family in a suitable disposition to attend to social worship at your coming home? Rather, are they not wearied with the hurries of the day, and wishing for rest? The duty is oftentimes in such a circumstance sadly curtailed, if not totally neglected. And how is it with the closet? That has seldom an evening visit. You have no time to look into your soul, to incurn over the sins of the day, or to call over its mercies; no time for reading or meditation. One neglect of this kind makes way for another; and the professor can content himself with it. O! Christians, has this been the case with any of you? Has this been the case with you, my friend? Has the multiplicity of your affairs, or have your engagements, prevented your often being in your closet? What have you lost! But, alas! you are contented, and think that none can blame you, so long as you have been in company with some of the friends of Jesus. Go on so, and see what will be the consequences. You will gradually lose a relish for the power and pleasures of religion, and your zeal will too much degenerate into controversy. You may talk much of God: but you will walk but little with him. Pardon my freedom, my dear friends; I bring no charge against you, but what I would bring. against myself; and would therefore put myself upon the inquiry, as well as you.

Thus examine into the occasions of your decline. I have given you some instances to direct and help your inquiries. But stop not here, but carefully examine every thing by which you may have provoked God to withdraw his special presence from

you.

II. When you have found the occasions of your decline, humble yourselves before the Lord, guard carefully against them for the future, get your hearts sensibly affected with your loss, and earnestly pray that the Spirit may not depart from you, but graciously return unto you. This was the case with David, of whom we have already spoken. When he was brought to a sense of his sins, how humble ! He fell down prostrate before God, acknowledged and bewailed his backslidings. He was jealous, lest he should have provoked God entirely to withdraw his presence and spirit from him: Therefore he expostulated with him for the return of his favor, and that he would restore those divine consolations, which he had before experienced, but had lately lost. Psal. li. 11, 12. Though we may not have been provoking God to withhold from us his special presence by the commission of such open and public sins as David, yet have we not been too closely attached to the world? Have we neglected some of the great and important duties of the Christian life? Have we been too proud, too careless and secure in our frame, our walk, and behavior? Have we been trifling with God? It certainly becomes us to humble ourselves before him, if we expect his return unto us. We should draw near to him with weeping and lamentation ? should be often endeavoring to

impress our hearts with a sense of our ingratitude"; should be often mourning before the Lord, and should set a mark upon those things that have been the occasions of our decline, that we may watch against them for the future. Be often reflecting upon the loss you have had. Consider the sickly condition your souls have been in, whilst the Spirit was withdrawn from you. Consider how justly God might have left you, had he beenstrict to mark your backslidings: And oh admire his inf nice patience, and earnesdy pray for his spirit to return and breathe upon your dry bones. Let it be your daily concern to beg of God, that he would keep your hearts, your affections, quicken your soul, and not leave you to coldness and formality, When Israel were exhorted to return unto the Lord, after they had sinned, they are directed to return by prayer, and instruc ted how to pray, or what to say. Hos. xiv. 2, 3. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord. Say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously; so will we render thee the calves of our lips, &c. Prayer suits all cases, and is never to be neglected. Is any afflicted? let him pray, James v. 13. So, has any fallen, grieved the Spirit, and lost in some measure that liveliness and vigor of soul he once experienced? Let him return to God by prayer. Take with you words, even those words which God has furnished you with, and come to him: take a promise in your hand, and come and plead it with God for the return of his presence and Spirit.

III Often make use of your covenant-relation to God, in pleading with him, and with your own souls. The person that sent in the case under consideration, does not appear to doubt of his being a Christian. The very form in which the question stands, supposes it; and, upon this supposition, I proceed to give you this necessary direction. Some indeed may say they cannot plead a covenant-relation; for they are greatly in the dark about it, and are therefore afraid to do it. In answer to this, in general, observe-So long as you find your viewing and your pleading your covenant-relation quickens you, humbles you, gets you against all sin, and tends to fill you with love to Jesus and his service, lock upon this as an evidence of your interest in the covenant. Plead therefore my friends, this covenant-re-lation to God, if you would have it better with your souls, and would be in such a frame as to maintain communion with God.

