accounted dung, for the excellency of the knowledge of Chriſt Jeſus his Lord . Be this your pattern. Write emptineſs upon your own duties, emptineſs upon your own works; and you ſhall be filled with all the fulneſs of God your Saviour. Every other cauſe of glorying, will be like the morning cloud, or the early dew, which paſſeth away; but this cauſe of glorying will ſtand faſt for evermore, as the moon, and as the faithful witneſs in heaven.
Can I conclude, without adding a word of admonition to the wicked; thoſe, I mean, who are enemies to the croſs of Chriſt; who mind earthly things, but neither hunget nor thirſt after righteouſneſs. My ſoul remembers the wormwood and the gall of ſuch a ſtate, and cannot but tenderly pity theſe unhappy people. Alas! my friends, what have you to glory in? The devil and his angels expect ere long to glory in your deſtruction. Thoſe malignant fiends are eyeing you as their prey, and are impatient to begin your torment. Great, inexpreſibly great is your danger: the Lord Almighty open your eyes to diſcern it. Nevertheleſs, your caſe is not deſperate. You may yet be delivered, as a bird out of the ſnare of the fowler. Look unto the crucified Jeſus. Why does he hang on that bloody tree? Why are his hands pierced with iron? why is his body racked with pain?———Why is his heart torn with anguiſh? It is for you, ſinners, for you.
