public defections of the church, and fo foftering and hardening men in their evil ways. Hence they wipe their mouths, and cry they are innocent, God is with us, and he has forfaken those that pretend to witness against us and our ways. I have heard with my ears, and read little lefs in fome of their writings, Where is the God of the Seceders? he is not owning their miniftry as he is owning us. I thall only fay with David, when this profane jeer was paffed upon him in his affliction and diftrefs, Pfal. xlii. 10. “It is as a fword in our bones, while the enemy fays daily to us, Where is your God?" But we defire to follow David's example, and fay with him in the words following thefe now quoted, "Why art thou caft down, O my foul? and why art thou difquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I fhall yet praife him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God." This puts me in mind of a paffage I have read in Baxter's Life. A certain faithful minifter of Chrift, who being ordered to a prifon at fome distance, under the cuftody of foldiers; by the way they halted at the houfe of a malignant lady, who, when the faw the minifter in the hands of his enemies, faid, Where is the God of the Whigs now? Upon which he defired a fight of her Bible, which The brought with a taunt; he takes the Bible, and cafts up the following text, which I fhall read alfo to those who upbraid us after the fame manner; the text you have, Mic. vii. 8.-10. "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I fhall arife; when I fit in darkness, the Lord fhall be a light unto me. I will bear the indignation of the Lord, be cause I have finned against him, until he plead my cause, and execute judgement for me: he will bring me forth to the light, and I fhall behold his righteousness. Then the that is mine enemy fhall fee it, and fhame fhall cover her which faid unto me, Where is the Lord thy God? mine eyes fhall behold her: now fhall fhe be trodden down as the mire of the streets." As this fcripture, upon the reading of it, ftruck that woman with a damp and confufion, fo may it do those whofe language is the fame with hers. Now thefe, I fay, are fome of the hurtful winds that blow at this day.

Ufe fecond fhall be by way of Trial and Examination. "Seeing it is fo that there are fuch hurtful winds blowing in the church of Chrift, it concerns us to try whether we be among the number of thefe fervants of God, who are fecured against any real hurt from those pernicious winds, by having the feal of the living God fet upon us.

Query, How fhall I know if I be among that happy number? In anfwer to this question, I fhall offer you the few following VOL. III.

I

marks

marks of the faithful fervants of our God, who have this feal fet upon them.

r. All God's faithful fervants they have had their bands loofed: Pfal. cxvi. 16. "Oh Lord, truly I am thy fervant, I am thy fervant, and the fon of thy handmaid: thou haft loofed my bonds." All are by nature held faft in the gall of bitterness, and bonds of iniquity; they are lawful captives. Now, has the Lord in a day of power loofed your bands, and proclaimed liberty to you, and made you free indeed?

2. All God's fervants have feen their mafter's glory, beauty, and excellency; 2 Cor. iv. 6. " God, who commanded the light to fhine out of darkness, hath fhined into your hearts," &c. Have you feen the Father in the Son? and has the fight tranfformed you into his image?

3. The first-born of the family will be very dear unto you, "more glorious than all the mountains of prey;" and that will be the language of your heart, "My beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest among ten thousand."

4. They are all very fenfible of their inability to ferve him as they ought; yea, they are ready to acknowledge, that without him they can do nothing; they will not brag of their fervices, as the proud Pharifee, "God, I thank thee that I am not as other men," &c.

g. They have all a great regard for his authority, and will obey God rather than man, as the apostles of Chrift, Daniel, and the three children, &c. Every one of them is ready to fay, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" Give ftrength to obey, and command what thou wilt.

6. They are all for the ftanding of their Mafter's house, and ftand up for their Master's honour It goes nearer the hearts of his faithful fervants to fee him injured, or his crown profaned, than any private intereft of their own; it grieves them to fee their masters house invaded by thieves and robbers ; and they will not take them by the hand, but bear faithful te timony against them. They cannot part with the leaft hoof that pertains to their great Master.

7. All God's faithful fervants have his feal fet upon them, as you fee in the text, Hurt not the earth, neither the fea, nor the trees, till we have fealed the fervants of our God in their foreheads. O, fay you, how thail i know if I be among the fealed? Anf. You may know it by the print of the feal. You know the print of the feal upon the wax, is an exact tranfcript of the graving that is on the feal. Juft fo is it here, when Chrift feals, or fets his mark upon the foul, he juft by the power of his Spirit puts the print of his own grace upon it, John i. 16. "Of his own fulnefs have all we received, and grace for

grace;"

grace," ie. the grace that is in the believer, just correfponds unto the grace that is in Chrift. As in nature, fo it is in grace; the child receives from the parent by natural generation, member for member, eye for eye, hands, legs, limbs, just like its parent that begat it; fo it is in fupernatural things, or in regeneration, we receive from him, who of his own will begat us by the word of truth, grace for grace. The Spirit fhews the things of Chrift unto us, and we, by beholding thereof, are "changed into the fame image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord."

So then, fee whether you have the following prints of Chrift's feal upon you

ift, The print of his life: " Because I live, ye fhall live alfo." It is the life of Chrift that is in the foul of the believer: "I live; yet not I, but Chrift liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, is by faith in the Son of God." Where notice, the believer does not live upon his own feelings, or grace in him, but on Chrift the fountain of life.

2dly, The print of his light; "for he enlighteneth every man that cometh into the world." So then, have you in his light feen light? ifo, then you will know the difference be tween light and darkness, day and night; and when it is night, you will long to fee the fun again, and go mourning without the fun, &c.