1. Plead it with God. A sense of it tends greatly to give you faith and fervency in prayer, and to fill you with hopes of the divine presence and favour. Here is a glorious argument to make use of with God; rejoice in it, my dear friends, and make frequent use of it. Often throw yourself at the footstool of God's throne, and address him in such language as thisviz.-"Lord, am I not thine? Didst thou not, Ŏ Father, chuse me from eternity, and determine to bestow salvation upon me Didst thou not O mighty God, undertake for me, agree to pu

my name in the book of life, and in consequence of this, come and suffer and die in my stead? And hast thou not renewed me, O eternal Spirit, and set the broad seal of heaven upon' my soul? If I am not thine, Lord, what mean such instances of communion with thee? What means this love to Jesus, these desires after a conformity to his image? Are not these as so many evidences of thine everlasting love? And oh ! wilt thou leave me to wither and languish, to grow cold and formal? Wilt thou not come and kindle this sacred spark afresh, and carry on thy work with an almighty efficacy? I acknowledge, Lord, I am unworthy of thy favour; I have sinned, and deserve thy everlasting displeasure. But did it not please thee, of thine infinite grace to enroll my name amongst thy chosen ones in the volume of eternity? and wilt thou leave me ? Lord, it was thine own act, thy free act; and I would humbly plead it. Therefore come and visit my soul, shed abroad thy love in my heart, pardon my backslidings, and may I be enabled to rejoice in thy covenant-love, and walk and act as one who has a real interest in it." Thus plead with God, and follow the example of the Psalmist, who in all difficulties, temporal and spiritual, addressed God as his God. Oh! the sweetness, the happiness, that is couched in those two words, My God!

2. Often make use of the same argument, and plead this' covenant-relation with your souls. When you find your souls in danger through sin; when you have lost your frame, and feel a coldness and formality, and the hurries of the world tempting you to a carlessness in, and negligence of duty; plead with your souls in some such manner as this," O my soul ! am I acting like an heir of glory, to be thus encumbered, thus anxious, and thus careless? What, did the Father love me from eternity, and give me to his Son? Did Jesus suffer and die for me? And has the Spirit actually renewed me? In consequence of all this, is heaven my portion? Am I born to glory? Oh! and what, so cold, so formal? I will not leave thee, O my soul, in this withering condition. I will plead with thee the Father's everlasting kindness: I will beseech thee by the tender compassions of the Son of God, who gave himself for thee: I will press upon thee the infinite love of the Spirit, who said unto thee, Live. I will not leave thee, till I find things better with thee. May not the Father justly complain of thee? Hear, O my soul, what he says-What, did I look upon thee from everlasting with infinite kindness, and are these the returns thou art making? Is this like one of my chosen vessels? Did I pass by thousands, and look upon thee? And "is this all the sense thou hast of thy obligations to me ?-Hear Jesus gently chiding thee, O my slothful soul: saying, What, did I love thee so as to die for thee? Was the day of thy redemption upon my heart from everlasting? And shall my

cause, my glory, lie so little upon thine? Behold my wounded soul, see my bitter agonies, and all to rescue thee from everJasting death: And wilt thou not love me more?—Hear the Spirit bringing in his charge against thee, and expostulating. with thee-Have I not, in consequence of the Father's everJasting love, and the Mediator's purchase, come and brought thee out of darkness into light? What evidences have I given thee of covenant-love? How have I calmed thy troubled conscience; shed abroad a Saviour's love in thy heart, been a Spirit of grace and supplication in thee, and a Spirit of adoption too? And what, art thou so ungrateful, so cold and secure? Thus may God the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost upbraid and chide thee, O my soul: And shall not this move thee? Lord, my heart begins to melt; it softens, it yields to so much love! Oh, come and do with me what thou pleasest! May I hate sin; may I love thee with greater fervency, and view every earthly enjoyment with indifference, and use all to thy glory."-Thus plead your covenant-relation to God, and all the consequences of it with your souls. Do it frequently, and you will find it through the divine blessing, a happy means of enabling you to live above this world, whilst you are in it; of humbling you for sin; of quickening you under all decays; and of bringing you into a spiritual and heavenly frame, so as to maintain some communion with God, amidst the hurries of life.

