28 SERMONS upon Serro. 3. 3. The Scriptures mutt be read with Prayer. We mutt plow with God's Heifer, if w%@would underhand his Riddle ; we mutt beg the Spirit's help. The Spirit is the belt Itkerpreter ; bene orafe, eft bendfiuduiffi. Every Miniver. findeth Prayer to be his heft Comment. So thould you pray before and after reading the Scriptures, as you do before and after you receive your bodily Food. You do not know how Prayer will clear up the Eyes. Pfal. 119. 18. Open thou mine Eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy Law. There is tome excellency in the Letter of the Scriptures 3 but this is nothing to what we fee by the Spirit,it will make a Man wonder at the Excellen., cy, Efficacy, Confonancy of thefe Truths; a Man feeth far more than ever he Caw be- fore. The Spirit is needful, both to open the Heart, and to open the Scriptures Luke 24. 32. Did not our Hearts burn, when he opened tó us the Scriptures ? compared with Verf. 45. Then opened he their Vnderflanding, that they might underftand the Scrip- tures : To underhand the Truth, and to give us an attive and certain Perfwafion of it; to open the Heart, Aas 16. 14. inclining it to Obedience, giving in Light, that works a ready Affent, and firm Perfwafion, bringing forward the Heartwith Power to Obedience. In dark Places, and difficult Cafes, when you have no certainty, you fhould cry for Knowledg, and lift up your Voice for 7Jnderflanding ; as the blind Man that cried to Jefus, Lord! that I might receive my light, Mark io. 52. 4. Study the Creatures. God is known out of his Word, but his Works give us a fenible demonftration of him. You have David's Night and Day-Meditation : His Night- Meditation, Pfal. 8.3. When I confider thy Heavens, the Wok, of thy Hands,. the Moon, and the Stars which thou hall ordained : not a word of the Sun, the most no -, ble Creature. Pial.'9. q. he fpeaks of the goin forth of the Sun, likea Bridegroom coming out of his Chamber, and rejoicing as a fiirong Man to run a Race ; that is his, Morning-Meditation. When we walk out in the Night, or Morning, we may think of God, view his flupendous Works. The Heathens had no other Bible. Confider, that the huge weight of the Earth hangeth on nothing, like a Ball in the Air. Job 26. 7. He firetcheth out the North upon the empty Place, and hangeth the Earth upon othing. Confider the Beauty of the Heavens, with their Ornaments; the Bounding of the Sea ; the Artifice in the frame of the fmalleft Creatures, the Excellent Miniiries, and Subordination of the Services of the Creatures one to another, &c. g. Spiritualize every outward Advantage, fo as to raife your Hearts in the contem- plation of God. As when we obferve the Wifdom of a Father, or the Bowels of a Mother, let us take occafion to exalt the Love and Care of God : as from a Mother's Bowels ; Ifá. 49. 15. Can a Woman forget her fucking - Child, that fie jbould not have compaffion on the Son of her Womb ? Tea, they may forget ; yet will I not forget thee. From the Wifdom of a Father ; Mat. 7. it. If ye then, being Evil, know how to give good Gifts unto your Children ; How much more /hall your Father which is in Heaven give good things to them that ask him ? Tan: Pater nemo, tam pinsyyemo. So the Centurion men- tions his own Command and Government, when he ddires Chritt to put forth his Power. Mat. 8. 8, p. Speak the Word only, and my Servant pall be healed. For I am a Man under Authority, having Souldiers under me: and I fay to this Man, Go, and he go- eth : and to another, Come, and he corned : and to my Servant, Do this, and he doth it. As if he fhould fay, All Sickneffes are at thy beck, as well as there Souldiers at mine. In your Carriage to your Children, and theirs to you, you may fublimate your Thoughts to confider of that Commerce between you and God. So in the Work of your Callings, a little is ufeful for bringing great Matters to pats, think of Providence. I preis this, becaufe it will be a double Advantage, it will keep the Heart Heavenly, and you will ferve Faith out of common Experiences, and fo it will help us in our Notions of God: For if limited Creatures go thus far, how much more excellent is . God ! 6. Purge your Heart more and more from Carnal Affeetions, there are the Clouds of the Mind : As in Fenny Countries, the Air is feldom clear. Bled are the pure in Heart, for they filial! fee God, Mat. q. 8. We ufually look upon God through the Glafs of our own Humours. Carnal Men fancy the Eternal Effence as one of their Society, and misfigure God in their Thoughts. 7. The lati is; In the progrefs of Knowledg, or fearch of Truth, beware of No- / vellifm. 2 Tim. 3. 14. Continuethen in the things thou haft learnt, and been affured of, knowing from whom thou haft learned them. There is as great care to keep what we have, as to gain more Knowledg. The Devil taketh the advantage of our Changes, when we renounce old Errors, he bringeth Men to queftion Truth ; as in publick Changes, when
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