3. Take heed of the pride of self-dependence. Hereby the heart is taken off from God, and then the devil hath us upon the hip. He that swimmeth in a full stream is apt to be carried away with the stream. It is a hard, matter to see the nothingness of the creaiure when we enjoy the fulness of the creature. Man's thoughts are always swallowed up with his present condition. In misery we think we shall never come out of it ; in prosperity, that it will never be otherwise. Paul could say, ' As having nothing, yet possessing all things,' 2 Cor. vi. 10. Few can say, As possessing all things and having nothing, so as to sit loose from our worldly dependences : ' I have learned to abound ; ' it is an harder lesson than ' I have learned to be abased,' Phil. iv. 12, as there is more of choice in it, and less of necessity. We are beaten to the other. We use to say, Such a one would do well to be a lord or a lady. It is an harder matter than you are aware of. Many have done well in a low condition that could not manage an higher, * Ephraim is a cake not turned,' Hosea vii. 8 ; not baked of both sides, so as to walk with an holy equality and evenness of spirit in all condi- tions. You think it is hard to bear miseries ; it is as hard to master comforts, to carry a full cup without spilling, and to keep from sur- feiting at a rich and luscious banquet. Few know how to abound.
To prick these windy bladders in solemn remembrances of mercy, such things as these are necessary.
[1.] A special recognition and recalling of sins is not unseasonable. Let the warm sun melt you : Ezek. xxsvi. 30, 31, ' I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen ; then shall ye remember your ways and doings that have not been good, and shall loathe your- selves in your own sight for all your iniquities.' When mercies humble us and set us a-mourniug, it is a kindly work. Moses bowed himself when the Lord proclaimed the name of his mercy. Oh ! bow your- selves ; poor worthless creatures, that God should look upon us !
[2.] Meditate upon the changes of providence. Things are at a great uncertainty in the world. Hezekiah is delivered and then falls sick ; he is delivered again, and then groweth proud ; and then came wrath upon him, and upon all Judah and Jerusalem : Ps. xxxix. 5, ' Verily every man at his best estate is altogether vanity ; ' not only in his worst, but at his best estate ; when he is in his zenith, then he is at the vertical point. Verily this is a truth should be stamped deeply upon all our hearts. Belisarius, a famous general to-day, and within a little while forced to beg for a halfpenny. Things and persons are as the spokes of a wheel, sometimes in the dirt, and sometimes out. The church complaineth, Ps. cii. 10, ' Thou hast lifted me up and cast me down ; ' a sad dejection after some comfortable elevation. All outward glory is like a glass, transparent, but brittle. Paul was rapt in the third
-394 SERMON UPON A DAY OF PUBLIC TnANKSGIVING.
heaven, and was full of unspeakable ravishments and revelations, yet presently he talketh of a thorn in the flesh. Now, at your best think of this, that you may inure your thoughts to changes, and settle your solid happiness in God. David, when he had a glorious victory, speak- eth of losing, and God's blasting their armies, Ps. Ix. 10, compared with the title ; he acknowledgeth past judgments as the fruit of God's displeasure. In the Roman triumphs there was one to remember them of their mortality in the midst of their pomp. Yea, under the law leavened cakes were allowed in peace-offerings and sacrifices of thanks- giving, which were forbidden in other sacrifices : Lev. vii. 13, ' He shall offer for his offering leavened bread with the sacrifice of thanks- giving of his peace-offerings,' to teach us to temper our joys with the thousrht of sorrow and affliction.
SERMON UPON LUKE XXII. 31, 32.
A7id the Lard said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to Jiave you, that he may sij^ you as loheat: hut I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not ; and ivhen thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. — Luke xxii. 31, 32.
In the words observe two things — (1.) A warning of clanger approach- ing, ver. 31 ; (2.) A comfort propounded, ver 32. First, In the first branch observe —
1. The person to whom Christ directeth his words ; to Peter, though they concerned all the rest, for it was not him only whom Satan desired to sift, but all of them ; but Christ speaks to him in particular, because it most concerned him. The devil would vex all of them, but our Lord foresaw that he would more grievously fall than his fellow-disciples, and, being more fervent and confident than the rest, was more exposed to temptations ; and when he addresseth his speech to him, he calleth him not Peter, but Simon. It was, Mat. xvi. 18, ' Thou art Peter, and upon this rock will I build my church ;' q. d., the name by which thou art known to me signifieth a rock and stone. But this was when he uttered his good confession ; but now he was to be an instance of human frailty, he calleth him not Peter, but Simon. And mark the ingemination of his name, 'Simon, Simon.' This doubling of his name doth partly intimate aflection, and is as much as to say. My dear Simon ; partly to stir up a serious attention, that he might mark what is said.