_ 
 
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 1 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
T II E 
 
 CONTEMPLATIONS AND LETTERS 
 
 HENRY DORNEY, 
 
 OF ULEY, GLOUCESTERSHIRE. 
 
 ANDOVER: 
 PUBLISHED BY W. F. DRAPER. 
 
 BOSTON: GOULD AND LINCOLN. 
 NEW YORK: WILEY AND HAL8TED. 
 
 1858. 
 
^ 
 
 *Vo 
 
 3^' 
 
 The Contemplations and Letters of Henry Dorney were held 
 in high estimation by Madam Phebe Phillips. The copy, which 
 she used, came down to her as an Heirloom from her pious ances- 
 tors, and was ranked, on her private table, next to her Bible and 
 Hymn-book. So highly did she esteem the work, that she copied 
 out, with her own hand, a large part of the volume for the use of 
 a friend. It is now reprinted as a precious memorial of one of 
 the honored Founders of the Theological Institution. 
 
 Gin 
 Bertram Smith 
 March 15, 193^1 
 

 u 
 ? 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE OX THE NATURE, MEANS, 
 
 AND METHOD OF SALVATION, 5 
 
 HOW TO FIND GOD A SANCTUARY IN THE TIME OF 
 
 TROUBLE, 85 
 
 113 
 
 1SG 
 
 158 
 
 220 
 
 226 
 
PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 NATUIIE, MEANS, AND METHOD OF SALVATION, 
 
 Isaiah 45: 17. 
 But Israel shall be saved in the Lord. 
 
 The poor dove being sent abroad, and gliding over the 
 great flood, at last found an olive branch and returned to the 
 ark. In like manner, my confused thoughts have soared 
 hither and thither, over the face of that great deep in which 
 the first apostasy drowned mankind ; and, having turned 
 over the Scriptures, hoping thence to receive some news 
 after such a dreadful shipwreck, this scripture comes flying 
 with an olive branch in its mouth : " Saved in the Lord." 
 The first word keeps from fainting, till the next word comes 
 in, and shows the nature of the deliverance, the certainty 
 and the manner of it ; the first word, like Ahimaaz, says, 
 All is well ; but Cushi declares the matter, and how it is ac- 
 complished. 1 Salvation, plainly asserted, is glad tidings ; 
 but lest so weighty a business should be mistaken, and that 
 the understanding might be the more convinced ; the means 
 by which it is obtained, and the hand from whence it is pro- 
 cured, is drawn forth — "in the Lord." As delightful a sen- 
 tence to a sinner, as that which Belshazzar saw was terrible 
 to him ; that made his joints to tremble ; but this makes the 
 lame to leap as a hart ; this makes the wilderness to blossom 
 as a rose. 
 
 TJie Meaning of Salvation. 
 
 Saved. — The spirit and sense of this short word " Saved" 
 reacheth far, even to the ends of the earth. 2 It importeth a 
 
 1 2 Sam. 18: 28—32. 2 Isa. 49: G. 
 1 
 
b A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 state of security from all enemies, and all evil from sin, 1 
 Satan, 2 condemnation, wrath, and hell; 3 from all distress, 
 etc., in this life, 4 and hereafter. 5 
 
 It importeth an investiture and possession of all real good 
 in this life, and in that to come : namely, conversion, calling, 
 justification, acceptance with God, adoption, sanctification, 
 strength, blessing, manifestation of God, knowledge of the 
 truth, 6 and every good thing that may enable the heirs of 
 life to despatch their work, find themselves victorious, and 
 be led at last to their Father's house ; the walls whereof are 
 salvation and peace, and the inhabitants such as are re- 
 deemed from this present evil world. The design of salva- 
 tion laid the first stone of the new city, and has furnished it 
 throughout for the guests which the Saviour of the world 
 brings thither. 
 
 But lest my meditations should wander from my own 
 taste into a roving speculation, I would willingly keep them 
 under such regulation, as that they may speak the words of 
 my heart rather than of my head ; and rather what I feel, 
 than what I read ; and when I thus muse, I find my heart 
 yearn after redemption and salvation in these secret groans, 
 expressive of 
 
 The Need of Salvation. 
 
 that I were saved from myself! from a covetous, un- 
 righteous, unbelieving use of the things which I here enjoy 
 in this world ! from the pleasure of self-esteem, the wretched 
 thought of man's praise ! O that I were saved from my 
 daily estrangedness to the excellencies of Him who waits to 
 be gracious to me ! When shall the price of inward com- 
 munion with God outbid all other proffers ? When shall 
 my feet be untied, that I may walk at freedom, and suck in 
 the dictates of the Spirit, as the only air I live by ? When 
 shall I be washed as white as snow ? When shall I 
 pray that prayer in truth : " Thy will be done on 
 earth (in my heart) as it is in heaven ? " When shall my 
 eyes look upon the sun, and not be dazzled ? When shall I 
 meditate terror, and yet triumph ? How long shall I be 
 
 1 Matt 1: 21. 2 2 Tim. 2: 26. 3 John 5: 24. Eom. 5: 9. 4 Gen. 
 48: 16. 5 1 Thess. 1: 10. 6 Acts 15: 3. 2 Tim. 1: 9. Kom. 4: 25. 
 Eph. 1: 6. Gal. 4: 5. 1 Pet. 1: 2. Isa. 45: 24. Gal. 3: 9. John 17: 
 26. 1 John 2: 20, 21. 
 
OF SALVATION. 7 
 
 taking leave of all created sweetness, and yet cannot part ? 
 When shall my notions of truth be turned into power, and 
 the effectual working of God appear within me as a victori- 
 ous conqueror? When shall my lusts and my own will die, 
 and be quickened again in the will of my Father? When 
 shall T see, and feel, and be freed by, the bare redemption of 
 Jesus Christ ? When shall my evil desires, contemplations, 
 and folly of heart be starved ? When shall I do all things 
 for God, and nothing singly for myself? When will the con- 
 sultation of fleshly wisdom cease, and my heart know no 
 wisdom, no safety, no riches, but in the word of truth and 
 promise ? When shall the faith of free redemption, right- 
 sness, and acceptance with God, be strength, joy, and 
 victory over all my fear, infirmity and faintness? When 
 shall I see my sins sent away into a land not inhabited, and 
 my heart shout for joy ? How long shall distempers of 
 body disturb my mind ; and the distractions of my mind 
 hurry my inward man into the depths of mire and clay ? 
 How tinder-like is my soul to every temptation ! How dim- 
 sighted, dark, fearful, remiss, and weak-hearted am I ! " Oh, 
 wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from the 
 body of this death ? " 
 
 News of Salvation. 
 
 While the breaking disquietudes of my heart do thus 
 twist themselves together, and a variety of temptations, bur- 
 dens, convictions, lusts of the flesh, groans, fears, and pant- 
 ings, do all strive within me as the seat of exercise ; there 
 seems to appear the tw T inkling of a refuge, a morning-star, 
 " Salvation for sinners, and perfect redemption ; the vile 
 body shall yet be made glorious, sins be blotted out, and 
 everlasting righteousness brought in." This is good news; 
 but how shall such a blessedness be obtained ? The Lion 
 of the tribe of Judah has prevailed, and undertaken the 
 work of complete redemption, on behalf of poor, weary, 
 miserable, imprisoned souls, " in his ow r n person," w r here all 
 salvation lies ; for " there is no other name under heaven, 
 whereby a wretched sinner can be saved." Acts iv. 12. 
 
 But, alas ! who can ascend into heaven, or go down into 
 the deep, to fetch a healing medicine from this physician ? 
 It is true, he is higher than heaven, and deeper than the 
 earth ; but the word of faith is swift-winged ; it reveals the 
 
 ? 
 
8 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 heights and depths of this relief in a moment, and cries out, 
 by the Spirit, which searcheth the deep things of God, that 
 " Now is come salvation and strength." Poor sinners shall 
 be " saved," and this salvation is " in the Lord." 
 
 When I hear that redemption and salvation is to be had, 
 and that it is to be had in the Lord, my heart cries out, Who 
 shall bring me into this strong city, and show me the riches 
 of saving health that is there ? There is no other coming at 
 it, but by the permission of this blessed word, "In the 
 Lord." 
 
 These two words, In and Out, do divide all the inhabit- 
 ants of the earth. All persons are either " in the Lord," or 
 " without God in the world ; " } either " in the new city," or 
 " without, among the dogs." 2 How much weight lies upon 
 this word, " In the Lord ! " Here lies the mystery of godli- 
 ness, of which the prophets and apostles spoke, and which 
 the angels desire to look into. A salvation wrought in God, 
 and yet enjoyable by every repenting, believing creature. 
 Here are two wonders : first, that a sinner's salvation is 
 wrought in God ; secondly, that a sinner enjoys it in the 
 Lord. 
 
 The Mystery of Salvation adorable. 
 
 In the Lord. — Who can with fear and reverence enough 
 look into this ark, and not be consumed ? Poor sinners are 
 invited ; Christ invites, the prophets invite, the apostles in- 
 vite ; the Spirit saith, Come ye, and taste that the Lord is 
 gracious ; I am the door, and the treasury too, saith Christ. 
 The stone that closed the sepulchre is removed ; the vail is 
 rent, the holy of holies is open ; come, and see. 
 
 Stand aside, flesh and blood ; thou hast no share, no por- 
 tion, in this work ; shut thine eyes, they are no organs to 
 receive this manifestation by. Let thine hands be feeble, 
 and thy strength be gone ; thou hast labored in vain, and art 
 ensnared in the work of thine own hands ; thou art taken in 
 a net, and thy striving doth but increase thy bonds ; thou art 
 full of the fury of the Lord, as a wild bull in a net. Cease 
 from thyself, lie down in ashes, cover thy lip, and cry out, 
 Unclean, unclean ! All flesh is grass, it withers, and yields 
 no harvest. Suffer thy life to bleed away from thee, that 
 thy strength may be gone ; let the mountain become a val- 
 
 1 Eph. 2: 12, 13. 2 Rev. 22: 14, 15. 
 
OF SALVATION y 
 
 ley, take down thy battlements, be void of all self-refuge, 
 wallow thou in the dust, and speak low, as out of the earth; 
 for thou art spoiled of every defence. Strip thee naked, as 
 in the day thai thou wasl born : be empty and void, O chaos 
 of distress, thai the new creation may pass upon thee; let 
 thy doors be flung open, that the King, thy Redeemer, may 
 enter in. Who is the King of glory? The Lord, strong 
 and mighty. He bringeth salvation, his reward is with him, 
 his work is before him, hear his voice ; for he cries, " I am 
 thy Saviour, and there is no other." Whence comes this 
 voice, O my soul ? Do the clouds speak, and the heavens 
 declare righteousness ? Is the angel of the Lord breaking 
 open the iron gate ? " It is I," saith the Lord, " be not 
 afraid ; mine own arm shall save. Thou hast wearied thy- 
 self in the greatness of thy way ; but I am come to deliver 
 the prisoners who were appointed to die. My name is ex- 
 alted, I will lay waste the mountains, and dry up the rivers, 
 and prepare a way for my captives to return. The feeble 
 among them shall be as David. I will lead them through 
 the deep, and they shall not stumble. The work is mine, 
 and I will make my ow r n name glorious. I will be forever 
 righteous ; and yet, the justifier of poor, unrighteous, vile 
 man : for my name is Wonderful." 
 
 These are, indeed, the words of life ; and what shall I say 
 to my Lord ? My lips do quiver ; I am broken ; rottenness 
 is entered into my bones ; my strength faileth at the news : 
 for who can see God and live ? Spare a little, give me 
 space to recover strength, touch me that I may stand up, and 
 let the glory of the Lord pass before me ; put me in a cleft 
 of the rock, that I may behold, and yet not be confounded 
 at thy appearance. 
 
 The Mystery of Salvation displayed in the Person of Jesus 
 
 Christ. 
 
 In the Lord. — The eternal, incomprehensible God, who 
 dwelleth in inaccessible light, emptieth himself, boweth the 
 heavens, comes down and furnisheth himself with the pure 
 nature of mankind, and is made flesh in the person of the 
 eternal Son of the eternal Father ; and, by the overshadow- 
 ing of the eternal Spirit of holiness, is formed in the womb 
 of a virgin, out of the road of that natural generation that 
 carried along the first man Adam's guilt. And his body 
 
 1* 
 
10 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 being thus fitted, lie sets to the work, in behalf of those 
 whom his Father gave him, and becomes a second Adam to 
 them. Command is given forth by his Father, that all 
 iniquity of his chosen shall repair thither ; there " all their 
 sins meet." Isa. liii. 6, marginal reading. 
 
 Salvation entering on its Battle. 
 
 Great was that day of his travail, when he cried out to 
 the north and south, east and west, to give up and bring in 
 to him the sins of his sons and daughters, from the ends of 
 the earth ; and when he forced them into the sacrifice of the 
 great God. They all enter with a huge train of Satan's ac- 
 cusations, and, smoking with the eternal indignation of a 
 righteous God, proved and condemned by a righteous law, 
 and the conscience of every sinner crying out, 6 1 have 
 sinned, and it is most righteous that I should die eternally.' 
 
 The battle must be fought with all these, in his own per- 
 son ; and he must either overcome or perish. The fight is 
 begun ; the rocks rend ; the heavens gather blackness, and 
 the earth trembles. At such a surge as this, his soul was 
 made as a boiling pot of ointment. His disciples were soon 
 struck off their legs ; they fled, and owned him not ; he was 
 left alone and given up to the combat. His Father beholds 
 the anguish of his soul, and only supports him to endure, 
 till he bows his head, and enters into death. The grave 
 reigns over him three days. Now is the battle ended ; the 
 work is finished ; the powers of darkness are broken ; their 
 strength defeated ; the prince of this world cast out : which 
 was declared mightily by the Spirit of holiness, through his 
 resurrection from the dead. " Who now shall accuse ? It 
 is God that justifieth. Who shall condemn ? It is Christ 
 that died, yea rather that is risen again. Rom. viii. 33, 34. 
 
 And that this conquest might be peaceably and surely en- 
 joyed, and the enemies forever kept from any further in- 
 vasion, he prevents future guilt by removing the law * (hav- 
 ing borne the curse, and fulfilled it in his own person), that 
 it should neither condemn nor accuse. Having already 
 spent its condemning power and accusing power upon the 
 person of Jesus Christ, that which before was armed with 
 strength and clothed with thunder, becomes now a still voice ; 
 a guide, a comforter, and a guardian. 
 
 i Rom. 7: 6. 6: 14. 
 
8ALVA1 [( II 
 
 Tn the Lord. — The painful work being over, what remains, 
 but that the laborer receive his wages? He hath purchased 
 a vineyard ; why may not ho (juicily enjoy the sam<? His 
 enemy is totally spoiled; now ha the land he given him for 
 an inheritance, own to the ends of the earth. He hath pur- 
 chased a spouse with the slaughter of the Philistines ; 1 and 
 now let the King's Son enjoy both her, and the glory of his 
 conquest forever. He emptied himself, and became weak ; 
 but now liveth to God ; and is the treasury of grace, pardon, 
 righteousness, holiness, and life. 
 
 The glorious God, Father, Son, and Spirit, doth now de- 
 clare the furnishing a Mediator with all fulness, that mercy 
 might have an unlimited vent towards the redeemed, as lately 
 justice had the like upon the Eedeemer. To this end, he 
 that was essentially fulness before, is now also become a 
 complete Mediator, in the fulness of whatever becomes that 
 office ; exalted, to the right hand of the Majesty on high, 
 and consecrated a Priest forever ; appearing in the presence 
 of God for his redeemed ; qualified unto a boundless per- 
 fection ; possessing the glory which he had with his Father 
 before the world began, and filling human nature therewith 
 to its utmost capacity. The glory of the holy God doth 
 now dwell, live, act, and manage all things, in the pure 
 nature of man; God himself dwelleth with man, and has 
 named himself Emmanuel. The only God (in the person 
 of the Son), dwelleth in flesh, that mankind might be recon- 
 ciled to himself. And whatsoever fulness the person of the 
 Mediator is furnished with, it is all made the inheritance of 
 every believer, who is completed therein. 2 
 
 God, as the eternal Son of the eternal Father, had eter- 
 nally all perfection in himself; but as Mediator, he is anoint- 
 ed with the righteousness, wisdom and holiness of God, on 
 behalf of man ; and, for his use, to carry on and eternally to 
 consummate the design of redemption. So that, what was 
 infinite in God, and continues so still, yet dwells in, and is 
 forever united to, a finite body. " The fulness of the God- 
 head dwelleth in him bodily ." 3 And here God and man are 
 mot together indissolubly in a Mediator ; and now God and 
 man can walk together ; within the bond of an eternal agree- 
 ment ; which otherwise could not have been. For " how 
 can two walk together unless they be agreed ? " 4 God who 
 
 1 1 Sam. 18: 17—27. 2 Col. 2: 10. B Col. 2: 9. 4 Amos 3: 3. 
 
12 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 dwells in unapproachable light, is now, by an unspeakable 
 dispensation of grace, come within the narrow confines of 
 human nature, and fills it with himself; that He, who is all 
 in himself, might be all in man, and make man all in Him. 
 The partition wall is taken down, that man might be in a ca- 
 pacity to enjoy God, after the power of an infinite and end- 
 less life ; and that God may have scope enough to spend 
 infinite love on man, and rest in that love, and rejoice in it, 
 as in his portion, with freedom, and fulness of satisfaction. 
 
 Here lies the wonder of the gospel, the unsearchable wis- 
 dom of God ! and who can pry into it without astonishment ? 
 This is that which makes the heavens rejoice, and the earth 
 be glad, — that good-will is come to men in the person of 
 God-man, the Mediator, who is "over all, God blessed 
 forever." 1 
 
 Salvation by Christ applied. 
 
 In the Lord. — But how is this made actually applicable to 
 every particular redeemed person, for whom this glorious de- 
 sign was undertaken? 
 
 The ever-blessed God, in taking the human nature into 
 union with himself in the person of the eternal Word, the 
 Son of the Father, through the virtue of the Spirit, (that 
 the decree of Salvation for the elect might be fully executed,) 
 became the undertaker, the representative, and the semi- 
 nal root, of all and every person ordained to life. 
 
 1. He was and is the undertaker for them ; bearing all 
 their sins in the guilt and punishment, with every particular 
 aggravation of them, in the utmost extent. 2 He hid not his 
 face from the shame, nor his heart from the sorrow ; but 
 drank up that mighty Jordan, and the rivers of brimstone 
 which the breath of the Lord had kindled ; which was the 
 portion of that cup, poured out without mixture, for the 
 wretched offspring of the first Adam, — who were the right- 
 ful, and most necessary heirs, by generation, of the guilt of 
 the first and comprehensive apostasy of Adam and Eve, the 
 common parents of all mankind. He also undertook their 
 help and deliverance, and miscarried not. 3 Though the 
 earth trembled under the weight of such an undertaking, 
 yet he fainted not, nor was discouraged, till he was taken 
 from prison and judgment, and brought forth judgment unto 
 
 1 "Rom. 9: 5. Acts 10: 36. a Isaiah 53: 6. 3 Psalm 89. 19. 
 
OF SALVATION. 13 
 
 victory; and so obtained (Menial redemption and life for 
 them that believe, even those whom the Father hath given 
 to him. 
 
 2. He became also, at the same time, their representative, 
 sustaining their persons. In him they are gathered together 
 in one, ov, moiv properly, summed up; 1 and arc really, 
 through union with Him, crucified withHim; 3 risen with 
 Him ; y and entered into heaven with Him, their forerunner, 4 
 who there appears adorned with their names, as so many 
 precious stones upon bis breast, as well as borne upon bis 
 shoulders, 5 in all his undertakings for them. Hence we are 
 said to be saved in the Lord, and preserved^ Jesus Christ, 6 
 as well as saved by Him. As He is Mediator, he stands as 
 the collective body of all the elect; and therefore in saving 
 them he is said to save himself. 7 And hence it is, that in 
 whatever he did and suffered as mediator, the scope of his 
 heart eyed his people, as doing their work therein. 8 And 
 the Lord Jesus is thus their representative, as God's elect 
 (for he is the Father's elected one 9 ), in whom the redeemed 
 were elected before the world began. 10 
 
 3. He is also their seminal cause, in his procreating virtue. 
 They (even every particular person of the saved of the 
 Lord), are found in Him, as every sprig of the tree is vir- 
 tually in the root, as the natural cause of it. And as the 
 seed that is sown has in it the growth and substance of all 
 the seeds that spring and come forth from thence, as their 
 generating and producing principle, so is Christ to his people. 
 Hence it is, that he and they are called, not seeds, but seed ; u 
 for in their original principle, they are one in him. And 
 thus the kingdom of God is compared to a grain of mustard- 
 seed, that, by its fruitfulness, becomes a great tree : And 
 this is the leaven that leaveneth the whole lump ; 12 bring- 
 ing forth a seasoning nature, according to the likeness of its 
 first cause and original. And thus are believers called 
 branches, whereof he is the root ; or the vine, which is the 
 cause and life of the branches ; 13 and he that sanctifieth, and 
 they who are sanctified, are both of one, 14 founded in the 
 same eternal decree, in which Jesus Christ has the preemi- 
 nence, as the first in God's eye : and the redeemed also in 
 
 1 Eph. 1:10. 2 Gal. 2: 20. 3 Co l. 3: 1. 4 Deb. G: 19, 20. Eph. 
 2: 6. 5 Exod. xxviii. G Jude I. 7 Isa. 59: 16 63: 5. 8 Isa. 26: 12. 
 9 Isa. 42: 1. »° Eph. 1: 4. " Gal. 3: 16. la Matt. 13: 31—33. 
 13 John 15: 5. li IIcl). 2: 11. 
 
14 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 his eye, in him ; and both these in their own order. As the 
 root is in order before the tree, and the branches which do 
 spring from the root ; so is Christ first as the root, and the 
 redeemed are as the branches ; and as the branches are the 
 glory of the root, so is every believer the glory of Christ, 1 
 and the manifestation of the fulness that is in him who fillcth 
 all in all. 2 
 
 Hitherto has salvation been considered in the foundation 
 thereof, even Jesus Christ ; whom God has laid (in the con- 
 stitution of his person, made up of two natures, divine and 
 human), to be the ground of hope for the heirs of salvation. 
 And as the foundation of Solomon's temple consisted of 
 costly stones ; so does the temple of Christ's body, which 
 God hath pitched and not man. 
 
 How should the hearts of all the expectants of life rejoice, 
 at the laying of the foundation by so wise a master-builder ; 
 who counted the cost of the whole superstructure, when he 
 drew the model of it in his eternal purpose ; and has power 
 enough to carry it on ; so that neither the reproach of satan, 
 nor the contradiction of man's polluted state, shall ever have 
 cause to say, He laid a foundation, but had not wherewith 
 to finish it ! Is the foundation so stately, and shall not gold 
 and precious stones also be the building? The same mys- 
 terious wonder which appeared at the first, continues still in 
 the carrying on of the building. 
 
 In all material and earthly buildings, the stones of the 
 building do not, all of them, immediately touch the founda- 
 tion ; but one stone of the superstructure is a mediate founda- 
 tion to another, though the whole do ultimately rest upon 
 the first foundation ; but in this building, every stone doth 
 particularly rest upon the first foundation, and so the build- 
 ing groweth to be an holy temple in the Lord ; for the Spirit 
 of the foundation hath immediate influence in every stone 
 that is built thereon. 3 For this cause the stones are called 
 lively, or living stones, when once they rest on this living 
 foundation ; and are become recipients of the life thereof, ac- 
 cording to their measure. 4 
 
 In like manner doth the mystery of this union surpass all 
 other resemblances of it. It is compared to the union of a 
 head and members, root and branches ; in which resemblan- 
 ces, every member and every branch is not contiguous to the 
 
 1 1 Cor. 11: 7. 2 Eph. 1: 23. 3 Eph. 2: 21, 22. * 1 Peter 2: 4, 5. 
 
OF B M.VATIOX. 15 
 
 head, or to the rod ; but in this union, every member of the 
 mystical body of Christ is alike Dear to the head, as concern- 
 ing their real interesl therein ; they are in the head, and in 
 the root immediately, and yet members and branches orderly 
 and growing up to the stature and comely proportion of 
 a perfect man. and a beautifully fruitful vino, in and by the 
 Spirit of the Lord. 1 
 
 80 that the nearest and most exact resemblances do but 
 partially resemble this union. The relations of parent and 
 child, husband and wife, shepherd and sheep, do but help us 
 to taste, as it were, a drop here and there of the unspeaka- 
 ble nearness and abounding fulness, delight, glory, and mu- 
 tual satisfaction, of this union betwixt God and man, in the 
 mystery of this Mediator. 
 
 A Believer's Thirst. 
 
 But, alas ! how comes it to pass that, seeing the real truth 
 of this mystery is so rich and glorious, and so well ordered 
 in all things ; how comes it to pass, that my soul lies like a 
 withered branch, and dead limb ? O that the Lord would 
 cause the wind of gospel-power so to breathe forth, that the 
 dry bones might live, and my heart, as the trees of God, be 
 full of sap ! 
 
 Although the Father hath been pleased that all fulness 
 should dwell in Christ, as a treasury for the redeemed to 
 live in, and to live upon ; yet, unless those treasures are 
 actually communicated to every needy soul that is interested 
 therein, and every such soul is wrought up to some living 
 improvement thereof, they are but as treasures hid in the 
 earth, as an inheritance not possessed, or as a possession not 
 enjoyed. Oh, how ill doth my barren heart become such an 
 inquiry as this is ! What is all this treasure, unless actually 
 and really enjoyed ? Could my heart truly yearn, and could 
 my affections truly burn with desire after it, I might even 
 now shortly hope to see the salvation of God. 
 
 This mystery of love rises yet higher and higher. It is 
 full of blessedness, and travails to be delivered ; which ap- 
 pears in this : that God is willing it should be made known ; 
 and therefore hath sent a message and manifestation of it to 
 men. 2 And this is that which bears down all difficulties ; 
 
 1 Eph. 4: 13. Hosea 14: 6, 7, 8. 2 Col. 1: 26, 27. 
 
16 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 for he, who doth whatsoever he will, hath willed the dis- 
 covery thereof. 
 
 And the Spirit of Jesus Christ stands in the high places 
 of the streets, to call in the poor, the blind, the lame, to par- 
 take of this large provision. The Spirit cries, " Come ; " 
 and it cries out, not persuasively only, but influentially by 
 effectual working. His words are creating power ; and 
 shall not my heart also, in the language of the bride, say, 
 " Come, come, O my beloved ? " 
 
 Now my meditations are (methinks) entering into a wide 
 sea again. Shall my straitened heart and polluted soul in- 
 deed change a close dungeon for a large palace, and enjoy 
 liberty and purity at once ? Shall my filthy garments and 
 my iniquity pass away in one day ? Who can describe the 
 nature of such a change as this ? No less than the over- 
 shadowing of the same Spirit, which formed Christ in the 
 womb of the Virgin, doth also form him anew in every re- 
 deemed soul ; and quickens it from the law of sin and death, 
 to be a new creature, in holiness, righteousness, wisdom and 
 truth, after the image of him that created it. 
 
 My thoughts are now aground ; they want water to carry 
 them off. Mere speculation and tradition are uncomfortable 
 helps at this work. An eye-witness and an ear-witness are 
 the best guides. Spiritual taste and experience can best 
 dive into these truths and privileges. 
 
 O that I might both see in my mind, and feel in my heart, 
 what I am about to utter, or, at least, desire to grope after, 
 in this wonder of wonders, concerning the soul's actual in- 
 heriting, marrying, and possessing Jesus Christ, with all 
 the admirable privileges and glory of that state ! 
 
 Oh, for one gale of wind, one breath of the Spirit, to lift 
 me over the bar of a carnal mind ; that I might close with, 
 and enter into such a Saviour, such a salvation as this is ! 
 
 Who can give a poor sinner in marriage to the Prince of 
 Life ? The angel is come down, and the waters are troubled, 
 but where is the hand that will lift a diseased, impotent soul 
 into the healing waters ? The fields are white unto the har- 
 vest : when shall the sickle enter, and the corn be brought 
 into the garner ? O that Almighty power would break forth 
 from the presence of God, to effect the design of his own 
 pity and love ! " My flesh faileth, and my heart faileth, but 
 God is the strength of my heart. Awake, O arm of the 
 Lord ! divide the sea, and let thy ransomed pass over. Love 
 
OF SALVATION. 
 
 17 
 
 is strong as death," let me no! Btarve at the threshold. Be 
 not withdrawn, () thou "who puttesl in thy hand by the 
 hole of the tloor ; my bowels arc moved for thee." 
 
 Christ and a Believer met together. 
 
 There are various expressions in the scriptures, some of 
 which intimate the mystery of closing with, or transition 
 into Christ, in one kind, and some in another ; because any 
 single expression or similitude is too little to comprehend 
 the whole extent of such a union ; and hence we have, on 
 the soul's part, the terms of %t committing to, or rolling on, 
 the Lord," 1 in reference to ease from burdens ; and " lean- 
 ing upon the beloved," 2 in reference to ease from weariness, 
 with delight in that rest ; and a " waiting patiently with 
 trust," 3 importing the soul's security in him ; a " giving our- 
 selves to the Lord," 4 implying a free consent of the will; 
 a " knowing of Christ," 5 intimating the satisfaction of the 
 understanding therein ; " eating his flesh and drinking his 
 blood," 6 importing the soul's constant livelihood on, and 
 incorporated union with him ; and " dwelling in him," 7 
 expressing shelter and intimate acquaintance. Hence also 
 we have, on the part of Christ, terms equally expressive of 
 his closing with the soul, such as " being known of him," 8 and 
 " apprehended by him ; " 9 his being "ravished with, or losing 
 his heart upon, his beloved ; " 10 his " giving himself," through 
 the whole work of redemption, in a way of " love ; " u and 
 " resting in that love. 12 Hence also we have the expressions 
 of a " mutual and united interest, such as crucified, dead, 
 buried, planted together, quickened, risen, ascended, and 
 sitting in heavenly places with him : " 18 " partaking of his 
 sufferings and he of ours ;" 14 "glorified in him, and he in 
 us." 15 To help on this discovery, there comes in the resem- 
 blance of marriage-union, the union of ingrafture, and of 
 " leaven to the lump," 16 importing the winning nature which 
 this union with Christ hath, in its transforming power upon 
 
 1 Psalm 37: 5, with the marginal reading. 2 Cant. 8: 5. 8 Psalm 37: 
 7. Proverbs 3: 5. 4 2 Cor. 8: 5. 5 John 17: 3. 6 John 6: 54. 7 John 
 6: 56. 1 John 4: 13. y John 10: 27. Gal. 4: 9. 9 Phil. 3: 12. 10 Cant. 
 4: 9, including the marginal reading. n Eph. 5: 2, 25. Gal. 2: 20. Eev. 
 1: 5. la Zeph. 3: 17. 18 Gal. 2: 20. Col. 2: 20. Rom. 6: 4, 5. Col. 2: 
 12. 3: 1. Eph. 2: 5. 6. 14 1 Peter 4: 13. Hebrews 4: 15. Isaiah 63: 9. 
 15 2 Thcss. 1: 12. ™ Romans 7: 4. 11: 17. Matt. 13: 33. 
 
