point what to do, the fii-st stoi'm that riseth will make the poor man put into an>- creek or hole, rather than venture abroad in foul weather, John xii. 42 : ' Among the chief rulers also many believed on him, but because of the Phaiusees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the syna- gogue.' Poor souls, they could have been content, if the coast had been clear, to have put forth, but had not courage enough to bear a little scorn that threatened them. O what folly is it to engage for God, except we be willing to lay all at stake for him ? It is not worth the while to set out in Christ's company bj' profession, except we mean to go through with him, and not leave him unkindly when we are half way, because of a slough or two.
Section IV. — This readiness of spirit to suffer gives the Christian the true enjoyment of his life. A man never comes to enjoy himself truly in any com- fort of his life, till prepared to deny himself readily in it. It is a riddle, but two considerations will unfold it. First, Then, and not till then, is that which hinders the enjoyment of our lives taken away, and that is, fear: where this is, there is torment. The out-setting deer is observed to be lean, though where good food is, because always in fear. And so must they needs be, in the midst of all their enjoyments, on whose heart this vulture is continually feeding. There needs nothing else to bring a man's joy into a consumption, than an inordinate fear of losing what he hath at present : let but this get hold of a man's spirit, and once become hectical, and the comfort of his life is gone past recover)'. How many by this are more cruel to themselves, than it is possible their worst enemies in the world could be to them ! They, alas ! when they have done their utmost, can kill them but once : but, by antedating their own miseries, they kill themselves a thousand times over, even as oft as the fear of dj'ing comes over their miserable hearts. But when once the Christian has got his piece of armour on, his soul is prepared for death and danger; he sits at the feast which God in his present providence allows him, and fears no messenger with ill news to knock at the door ; yea, he can talk of his dying hour, and not spoil the mirth of his present condition, as carnal men think it does, to whom a discourse of dying in the midst of their merry-makings, is like the coming in of the officer to attack a company of thieves that are making merry together, with their stolen goods about them ; or like the wet cloth that Hazael clapped on the king his master's face ; it makes all the joy which flushed out before, squat in on a sudden, that the poor creatures sit dispirited and all amort (as we say) till they get out of this affrighting subject by some divertisement or other, which only relieves them for the present, and puts them out of that particular fit this brought upon them, but leaves them deeper in slavery to such amazement of heart, whenever the same ghost shall appear for the future. Whereas the Christian, that hath this preparation of heart, never tastes more sweetness in the enjoyments of this life, than when he dips these morcels in the meditation of death and eternity. It is no more grief to his heart to think of the remove of these, which makes way for those far sweeter enjoyments, than it would be to one at a feast, to have the fii'st coui'se taken off, when he hath fed well on it, that the second course of all rare sweetmeats and banqueting stuff may come on, which it cannot till the other be gone. Holy David, Psa. xxiii. 4, 5, brings in, as it wei"e, a death's head v/itli his feast. In the same breath almost he speaks of his dying, ver. 4, and of the rich feast he at present sat at through the bounty of God, ver. 5, to which he was not so tied by the teeth, but if God, that gave him this cheer, should call him from it, to look death in the face, he could do it, and fear no evil when in the valley of the shadow thereof, Psa. xxiii. 4. And what think you of the blessed apostle Peter? Had not he, think you, the true enjoyment of his life, when he could sleep so sweetly in a prison, (no desirable place,) fast bound between two soldiers, (no comfortable posture,) and this the very night before Herod woidd have brought him forth, in all pro- bability, to his execution? no likely time, one would think, to get any rest, yet we find hiin, even there, thus, and then, so sound asleep, that the angel, who was sent to give him his gaol-deliverance, smote him on the side to awake him. Acts xii. f), 7. I question whether Herod himself slept so well that night, as this his prisoner did. And what was the ])()tion that brought this holy man so quietly to rest? No doubt this preparation of the gospel of peace ; he was ready to die, and that made him able to sleep. Why should that break his rest
/^]Q AND YOUR FEET SHOD WITH