Wearifomness, far more irksom the be- SERM. II. ing weary of himself. Obferve great Numbers of the Opulent and the Great: What can be oftner from Home than their Perfons? Their Thoughts, which are continually from Home, ever wandring abroad, and returning unfatisfied. None is more miferable, than a Man diftracted with Variety of Bufinefs; except he who has no Business, no Amusement at all. Diverfions and Paftimes, properly fo called, (for they anfwer no other End, but to país away our Time) may have the Effect of Opiates, to beget a fhort Oblivion of our Cares and ourfelves But the only Cordial to invigo

:

rate our Spirits, and to give us an exquifite Relish and Enjoyment of this Life, is the well-grounded Hope of a better, through the Merits of Jefus Chrift.

If then any one fhould afk, Who will fhew us any Good? Who will point out the Way to Felicity to us? We must answer, in the Pfalmift's Words, Lord, lift Thou up the Light of thy Countenance upon us. For Thou art our Happiness, who alone canft give a Stability to our moral Pleasures, and fecure us from natural Evil, or support us under it. God has ftiled himself Light:

SERM. II. And as the whole material Creation would

be involved in one horrid and uncomfortable Gloom, if Light did not enliven it with it's Smiles, and beautify it with a rich Variety of Colours; fo would the fpiritual Creation live in an eternal Blackness of Darkness, did not God lift up the Light of his Countenance upon it, brightening it with the Beams of his Truth, and chearing it with the Influences of his Favour. Earthly Objects may indeed fwell and puff up the Mind with unsubstantial Bliss: But nothing can fill up every Void in the Soul, and fatisfy the whole Compass of our Defires with the Fulness of folid and unmingled Happiness, but that fupreme Good, that infinite Being, who is above All, and through All, and in us All.

Such Truths as these we are too apt to overlook in the Day of Profperity; and therefore,

IIdly, Adverfity has it's peculiar Advantages, to bring us to a juft Sense of God, and our Duty to Him.

For, ft, Adverfity will make us, however unwilling, reflect and defcend into ourselves.

When

When we enjoy one uninterrupted Flow SERM. II. of worldly Blifs, when we fail along a smooth and unruffled Surface with easy and gentle Gales; Reason, our Pilot which should fit vigilant at the Helm, is too often lulled into a fatal Security. But Adversity roufes the Mind from it's Indolence, puts us upon thinking closely, and turning our Thoughts every Way. Thofe, who have met with no Misfortunes to mortify that Pride of Heart, which is the Growth of Profperity, fay to themfelves: Come on, let us enjoy the good Things that are present ; let us fill ourselves with coftly Wine and Ointments, and let no Flower of the Spring pafs by us; let us crown ourselves with Rofe Buds, before they be withered. Thus the glittering Scenes of Life beget a thousand gay Ideas, a fwarm of fantastic Images, which, like Infects, wanton and flutter in the warn Sunshine of Profperity; but dif appear, die, and are no more upon the first Inclemency of the Season.

It is amazing, that Men, in the Fulness of Health and Plenty, when every Thing fmiles around them, should shut out the Confideration of that Being, to whom they owe the Fulness of their Health and Plen

ty;

SERM. II.

ty; like Groves in all the Freshness of their Verdure, with all their Leaves thick upon them, fhutting out the Beams of that Sun, to which they are indebted for their chearful Verdure: Yet fo it is. For what have the Majority of the Wealthy, the Mighty, and the Great, been doing in all Ages? Why just what they did in the Days of Noah: They did eat, they drank ; they bought, they fold; they planted, they builded; that is, the Diverfions and Bufiness of this Life engroffed their Attention ; till the Day that Noab entred into the Ark, and the Flood came and destroyed them All. Juft fo Men do now, till Sickness confines them to their Bed, or fome dire Misfortune checks their Career. Which makes Je hojhaphat's Example more remarkable : When God had established the Kingdom in his Hand, and he had Riches and Honour in Abundance; his Heart was lift up, not with Pride and Infolence, but IN THE WAYS OF THE LORD.

How thoughtless, how unreflecting upon their paft Conduct were Jofeph's Brethren, till Jofeph's hard Ufage gave them a Compunction of Mind, and a deep Senfe of their former Sins? And they faid one to another:

another: We are verily guilty concerning SERM. II. our Brother, in that we faw the Anguifh of his Soul, when he befought us, and we would not hear: Therefore is this Diftrefs come upon us. It is the Remark of the Prophet Amos, that they, who lye upon Beds of Ivory, and ftretch themselves upon their Couches, who chaunt to the Sound of the Viol, who invent Inftruments of Mufic, who drink Wine in Bowls, are not grieved for the Affliction of Jofeph.

I would by no Means recommend a cenforious, four Severity, which is perhaps as odious in the Sight of God, as a thoughtlefs, fantastic Levity; and is certainly more incorrigible. For a philosophical, fupercilious Sullenness, which proceeds from thinking habitually in a wrong Channel, is a Vice feldom amended: Because Thought, which fhould cure the Diftemper, confirms and rivets it. But Faults arifing from Want of Thinking, a collected Way of Thinking for fome Time, will correct and fet right. Now Sickness, Pain and Trouble, the most effectual and perfuafive Teachers, will make a Man feel what he is, a poor helpless Creature; recollect what he has been, and look forward to what he fhall be to all Eternity.