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HOW

THE

CHRISTIAN

LIVES.

631

feted

to

assault

and

buffet us,

we find

inroads made

upon our

holiness

and our

peace.

Always

dying,

yet

behold, we live.

I.

By

a

fresh

sight

of

the

glory

of

Christ, and the

all-

sufficiency

of

the covenant

of Grace

;

when

we

our.

selves

are never

so guilty,

there

is

righteousness

in him

sufficient

:

when

we

are

unholy, there

is

sanctifying grace

in

him:

when weak and wavering,.

there

is

life

and

strength,

and

stability

in him

:

when diffident

and

sus

-

picious

of our

own

hearts, there

is

faintness and

safety

in

the

covenant

of

Grace:

when

we

lose our sight

of

Christ

and'the

covenant

of

Grace,

we

die; but

we in

a

renewed view

of

the glorious Gospel, and the

So'

God,

and then

we

live.

Jesus

is

our

life and

our

al-

vation.

II.

By

mourning

for

past

miscarriages, and

awak-

ing and

stirring up our

souls

to new

vigour and

watch-

fulness.

In

this

life,

the children

of

God,

walking

through the wilderness, often

fall

and

rise

again;

fad

by

sins

of

infirmity,

and

rise

by

repentance.

By

shaking off sloth,

renouncing our

idols,

going

forth

again

in new

strength,

by

chiding our hearts out

of

their

desponding frames.

Psa.

xlii.

ult.,

Why

art-thou

cast

down, O my.soul,

and

why

art

thou disquieted

within

me

?

Hope

thou in God

;

for

I

shall

yet praise

him,

who

is

the

health

óf

my

countenance

and

my

God.

III.

By

renewed exercises

of

faith on

Christ and

his

Gospel.

As we

begin the

spiritual

life, so

we

must

con-

tinue in

it,

and

so

recover

it.

We are

crucified

with

Christ,

and

yet

we

live

;

and,

as

the apostle saith,

.

Not

I,

hut Christ

liveth in

nie.

Gal.

ii.

r0.

I

live by

the

faith

of

the

Son

of

God.

IV.

By

some

suitable

word

of

God,

brought

to the

heart,

and

imprest upon it

by

the

Holy.

Spirit,

who

is

a

sanctifier and comforter.

Gal.

vi.

JO.

Be

not

weary in

well- doing,

for

in

due time you shall

reap if

you

faint

not.

The

Spirit

often

makes

use

of

his own

word to

quicken

our

dying graces,

to revive

our

dying

comforts,

and

to

save

our

souls_from

spiritual

death.

V. By

the special ordinances

of

the New Testament,,

I

mean

particularly the Lord's

Supper;

in

all the

parts

of

it,

it

is

fitted to renew

the

dying

life

of

a

saint. Are

we

ready to

dieunder

the

sense

of

guilt? Here

is

par-

doning

mercy.

Are.

we

sinking under

sorrows

?

Here

VOL,

III.

n

I