A Box .of precious Ointwent Or, ble favour to their hearts, that their fouls are daily fatisfied as with marrow and fatnefs. There are fame precious Chri- flians (I fay not all, I fay nor moft) who live daily under fin gular Glances of divine glory, and who are daily under the fenfible embracements of> God, and who daily lye in the bo- lam of the Father, and whO every night have a:rift as a bundle of myrrh lying betwixt their breafts. Now thefe choice fouls who live daily in the glorious manifeflations of the Spirit, and enjoy a little heaven on this fide heaven, thefe many times are fo taken up with their high communion with God, with their fpiritual enjoyments, and with their taites of the glory of that other world, that they dp not much mind filch evidences as we have had under our confideration. And thus much for the Reafons, why fome cry down Scrip- ture marks, figns and evidences of grace, of holinds, of fan- aification ; and why others d9n't much mind them, or take any great notice of them. But, prat. 4,;4. Vide chryfogosts on the words. " Gar'6.3 3 4--, I Tim. 6. 17, The fourth Propofition is this. If this way of trying our fpiritual eflates by holy and gracious qualifications, were not , both lawful and ufeful, then certainly the holy Spirit would never have prefcribed it, nor never have preft men fo earn- eftly upon it, as we find he has done in the bleffed Scripture. Take a talk, 2 Core 13. 5. Examine your felves ghether ye be in the faith ; prove yaw; ,own lave'. The precept is doubled, to teach us to redouble bur diligence in this moft needful, but much negle4ed duty of fe-lf-examination. The final try- al of Our eternal eitates, doth immediately and folely belong to the Court of heaven, but the clifquifitive part belongs to us. Here are two emphatical words in the Greek ; Firft, examine yOirfeives. The word in the general fig- nifies tolake an experimental knowledge of any thing, that is either uncertain, unknown or hidden moil men are great ftrangers to God, to ChriA, to Scripture, and to theinfelves, and therefore faith the Apoitle, Ea-amine your felves. Now if there were not fare marks and infallible figns whereby men May certainly know what their prefent eftate is, and how
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