Ver. 4 I . xxvb' Chapter of St. MATTHEW. 2 0 of our felves. Heb. 6. It Who have fled for 'Refuge, to lay hold upon the hope fet be- fore us. Fly, as if the Avenger' of Blood were at your Heels : Phil. 3. q. Do you la- bour to be found in Chrift. When the Flood was upon Earth; none were fàved but they that got into .the Ark. So Cant. 2. 3..I fate -under his Shadow with great de- light : It fuppoleth the Scorching of the Sun ib chore hot Countries. Canft thoú find thy Heart driven ? Thou art afraid thou (halt net get loon enough ; that God will leave his Suit, or thou fhalt be called out of the World, before the Match be made up. Dolt thou find thine Heart fattening upon Chrift ? I will pitch here, as yoab took hold of the Horns of the Altar. (3.) Befidés the Senfe of the Benefit that we save by Chriii, there muff be an un- feigned Love to him, or elfe the Curfe doth Rill remain : i Cora 16. 22. If any Man love not the Lord 7efus Chrift, let him be Anathema Maranatha ,. accurfed toll the-Lord come: And that's for ever and ever. Can a Man think he (hall be'the better for Chrift, when he efteemeth him as Dung and Trafh ? -hath no delight in him, no value for him ? We efteem Men either as they are excellent in thenifelves, or as they are profitable to us : There is both in Chrift. Therefore, If you love him not 'tis a lign you have had no Benefit by him. Golpel-Love; 'cis a Love óf Gratitude ; it arifeth from Faith, Gal. 5.6. ( 4. ) This Love muff be expreffed h a'ftncere Obedince : r Joh. 5. 3: His Command -. ments are notgrievous. 'Tis not grievous for Chrifi's fake. The Devil, though he be a proud Spirit, careth not for Difpraifes ; nor Chrili for empty Profeßïon. Can any Man efteem Chrß, that cannot forbear one Pleafure for God; one Vanity for his fake ? By this you (hall know, whether you (hall do well or ill, yea, or no. Is it a pleafure to you to renounce your Interels, to deny Lufts, to perform Duties for aryl's fake ? 2. 'VS E, Is to Preis as to come out of the Curfe of Nature. Fill?, Be fenfikle of it. Confider, (r.) God's Curfe is very dreadful : Dei benedicere ell benefacere. The Curfe caufelefs fliall not come ; but .God's Curie is lure to take place. Micah was afraid of his Mo- ther's Curie, that he dareth not keep the Money ; yet we will keep our Sins, 7udg. J7. 2. 'Twas Money, dedicated to make a Graven Image : A fentlefs Curfe, that was pronounced at random i But he thought it a dreadful thing 'to lie under a Mother's Curfe ; and therefore, is not quiet till fhe had recalled it. Elifha curled when he was mocked, and it took effeEt : 2 Ding. 2. 24. And he turned back, and looked on them, and curled thorn in the Name of the Lord ; and there carne two She -Bears out of - the Wood, and tare forty two Children of them in pieces. A Prophet's Curfe is a dread- ful thing. And will God put up all the Affronts we put upon him, when we dó defpight to his Spirit, and fcorn .his Grace? This was but a Man, thefebut "Chit- dren ; yet when they (corned his Miniftry, and Fun &ion, as being bred up in Ido- latry,, God will tare in pieces, and none to deliver. Take notice of God's Curie on Cain; Gen. 3. rr. Now thou art turfed from. the Earth. He Was the Firft- Fruits of the Reprobate, the Patriarch of Unbelievers, as Tertullian calleth him ; the firft curled Man in the World :. And his Curfe was, to be cat" out of God's Preferlce, Verf 14. a Figure of what (hall be done at the lait Day. It fuck dole to him all his Life : Yea, turfed Cain was fenfible of it : My Punifhment is greater than 1 can bear. We are turfed again and again ; Deut. 27. To every Curfe of the Law, they were to fay, Amen ; to thew the fore Accomplifhment of it. Só certainly it i ill be ; 'tis juft as certain : 'Tis a Subfcription to the Juftice of .it, and a Pro - fc(lion of their Faith. Am I a curled Creature by Nature ? Are all his Curfes Tea, an Amen, as well as his Promifes ? Oh ! what will become of me, if I do not take hold of Chrift ? So the Curfe on the Builder of Jericho, is remarkable: Jofh. xo.6. Cur- led he the Man before the Lord, that raifeth up, and buildeth this City ; for he ¡hall lay the Foundation of it in his Firfi -Born, and in his younger Son he ¡hall build it up. And you (hall fee, i King. 16. 34. fume hundred of Years afterwards was this Curie exe- cuted ; Curled is every one ! Yet the "Sinner bleffeth himfelf, and fmileth in his Heart, and thinketh none of this (hall come upon him "; but after many Years it breaketh out. (2.). We know not how loon God may take the Advantage of this Curfe, and cut us off from the Pot6bility of his Grace. Ch*fi cometh as a Thief, and ftealeth up- on Men e're they are, aware. We are indebted to God's Julhice, and we know not Dd how
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