is your ftrength, that is your fhield. The Heathen could fay, when he was fore wounded, Is my Shield whol? if that be well, all is well: So fay I, if your fhield be well, if your faith be well, if your true juftifying faving faith be well, then all is well. Thus you fhall be able to look diffi culties and difcouragements in the face, though they be ne ver fo great.

You will fay unto me, fuppofe a man hath newly begun to look unto Jefus Chrift, and now difficulties and natural difcouragements do arife: how fhall he be able fo to raife, and to ufe his faith, as he may be able to break through all unto Jefus Chrift?

Take heed that you do not ftand poring too much upon them. Abraham confidered not the deadnels of his own body, Sarabs body; But if you will behold them,

First, Exercife your faith in the Promise, before you do speak with thofe difficulties. Some there are that ftand poring lo much upon difficulties and natural difcouragements; that they have spent the ftrength of their fpirits: So that when the Promife comes, they have no ftrength at all in their fpirits to entertain the Promife with. If the Rope or Cable be never fo ftrong, that is thrown out into the water, if a man be drowned before the Rope or Cable come at him, what matter is it though the Cable be never fo great? Some there are that ftand poring fo much upon natural difcourage ments, that their hearts are even funk, and drown'd before the Promife comes: and how can the Promise help you then? therefore fay, Come firft Promife, Come firft Promife.

And then again, if you will behold thefe, Look upon them as they are your Tryal, and many times the Devils Engines to work your bearts off again: I fay your Tryals, and the Devils Engines to work your hearts back again. When you were in your natural condition, then your heart was quiet, your confcience quiet,and the devil quiet,and your friends quiet, and did not speak evil of you: Now you begin to Took towards Chrift, now Confcience condemns, now the Devil accuses, now your Friends, your former Friends they

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fpeak evil of you. I appeal to thee (man or woman) in thine own foul, doeft thou not think that thy former condition, was an ungodly condition? yes: and then quiet; then confcience quiet, then friends quiet, then Satan quiet: and now confcience accufes, and now Satan accufes, and now friends fpeak evil. Oh! therefore, fay, furely, this is nothing but a Temptation: and beleeve it (beloved) it is balf a victory over a Temptation to know that a Temptation is but a Temptation.

In the third place. Now, now especially; fet thy felf with all tby might to venture upon Jefus Chrift: Labor much in venturing upon Jefus Chrift now. Mark, Faith is nothing else but the fouls venture: it ventures to Chrift: it ventures on Chrift; it ventures for Chrift.

It ventures to Chrift, in oppofition to all legal terrors. It ventures on Chrift, in oppofition to all our own guiltineß. It ventures for Chrift, in oppofition to all Difficulties, and Difcouragements: The proper nature of faith is to venture: and what need we venture,if there were no difficulties? Difficulties properly call for venturing. (Mark it) Do difficul ties arife? Now fet thy felf to venture upon Jefus Chrift.

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If a man be to go home over fome water, or River, and the water rifes, he faies with himself, how fhall I get over this water? The longer I ftay, the more it rifes: he begins to go into it,and he comes back again but (faies he) there is no other way, as good firft:as at the laft; I muft venture, I muft over, there is no other way; and fo he ventures. So fay I now unto thee: This thou must come unto at laft (poor foul) Difficulties, and Dfcouragements arife, to ftave thee off from Chrift; at the last thou must venture upon Jefus Chrift, at the laft you must venture, notwithstanding all your guilt: you begin to do it, and you are ready to go back; but know this, ficft or laft you muft venture upon Chrift: hadft thou not better do it at firft? Oh! therefore, when ever any difficulties do arife, put thy felf upon faith fay, come, O myful, here is a difficulty, now venture on Jefus Chrift

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In the fourth place, for your incouragement know this; That the more and greater difficulties your duties or your graces are recovered out of the band of, the more comfortable they will be to you. (I pray mark it) I fay, duty, or grace, recovered out of the hand of difficulty, is the most comfortable. You know how it was with David at Ziklag the enemy had come upon him, taken away his wife, and all his comforts; a fentence of death was upon all his comforts: David, he follows after, overtakes the enemy, recovers his wife, and all his comforts, and there he had the greateft fpoil of all fpoils; he fent unto all his friends of his fpoil, he never had a greater spoil. So I fay,does difficulty, or difcourage ment break in upon your duty? Morning duty? Evening duty? Or any grace? Follow after it: if thou ftrikeft this difficulty in the hinder part, and recovereft thy duty,or thy grace out of the hand of the difficulty, thy duty and thy grace will be more comfortable than ever it was.