 2 
 
18 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 the soul, rendering it " willing" to its change in the day of 
 the Spirit's overshadowing," * though ever so unsuitable, 
 averse, and froward before." 2 And hence it is, that, as 
 Christs aith, " Thou hast ravished my heart ;" 3 the soul saith 
 in return, " Love is strong as death ; it hath a most vehe- 
 ment flame : set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon 
 thine arm." 4 Christ saith, "My love is as the lily among 
 thorns;" and she saith, "My beloved is as the apple-tree 
 among the trees of the wood." 5 They are each set forth 
 as admiring one another's excellencies : and whilst Christ is 
 recreating himself in that beauty which he hath put upon 
 his beloved ; the believer, in that furniture with which Christ 
 adorns him, familiarly, though with reverence, loves, speaks 
 to, and rejoiceth in him, as one that now enjoys his person ; 
 and lives, moves, breathes and acts in the person of Christ, 
 by way of mystical union and participation of his grace. 
 Galat. ii. 20. 
 
 All which workings in the soul towards, about, and upon 
 Christ, are in scripture comprehensively included in the 
 word faith, and they are called the fruits of faith, or the va- 
 rious and multiplied operations of the soul, yielding itself to 
 God in Christ, wrought thereto by the Spirit of Jesus Christ 
 through the gospel : for what else is faith, but an owning of 
 Jesus Christ, in the manifestation and secret owning where- 
 with Christ owns a sinner, by his Spirit, to pity, love, and 
 save him ? What is faith else, but the digestive faculty of 
 the new man, by which it feeds on Jesus Christ, and grows 
 up into his likeness, in the appropriating to itself whatever 
 Christ is or has done, as Mediator for sinners. 
 
 So that faith, in all the fore-mentioned exercises of clos- 
 ing with Christ, gives Christ an existence in the soul, by 
 which he dwells in the heart ; 6 that as the godhead (Father, 
 Son, and Spirit) dwells in Christ, so Christ dwells in the 
 faith of his people ; by which they have communion with 
 him, and by him have access to, and communion with 
 the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, even through the operation 
 of the same Spirit of the Father and of the Son. 
 
 All the operations of the Spirit of Christ, in his will effect- 
 ing this closure, are on his part called grace ; and the an- 
 swerable power to receive, comply with, and improve it, by 
 the same Spirit of his, is called faith. 
 
 1 Psalm 110: 3. 2 Ezckicl 1G: 4, 5, 8, 63. 11: 12. y Cunt. 4: 9. 
 4 Cant. 8: 6. 5 Cant. 2: 2, 3. « Epli. 3: 17. 
 
OF SALVATION. 19 
 
 We arc said to be saved by faith, as it is an active power, 
 wrought by the Spirit, for receiving and entertaining of 
 Jesus Christ ; that is to say, a properly in, or possessory 
 right to, his p< rson, and (hereby an Interest in the salvation 
 which he hath wrought ; and is therefore called a working 
 i)[' the work of God; 1 in opposition to all works of nature, 
 morality and religion, wrought by human Strength and un- 
 derstanding: as coals, which of themselves are cold and heat- 
 Less, and do not burn at all, are yet said to burn, in that the 
 nature of them is possessed, and as it were, made active, by 
 the element of lire, to co-operate, to heat and burn, through 
 the principle and spirit of fire which has seized on them, 
 and brought them into a concurrence ; but the element of 
 lire doth the whole work. In like manner, Christ doth the 
 whole work of a Christian ; and yet is the Christian said to 
 fulfil the law, and to work righteousness, and to save him- 
 self ; 2 which is through union with Christ, in the recipient 
 and active faculty of believing, wrought by his Spirit in the 
 new creature. 
 
 Christ and a Believer's Closure unfolded. 
 
 This mutual closure between a believer and Christ is 
 called by different names in the Scriptures. 
 
 Reconciliation. 
 
 It is called reconciliation ; 3 for as much as the enmity and 
 contrariety of sinful and averse nature on man's part, and 
 the distance and contrariety of the nature of God, are here- 
 by removed ; in that the love of God is hereby shed abroad 
 in the heart, changing and cleansing it, and filling it with 
 the seeds of purity and truth, after his own image, which he 
 looks upon as very good. 4 
 
 Regeneration. 
 
 It is also called regeneration ; 5 forasmuch as every defil- 
 ing tincture of the natural birth is removed, and the soul 
 brought forth from the corrupt line of the first Adam's guilt, 
 into the lineage of the second Adam ; freed from the guilt 
 and punishment of all natural corruption, and spirited with 
 
 i John 6: 29. 2 Rom. 8: 4. Hcb. 11: 33. 1 Tim. 4: 16. 3 2 Cor. 5: 
 18,19. 4 Gen. 1:27: 31. 5 Tit. 3: 5. 
 
20 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 the pure life of God, to the exercise of holiness in the in- 
 ward man. 
 
 Hence it is said, " Whosoever is born of God sinneth not." 1 
 The person of every believer bears the image of the two 
 Adams, as two twins in one womb : the image of the first 
 Adam is wholly sinful, as Adam was ; but the image of the 
 second Adam, (distinctly considered,) is wholly righteous, as 
 Christ is. 2 And these two natures being in one person, the 
 first being spoiled of its reign and sovereignty, and become 
 vassal and condemned, as dead in law ; the second bears 
 chief rule, and receives the denomination of the person, and 
 also the actions of the same person, proceeding from the 
 renewed living, and more noble part. With regard unto 
 this is the Lord said to see no iniquity in Jacob ; 3 that is, 
 he seeth it not so, as to be enraged against the person of any 
 true Israelite ; because he beholds it through a propitiatory 
 sacrifice, and not in its naked, condemning strength and 
 guilt. 
 
 A New Creation. 
 
 It is also called a new creature, or a new creation ; 4 in 
 that free love, working through Christ, from the eternal 
 purpose of God's good- will ; brings forth (of no pre-existing 
 matter) a perfect righteousness, (not of the works of the 
 law, but of pure grace and gift,) through union with the 
 Mediator, God and Man : and the Spirit moving thereupon, 
 quickens the soul from the death of nature and sin, to the 
 life of grace and holiness. 
 
 Adoption. 
 
 It is likewise called adoption ; 5 forasmuch as the everlast- 
 ing Father, begetting in himself the eternal Son, and fur- 
 nishing him (in time) with the nature of man, and having 
 commissioned him by decree and seal to be Mediator, gave 
 him the elect remnant of mankind ; whose persons, case, and 
 condition, the Mediator took into his own body by a secret 
 union, for the purpose of effecting whatsoever was to have 
 been done and suffered by him on their behalf : which union 
 of theirs with the only begotten Son of God, through the 
 Spirit, makes them also sons in him, of the same Father ; 
 
 i 1 John 5: IS. 2 2 Cor. 5: 21. Rom. 8: 4. 3 Num. 23: 21. 
 
 4 2 Cor. 5: 17. § Eph. 1: 5. 
 
OF SALVATION. 21 
 
 by whose Spirit fliey have access to God, and may and ought 
 to call him Abba. Father, as he doth ; being heirs and co- 
 heirs with him of the same glory, according to their measure. 
 Rom. viii. 1 1—17. Eph. ii. 18. 
 
 What is a Christian ? 
 
 The person that is thus owned and received by Jesus 
 Christ, and by the virtue of his Spirit, owns and surrenders 
 up himself to him again, is called a Christian. 
 
 What is a Believer. 
 
 And in that his life doth now subsist in the life of Christ, 
 through this closure, (as the natural body lives by conjunc- 
 tion with the natural soul,) such a person is called a believer. 
 And all the actions of his new life proceeding from this 
 faith, reliance on, and closing with Christ, are called the 
 works of faith ; which are no other than the works and oper- 
 ation of the Spirit of Christ, acting in the soul and body of 
 that person, who is taken into this mysterious union and 
 translation. 
 
 Faith managing its War. 
 
 And as there was perpetual war between the house of David 
 and the house of Saul, until David was established in the 
 throne ; even so it is between the Spirit and life of Christ 
 in the soul, and the life of sin, which, through the defile- 
 ment of the first Adam, dwells in our flesh ; which keeps 
 the person of a believer in continual exercise, being as the 
 seat of war, (Michael and his angels fighting with the Dra- 
 gon and his angels) in which sin strives to defend, and keep 
 its possession : but the Spirit of Christ in this closure with 
 the heart, as a giant, refreshed in his own almighty power, 
 encounters the strong man, Satan and his seed, which 
 had possessed the heart, ever since the fall of our first 
 parents. 
 
 In this encounter, the Spirit of Christ, having gained the 
 heart by a measure of renewing in every part, maintains and 
 fortifies it, and increases it, by union with himself; and comes 
 forth in the exercise and improvement of that union, by his 
 power working therein mightily, to destroy the "body of sin 
 
 2* 
 
22 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 and opposition;" 1 which is therefore called "the fight of 
 faith ;" 2 being no other than the striving of the Spirit of Jesns 
 Christ, in his own renewed interest, which he has got in the 
 heart, making it active to concur with him through his Spirit 
 acting and moving therein ; as the Spirit of the living crea- 
 tures is said to move in the wheels." 3 And this active, re- 
 newed interest, being the seed of God, and spirited with 
 his life and power, makes war with the remaining seed of 
 the serpent, and is restless till the body of indwelling sin be 
 destroyed, wasted, and worn out. Which victory is fully 
 perfected at the dissolution of the body from the soul." 4 
 Then are the wages paid off, and sin fully discharged to the 
 believer, Rom. vi. 23. 
 
 This combat is managed on faith's part, by discovering 
 and discrediting the nature of sin, and " subduing the do- 
 minion and strength thereof." 
 
 In discovering Sin. 
 
 The discovery of sin is wrought by union with Christ, 
 who is " the light ; " 5 which sets up, as it were, a sentinel at 
 every corner of the heart, and is as a lamp in the dark 
 places thereof, exercising itself by a renewed conscience. 
 Conscience merely natural bears a forced testimony against 
 sin in the heart, and is no other than the accusing power of 
 God in his most righteous law, either remaining more darkly 
 in the nature of all men, since sin entered in upon them, at 
 the first falling away from God in paradise ; G or more clearly 
 manifested by the written law, testifying, according to the 
 most righteous and holy nature of it, against all unrighteous- 
 ness and unholiness of men, 7 which gendereth unto terror, 
 through the repugnancy of the corrupt inclination in man's 
 nature ; which corruption, to defend itself, either hides from 
 conscience, and covers itself under ignorance, sensual satis- 
 factions, remiss, careless inadvertency to the voice of con- 
 science ; or violently compelleth conscience to speak beside 
 its own true bent, or misinterpreteth the language thereof, or 
 otherwise stands up in a resolved, peremptory opposition 
 thereunto ; which sometimes, by the righteous judgment of 
 God, renders conscience speechless, so that the corruption 
 
 1 Eph. 4:16. 1:19,20. Col. 1: 29. 2 1 Tim. 6: 12. 2 Tim. 4: 7. 
 8 Ezek. 1: 20. 4 1 Cor. 15: 44—57. 5 John 3: 21. 6 Rom. 2: 14, 15. 
 7 Rom. 1: 18. 
 
OF SALVATION. 28 
 
 and wickedness of the heart may, with a boundless security 
 and heart-searedness, and like the people of Laish, without 
 Bhame, 1 commit Bin with greediness and wanton delight. 9 
 Bui when Christ enters upon the heart, he sots conscience 
 at liberty, removes its letters, and causeth it to lift up its 
 voice like a trumpet ; and withal makes it to close in with 
 that seed of the new birth, and justifying interest in his own 
 blood, which he has sown in the heart, and thereby founded 
 a perpetual antipathy against sin : so that conscience, being 
 succored by this renewed interest of Jesus Christ in the 
 heart, doth, with approbation, pry into the whole soul, and 
 present the holy nature of God there, and his righteous law, 
 charging and accusing sin in its whole extent, and in the 
 aggravation of all circumstances ; with which the renewed 
 
 re ' 
 
 heart w illingly concurs, and so hasteneth away to the mercy 
 seat. And thus the mutual closing between Christ and the 
 soul tends much to discover sin, and strip it of its former 
 defences. The same conviction is now become a friend, 
 that was before an enemy ; and this renewed interest in 
 the soul answers the conviction of conscience, (as Jezebel's 
 eunuch's did to the command of Jehu,) 3 with present 
 execution ; and cries out, " So let thy enemies perish, O 
 Lord." 
 
 In discrediting Sin. 
 
 Faith likewise appears, in the virtue of this closure with 
 Christ, to discredit sin ; for herein the crucified body of 
 Jesus Christ displays the venomous nature of sin ; and by 
 the spotlessness of his nature manifested to the heart, in the 
 power of convincing light, through the matchless perfection 
 thereof, causeth the shame and nakedness of sin to appear ; 
 demonstrating its deceit, false promises, unsatisfying content, 
 and merciless embracements. So that sin, upon this discov- 
 ery and discredit which have passed upon it, doth drive the 
 soul to the city of refuge, viz. free justification by the blood 
 of Christ ; wdiich, reflecting back upon the heart, causes im- 
 partial examination, and sharp remorse ; drawing forth sin 
 to be crucified on Christ's cross in the same posture, without 
 lessening or concealing thereof, in which it stood, while it 
 was working rebellion against the Lord : which operation of 
 
 1 Judges 18: 7. a Eph. 4: 19. 3 2 Kings 9: 32, 33. 
 
24 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 the new man, in the mutual closure betwixt Christ and the 
 soul, is called " repentance unto life." 
 
 In Subduing Sin, 
 
 Faith yet goes further, in subduing the power of sin. 
 Sin rageth in the guilt and defiling nature of it. The guilt 
 is removed, in that Christ, in this closure, lets the heart 
 know that he hath owned its guilt. In the same day in 
 which he performed the office of a kinsman, in taking our 
 nature and bearing our sins, he inherited also the guilt of 
 our persons ; (as was prefigured in the law concerning re- 
 demption of inheritances ; Ruth iv. 5.) So that, in this 
 closing with Christ, the guilt passeth away from the person 
 closing with Christ, who freed himself again from the same, 
 by an infinite satisfaction, offering up himself through the 
 eternal Spirit and power of his godhead. 1 And the heart, 
 being quickened by this closure, puts to its seal, and in the 
 power of that closure triumpheth over all sorts of guilt, be- 
 cause it is " Christ that died, and God that justifieth." 
 
 Hence likewise ariseth the power to wipe out the defile- 
 ment of sin, in that the understanding is furnished with 
 reason against it ; " How shall I, who am dead to sin with 
 Christ, live any longer therein?" Which just and true 
 reasoning, being carried on and strengthened by the virtue 
 of the death of Christ, (secretly wrought by the Spirit of 
 union with Christ) crucifieth sin day by clay ; and, through 
 the improvement of one conviction after another, brings the 
 soul to loathe and be sick of sinful self ; when, through an 
 inward virtue of the resurrection of Christ, it rises up from 
 the enslaving power of it, and seeks the things above : for 
 at the same time that Christ's human nature was loosed from 
 the bonds of death, all the redeemed virtually entered into 
 their freedom and dominion over sin; which privilege of 
 grace is more and more brought to the conscience, heart, 
 and life of the elect, by the conveyance of the power of the 
 Spirit of God, in the revelation of their interest in Christ 
 risen from the dead ; and by faith and willing closure with 
 him, (which is called a marriage to him) " they bring forth 
 fruit unto God." 2 And thus they pass, through mortifica- 
 tion, into the operations of a new life: 3 so that sin, being 
 thus discovered, discredited, and so far subdued, lies ready 
 
 i Heb. 9: 14. 10: 14 2 Rom. 7: 2—4. 3 1 Pet 4: 2. 
 
OF 8 w.v LTION. 25 
 
 to expire and take its leave. And what a salvation is Hii> 
 which God has wrought in himself for sinners after such a 
 rate ! 
 
 And vet, alas ! how apt am I to carnalize this work of 
 faith, and make it a work of my own! To work by not 
 working, and yei herein to work: here lieth the difficulty 5 
 here lies true self-denial. A work wrought without mo, yet 
 
 wrought upon mo, and working mo into the activity of the 
 spirit of my Redeemer, by the operation thereof; so that 
 what he doth I am said to do, and enabled to do, singly and 
 simply in the quickening interest of his life and power, 
 working, and causing me to work therein the works of God. 
 Neither men nor angels can reveal this. So that a believer 
 may cry out, "I am wonderfully and fearfully made." 1 But 
 that counsel, that contrived the new creature, and curiously 
 wrought it in the secrets of his own purpose, is able to reveal 
 it. " Who knoweth the things of God, but the Spirit of 
 God, and he to whom the Spirit doth declare them ? " 2 Oh 
 that I might be led powerfully into this inquiry, and changed 
 into the stamp of such a translating life and power, by the 
 Spirit of the Lord ! 
 
 It is called a transformation, through the " renewing of the 
 mind." 3 The old, unrenewed mind draws all its arguments 
 and reasoning from things below, that are among men, and 
 conformed to the principles of human ability, capacity, or 
 reason ; but this transformation in the renewed mind draws 
 all its arguments from the design of new-covenant grace ; 4 
 and from the ability, capacity, and reason of the spirit and 
 power of Jesus Christ, who has carried away the soul from 
 its own interest, into the rightful interest and active method 
 of the spirit of his cross, resurrection, and life ; and suffers 
 no conclusions to be made but from these premises, and ac- 
 cording to the rules of such reasoning, w r hich the apostle di- 
 recteth to, Rom. vi. 11. 
 
 This transformation by faith, or closure with Christ, is 
 influentially argumentative. Through the soul's beholding 
 of the glory of a God, in whom it has an interest, in the 
 person of a Mediator, it is changed (in a measure through- 
 out) into the same image, by his Spirit ; and its understand- 
 ing argues in the power and facility of a renewed instinct, 
 
 1 Psalm 139: 14. 2 1 Cor. 2: 10, 11. * Rom. 12: 2. 
 
 * Lzek. 36: 26, 27. 
 
2(j A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 accompanied with the breathing of the Spirit, suited to the 
 region of this change, and so bears the soul into the vision, 
 power, and truth of this mysterious new state. 
 
 The Soul yet thirsts for a further View. 
 
 that my gracious God would guide my eye and my 
 heart a little further .into this inquiry, not for curiosity, but 
 for renewing my dark mind, and unmortified will, to a 
 powerful conformity to his revealed will ! Doubtless, faith 
 hath a strange pasture to feed in, and a wonderful trans- 
 forming glass to behold its redemption through. 
 
 The infinite God humbles himself into the lowest form of 
 man's nature ; l and yet retains his infinite being still, which 
 the heaven of heavens is not able to contain. This is that 
 condescension which the angels pry into, and take it up by 
 degrees, as they find it manifested to men in the ministration 
 of the gospel, preached unto, and received by them, through 
 the Spirit. 2 
 
 God comes down into the very nature of all mankind, in 
 the union of the single body of Jesus Christ with the in- 
 comprehensible essence, in the person of the Son. " The 
 Word, which is very God, was made flesh, 3 and God dwell- 
 eth in him, 4 and really, legally, and judicially transacteth the 
 whole business of redemption in that body, as the determined 
 and fitted substitute of every individual person of the elect ; 
 making the work prosperously perfect, on their behalf in the- 
 person of Christ, who was born at Bethlehem, who suffered 
 death at Jerusalem, and rose again ; transmitting the virtue 
 thereof by his Spirit through the gospel, in some measure 
 to the understanding and conscience of every one whose 
 person he sustained, that their faith and hope might be in 
 God ; 5 and thai they might enjoy whatever he purchased as 
 their own possession. They suffered in his stripes, satisfied 
 divine justice in his death, fulfilled the law to a tittle in 
 his perfect righteousness, are ascended in his victory, and 
 are sons and heirs of God, in the interest they have in his 
 person, through that human nature of their own which he 
 assumed to himself. This plea has faith to make by way 
 of answer to all the powers of darkness.* God, in the 
 second person, manage th all man's work in that human 
 
 1 Phil. 2: 6—8. 2 Eph. 3: 10. « John 1: 1,14. 4 Col. 2: 9. 
 5 1 Peter 1: 21. 6 1 Peter 3: 21. 
 
SALVATION* 
 
 nature, as truly aa it' he had been only man. He overcomes, 
 and completes redemption for them, as fully as the perfection 
 of the divine essence could do it Human nature did no 
 way weaken divine power, bul (as it were) capacitate it for 
 man's cure, that God might be just, and yet the justifierof 
 
 sinful man. This real taking of man's nature into personal 
 union, and every elected one, in the interest of that nature, 
 into union also, (which is called mystical union,) makes the 
 infinite God, who is a Spirit, delight to use man's language 
 
 of himself, in the way of man ; namely, to walk, to sup with 
 them: and also those expressions of the parts of man's body, 
 arms, hands, mouth, eyes, face and the like, so frequently 
 used in the scriptures, as evidences of the indissoluble union 
 between the divine and human nature, which in the fulness 
 of time he actually assumed ; and which being assumed into 
 the person of the Son, every elected one is capacitated to 
 receive the same Spirit of the Son, whereby they cry Abba, 
 Father, in the interest they have, through him and his re- 
 demption, in his Father ; * which is the very inlet of that 
 closure betwixt Christ and his members, that are redeemed, 
 mentioned before ; in the virtue of which closure by the 
 Spirit, Christ owns their spirit, soul, and body to be his, 2 and 
 all their actions and sufferings upon his account, to be his 
 also. And they, as far as they, by his Spirit, live in the 
 virtue of this closure, act nothing but the life of Christ 
 Jesus, the Lord dwelling in them. Hence it is that so often 
 expressions to that sense are used by the apostle Paul : " I 
 salute you in the Lord ; " 3 " my ways which are in Christ ; " 4 
 u my work in the Lord ; " 5 " this I say and testify in the 
 Lord ; " 6 "I rejoiced in the Lord ; " 7 " I speak the truth in 
 Christ ;" 8 and when-speaking of others, " every good thing 
 which is in you in Christ Jesus ;" 9 "refresh my bowels in 
 Lord;"* " be strong in the Lord ; " n " stand fast in the 
 Lord ; be of the same mind in the Lord ; " 12 and so, in 
 reference to conjugal and other relations; "neither is the 
 man without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in 
 the Lord;" 13 "the wife, if her husband be dead, is at 
 liberty to be married to whom she will, only in the Lord ; " 14 
 " Children, obey your parents in the Lord;" 15 "ye serve 
 
 1 Gal. 4: 6. " 1 Cor. 6: 20. 3 Pvom. 1G: 22. 4 1 Cor. 4; 17. 
 
 5 1 Cor. 9: 1. G Eph. 4: 17. 7 Phil 4: 10. 8 1 Tim. 2: 7.J 
 
 9 Philemon G. » Philemon 20. n Eph. G: 10. 
 
 12 Phil. 4: 1. 2. 13 1 Cor. 11: 11. l * 1 Cor. 7: 39. I5 Eph. 6: 1. 
 
28 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 the Lord Christ ; " l speaking of the obedience of servants 
 to their masters ; with many such like expressions, flowing 
 from the life of faith in Christ, through that mutual closure 
 between him and the soul, acting in and by the rules of that 
 life of Christ truly and really dwelling in them, and exerted 
 by those words and actions used in his name. For this 
 cause the apostle saith, the believing Corinthians were not 
 their own, 2 but Christ's ; as an argument against defiling 
 their bodies, which are said to be " members of his body." 3 
 
 From this ground, faith, as the active flame rising up from 
 the warmth of this mutual closure with Christ, seizes and 
 fastens upon all the promises in the scriptures, whether ab- 
 solute or conditional. If absolute, they are made in Christ. 
 If conditional, the condition lies upon his power to perform, 
 and all the privilege is theirs ; because the promises are 
 made to him, and he and they are one spirit, in this closure 
 and marriage which he has made. His person, and so all his 
 achievements and rewards, are theirs ; the care of their 
 bodies, lives, estates, credit, comfort of relations, all lies upon 
 him ; because they are his, in whatever they are. Upon this 
 ground, the Lord saith with his own mouth, by the prophet, 
 " Whosoever toucheth you, toucheth the apple of mine 
 eye ; " 4 and when the saints were persecuted, Christ said, 
 " He was persecuted ; " 5 hence it is, that David saith, " I am 
 thine, save me," Ps. cxix. 94. 
 
 But (methinks) while my meditation is stepping from one 
 view of the inheritance to another, I find a great aptness to 
 lose the method of, and the united conformity to, the whole 
 pattern of my Mediator. While I am viewing his life, and 
 the operations of it, I skip away from his cross ; and do for- 
 get, that the virtue of his death goes along with him in all 
 the steps of his work ; whereas I find that the same apostle, 
 who saw him, in a vision, clothed with power, splendor and 
 glory, 6 saw him also as a lamb that was slain. 7 The virtue 
 and power of his incarnation and death abides with him, as 
 the primitive constitution, that cleared the way, and fitted 
 him for the glorious achievements of his exaltation ; answera- 
 ble unto which, the Spirit of the gospel works prosperously, 
 when it mortifies in quickening, when it destroys in saving, 
 when it emptieth in filling, and pulleth down in building up. 
 Though Christ may not, and cannot be brought again to the 
 
 1 Col. 3: 24. 2 1 Cor. 6: 19. 3 1 Cor. 6: 15. 4 Zech. 2: 8. 
 
 5 Acts 9: 4. 6 Rev. 1: 13—16. * Rev. 5: G. 
 
NATION. 29 
 
 grave; (he dieth no more, Rom. vi. ( .).) because he hath 
 made an end of Bin, by the sacrifice of himself, offered up 
 
 once i'ov all, and hath perfected forever them thai arc sancti- 
 fied, and Bel them apart, by the merit thereof, from condem- 
 nation, at the bar oi' divine justice, in his own person ; yet 
 the applying virtue o\' this, by faith, still remains vigorous, 
 with the rest of the excellencies of his mediatorship, to out- 
 plead the guill and punishment of sin, and the fear thereof, 
 from mole-ting the conscience, which otherwise is not able to 
 give constant answers, and drive back the darts of the evil 
 one. 1 This virtue of his death is that, which doth also bring 
 forth in the soul a self-denying liberty; for the perfect me- 
 diator, by his Spirit, doth make all things new, according to 
 the image oi' his own person ; in which respect, the redeemed 
 are called, not only sons of God in Christ, as interested in 
 his person by the mystical union through the Spirit, but also 
 sons of Christ, in that the image of the Mediator, in every 
 part of that office, is drawn, and (as it were) propagated into 
 the souls of the redeemed, through the inward working of 
 his own Spirit, which is the Spirit of a crucified, buried, risen, 
 and glorified Saviour : and such a salvation in such a 
 Saviour, doth the Spirit, by a lively and powerful faith, form 
 in every new creature. So that a new creature may be thus 
 described : it is the virtue of the death and resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ, subduing the old man, resting in the heart, and 
 working it to a lively conformity to the Mediator, by receiv- 
 ing every impression of his image. 
 
 Salvation in Christ's Person for a Believer originally. 
 
 As the sense and relish of these workings between Christ 
 and the soul are not always clearly discerned, it is of great 
 use (both for the knowledge of one's eternal interest in him, 
 and to derive, in true method, grace and strength to help in 
 time of need), to consider well, that the happiness and safety 
 of a Christian do not originally lie in the exercise of faith, 
 or any other grace ; but in God himself, obliged by cove- 
 nant, confirmed in Jesus Christ. So that when faith fails, 
 lie fails not ; "he cannot deny himself." 2 He himself be- 
 ing the portion of his people, feeds their faith with strength 
 and discoveries thereof. And as the actual closing betwixt 
 
 1 Heb. 10. 2. 9: 14. 2 2 Tim. 2: 13. 
 3 
 
30 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 Christ and the soul come down from that covenant which 
 God made with Christ, and, in him, with his members ; and 
 continues everlastingly, by its relation to that covenant, as 
 the root in which God has given himself to his people, and 
 engaged to perfect whatever concerns them ; therefore the 
 soul is, at the first view, to look upon God, as he has mani- 
 fested himself in Christ, and by faith to rely upon him as 
 freely, as he did freely enter into covenant. He looked upon 
 man in all his misery, and made a covenant with him in the 
 Mediator. Our work is also to look upon him, assenting to, 
 and claiming interest in, that covenant. 
 
 When God, by his Spirit, doth close with the soul in Jesus 
 Christ, and refresheth it in that change, he doth not allow 
 that soul to feed (sensually as it were) on that refreshment, 
 but on him ; between whom and the soul Christ ratified a 
 covenant by his death, etc. So that every particle of such 
 refreshment lies properly in this, that a voluntarily covenant- 
 ed God doth, in such or such manifestations, declare himself; 
 and not in the manifestations themselves, singly considered. 
 
 Salvation offered to all alike. 
 
