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anfwer, The glorious General, although he needs no auxiliaries, yet he has abundance at hand in case of need; as,

1. Under his ftandard, the royal battalion of the divine attributes and perfections ftand ready for thy affiftance; " As the mountains are round about Jerufalem, fo the Lord is round about his people, from henceforth even for ever." The perfections of God, through Chrift, do, as it were, fix their tents round about the foldier. The power of God stands ready for thy protection, his wifdom for thy direction, his holinefs for thy fanctification, his juftice for thy absolution through the blood of the Lamb, his goodness to supply thy wants, his mercy to pardon thy fin, his faithfulness to fulfil his promifes.

2. There is his army of angels ready to ftrike in for thy affiftance in this war: "Are they not all miniftering fpirits, fent forth to minifter for them who are the heirs of falvation?" Where-ever a believer is there is a "Mahanaim, the hoft of God: The angel of the Lord encampeth round about them that fear him."

3. The celestial luminaries, and other creatures of God, are auxiliaries in cafe of need; they fought in their courfes for Ifrael against Sifera. The locufts, the lice, the caterpillars, and other creatures, they came in array against Egypt in their quarrel.

4. All the faints and their prayers are thy auxiliaries, believer; they stand in the fame quarrel, they are ay praying for thy profperity and fuccefs; and their prayers fhall be heard, because the quarrel is the Lord's.

5. He can make enemies themselves thy auxiliaries in this war: "When a man's ways please the Lord, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him." The earth many times helps the woman, as we read, Rev. xii. He rules in the midft of his enemies; and he can take a poor creature out of the devil's army, and fet him to fight his battles against him and all his confederates; as we fee in the cafe of Paul, who, before his converfion, breathed out flaughter and cruelty against the difciples of the Lord; but, by converting grace, was made a champion in the caufe of Chriftianity.

Quef. 6. What is the cafe of deferters in this war, who forfake the General's ftandard, and turn in to the enemy's camp? I answer, It is death by the marshal-law of Heaven; deferters and apoftates fhall be led forth with the workers of iniquity: "If any man draw back, my foul fhall have no pleafure in him: He that puts his hand to the plough, and looks back again, is not fit for the kingdom of heaven." Backfliders

in heart fhall be filled with their own ways, and at laft hung up in chains of darkness, as eternal monuments of the dreadful wrath of the General.

Queft. 7. Can any of Chrift's true foldiers ever be deferters? Anfw. No: they may be captives by the enemy, they may be led captive by the law of fin and death; but they shall never be guilty of total and final defertion. Queft. What fecurity have they against that? An/w. They are fecured against total desertion, by the immutability of God: "Whom he loves, he loves unto the end." They are fecured against it by the promise of God to the great General, that "his feed fhall endure for ever:" by the honour of the General; it would not be for his credit, that principalities and powers, whom he hath spoiled, fhould make a fpoil of thofe that belong to him. They are fecured by their union with Chrift; they are not only his foldiers, but his members; and his body myftical shall never be mutilate. They are fecured against it by the inhabitation of the Holy Ghoft, which fhall never be taken from him or his feed, as you fee in the last verse of this chapter wherein my text lies, "My Spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, fhall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy feed, nor out of the mouth of thy feed's feed, faith the Lord, from henceforth and for ever." They are fecured against desertion by the very life of Chrift: "Because I live, ye fhall live alfo." The life of the foldier is bound up in the General: "Our life is hid with Chrift in God." They are fecured by the interceffion of Chrift; "he prays for them, that their faith fail not." In a word, "they are kept by the power of God through faith unto falvation."

Queft. 8. How long will the war laft? Anfw. It lasts till death, and no longer; for then the glorious General will found the retreat, and call his foldiers off the field. Hence Paul rejoiced at the profpect of his diffolution, because then he faw his warfare near a clofe: "I have fought the good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous Judge fhall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing."

Queft. 9. When the war is ended, what comes of the victorious foldiers? I anfwer, They "return and come to Zion with fongs, and everlasting joy upon their heads; they obtain joy and gladness, and forrow and fighing flee away." And if you would know more particularly what provifion the General VOL. II.

has

has made for his volunteers and victorious foldiers, when the war is ended, you may fee an account of it in the 2d and 3d chapters of the book of the Revelation, at the end of every epiftle to the feven churches of the Lefler Afia, which you may read at your own leifure.

The oth and laft queftion fhall be this, Will you give us your best advice, in order to our fuccessful management of our Chriftian warfare, while we are yet upon the field of battle ? Belide what has been offered already in the former part of this difcourfe, take thefe following.

1. See that ye be really joined to Christ's standard, lift up by the Spirit of the Lord. There is not a fon of Adam but is born under the devil's colours, wearing his livery; and while you are under the black ftandard of hell, I mean, in a natural itate, you can never fight the battles of the Lord, or ftrike a fair stroke in his quarrel.