IV. If you would keep up communion with God, whilst you are engaged in the affairs of the world, take care and watch over your frame, your ends and views.-You may lawfully follow the world with diligence; but take care that you pursue those measures, that are necessary to keep your hearts at a proper distance from the world, lest they should be too much carried away with it, and entangled in it. Improve what time you can for God. Particularly take care of your frame before you actually enter upon your secular affairs. Be concerned that the world does not creep into your hearts, when you rise in the morning. Your morning frames are of great importance. Labour to throw aside the world; and do not enter upen business, till you have earnestly sought the presence and blessing of God with and upon you. Consider well over, in your closets, the affairs of the day, the temptations you are like to be exposed to; and be earnest with God for his special presence to keep you: And oh ! endeavour to get your hearts impressed with the love of Jesus, and you will be in less danger of being carried away by the temptations of the day. You read in the life of Col. Gardner, that great man had always his two hours with God in a morning.* If his regiment was to march at four, he would be up at two. I doubt not but that frame he had in his closet, often went with him through the day. I would not intimate by this, that it is the duty of every • Sce Col. Gardner's life, page 60,

one of you, my friends, to spend two hours in your closets eve-
ry morning: But I am satisfied, that if no care is taken to set
apart some time to God, that person can never be in a flourish-
ing condition as to his soul. Let me tell you, Early rising is
not only good for the health of the body, but for the health of
the soul too, provided some time is spent with God, and com-
muning with our own hearts. O my friends, strive, wrestle
with God in your morning hours for his presence in the day,
and labour to get love to Jesus enkindled in your breasts, before
you go out of your closets: And watch over your frame in the
day. Examine your ends and views, the principles and springs
from whence you act. Watch over your deceitful hearts.
Walk as in the presence of God. In fine, let the glory of
Christ lie near your hearts, and be afraid of any thing that
may dishonour God, and provoke his Spirit to withdraw from
you. Thus, in endeavouring to cultivate a spiritual frame and
temper, and to walk with humility and circumspection, you
will give evidence of your being Christians indeed; may ex-
pect the presence of God with you; and I doubt not but, through
his divine blessing, you will find your souls in a thriving condi
tion. I would now close these few hints with two remarks-
1. Hence we find, that it is not an easy thing to be a flour.
ishing Christian. We must live much in the exercise of
faith; we must be much upon our guard against sin; we must
be much in our closets, seeking God by prayer, examining our
selves, and keeping a strict watch over our hearts, lest they
should deceive us. A careless Christian cannot be a flourishing
one. If you would grow up like tall cedars, and flourish as trees
of righteousness, you must not be cold. and lifeless, careless
as to your frames and conversation. Like centinels, you must
be ever upon your watch; like persons running a race, you
must be pressing towards the mark with all your might; and
like soldiers, you must be prepared for the battle, and enter
the field with your armour on, that you may get daily advan-
tages over your spiritual enemies, and may go from strength to
strength, from one degree of grace unto another. To be live-
ly Christians, such as glorify God in every circumstance of life,
requires grace to be much in exercise, much of the presence
of God, and constant supplies out of our Redeemer's inexhaust-
ible fulness.

2. We should be each concerned to inquire how it is with our souls, and, if we are upon the decline, to attend unto the directions that have been given. Put off a matter of such vast importance no longer; but examine whether you are Christians indeed, or not, and in what circumstances, whether thriving, or declining: And, if you are upon the decline, let me intreat you to consider what has been said upon this subject, and think it high time to awake out of sleep. Oh ! if you have any concern for the honour of Christ, any concern for the peace