 As God hath been pleased to declare a covenant-recon- 
 ciliation to every creature that is under heaven, 1 no person, 
 in that visible dispensation, is excluded ; but all have an 
 equal right and nearness to that reconciliation, in the outward 
 call : and no person is allowed to think, that any other has 
 now a more native privilege than himself thereto, or one a 
 more easy way to attain it than another. It is a holding out 
 of grace to men altogether sinful, and equally miserable ; 
 and so it considers them, Rom. iii. from the 10th to the 20th 
 verse. The ground for encouragement to lay hold upon the 
 offer, is one and the same to every living human creature, 
 which is, the declared willingness of God, in the engage- 
 ment of the whole essence, to save sinners, 1 Tim. ii. 4, 
 Ezek. xxxiii. 11. And thus Jesus Christ is set forth as a 
 propitiation for the sins of every man in the world ; 2 so far 
 as the word of the gospel reacheth in the declaring of it, and 
 all the privileges of the covenant of grace, relating to this 
 life, and that to come. And it is proclaimed equally to all, 
 upon the bare invitation to believe it, and receive it. So 
 
 1 Col. 1: 23. 2 1 John 2: 2. 
 
OF SALVATION. 31 
 
 that the reason why one believes and receives, and another 
 doth not, ariseth no! from any difference at all in the invita- 
 tion itself; ' but faith being the gift of God, he giveth it to 
 whomsoever he will : s and doth thereby secretly distinguish 
 
 between the purpose of his election, and his final rejection 
 or desertion; and between the intentional and decreed virtue 
 of Christ's death to some, and the manifested exhibition, and 
 Betting forth of the same only, in the public offer of the 
 gospel, to others : the discovery whereof (especially on the 
 refusers' part) is reserved until the day of the declaration of 
 the righteous judgment of God. 
 
 The thought of God's secret decree ought to be so far 
 from discouraging any, that it should rather put the soul 
 upon a diligent attending to the invitation of the covenant of 
 grace ; and in so doing, that soul shall, without fail, find the 
 promise, John vi. 37, made good ; and his " election made 
 sure," 2 Pet. i. 10. 
 
 All that are saved, are saved by laying hold on the re- 
 vealed will of God. 3 " Revealed things belong to us ; " 4 
 and they lie with the same open indulgence to all, where the 
 gospel comes : they are not straitened in themselves, or in 
 the dispensers of them. 5 " Whosoever will, let him come 
 and take the water of life freely ; " one as well as another. 6 
 
 I have now reason to bewail the foolish niggardliness of 
 my own heart, and the shyness that is in me, from the 
 abounding freeness that is in the offers and invitations of 
 grace and reconciliation. The good will of the Lord shines 
 forth to the whole world ; and, did not the hearts of men 
 hide themselves under a wilful unbelief, and withdrawing 
 from it, it would necessarily shine into them : which ariseth, 
 partly, from a root of wilfulness ; 7 and partly from the de- 
 lusion of Satan, who " blindeth the eyes of the mind, that 
 the light of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ should not 
 shine into their hearts." 8 Hence it is that the prophet calls 
 forth, Isa. xlii. 18, "Hear, ye deaf; and look, ye blind;" 
 and again, Isa. xliii. 8, " Bring forth the blind which have 
 eyes, and the deaf that have ears : " as speaking to persons 
 who hide, and withdraw themselves into holes, although the 
 revealed pleasure of the Lord (for his righteousness, and 
 covenant sake) is to make the law of his grace great and 
 
 1 Acts 17: 30. 2 Eph. 2: 8. 8 Eph. 3: 5, 6. 4 Dcut. 29: 29. 
 
 5 2 Cor. 6: 11. 12. 6 Rev. 22: 17. * p sa lm 81: 11. K 2 Cor. 4: 4. 
 
32 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 large, and himself herein glorious; as the 19th, 20th, and 
 21st verses seem to import. The great misery of man lies, 
 not in any difference or inequality in the tender of grace to 
 one more than another, where it is tendered, but in " re- 
 fusing," 1 " rejecting," 2 " neglecting," 3 " despising," 4 and 
 " withdrawing from it." 5 And whereas sinful man has will 
 to evil, and to resist good, 6 and no will to good ; 7 (" for his 
 very mind and conscience is defiled.") 8 This arises not from 
 any defect in the dispensation of grace, but from that cap- 
 tivity to Satan, in which they are held. 9 Neither is the 
 freedom of the dispensation of grace, held forth to the world, 
 any more hindered thereby, than the sun is hindered from 
 shining, by the defect of sight in a blind man. Neither also 
 can the outward dispensation of grace any more change the 
 heart, than the sun can open the eyes of the blind, without 
 the inward working of the Spirit, which " bloweth where 
 it listeth." 10 Neither could the opened eye and greatest con- 
 victions be of any use, if there were not a dispensation of 
 new-covenant mercy held forth to all men, as the sun which 
 shines in the firmament of the gospel. So that, thai which 
 makes an absolute soul-cure, is, the secret working of the 
 Spirit, giving conviction and change to the whole soul, and 
 inclining it to hear and see the good-will of the Lord pro- 
 claimed in the gospel ; which is carried (as it were) into the 
 midst of heaven, and enlightens the day of salvation with the 
 excellency of free acceptance to all comers. 
 
 Hereby the great hindrance, through doubt and fear of 
 not acceptance, is removed ; for the whole light of the day 
 of grace, which, since Christ ascended, shines forth to all 
 people, 11 is acceptation of returning sinners. It is a day 
 formed by the Lord for that very purpose; 12 a day of re- 
 markable wonder ; Psalm cxviii. 22 — 24. compared with 
 1 Pet. ii. 4, 7. which is the very ground of the apostle's ex- 
 hortation, " To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not 
 your hearts." 13 From the womb of this new day, which has 
 visited the earth, is the Spirit sent forth, in the ordinances 
 and gospel-means, to gather the elect seed, as a dew from 
 the Lord ; and to make them effectually to see what is the 
 fellowship of this mystery of good-will to men, and the un- 
 
 1 Acts 7: 57. Isaiah 1: 20. Jer. 9: 6. 2 Acts 13: 46. Jcr. 6: 19. 
 3 Heb. 2: 3. 4 Rom. 2: 4. 5 Ilcb. 10: 39. 6 Jer. 44: 16, 17. 
 
 7 1 Cor. 2: 14. 8 Tit, 1: 15. 9 2 Tim. 2: 26. ,0 1 Cor. 12: 11. John 
 3: 8. " Rev. 14: 6. ]2 2 Cor. 6: 2. ™ Heb. 3: 13—15. 
 
OF SAIA A HON. <')3 
 
 searchable riches of Christ, displayed therein. 1 And thus 
 
 (loth the Spirit, by convictions, and a secret drawing virtue, 
 send away the penitent sinner, by faith, to JesllS Christ, 
 upon the aCCOUnl of the free tender which he makes of him- 
 self, in the dispensation of the covenant of grace, which he 
 continued in his blood, and caused it to be held forth and 
 preached to every creature. 
 
 The Soul yet thirsts and inquires. 
 
 Fain would my soul send forth a few meditations more, 
 to spy out this good land ; and, oh ! let them not return 
 without some grapes, some cheering liquor, as a witness of 
 the fruitfulness of this good and delightful country ; where 
 the mystery of truth, pardon, and life doth inhabit to that 
 end. 
 
 The Object of Faith's Eye. 
 
 My next inquiry is, to know w r hat is the object of the eye 
 of faith, in this general dispensation of grace ; and how to 
 exercise the levelling of my eye thereto. 
 
 The main tendency of faith is to God himself manifested 
 in the flesh, united to man's nature, and therein doing the 
 w T hole work of redemption. 
 
 This humanizing (as it were) of the Deity, was exerted 
 and put forth, in constituting the Son of God to be the Son of 
 man ; whose constitution made him agreeable to his name^ 
 Emmanuel, God with us. 
 
 In his person, all mediating work is wrought, by taking 
 upon himself the cause of distance, viz. the sin of man, and 
 wrath of God ; and the enmity on man's part, and the irre- 
 concilableness on God's part, thereby ; for discharging of 
 which, he is made a high-priest, and so he procures it, and 
 maintains it, in the power of a king ; and reveals it as a 
 prophet : All which offices he was anointed to, and qualified 
 for, in his own person. And by reason of that essential 
 union with the Godhead in which he stood, the Father de- 
 lights in, and owns him as the Son of man ; and doth every 
 way suit with him, as the father of such a Son, who is both 
 God and man. The Spirit too, which proceedeth from 
 the Father and the Son, doth (through the same union 
 of the divine essence) also suit with him, and operate by 
 and through him, as the Spirit of him who is both 
 
 1 Eph. 3: 8, 9. 
 3* 
 
34 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 God and man in one person. Hence arises the perfec- 
 tion and absolute completeness of the mediatorship. I 
 am not alone, (saith Christ,) but I and the Father that sent 
 me i 1 And the comforting Spirit shall receive of mine, and 
 shall show it unto you ; John xvi. 14. For the fulness of 
 the Godhead dwelleth in him bodily ; 2 and jointly carries 
 on the work of mediatorship : which was personally under- 
 taken by the eternal Son, who is made Emmanuel. And 
 this satisfies the request which Philip made, Show us the 
 Father. Hast thou not seen me ? (saith Christ,) He that 
 hath seen me, (viz. by the eye of faith, as I really am, and 
 ought to be looked upon) hath seen the Father. 3 Every 
 action and revelation of himself is the revelation of the 
 Father, Son, and Spirit, in the distinguishable working of 
 each person, and yet united in the same God, who worketh 
 all in all. 4 Christ suffered as the Son of such a Father ; 
 and the Father (in this design of mediatorship) was clothed 
 with a true fatherly relation to the incarnate, suffering Son ; 
 and the eternal Spirit, which proceedeth from the Father 
 and the Son, did put forth his almighty essential virtue, in 
 the offering up of the body of Christ upon the cross : which 
 union of Father, Son and Spirit, in God our Saviour, 5 
 appears in John xvii. 21. and Heb. ix. 14. taken together. 
 So that all the persons, in the saving of man, do (as it were) 
 concentre, and work together in the person of the Mediator. 
 The will of the Father, John iv. 34. The mercy of the 
 Son, Heb. iv. 13 — 15. And the power of the Spirit, Heb. 
 ix. 14. and Rom. i. 4. All which being one in the divine 
 essence of God, meet together in the person of the Son, who 
 is, according to the eternal decree, God and man, through 
 his union with and in the Godhead. 
 
 God thus manifested in the flesh, and, as Father, Son, 
 and Spirit, laying the foundation of mediatorship in Jesus 
 Christ, the eternal Son, God and man, dotli also, in and with 
 him, carrying it on, as a father to, and Spirit of him, who is 
 God-man. And for this cause, the gospel is called the word 
 of truth ; not only in respect of the matter of it, but of the 
 legal testimony that it receives from these three witnesses, 
 as the declaration of the counsel of their own essential will 
 and purpose. 
 
 1 John 8: 16. 2 Col. 2: 9. y John 14: 7—9. 4 1 Cor. 12: f>. 
 5 Tit. 2: 13. 
 
01 SAI.YA I [OK. 
 
 And in regard that the Son of God, in the name and 
 co-working of Father, Son, and Spirit, undertook the Medi- 
 atorship, by taking Man's nature, every mortal person, thai 
 has the nature of man, stands alike near to 1dm, in ill! 1 dis- 
 pensation of the gospel-call. It puis aside other mediators: 
 the angels are spirits, and have not human nature, in which 
 to mediate for man : Christ himself is nearer to us than 
 they are ; lie i> man. The spirits of just men made perl ret 
 cannot mediate for us ; for though they are human, yet they 
 want Living bodies : but Christ has his human body with 
 him ; and therefore is nearer to men, who are clothed with 
 flesh. Neither can one mortal man mediate as a mediator 
 betwixt God and man ; because, though he have the human 
 nature in him, yet it is in him personally, and not represent- 
 ing the whole race of man, as the pure nature of Christ, 
 the second Adam, doth : And besides, mortal man is but 
 man ; but Christ is both God and man, that he may lay his 
 hands on both parties, God and man, to reconcile them to- 
 gether, as they are reconciled in the person of the mediator. 1 
 Promises cannot mediate ; for man has no right to them, but 
 through Christ first. Duties cannot mediate ; because they 
 are loathsome, without an interest in Christ. Graces cannot 
 mediate, because they are fruits of reconciliation through the 
 Mediator ; the fruit cannot be the cause of the root from 
 whence it comes. 
 
 So that, as Jesus Christ, in being Mediator, took our na- 
 ture (viz. that human nature that is in every person of man- 
 kind) into immediate union with the Godhead dwelling in 
 his person, this same Jesus Christ, God and man (in the rela- 
 tion he bears to the Father and Spirit, and they to him, in 
 their mutual concurrence with him in this great work of 
 his mediation, having sealed and anointed him thereto, that 
 he might completely effect it) is the true immediate object of 
 a believer's eye : and he who, renouncing all other names 
 and helps flees thither, shall be saved by him ; for " Every 
 one that seeth the Son, and believeth on him, shall have 
 have everlasting life." 2 His appearing in the promises doth 
 make them a convoy to bring the soul to him ; which would 
 otherwise, be no better guides, than the light to a blind man. 
 His presence in duties makes them the way and door of ap- 
 proach ; which would otherwise be no better guides, by single 
 
 1 Col. 1: 19—22. 2 John 6: 40. 
 
36 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 gazing on, and using of them, than a lantern in a man's 
 hand, can be a guide by gazing on it, and leading himself 
 round about in a circle, by the light thereof, not minding the 
 way, or the door, to find which that light was appointed and 
 intended. The graces of his Spirit are the beams of that 
 excellency that is in his person, and the streams which flow 
 from the fountain, which are subject to intermission and 
 stoppage, without the constant supply which they receive 
 from the sun and the fountain. And, therefore, a believer's 
 eye and aim must be tending to an immediate fixing upon, 
 and closing with Christ himself, as the proper course and 
 sure way, and only orderly means, to find rest and safety to 
 the soul. 
 
 The Aim of Faith's Eye desirous to attain its Mark. 
 
 The next considerable thing is, to inquire how the eye of 
 faith is to be levelled at, and exercised upon, this perfect 
 and glorious object, so as to change the soul from bearing 
 the burden of its own guilt, and to get power against the 
 defiling nature and power of sin ; and so to carry on the 
 change from glory to glory, after the image of Jesus Christ, 
 by the virtue of his Spirit. 1 
 
 The dispensation of the gospel is the glass ; and the glory 
 of the Lord there appearing, is that which faith fixeth and 
 feedeth upon. It passeth through the glass, and seizeth 
 upon Jesus Christ, represented therein ; and there stays, till 
 it hath enamored the soul into the same likeness. The glory 
 of Christ begets an image of glory in the heart of a believer, 
 of the same nature with itself. 
 
 Indeed, there is a transient closing with the promises, as 
 with a neighbor, who can tell where the soul's friend dwell- 
 eth ; and of this use are the ordinances : and so far the 
 Spirit of the Father lodgeth in them, for the help of the 
 diligent seeker, to draw him to Christ. The first motion 
 also of that diligent seeking proceedeth from the Father, 
 who worketh with the Son, by the Spirit, to draw the soul 
 to the person of the Son, as Mediator ; in whom the Father, 
 Son, and Spirit give the soul a satisfactory meeting. 2 
 
 But the knot of union, by which the soul partakes of the 
 life and glory of God, is not perfectly knit, till the soul actu- 
 ally enters into the fellowship of Christ, the Mediator; 3 and 
 
 1 2 Cor. 3: 18. 2 John 5: 17. 6: 44, 45. 14: 23. 3 1 Cor. 1: 9. 
 
OF SALT at; 
 
 for this very end, serves the preaching of the gospel, in the 
 dispensation of it. 1 
 
 The bouI being thus ushered in, treats with and fixeth on 
 Christ absolutely and immediately ; and lays hold on his 
 personal worth only, as the foundation of its hope and help. 
 The soul has gained a great deal of beauty in Christ's i 
 when once it is brought, by his Spirit, to Leave its own idols, 
 and forsake its own country, and to trust singly under the 
 shadow oi' his wings : there blessedness begins, as Boaz 
 said to Ruth. 2 
 
 And here the soul closetli with the all-sufficiency of the 
 Mediator, pondering the large extent thereof. And whereas 
 the soul is usually more troubled about the aggravations of 
 Bin, and the circumstances thereof, than about the sin itself, 
 and for its insincerity, and want of feeling remorse, and suf- 
 ficient detestation against sin, in its repentance ; and is much 
 molested with the stain that guilt leaves on the conscience ; 
 and finding, that neither removal of guilt, nor power of 
 cleansing, nor freedom from its just accusation, can be got 
 from the consultations of a wounded spirit, it falls nakedly 
 on the all-sufficiency of the Mediator ; and there it beholds 
 him, as one able to take away all sins, in their whole extent. 
 His body was given him for that end: and although his own 
 body was pure, yet it was in the likeness of the flesh of sin, 
 or sinful flesh, and depravation of nature, received from 
 Adam, Rom. viii. 3. that as far as motions of sin, or capacity 
 of sinning, is found in mankind, he did bear the likeness of 
 that state. And so he is called the second Adam : not only 
 as one representing the elect seed of grace, but also as being 
 the superadequate antidote, to conquer and remove all poison 
 that entered upon mankind by the sin of the first Adam. 
 The nature of the second Adam is made as perfectly holy, 
 as that of the first was defiled by sin, and became perfectly 
 sinful, as appears in Rom. v. And in regard that the 
 strength and slaying power of sin lies in the law, his human 
 nature was made under the law, subjected to the whole law, 
 as far as it had to do with sinful man, for this end, that he 
 might redeem them who were under the law, from being 
 under any condemning or accusing sentence, or sting of pun- 
 ishment from thence ; which he bringeth about by obeying 
 it, and satisfying for the breach thereof made by sinful man. 
 
 1 Col. 1: 28. 1 John 1: 1—3. 2 Ruth 2: 11, 12. 
 
38 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 Sin is therefore sin, because it is against the law ; he there- 
 fore is made under the law, and that to fulfil its commands, 
 and bear its doom. Though sin be finite in the transgressor, 
 yet is it infinite in respect of the object, the infinite God. 
 But the obedience and suffering of Christ was of an infinite 
 extent, in respect of the person, because it was the act of 
 God-man ; and in the virtue also, because it was a contrived 
 remedy, in the counsel of God's love, to outstretch the injury 
 that was done to the infinite divine majesty, by finite man. 
 Hence it is, that this remedy carries with it the terms of 
 " abounding grace ; " x and " unsearchable riches." 2 The all- 
 sufficiency lies also in this, that it is a free gift, considering 
 that the gifts of God's love are infinite, as his nature is ; the 
 thoughts of which do, by faith, bring in a foundation for in- 
 finite justification and righteousness ; and a way is thereby 
 made to the rest of the purchased possession, that lies in the 
 person of the same Redeemer ; the infiniteness of his good- 
 ness, and drift in this design, which could never suffer disap- 
 pointment ; the infiniteness of his wisdom, that could never 
 mistake ; the infiniteness of his love that can never cease ; 
 and the infiniteness of his power, which can never fail. 
 
 And since the nature of the salvation of God is infinite, 
 it is brought down into the person of God-man ; and from 
 him into the ordinances ; and so by the Spirit, into the heart 
 of man ; retaining still its infinite nature. In Jesus Christ, 
 the infinite God is made flesh ; in the ordinances, he speaks 
 by man's voice ; in the faith of the heart he dwelleth ; carry- 
 ing the soul (by the operation of his Spirit, to look upon 
 him, and hear his voice in the steps of his condescension) to 
 the true enjoyment of himself. 
 
 Faith taking a right Method. 
 
 It is comfortable to have the testimony of a good conscience, 
 and power over corruption and soul-disquiet thereby : but I 
 must not begin there. God begins my righteousness and 
 freedom in himself, and brings it forth in the person of Jesus 
 Christ : I must begin it there also ; and, as it is perfected in 
 him, 3 1 must perfectly derive it thence, continuing perpetually 
 at that spring, 4 never expecting to have it mended, by anything 
 I could do, though it were the obeying of the whole law : for 
 
 1 Rom. 5: 17,20. 2 Eph. 3: 8. 8 Heb. 10: 14. 4 Gal. 2: 20, 21. 
 
Of SALVATION. OV 
 
 my obedience is bul the obedience of a stained nature, thai has 
 already broken that righteous law. When the guilt, defile- 
 ment, and weaknessofa foolish, depraved heart, lie upon me 
 
 as a lump of lead, I gel nothing 1))' talking with them ; as 
 Solomon Baith of the fool, ''Answer not a fool according to 
 his folly, lest thou he like him." 1 For this talking with guilt 
 and weakness, draweth my soul (which is made tree indeed 
 by the Son of God) to the likeness of that guilt and weak- 
 ness, and my justified conscience begins again to lick up the 
 old vomit of fear and bondage ; but my work is then to cast 
 myself, by naked reliance, on him who "justifieth the un- 
 godly ;"* as being compassed about with the guard of God's 
 free, everlasting justification, in the person of Jesus Christ : 
 then, having the shelter of this guard, I may return, and 
 plead with guilt, and hear the complaints of my heart, and 
 the accusations of my conscience, and give them answers 
 from the fulness of Christ's atonement : and thus again : the 
 fool (if such a term may be used in this comparison) is an- 
 swered, "lest he should be wise in his own conceit:" 3 I 
 mean that spirit of bondage, wdiich by the advantage of my 
 own sin, pleads rationally against my peace, till faith comes 
 with the tongue of the learned, and pleads the mystery of 
 free grace, against the plea of reason ; and the righteousness 
 of Christ and his holiness, against sin and guilt. Nothing 
 prevailed against Samson till he betrayed the vow of God 
 that w r as upon him: so, nothing can prevail against the 
 peace of justification, till guilt divide between the soul and 
 naked reliance upon the perfection of Christ's personal 
 sacrifice and mediatorship. The man that lays his founda- 
 tion thus, will not boast in himself; nor wrong the visits of 
 God's favorable countenance by pride and w T antonness ; nor 
 yet despair when storms arise ; because his foundation is 
 upon a rock, and his safety is not at all of his own handy 
 work. As far as he beholds this all-sufficiency of Christ's 
 mediatorship, the eye affects the heart to security and 
 strength ; and crumbles all self-sufficiency to pow T der ; and 
 blows away the Egyptian locusts of guilt and fears into the 
 Red Sea ; and restores pacification and quiet to the con- 
 science ; and from this glorious sanctuary, the soul comes 
 forth to do the actions of a new life, by the virtue of another 
 Spirit, "the Spirit of love, and of a sound mind;" 4 and 
 
 1 Prov. 26:4. 2 Rom. 4: 5. 3 Prov. 26: 5. 4 2 Tim. 1: 7. 
 
40 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 worketh the works of God in the world ; and takes pleasure 
 in obeying the truth ; and, if it were possible, would actually 
 keep the whole law ; in as much as, being now eternally 
 knit to Christ's person by faith, the law, by the Spirit of 
 Christ, is written in the heart. 
 
 This naked reliance on Christ's person, was the great en- 
 deavor, and left to us as the experience, of the apostles. 
 1 Cor. ii. 2. Philip, iii. 8, 9. 
 
 A faith of which nature also was exercised eminently by 
 the holy men of old ; Abraham, Rom. iv. 20. David, Psalm 
 lxxi. 16. 
 
 There were two fundamental reasons mentioned, why the 
 soul is wholly to cast itself on the naked personal merit of 
 Jesus Christ ; namely, because he began our righteousness, 
 and he only perfected the same for ever ; and those reasons, 
 w r ell weighed, have great strength and virtue in them, to be- 
 get faith ; and besides, it is commanded, as the absolute con- 
 dition of salvation, "Believe, and thou shalt be saved;" 1 
 in opposition to which, unbelief is made, in the dispensation 
 of the gospel, the reason of dying under the guilt of sin : 2 for 
 the gospel doth so perfectly hold out Jesus Christ to be the 
 propitiation for all the sins of the world, through the value 
 of his death, and open freeness of the tender thereof, that 
 the very hinge of salvation and damnation is turned upon 
 the faith of the heart therein, or unbelief thereof, as being 
 the most necessary and suitable requisites, for the stating 
 of the soul into an actual condition of life or death eter- 
 nally. 
 
 Yea, Christ pronounceth forgiveness of sins to the palsied 
 man, 3 upon the mere account of believing. And the apostle 
 Paul declares the righteousness of God to be upon all that 
 believe, without making any difference upon any other re- 
 spect. 4 This one thing saved the thief upon the cross, when 
 he had not opportunity to make satisfaction for all the 
 wrongs and robberies he had done. This makes the apostle 
 Paul so laborious to preserve this mystery from the least 
 mixture of legal righteousness : 5 because a believer's state 
 and life is wholly " by grace," 6 which entirely treats with 
 the faith of a believer, and not with his works of righteous- 
 ness or sin : the one cannot help, nor the other hinder ; be- 
 
 1 Acts 1G: 31. 1 John 3: 23. 2 John 8: 24. 3 Luke 5: 20. 
 
 4 Kom. 3: 21, 22. & Gal. 5: 2—4. 6 1 Cor. 15: 10. 
 
1 1 
 
 cause thej are as the ele] • another world ; (as they 
 
 are railed. Gal. i\. 8.) and can neither mend nor hurl thai 
 justification by Jesus Christ, revealed from heaven to a 
 believer, any more than earthly food can feed a spirit, or 
 
 kteria] sword wound an angel. And the reason is, be- 
 cause the person of Christ La the ark, where righteousness 
 and pardon are kept, and conveyed singly, by the Spirit of 
 grace, to faith, (which is the acceptance of the same) and 
 so it is secure from any persona] qualifications on man's part 
 to hinder it. where it is by the Spirit of believing accepted, 
 Rom. iv. 16. 
 
 This justification of a sinner, by faith in the personal 
 
 faction and righteousness of Jesus Christ, is that which 
 lays a firm ground for assurance of perseverance ; because 
 the guilt of sin is done away, and pardoned at the first be- 
 lieving on Jesus Christ: and if sins be then done away, their 
 guilt cannot really return ; for " the pardon of sins, and re- 
 membering them no more, are joined together : " l neither 
 can sins, committed after the soul's conversion to God by 
 faith in Jesus Christ, hazard the final state of such a one ; 
 because his person was made accepted at the first closing 
 with Christ by faith ; and pardon of sins is but the conse- 
 quent of the acceptance of his person. Ephes. i. 6, 7. So 
 that Christ, having espoused a sinner to himself by faith, 
 washes him from his filth, preserves him in that state 
 through life, and presents him to himself, at length without 
 spot. 2 And the person being received upon the account of 
 mere grace, sin has no equal plea against such a one, because 
 the strength of his plea must be by the law ; and grace having 
 supplanted the accusation of the law, 3 the trial depends in 
 another court, where sin is cast out: 4 and if sin could not 
 hinder the acceptance of the person at first, much less can it 
 procure a dis-acceptance afterwards. 5 And besides, the per- 
 son of every convert is considered (in his true interest 
 through grace) in the person of Jesus Christ, in w T hom all 
 accusations are fully answered. 
 
 Faith having got this foundation, encouragement, and 
 rightful interest to the remission of sins, righteousness, life, 
 and peace, sets itself, by spiritual exercise, to put the soul 
 into sure and quiet possession thereof, in a thorough and di- 
 
 1 Hob. 8: 12. a Eph. 5: 25—27. n John 1: 17. 4 Kom. 6: 17, 18. 
 5 Rom. 5: 10. 
 
42 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 rect levelling its eye at the object, the person of Jesus 
 Christ : and to that end, it gets the soul up above the 
 reasonings of the old man, (flesh and blood,) into one mount 
 of gospel-reason ; and from thence, through the promises, 
 and demonstration of the word of truth by the Spirit, (as 
 through a perspective-glass,) gathers into its eye the lovely 
 view of a complete Redeemer ; and gazeth upon him, till 
 the soul is made like the chariots of Aminadab, and is both 
 willingly and safely carried into a holy confidence of the 
 truth of what it seeth ; and the truth of its own being com- 
 prehended within the reach of the design of God's free 
 mercy, in a way of particular application thereof, and crieth 
 out, " My Lord, and my God." 
 
 And oh, that my soul were upon the wings of the Spirit, 
 to ascend by faith into this mount of God, my Saviour ! 
 Why abide among the folds of corrupt nature, to hear the 
 bleating of my own confusions and lusts, seeing the sword 
 of the Lord and his Gideon is drawn for my deliverance ? 
 Awake, O my heart ; awake, O my conscience ; shake thee 
 from thy dust ; let the testimony of faith, and the Spirit of 
 adoption and freedom lead my captivity captive for ever. 
 
 In this glorious work, faith seizeth on the soul, as the 
 angel did seize upon Lot, and (as it were) tear him out of 
 Sodom, with this blessed advantage, that it makes the soul 
 willing, in the day of God's power, to be pulled with vio- 
 lence out of Sodom, out of all its fleshly filth, and fleshly 
 state. It rejoiceth to see the blood of former lusts to be' 
 sprinkled on all its raiment : it is wrathful against the en- 
 chantments of self-pride, man's applause, carnal reason, 
 earthly compliances, fleshly fears, and distrust : it roars 
 against its sensual mind, and carnal consultations, as a lion 
 over its prey. It unhingeth the gates of its captivity, and 
 carrieth them up to the top of the mount, never to return 
 again. Mighty is this Samson -faith, when its locks of sanc- 
 tified convictions, and manifestation of grace, are grown up 
 to some happy maturity ; it looks further and further after 
 Christ in every scripture ; it rejoiceth exceedingly to find 
 the free gift of Christ in such language as this : " I will give 
 thee for a covenant of the people — that thou mayest say to 
 the prisoners, Go forth : " l " Not by works of righteousness 
 which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved 
 
 1 Isa. 49: 8, 9. 
 
or [ON. 48 
 
 " ] - T am he that blotteth out thy sins for my own Bake 
 and will not remember them any more. 
 
 But the poor bou] looks down upon the scars of its own 
 vile heart, and daily weaknesses, and cries out: Oh! bul 
 
 what are the wounds in my heart and hands, those thorns in 
 my sides, these pricks in my eyes? 
 
 The understanding, triumphing through faith, replies: 
 
 These are the memorials of the wounds, with which Christ 
 was wounded in the house of his friends, when he came to 
 bis own, and they received him not ; and when the sword 
 of indignation awoke against the Shepherd, one who account- 
 ed it no robbery to be equal with God; he then saved the 
 sheep, and, after a sore conflict, slew the wolf, and gathered 
 again the poor of the flock, who were appointed by the law 
 of Moses to the slaughter. Arise, therefore, and be not 
 dismayed at the witnesses of Christ's agony, which dwell for 
 a season, in thy mortal flesh. The battle was his, not thine : 
 lie mortally wounded the dragon, and the God of peace will 
 shortly tread down Satan, and every spawn of him, under 
 thy feet These enemies are left to prove thy faith, integ- 
 rity, and patience, that thou mayest learn spiritual war, and 
 be renowned by victory, through the mighty spirit of the 
 Captain of your salvation. 
 
