Besides ;  do  consider  that,  if  you  had  the  assurance  of
your  own  personal  election,  it  would  not  alter  the  path  of
duty  in  the  least.  It  would  unbind  nothing  that  is  binding
on  Christians.  It  would  not  prevent  trials,  nor  exempt  you
from  temptations.  It  would,  indeed,  I  grant,  cheer  you  in
the  path  of  duty  and  suffering,  to  know  that  you  were
chosen  and  called  to  eternal  life ;  and  thus,  although  not
absolutely  necessary  to  your  success,  it  is  certainly  desira-
ble for  your  comfort.  I  will  even  go  farther,  and  affirm,
(for  the  Word  of  God  bears  me  out  in  doing  so,)  that  you
will  do  and  suffer  the  will  of  God  better  when  you  know


96  FIERY    DARTS   OT   SATAN.
your  election  of  God.  But,  if  you  really  want  to  know  it
for  holy  purposes,  it  is  not  such  a  secret  as  you  have  hith-
erto imagined,  nor  as  you  were  sure  to  find  it,  from  the  way
you  took  to  discover  it.
