has a way of fpeaking with the believer, and the believer has a way of talking and converfing with God through Chrift by faith, even in a wilderness, a folitary land: "My beloved fpake, and faid unto me, Rife up, my love, my fair one, and come away." And what is faith but just the echo of the foul, when it anfwers fuch words of grace, Taying, "Speak, Lord, for thy fervant heareth: Behold I come unto thee, for thou art the Lord my God?".

2dly, The wilderness is a mifty and foggy land, where the traveller is in danger of lofing his way; he "walks in darknefs, and can fee no light." Clouds of defertion, clouds of fin, clouds of error caft up; fo that the poor believer, in his way to glory, knows not what courfe to take. Well, faith is adapted to fuch a lot and condition as this; for it is the evidence of things not feen, and the substance of things hoped for: it can look through the mifts and clouds that caft up in its way, and run its race, looking unto Jefus as its leader and commander. And when fome are faying, Lo, Christ is here; or, lo, he is there; faith can diftinguish between the voice of the true Shepherd and the voice of a stranger, and the voice of a stran ger it will not follow..

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3dly, The wilderness is a place of want; it is a dry, barren, and thirsty land, where there is nothing for the support of the foul. Well, faith is adapted to fuch a cafe as this alfo; for, like the virtuous woman in the Proverbs, it fetches its food from the land of glory, Emmanuel's land. It has meat to eat that the world cannot afford, and which the world knows nothing of. Though Chrift, as to his human nature, be in heaven, yet faith has a way of eating his flesh, and of drinking his blood, which is meat indeed, and drink indeed. Faith can bring manna out of the clouds, and water out of the flinty rock; the hand of faith will pluck the fruit of the tree of life which grows in the midst of the paradife of God, and find its fruit fweet unto the foul's tafte. Many a fweet

and

and heartfome banquet and enjoyment has faith, when the world are feeding on hufks. Oh, fays Jeremiah, "Thy word was found by me, and I did eat it, and it was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart."

4thly, The wilderness is a place of danger; thieves and robbers, lions and leopards, frequent the wildernefs. Well, faith is of fingular ufe in this condition alfo. When the enemy's fiery darts are caft at the believer, faith is fhield wherewith he beats them back, and turns them off without any hurt and when the poor foul is like to be overpowered by the might or multitude of its enemies, faith has a way of bringing in the aid of heaven for its help, as Jehoshaphat did i "We know not what to do, but our eyes are upon thee." Faith has a way of wielding the arm of Omnipotence in a time of danger; and then it cries, "Through God we fhall do valiantly: for he it is that fhall tread down our enemies. We will be joyful in thy falvation, and in the name of our God we will fet up our banners." And when it is proper to make a retreat, faith turns into its ftrong-hold, which is the name of the Lord.

5thly, The wilderness is an unfettled place, where a person undergoes a variety of difpenfations, turnings, and windings, in their lot. Well, faith is of particular ufe to the believer in this cafe, in regard that, like an anchor fure and ftedfaft, it enters within the vail, and keeps the foul fteady and firm under all viciffitudes and temptations: hence Paul, "I have learned in whatfoever ftate I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abafed, and I know how to abound: every where, and in all things I am inftructed, both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to fuffer need." Faith keeps the foul" ftedfaft and unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that its labour fhall not be in vain in the Lord."

6thly, A wildernefs is a place of manifold thorns and trials': "In the world ye fhall have tribulation." Now, faith is of fingular ufe here alfo; for it fees and confiders, that this is the lot that God has ordered; that he will bring good out of all afflictions; that they are but light, and "for a moment, and not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed" and with the views of this future glory it balances all the afflictions of a prefent life. Thus you fee that a life of faith is adapted and fuited unto a wilderness-lot; and therefore let us take the example of the fpoufe here, come up from the wilderness, leaning upon the beloved, living by faith upon.

him.

Mot. 2. To encourage and engage you to a leaning on Christ

by

by faith as you come up from the wilderness, confider, believer, that he is thy husband and bridegroom; there is a marriage-relation between thee and him; and should not this encourage you to live and lean upon him? It is under this confideration that the spouse here takes him up, she comes up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved. And, to en courage faith in him under this relation, will you only con fider the particulars following.

ift, Confider, that he took thee for his bride and spouse when thou waft in a wretched and miferable plight, blind, poor, and naked, having the hue of hell upon thee: Ezek. xvi. "When I paffed by thee, and faw thee in thy blood, I faid unto thee, Live; and thy time was a time of love," &c. When thou waft lying among the pots, he loved thee; and he loved thee fo dearly, as that he bought thee off from the hand of justice with the price of his precious blood: "He loved me, and he gave himself for me," fays Paul. And hould not this encourage thee to live and lean on him in thy journey through the wilderness?

2dly, He gave thee thy marriage cloaths. When thou hadst not a rag to cover thee, he "cloathed thee with white raiment, that the fhame of thy nakednefs might not appear?" hence is that fong of the church, If. lxi. 10. " I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my foul fhall be joyful in my God; for he hath cloathed me with the garments of falvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels." And Ezek. xvi. 7. 10. 12. 13. Now, fhould not the confideration of this kindnefs encourage thee to lean on him as thy beloved?