 Then faith fixeth its eyes again upon Jesus Christ, through 
 the word, and beholds him as a Lamb that was slain, and 
 yet risen and there sees the grave, where the guilt of con- 
 science was buried, and argueth itself thus into freedom : 
 u Guilt is destroyed, and none can raise the dead but God 
 only : but God will not raise it up, because he destroyed it 
 himself, that he might marry the justified soul to himself, 
 out of that destruction of guilt and bondage, in the person 
 of his own Son, that he might thereby bring forth life and 
 immortality to sinners, by faith;" 8 And therefore here faith 
 strives to keep its eye, while hands and feet are working ; 
 and by this compass it steers its course towards the haven of 
 safety. 
 
 But the abundant grace, and vastness of this salvation, in 
 
 and through the person of Jesus Christ, are so great, that my 
 
 is dazzled : I am not able to measure the heavens ; I 
 
 bring my bucket to hold the sea, and it is drowned in the 
 
 great waters. And yet here faith has a refuge against con- 
 
 1 Tit. 3: 5. 2 Isa. 43: 25. Jer. 31: 34. 3 2 Tim. 1: 10. Kom. 5: 6. 
 
44 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 fusion of mind; viz. when it espies a passive sense in 
 all the justification and acceptation of the gospel, and in all 
 the fruits thereof, working me up to, and making me to be 
 content with a conformity, according to the measure given 
 me to Jesus Christ. Hence are the words discovering it 
 rendered in a passive sense, justified, redeemed, and saved : 
 and the action of this is ascribed only to Christ, or God in 
 Christ, who justifieth, redeemeth, and saveth. And hence 
 also faith giveth the soul relief against confusion of mind, 
 about defect of knowledge, by the thought of this ; that 
 though I know little, yet I am known perfectly of God ; x 
 and though I apprehend little of the great mystery of this 
 salvation, yet " I am apprehended fully by Jesus Christ ; " 2 
 while I receive him by faith, and am willing to be compre- 
 hended, and moulded by his Spirit. It was but a small 
 thing, on man's part, to touch the hem of Christ's garment ; 
 yet that being an act of reliance on Christ, and subjecting 
 the soul to him, presently there came in health of body, and 
 pardon of sins, from that comprehending relation in which 
 Christ stood to such a soul. 3 The soul's work in faith, or 
 rather, that to which the soul is wrought, is a contentedness 
 to receive the person of Christ by faith, as the sum and 
 title of its interest in more than it can be ever able to recieve 
 within its own capacity. 
 
 The soul that receives the person of Christ, by one true 
 closing hint, through faith, receives a rightful claim to and 
 property in every excellency and perfection that is in God, 
 laid up in Christ for that end, though the length of that per- 
 fection and blessing be never fully known. As a man, who 
 buys a field, (if no exception in the laws of that nation be 
 made) buys all the advantages of that piece of earth, down- 
 ward to the very centre of the earth, and all between that 
 and the stars, although he really minds no more (it may be,) 
 than the grassy surface of his land, till he discovers some 
 other excellency : then he minds that also, and owns it ; 
 whether it be mines of gold or silver, or whatever is in the 
 nature of the earth, which was not known when he bought 
 it ; because he bought a right to it, without restriction to 
 any particular quality in it : so is it with a soul, that by faith 
 lays hold on and receives Christ's person ; it may be, his 
 eye is chiefly on freedom from the guilt of sin ; but in taking 
 
 1 Gal. 4: 9. a Phil. 3: 12. a Luke 8: 43—43. 
 
OF SALTATION. 1 5 
 
 the person of Christ, be receives not only pardon, but a true 
 righl to whatsoever is in Christ, relating to this life, and that 
 which is to come. The heaven of heavens is not able to 
 contain the inmost of thai inheritance which belongs to a 
 believer, because it cannot contain God. This, faith dis- 
 covers, and cides out, " My lines arc fallen in a fruitful place, 
 I have a goodly heritage." 
 
 The Influence of Faith into Neiv Obedience. 
 
 Faith, being thus mounted, has many advantages ; for it 
 is skilful, and therefore victorious. It has the advantage of 
 discovery, for offence or defence : it has champaign ground, 
 and a (dear air to breathe in ; and so is every way furnished 
 for victory and success. 
 
 And as faith is thus fitted, by means of its station and ca- 
 pacity, for discovery ; so it lies under the bond of obedience, 
 engaged and commanded to accept and drink in the happi- 
 ness that lies in Christ. Faith is eminently both a privilege 
 and duty : a privilege, in that it enters on the possession ot 
 the whole covenant of grace, and eternal life here upon the 
 earth ; and it is bound thereto in point of duty. 
 
 In this new world, as it were, of salvation by Jesus Christ, 
 the manifestation of free grace, in the doctrine of Christ's 
 birth, life, death, resurrection, and ascension, etc., doth make 
 the treaty between the spotless purity and sufficiency of 
 Christ's most holy nature, and the natural guilt and lump of 
 wretchedness that has overspread the nature and life of sinful 
 man : which manifestation of Christ presents itself, in a way 
 of cure, to denied man ; and doth in a primitive way, namely, 
 in the very nature of it, require defiled man to be healed. 
 There is virtually, in the very manifestation of the gospel, a 
 command gone forth to lost man to return, and accept the 
 salvation that is thus provided and held forth : besides which, 
 there comes in the next place, a positive command to believe, 3 
 with many invitations, persuasions and directions about it. 
 The not receiving the former is blindness, the not receiving 
 the latter is more eminently wilful blindness ; and both of 
 them wretched impotency, because the letter of the gospel 
 itself cannot quicken. The Spirit of this gospel doth there- 
 fore go farther, in behalf of the elect, who were peculiarly 
 given to Chrisl : and presents itself as a quickening power 
 
 1 1 John 3: 23. 
 
 4* 
 
46 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 in all the parts of it, and as the real, necessary, and most 
 effectual remedy against all manner of guilt : which also is, 
 in the next place, followed with a law, in the hand of the 
 Spirit, to receive it by faith : this is the quickening virtue, 
 in all invitations and persuasions to receive and apply that 
 glorious remedy. And this is that twofold law which every 
 convert lies under ; namely, the manifestation itself, and a 
 spiritual requiring word, commanding the conscience to re- 
 ceive it, and live thereby, through an actually exercised faith. 
 For, as God pursued man's apostasy and disobedience, through 
 Adam, to death and destruction ; so he pursueth man's reme- 
 dy, through the death and sufficiency of the second Adam to 
 justification of life and salvation. In the former, God said, 
 Man must die ; in the latter he saith, Man must and shall 
 live ; he himself is the commander, and the life and strength 
 of his own commands ; in that the " Second Adam is not 
 only a living soul, as the first was, but a quickening 
 Spirit." i 
 
 This command from God in the gospel, to believe, re- 
 ceive, and enjoy pardon and righteousness in Jesus Christ, 2 
 even that righteousness and salvation which is laid up in the 
 person of the Mediator, for every one who comes for it, 3 
 and would enjoy the same ; 4 this command, I say, necessa- 
 rily requires obedience thereto. 5 This obedience is exer- 
 cised in a pure and free receiving Jesus Christ as my only 
 Redeemer ; as being bought by him, and being made his. I 
 am not my own, I must not measure myself by myself, but 
 by what he is for me, and to me. When the temptations of 
 fear, through my personal guilt, do command me to despair, 
 I must not obey them, but must obey the law of Christ, the 
 "law of faith," as it is called, Rom. iii. 27. When pride of 
 heart, or self-ability, doth command me to boast, I must not 
 obey it, 6 but must reply, " I am not under the law of my own 
 sin, nor of my own righteousness ; 7 but I am under the law 
 of my own Lord ; which is to receive him, and own his 
 righteousness as my own ; for he is " the Lord my righteous- 
 ness." 8 " When I believe, then I obey ; ' for I am com- 
 manded to believe in the name of the only begotten Son of 
 God ; when I cast myself on him that fulfilled the whole 
 
 1 1 Cor. 15:45. 2 Acts 13:38, 39. 16:31. 1 John 3:23. 
 
 3 Ileb. 7. 25. 4 Rev. 22: 17. 5 Rom. 1G: 26. 6 1 Cor. 1: 29. 
 7 Horn. 6: 14. Tit. 3: 5. 8 Jcr. 23: 6. 
 
OF SALVATION. 
 
 Law, then 1 fulfil the whole law; when I cast myself on 
 his righteousness, I am, in God's sight, as white as snow; 
 my sins, in this new state, arc rather accounted my diseases, 
 than my faults: for if I am nol my own, my sins are not my 
 own ; but accounted his, "who loved me, and washed me in 
 his blood." 
 
 This obedience of faith has the sight of Christ's fulness, 
 and the promises of the new covenant, to lean upon ; and 
 so it takes its journey, from flesh to Spirit, from weakness 
 to Btrength, in the name of the Lord. And from this obe- 
 dience in believing, proceeds all manner of holiness, as the 
 fruits thereof, which receive their sap from this root : this 
 root makes them to be living obedience, as branches from 
 the same root, children of the same parent. The first sub- 
 jection is, to the righteousness of Christ's person ; to submit 
 all fear and guilt to the fulness of pardon and life that is in 
 him, as the store-house, and there to enjoy it in the enjoying 
 of him : and then, by the Spirit of life which is in Christ, 
 the soul with freedom acts forth answerably, in some mea- 
 sure, to such a renewed state ; from whence all actions of 
 holiness are called the " fruits of faith, and fruits of right- 
 
 One of Faith's Dark Days, and yet Delivered. 
 
 After my return from , I found sore breaches made 
 
 upon my soul. My inward man had suffered loss, while I 
 travelled up and down ; my soul was violently shaken ; the 
 bands of the wicked one conspired with my wicked heart, 
 and carried away my treacherous soul; so that my glory was 
 captivated into the enemy's hand. A wind from the wilder- 
 - laid me in confusion ; the tempest prevailed, and I suf- 
 fered shipwreck ; all my own feeble endeavors and former 
 meditations gave way, and the raging sea of filthy and fool- 
 ish thoughts did beat sore upon me ;• my ship (of former 
 resolutions of heart, and my poor discovery of the salvation 
 of God), was bilged and ready to sink; yet my heart 
 yearned after the Lord, my rock. I cried secretly, though 
 confusedly, to my God, and he yet reserved a "plank for my 
 almost drowned soul to swim upon to the shore. He has 
 not utterly removed his mercy from me ; he has been yet 
 preaching his own free grace to my soul, through a voice of 
 
 1 Phil. 1:11. 2 Cor. 9, 10. Col. 1: 6. 2 Pet. I: 4— 8. 
 
48 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 thunder and lightning. Let me jet hear thy voice, O Thou 
 Preserver of men ; let me yet gather up advantage through 
 my loss ; help me yet to receive recovering and establishing 
 virtue from my strong-hold. While my thoughts were thus 
 working, I endeavored to get once more into the sanctuary of 
 God ; and there I found, that although I carry about a hell 
 within me, yet that hell cannot devour the infinite covenant 
 of peace which God made. My unbelief and disobedience 
 cannot make the faith of God to be of no effect. 1 
 
 I would have lived upon grace and strength received, and 
 I trembled to see those selfish confidences shaken to the 
 earth ; but now (methinks) Christ calls me again from my 
 father's house, and promiseth me a better name than that of 
 sons and daughters of my own, a name in himself, an off- 
 spring in himself, 2 which shall not be cut off. I have had a 
 sentence of death in myself, that I might not trust any more 
 in myself, but in God who raiseth the dead ; 3 I am a dry 
 tree ; 4 but he who was raised from the dead, is a green tree, 
 and in him is my fruit found. 5 
 
 Oh, the mystery and power of this salvation wherewith I 
 am saved ! Oh, that I might pass (as it were) through the 
 eye of a needle, into Christ's power, and there rest from the 
 days of adversity. And the rest is glorious, because it is 
 uncompounded, it receives no ingredients from abroad ; it is 
 singly made up of Christ, and is in him alone. Venture, O 
 my soul, upon this naked arm ; for it is an arm of faithful- 
 ness and mercy. This strength alone is a fountain of 
 strength ; this is the river whose streams make glad the city 
 of God. Art thou not willing to be undone, O my soul, that 
 thou mayest be saved ? How long wilt thou set up thy post 
 by the pillars of that salvation which is wrought in God for 
 thee, and wrought in thee by single union with God in Jesus 
 Christ ? Is not his arm stronger than thine ? Be thou 
 translated by faith into divine strength. Let not thy wine 
 be mixed with water. Thy confidences are rejected : make 
 a voyage to the everlasting hills ; enter into the mount of 
 God. Thou hast broken both the tables of the covenant, 
 and yet the Prince of the same covenant lives. Wait for 
 the Spirit to draw it over again and again, by the indelible 
 character of his own finger, who lives to enliven thee 
 forever. 
 
 1 Rom. 3: 3. 2 Psalm 45: 1G. Isa. 56: 5. 3 2 Cor. 1: 9. 
 
 4 Isa. 56: 3. 5 Hosca 14: 8. 
 
How hard is it to deparl from Belf ! from righteous self, 
 and sinful self! I am wounded by sinful self, thai I might 
 flee from righteous Belf and sinful self also, and cast anchor 
 only within the vail, Heb. vi. 19. 
 
 1 am weary of the instability of the streams; oh, lei me 
 go to the fountain. When I am saying, I shall die in my 
 nest, my nesl is soon fired about my < ars, and turned to 
 ashes. Certainly there is a better resl than this; and it 
 lieth in trusting Christ, and trusting in him only. I both 
 trust Christ, and trust in Christ, when I believe that lie is 
 the standard of all savins righteousness communicable to 
 man ; and all my righteousness and holiness is but the re- 
 flection of his. I trust in Christ, when I lie resignedly at 
 his feet, to be made holy. And whatsoever composure of 
 heart I do at any time receive, I do not, and cannot hold it ; 
 but it is held by him while it remains : and when it with- 
 draws, it lives in the root for me. I am ready to think, if I 
 had all graces in my own disposal, I would manage them to 
 the glory of God ; but how can God be glorified more, than 
 in a holy content to live at his allowance ? All his design is 
 to allure me, and so to force me out of myself, to live in him, 
 as well as to live by him-. He bestows his grace within- 
 doors. I must not take his grace to myself, to put it to 
 usury for increase ; but must fetch the increase, as well as 
 the principal, from him, by union with him through Jesus 
 Christ : and my work is to rest on his faithfulness, wdsdom, 
 willingness, and readiness to supply me ; as if every grace 
 of the Spirit were fully in my own management and power, 
 to exercise the same. This is the true life of faith ; this is 
 the way of walking up and down in the name of the Lord. 1 
 When I actually acknowledge every measure of spiritual 
 strength to hold its treasure from Jesus Christ singly and 
 wholly, and rest confidently upon him for it ; and that be- 
 cause he hath promised both grace and glory, and every 
 good thing ; 2 judging him faithful who hath promised, and 
 owning him thereupon for my inheritance, and myself no- 
 thing but what he for me : then I may be said to trust 
 Jesus Christ, and to trust in him only. I trust him upon his 
 word to be all for me which I would spiritually be ; and I 
 trust in him to enjoy the same, through the faith of my in- 
 terest in him, and his abounding grace and unction. 
 
 i Zcch. 10: 12. 2 Psalm 84: 11. 
 
50 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 This cuts the heart of self-pride, spiritual surfeiting, and 
 slothfulness, when I live every moment at the mercy of 
 another, even Jesus Christ, both for justifying righteous- 
 ness, and every influence thereof, by the immediate breath- 
 ings of his Spirit, according to his good pleasure ; having 
 not the power, so much as to make one hair white or black : 
 but I must wholly work by his hands, see by his eyes, and 
 in his light behold the light. What more powerful induce- 
 ment can there be to self-denial than this? Boasting is 
 excluded, because Christ, in his own person, and by his own 
 Spirit, doth whatsoever is done for me, or in me. Here lies 
 the mystery and labor of faith, which the mere notion thereof 
 can never reach unto, so as to improve the same to a self- 
 denying activity for God, in the paths of godliness and travel 
 towards Zion. 
 
 Christ Spiritually, not Personally, communicated to Be- 
 lievers. 
 
 There is in our dear Lord Jesus a two-fold excellency to 
 his redeemed, as he is their portion; his essential power, 
 righteousness, goodness, and perfection in the godhead ; and 
 his proper human nature personally united thereunto ; x but 
 neither of these (considered as such) can be commuicated 
 unto the children of men : his person cannot be imparted or 
 divided. And there is another excellency flowing from the 
 former, by way of influence and inward virtue, communica- - 
 ted to the hearts of the redeemed by regeneration, which 
 formeth, reneweth, and quickeneth the new man, the new 
 creature in the soul. 
 
 The first of these though it cannot (in a strict sense) be 
 communicated, yet it is wholly, by covenant, given to the 
 saints. 2 So that God, in his vast essential infiniteness, is 
 their God ; and his very body that was dead, and is now 
 alive, was also given to the elect ; 3 and is become theirs by 
 covenant ; and they enjoy it in that right, though it remains 
 personally his own, and not theirs, but for them to all eter- 
 nity ; the excellency of which God-man, in the perfection of 
 both natures, is so far reckoned and imputed to them, by 
 covenant-union and mystical ingrafture, as may perfectly de- 
 liver them from all evil, and lill them with all righteousness, 
 
 1 Col. 2: 9. 2 Isa. 49: 8. 3 Isa. 9: 6. 
 
01 SALVATION. 
 
 purity, ami perfection, which creature-capacity can take in 
 lor t hi' enjoying of the glory of God. So thai the person 
 of the Mediator remains distinct from the persons of the re- 
 deemed, and they arc not mixed, but united, through the 
 Spirit, in the covenant, and in his personal assumption of the 
 human nature, by faith exercised therein. 
 
 The Advantages of Okrisfs being without us Personally, and 
 yet Spiritually in us who believe. 
 
 Hence it is, that the interest which the saints have in 
 Christ is enjoyable by them singly, through believing; 1 
 which enjoyment, through the spiritual nature of the union, 
 is as real, strong, and sure, as whatsoever they enjoy in 
 their own persons, by sense and feeling. 2 
 
 And thus Christ, as to the perfection of his person, being 
 without us, and above us ; and jet, by the communication of 
 the Spirit, through faith, made near to us, and dwelling in 
 us, yields much privilege, and unspeakable advantage, to a 
 believer, namely : — 
 
 1. The excellency of a believer's portion in Christ is 
 hereby most distinctly viewed. The soul has hereby room 
 to go round about the unspotted lustre of his person, and 
 view him from head to foot (as the church in the Canticles 
 doth. Cant. v. 10 — 16.) discerning him as the choicest of 
 ten thousands ; whereas the glory of the same Christ, so far 
 as it appears only in the heart by operation, is much dimmed 
 and sullied with the defilement that is there, and continual 
 conflicts ; but considering him separated far away Iron sin 
 and sinners," furnished with the utmost perfection, and 
 clothed with garments of complete victory and beauty in 
 the behalf of his redeemed, this fills their heart with joy, 
 and their mouth with singing. 
 
 2. lie is thereby become also the livelier object of their 
 love ; for the eye affects the heart, and nourishes spiritual 
 inflamedness towards him. This desire quickens expecta- 
 tion to rejoice in hope, and leaves no room for a loathing, 
 wearisome fulness in the heart. 
 
 3. This objective enjoyment of Christ gives foundation 
 for a kindly refuge in him. It rationally leads the inward 
 man to depart from all other sells, and run to this objective 
 
 1 Eph. 3. 17. 2 Rom. 4: 16. Eph. 3: 17. 8 Heb. 7: 26. 
 
52 A PEACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 self, Jesus Christ, through the drawing virtue of spiritual 
 union with him : * and thus was Christ typified by the 
 cities of refuge. 
 
 4. This enjoyment of Christ, by way of object, is also a 
 fountain of recovery when the soul is foiled. It can fetch 
 fresh righteousness, fresh pardon, and be anointed, again, and 
 again, with fresh oil, as David speaks, 2 yea, every moment, 
 as oft as the heart pants after him. 
 
 5. It is also a fountain of ease, by the ability it gives of 
 pouring out a complaint into his bosom. It is a great re- 
 freshment to have a friend, to whom one may declare one's 
 misery, were it only to receive pity from his hands ; 3 but in 
 Christ, looked upon by faith, there is a power as well as pity 
 to help, be the affliction and burden what it may, and how 
 great soever. 4 
 
 6. It is a fountain also of confidence ; and hence doth 
 the prophet Micah, in the name of the people of God, argue 
 against the triumph of the enemy. " I will look unto the 
 Lord, I will wait for the God of my salvation ; my God will 
 hear me. Rejoice not therefore against me, O mine enemy ; 
 when I fall I shall arise," 5 etc. And Christ himself doth 
 teach his people confidence by his own example in the day 
 of his suffering, in that his Father was near to justify him. 6 
 
 7. Christ, thus taken up, helps against the solitariness of 
 our journey towards heaven. A believer has a friend to 
 talk with by the way, who is a guide also ; and therefore 
 great is the loss of that man who walks alone, and compass- 
 eth himself about with his own sparks ; if he fall (as Solo- 
 mon speaks) " he hath not another to help him up." 7 Thus 
 Christ is held forth as a comfortable leader and companion ; 8 
 and the church improves this privilege, by " leaning on her 
 beloved," as she comes forth out of the wilderness. 9 This 
 blessed companion makes way for his people's safety, in the 
 fire, and in the water of affliction." 10 
 
 8. By this means also faith has got a true and faithful 
 witness on the believer's side, to clear off accusations : and 
 from hence are those expressions used in the Psalms, 
 " Plead my cause, Be surety for me," etc. And the fre- 
 quent appeals made to God, who "trieth.the heart and 
 
 1 Cant. 1:4. 2 Psalm 92: 10. 3 Job 6: 14. 
 
 4 Ileb. 4: 15, 16. 2: 18. 7: 25. 5 Micah 7: 7—9, 19. 
 
 G Compare Isa. 50: 8, 9, with Eom. 8: 33, 34. 7 Eccl. 4: 10. 
 
 H Isa. 57: 18. Jer. 3: 14. 9 Cant. 8: 5. 10 Dan. 3: 25. Isa. 43: 2. 
 
OK SALVATION. 58 
 
 reins, and who standeth up <>n the ride of hie people, and on 
 their behalf" 
 
 These and infinitely more privileges do arise to every be- 
 liever, from the interest that he hath in Christ's entire; and 
 incommunicable person, by the union of free covenant and 
 mystical Lngrafture, and the communion of virtue derived 
 from the person of this Mediator; in -which mystery of 
 grace he enjoys Christ as the hand enjoys the head, yet 
 both of them are distinctly considered in the body : or as the 
 eye enjoys the influence and virtue of that light and heat 
 which is in the very body of the sun, although the body of 
 the sun be many thousand miles distant from that eye which 
 doth actually enjoy that sun in the light and heat of its influ- 
 ence : and it doth as truly enjoy it, as if it lay in the mate- 
 rial body of the sun, and in a way of greater advantage, 
 lined for its capacity and use. So is the person of Christ 
 enjoyed really and truly with all privileges relating to be- 
 lievers, while he retains his personality uncommunicated 
 and undivided to any other ; as the very water of the foun- 
 tain is enjoyed in the stream, and the sap of the root is en- 
 joyed in the branches ; and yet the stream is not the foun- 
 tain, nor yet the branches any part of the root.:) 
 
 Christ's Entrance upon the Heart works Renewing there. 
 
 The way of the soul's enjoyment of Christ in all the pri- 
 vileges of his person, and offices of his mediatorship, and in 
 all the influences of spiritual unction, and transformation of 
 the heart into the power and likeness of Jesus Christ, is 
 wrought by the Spirit of regeneration, through faith ; which 
 causeth the soul to pass over from itself, from all its strength, 
 from all its own carnal' hope, fear, and selfish care, into the 
 death, life, righteousness, and perfection of the person of Je- 
 sus Christ : and so is enabled to say in truth, " I am not 
 mine own ; I live ; yet no longer I, but Christ liveth in me ; 
 and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the 
 faith of the Son of God," namely, by the very life, and in 
 the very life of Christ, apprehended, received, enjoyed, and 
 working effectually in me by faith in him " who loved me, 
 and washed me from my sins in his own blood." 1 
 
 This is that translating, renewing, changing, and quicken- 
 ing work, which the scripture doth so often mention as the 
 
 1 1 Cor. 6: 19. Gal. 2: 20. Rev. 1: 5. 
 5 
 
54 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 design of the gospel. And it is with reference unto this, 
 that Christ is called a stone of stumbling, and rock of offence. 
 Sinful and selfish nature strives to preserve its life against 
 the killing virtue of the Spirit of Christ in the gospel 
 preached to the world. This is the reason of so much carnal 
 profession and barrenness in Christianity, when the hearts 
 of men turn the nature of the gospel, which is a law of 
 grace, and obeyed only by faith, into the similitude of the 
 law of Moses, and make it a matter of man's working, and 
 subject it to the poor and lame endeavors of unrenewed 
 man ; not remembering, or not understanding, that the tree 
 must first be made good, before the fruit can be good. This 
 was meant by the apostle when he bewailed the Jews ; who, 
 though they " followed after righteousness, attained it not, 
 because they sought it not by faith, but as it were by the 
 works of the law." l Ever since the fall of man, righteous- 
 ness forsook the created nature of man ; (which is largely 
 showed, Rom. iii. 10.) and is only now in Christ revealed 
 from heaven, in receiving of whom, by being baptized spir- 
 itually into his death and life, his righteousness is enjoyed. 
 
 Every command of the gospel doth first require faith, 
 which is the great commandment ; and, in the virtue and 
 power thereof, requires and works holiness in all the fruits 
 of a new life, by the virtue of Jesus Christ, working in 
 every precept and command of God in the whole scriptures, 
 being gospelized by his Spirit. 
 
 And here my heart begins again to groan, while I find so - 
 little of this killing, renewing power accomplishing its work 
 upon me. How far am I from this renewed state ! I am 
 weary of the lifeless notion of the thing. I faint in my 
 sighing, and find no rest. I long for the breath of the Lord, 
 and thus lament out my complaint before him : " When will 
 the Lord come into his temple ? My flesh trembleth betwixt 
 hope, fear, and desire : I am as a bottle dried in the smoke : 
 my heart is pained and in travail. O, Preserver of men, 
 make no tarrying, lest I be like them who go down to the 
 pit. O, let death feed upon me, till the foundation of life, 
 power, and peace, be laid in my soul, and deliverance come 
 from another place. Droopings are deadly, O, my soul. Do 
 not say, thy wound is incurable ; the Creator of the ends of 
 the earth doth undertake for thee; he will yet reveal abund- 
 
 1 Rom. 9: 31, 32. 
 
OF SALVATION. 55 
 
 ance of truth and peace. Come, then, O Fountain of help, 
 
 and do thine own will upon me." 
 
 How easy is it to Bay the word, renewing, in comparison 
 of having the thing really executed and done ! 
 
 All thai can be spoken about it is but words; the change 
 itself is the thing I long for. Mine eyes fail with hoping 
 
 for the salvation of God in this work. that the heavens 
 might drop down their dew ! Why are the influences of the 
 clouds withheld ? O, for the sounding of his bowels who is 
 none into a far country, and has promised to return! My 
 musing heart cannot fetch him, but my groaning is before 
 him, and the tears and cries of my soul are in his sight. 
 Let the cry of my distress be heard: anguish is upon my 
 heart, and let the season of my redemption come ! 
 
 According to the measure of the power of Christ given 
 to me, I would yet struggle against this giant, unmortified 
 self. I would rather take a sling and a stone in the power 
 of Christ, than all the weapons of a carnal arm and under- 
 standing. 
 
 Christ w^ell knew the length of that petition, Thy will be 
 done, when he taught his disciples that prayer. Could I 
 but pray this prayer in the latitude of it, I should think my 
 foot within the threshold of heaven. 
 
 The Blessedness of a mortified Understanding and Mortified 
 
 Will 
 
 The main gospel-killing work lies in mortifying the under- 
 standing and the will, into the wisdom and dominion of the 
 Spirit ; and, as my present controversy is with my own car- 
 nal will, I w r ould deal w r ith that first, were not my unmorti- 
 fied understanding in the way. 
 
 My unmortified understanding can easily dally with all 
 the notions about the Trinity, law and gospel promises and 
 covenant, faith, and every grace of the Spirit, and every 
 duty of godliness, and yet but trifle all the while. The re- 
 newed understanding sucks in the lively evidence of the 
 mind of God in all those things, and is called the demon- 
 stration of Spirit and power, 1 and the very mind of Christ. 2 
 This mind of Jesus Christ represents to faith the infinite 
 God wrapped up in every particle of his word, and is the 
 
 1 1 Cor. 2: 4. 2 1 Cor. 2: 16. 
 
56 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 spirit of every revealed truth. Hence comes that expres- 
 sion, " you have not so learned Christ." - 1 A renewed 
 understanding is not taught by words and sentences, be they 
 what they will, and though ever so good ; but by the mind 
 of God and Christ in them. 2 The whole volume of the 
 scriptures is but a small hint, as it were, of the immeasur- 
 able will of God. And this is the reason why the scriptures, 
 though the words are the same, and not altered, do yet, by 
 the Spirit, speak variety of instructions in the unity of the 
 same truth, as the Spirit pleaseth to reveal itself therein ; 
 which doth not at all argue defect in the Scriptures, but 
 infiniteness in the mind of Christ therein contained. 
 
 This fulness of the mind of Christ in the word is that 
 which makes it divide between the soul and the spirit, the 
 joints and the marrow ; and to be a discerner of the thoughts 
 and intents of the heart. 3 
 
 A renewed understanding makes use of the word, and all 
 the expressions therein, but as the door by which to enter 
 into the whole vision of God in Jesus Christ, and the reve- 
 lation of his will ; and so takes up the truth truly, in the 
 method in which the infinite God is pleased to reveal it. 
 
 A renewed understanding sees the mystery of truth to be 
 substance and life, through that report of it which words 
 do speak. It converseth with life through the conduit of 
 words, phrases, and terms : it gives way to the truth as it is 
 in Jesus, by believing, and not mangling it with carnal rea- 
 son ; and so makes way for the renewed will to give obedi- 
 ence by believing, doing, and suffering the pleasure and will 
 of God. 
 
