who officiate publickly in the divine Worship, do obferve this Law.

I have mentioned the proper Objects of Fear, I fhall now fhew whom we ought not to fear: And we ought not to fear either wicked Men, or wicked Devils.

We ought not to fear wicked Men. Fear not them which kill the Body, but are not able to kill the Soul: But rather fear him which is able to destroy both Soul and Body in Hell; fays our bleffed Saviour. Mat. x. 28.

Our good God fays to his People, (in Ifa. li. 12.) I even I am he that comforteth you; who art thou, that thou fhoulieft be afraid of Man, that fball die, and of the Son of Man, which shall be made as Grass?

In Ifa. xli. 10. God fays to his People, Fear thou not (thine Enemies,) for I am with thee, be not difmayed for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea I will help thee, yea I will uphold thee with the right Hand of my Righteousness. Behold, all they that were incenfed ‹gainst thee, shall be ashamed and confounded, they shall be as nothing, and they that ftrive with thee, fhall perish.

O what a Clufter of comfortable Predictions are thefe! and they have been, they are, and they will be fulfilled to the Saints in all Ages; and the Saints in all Ages have found much Confolation in mufing upon them.

But as we should not be afraid of wicked Men, fo neither should we fear the wicked Devils, those unholy Angels: There are Multitudes of them in all Places, though they are spoken of in the fingular Number, as if there was but one, because one among them is their Chief, the Prince of Devils; and becaufe they are all one in Defign; but as numerous as they are, we have no Reafo. to fear them.

In James iv. 7. It is faid, Refift the Devil, and he will flee from you. Which Words contain a Prediction, that the Devil will flee from those ferious Chriftians who refift him: Chrift the Captain of our our Salvation (who himself fuffered, being tempted) knows how, and is able to fuccour and deliver his Difciples when they are tempted, and will make the Devil to ceafe his Temptations and to depart from them.

The Apostle Peter (in 1 Pet. v. 8, 9.) fays to the Saints, Be fober, be vigilant, because your Adverfary the Devil, as a roaring Lyon, walketh about, feeking whom he may devour: Whom refift fedfaft in the Faith, knowing that the fame Afflictions are accomplished in your Brethren, that are in the World.

Our mighty Saviour would have us, with firmnefs of Mind, to continue our Refiftance to the Devil, and without fear of being overcome by him.

O how often does our good God fpeak comfortably to his People, and fay unto them, Fear not!

In Ifa. xxvi. 3. the Prophet by the Infpiration of the Holy Spirit, fays to God, Thou wilt keep him in perfect Peace whofe Mind is stayed on thee, because be trufteth in thee. A Prediction this, which hath been the Means of much Comfort to many a Chriftian in Times of Trouble.

But where is the Chriftian that hath perfect Peace? The Words of the Prophet imply, that a trufting in God, or Faith in Exercife, is the Means of enjoying the fweet Bleffing of Peace, and of freedom from diftreffing Fears: And where is the Chriftian that has his Faith and Truft in God, always in due Exercife?

There is a Remainder of finful Corruption in the Souls of the beft Chriftains, fo that the Good they would do, they fometimes do not.

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Abraham

Abraham, the Father of Believers, and the glorious Example of a strong Faith, had special and immediate Affurances of God's Favour and Protection.

The Lord faid unto Abram, I will make of thee a great Nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy Name great, and thou shall be a Blessing: And I will bless them that bless thee, and curfe him that curfeth thee: and in thee fhall all Families of the Earth be bleffed. Gen. xii. 1, 2, 3.

And in about a Year after thefe gracious Affurances, given him immediately from the Lord, when he went into Egypt to fojourn there, his Faith was very weak, and unbelieving Fear dif treffed his Mind, and prevailed with him to deny his Wife, and to engage her to fay, fhe was his Sifter. Gen. xii. ver. 10-13.

