and earneftly recommend to our Purfuit; namely, to be fo heartily perfuaded of the Being of God, and of his Wifdom, Power, Goodness, and Providence encompassing and watching over all Creatures, and to preserve upon our Minds fuch a conftant and lively Sense of these Things, as to love God above all Things, to dread his Difpleasure more than Death, to trust in him, and to depend upon him continually, to refign up ourselves entirely to his Conduct and Government, to live always as in his Prefence, and to do all our Actions, as much as is poffible, with a Defign of recommending ourselves to him.

Oh, what a glorious Example hath our Lord Jefus given us as to all these Things! He did truly acknowledge God in all his Ways; he fet God always before him; and the Defign of all his Actions was to do him Service. It was, as he himself tell us, his Meat and Drink to do the Will of bis Father. Nor did he propofe any other End in all that he did, or all that he suffered, but to bring Glory to God's Name, and promote his Honour in the World. He minded not himfelf; he had no Regard or Confideration of his own Eafe, or Convenience, or Reputation, or any other Thing that is moft dear to Flesh and Blood. But all his Aims, all his Studies were, that God might be glorified, that his Honour

and

and Service might be advanced in the World. His whole Life was but one continued Expreffion of Dependance on the Divine Providence; for he poffeffed nothing: nay, he had not fo much as the common Conveniencies of Life to truft to; and yet he lived as chearfully and contentedly by the Faith he had in God's Goodnefs, as if he had been Poffeffor of the whole World. It was enough for his Support, and enough too to repel the Devil, when he tempted him with want of Bread, to confider that Man liveth not by Bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the Mouth of God. His Meaning was, that God, if it pleafed him, could preferve Life without human Means, and that was enough for him to be fatisfied with his present Condition. He had no Will of his own; but whatsoever pleased God, that was his Will; and even when the bittereft Cup was given him to drink that ever was mingled for any of the Sons of Men, I mean that dreadful Agony which he underwent for our Sins in the Garden, and the painful Death that followed it; tho' as a Man, as Partaker of the Tenderness of human Nature, he was fo terrified at it, that he could not forbear faying, Father, if it be possible, let this Cup pafs from me; yet fo entirely refigned was he even at that Time to the Will of

God,

God, that he immediately corrects the Defire of Flesh and Blood in thefe Words, Yet, O Father, let it not be as I will, but as thou willeft. He would have God's Will done whatever it cost him.

What Leffons now are we to learn from hence? Why, truly, I am afraid almoft to number them, confidering how the Temper of moft of us that are his Followers generally ftands. Oh, what a wide Difference is there between us (even those we may account the best among us) and Jefus our Lord and Mafter as to thefe Things! How narrow and selfish are our Spirits! How little Regard have we to God's Will in all our Concernments! Our Way is to lay out ourselves upon a hundred Things, and eagerly and follicitoufly to pursue those Defigns, but without any Regard or Deference to the Pleafure of him that made us, and governs us. If our Defigns profper, we are pleafed: If we have what we defire, and can keep what we love, we are at Eafe; but if we be disappointed, or if we happen to lofe that dear Thing we had fet our Hearts upon, why then we are angry, we are miferable, we are out of Humour, like Children, and it requires a great deal of Time, and no small Pains, to bring ourselves right again. Thus again, as to our Truft in God and Dependance on him, we do all of us readily own

3

it as our Duty fo do in all Circumftances; but, in the Name of God, how do we praatise it? Why, we are willing to truft God for our Livelihood, fo long as we have fomething to live on: We are willing to truft God with any other Concern, fo long as that Concern goes on profperously: But if our visible Supports do chance to fail us, or if the Thing we are concerned for feem to go contrary to our Defires and Expectations, why then our Truft in God is gone, and we are as anxious, and as querulous, and as difcontented, as if we were no Chriftians; or, as if indeed there was no God that took care of our Affairs. The Truth is, most of us do live too much without God; though we talk much of him, yet we have little Refpect to him in our Defigns and Actions. We say our Prayers to him perhaps, and have our conftant Times of appearing before him for religious Worship (and affuredly, as Things go, even this is a great Virtue.) But take us out of our Devotions, I doubt God is not much in our Thoughts; at least our Love, our Fear, our Senfe of him, doth not much influence either our Words or our Actions. Indeed our Conversation, generally speaking, is fo managed, as if we were no way concerned with God, had nothing at all to do with him, fave juft at the

Time

Time we are making folemn Addreffes to him. But all this is infinitely different from the Spirit and Temper of our Lord Jefus, and the Way that he lived in the World. If we mean to follow his Example, we must be religious, as he was; we muft endeavour to poffefs our Hearts with fuch a vigorous Senfe of God, and his Prefence and Sovereignty over us, as most entirely to devote ourselves to his Service; fo that the Fear, and Love, and Sense of him, fhall have fome Power and Influence upon the Government of our whole Lives. We must make it the Bufinefs of every Day's Conversation to ferve him, and promote his Intereft in the World, and not think we have well acquitted ourselves towards him by now and then offering up a few Prayers. We must acknowledge him in all our Ways, by owning all the Good we do enjoy or hope for to be the mere Effect of his Bounty; by bearing patiently and quietly all the hard Things we fuffer, though, as we think, never fo undefervedly; by repofing our Truft and Confidence in him in all the Extremities we are reduced to; by applying to him for Succour, or Direction, or Support, under all Temptations and Difficulties; and laftly, by refigning ourselves entirely (as far as the Imperfection of our prefent State will allow)

to