 The renewed will is one with God's will in a way of sub- 
 mission thereto. It lies down broken-heartedly in the plea- 
 sure of God : it is zealous in obedience, secure in believing, 
 quiet in suffering, because the will of God reigneth, and can- 
 not be disappointed : it makes the soul in every thing give 
 thanks, and rejoice evermore : it grieves where the holy 
 Spirit is grieved, and it delights where God delights. If 
 God say to Abraham, Offer up Isaac, he doth it with joy ; 
 reluctancy is gone, because the will of God dwells in the 
 renewed will, and the consultations of flesh and blood 
 are mortified. It grieves for sin, because it crosseth the re- 
 vealed will of God : and yet rejoiceth in hope, because 
 
 1 Eph. 4:20. 2 Eph. 4: 21. 3 Heb. 4: 12. 
 
OF SALVATION. 07 
 
 nil things shall work together for good to them that love 
 him. 
 
 The renewed will is always renewing itself by faith in 
 Christ, and looking into the law of liberty. It thanks God 
 heartily tor lite, death, health, sickness, success or disappoint- 
 ment, in high degree or low degree ; because it is baptized 
 into his wilL And that the nature of this new creation in 
 the will may provoke my heart to withdraw from the servi- 
 tude of my corrupt will, I would ponder the nature of it a 
 little further. 
 
 The first parent of the grace of adoption by Jesus Christ 
 was the good pleasure of the will of God in his decree; 1 
 and actual conversion by the word is the operation also of 
 the will of God, 2 which bringeth forth a birth in the new 
 man of the same likeness ; Thy people shall be willing in 
 the day of thy power, Psalm ex. 3. And by this willing- 
 ness the truth of all obedience is measured. 3 It is also the 
 first thing the spirit of God hath in his eye, and which doth, 
 in a way of acceptance, fill up the defect of all other 
 service. 4 
 
 The state of death in sin is captivity to the will of Satan 
 and the flesh ; and subjection to the will of God is the first- 
 born from the dead. It first appears and so goes on, as 
 the living token of true Christianity, and never ceaseth till 
 it is filled with the fulness of God who brought it forth ; and 
 so it is the undoing principle to flesh and blood, and capti- 
 vates fear, care and bondage into the liberty of Jesus Christ, 
 the eternal son of God ; and makes Christ and a believer 
 no longer twain, but one in the union and operation of the 
 Spirit ; whereby the dominion and sure protection of God 
 secure the soul as the waters cover the sea. Here I stick, 
 and here I groan : Alas, alas, for this day of the Lord ! Oh, 
 for this day-spring from on high, to reveal this light and 
 breath, in the life of this renewed understanding and will, 
 from the bowels of his own grace and Spirit ! I am sick ; 
 yea, I am sick ; my pen shakes, my heart quivers with de- 
 sire after this renewing work. Give way, O carnal mind of 
 unbelief, darkness, sin and vanity, that my heart may faint 
 away into the bosom of this changing power of the Spirit 
 of Christ who has redeemed it. 
 
 1 Eph. 1: 5. 2 James 1: 18. s Isa. 1: 19. 4 2 Cor. 8: 12. 
 
 5* 
 
58 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 TJie Use of the Scriptures. 
 
 The glorious work of renewing the mind is carried on by 
 the eternal Word of God, by which he made the world. 
 All creating work is effected through the eternal Word, the 
 Son of God, by the eternal Spirit, from the everlasting 
 Father ; in which God is all in all. The eternal Word hath 
 declared himself by a word of faith, reconciliation, and com- 
 fort, contained and expressed in a way suitable to the capa- 
 city of human sense, reason and understanding, in the scrip- 
 tures, that so the incomprehensible will of God might look 
 into the heart of man, through the inlets of natural sense, 
 and the faculties of natural mind, making them subservient 
 in this renewing change. 
 
 Therefore it is made visible to the eye, and receivable by 
 the ear, retainable by the memory, and meditable by the 
 heart, in the use of the scriptures ; and so doth, in a ra- 
 tional way, by reproofs, instructions, convincements, and 
 comforts, bring forth the new creature, and hold it in a 
 spiritual union and fellowship with the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, through a daily increase, tending to the last and per- 
 fect fulness. 1 
 
 And that Jesus Christ may make this his expressed word 
 effectual to accomplish the design of his love to the souls of 
 his redeemed, he guides them by his Spirit to the most ad- 
 vantageous improvement thereof, that not one jot or tittle of . 
 his word may be lost. 
 
 The whole scriptures are the inspiration of the " Spirit of 
 God the Father, and of his Son Jesus Christ," 2 given to re- 
 veal the way of salvation ; which is carried on by a way of 
 history and doctrine ; in both which the state of mankind is 
 discovered, in reference to its innocency, fall, and recovery. 
 The state of innocency and the fall comprehended all man- 
 kind in the persons of Adam and Eve ; the state of recovery 
 respects only a part of mankind saved out of that universal 
 loss, by Christ, according to the election of grace, and there- 
 fore he is called the " second Adam," 3 who infuseth the gift 
 and operation of righteousness to his seed, as the "first 
 Adam" had infused the guilt and enthralling, corrupting 
 power of sin into his seed. As the fall was a perfect fall, so 
 
 1 Col. 2: 19. Eph. 1: 23. 2 Heb. 1:1. Col. 3: 16. 2 Tim. 3: 16. 
 8 Rom. 5: 14. 1 Cor. 15:45. 
 
0» SALVATION. 69 
 
 the recovery (to the remnant recovered) is a perfect re- 
 covery, completed fully in (\inY> <lcciv<> before the world 
 was, 1 and actually solemnized al Christ's suffering; 3 which 
 becomes applicable to every individual person of thai num- 
 ber by the Spirit of faith and holiness; and whereby they 
 are fully and really freed from the matter of guill through 
 union with Christ : albeit the afflicting sense and fear of 
 guilt appears many times, through the weakness of faith in 
 that union : and, through the encumbering defilement of sin 
 in those who are redeemed, holds on a conflict in the flesh, 
 till the last enemy, namely, death, be destroyed: and so man- 
 kind stands divided; the persons of them who only bear the 
 image of the first Adam (corrupted by the serpent's poison), 
 and they who bear the image of the second Adam ; and, in 
 the latter division, every redeemed person carries also a sub- 
 division in his own heart for a time, namely, the grand prin- 
 ciple of his renewed state, and the afflicting stain and enmity 
 of the first Adam's nature remaining in the flesh. And in 
 reference to these two contraries, (namely, the good and bad 
 persons of mankind, and the different principles of good and 
 evil), the scripture doth display all the threatenings and 
 comforts, reproofs and encouragements, judgments and pro- 
 mises, instructions and rebukes, that are found in that blessed 
 volume, with manifestations of God's power and goodness to 
 the one, and of his power and wrath against the other. 
 
 So whatsoever is spoken of any one person, is spoken 
 of all persons, in the same state ; and whatsoever is spoken 
 of any action or qualification in any person, is spoken of like 
 actions and qualifications in every person, who is in the same 
 state, to the end of the world ; even as long as mankind re- 
 mains. And as far as the line of each state (whether it be 
 good or bad) reacheth ; so far doth every person, continuing 
 in that state, bear his proportionable share through the grave 
 to eternity. 
 
 When the Spirit of God speaketh anything in the word, 
 it first looks through the state in which any person is, and so 
 deals with that particular person according to the state in 
 which he is, whether it be a state of sin or grace, and so acts 
 towards him according to the rules and method of such a 
 state. Hence it is, that comforts, or afflictions, or teachings, 
 that are one and the same in their own nature, are exceed- 
 
 1 Bph. 1:4. 2 Col. 2: 14, 15. 
 
60 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 ingly different in the end and use which the Spirit makes of 
 them, through the different states of light or darkness, life 
 or death in which all men lie ; so that by this means the 
 same word is a savor of life to one which is a savor of 
 death to another. 
 
 The general threatenings against ungodliness concern 
 every particular ungodly man. The particular punishment 
 inflicted upon any one ungodly man, shows what is equally 
 due to the rest of ungodly men. And although one evil man 
 may not commit the same wicked action as another doth, yet 
 he has the nature, and the same evil state, which is the root 
 of that action ; and as it brings forth actions equivalently 
 evil, it is by the Spirit of God equally sentenced to punish- 
 ment. 
 
 And as, in all visible actions, the state of the person is (in 
 the scriptures) first considered ; so, in all actions, the nature 
 and spirit of that action (as it holds relation to the state of 
 the person acting), is regarded by the Spirit of God in the 
 word, before the action itself, and involves every one within 
 the guilt of that action, if it be wicked, or w r ithin the blessing 
 of that action, if it be good, in whom the nature and spirit 
 of such an action worketh. From this ground Christ calls 
 wicked anger, murder ; and unchaste lustings, adultery : 1 
 and from this ground a gracious desire and intention has the 
 blessing of a gracious action. 2 And when the action is one 
 and the same, and yet the spirit and inward mind of them 
 who execute that action different, the action is not accounted 
 the same, but different ; as in the case of Cain's killing 
 Abel, and Phinehas's killing Zimri ; it was murder in the 
 one, and righteousness in the other. So that actions may 
 agree, and yet the spirit of that action in the actors, not 
 agree : and the spirit of one action may agree with the 
 spirit of another action, or the spirit of one that acts may 
 agree in some particular action with the spirit of another who 
 acts the same thing, and yet the difference of their grand 
 state disagree ; as appears in the case of David's unclean- 
 ness through lust, and the sin of his son Amnon ; for the re- 
 pentance and recovery of the one are recorded, but not of 
 the other. 
 
 So that in the use of the scriptures, we are to consider 
 how far actions agree, and how far the spirit, or immediate 
 
 1 Matt. 5: 2\, 22, 27, 28. 2 2 Cor. 8: 12. 
 
OF SALVATION". 6] 
 
 inward working, which produced actions, agrees, and how 
 the grand state of persons dotb agree, that we may know 
 how to make use of the reproofs and punishments, promises 
 and rewards, thai we find given to others in scripture. 
 
 As concerning the state of godliness, there is no one godly 
 man who has any peculiar privilege, which is not common to 
 all who arc in the same state, because the covenant is madeto 
 them all alike in Jesus Christ ; in whom God is become 
 their God, upon the equal terms of free grace; and Christ 
 is as well the head of one member, as of another ; and all 
 the privileges which can flow from such a common relation 
 rim down of right to every person within that relation ; 
 namely, justification, adoption, reconciliation, sanctification, 
 preservation, instruction, and such like operations of the 
 Spirit, that issue from that relation, and which tend to a liv- 
 ing enjoyment thereof, and the advancing of that state to 
 perfection. All commands, also, and duties bear with them 
 an equal engagement to every person, alike related, within 
 the state of covenant interest; because those commands and 
 duties relate to the same interest, in which all the people of 
 God are one. 1 
 
 So that this interest in God, which is helpful in one case, 
 is applicable to all like cases, wherein the saints, who enjoy 
 that interest, are concerned : which makes every promise to 
 have a kind of infiniteness, as God is infinite. From this 
 ground, the same promise that armed Joshua against fear, 
 through the presence and faithfulness of God, u I will never 
 leave thee, nor forsake thee," 2 is used likewise to every saint, 
 to arm him against covetousness, and fear of want. 3 
 
 And thus the experience of one saint becomes advanta- 
 geous to another, through their mutual interest in the same 
 root of spiritual life in Christ, by which they are one with 
 him, and co-partners, each with other, of the same grace. 
 From this ground there is no member of Christ that can say, 
 he hath not need of another's help ; because the Spirit of 
 God, by which they are united into one body, conveys its 
 operation through one to another, as it pleaseth him ; 4 which 
 Spirit of God is the new life of the weak, as well as of the 
 strong, as he pleaseth to manifest his power and virtue in the 
 one or the other, more or less, by which they are strong or 
 
 1 John 17: 20. Matt. 28: 20. 2 Josh. 1: 5. 8 Heb. 13: 5. 
 
 * 1 Cor. 12: 11. 
 
62 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 weak ; that so, they might love, pity and sympathize each 
 with other, being all interested in the same life, and whereby 
 they are all one body, and members one of another. 1 
 
 Hence it is, that all things spoken in the scriptures are of 
 true and proper use to every child of God, as far as their 
 condition agrees with, or stands in need of, that help, com- 
 fort, counsel, or reproof, mentioned there ; which is the scope 
 of the Spirit of God in all those promises, instructions, or 
 reproofs, recorded in the scriptures ; as if they, and their 
 particular cases, had been first or only in the eye of God, 
 when that word was spoken, or that instance given, be it 
 what it will. What I say unto you (saith Christ speaking 
 to the twelve 2 ) I say unto all, Watch ; for whatsoever things 
 were written afore-time to others, were written for our learn- 
 ing (as the apostle tells the church of the Romans, Rom. xv. 
 4.) that we through patience, and comfort of the same scrip- 
 tures, might have the same enjoyment and ground of hope 
 as they had, being equally interested in the same God, who 
 by his Spirit breathes the influence of the same grace of pa- 
 tience and consolation, as he did to them to whom the Spirit, 
 through the scripture, had formerly spoken. And thus the 
 same word, being the inspiration of the Spirit, bloweth where 
 it listeth, and the sound thereof is gone forth into all the 
 world, and the spirit, drift, scope, and use of the words of 
 life, to the end of the earth ; so far as the Spirit which 
 breathed it begets any soul into the life of union with God 
 in Jesus Christ, who is the eternal Word, and mind of the 
 eternal Father ; from whom all the children of adoption re- 
 ceive their being and birth, through the gospel of that only 
 begotten Son of God, spiritually shed abroad into their 
 hearts. So that every one who is Christ's may say, The 
 history of the scriptures is for me ; the prophets are mine ; 
 the apostles are mine ; and all their prophecies and preach- 
 ings ; all promises, reproofs, and comforts, counsels, warn- 
 ings, and examples ; the gospel under Moses' vail, and as it 
 shines in the teachings and miracles of Christ and his apos- 
 tles ; all things, all persons, Paul, Apollos, Cephas, life and 
 death, are the inventory of my happiness ; things past, pre- 
 sent, and to come, are mine, and for my use and advantage; 
 because the Spirit which worketh in and by all these is mine ; 
 and Christ, to whom I come, and whom I serve, is mine ; 
 
 i Rom. 12: 5. 2 Mark 13:37. 
 
OF SALVATION. 63 
 
 and Christ is God's; and his God and Father is mine, be- 
 cause I am his, heir and co-heir with him. 1 Lei such a 
 
 privilege cause the soul to cry out, Breathe, Spirit; open 
 yourselves, blessed scriptures, and water me with all man- 
 ner of teaching: le1 mysterious grace possess my under- 
 standing; powerful wisdom from God, in the scriptures, 
 make me wise to salvation: let strength and virtue from on 
 high renew both spirit, soul, and body to all power of a spi- 
 ritual mind ; that I may comprehend with all saints what is 
 the height, length, depth, and breadth of the love of God in 
 Christ ; and be built amongst them, upon the foundation of 
 the apostles and prophets, Christ himself being my corner- 
 stone; and his power enlivening me to every good word and 
 work, through that common salvation wrought by him, for 
 every member of his body; among whom I also am allowed 
 to claim my share in the inheritance of light, through the 
 faith and patience of the scriptures, and testimony of Jesus, 
 my Lord. 
 
 Abraham's faith was exercised upon the covenant which 
 God made with him, saying, I will be thy God, and the God 
 of thy seed : which faith was further confirmed by the sign 
 of circumcision that was added to that covenant, and tried 
 yet further, by offering up his Son ; in all which he had the 
 faithfulness of God, and his free grace and power, in his eye, 
 and saw Christ's day afar off therein ; although it is proba- 
 ble he saw not distinctly the very manner of Christ's coming 
 in the flesh, and the manner of his death and resurrection ; 
 yet his faith in the substance of the covenant of God's free 
 grace, and in his wisdom and power to accomplish the same 
 in his own way and time, led him to embrace that covenant 
 (so dispensed, and to that measure discovered), deriving in- 
 terest in God to his soul, and the righteousness of justifica- 
 tion thereby ; which the Spirit doth record in the scriptures 
 to be the same justifying exercise of faith, which in the ful- 
 ness of time should, and so did more distinctly put forth it- 
 self upon Christ, dead and risen, and upon the power and 
 truth of God therein, to confirm and actually execute, in the 
 person of Christ, the branches and method of that covenant, 
 relating to the taking away sin, applying righteousness, and 
 uniting man to God in the mystery of grace and salvation : 
 and therefore it is said, the same righteousness is now impu- 
 
 1 1 Cor. 3: 21—23. 
 
64 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 ted to believers as was to him ; * because the nature of their 
 faith, and the substance of the object of that faith, are one 
 and the same. In the exercise of which they walk in his 
 steps; 2 and so are justified with believing Abraham, and 
 inherit his blessing. 3 
 
 And thus the scriptures, in the spiritual use thereof, do 
 run through all visibly different dispensations, administra- 
 tions, instances, and cases of the saints, with one and the 
 same invisible scope, and secret tendency ; agreeable to the 
 state of godliness, and relating to all persons within that 
 state, in all times and ages ; and stand answerable to the 
 nature of all future cases and experiences of the saints; 
 which makes the whole scriptures which were written afore- 
 time, to be of a perpetual present use, from the beginning to 
 the end of that volume. So said Moses of old : 4 and so said 
 John many hundred years after. 5 So that all scripture is 
 given for a perpetual profit, by doctrine, reproof, exhortation, 
 and instruction in righteousness, in order to the perfecting of 
 the saints. 6 
 
 And this brings in again the consideration of the wonder- 
 ful condescension of God, who, though he be invisible, yet 
 doth (in a sort) become visible in the word. There the life 
 of God is manifested, even that hidden life which enlivens 
 the new man ; it exposeth itself to be seen, heard, and 
 handled by the thoughts of worm-like man.? 
 
 God, who was pleased to manifest himself in the flesh, has 
 carried on a correspondent method, in a way suitable to hu- ' 
 manity, ever since the restoration was promised to the seed of 
 the woman. The Spirit brings forth all its special operations, 
 in the exercise of man's nature, reason, understanding, will, 
 affections, and passions. The scriptures seem to bespeak 
 nothing, ofttimes, but mere man ; whereas that human way 
 was only fitted as a sheath for the sword of the Spirit to be 
 carried in, through all several cases that could fall out in 
 man's condition. God, who brought forth all things out of 
 himself, doth still manage them, and uphold them ; for he is 
 the life. As his purpose and power created the being of all 
 things, so his providence and wisdom do create the continual 
 disposing and ordering of all things ; " I create Jerusalem a 
 rejoicing," saith the Lord: 8 and, therefore, having created 
 
 1 "Rom. 4: 23-25. 2 Rom. 4: 12. 3 Gal. 3: 8, 9. 4 Dent- 4: 2. 
 
 5 Rev. 22: 18, 19. G 2 Tim. 3: 16, 17. 7 1 John 1: 1-3. e Isa. 65: 18. 
 
OF SALVATION. 6fi 
 
 a new thing in the earth, thai a woman should compass a 
 man, 1 he works creatingly in the discovery and application 
 of that mystery, and stoops down into all the senses, pas- 
 sions, and affections of human nature, and brings forth the 
 mystery of the new creation, under the veil and external 
 use of the matter of the first creation ; which runs through 
 the history of outward providences ; and through every 
 branch of Moses' law, in all the sacrifices, every part of the 
 tabernacle and temple, and through every dispensation, and 
 among all the faculties of the rational soul, as the power of 
 life striving against death, and light against darkness ; which 
 is the scope of what we find spoken to man, or of or by man, 
 in the scriptures : which is spoken, not to show only what 
 man's natural thoughts are, but how the Spirit of God works 
 in their thoughts, words, and actions, or how the spirit of 
 Satan naturally and sinfully works in them ; which is deliv- 
 ered to us by the Spirit of God, sometimes by the rules of 
 doctrine and worship, sometimes by comforts, instructions, 
 exhortations, reproofs, and threatenings ; and sometimes by 
 examples and experiences, acted upon the person of good 
 and bad, and acting in them. 
 
 This operation of the Spirit of the Father and the Son 
 begets all the convincements, heart-searchings, prayers, 
 groans, cries, sighs, comforts, encouragements and conquests, 
 which we find exercised in the hearts of the people of God, 
 throughout the scriptures ; shewing, as in a glass, the com- 
 bat betwixt the seed of the serpent, and the seed of the wo- 
 man ; and establishing faith, and assurance of the victory 
 by Jesus Christ, who is the Captain of their salvation. 
 
 And God has recorded these things, in this manner, in the 
 word, that all the people of God may read the w^hole of their 
 present state and work acted in the scriptures, by the inspi- 
 ration of the Spirit, which now breathes workings of a like 
 nature in their hearts. The least groan cannot be lost, it is 
 part of the Lamb's war ; and therefore there is a blessing 
 in it. If the infinite purity, power, and holiness of God did 
 reveal themselves only to the understanding, they would 
 either distract and confound the soul, or harden it by absolute 
 despair ; and therefore the infinite excellency of God des- 
 cends into the human nature of Christ, that it might over- 
 shadow, and work in the hearts of the saints, (who are of 
 
 1 Jer. 31: 22. 
 
66 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 his mystical body) by the Spirit in the scriptures, in the 
 way of an instinct and new principle arising from that spir- 
 itual closure made betwixt him and them in the gospel. 
 
 The Glory of Christ's Condescension, 
 
 The rejection of the gospel, and despising of the word, do 
 chiefly arise from an aptness to stumble at the condescension 
 of God. He sees a necessity to bow down lower to save 
 poor man, than the pride of man's heart knows how to digest ; 
 and therefore the humble and contrite ones get most of his 
 company. 1 The soul who loves him, and believes his con- 
 descension, in the design and truth thereof, can never be too 
 low for relief. 
 
 The manner of Christ's coming inio the flesh, and the 
 despicableness of his person, in his life and death, seriously 
 considered, and the ordinances which he blest and left to us, 
 give no encouragement to the wisdom of the flesh. The 
 way of carnal wisdom is to do great things by great means, 
 but the wisdom of God doth great things by small and des- 
 picable means ; 2 and so confoundeth the wisdom of the wise ; 
 as the apostle argues, 1 Cor. i. from verse 20th forward.-. 
 Were the truth of this mystery of God's condescension truly 
 taken up, it would cure that repining dejection which tor- 
 ments the saints about their unworthiness ; and thankfulness 
 would accompany all their groans towards him. He is as 
 low as the lowest, and their way cannot be hid from him,' 
 though he be high and lofty, and the Creator of the ends of 
 the earth. 3 The very kernel of the gospel's glory lies in 
 the extremeness of his condescension in the way of saving 
 man. His design is to exalt his glory to the highest heavens, 
 by the unspeakable lowness of his stooping, throughout all 
 the day of grace. He doth, by his Spirit, wait, weep, strive, 
 grieve, sigh, suffer, and complain in the hearts of his people; 
 figuratively, lie is said to do such things also himself on their 
 behalf; their weak faith is mighty through him who works 
 it, and who .carries his lambs in his arms. His infinite 
 greatness is not at all the cause of any estranged distance 
 betwixt him and mankind in this day of grace ; but the car- 
 nal and unbroken pride and fulness of a self-righteous, care- 
 
 1 Isa. 57: 15. 2 1 Sam. 16: G, 7.— Vs. 78: 70, 71. 2 Kings 5: 10-13. 
 3 Isa. 40; 27-29. 57: 15. 
 
OF SALVATION. 
 
 67 
 
 less, ignorant, unbelieving heart He Betteth the solitary in 
 families, and stooped) down to bring out those who are bound 
 with, and sensible of, their chains; bul the rebellious dwell 
 in a dry land. 1 
 
 Oh, let this truth visit me, and save ! Here is a re-t in- 
 deed. () my confused heart ! lie that heard the moan of 
 Ephraim, 1 hears thy moan ; hears thy cries, picks up all thy 
 tears, anil puts them in a bottle of remembrance : :i he created 
 jewels for himself out of the dunghill, and rakes them to- 
 gether into his cabinet. 4 When thou faintest, he fainteth 
 [sa. xl. 27 — 31, Lie down upon him, view the travail 
 he hath made in the person of Christ, and in the word 
 of his grace throughout the scriptures, and say, how un- 
 liable are is understanding and condescension! How 
 undeservedly, how almightily, how completely, freely, and 
 thoroughly, am I called by his grace, and led along this pre- 
 sent wilderness by the right-hand of infinite care, power, 
 and condescending, compassionate faithfulness ! Oh, the 
 depth of the wisdom and knowledge of God in the riches 
 thereof ! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his 
 ways past finding out ! For of him, and through him, and 
 to him are all things : to whom be glory forever. 5 
 
 God in Jesus Christ the only Life and Breath of his People, 
 and the Advantage thereof 
 
 Although God has laid the foundation of faith ever so sure 
 in the person of Christ, and so in himself, as it stands re- 
 vealed in the scriptures ; and although the principle of be- 
 lieving be planted in the heart at the first converting-work, 
 and covenant-closure with Jesus Christ ; yet every acting of 
 faith is .-till kept in the power of his own will, and lies 
 locked up from any exercise, till he opens his hand, and fdls 
 the soul with good things. And this God doth for singular 
 ends, viz. : 
 
 1. That God might be truly all in all, and all in every 
 part ; that Ins people might be rich, and yet none of them 
 be able to -ay. "My goods are increased; I have need of 
 nothing ;"° that lie may appear to be, not only the author 
 of their life, but of the breathing of their breath also ; and 
 
 1 Psalm 78: 6. 2 Jer. 31: 18. 8 Psalm 56: 8. 
 
 4 Mai. 3: 17. Psalm 113: 5-8. 5 Horn. 11: 33, 36. G Roy. 3: 17, 18. 
 
68 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 that the whole life of the new creature might not be at the 
 least distance from the heart of Christ. As the flame of the 
 candle cannot live without the wick, so is it impossible that 
 faith, or refreshment of heart, can live one moment, without 
 supply of radical moisture decending from the head, Jesus 
 Christ. Which doth not at all show the uncertainty of 
 a believer's state, but rather tends to assure the same, by a 
 frequent sending the soul to God in Christ, by whom it is 
 established. 
 
 2. It gives check to all allowed sin, and turning the grace 
 of God into wantonness ; because he will not suffer the 
 refreshment of his grace to be any where, but where he 
 himself is. 
 
 3. And, as breathings are tokens of life, so do renewed 
 influences witness the reality of life arising from the union 
 of the soul with Christ. 
 
 4. It also tends to make the soul watchful against dis- 
 tance from Christ, lest the breath of life withdraw, and 
 the soul faint insensibly, and fall into the mire of a defiled 
 mind, and so into sinful actions and a wounded conscience. 
 
 5. It leaves no room for sloth, or sleepiness of heart ; lest 
 the locks of eommunion with God's influential presence 
 should be cut, and strength be gone ; l for no comfort or 
 strength lives any longer, than by faith it derives vigor from 
 the heart and mind of Christ. 
 
 6. It represents mercy purely, as it showeth, that the 
 standing of a believer is merely at the good pleasure of God, 
 and doth necessitate the soul to be a resigned attendant upon 
 the mere will of God ; and so allures the soul, by a neces- 
 sary conquest of love, not to live to itself, but to the pure 
 will of him who died, and rose again, and quickens all 
 things. By which resignment unto mercy, it rests on the 
 heart of Christ, and all the fulness of God that is there. 
 
 7. It gives ground of hope in sad hours ; for, as the clouds 
 come, so they go. "There is hope of a tree (saith Job), 
 though it be cut down, that it will sprout again, through the 
 reviving moisture at the root." 2 " And why art thou dis- 
 quieted ? " saith David to his soul ; " I shall yet praise 
 him." 3 And besides, 
 
 8. This coming and going of the Spirit's influence is a fan, 
 which blows and brings forth the lustre of all graces. Here- 
 
 1 Judges 16: 19, 20. 2 Job 14: 7—9. 3 Psalm 43: 5. 
 
OF 8 M.\ ation. 69 
 
 by patience, waiting, and hope are exercised; faith and love 
 are exercised ; and every grace gets (as it were) a frequent 
 new birth in the soul: and the spiritual fondness of the love 
 is revived, and not suffered to die. Everynew breath of the 
 Spirit is a new application of the soul's ingrafture into Christ, 
 and demonstration of his power; and it is arrayed afresh, as 
 in the day of its tirst espousals. 
 
 9, And lastly, it gives assurance of the resurrection of 
 the body, of which every resurrection by faith and hope, 
 freely visiting the heart, and bringing it again to God, is the 
 fore-runner. 
 
 While my meditations are musing and expatiating after 
 the invisible God, and would fain comprehend his way, me- 
 tl links I receive a check from Zophar, 1 " Canst thou by 
 searching find out God ; canst thou find out the Almighty to 
 perfection ? It is high as heaven, what canst thou do ? 
 deeper than hell, what canst thou know ? " Keep within 
 the revealed word, and, in the patience and comfort of the 
 scriptures, live by hope. " No flesh can see God and live." 
 Vain man would be wise, and see the upshot of all things, 
 but the vessel of his understanding cannot hold it. Salva- 
 tion by Christ has one sort of raiment here, another kind 
 hereafter ; here, it is a kingdom of patience and hope, but 
 there, a kingdom of glorious enjoyment ; here is the earnest, 
 there is the fulness. When I would look over, and see some 
 glimpses of Canaan, a Jordan of difficulty stands in the 
 way. What an adventure is it, to go down into the deep of 
 death, and the last concluding change ! This is the last and 
 great trial of faith, to venture all my hope in eternity at one 
 ca t ; to expect to And the same God in Christ beyond the 
 great gulf, who appears on this side by the Spirit of his 
 grace ; to enjoy the same God to perfection, whose name I 
 now call upon by prayer. O that victorious faith which 
 claspeth about that love, from which neither life nor death, 
 tilings present nor to come, can divide ! 2 I may not pre- 
 sumptuously go up into the mount, but be content awhile 
 with wilderness-work ; there remaineth a rest. Return 
 again, O my soul, to thy laboring, waiting state ; be upon 
 thy watch, the morning cometh by and by. Be not afraid to 
 have thy night changed into day, and all thy weakness into 
 perfection ; only labor out thy task, and " work out thy sal- 
 
 1 Job 11: 7, 8. a Rdm. 8: 38, 39. 
 
 G* 
 
70 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 vation with fear and trembling" in this day of faith and 
 hope. 
 
 Am I called to work and travail ? How shall I undergo 
 this task ? Contemplation is not the only work of my twelve 
 hours ; and oh, for freedom of heart and understanding, that 
 I may accomplish my work, my hireling's day ! Alas ! dear 
 Christ, I am willing to work thy works, but would never be 
 out of thy sight. May I not talk with thee, and look upon 
 thy face, and yet work too ? The presence of my Christ 
 makes any toil to be perfect freedom. 
 
