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at his feet, faying, under a fenfe of fin, Truth, Lord, I am a dog: Well, that is a token of more a coming. Judge not of your approach by your own fenfe and apprehenfion; for David was not in a desperate case when he was crying, as Pfal. xiii. 1. How long wilt thou forget me, O Lord, for ever? How long wilt thou hide thy face from me? When your longings are increafed, though your ftrength be fmall, yet it is a notable feaft; for he will fatisfy the longing foul, and fill the hungry with good things. Be thankful if you get as much as keeps your foul in life, tho' you don't get much. Know, that though he will be faithful to the accomplishment of all his promises, and to do all that he hath engaged for, yet the times and feafons are in his hand, and he hath his own measure of communication; if fome of you received what you would be at, you would grow really giddy, and be ready to cry with Peter, It is good for us to be here, and forget the other work that God hath for you in the world. He is engaged by promife; but know moreover, that he accomplishes his promife according to your need, and it is for your good and advantage, and according as he hath work and bufinefs to put in your hand. Now, fome here, I hope, have got their hearts engaged to approach to a God in Chrift, upon the ground of Chrift's engagement to approach to God in their room; and I hope they can fay it with holy confidence, that their hearts have been drawn, and they have been caufed to approach to God: And if fo, then, I hope, you can fay of the water of the well of falvation, O fweet, fweet! O how fweet are thy words to my tafte! fweeter than honey to my mouth! And that all other things in a world, are but empty trash, lofs

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and dung, in comparison of him. O the gallant fops of the world would think shame of themselves, if they knew how much contempt the poorest faints on earth do pour upon them, and all earthly glory and gallantry, when they get near to God! Surely, if you have attained this approach to a God in Chrift, it hath brought you to a great wondring at the grace of God. O what am I? and what is my father's houfe? Why did he pass by my neighbour, my husband, my wife, my brother, my fifter, and fix his love upon me the vileft of them all? It hath brought you to great humility and abafement; Now mine eyes fee thee, therefore I abbor myself, &c. And also to a great longing after more fellowship and communion with him; O when wilt thou come unto me! O when shall I come and appear before thee! O to depart in peace, for mine eyes have feen thy falvation! O to be among the four and twenty elders that are before the throne! O to be drinking at the fountain-head! Why, what means this language, poor foul? It feems you're just lying in his lap; He hath loved you with an everlafting love, and therefore with loving-kindness hath be drawn you: His heart is engaged to you, and your heart is engaged to him; the fpirit hath been fent to knit Chrift's heart and your heart together, and the knot shall never be loofed; Him that cometh, I will in no wife caft out. And now that he is engaged to do all for you, O does not equity and gratitude require, that you be wholly engaged to him, and that for ever? Let your hearts be more engaged to him than ever? Let your affections be engaged to love him; let your wills be engaged to obey him in his preceptive and providential will; let your thoughts be engaged to think upon him and his loving

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loving-kindness; let your tongues be engaged to fpeak to his praife, In his temple fhall every one speak of his glory; let your whole life be engaged to his fervice, and all fo engaged as to depend on him for all. He hath engaged for all, that you may depend on him for all; and all the fervice you perform will be vain and to no purpose, unless it be done in the faith of his engagement to do all in you and for you. The believer hath two hands, the one a holding hand, and the other a working hand; like a woman spinning at the wheel, (to use a homely fimile) the one hand holds the thread and draws it down, and the other hand goes round and fets about the wheel; now, if he do not hold the thread conftantly with the one hand, it is to no purpofe tho' the other hand go round with the wheel: Even fo it is here; the one hand of the believer is the hand of faith, whereby he takes faft hold of Chrift, and draws grace and virtue from him; the other is the hand of obedience and fervice, which is accepted only in Chrift, and upon the fcore of his engaging for all, and to do all our work in us and for us. Now, if the hand of faith let go the hold of Chrift, fo as not to draw virtue from him, nor depend upon his engagement, it is in vain that the other hand of obedience and fervice does go its round; but, when faith keeps faft hold of Chrift's engagement, then there is profitable service and acceptable obedience; for we are accepted in the beloved. Let faith take a view daily of your privileges in Chrift; O how ftrengthning for your work and warfare would it be to you, if you had the lively faith of his engagement! It would make you approach to God in every duty with boldness, did you believe that his honour is engaged for your

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through-bearing, till you get to glory; that his faithfulness is engaged, his power is engaged, his name is engaged, his truth is engaged, his credit is at the ftake; for he hath faid, I'll never leave thee nor forfake thee; I will put my spirit within thee, and caufe thee to walk in my ftatutes: Is he thus engaged? Then let faith keep a faft hold of his engagement; and when faith is like to lofe the hold, remember, that he who hath engaged for every thing that concerns you, hath engaged for faith too, having promised to keep your faith that it fail not, and to keep you by his power thro' faith to falvation. Therefore, in the want of faith, look to his engagement for it ; and in the weakness of faith, look to his engagement to strengthen it; and in the trial of faith, look to his engagement to support it. Let not your faith depend upon your faith, but your faith and dependance be wholly on Chrift, for all that you need with respect to work and warfare, duty or difficulty, foul or body, grace or glory, time or eternity; then will God put your name and Christ's together, faying, Who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto me?

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The gradual conqueft: Or, Heaven won by little and little.

Two SERMONS preached at Carnock, July 30, 1727.

By the Rev. Mr. RALPH ERSKINE.

DEUT. vii. 22.

And the Lord thy God will put out these nations before thee by little and little.

YOU

OU that have been right communicants at this occafion, you have been upon the field of battle, fighting in the name and ftrength of the Lord against your fpiritual enemies; what victory you have got, I cannot tell: But fome may perhaps be faying, OI find my enemies to be yet strong and mighty, iniquities prevail against me, and I fear I fhall never attain to the full poffeffion of the heavenly Canaan, there are fo many and strong nations of enemies in the way which I cannot get conquered. To fuch as may be thus exercifed, the words of my text may be welcome news, The Lord thy God will put out thefe nations before thee by little and little. We have here God's promife to Ifrael of old, concerning their being brought to the poffeffion of the earthly Canaan, which you know was a type of the heavenly Canaan; and, left they

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