2. Study to be well acquaint with your glorious General, and keep him ever in your view. A fight of him lightens the heart, and infpires the foul with fuch courage and joy, that though hell, death, and all imaginable danger were in the foul's way, it will not be afraid. Hence the faints are fo frequently called to look to him in their Chriftian work and warfare, If xlv. 22. “ Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." This is what the foldiers exhort one another to, Heb. xii. 1. 2. “Let us run with patience the race that is set before us, looking unto Jefus."

3. Obferve carefully the orders of the General. By the mar fhal-law, it is death for a foldier to difobey the orders of his commander; what anarchy and confufion would there be in an army, if it were otherwife? And though kings, parliaments, magistrates, and minifters, or be what they will, command or require you to do otherwise than your General has directed you, you have a ready answer at hand," Whether it be right to obey God or men, judge ye."

4. Be fure to keep the rank and fphere wherein the General has put thee; for he is not the author of confusion, but a God of order. So foon as an army in battle begins to break rank, and to fall into diforder, it is a fign that they are worsted by the enemy; and therefore great care is taken by a fkilful general, to keep the foldiers in their proper rank and order. So here, the Captain of falvation will have every one to abide in the vocation into which he is called; he will have magiftrates to act under him in their sphere, minifters in theirs, and private Chriftians in their capacity: and if every one thus study to ferve the Lord in their proper ftations, the whole body thail

be

be edified and built up, and the very women who tarry at home fhall divide the fpoil,

5. Whenever you find yourself diftreffed by the attacks of the enemy, fin, Satan, or the world, be fure to cry to your General for help; for he is on your head, and he pails on before you, This has been the practice of the followers of the Lamb in all ages of the world, Pfal. xxxiv. 6. " This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him; and faved him out of all his troubles." You have the orders of the General for this, "Call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." The cry of one of his foldiers, in diftrefs by the enemy, goes to his heart, and weakens his refentment; how much more, when the whole church of God cry together to heaven, because of the injury done to her by boars and wolves? He comes up at the cry of his poor people, when oppreffed in their civil or fpiritual privileges; you have a lecture to this purpose, Pfal. xviii. 6. "In my distress I called upon the Lord, (when the floods of ungodly men made him afraid)." Well, the General takes the field, and see what awful work follows, ver. 7-9. and downward, when he appeared, "The earth fhook and trembled; the foundations alfo of the hills moved, and were fhaken, because he was wroth. There went up a fmoke out of his noftrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it. He bowed the heavens alfo, and came down. He rod upon a cherub, and did fly. He thundered in the heavens, and the Higheft gave his voice. He fent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them. He fent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters."

6. Lastly, Never let your General's ftandard fall, if you can hold it up. If the enfign-bearer in time of battle be wounded or killed, and the ftandard fall to the ground, the foldier that is next at hand will lift it up, and carry it in his room; great care is taken to keep up the flandard: fo let every Chriftian, in this war, ftudy to keep up the standard. Christ has lift up his ftandard in Scotland, a standard of pure doctrine, worship, difcipline, and government; the enemy is come in like a flood, in order to pull down the ftandard; fome attempting to pull down the ftandard of doctrine, ftriking at the foundation God hath laid in Zion, by denying the fuppreme Deity of the Son of God; others are ftriking at the ftandard of government, endeavouring to introduce Epifcopal, Independent, Eraftian fchemes; others attempting to deftroy the difcipline, by tyrannical ufurpation upon the rights of the Lord's people, in choofing their own paitors; a whole covenanted

covenanted work of reformation is ftruck at. Now, I fay, let it be your care and concern, in your station, to lift up his ftandard, when others are pulling it down. Contend earnestly for the faith delivered to the faints, especially for the truths that are most struck at in our day: contend for the liberty wherewith Chrift hath made us free. And if the Spirit of the Lord has been lifting up the ftandard in you, and over you, at this occafion, by fpecial manifeftations of his love, O study to maintain it, keep up a good correspondence between the Lord and you : and, for this end, beware of unbelief, pride, vanity, carnality, and every thing that may separate betwixt you and your God; and if at any time the enemy come in like a flood, and carry you off your feet, never rest till you get a new fight of the ftandard, and a new reading by faith of the mottoes of the standard. To conclude, whenever you find the enemy rallying his forces, and making a new attempt upon you, improve this promife by faith in prayer, When the enemy fhall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord fhall lift up a ftandard against him. "Faithful is he that hath promised,

he will alfo do it.”

THE BELIEVER's JOURNEY FROM THE WILDERNESS OF THIS WORLD TO THE HEAVENLY CANAAN,

BEING TWO SERMONS,

Preached upon a Thanksgiving-day, after the administration of the Sacrament of the LORD'S SUPPER in the Tolbooth Church of Edinburgh, March 6. and in the Tron Church, March 7. 1732; and afterwards enlarged upon in feveral Sermons at Stirling.

Cant. viii. 5.-Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness 2 leaning upon her Beloved?

N the beginning of this chapter, we find the church, under the notion of the fpoufe or bride, breathing after further degrees of familiarity and fellowship with Chrift, the glorious Bridegroom of fouls, than the had ever yet attained to: "O that thou wert as my brother, that fucked the breafts of my mother!" Obferve, They that know the Lord, will follow

on

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