 Methinks I can more easily find, in some measure, my 
 work throughout the whole scriptures (though that necessa- 
 rily requires also the teachings of the Spirit), than I can 
 know how to compose my heart to keep the faith of union 
 and communion with God fresh ; and so to work and labor, 
 in the strength of that fellowship, whatever I do in the 
 world. When I am earnest in contemplation, I fear 
 I fail in the matter of action ; when I am acting, I fear 
 losing the marrow of my communion with my God. Here 
 lies divine skill, to put both these together, as being of the 
 same nature, and tending to the same end ; each of them 
 helping, and not hindering one another. And to this end I 
 desire help from on high, to find out my way and method, 
 that I may so run, that I may at length finish my course 
 with joy. 
 
 How to hold Communion with God in Worldly Business. 
 
 The spring of all christian conversation is justifying faith, 
 which cleanses the soul, and quickens it at the same time, 
 by union with Jesus Christ : and as, in the order of nature, 
 life is first infused, before any action of life can appear ; so 
 faith, being the accepting and digesting virtue which receives 
 (in a way of spiritual digesture), Jesus Christ, as the bread 
 of life, doth cleanse and save the soul : which new life puts 
 forth actions of its own nature ; which actions do add a per- 
 fection of growth and manifestation, but not of essence to 
 that new life of justification, regeneration and reconcilement. 
 All good works of a holy conversation are the improvement 
 of that life, but neither the cause, nor matter of it. The 
 cause of it is the mere grace and favor of God j 1 the matter 
 of this life is the Spirit of Jesus Chrict quickening the soul, 
 
 1 Eph. 1: 4—6. 
 
OF SALVATION. 71 
 
 through anion with it ; and from thence grows action, as the 
 
 delightful exercise of the life of the new man. 
 
 So that my more or less improvement must not bring into 
 question the essence of this life : the least action denotes life 
 as well as the greatest, though the vigor thereof he in a dif- 
 ferent measure : and if I doubt of life, I cannot produce it 
 by action. Leaves will not put life into the tree ; but I am 
 in that case, by soul-resigning and self-renouncing recumben- 
 cy of heart, to rely upon Christ, to receive life from him. 
 AH life lies in the root, and comes thence by naked believ- 
 ing ; whereby God, through Christ, vents his own life by 
 mere grace in my soul, that all actions of holiness may be 
 no other than the life of God working in me. 
 
 Now, that the soul may both enjoy its communion with 
 God, and also work with vigor the works of righteousness 
 in an active conversation, there must be order and uniformity 
 in every action, suitable to the spirit of communion with 
 God. Without order there can be no peace, but confusion ; ] 
 and without uniformity also, arising from the root of union 
 that is between the action and the spirit of the actor, there 
 can be no peace ; for unity breeds peace, 2 by making things 
 different or distinguishable to agree in one, by some common 
 and uniting likeness or other. And because this uniformity 
 seems naturally to offer itself to consideration in the first 
 place, I would let a few thoughts pass upon it. 
 
 In all Christian and morally good actions (forbearing to 
 speak of ungodly actions, which are plainly opposite to the 
 spirit of holiness), no action, though it be in itself materially 
 good, ought to be left to its own swing, but always ought to 
 move in the hand of the Spirit, as it gives direction by, and 
 suitable to, the word. The natural motion of a wheel is to 
 run downwards; yet we read, Ezek. i. 19 — 21, that the 
 Spirit of the living creature being in the wheels, it guided 
 the wheels from their natural motion, to the pleasure and 
 will of the Spirit that was in the wheels ; up or down, hither 
 or thither, as the Spirit moved them. The Spirit and the 
 wheels were made one in motion, by reason of their union. 
 And even so in all good actions, spiritually performed, there 
 is a union betwixt the principle of holiness in the new man, 
 and the outward action that is done ; which forms the action 
 into a homogeneous suitableness to that inward principle, 
 
 1 1 Cor. 14: 23,40. 8 Eph. 4:3 
 
72 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 and prevents discord betwixt the action and the principle. 
 Thus it was with Job, when he said, " My heart shall not 
 reproach me." 1 And hence conies a peaceable execution of 
 any action, when the principle of holiness does spirit the 
 action, and the action outwardly manifests a justifying con- 
 currence with the principle in and by which it acts, the 
 action and the principle having the same united tendency to 
 the will of God. 
 
 And as union and symphony betwixt a gracious efficient 
 principle and a gracious action render it a comfortable ser- 
 vice, whatever the work be which is done ; so the order be- 
 twixt these two doth order a further supply, to carry on a 
 heavenly conversation here on earth. The goodness of every 
 action (as to comfort in the execution thereof) ariseth from 
 communion with God, for whom, and to whom, that action 
 and service is performed. 
 
 Although both be the exercise of the new man, yet each 
 of them acts in its own order ; the heart is first under true 
 warmth within, and then the suitable discoveries do follow. 
 While I was musing (saith David) the fire burned, and then 
 spake I with my tongue." 2 A good action loseth its inward 
 beauty, when it keeps not its inside order ; it is numbered 
 amongst dead works, and moves but in a ghastly manner, 
 when the Spirit within moves not first ; much like to the ir- 
 rational actions of a man who walks up and down, and talks 
 by some strength of fancy, when he is in a dead sleep all the 
 while. But when the root of communion with God bears 
 the soul forth unto fruitfulness in any service, that service is 
 comely ; because it springs naturally from a spirit of faith in 
 the new man, and carries along the nature of the new man 
 in whatsoever is done. 
 
 These two being observed, would so carry on the course 
 of Christianity, that, in the various affairs of this life, inward 
 peace would not be broken ; there would be readiness at all 
 times to pray, praise, and rejoice. Thus Abraham and 
 Enoch walked with God ; and this is the glorious promise, 
 " They shall walk up and down in the name of the Lord." 3 
 
 All good actions, being thus rooted and ordered, have the 
 glory of God in their eye, and run forth in the way of duty, 
 carrying with them the encouragement of acceptance with 
 God. And although the actions of such a man may visibly 
 
 1 Job 27: 6. 2 Psalm 39: 3. 3 Zech. 10: V2. 
 
OF BALTJLTION. 
 
 be without success, yel his heart is never wrung with disap- 
 pointment : because his Becrel communion with, and sub- 
 jection to, the will of God (this being the grand purpose of 
 his heart in all he doth) brings him into a holy rest, and 
 
 maintains an inclination to work still without repining, be- 
 cause he 18 assured kk his work is not in vain in the Lord." 
 So far as the will of God appears, he is quiet with joy, be- 
 cause the pleasure of his work lies in doing God's will, and 
 not his own. Communion with God makes up every breach 
 with an all-suiheiency. Disappointments lock him up with- 
 in the sanctuary of God, and keep the soul at home, in the 
 pure taste of that communion with God in which it lives, 1 in 
 a readiness to every good work. His good actions, though 
 -mall as a cup of cold water, or successless, as Isaiah's 
 preaching seemed to him to be, 2 yet cannot be lost ; because 
 communion with God cannot be lost, in the virtue of which 
 those works were done through Jesus Christ. 
 
 The Soul sensible of a Cold Fit, 
 
 But while I am thus travelling through the consideration 
 of several privileges redounding to a believer, and the way 
 of fruitfulness therein, I feel (methinks) many cold fits to 
 seize upon me. As it was in the day that Abraham was 
 troubled with the fowls which fell upon the carcasses, which 
 God commanded him to divide for the confirmation of his 
 promise, which Abraham drove away till the sun went down ; 
 and when a deep sleep and horror of great darkness, fell 
 upon him, then, even then did a fresh assurance of the cove- 
 nant break forth ; 3 so, while I am in pursuit of this salva- 
 tion of God, I find the. clouds gather about me ; I find not 
 the same sensible entertainment of this salvation in my heart, 
 as sometimes I have found : my soul is filled with guilt and 
 weakness ; and therefore I am forced to retire back from pur- 
 suing the necessary and practical meditations about the con- 
 versation of godliness for a season, lest I leave an enemy at 
 my back that is ready to invade me, which enemy, if it please 
 the Lord to scatter by his Spirit, I shall be more able to at- 
 tempt the meditations of the works of holiness, (besides 
 having fresh activity to put on the garments of fruitfulness, 
 in the service which I owe to Jesus Christ my Lord), than, 
 methinks, for the present I am. 
 
 i Psalm 73: 17, 25. 2 Isa. 49: 4. 3 Gen. 15: 7—18. 
 
74 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 Inward rejoicing and peace have been much impaired, for 
 some days, by weakness, guilt, and distraction that have 
 seized on my heart : there they lie like a mountain of lead. 
 When my thoughts would turn inwards, I hear nothing but 
 outcries of accusation and guilt possessing my heart ; I can 
 find no shelter at home, I am forced to fly abroad for a lodg- 
 ing, for company, and food. I am now invited to renew 
 myself a nest above my own heart. My heart is grown 
 hard, dark and weak ; it prevails against my former sense 
 of the divine presence ; and while it is thus filled with the 
 clamors of death and confusion, me thinks I hear the Spirit 
 and the Bridegroom say, ' Come, arise, this is not your rest : 
 launch forth through the ocean of free grace, and let not thy 
 expectation hanker towards thyself; though thy flesh fail, 
 and thy heart fail, yet God is the strength of thy heart, and 
 thy portion forever.' My work is to go forth ; and, oh ! that 
 I could make a fair escape to him who stands upon the shore 
 to receive me ! It is not a few meditations that will do 
 it ; it needs a Redeemer's hand to fetch me out, and pull 
 me up. 
 
 The Soul flies out of all manner of Selfish Help, to Jesus 
 Christ only. 
 
 The delight of the new man is, to be under the govern- 
 ment of the Spirit only ; and all the issues of the Spirit 
 flow from the heart of Christ only, by which the heart of a 
 believer is made new in him. This newness lies especially 
 in the spirit of a believer, which complies with the Spirit of 
 God in the witness of adoption, even while the contradiction 
 of defiled nature warreth against it. And upon the single 
 consideration of this interest and union betwixt Christ and 
 the soul, yielding itself to the renewing of his Spirit, doth 
 faith go forth, and claim foreign aid, namely, the aid of Jesus 
 Christ, to whom it is united : in conveyance of which aid, 
 Christ first takes the soul more closely into the virtue of 
 that union, that every crumb of his help may truly savor of 
 that relation which is betwixt him and the soul, through the 
 new covenant ; and gives out no saving and effectual aid 
 otherwise than as the product and offspring of that union : 
 that so Christ may be all in all, as the treasury and efficient 
 cause of all relief; and that the soul, through spiritual union 
 only, might derive that relief to itself by faith : and as the 
 
OF SALVATION. It) 
 
 foundation of the union lies in free grace, so the application 
 thereof, and the abundant help arising thence, arc carried on 
 wholly through the method of the same grace; for faith can 
 converse with nothing (in order to the life of the new man) 
 but free grace only in the promise. 
 
 The very nature of free promises presents to the sou! the 
 consideration of all relief to lie originally in God, and that 
 the soul is invited thither only to obtain it, and cannot possi- 
 bly return empty: for the dispensing of which grace to the 
 3 of men, God manifests himself in the person of the 
 Son. who dwells in human nature, displaying the evidence 
 of this grace in the gospel ; and by bis Spirit persuades the 
 soul to believe, accept, and improve it. 
 
 And a soul being thus persuaded that his life lies in 
 Christ, upon a free covenant grounded in God's decree, 
 and established on i'vea promises, must not stay to ask leave 
 of his guilty heart, whether he be fit to lay hold on this de- 
 liverance, but must wholly consider the freeness of grace, 
 pardon, and righteousness, which is in this new and living 
 way, which God hath made, and not man. If Elijah had 
 poured only on the parched earth that w r as under his feet, he 
 could have had no argument of moisture to arise from 
 1 hence ; but having by faith prayed to him who governs the 
 clouds, dowm came the rain, and the drought vanished. 
 
 Guilt of sin is like a hedge, or a wall, that can easily keep 
 the heart in impenitency and unbelief; but when faith, work- 
 ing by repentance, seizeth on Jesus Christ, it gives wings to 
 i!"' soul of a believer to fly up above all those hinderances 
 of natural guilt and weakness; and though sin and death re- 
 main in his flesh, yet he is got beyond the captivity of the 
 law of sin ; which can no more keep him from the freedom 
 wherewith Christ hath made him free, than a hedge can 
 keep an eagle from soaring up in the air. The sap which 
 feels guilt is unbelief; now when the sap is withdrawn, the 
 ray by degree-, although it remains in its place 
 for a season: so is it with the old man; it cumbers the heart 
 awhile; but Christ al his death gave it such a wound as will 
 never be cured, till it lias (by the faith and prayer of every 
 believer) bled itself to death. When guilt seems to live 
 most, and jo udi a b< ! : vei fr -h to Christ, then does guilt 
 die apace, and remains only bo keep a believer's faith in con- 
 tinual exercise, and to render Christ precious to the soul ; as 
 cold weather makes a fire the more comfortable and pleasant. 
 
76 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 So that while my soul holds close to this, that Christ is, 
 (upon his own terms) righteousness, pardon, and life to me, 
 by making me his, and he being mine ; my own guilt be- 
 comes no longer my own, but his, who bought me with his 
 blood : and, as guilt is removed, so the fear of falling away 
 is removed, and relief against daily infirmities is provided 
 for. If, being an enemy, I was reconciled by his death, 
 much more, being reconciled, shall I be daily saved by his 
 life. Rom. v. 10. 
 
 Faith only a Relief against Daily Infirmities. 
 
 But whence ariseth this, that I find it harder to rely on 
 him for power against daily infirmities, than against the 
 power of condemning guilt ? Daily infirmities are the lesser 
 enemies ; but yet they are present enemies, and seeming 
 smaller in stature than the great bulk of universal human 
 guilt, the soul of a Christian is apt to step forth against them 
 in its own strength and resolution, and so returns many 
 times with shame ; whereas the same covenant which takes 
 away the stony heart and state of guilt, is that only which 
 gives a heart of flesh, 1 and cleanseth the soul from all un- 
 righteousness. I cannot therefore mortify one foolish, filthy, 
 or distracted thought, without the application of the whole 
 power of the same Christ who has removed my great and 
 condemning guilt, and cast it into the sea. I am apt foolishly 
 to think, that my great guilt being removed, I may, in some 
 sort, take my ease, which degenerates more and more into 
 spiritual sloth and unthankfulness : but my daily infirmities 
 are like so many pricking briers, which continually afflict 
 me, and let me know that this is not my rest ; neither can 
 my own hands put away these briers, but only the consuming 
 fire of Christ's Spirit setting his death and resurrection in 
 battle-array against them. So that I see, if ever I expect 
 a good hour in this world, or to all eternity, it must be only, 
 and altogether in Jesus Christ. O, cursed nature ! O, cursed 
 sloth ! that is ever dividing that which a blessed covenant of 
 grace has joined together, Jesus Christ and my soul. All 
 his drift towards me is, that he might be all in all to me. 
 Oh ! that he would vent himself, and spare not ! He that 
 bids me fear not, only believe, is alone able to make me be- 
 lieve. I often draw near (methinks) to a resignation to him, 
 
 1 Ezek. 36: 26. 1 John I: 9. 
 
OF SALVATION. 77 
 
 with some universal scope, but I am quickly gravelled again; 
 ya bo much delight remains in the very hope of my soul in 
 him, thai makes me choose rather to have my rye* towards 
 him, though with a long look, than to say within my heart, 
 u My beloved will never come." Surely he will yet come, 
 and his reward is with him. 
 
 Resignation. 
 
 This resignation to God is so glorious in the nature, ground, 
 properties, and encouraging privileges of it, that the wry 
 
 glimpse thereof makes my heart light, and even faint for de- 
 to be wholly swallowed up and translated, in spirit, soul, 
 and body, into the pure rest, and crystal life of God ; ] but 
 the nature of it I can no more express, than a man's pencil 
 can draw the portraiture of a man's life, or represent the na- 
 ture of a taste ; although it may draw the figure of a human 
 body, or represent the visible food, in which lies that hidden 
 quality of life and taste. But if words may be used about 
 it, I would thus express it : 
 
 The Nature of Resignation. 
 
 It is an allaying, delightful, willing, open-hearted dissolv- 
 ing of all my desires, cares, and enjoyments of things present 
 and to come, relating to soul and body, into the heart, and 
 unUmited disposure of God in Christ Jesus, my Lord ; with 
 an endless, victorious security of confidence, consolation, and 
 peace of heart and conscience. 
 
 The Ground of it. 
 
 The ground of which glorious, active, and soul-quickening 
 is Jesus Christ the Mediator, who has received his re- 
 tied to the glory of God. 2 He is called their peace; 3 
 their rest ; 4 their sufficiency : 5 their consolation ; 6 their 
 joy ; 7 and all in all. 8 
 
 In all these re.-pects Jesus Christ becomes the ground, and 
 attractive cause of resignation, as he is God and man ; bring- 
 ing the soul, through union with his humanity, to God, with 
 
 l Rev. 22: 1. 2 Tvom. 15: 7. 3 Eph. 2: 14. 
 
 4 Isa, 28: 12. Matt. 11:28. 5 Phil. 4: 13. 2 Cor. £: 5. 
 
 6 2 Cor. 1: 5. - Matt. 25: 21. Psalm 43: 4. 8 Col. 3: 11. 
 
 7 
 
78 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 whom he is personally united : 1 into which union every be- 
 liever is received, through the mystery of his free grace ; 2 
 and the application of this union to the soul by faith breeds 
 this blessed resignation : for Christ, being thus qualified in 
 his own person, and thus uniting the soul to himself by his 
 Spirit, begets in the heart, through believing, an answerable 
 counterpart of conformity and quiet in the inward man ; 
 which cannot be capable of loss, (because the unchangeable 
 God is the author and unalterable cause thereof,) nor be ob- 
 structed, while faith holds up its exercise therein ; but runs 
 out into an infiniteness of satisfaction in all cases ; because 
 it is got within the help, and boundless interest, of him who 
 is infinite. It enters in, by the door of his manhood, to the 
 partaking of whatever he is heir to ; and is made heir with 
 him, of his conquest, fulness, security, peace, and joy. So 
 that although the flesh may fail, God, who is the portion of 
 a believer, faileth not ; but always unchangeably continueth, 
 in the mystery of this union, to be the foundation and effect- 
 ing cause of a believer's resignation to him, as into the hands 
 of a faithful Creator. 3 Jesus Christ himself is the glorious 
 model of resignation ; for in him God resigned up himself 
 to the nature of man, 4 and being the eternal Son, he resigned 
 up himself to the will of his Father, to be made a servant : 
 and he who is the lawgiver resigns himself as subject to the 
 law. God over all, blessed forever, resigns himself to the 
 curse of the law ; he resigns up the freedom of his own will 
 to a voluntary covenant ; he undertakes (as it were) the in- 
 cumbrance of a family, and accounts the cries of many in- 
 fants about him no disturbance, but a delight ; he resigned 
 up his body to death, and became of no reputation, that out 
 of his dust he might bring many sons to glory ; he resigned 
 up his heart to bear their sins and sorrows ; he hath resigned 
 up whatever he is to be theirs, that they might be his, and 
 be saved, both living and dying, from all wants and fears, 
 through his resignation of himself to stand or fall with them ; 
 and from every part of his resignation he sends forth his 
 Spirit to work resignation also in them, (according to the 
 measure of his own gift in every part of his mystical body) 
 by virtue of that union to which he hath called them with 
 himself. And herein lies the ground and foundation of a 
 believer's holy resignation to God. 
 
 1 1 Pet. 3: 18. 2 John 17: 21. 3 1 Pet. 4: 19. 4 Heb. 2: 14. 
 
OF SALVATION. 
 
 Properties of Resignation. 
 
 As for the properties of this holy resignation, there is in 
 all resignations a notion of weakness and subjection in the 
 resigned, and of power and dominion in the person to whom 
 resignation is made; there is also an alienation of Borne 
 
 proper and private interest and change thereof into the in- 
 terest of another. And so it is in the soul to God. The 
 BOul, being sensible of its own inability, surrenders up itself 
 to the almighty Redeemer, and doth subject itself to the 
 rules of his dominion, as the clay to the hand of the potter; 
 and so the soul in every nerve of it is loosed, and lies down 
 at tin 4 will and disposal of the Lord, to do as it seemeth good 
 unto him ; and by this means, the soul ceaseth from its own 
 private interest, and submits itself to the merit, mercy, and 
 laws of the Mediator, to be dieted, clothed, and employed 
 by him only, and lives no longer by the life of its own 
 hand. 1 
 
 Now (to adopt our Lord's expressions on another occa- 
 sion 2 ) he stretcheth forth his hands, and another girds him, 
 and leads him whither his fleshly reason would not. He 
 knows never a step of his way, but as the word and Spirit 
 guide him. 3 He dares not say his sins are his own, or his 
 righteousness his own, but as Christ, in the gospel, directs 
 and suffers him to think and speak. He can neither accuse 
 nor excuse himself, neither judge nor acquit himself, any 
 otherwise than as he who bought him will allow, and give 
 his consent ; because he is now under the dominion and 
 interest of another ; and is no longer his own, but married 
 to him who was raised from the dead. 4 
 
 Ive-ignation is in its nature a free act, and is managed in 
 the will, aiming to prevent a greater evil, or obtain a greater 
 good ; and therefore carries some content and delight with 
 it, and which is so much the more increased, as the power, 
 authority, and faithfulness of the person resigned to is great 
 and sure. So is it with a believer's resignation to God in 
 Jesus Christ : every glimpse of his infinite power, truth, and 
 mercy redounds to the increase of a believer's refreshment ; 
 because he hath a right in the whole (by resignation there- 
 unto) in the person of Jesus Christ; and it eyes his person 
 
 1 Isa. 57: 10. IIos. 14: 3. 2 John 21: 18. 3 Isa. 42: 16. 
 
 4 Roin. 7: 4. Numb. .30: 7, 8. 
 
80 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 in\ail the worth, perfection, and excellency thereof, in such 
 a way of interest and property therein, that it affects the 
 heart, and makes way for the influence of that worth to 
 enter upon the mind and affections ; and so renders it active 
 (according to the mind of Christ, and the spirit of the gos- 
 pel) to obey, believe, and live upon that mind of Christ, 
 represented to the understanding ; improving his worth by 
 a sanctified application to every part of the new man, as a 
 holy oil, sinking into every faculty of the soul, and naturally 
 inclining it to every exercise of that new state, to which it 
 is begotten and brought forth by a spiritual resignation. 
 
 Privileges of Resignation. 
 
 The blessed privileges which arise from hence are innu- 
 merable, as God, to whom the resignment is made, is un- 
 measurable and infinite. The soul of a resigning believer 
 enters into purity, establishment, protection, peace, love, 
 liberty, boldness, satisfaction and joy in the Holy Spirit, and 
 gains an entrance abundantly into " the kingdom of our Lord 
 and Saviour Jesus Christ." 
 
 1. Purity. As a stick of wood cast into the fire is 
 changed into the property of that fire : so the casting of the 
 soul into the blood of the immaculate Lamb makes it to 
 abide no longer filthy, but spotless, through the price and 
 preciousness of that blood ; the Spirit of which blood re- 
 moves the private owning and conscience of guilt, and trans- 
 fers it into the laver of Christ's satisfaction ; and the soul 
 comes forth clothed with pardon, righteousness and full ac- 
 ceptance in the sight of God, the righteous Judge ; who has 
 constituted a satisfaction to himself by such a method, that 
 his mercy to a sinner might be an act of righteousness, or 
 justice to Jesus Christ the Mediator; and that, by resignation 
 to Christ, a believer might enjoy it in enjoying Christ ; 
 whose nature is also shed abroad in the heart by the wash- 
 ing of the new birth, through the word of his grace, to mor- 
 tify and cleanse the heart, as a seal of implantation into the 
 perfect righteousness, and acceptance of his person who 
 bought it with his blood, Gal. ii. 20. 1 John i. 9. 
 
 2. Establishment. Which resignation gives establish- 
 ment, by engaging him who bears up the pillars of the earth, 
 to bear a poor shiner's weight, and keep it from reeling. 
 Resignation doth incorporate a believer into the very Rock 
 
SALVATION. 81 
 
 of ages. It oonveyeth a sinner, through the word of free 
 grace and power, clean from his own sin, and gives it an ar- 
 rival illtO the very breast of Christ, where, it abides without 
 sin or change. 1 Though sin remains in the natural man, and 
 dwells with human flesh, through the whole circuit of the 
 
 first Adam's state; vet faith replants the soul into the second 
 Adam, who is as wholly pure, as the first Adam is wholly 
 sinful. So that a sinner, in coming to him, resigns himself 
 up from perfect sin to perfect purity. The body of Christ, 
 as it is mystically below, remains for a season under the 
 washing of the word ; but as it is mystically married to 
 Christ risen from the dead, and sitting at the right hand of 
 ( rod with him, it is pure as the sun in its brightness, and es- 
 tablished forever above all shaking storms of the lower re- 
 gion, whether it be guilt, change, or danger. 
 
 3. Protection. Resignation doth naturally claim protec- 
 tion, as appears in the case of the Gibeonites. 2 Charity and 
 pity would induce a noble mind to help the distressed, though 
 there were no claim of right in the distressed to move such 
 a noble mind. It were cruelty to suffer only a neighbor's 
 ox to lie in the ditch, without some real willingness to help 
 it out : but resignation gives to the resigned a rightful in- 
 terest in the person to whom the resignment is made : and 
 therefore Christ owns the cherishing and protection of a re- 
 signing soul, upon the account of conjugal property and 
 right. No man ever yet hated his own flesh: and therefore 
 not only protecteth, but nourisheth it, " even as Christ the 
 church." 3 This rightful interest in him, makes every branch 
 of the wants, griefs, burdens or dangers, that every resigning 
 believer has, to be Christ's concernment as truly and as 
 much (for the nature of them) as the salvation of all the 
 elect, for which he came into the world, and died. His sal- 
 vation reacheth into every crevice of their need, " He saveth 
 to the uttermost ; " 4 which saving protection stands fitted to 
 a resigned soul, as a curious key to the wards of a lock, and 
 intermits not the least moment from suitable and needful 
 help ; r> only he manages it in his own method, which a re- 
 signed soul owns he is satisfied and delighted in. 
 
 4. Peace. Hence comes peace, when the soul of a be- 
 liever, by resignment (having viewed the compass of plenti- 
 
 1 1 John 3: G. 2 Josh. 10: 4— G. » Eph. 5: 29. 
 
 4 Heb. 7: 25. G Isa. 27: 3. 
 
 7 
 
 * 
 
82 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 ful redemption, the strength of the rock that is under him, 
 and the helmet of salvation which is over him) saith, " Re- 
 turn unto thy rest, O my soul, for the Lord hath dealt boun- 
 tifully with thee. God hath delivered my soul from death, 
 mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling ; " * "I will 
 now lay me down and sleep, for no less than God himself 
 makes me to dwell in safety ; " 2 the peace of resignation is 
 Christ's peace, which none can divide from a believer : it is 
 his garrison, and fortified security. 3 
 
 5. Love. And from hence flows love to God, the Father, 
 Son, and Spirit. The love of the Father in the Son, and 
 by the Spirit, in all the unspeakable discoveries of it, warms 
 the heart into this resignation unto him. 4 Christ appearing 
 so amply furnished to conciliate love, and declaring the 
 wealth, power, and glory of his kingdom, 5 and presenting 
 bracelets of his kindness, (as once Abraham's servant did to 
 Kebekah in behalf of Isaac, 6 ) he gains the heart of a be- 
 liever to forsake former contentments, and resign up its ut- 
 most affections to him : the more the soul resigns, the more 
 doth it love ; and the more it loves, the more it doth resign 
 to him. The love of God shed abroad in the heart by the 
 Spirit, from the heart of Christ, breeds resignation, and 
 that resignation still feeds love ; each moving the other with 
 a perpetual motion ; and so, from an endless principle of 
 union with Christ, it runs forth to all eternity, 
 
 6. Freedom. From whence ariseth also a sense of per- 
 fect freedom. The pales of separation and distance are 
 broken down, free access to God in Christ is gained, misap- 
 prehensions removed, and open-heartedness interwoven be- 
 twixt Christ and the soul. The heir is no longer a servant, 
 but a son. 7 Esther is brought from the custody of Hegai, 
 to the king's palace. 8 The boundless deity, in all its purity, 
 power and protection, is the range of a resigning believer. 
 The law is removed ; the prince of this world is judged and 
 cast out ; the former state of enmity and bondage is over 
 and gone ; and now the soul dilates itself with full spread 
 into that " freedom wherewith Christ hath made it free." 9 
 
 7. Boldness. Which freedom brings in boldness along with 
 it. The soul being once resigned up to Christ, is no longer a 
 
 i Psalm 116: 7, 8. 2 Psalm 4: S. 3 John 14: 27. Phil. 4: 7. 
 
 4 1 John 4: 19. 5 Psalm 145: 11. 6 Gen. 24: 53. 
 
 ' Gal. 4: 1—7. 8 Esth. 2: 8, 16. 9 John 8: 36. Gal. 5: 1. 
 
OF S vl.\ A HON. 
 
 stranger, bul of his household; yea, betrothed to his person 
 in righteousness and tender mercy, and is always in his eye. 
 Resignation betwixt Christ and the soul being mutually past, 
 darkness is swallowed up of light, there is no shelter Tor the 
 beasts of prey. No weapon that is formed against a be- 
 liever can prosper, who has resigned himself to the Former 
 of all things; he may now dwell safely in the wilderness, 
 and sleep in the wood ; a lion-like courage grows in the 
 soul from the Lion of the tribe of Judah, to whom , by resig- 
 nation, it is united. 
 
 8. Satisfaction. What now can hinder satisfaction ? Why 
 may not the soul say, I have enough : my inheritance is law- 
 fully gotten ; neither have I gotten it with my sword and 
 bow, (as Jacob got a portion from the hand of the Amorite), 
 but I have given myself for it. I have resigned my whole 
 self to Christ, and he has resigned his whole self to me. I 
 own and accept his resignation, and he accepts mine. What 
 further remains, than that I bid farewell to my own poverty 
 and wretchedness, and put on change of raiment ? Why 
 may not I dwell amidst the flagons 1 of his satisfying pre- 
 sence ? I am filled, and my cup runs over. 
 
