to pray; I hope so of you all, if not, I do not know what you do here: for I desire to speak to none but them who retire alone to pray. But pray now answer me, as in God's sight, Did you ever know what it was to retire to praise? For a poor creature to shut his chamber-door, and to retire alone, and say, "God knows that all my business with him at this "time is to praise his name; his mercy presses me, and I "would fain praise him." I deny not but we should mix praising with prayer, but I would have Christians try praising by itself; it is an ordinance of God, a distinct appointment, a duty by itself laid upon us; Why therefore may we not try it by itself? And I do assure you, if ever you try it, you will find it hard work it is like a poor creature setting his shoulder under the great and weighty burden of the loving-kindness of God. What is praise? true praise is nothing else (you may think it a strange description) true praise is nothing but the believer's chearfully groaning under a weighty, oppressing load of mercy. You will never praise rightly till mercy oppresses you, and you become like people sinking under the weight, and groaning under the burden of it. See how David praises, 2 Sam. vii. 20. Who am I, O Lord? And what fan David say more? for thou, Lord, knowest thy servant.

Direction 2d. Let all your praise ascend unto God by Jesus Christ. Take heed to this; let all your praise be sent up by Jesus Christ: this is the apostle's direction, Heb. xiii. 15. By him let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks unto his name. When we pray, we know that the blessings we ask are so great, that we can expect them no otherwise than as they are the purchase of Christ. We know our performances are so small, that we cannot dream of their acceptance with God, unless our great High-priest present them; but take good heed to yourselves, lest you grow proud in praising; and remember that you have as great need of Christ's intercession, to render your praising acceptable, as to render your prayers acceptable. We are to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ, 1 Pet. ii. 5. When the apostle was in that great frame for praising, Eph. iii. 20, 21. Unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we can ask or think, according the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church,

by Jesus Christ Jesus, throughout all ages, world without end, Amen. It is as if he had said, "I do not forget that our great "High-priest must present our praises as well as our prayers."

Direction 3d. Lastly, Concerning this work of praise, I would give you one advice more, and that is, Learn to be well acquainted with the book of Psalms, and the praising part of the word of God. The book of Psalms is a book of songs; and in the Old and New Testament too, there are a great many songs uttered by the holy men of God, and written by them, and ordered by the Holy Ghost to be in our Bibles, as God's rind and will to us; and if ever you would mind the work of praise well, you must be acquainted with the praising part of the word. The apostle Paul hath an exhortation, commonly known, but not well understood, Col. iii. 16, 17.. Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto the Lord; and whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. Pray observe these two verses; the apostle names no more of the word, but the singing part of it. There is a great deal in the word of God beside psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs; and there is another use to be made of the word than singing; it is also to be read: but the apostle confines his exhortation to the duty of praise, directs us in it, and proposes this as one great mean, Let the word of Christ dwell richly in you; and what part of the word of Christ is it that he means? The praising part of it; admonishing one another, saith he, in psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs. Sirs, it is a great help to the duty of prayer, that we have so many of the prayers of the saints recorded in the word; though it is a rotten use that is made of the praying part of the word, when here a scrap, and there a scrap, is gathered together to a book of common prayer; an abomination that God will visit for, though man forget; which hath sent thousands of souls to hell in this nation, rocking them asleep in security. This is a great abuse of that part of the word. There are many poor believers that, in reading David's Psalms, have been made to say, Surely this man speaks as if he was in my soul's stead." The same spirit was in believing David, as is in the poorest

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believer this day in London; no great wonder then that they fully perceive and understand the words of one another. Thus, as we find a great help in praying, from the praying part of the word; so we find a great deal of help for praising, by being well acquainted with the praising part of the word. I must say, and I believe very few are able to contradict me in this, that the greatest part of believers in all ages, of all the books in the Old Testament, have been most edified by the book of Psalms. I do not speak this with any kind of reflection on any other part of the sacred writ; the prophets are excellent; the prophet Isaiah is a most evange lical prophet; but for the spiritual pulse of a Christian, the book of Psalms is the greatest index thereof of any book in all the word of God. All the saints have felt it, and I dare say you have felt it, if ever you have been exercised unto godliness to any purpose.

Thus we have heard of this great duty of praising the Lord; the Lord help us to act it to give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name! Oh what a mighty command is that! Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name, Psal. xxix. 2. and xcvi. 8. Who can tell what is the Lord's due? and who can give him what is his due? No creature can do it; for he is exalted above all blessing and praise: but we should bless him as we can, and hope that in his due time we shall bless him better than ever we can do whilst we are here. He hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus; we have not as yet received them all; but we wait for them all in the Lord's good time. We have a good many of them already; and we should praise and bless the Lord for what we have got; and we should praise him for what we hope for: and we should praise the Lord for what he hath offered to us, though we have not been so wise as to accept of the offer. But yet the Lord's grace in offering deserves our praise, even when we are ashamed of the bad entertainment we have given to the offer. How happy might we have been! how blessed a life might we have led, if we had given way to all that goodness and mercy which has been flowing in upon us! But many a striving hath there been between God and us; gracious on his, and wicked on our part.

SIX

SERMONS

ON

IMPORTANT SUBJECTS,

FROM

GALATIANS ii. 21.

SERMON I.

GAL. ii. 21.

I do not frustrate the grace of God: for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain.

THE scope of the apostle Paul in this epistle, is to reprové the church that he writes to, for a great and sudden apostacy from that faith of the gospel that they were planted in: the apostle Paul himself was one of the main planters amongst them; and quickly after his removal from them false brethren crept in amongst them, and perverted them from the simplicity that was in Christ: their great error lay here, in mixing the works of the law with the righteousness of Christ, in the grand point of the jusufication of a sinner before God. Throughout this epistle the p stle argues strongly against this error: they had not renounced the doctrine of Christ; they did not deny justification by faith in him; but they thought that the works of the law were to be added to their faith in Christ, in order to their justification.

I shall only take notice briefly of a few of his arguments against this error, as they lie in the context, to lead you to the words that I have read, and mean to speak to.

The former part of the chapter is historical, telling them what he had done, and what had befallen him some years ago; how he was entertained and received by the great servants of Christ at Jerusalem, Peter, James, and John, that seemed to be pillars, and were indeed so: see the first ten verses. The next thing that he breaks forth into, in point of arguing with them, is upon the account of Peter's dissimulation, and Paul's reproof of him: the point seemed to be very small; Peter had made use of his Christian liberty in free converse with the believing Gentiles; but when some of the brethren of the Jews came from Jerusalem, he withdrew himself, and separated from them, fearing them of the circumcision; "fearing that they would take it ill" a weak kind of fear it was, and upon this small thing the apostle set himself against him with great zeal. I withstood him, saith he, to the face, because he was to be blamed, ver. 11. By this withdrawing the use of his Christian liberty, he hardened the Jews, and he weakened the hands of the weaker Jewish converts, that thought the wall of partition between the Jews and Gentiles was not yet taken away.

1st, His first argument against mingling the works of the Jaw with faith in justification, is taken from the practice of the believing Jews. What way did they take to be justified? We who are Jews by nature, and not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ; even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall we flesh be justified, ver. 15, 16.

2dly, His next argument is taken from the bad effect and sad consequence of seeking righteousness by the law, ver. 17. which, because it is something dark, I would explain it a little in a few words: But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves are also found sinners, is therefore Christ the minister of sin? God forbid. "If so be we that have "sought righteousness in Jesus Christ, if we have yet any "dealings with the law in point of righteousness, we are "found sinners still; and if a justified man be found a sin"ner, why then Jesus Christ, instead of delivering us from the bondage of the law, is found a minister of sin."