yet it is common to man. If it be hard to bear, yet grace is almighty to strengthen patience. If it last long, yet it shall end well. How convincing are these reasons! How patiently should believers, influenced by them, submit to the chastening of the Lord! And yet there is still unbelief in them, which will be urging fresh complaints, and stirring up impatience.

The poor sufferer, feeling his smart, is apt to think-Any cross but mine would be tolerable-I should not say one word against God, if he tried me with any other; but this cuts me to the heart-Oh! it is a very agony both to my flesh and spirit-there is nothing like it-it is so exactly calculated to cross my temper, to hurt me in the tenderest part, and to rob me of my most beloved gratification; that it is the very thing in the world from which I could have wished to be exempted. -Any cross, Lord, but this.

Nay but, O man, who art thou that repliest thus against God? Hold thy tongue, as it were with a bridle. Let not self-will murmur, and folly speak against the chastening of

the Lord. He says that he is dealing with thee as with sons. Where is thy faith then, that sense and feeling should be permitted to plead, and to be heard against the witness of God in his word? Where is thy patience, that thou canst not bear the present cross, but wouldst take up any other? Alas! alas! mistaken man-what canst thou bear in thine own strength? Thou feelest the smart of thy present cross, and it makes thee peevish and fretful the smart of any other would have the very same effect. A less than this; the least thing in the world, that opposes thy will, would stir up thine impatience. Observe thy temper, how it catches fire at any little opposition from men. The same temper will be inflamed, and rage, when God chastises thee, if thou refuse to receive his correction. Thy rebel will is the cause of thy pain, and makes thy cross so bitter for if God's will and thine were one, there could be no cross but his will is almighty, and yet thou resistest it. God puts his yoke upon thee, and thou art like a stubborn beast, which only hurts and galls itself, by striving and kicking against its

work. He tries thee with one cross, and thou art dissatisfied; thou couldst contrive a better for thyself. Thou wouldst be thine own Lord and governor. Self-will, they say, is a sure guide to self-destruction. Beware then of thine own will. When God calls thee to take up any cross, do not wish for another. He sends this, and to it he requires thy submission. It is thy duty, and thine interest to receive it for the exercise and for the improvement of thy patience; but instead of taking it up quietly, and waiting for the good fruit of it, thou art quarrelling with it, and opposing the will of God. O take heed of this vain attempt. It is a snare laid for thee. A fatal trap, into which the love of independence seduced the first man, and which, ever since, easily ensnares his posterity. When thou art tempted to murmur at thy present cross-consider what it is--meditatë a moment upon thy Father's love, who most mercifully appointed, who most seasonably sent it and if it be nothing strange, but common to man, then do not try to shift it off, but seek the promised grace to bear it. There is

not a cross that he will lay upon thee, but he has laid it before upon others, and it will tend greatly to the peace of thy mind, and to the restraining of thine own will, to observe how he dealt with them. Take notice then, how he, in love, exercised them with every cross that can be laid upon thee; how he supported them under it, and what blessed fruit they reaped from it.

This is the kingdom of the cross; and it is the Lord's will, that every disciple in it should be as his master. He has chosen them to suffer with him, as well as to reign with him. And therefore, intending to call forth his gifts and graces into daily exercise, he has honoured them with the daily cross, He sees it needful often to change it, and he has informed them of his gracious designs herein. There is scarce any kind of suffering, but some or other of his people have been tried with it, and he has left promises in scripture of his support, and of his coming in with comfort, and in due time, with deliverance. So that whatever thy cross be, it is not sent, O my soul, to hinder, but to promote.com

munion with thy God, and to help thee forward in the heavenly way.

Art thou pinched with poverty-a believer, but in distressed circumstances? Blessed art thou of the Lord. "Hearken, my beloved brother; hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom, which he hath promised to them that love him?" What a mercy is it to have thine outward estate thus appointed for thee by the choice of thy heavenly Father! And the same estate which he chose for his best be loved. In the exceeding riches of his love, he decreed that thou shouldst be poor in this world, as Jesus was He knew it was best for thee and he chose thee rich in faith-outward poverty was to be the means of thine improvement in spiritual riches-thy want of temporals was to bring thee to live more by faith upon eternal things. O how good is thy God! He sent thee poverty to enrich thee. It is to bring thee near to God, to keep thee near to him, and to afford thee daily proof of his precious love. These are some of the blessings of rich faith, and these are worth

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