 9. Joy. And now also, who may hinder a satisfied soul 
 from joy? Will not all the foundation-work and walls of 
 this building bear a superstructure of "Joy in the Holy 
 Spirit ? " Is not the upshot of this resignation betwixt 
 Christ and a believer mutual joy ? " He joys over his be- 
 loved with singing ; " 2 and her spirit rejoice th in God her 
 Saviour." 3 As far as any degree of this resignation tastes 
 these high privileges, so far doth a relish of joy grow in the 
 soul. Resignation brings the soul into the heart of Christ, 
 who hath triumphed gloriously in rescuing his spouse, and 
 now " rejoiceth over her as a bridegroom rejoiceth over the 
 bride ; " 4 and in the day of the gladness of his heart calls 
 her, " Ilephzibah, that is, my delight is in her ; " 5 which 
 joy begets an echo of its own likeness from her again, " My 
 delight is in him." 6 And thus the crown of joy is placed 
 on the head of spiritual resignment. The soul cannot re- 
 sign to God without joy in him, nor rejoice in him without 
 resignment. They live in one another; because the seed 
 and nature of all spiritual privileges lies in every privilege ; 
 
 1 Cant. 2: 5. a Zeph. 3: 17. 8 Luke 1: 47. 
 
 4 Isa. 62: 5. 5 ver. 4, marginal rendering. G Isa. 58: 14. 
 
84 A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE 
 
 and the nature of this privilege being endless, because God 
 is everlasting, the crown of joy can therefore never wither. 
 
 10. An entrance into the purchased possession. And the 
 more this resignation to God in Christ gets ground in the 
 soul, the more is " entrance made into the everlasting king- 
 dom of our Lord Jesus Christ ; " not as it is a work done 
 by us, but wrought in us ; in which the heart is made to give 
 way, and is made voluntary therein by the Spirit of grace. 
 Which work is here carried on through much contradiction 
 in the flesh, which strives against it, while the inward man, 
 in every believer, pants after it, and finds no rest, but as the 
 power of this holy resignation to God in all things prevails ; 
 till at last it steps over mortality, and leaves every obstruc- 
 tion behind perfectly and forever ; and then God is all 
 in all. 
 
 Christ enjoying his spouse without any reluctancy or un- 
 suitableness in her, and she enjoying her husband without 
 any veil upon his face ; she hears his pure language, and re- 
 turns pure language again : love has its full vent on both 
 sides : the mutual yearning of bowels will then be satisfied ; 
 the voice of, Come, which sounds from Christ above, and 
 the believer below, will terminate itself in one eternal, in- 
 separable meeting. Resignation will then enjoy an uninter- 
 rupted delight. How astonishing is the thought of this ! 
 When the thought of it is strained through the weakness of 
 my faith, conflicting with so much darkness, and present 
 treachery of heart, and self-unworthiness, the glimpses thereof 
 make me both fear and rejoice at once ; and yet I am not 
 able to rejoice perfectly, for fear ; nor fear perfectly, for 
 hope. infinite Redeemer ! be over and above all my fear 
 and faintness ; act like thyself, almightily and freely, that 
 my heart may shout for joy in the hope of the glory of God, 
 and the day of refreshing, which is promised to appear ; 
 " even so come, Lord Jesus." 
 
 And now if I might, out of all these considerations, but 
 take home to my own heart a few chips to kindle mine own 
 fire, and be really assigned one inch nearer to Christ, I 
 should think the meditations of this day happily given in. 
 What else doth my soul long for? Some crumbs of this 
 glorious banquet, that my soul may inwardly commend the 
 feast, and say, " The Lord hath done great things for me ; 
 Yea, Lord, let thy kingdom come, and thy will be done." 
 I wait, and cry, Amen, Amen. 
 
<;<^i> \ SANCTUARY. 
 
 HOW TO FIND 
 
 GOD A SANCTUARY IN TIME OF TROUBLE; 
 
 With the Manner of the Author's entering into that Sanc- 
 tuary, by actually covenanting with God. 
 
 Perceiving a dark cloud and tempestuous storm to be 
 rising, and being called to enter into the chambers of divine 
 protection ; 1 and finding it the practice of the Lord's 
 people ; 2 and Jesus Christ having declared himself a shel- 
 ter from the storm, 3 and inviting me to enter into his rest, 4 I 
 judge it my duty to follow his voice, and betake myself to 
 the horns of the altar : but being hindered by my own guilti- 
 ness and unbelief, I am forced, either to wander into desola- 
 tion of mind, or else to endeavor to cut my way through the 
 incumbrances of my own darkness, by the sword of the 
 Spirit. If the Lord shall be pleased to favor me, and bless 
 this attempt, I shall be safe under his wings. And seeing 
 nothing makes calamities terrible but guilt of sin, I judge it 
 my duty to set my main battery against that strong hold ; 
 and to that end I have chosen out for my help that bless- 
 ed word, 
 
 He that hath loved us, and washed us from our sins in his 
 own blood. — Rev. 1: 5. 
 
 TThich scripture yields excellent relief to that soul that 
 can mix it witli faith. 
 
 The words, " He that hath loved us," do impart the 
 ground of a sinner's union with Christ ; for it is the nature 
 of love to seek and effect union : and we must be one also 
 with him, before ours can be made his, and his made ours. 
 
 1 Isa. 26: 20. a Psalm 57: 1. 143: 9. 8 Isa. 32: 2. 4 Matt 11: 23. 
 
86 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 How Christ's Blood doth wash. 
 
 And the words, our sins and his own blood, being com- 
 pared together, show, that from union with him flows a 
 transferring of our sins upon him, and, as it were, mixing 
 them, without any personal stain, with his own blood, and so 
 making them his. Our infection, by his own will, entered, as 
 it were, by imputation and burden, into the blood of the un- 
 spotted Lamb. He who was personally without sin, suffered 
 himself to be all overladen with the imputation of the loath- 
 some nature and absolute guilt of our sins, and so became 
 sin for us ; and yet his blood remained pure, and himself 
 without sin. 
 
 The word washed alludes to legal washings for purifica- 
 tion. He removed our sins from us ; making them no longer 
 ours, but his own. As the filth of a garment is washed, 
 whereby the garment becomes clean : so our " iniquities 
 passed away," 1 by imputation and burden of the curse, into 
 the living body, and life-blood of Jesus Christ. And so the 
 sinner (as the original and principal malefactor) and Christ 
 (as surety) do stand both of them before God the righteous 
 Judge ; and both, in some kind, equally liable to sentence : 
 for if Christ had not been able to have freed himself from 
 those sins, they would have sunk him and the sinner too. 
 And herein the metaphor of washing a garment comes short 
 of this mystery ; for the filth being gone from the garment 
 into the water, the garment is thereby actually cleansed, 
 though the water be never cleansed from the filth that it 
 borrowed of the garment ; because the water and the gar- 
 ment are two separate things : but in this mystical washing, 
 the person washed and the blood washing are joined together, 
 in the union of Christ's mystical person ; so that if Christ, 
 who is the surety, miscarry in his work, all they, whose hope 
 of redemption lies only (through mystical union) in their in- 
 terest in him, must needs perish with him ; and if he prevail, 
 they are delivered ; for this washing at his agony and death, 
 though in some sense, inchoative, or in its beginning only, 
 was yet accounted perfect ; and was so, as it stood in relation 
 to, and connection with, his resurrection, which made him a 
 complete and perfect author of eternal salvation. 2 
 
 i Zech. 3: 4. 2 Heb. 5: 9. 
 
a synch auy. -7 
 
 How a pure Christ was made. Sin far us. 
 
 But how Christ could bear our Bins, and be made sin for 
 us, and yel be personally pure, this is a greal wonder; and 
 he must be without sin nil the while, else he could not have 
 taken away our sins. One contrary expels another: but he 
 doth it not at a distance, as the light of the sun drives away 
 darkness before it: but he enters sinlessly into the state of 
 our sin, that we might enter into the state of his righteous- 
 ness. He cures, not as a physician, who cures by medicines, 
 but was himself touched and sufferingly affected with our in- 
 firmities ; he was made sin for us. He not only espoused 
 the punishment of our sins to himself, but was married also 
 to our guilt, and to all the dreadful workings of it, so far as 
 that it made him sick and sorrowful, even to the very death. 
 He had the guilt of our delight in sin, without any delight 
 in it. He made himself guilty of all our sins, but had no 
 guilt of his own, nor any defilement to his nature by ours. 
 If one man be guilty of another's sin, he is defiled himself, 
 without lessening the defilement of the other man ; because 
 the guilt is not translated from the one to the other, but ex- 
 tendeth and spreadeth its poisonous nature from the one to 
 the other ; and so fills, as it were, both vessels, without any 
 removal of the guilt ; but Christ's nature, being capable of 
 no personal infection, gives liberty and scope to the guilt of 
 a sinner to vent itself wholly into the bottomless and endless 
 satisfaction, merit, and righteousness of Christ the Mediator, 
 till the last drop of it be gone, and the fountain dried up, 
 through union with his spotless nature. Our sins touched 
 him, as to an experimental sense of the filth and burden of 
 them, lie bare our sins in the body of his flesh : but that 
 flesh, being personally united to the Godhead, remained 
 pure, and incapable of any corruption, through the purity 
 of that personal union. 
 
 But how inexpressibly far he took in the sense and bur- 
 den of all sin, and made it his own in the utmost measure, 
 and how infinitely pure he still remained ; the knowledge of 
 this the angels desire to look into, and must be reserved, till 
 the saints come to know him even as they are known. 
 
 Sin dwells in our nature habitually and actually, but lay 
 upon him by imputation ; and so passively his nature bare 
 our sin, but could not act it. 
 
88 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 But how should a sinner come to enjoy redemption from 
 his sins by a Mediator thus wonderfully qualified, and so ad- 
 mirably sustaining a sinner's guilt ? 
 
 This is worth the inquiry ; but I must not without pre- 
 paration rush into this mystery. It is holy ground ; I must 
 be unshod, that I may enter in, and stand upon it. 1 " No 
 man cometh to the Son, but whom the Father draweth." 2 I 
 may, indeed, get the notion of something about it ; but can 
 come to no heart-enjoyment, without the unction of the 
 Spirit of Christ to possess, and so to lead me in within the 
 shadow of this almighty Redeemer. It is wearisome and 
 barren work to be gaping towards this mystery by a mere 
 speculative search ; and therefore I would fain make it my 
 design to give away my whole self, in every step of this in- 
 quiry, to Jesus Christ, that I may be taught this mysterious 
 privilege, as the truth is in him, whom thus to know is eter- 
 nal life. And therefore, with a holy fear and tenderness, I 
 desire to wade, according to the scriptures, into this depth, 
 by " the Spirit which searcheth the deep things of God." 3 
 
 How to enjoy Christ actually. 
 
 As a foundation for further search, I find, that Christ him- 
 self, and a conscience purged from guilt by means of his 
 death are things enjoyable ; 4 and so offered and held forth 
 in the gospel. My work in the next place is, to inquire how 
 I may actually enjoy an interest in so high a privilege. 
 
 I am, in the first place, (under a sense of my own neces- 
 sity) to lie down before God, and suffer Jesus Christ, as 
 crucified and risen again, to enter with all his train into my 
 heart, and take possession there : and I then am to suffer his 
 Spirit (shutting my eyes and stopping my ears against car- 
 nal reasonings) to lead me into a willing resignation to this 
 crucified and risen Christ, my Redeemer ; which is a spir- 
 itual marriage to his person. A notional landscape of this 
 state will not serve my turn. O Thou, " in whom all the 
 promises are yea and amen," renew a right spirit within me, 
 and let my very soul be moulded into the truth by every 
 meditation. 
 
 My guilt has increased upon me this day ; I have lost my 
 thirst after God, and do find my strength to waste. My 
 
 1 Ex. 3: 5. 2 John 6: 44. 3 1 Cor. 2: 10. 4 Heb. 9: 14. 
 
A BANCTUABY. 89 
 
 drift is not pure; and I am carried away into a withered 
 frame, and my heart cannot return. Tin 1 sounding of thy 
 bowels, the multitude of thy tender mercies, arc able to 
 
 bring me back, and enlighten me with the light of life. An 
 impure eye cannot behold thee, nor a surfeited mind cat of 
 this manna. My disease is great, but there is no healing 
 medicine to be had but in thee, my Redeemer. 
 
 Wouldst thou in earnest, my soul, be cured, and effec- 
 tually enjoy the redemption of Christ, then retire to him 
 alone, and let thine eye be singly fixed there. Render up 
 thy guilt to him who lias bought it out of thy hands. With- 
 draw thy shoulder from the burden, and, with a loathing of 
 thyself and thy sin, leave it upon Jesus Christ. His Father 
 and thine laid thy guilt upon him already on the cross ; and 
 when thou dost by faith lay thy guilt upon him also ; thou 
 dost not crucify the Son of God afresh ; but dost only set to 
 thy seal, that he is " the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
 sin of the world." He bought thy sins to destroy them : he 
 shed his blood, that their guilt might be condemned ; and 
 waits upon thee, to bring them forth to him for execution. 
 It is not a pain, but a pleasure to him, that a sinner delivers 
 up his sins to him ; because the vengeance he sustained for 
 sins has fixed a day of vengeance in his heart against the 
 daily guilt of his redeemed ; ] and revenge is sweet. What- 
 ever briers and thorns are set before him in battle, he will 
 go through them, and burn them together. 2 He sustained 
 the curse, satisfied justice, and returned to his Father with 
 the tokens of his conquest ; and now he attends, in the gos- 
 pel, upon the elect, to cause them to shake themselves from 
 the dust, and bring forth their dead (the slain of the Lord) 
 to the burial. A sinner then lays his sins upon Christ, when 
 he believes that God the Father laid them upon him. God 
 the Father imposed the burden, and a sinner by faith con- 
 curs, and melting under the sight of divine justice, cries out: 
 " Even so, O Father ! because it pleased thee to bruise him; 
 even so, O dear Redeemer ! because thou lovedst not thy life 
 to the death, that thou mightest redeem me by thy own 
 blood ; I leave my sins upon the sacrifice of thy flesh, and 
 would crave leave to look upon him whom the Father made 
 an offering for my sins, and whom I have pierced ; and in 
 
 1 Isa. 63:4— 6. 2 Isa. 27: 4. 
 
90 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 the view of this costly redemption, would mourn over him, as 
 a man mourneth for his only child." 1 
 
 But yet, that I may improve this mysterious happiness to 
 the more full advantage, I would beg help from the Lord, to 
 assist me with a true view of the real existence of those 
 things which relate to Jesus Christ, and God's covenant con- 
 cerning me, and with me in him ; and what is the mysteri- 
 ous method and power of the actual exercising of faith 
 thereupon. 
 
 The Gospel is a Heal Thing. 
 
 The real existence of all gospel-privileges is witnessed by 
 the scriptures, which do positively attest, that those things 
 are so and so, as is expressed ; but such is the base treachery 
 of my heart, that the custom of reading and hearing those 
 things makes them seem common, and debaseth their ma- 
 jestic worth ; and so, beholding them through a literal and 
 common estimate, my eye loses at once their true color and 
 certainty, which enfeebles my apprehensions, as to the lively 
 belief of their real existence. 
 
 And in order to the curing of this disease, I am waiting 
 on the God of light and truth, to breathe upon my heart such 
 a quickened frame of meditation, as may humbly and effec- 
 tually steer my soul to the mark which I aim at. Unmorti- 
 fied invention would be busy to hammer out some answer to 
 my query ; but, alas ! it is a physician of no value : for who 
 can reason a blind man into the use of his sight? He only, 
 who brings life and immortality to light, is able to make the 
 things that appear not, to be seen. 
 
 Hast thou not heard, O my soul, that thy true and only 
 welfare lies in things which neither the eye of the body, nor 
 the natural eye of the mind, can attain to? How self- 
 denying then shouldst thou attempt this search ! And there- 
 fore, lest thou catch a shadow instead of the substance, turn 
 thyself once more by prayer, to Him who opens the eyes of 
 the blind ; who hath promised he will not give thee a stone, 
 when thou askest bread for thy necessity : and then con- 
 sider, 
 
 1. To what end dost thou profess that thou belie vest the 
 scriptures to be the word of God, unless also thou settest to 
 
 1 Isa. 53: 10. Zech. 12: 10. 
 
A SAHCTtLlBT. 91 
 
 thy seal, thai it is the very will and mind of God, expressed 
 in those words of truth? Consider also, 
 
 2. Thai the most serious discourse of the people of God 
 
 about spiritual things (although their hearts are not under an 
 equal degree of spiritual warmth) do attesl that those things 
 
 are really true. The more spiritually anything IS preached 
 or spoken, it yields the more relishable taste to their inward 
 man ; and though they are of different nations, yet they ac- 
 cord in the same main principles of the new creature, and 
 the same substantial inward exercise of heart. Observe, 
 also, 
 
 3. With what radical uniformity the opposers of grace do 
 resist the convictions of his Spirit. Arid besides, 
 
 4. Doth not thy truest rest lie in thy nearest approaches 
 to God in Christ, as thy centre, towards which thou art rest- 
 lessly rolling, as the true and real bottom of all thy hope 
 and comfort ? 
 
 But wouldst thou indeed know that the matters contained 
 in the word of Christ are real things ? Then never read or 
 hear for mere knowledge sake. Look for some beams of 
 Christ's glory and power in every verse. Account nothing 
 knowledge, but as it is seasoned with some revelation of the 
 glorious presence of Christ, and his quickening Spirit. Use 
 no conference about spiritual truths, for conference sake ; 
 but still mind the promoting of something for real edifica- 
 tion. Use not duties for custom and mere service sake, but 
 for approach and nearer communion with God. 
 
 Make no person thy pattern, more or less, than as some 
 warmth of the presence of Christ appears in his words, 
 walk, and conversation. 
 
 Let thy recreation be prayer ; suffer not guilt to rankle ; 
 wash often in the blood of Christ ; do not slightly grieve the 
 Spirit, but pray for the fulfilling of the promise, that the 
 Spirit shall teach you all things. 1 
 
 Let nothing bar up your way from craving pardon of sin, 
 and hope of relief. And if you thus trade in spiritual things, 
 as real, they will appear more and more to be real, according 
 to the promise, John vii. 17. " If any man will do his will, 
 he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or 
 not." 
 
 But, alas ! while I would thus muse my heart into some 
 
 1 John 14: 26. 
 
92 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 spiritual freedom and activity, I am again dismally invaded ; 
 my filthy and vile heart rebels ; the prince of darkness hath 
 violently broken in upon me ; my conscience is defiled, and 
 my peace wounded ; my prayers are heartless ; I have 
 turned myself 1 round into a giddiness ; I have lost my station, 
 and am bleating up and down like a lamb in a large place ; 
 I got a glimpse of relief, but cannot fix my eye upon it. 
 But what gain I by solitary complaint ? I have sinned in 
 the sight of God, angels, and men, in the sight of my Re- 
 deemer, in the sight of my own conscience ; and, oh that I 
 could pour out my soul as water before the Lord ! It would 
 be a rich mercy to me to be admitted to cast myself at the 
 feet of my Judge, and get so near as Mary did, to wash his 
 feet with tears, and wipe them with the hairs of perpetual 
 resignation to himself, and to his disposal of me, to purge 
 me in what method soever, so I may be clean, and the seven 
 abominations in my heart cast out. 1 I would fain say, in 
 faith, I will yet look to thy holy temple, 2 blessed be the 
 name of him who is strong, merciful, gracious, and abundant 
 in pardon. Blessed be that God, that Redeemer, the Lord, 
 and yet (unworthy, sinful wretch as I am) my righteous- 
 ness. 
 
 O that God would yet spirit me to inquire into, and taste, 
 the bread which came down from heaven ! I am searching 
 after the real existence of Christ, and the benefit which 
 flows from union with him. And I perceive that my pe- 
 culiar happiness lies not in this, that these things have real 
 existence in themselves, but that I know them to exist, and 
 myself to exist in them, and they in me. 
 
 The things themselves are spiritual ; I cannot know them 
 naturally, but by the Spirit of faith ; for flesh cannot see 
 Spirit ; in the mount will the Lord be seen. As far as God 
 shines upon my heart and the ordinances, so far I behold a 
 real worth and glorious power in them. In his light only I 
 see light. 3 As far as grace gets life in my soul, so far I see 
 the real excellency of it. As the life of God opens itself to 
 my heart, so far I live, and know the ravishing comfort of 
 spiritual life ; for with him is the fountain of life. When 
 he withdraws his breath, I do (as it were) return to the 
 dust : for in him I live and move. I know no worth in any 
 Christian, but as I partake with him in the same spirit and 
 
 1 Prov. 26: 25. 2 Jonah 2: 4. 3 Psalm 3G: 9. 
 
 / 
 
A SANCTUAItY. ( J'o 
 
 life. Divine commands, reproofs and comforts, do so far 
 affect my heaii powerfully, as my soul doth live in him who 
 speaketh them. The demonstration of spiritual tilings doth 
 so far appear convincing, as my heart is really transformed 
 
 by them into the image of Jesus Christ, my Lord, and my 
 Head. Though I have a renewed principle of light and 
 sight, yet I cannot exercise the sense of spiritual sight, till 
 the Sun of righteousness sends forth a beam to me, by which 
 I may behold him in the reflection of his own light. And 
 this binds over my soul to the necessity of a mortified, be- 
 lieving resignation to the Author of all light, sight, and 
 strength, who is an unchangeable rock, and his w T ork is per- 
 fect. Although I am full of changes, yet his covenant keeps 
 me from utter falling. My strength and sight are ever de- 
 caying, but he renews his loving-kindness every morning. 
 O, let the day hasten, in which I may know as I am known, 
 and the shadows of darkness and infirmity flee away ! 
 
 I might come to a more real view of Jesus Christ, and 
 appropriate him and his benefits nearer to my heart, if I had 
 practically learnt the exercise of faith. God has allowed a 
 venturing boldness to believing, that it may step forth and 
 stand in the breach when all seems to be lost. When Lot is 
 taken, and Ziklag burnt, and all carried away captive, then 
 can faith turn the day, and recover the spoil. 1 
 
 Faith only brings the Heart to Christ. 
 
 Faith is a distinct grace, wrought freely by the Holy 
 Spirit, quickening the heart to assent to, and rest upon the 
 word of God, upon the account of the truth of God who 
 spoke it. It is distinct, as seeing and hearing are distinct 
 from the other senses. It is wrought freely by the Spirit, 
 and so no acquired notion ; it quickens through conveying 
 life from Christ to the heart by divine appointment. It as- 
 sents to, and rests upon, the word, against the contradiction 
 of flesh and blood. It eyes the truth of God, as the foun- 
 tain of its satisfaction and success. And so it first unites 
 the heart to Christ, and gives actual interest and property in 
 him, and in the covenant which God made with him before 
 the world was ; and consequently in all the blessings con- 
 tained in the covenant. 2 
 
 As the gospel freely offers Christ, pardon, and life, so faith 
 
 * Gen. 14:11, 16. 1 Sam. 30: 1, 19. 2 2 Tim. 1: 9. Eph. 1: 3, 4. 
 
 8* 
 
94 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 takes them freely ; not measuring the ground of accepting 
 them from below, but from above. It sees the word to be 
 the breathing of God in Jesus Christ, hi which all his attri- 
 butes are working ; and beholds it (as it were) the audible 
 voice of God, and the very mind of Christ. It cannot rest 
 satisfied in the weakness of the letter, but passeth through 
 the letter immediately to the person of Jesus Christ, and 
 converseth with God in him. The whole scriptures are to 
 the eye of faith, in the quality of a pair of spectacles, 
 through which faith gets the sight of, and closeth with, the 
 promise. It magnifies the scriptures, ordinances, and sab- 
 baths, as they are the portal through which to enter into 
 communion and coverse with God himself. It believes the 
 scriptures, that make report of the will and pleasure of God, 
 and so passeth through them, to the will, mind, and name of 
 God himself. Faith visits the word as a faithful guide in its 
 journey, and useth it no farther than as a means tending to 
 bring the soul and God together. The word reports that 
 Christ is there, his life, his strength, his grace, is there, and 
 requires the soul to enter in and take the whole ; faith enters 
 in, finds, and receives it. Faith having found its object, and 
 espying the way how to come at it, is quickened by the Spi- 
 rit, in pure obedience to God's command, to attempt some 
 holy adventures upon the word ; and passeth by all con- 
 siderations of flesh and blood, as deaf and blind to all things 
 but what the word speaketh. It is resolved to take (if I may 
 so speak) a senseless journey to Christ, even upon the sea ; 
 for it is contented to feel no ground but the promise. It 
 stays not to inquire, whether it had strength enough to walk 
 or not ; but looks on the word of truth, and considers its need, 
 and so ventures ; and by venturing engageth all the attri- 
 butes of Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, for its relief. Its 
 language is, " If I perish, I perish : " and the faithful and 
 true Witness hath said, " Fear not, only believe.'' 
 
 Faith possesses the Understanding, Judgment, and Will, 
 and puts them to exercise. 
 
 Faith, so far as it works, persuades the heart of the truth, 
 power, wisdom, and goodness of God that speaketh, and of 
 the sure performance of the thing spoken ; and is singly of 
 itself, through the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit, a prin- 
 ciple of appropriating to the heart the truths spoken from 
 
A BANCTUABY. '.»•> 
 
 the mouth of an infinitely true, holy, and wise God in hia 
 word; and bo fixeth a blessed satisfaction in the heart, 
 through the real existence of the things spoken, and appre- 
 hended by the renewed understanding, bo Car at least as they 
 are, by an actual exercise of faith, apprehended* u Blessed 
 is she who believed, for there shall be a performance of the 
 things told her from the Lord." Luke i. 45. 
 
 The Understanding exercised. 
 
 The understanding being renewed, surveys the covenant, 
 as it was made with Christ before all time ; 1 and considers 
 what method God has used, to manifest it in the world. I Ie 
 created the habitable world, and made man at first righteous, 
 and then permitted him to fall into the breach of the first 
 covenant, namely, of works ; whereby he gave entrance and 
 footing to the second covenant, namely, of grace ; 2 and car- 
 ried it along in a holy line, through the corrupt race of man- 
 kind before the flood. He then sweeps away the ungodly 
 world, and preserves the covenant-line in Noah ; and from 
 him, carries it on to Abraham, and keeps it on in its course, 
 amidst much profaneness and idolatry that was in the w r orld. 
 He then renews it more distinctly with Abraham, and gives 
 it a more visible being than ever before that time ; and, by 
 reason thereof, calls Abraham the father of the faithful. He 
 confirms it also to Isaac and Jacob, who are oftentimes men- 
 tioned in the scriptures, as the three grand witnesses of this 
 covenant-favor. From thence it descends to the twelve 
 tribes, representing the elect visible church. After which, it 
 is brought forth in a typical representation of Christ, and of 
 his managing all things needful to make that covenant appli- 
 cable ; which is carried on under the shadows of the cere- 
 monial law. The prophets succeed, asserting this covenant 
 of grace, and expounding it. At last comes Christ in the 
 flesh, and seals it with his blood ; and the apostles are sent 
 forth, to discover and preach this eternal purpose of grace 
 to the wide world, for calling in the elect. So that the cove- 
 nant of grace, which was made of God in Christ before the 
 creation of the world, appears to be the main scope of the 
 scriptures; and issues forth its virtue through all the pro- 
 raises, fatherly commands, reproofs^ consolations, and de- 
 
 1 Tit. 1: 2. 2 Gon. 3: 15. 
 
96 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 liverances which are recorded in scripture ; as the various 
 streams, operations, experiences, and effects of the covenant 
 of grace, in and towards the heirs of life. It bare the name 
 of the old covenant, during the time the passover was in 
 use ; and after the Lord's Supper was instituted, it was 
 called the new covenant ; both old and new are one cove- 
 nant of grace, differing from the covenant of works as far as 
 grace and works do differ. 
 
 The Exercised Judgment. 
 
 The understanding having perused the scriptures ; and so 
 taken its view, and deliberated the matter, digesting it by 
 meditation and prayer ; the judgment resolves to make cove- 
 nant-refuge its sanctuary ; and thereupon, forbids the heart 
 to admit the contradictions of flesh and blood, and the 
 reasonings of carnal wisdom and observation : it resolves to 
 determine nothing according to the flesh ; endeavors to shut 
 up all passages, by which unbelief, carnal mis-construction 
 and fear were used to enter ; and labors to keep open every 
 port that may admit the naked recourse, the single access of 
 the Spirit in the word, and opens the windows of the soul, 
 to take in the testimony and evidence of a faithful and mer- 
 ciful God only. 
 
 And when this mighty discovery and conquest is made, 
 the foundations of bondage, terror, and tyranny, which be- 
 fore tormented the conscience, and enslaved the heart, do 
 now begin to totter. 
 
 The Will Assents. 
 
 The understanding and judgment, having gone thus, are 
 under the conduct of the Spirit, do attempt effectually to 
 persuade the will to accept a new Lord, namely, the Mes- 
 senger and Prince of the covenant ; him " in whom all the 
 promises are yea and amen." Sanctified conviction begins 
 to sway the will, as Nathanael was moved by Philip to come 
 and see him of whom Moses and the Prophets did write ; 
 and assures the conscience that God is ever mindful of his 
 covenant, has sealed it with the blood of his own Son, and 
 has sworn that it shall stand sure as the ordinances of hea- 
 ven, and that not a tittle of it shall ever fail ; to which the 
 will assents. 
 
 But, alas ! how doth my pen gash (as it were) my own- 
 
A BANCTUABY. 97 
 
 soul, in writing what I cannot heartily, and at full liberty, put 
 in practice! () thai my understanding and judgmenl had 
 thus Ear (in a powerful gale of the Spirit) led my soul forth 
 to the gates of freedom, and thus far brought me within the 
 bond of the covenant! How soon would the Bame mighty 
 power conquer and bring over my will to a holy security and 
 rest in believing ! 
 
 My Soul in a Tempest. 
 
 I am (methinks) like Jonah, in the bottom of the sea ; 
 the bars of an earthly and dark mind are -topping my way, 
 and I seem to myself as lifeless, as if 1 had no interest in 
 the fountain of saving health : the weeds are wrapped about 
 my head. I am in the deep, but cannot cry unto the Lord, 
 as Jonah did. 1 
 
 And what the Lord is teaching me by this unexpected 
 disappointment, I cannot yet tell ; I have, notwithstanding, 
 hope in him, that I shall yet be rescued from this captivity, 
 and see his face again. 
 
