dll spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Mercies are never rightly known, when their author is not rightly known. They are but confused thoughts that the most part of people have concerning the providences they meet with, as concerning the God that they worship. They meet with merciful dispensations, and they are pleased with them, but they are not profited by them; the reason is, because they do not know who sent them. It is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that hath shewn me this mercy. Oh, what a great endearment of mercy, to know the name of the sender of it! So it is also with respect to afflictions and trials; what a great blessing is it to know this! see how our Lord useth it himself, The cup that my Frther hath given me, shall I not drink it? John xviii. 11. If it was a cup that men only gave me to drink, I might quarrel with it, and I should have just cause for it; if it was a cup the devil gave me to drink, I would reject it; but it is a cup that my Father hath given me to drink, and therefore I must drink it; and I will drink it, and drink it cheerfully. The cup that my Father hath given me, shall I not drink it? As if our Lord should have said, "Can you make any doubt of the reasonableness of my "cheerful submission to what my Father doth ?" And as our Lord practised this himself, so it is what we are directed to by the apostle at large, in the twelfth chapter of the Hebrews, from the 6th to the 11th verse, where the whole topic of the apostle runs this way. Patience under tribulation, of what sort soever it be, is argued from this consideration, that he is a Father who doth it. No great wonder if there is struggling and kicking against the yoke of the Lord, when people do not know the heart and mind and love of him that sent it. What son is he that the Father chasteneth not? if ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as sons, Heb. xii. 7.; and you should deal with him as a Father, in bearing it patiently. So much for this first thing in the words-the person the apostle directs his praise to, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. The next thing that follow to be spoken to, is the form and manner of the apostle's praising, Blessed be he, a word frequent in the New Testament. Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

SERMON XI.

1 PETER L 3, 4.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, audio according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead: to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you.

THE apostle's entrance on this epistle is with thanks

2dly, The

3dly, The

giving, as is the usual manner of the holy men of God that write unto the churches. This I have taken up in three things. 1st, The party that is blessed, to whom thanks is given, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. form and way of the thanksgiving, blessed be he. matter and the ground of this praise, he hath begotten us to a lively hope, by the resurrection of Christ from the dead, to an incorruptible inheritance; and this I divided into four things. 1st, The matter of the blessing, simply in itself, begetting us again to a lively hope. 2dly, The spring of it, according to his abundant mercy. All dispensations of grace to the children of men spring from the abundant mercy of God. is the ground and means of conveying this blessing; it is by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Lastly, The grand issue and design of this great work; it is to an incorruptible undefiled inheritance reserved in heaven.

3dly, There

I have already finished the first of these; the name of the person to whom the apostle's praise is directed, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ: how God the Father is the God, and how he is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, I have also spoken to: I have also shewn how this truth is to be guided and improved by us in six particulars, that I would but just name, and then proceed. 1st, This may direct us in the knowledge of God: none know the true God, but they who know him under this name, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2dly, This may direct and instruct us in the knowledge of Christ himself: for as we cannot know the

Father but by the Son, so we are not to know the Son, bu as he is in the Father: as the uncreated, invisible, and,incomprehensible glory of God shines in the face of Jesus Christ, so the glory of Jesus Christ is never seen but when the glory of God is seen shining in his face. 3dly, This directs us about the original high spring of our salvation. Jesus Christ is every where called the Saviour: for nothing could be done about our salvation, till Christ undertook it; but it was the Father that appointed him to be the Saviour, and our salvation in the first rise of it arose from an act of grace in the Father's heart about us. 4thly, This may direct us what faith in Jesus Christ is ; what believing on Jesus Christ is, and what its nature believing on Jesus Christ is, a poor sinner, a stran. ger, an enemy to God, pleading for peace, for kindred, for friendship and blessings from God, through Jesus Christ. If God was not the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, no sinner could lay any claim to kindness from him.. 5thly, This may direct you in the worship of God. It is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you must serve and pray to every day; if you forget this, you forget the God you call upon; and they who forget the God they pray to, it is little matter whether they forget the prayers that they make or not it is all to one purpose whether their prayers be forgotten or remembered. For this cause 1 bor my knees, saith the apostle Who is this, if one should say, that thou art so much in praying to, and so often upon thy knees in speaking to? saith the apostle, For this cause I bow my knees to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ; as if he had said, “I "should never have a heart to call upon God, but that I know him by this name, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ." Lastly, This name of God is of great use to direct us in improving all the providences of God, whether they be mercies or crosses. They who do not see God's name written upon his dealings, can never make a good use of them. The Lord's voice crieth unto the city, saith the prophet, and the man of wisdom shall see thy name, Mic. vi. 9. Unless people see God's name in his dealings, they cannot possibly profit under them.

