world, or the God of it. The man that engages in God's work while he is a stranger to the fruits of the fpirit, and to Chrift the first fruit, is no minifter of the new teftament, no evangelift, no minifter of the fpirit. He may be an hireling, or a minifter of the letter, but no man can partake. of his grace, for he has none. He that is a stranger to grace, to Chrift, and to his own perfonal election, is no foldier of Christ Jefus, nor is it likely he should ever please him, because he has not chofen him to be a foldier. Unbelievers cannot fight the good fight of faith, confequently cannot please God as foldiers, for without faith 'tis impoffible to please him; for graceless, unrenewed, unpanoplied men to fet themselves against the world, while they are of it, and against fin while in bondage to it, and against the devil while he reigns in their hearts and leads them captive at his will, is like Satan cafting out Satan. Keep this fervant of the Lord in your eye in this his twofold character, as a labourer in the vineyard, and a good foldier of Jefus Chrift, while I difmifs this part of the fubject, and pass on to my fecond general head, which is to fhew you; First, in the negative; fecondly, in the positive, what is not, and what is meant by the word frive in my text, or defcribe lawful and unlawful frife.

Graceless minifters and empty profeffors will never ftrive lawfully; all their ftrife is in behalf of themselves. Their friving is, either to get a

name,

name, get a livelihood, keep a restless conscience quiet, or elfe, they preach to oppose others and injure them in the work of the Lord, charging them in their fermons with being influenced with Antinomianifm, party zeal, and a bad fpirit, which is in fact charging them with the fpirit of the devil; but no wonder, they called the master of the house Belzebub, accufed him of breaking the law, and profaning the fabbath, both which are Antinomianifm, and a bad fpirit; if the master fared thus, what can the houshold expect? the fervant is not above his Lord. Such indeed preach Christ even of envy and ftrife, and fome alfo of good will. The one preach Christ of contention, not Sincerely, fuppofing to add affliction to another's bonds, Phil. i. 15, 16. Thefe can never frive lawfully, because they are deftitute of that power that maintains a lawful ftrife. A labourer in the Lord's vineyard will strive against the errors and defperate profanity of the wicked, notwithstanding the cruel ufage, and ftrong oppofition that may be made against him; and the spirit of God. will make them maintain this ftrife and ftand their ground at it as long as he pleafes. Noah was an bufbandman, and a labourer agreeable to my text, in both fenfes of the word, for he was a preacher of righteoufnefs, he ftrove with the Antediluvians for upwards of an hundred years, till God put an end to the ftrife, and caused those that firove with him to perish, Ifai. xli. 11. faying,

My

My Spirit fhall not always ftrive with man, fieing be is flesh, Gen. vi. 3. this is lawful strife.

2dly. When graceless men get into pulpits, they fet themselves against the faith of the gofpel, being ignorant of it; and therefore in order to keep up their popularity, they charge it with licentiousness, and to amuse and blind a fimple people, they turn afide to vain jangling, being strangers to gospel confiftency, they defire to be teachers of the law, knowing neither what they fay, nor whereof they affirm. Thefe fet the law against the promises of God, and by their unbelief try to make the faith of God without effect. Thefe are not to be admitted into the houses of the faints, nor are we to bid them God speed, left we partake of their evil deeds: the faints of God are all to unite as the heart of one man to oppofe fuch as these, and refcue the faith which they want to make void out of their hands, and not to flinch from this work, nor be afraid of the opponents. Stand faft in one spirit, with one mind, striv-. ing together for the faith of the gospel, and in nothing terrified by your adverfaries, which is to them an evident token of perdition, but to you, of falvation, and that of God, Phil. i. 27, 28. this is lawful strife.

3dly. A labourer in the Lord's vineyard is to enlarge his work as much as poffible, and to abide the longeft where he fees he is moft ufeful; and as the Lord's labourers have different gifts, one after this manner and another after that,

they

they are to vifit the churches occafionally, and not to be difcouraged though here and there a Diotrephes will shut them out, and prate against them with malicious words, in order to keep the pre-eminence, 3 John ix. 10. and not only vifit the churches, but break up fresh ground and endeavour to raise up new plantations, which the fluggard refufeth to do by reafon of the cold. 'Tis often seen that God keeps his fervants labouring in dark and barren parts of the earth till they are stocked with large ftore of experience and knowledge, and then uses them at the opening of the gates and in the high places of the city: Yea fo have I firived to preach the gospel, not where Christ was named, left 1 fhould build on another man's foundation, Rom. xv. 20. but where he was not named; this is lawful ftrife.

4thly. A labourer in the Lord's vineyard will often be troubled with the little foxes that spoil the vines; which foxes are falfe prophets-thy prophets are like the foxes in the deferts, Ezek. xiii. 4. called foxes because of their cuning and fubtlety, and the ftink that they make in the noftrils of God. These bring in damnable berefies to oppofe the truth, and try to undermine the walls of falvation, prate againft divine inspiration, and cavil at faith and a good confcience; whilft separating the vile from the precious, is doing the work of a party fpirit; declaring the whole counsel of God faithfully, is doing the work of a bad fpirit, to hold the mystery of faith in a pure

confcience,

confcience, is to be an Antinomian; to hold Chrift as the end of the law for righteoufnefs, and the end of the commandment, to be charity; and both these in the heart by the Spirit as the righteousness of the law fulfilled in them, is making void the law; enforcing a union with Chrift, and a walk in the fpirit, is fetting afide the rule of life; and preaching the grace of God, is called rocking the cradle of the devil; preaching one's own teftimony is preaching felf; refufing confederacy with the wicked is fingularity; and he must be taken down in a public pulpit that magnifies his office:-While preaching to please men is doing the work of an evangelift; preaching philosophy is doing the work of a learned divine; he that preaches the principles of flesh and blood is a man of moderation; and he that gives up the truth, gives into errors, connives at flander, and juftifies the wicked, is a man of candour. I cannot think but that these things will go by other names in the great day of judgment; I think it will be called walking in craftinefs, and handling the word of God deceitfully. These men take away the hedge of God's vineyard, and let the wild boar out of the foreft into it.

1

The Lord look down in pity and vifit this vine, and enable his fervants to ftand in the gaps, and make up the breaches; for there are many who are trying to remove the bounds that God has fet, and the fences that difcriminating grace has made, and fo to lay the inclofures of God level with the

C

common