them; and will tell you that it is but such and such reasonable things they desire, and which would make them happy. And those that are under affliction will say, that patience is the most difficult of all virtues, that to be easy under trouble is a contradiction, that religion is not designed to make us stupid and insensible, and who but would struggle hard to free himself from great and pressing misfortunes? And as for men's disregard to the motions of God's Spirit upon their hearts, and the advices, reproofs, and guidance of his ministers, too many are apt to say, they do but as their neighbours do, and none can be perfect in this life, and they wish they could be better, and hope that in great measure God will accept the will for the deed.

These and the like excuses, however thin and insufficient, yet may be and are often made use of, to lay conscience asleep; and some are so unhappy as to rest in them, as at least a tolerable plea.

But then if it be urged home upon them, that the faults before-mentioned, or any other sin, is a waging war with our Maker, and living in rebellion against him who gave us our being, and is the fountain of all our comforts; a resisting and striving against his providence and disposals who made us what we are: what can a sinful creature say to this? what colour, what shadow of an excuse can he have to offer? how will he be for ever put to silence, unless it be to say with Daniel, Righteousness, O Lord, belongeth unto thee, but to me confusion of face! Of such great advantage is it duly to consider, that every act of irreligion and vice, (and much more every habit

d Dan. ix. 7.

of it,) besides what upon other accounts may be said against it, is a striving with our Maker.

II. The vileness and folly of which remains now, in the second place, to be considered.

And, in general, if the height of ingratitude be a vile thing; and if to oppose and contend with our best friend, who is infinitely wiser than we are, and loves us better than we do ourselves, and whose power too is so irresistible, that after all our strugglings his pleasure shall be accomplished one way or other, if not to our happiness, as he at first intended, then to our ruin, since we are resolved to have it so; if this be a foolish thing, then, to strive with our Maker does imply all the folly and baseness that a man can possibly be guilty of.

But more particularly, to strive with our Maker is a most vile and foolish thing, as it signifies,

First, our denying obedience to his commands; for what can be more base and vile than to refuse even our utmost services to that infinitely glorious and good Being who made us what we are! If all our powers of acting are his gift, who has a greater right to determine how we shall act with them than he?

And therefore, not only to refuse to do what he enjoins us, but to oppose him in every thing we can; to commit what we know he hates, and has forbidden, and make use of the abilities he gave us, and by his gracious support still continues to us, in open defiance of him, and to his great dishonour; how base and vile is this!

It is God that has made us, in a double sense, and not we ourselves; not only as he was the Author of our being, and out of nothing made us men, but

likewise as he is our munificent Benefactor, who has raised us to those comfortable circumstances of life which we enjoy so that he, properly, was the making of us (as we speak) in all respects; to his goodness do we entirely owe that plenty, and those prosperous successes, which any of us have enjoyed through the whole course of our lives; and not only the acquisition, but the preservation of our fortunes must be ascribed to the kind care of his good providence.

But then, what bad enough can be said of those who are so little sensible of his constant favours, as to return him nothing but ingratitude and disobedience; the most provoking slights and neglects; nay, to employ those very favours of his in an unnatural rebellion against him!

Nor is this only base to the last degree, but extreme folly too. For every command of God tends directly to our happiness; all that he enjoins is highly for our good and benefit, but not in the least for his own, whose happiness is always complete and full, and can receive no addition; and all that he forbids is in its own nature as bad as poison to us, and therefore he would restrain and keep us from it. So that to live in opposition to our Maker's will, and to throw off his government, is to resolve not to be happy, and to strive and contend for misery with all our force.

And so strangely are we besotted, this we call liberty, not considering that at the same time we are slaves to vile, unruly passions and lusts, and in the most deplorable and shameful captivity to the spirits of darkness; which the apostle thus excellently expresses in the 6th chapter to the Romans,

the 16th and following verses; Know ye not, says he, after all your talk of freedom from the restraints of religion, that his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? As if he had said, Your refusing subjection to God, and living at random, as you please yourselves, at the direction of your lusts, and in compliance with the temptations of the Devil, is only changing a good master for a bad one, and just like preferring slavery to a merciless tyrant, before the easy government of a wise and tender father. And this your own dear-bought experience will abundantly justify: for, when ye were the servants of sin, though, it is true, you had the liberty which you desired, and were free from righteousness, yet what fruit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? Confess the truth, and say what real satisfaction you received from striving with your Maker, and what you gained by your rebellion against him. What but shame and disappointment, and confusion of face, at present; and which, without a sincere and deep repentance, will soon be followed with your utter ruin, for the end of those things is death!

This is a true and lively state of the matter, and will shew a sinner what egregious folly as well as baseness he is guilty of, when he denies obedience to the commands of his Maker, and will be governed by none but himself. For in truth he does but miserably deceive himself all the while; and is not, as he fancies, at his liberty and his own disposal, but is really, as I said before, the Devil's captived slave, led about by him in chains as the wretched

trophy of his conquest, and designed at last for a merciless execution. But,

Secondly, to strive with our Maker is the greatest baseness and folly, as it signifies our murmuring and repining at his disposal of us, and restless discontent at the circumstances he thinks fit to place us in. For what more vile, than for a poor, dependent creature, whose very being is only during the good pleasure of his Maker, and who has nothing but what his bounty has afforded him; what more base and vile, than for such a wretch as this (and all mankind are such) ungratefully to slight and undervalue the many great expressions of his goodness to him, because he complies not with all his fond desires? because we cannot have every thing we wish for, therefore to fret at Providence, and entertain unworthy thoughts of God, and take no notice of those great blessings we have already received of him, and in the enjoyment of which thousands would think themselves very happy: for can the best of us pretend to merit any thing at the hand of God? and is not the least good thing we have, all things considered, very much above our desert? What a strange temper then is it, and utterly to be condemned, for any one to quarrel with Providence, because all his unreasonable cravings are not satisfied, when he has already much more than he deserves!

And how egregiously foolish is it too, when an infinitely wise and powerful and good Being is so kind as to take all our affairs into his own management, and order every thing for our best advantage; to strive and struggle till we have disengaged ourselves from him, and never be easy under any of his