3dly, Confider, that in the marriage-contract of the new covenant he has made over himself, and all that he is, and all that he has, unto thee: "All things are yours; for ye are Chrift's, and Chrift is God's." There he fays, "Thy Maker is thine Hufband; I will betrothe thee unto me for ever, in faith, fulness," &c.

4thly, Confider the clofenefs and intimacy of the union be tween him and thee, and let this encourage thee to lean and live on him by faith. It is far more intimate and dear than the union between hufband and wife among men; for they indeed are one flefb, but he is one body and one fpirit with his fpoufe; he is in them, and they are in him. And by virtue of this intimate union, thou haft a title to him and his whole purchafe. As the wife, when married to a man of a liberal eftate, may look to his lands and lodgings, and fay, This houfe is mine, and this land is mine, and fuch and fuch things are

mine, for they are my husband's, and he is mine, and I am his: fo may the believer, by virtue of his marriage-union with the Son of God, when he looks to heaven, he may fay, That this is my habitation; when he looks to the earth, he may fay, This is my inns; when he looks to the angels, he may fay, Thefe are my guards; when he looks round about him, he may fay, All things are mine, for they belong to my bleffed Hufband, who is heir of all things, and I am heir of God through him; his righteoufnefs is mine to juftify me, his grace is mine to fanctify me, his Spirit is mine to comfort me, his covenant is mine, for it was made with him, and with me through him, &c.

5thly, Confider that thy bleffed Husband, believer, he calls thee to lean upon him, he counfels and encourages thee to depend on him as thou comeft out of the wilderness; he speaks to his fpoufe in a kindly way, faying, "Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he will fuftain thee: Caft all your cares upon him, for he careth for you: Truft in him at all times, ye people, pour out your hearts before him," &c.

6thly, To encourage thy dependence on him in the wildernefs, confider his tender fympathy with thee under all thy ailments and infirmities. Thou art as dear to him as the very "apple of his eye," and he has "thee fet as a feal on his heart and his arm," and he is "touched with the feeling of thy infirmities; he gathers the lambs with his arms, he carries them in his bofom, he gently leads thofe that are with young; and he giveth power unto the faint, and increaseth ftrength to them that have no might."

Laftly, If you do not lean on him, you will surely faint, and fag, and fit up in thy journey through the wildernefs; but if thou lean and reft on him, " thou fhalt renew thy ftrength, and mount up with wings as eagles," thou shalt run and not be weary, and walk and not faint, till thou come to Zion, with fongs. Now, let all thefe confiderations encourage you to come up from the wilderness, leaning on your beloved.

III. To fhut up this difcourfe, it may be asked, What advice do you give us, in order to our living a life of faith, or our leaning on the beloved, as we came up from the wildernefs? I answer in general, that there is a threefold object that must be kept in view, in order to our living by faith; and every act of faving faith terminates upon all the three in their proper order. 1. There is the promise. 2. There is Chrift in the promife. 3. Upon God in Chrift. True faith can want none of them, and it is not a right faith that miffles one of them. The promise is but a cypher, without Christ; and

Chrift is no Chrift, without we take God up in him. Faith cannot fix upon Chrift without the promise, and it cannot fix upon God but as he is in Chrift: take away the promise, and you take away Chrift; and take away Christ, and you take away God; for God is no God to a finner, but as he is in Chrift. So then, of neceffity thefe three grand objects of faith must be taken in, and taken up, in order to a life of faith. And therefore I shall endeavour to fhew how faith is to act upon every one of them, by anfwering a threefold question. 1. How faith is to act upon the promife of the word, which is the next and immediate object of faith? 2. How it is to be acted upon Chrift? 3. How it is to act upon a God in Christ?

Quest. 1. What counfel or advice do you give us, in order to our living by faith upon the promise, which is the next or moft immediate object of faith?

I answer, in order to your living by faith upon the promise, I give you thefe few advices following.

In your reading of the fcriptures, collect the promises, and gather them, pick them up; for "by these do men live, and in all these is the life of your fouls." By the " great and precious promifes" we are made " partakers of the divine nature," &c.

Treasure them up in your minds, for they are the fuel of faith; and faith can as little act without the promise as fire can burn without fuel. And therefore let your minds be, like the pot in the ark, always full of the manna of the word. A promife hid in the heart will do you fervice when you have neither accefs to read nor hear, &c.

Be frequently meditating on them, and rolling them like a fweet morfel under your tongue. "While I was mufing, the fire burned," fays David. Faith, which works by love, is fet a-work by ferious meditation. The promises are the sweetest lines in Chrift's love-letters to his fpoufe: there is majesty in the command, feverity in the threatening; but love and mercy predominates in the promife," &c.

The

Be frequently pleading the promise in prayer. promife is God's bond, and God's bond is to be pursued in the court of grace, at the throne of grace : "For thefe things I will be inquired of," &c. This was David's way; "Remember the word upon which thou haft caufed me to hope," &c.

Study to know and be perfuaded, that the promife of God is a notable and excellent fecurity. And this appears from this confideration; it is the word of God "who cannot lie," &c.; is his registrate word, &c. it is his fealed word, &c.; he has

given

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