In Gen. xiii. the facred Hiftory informs us, that when Abram dwelt in the Land of Canaan, The Lord faid unto him,—All the Land which thou feeft, to thee will I give it, and to thy Seed for ever. (ver. 15.) And I will make thy Seed as the Duft of the Earth. (ver. 16.)

In Gen. xvii. 1. When Abram was ninety Years old and nine, the Lord appeared unto Abram, and faid unto him, I am the almighty God; walk before me, and be thou perfect; and I will made my Covenant between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. (ver. 2.) And changed his Name to Abraham. (ver. 5.) And faid, I will make Nations of thee, and Kings fhall come out of thee. ver. 6. And I will establish my Covenant between me and thee, and thy Seed afer thee in their Generations, for an everlasting Covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to thy Seed after thee. ver, 7.

As for Sarai thy Wife-I will bless her, and give thee a Son alfo of ber: yea I will bless her, and she

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fhall be a Mother of Nations; Kings of People fhall be of her. ver. 15, 16.

And after all thefe Promifes made to Abraham immediately by the almighty and faithful God, did he a fecond Time deny his Wife: He did fo at Gerar to Abimelech the King, who (when Abraham had told him he was his Sifter) took her, but the Lord made Abimelech to reftore her. (Gen. xx. 1, 2.)

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This was about twenty and three Years after the Promises God had made to him, in Gen. xii. O what are the best of Men, if left to themfelves! Lord, increase my Faith, and by thy holy Spirit keep it always in due Exercise!

Another Inftance of human Frailty we have in David: The Prophet Samuel, by God's Appointment, anointed David to be king over Ifrael after the Death of Saul: He was, according to Chronology, anointed in the Year 1063 before Chrift.

And yet this good Man in the Year 1058 before Chrift, that is, about five Years after Samuel had anointed him to be King, almoft_defpaired of God's performing his Promife. For in 1 Sam. xxvii. 1. we read that David faid in his Heart, I fhall now perish one Day by the Hand of Saul.

No wonder then, confidering these Instances of Faith being fometimes very weak, that serious Chriftians at Times have their Doubts and Fears.

All our past Experiences prove to us, that God is a prefent Help in Trouble, that he has been fo to us in all our past Diftreffes, he has fupported us, and wrought one Deliverance for us after another; yet when we meet with new Afflictions, Difappointments, or Straits, or Dangers, how often do unbelieving Doubts and Fears arife in our Minds; especially if the Devil is fuffered, for our Trial, to throw his Suggestions into our Minds.

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Nevertheless, God has provided for our Comfort, and Remedies againft perplexing Fears in Times of publick Calamities, whether prefent, or approaching.

Come my People (fays our God) enter thou into thy Chambers, and fout thy Doors about thee, and bide thyself as it were for a little Moment, until the Indignation be overpaft: For behold, the Lord cometh out of his Place, to punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their Iniquities. Ifa. xxvi. 20, 21.

1. Thefe Words fhew, that there are Times when God will punish the Inhabitants of the Earth for their Iniquities.

2. That God has a gracious Regard to the Safety and the Comfort of his People, through the Time that his Judgments are destroying ftubborn Sinners, even till the Indignation be overpaft, till the Effects of his Wrath ceafe: Therefore did he give, Directions to his People, what Course they should take for Safety and Comfort during the Day of his terrible Vifitation; viz. to enter into their Chambers, and fhut the Doors about them, and to hide themselves: This Direction, I apprehend fignifies, that the Righteous do daily commit themselves by Faith and Prayer to God's Protection, and walk closely and circumfpectly with him, in the Way of their Duty, and keep themselves from all unneceffary Converse with the open Enemies of God, taking fpecial Care that they be not Partakers of their Sins, left they also become Partakers of their Plagues.

God's People fometimes grow careless and remifs in their Obedience, and comply with the finful Cuftoms of the Age in which they live: And to fuch as these, the Prophet Zephaniah seems to fpeak, when he faid, Before the Decree bring forth, before the Day pass as the Chaff, before the fierce Anger

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