oo O f C o M wi N I O N x with it not for the refrefliment which daily they receive by thoughts of hìm, they could not live; their lives would be a hurdlers to them, 2nd the thoughts of enjoyment of him make them cry with Paul, Oh! that we were dillblvcd, the stories of the martyrs of old, and of late, the fufferers in :riving winners to him, under the dragon, and under the Eire pr:rphet, the negleCt of life in women and children on his account, contempt of tor- meats whilft his name fweetned all, have rendred this truth, clear to men and angels. 3. They value him aboveall fpiritual excellencies and all other righteouf- nefs whatever, Phil. iii. 7. 8. Thofe things which were ad.,aneage to vie, I e/feemed lofs for Chri(l. Tea alfo I account all thins to be lef. fcr the exce lency ofthe knowledgeofChrifI jefirs my Lord, for wh,of fake Ihave lo/i all things, and do e/ieena them common that I stay grain Cler:fi, and be foanrd in him. Having recounted the excellencies which he had, and the privileges which be enjoyed in his judaifin, which were all of a fpiritual nature, and a participation wherein, made the tell of his countrymen defpife all the world, and look upon thenrfelves as the only acceptable perlons with God, refting on them for righteoufnefs, the apoitletells as what is his efteem of them in comparifon of the Lord Jefus, they are lofs and dung, things that for his fake, he had really fuffered the lofs of; that is, whereas he had for many years been a zealot of the law, feeking after a righteoufnefs as it were by the works of it, Rom. ix, 31. inftantly ferving God day and night to obtain the promife, Aft. xxvi. 7. living in all good confcience from his youth, Aft. xxii. all the while very zealous for God and his in- ftitutións, now hewillingly cafts away all thefe things, looks upon them as lofs and dung, and could not only be contented to he without them, but as for that end for which lie fought after them, lac abhorred them all. When men have been ftronglÿ convinced of their duty, and have laboured many years to keep a (a) good con cience, have ptay'd, and heard, and done good and denied thenrfelves, and been (b) zealous for God, and laboured with all their might to (c) pleafe him, and fo at length to come to enjoy him, they had rather (d) part with all the world, life and all, than with this they have wrought. You know how unwilling we are to part with anything we have laboured, and beaten our heads about. How much more.when the things are fo excellent, as our duty to God, blaielefnefs of converfation, hope of heaven and the like which we have beatenour hearts about ? But now when once Chrift appears to the foul, when he is known in his excellency, all thefe things as without him, have their paint waffled off, their beauty fades, their defireablenefs vanifheth, and the foul is not only contented to part with them all, but puts them away as a defiled thing ; and crys, its the Lord Jefus only is my (e) righteoufnefs and glo- ry, Pew. iii. 13, 14, 15. Among innumerable teffimonies may be admit- ted to give wittrefs hereunto, Happy i0 the man that fndetb wifdom and the man that getteth underffanding. For the merchandize of it, is better than the merchandize of flyer, and the gain thereof than fine Gold; fhe is more precious than rubies and all the thine: that thou eaofl defre, are not to be compared to her. It is of Jefus Chrift, the wifdom of God, the eternal wifdom of the father that the holy ghofl fpeaks, as is evident from the defcription which is given hereof, chap. 8. He and his ways are better than fiber and gold, rubies, and all defìrable things. As in the gofpel he likens himfelf to the (f) pearl in the field, which when the merchant (a) Aft. xxìli, r. (d) Rom.x. v. z. 3, 4. (,) AiS. xxvi. 7. (0) Joi,. ix. 40. Rom. ix. 30, 3,. (e) 114. xtv. sg. CO Much. xìis 45, 46. Princp,nnrculmcnque omuiumrerum prod, margariræ teneny ?ling. man
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