in God's covenant. And here I might go through the feveral burdens of the Lord's people, and offer a word of encouragement to you under each. fhall only touch them.

I

1. Art thou burdened with the body of clay? Perhaps thy clay-cottage is always like to drop down every day, and this fills thee with heavinefs. Well, believer, know for thy comfort, that, if the earthly houfe of this tabernacle were diffolved, thou haft a building of God, a houfe not made with bands, eternal in the heavens. There are mansions of glory prepared for thee there, where thou shalt be for ever with the Lord.

2. Art thou burdened with a load of fin, crying, O wretched man that I am, who will deliver me? Well, here is comfort, believer; thy old man is crucified with Chrift, that the body of fin might be defroyed. Ere long he will prefent thee to his Father, without Spot or wrinkle, or any fuch thing.

3. Art thou burdened with the fenfe of much actual guilt? Art thou crying with David, Mine iniquities have gone over mine head, as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me? Well, but confider, believer, God is faithful to forgive thee: For he has faid, I will be merciful to their unrighteousness; their fins and their iniquities I will remember no more.

4. Art thou burdened with, the temptations and fiery darts of Satan? Well, but confider, believer, Chrift thy glorious head, the true feed of the woman, has bruifed the head of the old ferpent; through death he hath defiroyed him that had the power of death, that is, the Devil. And, as he overcame him in his own perfon, fo he will make thee to overcome him in thy perfon, ere long; The God of peace, fhall tread Satan under thy feet shortly.

5. Is the fociety of the wicked thy burden?

Art

Art thou crying, Wo is me, that I fojourn in Mefech? Why? Confider, thou fhalt get other company ere long. When thou putteft off this clay-tabernacle, thou shalt enter in among the Spirits of just men made perfect. Only ftand thy ground, and be not conformed to the world.

6. Art thou burdened with the abounding fins and backflidings of the day and generation wherein thou livest? Well, be comforted; God's mark is upon thee as one of the mourners in Zion; and, in the day when the man with the flaughter-weapon fhall go through, God will give a charge not to come near any upon whom his mark is found; Thou shalt be bid in the day of the Lord's anger.

7. Art thou burdened with the concerns of Christ, with the interests of his kingdom and glory? Is thy heart, with Eli's, trembling for fear of the ark of the Lord, left it get a wrong touch? Know, for thy encouragement, that the Lord fhall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion, unto all generations; and that, tho' clouds and darkness be round about him, yet righteoufnefs and judgment are the habitation of his throne, and mercy and truth fhall go before his face. Though his way be in the whirl-wind, and his fleps in the deep waters, yet he carries on the defigns of his glory, and his church's good: And as for thee, that art forrowful for the folemn assemblies, to whom the reproach of it is a burden, God will gather thee unto himself, he will gather thee unto the ·neral affembly, and church of the first-born.

ge

8. Art thou burdened with manifold afflictions in thy body, in thy eftate, in thy name, in thy relations? Know, for thy comfort, God is carrying on a defign of love to thee in all these things: Thy light afflictions, which are but for a moment, will work for thee a far more exceeding and eternal weight

of

of glory. See a fweet prophecy for thy comfort, Ifa. liv. 11, 12.

9. Art thou burdened with much weighty work? Perhaps thou knoweft not how to manage this and the other duty, how to adventure to a communion table, or the like. Well, for thy encouragement, poor foul, the Lord fends none a warfare upon their own charges: And therefore look to him that he may bear thy charges out of the stock that is in thy elder brother's hand; and go in his ftrength, making mention of his righteousness.

10. Art thou under the burden of much darknefs, crying with Job, Behold, I go forward ana backward, and cannot fee him? &c. Job xxiii. 8. Well, be comforted: For unto the upright, light Shall arife in darkness. Unto you that fear my name, Shall the fun of righteousness arife with healing in his wings. And therefore fay thou, with the church, Mic. vii. 9. He will bring me forth to the light, and I fhall behold his righteousness. Again,

II. Art thou burdened with the Lord's distance from thy foul, Because the Comforter that should relieve thy foul is far from thee? Lam. i. 16. Well, be comforted, He will not contend for ever, he has promised to return, Ifa. liv. 7, 8. The Lord cannot keep up himself long from the poor foul that is weeping and groaning after him; as we fee in Ephraim, Jer. xxxi. 19. Again,

12. Art thou burdened with the fear of death? Know, for thy comfort, the fting of death is gone, and it cannot hurt thee, Hof. xiii. 14. I will ransom them from the power of the grave, I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plague! O

I will be thy deftruction!

grave,

Lastly, Art thou burdened with the death of the righteous? particularly with the lofs of faithful mi

nifters ?

nifters? Well, be encouraged, that tho' the Lord taketh away an Elijah, yet the Lord God of Elijab lives, and the refidue of the spirit is fill with him. And therefore take up David's fong, and fing, The Lord liveth, bleffed be my rock. And let the God of my falvation be exalted.

Law-death, Gofpel-life: Or, The death of legal righteousness, the life of gofpel holiness.

Being the Subftance of

everal SERMONS preached upon a thanksgivingday, after the adminiftration of the Sacrament of the Lord's fupper, at Carnock; and enlarged upon afterward, upon an occafion of the fame nature, at Orwell.

By the Rev. Mr. RALPH ERSKINE.

GAL. ii. 19.

through the law am dead to the law, that I might live unto God.

A

Godly life, is what we are all obliged to live, efpecially if we have been at the Lord's able; but it is a mystery that very few understand in their experience, if they will judge their experiences by comparing them with this of Paul in our text. I through the law, &c.

Our apoftle in this epiftle, is vindicating himfelf from the bafe afperfions caft upon him by the falfe apostles, with refpect to his calling, as if he

had

had been no apostle, and with respect to his doc trine, as if it had been falfe and erroneous. From the beginning of this chapter to v. 11. he tells us what he did at Jerufalem, how ftrenuously he oppofed the falfe brethren, that he might maintain the truth of the gospel, which they fought to overFrom the 11th verfe to the 17th, the apoftle tells us what he did at Antioch, how zealously he oppofed, and reproved even Peter himself, for his diffimulation, in compelling the Gentiles to judaize; giving thereby fuch offence, that the Jews were confirmed in their Judaifm, ver. 12. Other Jews

turn.

diffembled with him, and Barnabas alfo was carried away with their diffimulation; and hereby occafion was given both to Jews and Gentiles to defert Chrift, to deny grace, to return to the law, and feek juftification by the works thereof. So that we may fee here, that great and good men may dif femble, and do much ill by their diffimulation; both among minifters and people. We have here a wonderful example of it in the greatest of men, and fuch as were pillars of the church; but it would feem that Peter and Barnabas, and other Jews here, did not fee their fault and fin, but thought they did right enough: but Paul faw it, v. 14. When I faw that they walked not uprightly, according to the truth of the gospel. This might feem a very bold and impudent attempt for Paul, the youngest of all the apoftles, (I mean, of whom Chrift was laft feen, as of one born out of due time) for him to take upon him to accufe and condemn Peter, as well as Barnabas and the Jews, for their practical error, not walking according to the truth of the gefpel. But we fee, that as people may have the gofpel; but not the truth of the gofpel; fo these that have the truth of the gospel may be guilty of not walking according