And then in the fift place, Study Jefus Chrift more, and labor for a cleer,& a diftinct knowledg of Jefus Chrifi. Faith in Scripture phrafe, it is called knowledg, the knowledg of Chrift, By bis knowledg he shall justify many: to know, and beleeve, they are put together; the more you know, the more cleer and diftin& knowledg you have of Chrift,the ftronger your faith the lefs knowledg you have of Chrift,the weaker your faith; a weak faith is apt to be blown down with every wind, Abraham being not weak, he confidered not his own body, fo he ftaggered not. The weak fire, it may be put out with fuel, cafting of much wood upon it; the ftrong fire, it increafes, and grows, even by throwing on of water that is contrary; a weak faith is born down inftantly. Art thou therfore weak, and haft newly begun to look towardsJefus Chrift? Oh, labor to get ftronger faith; and that you fhall do, by growing in the knowledg of Jefus Chrift. Study Chrift more; his life more;his death more; his fulness more; the merciful difpofition of Jefus Chrift more: Thus fhall you be able to grow firong, and shall work through all difficulties,and difcouragements unto the Lord Chrift.

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Yet you will fay to me, But fuppofe now that a man hath beleeved fome time, a great while, been in Chrift a great while, difficulties, and difcouragements do arife to beat a man out of the good waies of Chrift that he hath taken up: How should a man fo raife, and ufe his faith, as he may be able to work through all these unto Jefus Chrift?

I'le fpeak but to this, and fo I'le wind up all. First of all, Confider your call,often confider your cal,your firft call to a work; and put your felves often unto this dif jun&tion, Either God hath called me to this work, or elle he hath not. If God hath not called me, what means this Scripture? And what means that Scripture? And what means the other Scripture? And if God hath called me, why should I lay down the work for any difficulty? Will not he carry me through? And know this, that difficulties do fomtimes arife in our way, to make a stoppage in our proceedings: and fomtimes they arife only to draw out our faith. When as thou feeft thy call cleer unto any work, then say, thefe difficulties arife only to draw out my faith, and not to make a ftoppage in my proceedings.

In the fecond place, confider this, That the more you beleeve in the face of difficulty, the more you pleafe God. Nothing fo pleafing to God, as beleeving in the face of difficulty. God will truft him with much, that trufts much to God: God wil break through many difficulties to fave thy foul,if thou canft break through many difficulties to come to him. There's no grace does more honor God, than Faith: of all graces it honors God moft:and of al the pieces of faith none do more honor God, than beleeving in the face of difficulties. When therefore any difficulty or natural difcourage ment does arife, fay,the Lord pardon me; Oh! I have dishonored God enough already is this the way for to honor God,to beleeve in the face of difficulties, and natural discouragements? Here now I have more opportunity to do it; the Lord help me, now will I fet my felf to beleeve.

In the third place, Sometimes when you meet together, peak unto one another of the great things that God bath done;

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the great things that God hath promised; the great things that Faith bath done. As words of anger do draw out anger, fo experiences do draw out Faith. Only I pray take heed, when ye fpeak of your experiences, and what God hath done, that ye don't lay, or ground your Faith upon your experience, but upon the Promife. Tit a good fpeech that Parifienfis hath, Experience (faies he) 'Tis like the crutch, the lame mans crutch, it does uphold the lame man, but it don't cure him: And fo, an experience, it ftaies up thy foul for the prefent, but experience cannot cure you of your unbe lief; 'tis only the Promife cures you of your unbelief. 'Tis faid in the 1c6. Pfalm,concerning the children of Ifrael, When they fam the Egyptians lie in the Sea before them, then they beleeved in God, and fang his praife: And the next words that follow, are, They foon forgate his works. I, when as we beleeve the word only because of experience, no won der that we foon forget our experiences, and all. There fore take heed, tell of your experiences, draw out your experiences for to ftrengthen your Faith, yet lay not your Faith upon your experience, but upon the Word.

And again in the fourth place: Above all things confider what great difficulties Jefus Chrift bath broke through to come to you. Ye reade of him fo defcribed in the Canticles, He comes leaping over the mountains; many are the mountains, that Jefus Chrift came leaping over to come to you. Paffion work is greater and harder than Creation-work: He came leaping over the mountains of work. Oh! fhall Jefus Christ come leaping over mountains, and difficulties to come to my foul, and fhall I go over no mountains, and break through no difficulties to get to Jefus Chrift? think what difficulties he broke through to come to you.

And lastly, Never speak with your difficulties or difcourage ments apart from the Promife. If a man be travailing in the Road,and a Thief can funder him from his company, draw him alone into the Woods, a hundred to one but he takes his purfe, if he fave his life, And if the Devil can part you from