Let every man abide in the same calling wherein he was called. 1 Cor. vii. 20.

MOST of the employments of life are in their own nature lawful; and all those that are so, may be made a substantial part of our duty to God, if we engage in them only so far, and for such ends, as are suitable to beings that are to live above the world. This is the only measure of our application to any worldly business; it must have no more of our hands, our hearts, or our time, than is consistent with a hearty, daily, careful preparation of ourselves for another life. For since all true Christians have renounced this world to prepare themselves by daily devotion and universal holiness, for an eternal state of quite another nature, they must look upon worldly employments as upon worldly wants and bodily infirmities; things not to be desired, only to be endured and suffered, till death and the resurrection has carried us to an eternal state of real happiness. A persou's being called into the kingdom of grace, is not designed to make void the duties that arise from his peculiar calling or situation in life, but to enforce the practice of them in such a way, as may be most to the glory of God. He therefore that does not consider the things of this life as of little moment, or even nothing, in comparison of the things that are eternal, cannot be said either to feel or believe the greatest truths of Christianity.

Lord, save me from my calling's snare,
From fraud and from the love of gain;

My hand be fill'd with worldly care,

But all my heart with thee remain.

And the loftiness of man shall be bowed down ;``and the haughtiness of men shall be made low; and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. Isa. ii. 17.

PRIDE was not made for man," says the son of Sirach; " and the proud in heart are an abomination to the Lord:" and yet what more common than pride and self-righteousness among the fallen children of Adam? So deeply are they engrafted in our corrupt natures, that nothing short of Almighty Grace can root them up. It is the great design and effect of the blessed gospel, wherever it is applied to the heart by the Spirit of God, to mortify this cursed temper. In that day the haughtiness of man, his self-will, which he set up in opposition to the will of God, shall be brought down; and his self-righteousness, by which he thought to recommend himself to the favour of God, shall be made low; and Christ and his righteousness alone shall be exalted.

Hath this precious promise ever been fulfilled in thy experience, O my soul? Is the will of God thy rule? is the righteousness of Christ thy hope? and is the language of thy heart and life," Let God in all things be exalted in me, and by me, through Christ Jesus?" Without this, O my soul, thy profession is vain, thy faith is also vain, and thou art yet in thy sins!

Lord, lay my legal spirit low,

And ev'ry lofty look subdue;

Bid all my heart to Jesus bow,
Exalt, and love, and trust him too.

I know also, my God, that thou triest the heart, and hast pleasure in uprightness. 1 Chron. xxix. 17. Ile is a buckler to them that walk uprightly. Prov. ii. 7. The Lord looks on the heart. 1 Sam. xvi. 7.

s God searches the heart and tries the reins, he cannot be deceived by outward form; we ought not therefore to deceive ourselves in this particular. It is no certain proof of a real conversion to God, if we only reform the grosser sins of our former lives, much less if we only abstain from such things as by nature we are not so much inclined to indulge; but if our hearts are so renewed by the grace of the Holy Spirit, as to be firmly and habitually opposed to our most beloved lusts, we have a good evidence of a real conversion: for these inward capital enemies the Lord and all his upright followers attack most before all the rest. If we would give over that which is dearest to us, we must first know and believe that Christ is both able and willing to help us; and has lovingly engaged his word that none shall seek his face in vain. Let us keep this thought ever in our minds, and it will both stir up faith and encourage diligence in seeking after salvation.

Mistaken souls! that dream of Heav'n,

And make their empty b ast Of inward joys and sins forgiv'n, While they are slaves to lust. Vain are our fancies, airy flights,

If faith be cold and dead; None but a living pow'r unites

To Christ, the living Head.

'Tis faith that changes all the heart ;

"Tis faith that works by love;
That bids all sinful joys depart,

And lifts the thoughts above.
Faith must obey her Father's will,
As well as trust his grace;
A pard'ning God is jealous still
For his own holiness.

I will hedge up thy way with thorns, and make a wall that she shall not find her paths; and she shall follow after her lovers, but she shall not overtake them: and she shall seek them and not find them; then shall she say, I will go and return unto my first husband, for then was it better with me than now, Hosea ii. 6, 7.

As it is only with Thee, O my dear Saviour, that I can be happy, I

would never leave thee any more; and that I may not slip from thee nnawares, even under good pretences, I desire to have my way well hedged up, and be encompassed everywhere with thorns. Let me quickly discover and crucify every thing which would give thee the least disturbance to the enjoyment of thy love, that I may always closely walk with thee alone, and never take a step out of thy way, for fear of running myself into the thorns, and bringing unnecessary suf ferings upon me; though I do not mean to avoid the cross of Christ in other respects, but would willingly submit to any sufferings which are never without good fruit. Glory be to thee, O my blessed Saviour, that thou hast not given me up yet, and suffered me to run into destruction in my own ways! O be pleased to restrain me evermore ; and whenever I am in danger of sliding into the broad way, let me find no rest till I am brought back, though it be through the briars of affliction.

I know thy judgments, Lord, are right,
Tho' they may seem severe;
The shortest sufferings I endure
Flow from thy faithful care.

Before I knew thy chast ning rod,

My feet were apt to stray;
But now I learn to keep thy word,
Nor wander from the way.

And he said, Art thou my very son Esau ? And he said, I am.

Gen. xxvii. 24.

THERE are certainly some circumstances in this affair which may help a little to excuse Jacob and his mother, but cannot justify them.-. The case may be thus stated: It cannot be denied, on the one hand, but that both Jacob and his mother were justly to be praised for having a due esteem of the father's solemn blessing, and for their endeavouring to attain it; since this could proceed from no other motive but a full persuasion of the truth of God's promises and covenant with Abraham. And thus, from the consideration of the goodness of the end, and from Jacob's title to the blessing as accompanying the birth-right, as also from the fore-appointment of God, together with Isaac's approbation of the thing, when done, may be drawn some arguments to lessen their crime. But, on the other hand, it must be confessed, that the means used to attain their ends, were highly criminal. Rebecca was wrong in her advice to her son, and he was wrong in following it; for though God, before he was born, designed him to inherit the blessing, yet he ought to have waited until the Divine Wisdom opened the way, and not have anticipated God, and procured the blessing by an irregular act of his own. Besides, both of them, by this act, presumed to limit the power of God, by think ing that fraud was needful to accomplish God's purpose.

For God's good promise let me wait,
Tho' fear would oft my faith forbid;

Nor venture on a pious fraud,

As Jacob and Rebecca did.