MEDITATION LII.

COMPARISONS.

July 20. 1758.

To make my situation more pleasant, in this meditation let me run a comparison between the sealife, and the Christian life, which is properly called a warfare.

1. Then, we embark all in one common cause; so have all Christians one interest.

2. We leave our own country, our friends, and our native land; so must every Christian, so must the church forget her father's house, and her own people.

3. Sometimes we enter into his Majesty's service against the opinion and inclination of our nearest friends; so sometimes, in becoming disciples of Jesus, we must deny our nearest connections, and dearest friends.

4. We do not entangle ourselves with the affairs of the land, as we belong to the sea; so must the saint not entangle himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who hath chosen him to be a spiritual soldier.

5. We are all maintained by the King; so are all Christians by the throne of Heaven.

6. We come here neither uncalled nor unwelcome, however unfit; so none that come to Jesus shall ever be cast out.

7. Some are impressed for the service of their king and country; so nothing less than almighty power can make the sinner submit to Jesus.

8. We undergo a great change of life when we

forsake the land, and dwell on the ocean; but they share in a greater change, who are translated from darkness into light, from the power of Satan to the living God.

9. Our way of walking must be changed, else we shall catch many a fall on the deck; so Christians must not walk as other men, else they shall not keep the path of life.

10. Our food must be changed, and adapted to our way of life; so must Christians live as well as walk by faith, and feed on heavenly food.

11. Our provisions must be of such a nature as to keep long free of putrefaction, and answer in every climate; so must the saint feed on Jesus the bread of life, who can nourish in every condition below.

12. We must forego our easy life, and expect to be washed by the briny wave, and beaten by the storm; so Christians must not expect to loll in the lap of pleasure in a world where they are to have tribulation and pain.

13. We must keep continual watch fore and aft the ship, and the crew dare never all sleep at once; so must the Christian watch continually, watch unto all prayer, and be ever on his guard.

14. Our very dialect distinguishes us from the inhabitants on land; so should the Christian be known from the men of the world, by his innocent, useful, edifying, and religious discourse, managed always with discretion.

15. We have a discipline peculiar to ourselves, and pretty severe; so has the Christian church from her Lord a government and discipline which none can alter or abrogate...

16. We must not expect to quit the tempes

tuous element till the war be finished, and peace proclaimed; so the Christian needs not expect to be disengaged from trouble and turmoil till the spiritual war is ended, and eternal peace brought in.

17. We must always be ready to engage the enemy, as we know not when we may meet, and where we must fight; so the Christian, being in the midst of his enemies, must always be ready for the battle.

18. We are provided with arms and ammunition for the day of battle at the king's coast; so is every saint with the whole armour of God.

19. Sometimes an engagement at sea is made more dreadful by the darkness of the night; so sometimes, in the darkness of desertion, the saint is surrounded with all his cruel foes.

20. We must fight before we get the victory; so must the Christian conquer ere he obtain the

crown.

21. We are provided with men of the healing art to give assistance to the wounded and diseased; so have the saints a tender-hearted Physician, who binds up the broken heart, cures the painful wound, and pours in the healing balm.

22. We have a steward who gives us our provisions daily, and not all at once, yet we have no uneasiness, knowing there is plenty under his hand, and that he has orders not to let us starve; so the saints, either in respect of spiritual provision, or daily bread, need never be disquieted for futurity, since Jesus is appointed of the Father a steward to all the children of God, since all the fulness of the Godhead is treasured up in him for their supply, and since, to their unspeakable pro

fit, all their provision, of one or other kind, is not given to them at once, but kept in his hand.

23. We have persons among us of all nations, English, Scots, Irish, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, French, Spaniards, Germans, Swiss, Italians, Russians, Indians, &c. of all dispositions, of all employments, and of all ages; so the Catholic church is composed of all nations, people, and languages, and of young and old.

24. We are appareled in a different manner from the men on land; so Christians are covered, both with the justifying righteousness of Christ, and with the righteousness of saints.

25. Officers, men, boys, are allowed the same quantity of provisions in the same time; so the ful ness of the covenant, the fatness of God's house, is alike free to all the members of Christ.

26. We have several officers here, without whom we could not be governed; so in the church there are officers for the government of the whole body.

27. We are in the midst of dangers, and yet are preserved; so the church, like a lily among thorns, grows, and is not choaked; is a busli burning, but not consumed; sometimes persecuted: of men, but never forsaken of God.

28. In a voyage, or on a cruize, we are cut off from all the world, and have no communication with any; so the church and people of God shall dwell alone, not mingle with the people, nor be reckoned among the nations.

29. Every loss we sustain in an engagement is. borne by government; but when we conquer, we divide the spoil, and share the prize-money among us; so God supports his people in their.

spiritual warfare, makes up every loss, enriches them with the spoils of their enemies, and at last puts palms in their hands, and crowns on their heads.

30. When the war is ended, and peace restored, we retire with all our acquisitions, to receive the congratulations of our friends, and enjoy ourselves in peace and, tranquillity as long as we shall live; even so, at death we trample on our last enemy, quit the field with triumph, go to the blessed society of saints and angels, receive a crown of immortal glory, and are happy beyond expression, beyond conception, in the enjoyment of God and the Lamb for evermore,

MEDITATION LIII.

OUR SORROW FOR SIN TOO CONTRACTED.

July 22. 1758.

Now, to my grief, I am among sinners; and it corrodes my spirits that they with whom I am concerned in one vessel, and in one interest, should so sin against God. Though there were no wickedness committed in this ship, yet how does it prevail through the whole British fleets with which I am connected; but though I were out of the navy, yet I am still concerned with Britain; or though out of Britain, I am still in the world, and therefore concerned with the whole inhabitants thereof.. Now, I see my sorrow for sin is not so universal as it ought to be; for while I lament great sins, gross abominations, and detestable crimes, I am apt to overlook mental corruption, and natural depra