II. That which now follows in the second place to be spoken to, is the form and way of the apostle's blessing this God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Blessed be he. It is not only "blessed is he," though that be true, but "blessed be "he." Concerning this praising of the Lord, I would first speak more generally of the duty of praise and thanksgiving in itself, and then speak of it more particularly, as relating to the apostle's aim and scope in this text.

1st, Concerning this duty in itself; we find these things plainly about it: 1st, That praise and thanksgiving is well deserved by the Lord; his excellency in himself, and his bounty and mercy towards us, call for it. There is nothing more a debt, and more a duty, than praise and thanksgiving is;-God is deserving of our praises. 2dly, Blessing of the Lord is frequently called for in the word, very often in the book of Psalms. Bless ye the Lord; bless him all ye kindreds of the earth; bless him all ye nations, Psal. Ixvi. 8. lxviii. 26.— This is often called for; probably if it were well examined, there are more charges in the word for praises than for prayer. 3dly, We find that the saints were much taken up in this duty of blessing and praising God; most part of the Psalms are taken up this way. We can hardly find any account of any dealings with God, but praise made up part thereof. Nay, not only the saints, but their Lord and Master, was greatly given to this work of praise; we find him frequently at it, Luke x. 21. I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth. When he was giving the wine at his table, he gave thanks, Matth. xxvi. 27.-This duty of praising was frequently practised by the saints. Nay farther, 4thly, we find the saints frequently exciting themselves to this duty of blessing the Lord: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name; bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits, Psal. ciii. 1, 2. Pray now, what doth a man do when he blesses God? When God blesseth us he does somewhat, and a great somewhat too; but when we bless God, we do just nothing, or that which is next to nothing at all. When we bless God, we can give nothing, for nothing can be given to him. Rom. xi. 34. Who hath given to the Lord, and it shall be recompensed to him again? But

is our blessing of God then nothing? No, there is somewhat in it, for all that; though our blessing him is not like his blessing us his blessing of us, is wishing well, and doing well to us, it is his mending our state by his blessing our blessing him, is wishing well to him; it is not doing him. any good by mending his state, for that is perfect.-We find the saints in scripture stirring up themselves to bless and praise the Lord, though they know they can do but little at it.

Lastly, We find, concerning this praising, that heaven is prepared for it. Heaven is not only a state of glory, that will lay the partakers thereof under an everlasting debt to give praise; but it is a place where praise is to be given. There are a great many things to be done by us whilst we are here upon earth; we must pray, and we must believe, and we must suffer, and we must have patience in tribulation, and we must rejoice in hope, and we must serve the Lord in all humility, and fear, and watchfulness; but none of these things are in heaven; there is only one work that is appointed for heaven, and heaven is appointed for it, and that is praising. We are to be to the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the Beloved. The name of the Lord Jesus Christ is to be glorified in us, and we in him, 2 Thess. i. 12. Heaven itself, and all the blessing that lead to it, are all appointed, bestowed, and dispensed purposely, for the end of praise in general. It is deserved by the Lord, required by him, paid to him by his people, who frequently stir up themselves to the work; and we find that heaven is appointed for it.

2dly, What then is this blessing and praising God, so much spoken of in the word, practiced by the saints, and commanded by God? It stands in these three things: 1st, Owning his perfect blessedness in himself, in all the appearances of it to his creatures. When we bless him, we only own what is in him; but we do not add any thing to him. It is only the inconceivable blessedness and perfection of God, that shine to us in his word and works, which we see and own when we bless him. If thou sinnest, what dost thou against him? or if thy transgressions be multiplied, what dost thou unta