3y, A print of his love; for "God is love," and he "draws with the cords of love," he kindles a fire of love in the heart, the sparks of which, are always flying upwards toward heaven.

4thly, A print of his holiness; "Be ye holy, as I am holy." And this is it that makes the foul to groan under a body of fin and death, to war against it, and to long to be fully like him in holinéfs.

5thly, A print of his faithfulness in the word of truth: "Of his own will begat he us by the word of truth." What is faith, but just the impreflion of God's faithfulness made on the foul by the word of truth; infomuch that, whenever the foul hears the record of God concerning Chritt, it eries, "this is a faithful faying, and worthy of all accepta

tion ?"

6thly, The foul gets a print of his feal for the honour and glory of God, fo that the man cannot but stand up for the houfe of God, and the concerns of his glory. "The zeal of thine house hath eaten me up," fays Chrift; and therefore, like him, the man that is fealed, he cannot endure to see the house of God turned into a den of thieves, robbers, and hire

lings, buyers and fellers, and he is far from joining hand with them.

7thly, The man carries the print of Chrift's feal upon his forehead, in a way of a visible profeffion of Chrift, and his cause and truth, in oppofition to the corruption of a wicked world. Hence it is, that as the world hated Christ, so it hateth them alfo; for as the world knows its own, so it foon knows the followers of Chrift, that keep the commandments of God, and the testimony of Jefus. And this is one thing among others, that gives me a very bad notion of these new converfions fo much talked of, that if they know a man to be either a formal or practical acceder, they will not enter upon a religious converfation with him, or give any account of the Lord's way of dealing with them, contrary to the command," Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reafon of the hope that is in you."

Ufe third, of Confolation unto those that are fealed; for we are commanded to speak comfort unto you. And therefore know for your comfort,

1. That Chrift, the Angel of God's prefence, has the charge of "All the faints are in his hand." He has power over all flesh, to give you eternal life.

you:

2. He is afcending from the east, like the fun in the firmament; even when the clouds are thickest and darkest, it does not hinder his arifing, and he will break through to the falvation and comfort of all his fealed ones, that keep the commandments of God, and have and contend for the faith delivered to the faints. His goings forth are prepared as the

morning."

3. He is a perfon of great power and authority; for he hath the feal of the living God, he hath the keys of the house of David, he opens, and no man fhuts, and shuts, and no man opens, yea, the keys of hell and death do belong unto him.

4. All the executioners of the divine wrath againft a wicked world are under his command; you fee here, that the angels that loose the winds, they are at his beck, and fulfil his will and pleasure. Good angels are his miniftering fpirits, and they minifter for good to them that are the heirs of falvation ; and the bad angels are in his chains, which he lengthens out, or fhortens at his pleasure.

5. It is his opportunity to help his church, and to interpofe, when the danger is moft threatening for here he gives the cry, when the winds are at the point of being loofed.

6. All his adminiftrations are calculate for your good, Rom. viii. 28. He rides in heaven for your help.

7. He will guide you with his counfel, and bring you to glory.

Úle fourth, of Terror to all an unbelieving Christless world; who, instead of being the fervants of God, are ferving divers lafts and pleasures; who, inftead of having the feal of heaven, have the feal of hell upon them: all carnal unstable profeffors, who are already wandering with the winds, giving up with the truth, and the tradition we have received from the Lord in this land. What fhall I fay to you? your condemnation is awful and terrible, God's foul hath no pleasure in you. Perhaps indeed you may imagine otherwife, and that, in giving up with the covenanted caufe of Chrift in this land, you have now fallen upon a new way which God approves of, and your own foul delights in; but read thefe three feriptures, If. xliv. 20. "He feedeth of afhes: a deceived heart hath turned him afide, that he cannot deliver his foul, nor fay, is there not a lie in my right hand ?" I. 1. 11. “Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compafs yourselves about with fparks: walk in the light of your fire, and in the fparks that ye have kindled. This fhall ye have of mine hand, ye fhall lie down in forrow." If. lxvi. 3. 4. "He that killeth an ox, is as if he flew a man: he that facrificeth a lamb, as if he cut off a dog's neck: he that offereth an oblation, as if he offered fwine's blood: he that burneth incenfe, as if he bleffed an idol: yea, they have chofen their own ways, and their foul delighteth in their abominations. I alfo will choofe their delufions, and will bring their fears upon them; becaufe when I called, none did anfwer; when I fpake, they did not hear: but they did evil before mine eyes, and chofe that in which I delighted not." The winds when loofed to the full, whether will they drive you? especially you that have had the knowledge of the truth, made a profeffion of it before the world, and yet have turned away from the teftimony of Chrift in this land? You may fee and read your doom, if infinite mercy do not prevent, Heb.vi.4—6. Heb. x. 26-29. 2 Pet. ii. at the clofe, &c. Perhaps you may think this very hard, but it is no harder than God has made it, for whom it is impoffible to lie.

Ufe fifth fhall be of Exhortation unto all in general, even to all that are afar off, to come to Chrift before the wind be fully loofed, that perhaps fhall blow you out of this world into an unalterable itate of eternal wo and mifery: O come to Chrift, fay, in order to your being fealed with his feal, for he is the Angel which hath the feal of the living God. His Father commands you to come to him, 1 John iii. 23. "This