 I had been searching after all my sins, through the several 
 ages of my life, and endeavoring to view the depravity of 
 my soul in all the sinful circumstances of every sin ; but 
 could not wind myself out. My design was to get thereby to a 
 more sincere closure with Christ ; but, ere I w T as aware, I 
 had challenged forth more enemies than I could well sup- 
 press. I thought, by aggravating my sins, to have got more 
 hunger after Jesus Christ, but, (like over-much cold w T ater) 
 it damped my stomach, and I found sickness seizing upon 
 me rather than hunger ; a heartless stupidity instead of be- 
 lieving. I concluded I was (in some kind or other) out of 
 my w r ay ; or else had not prepared my stomach to keep out 
 the infection that exhaled from that body of death which is 
 within me, as I should have done, while I was moving the 
 limbs thereof. The thing I aimed at was quickening : then 
 I remembered that word, " Why seek ye the living among 
 the dead? "2 which seemed to suggest this seasonable ad- 
 vice, Come not amongst the graves without his company who 
 died for sins, and is risen from the dead. I could not be 
 satisfied about the sincerity of my repentance, and there I 
 stuck; till, at length, I remembered that Christ rose again, 
 as well to give repentance as remission of sins. 3 So that I 
 
 Jonah 2: 4—6. 2 Luke 24: 5. a Acts 5: 31. 11: IS. 
 
98 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 can bring no repentance to him, but I must first get it from 
 him : he is also exalted to be " a Prince and a Saviour" in 
 giving this repentance : a Saviour to take away all the de- 
 fects of my repentance ; a Prince to overcome all the diffi- 
 culties, and to create in me a sound mind against the infirmi- 
 ties of my repentance, and my halting therein. Take, then, 
 O mighty " Prince and Saviour," this work into thine own 
 hands, and " create a right spirit within me." 
 
 My Soul returning to its Strong Hold. 
 
 So that now my gadding spirit is brought back again, to 
 see that Christ is the Alpha and Omega, the author and 
 finisher of whatever doth concern the new creature. And 
 yet, although he be so, how hard is it to venture my soul and 
 body, my whole hope and care into his hands, by faith in his 
 word ! I had need know such a one very well with whom I 
 am to venture myself through a warfaring life here, and 
 shortly through death and judgment too, and so into the 
 ocean of eternity. O, dear Jesus, who art my Lord and my 
 God, who canst renew my heart, (and none else can do it), 
 breathe upon me, and say, "Receive the Holy Ghost." Cast 
 thy mantle upon me, and let the unction of thy Spirit be so 
 shed abroad throughout my whole soul, that my heart may 
 be entirely thine, thine only, that thyself only may be the 
 covering of my eyes, instead of all other objects. 1 
 
 The Soul first Improves Baptism. 
 
 And now what should hinder, but that, at length, I should 
 solemnly, in the presence of God, the Father, Son, and Spi- 
 rit, and in the presence of all the elect angels, pursue the 
 ends of that covenant which was sealed, by Christ's appoint- 
 ment, to me in baptism ; through whose hands soever that 
 ordinance was appointed or permitted to pass upon me. Was 
 not that still a divine prophecy which even a Balaam spake, 
 Numb. xxiv. 17. " There shall come a star out of Jacob," 
 etc. ? O, did it alter its nature or lose its value by passing 
 through his mouth ? And can the ordinance of Christ be 
 made void, through whose hands soever it came, and in what 
 unworthy robe soever it was dressed ? Did the sacred ark 
 lose its virtue by being in the Philistine's custody ? Did he 
 
 1 Gen. 20: 16. 
 
A BANCTUABT. 99 
 
 forsake it who dwelt between the cherubims? Was the 
 mercy-seal deserted, and become like common metal ? Why 
 then should this ordinance be lost to me, in the substance of 
 it, though (it may be) some human scurf was laid upon its 
 
 surface? And have I not reason to hope (through cove- 
 nant-grace) that the faith and prayers of my dear parents, 
 
 then and since, are more in force for a blessing upon it to 
 me, than the defects of others, in the manner of administra- 
 tion, can have to hinder it ? especially as I am myself now 
 desirous humbly to take hold of the covenant, and with my 
 own consent to say, " I agree to the condescension of thy 
 grace and love, my dear Lord ; I take hold on thy free love, 
 and into thy name, O most holy God, (Father, Son, and 
 Spirit) I give myself up through him who confirmed the 
 covenant, and came by water and blood to make it effectual. 
 " Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." I reach out my 
 hand through thy grace, let thy grace and power pull me 
 over to thyself, that in the ark of thy unchangeable covenant 
 I may be carried above myself, and above a miserably 
 drowned world. Be not absent, O Thou, who in thy mercy 
 didst make and impose this seal of the covenant, as the badge 
 of one of thy family, for me to wear ; who also speakest 
 words of truth and life, when thou sayest, " I baptize thee 
 in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost ; " 
 fulfil thy good word unto me thy servant, in which I desire 
 to hope, that thou mayest be mine, and I may be thine wholly 
 forever ; that I may serve thee, and glory in thee, with all 
 thy people, who are thine own inheritance." 
 
 Struggles with Unbelief. 
 
 I Do not bang back, O my poor heart, whose weakness and 
 inconstancy have so often bruised my inward man. O anxious 
 unbelief, thou tellest me, it is a bargain soon made ; but how 
 shall it be performed? Thou urgest me with difficulties that 
 will arise from the world, from myself, from the trials that I 
 may undergo in my body, my soul, my estate; unwonted 
 trials. Thou tellest me of the great fits of darkness, and 
 shameful declinings I have had, after much refreshment, and 
 strong resolutions to the contrary. Thou tellest me, that my 
 falls will now cost me dearer than ever they did, and the 
 Holy Spirit will be sooner vexed and grieved than before. 
 Thou tellest me, I shall soon be weary of my yoke, and then 
 
100 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 my sins will be of a deeper and more heart-hardening dye 
 than ever. But remember, O soul-destroying unbelief, I roll 
 myself upon the Rock of ages, I deliver myself up to the 
 covenant of grace ; not to bring strength to it, but to fetch 
 strength from it, and from that word, which saith, " Sin shall 
 not have dominion over you ; for you are not under the law, 
 but under grace : " 1 and because I am weak, therefore I go 
 to everlasting strength. The more I make infinite power 
 my lord and master, the more is that divine power engaged 
 to hold me up. 2 Let my own power languish into nothing, 
 so long as I can claim (on the account of free grace) un- 
 doubted right to the arm of God. My own strength never 
 did me good, but deceived me. Dost thou not know, O mis- 
 giving heart, that I am shortly to leave the whole weight of 
 my soul (in launching from mortality) upon the same word 
 of promise which doth now offer strength to carry me through 
 the difficulties of my present warfare ; and what do I more 
 than step forth to behold the Lord sealing his covenant and 
 promise, that he will be my God, and will guide me by his 
 grace, and afterwards bring me to glory ? " To which cove- 
 nant, in faith, though " with fear and trembling," I desire to 
 give my consent ; which (I trust) in some measure of sin- 
 cerity, I have done. 
 
 Neither do thou, Satan, vaunt, and say to me, as Eliab 
 said to David, " I know the pride of thy heart. 3 I shall yet 
 bring thee down." Know, O thou false accuser, I go to him, 
 who is both able to hold me up, and make me humble too, 
 that I may be more and more abased, and die away from the 
 workings and lustings of flesh and blood, into the power, 
 grace, wisdom and truth of God ; to whose covenant, for that 
 end, by his own appointment, I declare my consent ; and do 
 desire, with a broken and bleeding heart, to bless him, that 
 ever he allowed me to come so near to him in this manner. 
 Though I fall, I shall not fall utterly, I shall be raised up 
 again, because my Redeemer is risen ; and he is strong who 
 pleads my cause. 
 
 What is the volume of the Scriptures, but a divine econo- 
 my, containing the laws of relation betwixt a God of all 
 grace and his chosen ; institutions and commands of grace, 
 threatenings and reproofs of grace, promises and betrothings 
 of grace, and mere grace ? Has not the same God, who 
 
 l Kom. 6: 14. 2 Rom. 14: 4. 3 1 Sam. 17: 28. 
 
A SANCTUARY. 101 
 
 said, u T will betroth thee to me forever in righteousness and 
 judgment, in loving-kindness and mercies, and in faithfulness," 
 
 said also to me, k ' Thou shalt know the Lord?" 1 lias he 
 not said to me, "Thy Maker (Father, Son, and Spirit) is thy 
 Husband,"" 2 even while I am grieved in spirit, and tossed 
 about with the tempest of my own confusions? And has he 
 not said, that I shall say, " The Lord is my God ? "3 And 
 he will say, " Thou art one of my people," 4 and will not be 
 ashamed to be called my God ? 5 Yea, hath he not declared 
 that I shall say, I am the Lord's ; and that I shall bear his 
 name and surname with his Jacob and his Israel ; and that 
 I shall even subscribe it with my hand, 6 never to be re- 
 versed ? O Fountain of life and living waters, reveal thy- 
 self, that I may not go about to marry flesh and spirit 
 together ; but that I may be spirited as a chaste virgin es- 
 poused to Christ, and so enter into this glorious, spiritual, 
 flesh-mortifying, and mystical wedlock. Let it not be merely 
 speculative, but real ; and influenced with light, life, and 
 power, from thy heart to mine. 
 
 Oh how doth this unwilling heart of mine hold back ! 
 What canst thou close with, besides God in Christ, but it 
 will perish ; and while it is in thy hand, will be a broken 
 reed, that will make thee fall in leaning upon it ? Is not the 
 covenant of grace somewhat which God himself hath de- 
 vised for his own glory, and thy establishment ? Has he re- 
 quired thee to bind thyself to fear and love him ; and hath 
 not he engaged to circumcise thy heart, that thou mayest 
 love and fear him ? Deut. xxx. 6 ; Jer. xxxii. 40 ; Ezek. 
 xi. 19, 20. 
 
 O that I could put faith to this word, till the warmth 
 thereof grew up into a flame, which many waters might 
 never quench ! And O let my faithful God, who has 
 expressly promised by covenant, to give me one heart and 
 one way, (with the rest of them who are confederates of 
 grace,) that I may fear him forever for my good, remember 
 it, and fulfil it (as he hath said) with all his heart, and all 
 his soul. 7 O pardon my unbelief, that I do stand so far 
 aloof from putting it to my soul, that God, who cannot lie, 
 will accomplish his word to a tittle. 
 
 1 Hos. 2: 19, 20- a Isa. 54: 5. 8 Zech. 13: 9. 
 
 * Hos. 2: 28. 5 Hcb. 11: 16. G Isa. 44: 5. 
 
 7 Jer. 32: 39^41 
 
102 HOW TO FIND GOB 
 
 The Soul longs for Clear Work. 
 
 My soul longs to be at some more distinct and express 
 closure with such a God, and would fain reckon beforehand 
 what it will cost me. TVhen I consider that word, " Know 
 ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, 
 which is in you, and that you are not your own ? for you 
 are bought with a price : therefore glorify God in your body 
 and in your spirit, which are God's." l I even faint under 
 the majesty of such a covenant of unutterable grace, which 
 calls me up to such dignity and duty at once. Body and 
 spirit, which are God's, what a word is this ! You are not 
 your own. How far does this reach ! The whole concern- 
 ment of my soul and body, which are my own, are to be 
 given up to God by faith and new obedience, that they may 
 be his, and at my own disposal no longer. Oh, a thousand 
 worlds for a surrender suitable to this estate and high calling 
 of God in Jesus Christ ! Oh, let the Creator of Israel, my 
 King, fashion the value of this pearl in every affection of 
 my soul, that I may (in his own meaning) sell all to purchase 
 it ! Christ Jesus was in earnest when he gave his body to 
 the cross, and his very soul an offering for my sake : O that 
 I could be in a like seriousness, in giving away my body 
 and soul to him again ! Strengthen, O Lord, my weak 
 hands, and confirm my feeble knees. 
 
 The Soul is invited by Clrrist. 
 
 Methinks I hear the voice of my beloved Jesus calling 
 out, " Fear not, O anxious soul, behold it is I, be not afraid ; 
 I, who am thy Redeemer, am strong ; I am mighty to save : 
 and therefore, hearken, O daughter, and consider ; incline 
 thine ear ; forget also thy father's house, and thine own 
 people : let me be the object of all thy affections, rest in my 
 pleasure only and always ; so will I, thy King and Husband, 
 greatly desire thy beauty, and be always trimming thee for 
 my own society, for I am thy Lord ; and thou must worship, 
 and fully rest in, and be devoted to me alone, and to no 
 other." 
 
 1 1 Cor. G: 19, 20. 
 
I SANCTUABY. LOI 
 
 And doth Consent and Engctg 
 
 I consent, dour Christ : and here I offer my body and soul 
 to the agreement ; I give them up, dear and gracious Re- 
 deemer, I give them up unto thee forever. In olx dience to 
 thy commands, and relying upon thy strength, I write it with 
 my own hand, that I will be thine, and for thee, and not for 
 any other; my Beloved is mine, and I am his. Though I 
 am very black, and very polluted, through my natural pollu- 
 tion and daily infirmity ; yet, through the savor of thy oint- 
 ments, O precious, ever-living, ever-interceding Christ, let 
 me now be a sweet savor in thy nostrils, and pleasant in thy 
 sight, and in the sight of thy and my Father; and let me be 
 breathed upon, day and night, by the Spirit of the Father 
 and the Son, that I may now go about thy work with joy, and 
 be led forth by tliee with peace, and renewed testimonies of 
 thy help and presence. Let the mountains and hills break 
 forth before me into singing, and all the trees of the field 
 clap their hands for joy. Glory be to God on high, on earth 
 peace, because the good-will of God has stooped to such a 
 worm as I. Instead of the thorn, now let there be a fir-tree ; 
 instead of the brier, a myrtle-tree ; let righteousness and 
 conformity to thy will prosper in my soul, as an everlasting 
 sign of this covenant, that it shall never be cut off, nor 
 broken. 
 
 What am I, O Lord of heaven and earth, that thou 
 hast brought me hitherto ? Stablish thy covenant to 
 thy servant, as the sure mercies of David, forever. And 
 seeing I do now rest in this blessed covenant, (leaning upon 
 thee, my dearly beloved) let me never nourish halting in- 
 quiries from the time of these sacred vows to the mosl high 
 God. Let me never devour and destroy this sacred bond ; 
 and so turn this present and holy design, and inviolable tie, 
 into a snare. Take this burden upon thy shoulders, O Rock 
 of ages ; and let this covenant and my personal infirmity 
 also be perpetually before thy eyes, to make good thy cove- 
 nant upon all occasions ; and let thine everlasting arms be 
 always under me, to keep my feet from falling. 
 
 To this covenant with my God, and to these my supplica- 
 tions, confessions, and vows, in the name of Him who hath 
 called me into this liberty, through the blood of the Media- 
 tor and my dear Redeemer, which I declare to be my act and 
 
104 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 deed, through his grace, never to be reversed, and that it 
 may stand as a mount and sure witness all the days of my 
 life, that I have at this time, and this evening, solemnly, and 
 with a sincere aim and full purpose of heart, unfeigned con- 
 sent, and joyful satisfaction, laid hold on the covenant of 
 grace as my own interest, relying on my Mediator's help and 
 strength to see it all performed; both on behalf of my God 
 and me ; and in whose hand I leave it, who knows the mean- 
 ing of his own Spirit. To this covenant I say, (namely, the 
 whole substance thereof, and all the expostulations and de- 
 sires concerning the same) with some faith in, fear of, love 
 to, and hope towards Him, who alone worketh in me, to will 
 and to do according to his good pleasure : according to that 
 measure which I have received, with a trembling joy, I con- 
 sent, and do cast myself into his arms, and subscribe it with 
 my own hand, never to be revoked. 
 
 HENRY DORNEY. 
 
 The Soul Explains its Engagement. 
 
 And seeing this is the accepted time in which God hath 
 heard me, and a day of salvation in which he hath succored 
 me, I would yet further put on the bond of this glorious free- 
 dom as my robe forever ; and declare, that as my God has 
 often repeated the substance of his gracious covenant, some- 
 times in reference to the time to come ; 1 sometimes in re- 
 ference to the time present; 2 sometimes speaking of his 
 people ; 3 and sometimes speaking to his people ; 4 in all 
 which he appears as one setting forth his unlimited purpose 
 of good things, witli variety of illustration, and ground of as- 
 surance to all his confederate people, leading them forth to a 
 plentiful way of rightful and abundant application thereof to 
 themselves, and for their use in all cases forever ; I do also 
 declare, that my scope and sense in this my covenanting with 
 God is, that, through his strengh, I will disown all rebellings 
 and repinings against his threatening?, reproofs, and chas- 
 tisements ; and that I will disown the stifling of any of my 
 convictions, because they are all of them dispensations of his 
 grace, and means whereby to partake more and more of his 
 holiness. 5 My scope and sense also further is, that my heart 
 
 1 Ezek. 11:20. 36:38. 2 Isa. 43: 3, 5. Ezek. 34: 31. 
 
 s Jer. 24: 7. 4 Jer. 30: 22. 5 Heb. 12: 5—10. 
 
A BANCTUABY. i (>: > 
 
 shall lie open to all the commands of nay God, and thai 1 will 
 own them as my heritage forever, taking them to 1m i my joy, 
 and delight, and love, whatever they require; 1 and that be- 
 cause they are bis good pleasure, and because I account his 
 
 rebukes of all sorts, and commands of all sorts, to be the 
 
 representations and beams of his righteousness and holiness ;' 2 
 
 and the very rays also of the covenant of his grace. 8 
 
 Here is more work for thee, my blessed Surety. It is 
 
 thy grace alone that can uphold me in all parts of my duty, 
 and perfect that which concerneth me. I ground my pro- 
 mise upon thine. 4 I had not dared to have promised these 
 things, if thy word had not first assured me, that thou wilt 
 do all thy works in me and for me. 5 Put on strength then, 
 O arm of the Lord ; let not thy name be polluted, and my 
 boasting in thee turn to thy reproach. Remember, thou art 
 all my strength and life. For this end I would multiply all 
 the commands of God in my eye, that under my impossibility 
 of performance (through that contradiction and infirmity 
 that is in my flesh) I might be swayed and carried by the 
 Spirit of faith into the perfection of strength, and be able to 
 do all things in Christ who strengthened me, and answereth 
 for me. Of all the thousands of God's commands he never 
 required me to do one with my own arm, as the obedience 
 in which he delights ; but that I should act in strength every 
 moment received from Christ, and so work my works in God 6 
 all the days of my life. Reveal to thy covenant-servant, O 
 Lord, that strength which thou allowest me, that I may know 
 where it lies, and how to derive it to myself for thy work and 
 service, according to the scope of this covenant, which, at 
 thy gracious call, I offer up myself unto. How dost thou 
 necessitate me to thy yoke, and allure me by a gracious vio- 
 lence to delight in having my hands and heart tied with the 
 heart-strings of thy love to thyself, in this golden covenant, 
 inextricably, and forever ! Take me, O dearly beloved of 
 my soul, nearer and nearer to thyself, till all the shadows be 
 gone ; that then I may behold thy face, and be satisfied with 
 
 thy image. 
 
 Oh, how soon am I now diverted from a pure and dihgenl 
 watchfulness ! how many precious minutes slide away from 
 
 i Psalm 119: 6. 97, ill. ■ Psalm 119: 75 Jer. 12: l. 
 
 « Kev. 3. 19. Psalm 119: 75. 4 Isa. 41: 10. Joel 3: 16. 
 
 5 Isa. 26: 12. Psalm 57: 2. lThess.5:24, Phil. 2: 13. * John 3: 21, 
 
106 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 me ! Sometimes food is my snare ; and sometimes absti- 
 nence is so too ; sometimes society, and sometimes retire- 
 ment puts me behind-hand : all my composedness is soon 
 discomposed. Let thy eye be upon me, O my God, accord- 
 ing tothy word, and water me every moment, lest anything 
 assault and hurt my soul which thou hast redeemed. 1 And 
 quicken my faith and hope in thy word for this. 
 
 Many a wretched stop do I meet with ; pardon me, O my 
 Lord and my God, and renew a spirit of truth, tenderness, 
 sincerity, and rightly-seasoned heart for the work I am now 
 upon. 
 
 My scope and meaning in giving my hand, and closing 
 with this covenant of my God, is further this, namely : That 
 through his help, I will ascribe truth to all the words of his 
 promises, by believing them, and receiving them, as that 
 which shall be accomplished ; that I will labor to keep the 
 majesty of the promiser in my eye, and to preserve the faith 
 and hope of his fulfilling his word, upon the account of his 
 unsearchable wisdom and faithfulness, and not by my uncer- 
 tain taste ; that no guilt of sin shall keep me from the foun- 
 tain wherein sinners are to be cleansed ; that I will, through 
 the guidance of his Spirit, aspire after a more practical and 
 accustomed exercise in living the life that I live by the faith 
 of the Son of God ; and resting from my own works, reach 
 after that self-denying activity which issues from my union 
 with Christ as my head. O my Lord, mould my heart into 
 this life : This is the very pearl that I would willingly sell 
 all to get. What a lovely comportment would it settle be- 
 tween the actions of my outward and inward man ! How 
 would it teach my soul to rule my body ! How willingly 
 would my soul and body then be contradicted, and take plea- 
 sure to be thwarted by the Spirit of Christ, when the crown 
 is settled on the head of the new creature, and the sceptre of 
 government in its hand, acting as in the throne of Christ, in 
 the vircue of his pure life, and glorious arm, and every 
 imagination of the heart bowing down before it ! Oh, when 
 shall my inward man be thus clothed with glory and power ; 
 looking forth through all my senses as the morning, fair as the 
 moon, and terrible as an army with banners ? This gate of 
 heaven I would aspire towards, through that means of vic- 
 tory which overcometh the world, the Devil, and an earthly 
 
 5 Isa. 27: 3. 
 
A SANCTUARY. 107 
 
 mind; even through the faith of the Son of God. This is 
 that which I have in niy eye, although it he as a land that is 
 afar off. 1 faint with desire ; May m<\ and strengthen me 
 with the flagons of hope, O Then who ha: t suffered me to 
 
 toueh the Bkirt of thy garment, and brought me within the 
 covenant of thy grace. 
 
 When I consider the sovereignty of God, that he doth 
 whatsoever he will in heaven and earth ; that sometimes he 
 has deserted his people as to powerful communications of 
 grace ; as it was with David, Peter, and others, in the time 
 of their sinful backslidings. When I consider these things, 
 I begin to stagger about the immutability of his purpose, 
 and that uninterrupted good-will which he declares in the 
 covenant, where he saith, " I will not turn away from them 
 to do them good ; and I will put my fear in their hearts, that 
 they shall not depart from me." l And, therefore, to guard 
 against this heart-sinking mistake, I resolve to nourish the 
 faith of his constant, unfailing love and good-will in his 
 covenant, upon the following grounds : That his nature is un- 
 changeable ; for God is not a man that He should lie, neither 
 the son of man that He should repent ; 2 that nothing can 
 come to pass but what is the effect of his purpose ; 3 that his 
 covenant is everlasting, and his purpose of love therein the 
 same forever ; 4 that his purpose to them whom he calls up 
 to take hold of his covenant is wholly a purpose of love and 
 grace ; 5 that he complains when a doubting heart makes 
 question of it ; 6 that it has been confirmed by the death of 
 the testator ; that the cause of alienation, namely, the guilt of 
 my sin, is removed by the one complete offering of the body 
 of Christ; 7 that Christ ever lives to intercede, and is always 
 heard ; because the will of the Father and Son is the same 
 will, breathing itself forth to the objects of grace by the 
 everlasting Spirit, and therefore when I seem to be forsaken, 
 I resolve to believe, that such desertion is only physic, and 
 to inquire what it is that God is teaching me thereby ; that 
 so I may see ground, as satisfy ingly to thank him for the 
 gracious frowns of his unchangeable love, as for his gracious 
 smiles ; and to take the advantage of that season to implore 
 his aid more importunately to loathe my sinful self; and to 
 
 i Jcr. 32: 40. " Num. 23: 10. 3 Acts 4: 28. 
 
 4 Jer. 31: 35, 36. 32: 40, 41. 5 2 Tim. 1: 9. 
 
 6 Isa. 40: 27. 40: 14, 15. • Heb. 10: 14, 18. 
 
108 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 revive afresh more pure self-denying exercises of believing 
 and resigning to him ; fearing his righteous judgments, and 
 patiently waiting for the time when the Spirit, whom I have 
 grieved, will return again with the manifestation of his gra- 
 cious presence to my soul. 
 
 In all these considerations, resolutions, and desires, in my 
 covenanting with God, my meaning further is, that I accept 
 of Jesus Christ, as he is the gift of God, to be the whole 
 covenant to me, to work faith, and give the things believed ; 
 to work desires, and give the things desired ; to act for me, 
 and in me, that the covenant may never fail from me, on ac- 
 count of my sins and miscarriages ; because he has satisfied 
 justice in my stead, and brought me into his everlasting 
 righteousness ; nor can I fail from the covenant through un- 
 belief, and a languishing view of my own infirmity ; because 
 he is my strength to labor, the author and finisher of my 
 faith ; who gave himself to sanctify me by the Spirit of re- 
 generation, hi the application of his word to me for quicken- 
 ing ; that so Christ may be all in all, to fulfil the engage- 
 ment of God to me, and my engagement in his name to God. 
 And seeing that breaches are like to fall out often on my 
 part, I accept of him with reliance, that he will stand in the 
 gap, that those breaches may not obstruct the good-will and 
 mercy of God from me, nor harden my heart from him : that 
 so the grace of the covenant on God's part in Christ towards 
 me, and on Christ's part for me towards God, may remain, in 
 the eye of my faith, inviolable, when the peace of the cove- 
 nant (through sinful devastations and darkness) is interrupt- 
 ed and bruised. And that he will still recover me again into 
 a renewed personal covenanting with God, that in his person 
 I may behold eternal and sure mercies, as the sun in the 
 firmament, as the days of eternity. 1 And that by his media- 
 tion and suretyship, applied to me by the effectual working 
 of the Spirit, I may in my own person be drawn under his 
 shadow, to recover my hold-fast, and have my face set to- 
 wards the covenant. And that he will still lead me again 
 and again with weeping and supplications to God in him as 
 my resting-place ; and that he will cause this glorious word 
 to ring as an alarm in my ears, " Return unto me, for I am 
 married unto thee : I will heal thy backslidings. 2 I will be, 
 and am, thy King: Where is any other that can comfort 
 
 1 P>alm 89: 29. 2 -Tor. .1: 14. 22. 
 
A SANCTTARV. 109 
 
 thee, or save thee in all thy wanderings ? ,,J And thai he 
 will cause my bowels to be moved at the voice, and to give 
 answer, "It is the voice of my beloved. Behold,] come 
 unto thee, for thou art the Lord my God.* 1 
 
 The Soul enters into more ample and express Covenant with 
 
 God. 
 
 And that I may now sum up the matter of this my cove- 
 nant which God has called me to make, and which, in < 
 dience, to Ins call, I do heartily resolve in his strength to ad- 
 here unto; guard my heart, guard my pen. guard my voice 
 and words, O thou who leadest the blind to thyself by a way 
 which nature knows not ; but thou knowest thy own way, 
 and knowest how to lead the thoughts of my heart, and 
 words of my pen, and my mouth, that my lips may utter 
 nothing rashly before thee. Thou hast made a covenant of 
 grace, and often repeated the terms of the covenant ; and 
 hast said, I shall say, " The Lord is my God ; " 3 and hast 
 recorded the mutual avouching between thee and thy people, 
 in express words. 4 Yea, strangers are invited " to serve 
 thee, to love thy name, to be thy servants, and to lay hold on 
 thy covenant, to join themselves to thee, and to observe thy 
 sabbaths and ordinances of worship. 5 And when thy people 
 did " enter into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their 
 fathers with all their heart, and with all their soul, and swear 
 to thee with a loud voice, and rejoiced at the oath, as having 
 sought thee with their whole desire, thou wast found of 
 them." 6 And in this way have thy servants appropriated 
 thee to themselves '; 7 and appropriated themselves to thee. 
 And thou hast said, u These things are written lor my learn- 
 ing." 8 and that I am to imitate and follow them who through 
 faith and patience did inherit the promises : " 9 -giving myself 
 to thee, 10 with full purpose of heart." 11 Having this warrant 
 and encouragement, I do here bring my body and soul, and 
 all that I have and am to thee a a first fruit offering, and 
 claim, in return, a right to thyself, through thy free grace, 
 being invited and authorized so to do. 12 
 
 1 ITos. 13: 10. 2 Cant 2: 8. Jer. 3: 22. 3 Hos. 2 
 
 4 Dent. 2G: 17, 18. 5 Isa. 56: 6, 7. G 2 Chron. 15: 12. 14. 15. 
 
 ' Psalm 105: 7, 8. 11G: 16—18. Isa. 63: 1G, 19. 8 Rom. 15: 4. 
 
 9 Heb. 6: 12. l0 2 Cor. 8: 5. » Acta 11: 23. 
 
 » Jer. 3: 4, 19. Ho3. 2: 23. 
 
110 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 The Soul makes Confession of its Faith. 
 
 I do declare in thy presence, O most righteous, holy and 
 gracious God, that (as thou hast declared in thy word) I do 
 acknowledge I am one of the posterity of the first Adam, 
 and was in his loins both when thou madest him pure, bear- 
 ing the image of righteousness and holiness ; and when he 
 transgressed thy righteous command, by eating the fruit 
 which thou hast forbidden him to eat ; and that I stand be- 
 fore thee guilty of the sin which he then committed, in all 
 the extent, circumstances, and aggravations thereof; and that 
 I am thereby become rightful heir to all that sinful pollution 
 which by him entered in upon ail mankind ; and rightful 
 heir also to all that curse and punishment which thou de- 
 nouncedst upon him, when thou saidst, " In the day wherein 
 thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die ; " and that I am by 
 this my nature and descent liable to thy righteous sentence 
 of death and wrath eternally : that I did in that day lose thy 
 favor, and incurred the accursed effects of that loss to my 
 soul, relating both to my temporal and eternal state. 
 
 I do acknowledge that of thy free grace, and that alone, 
 thou didst speedily make promise of a Redeemer, which 
 should arise of the seed of the woman, and be manifested in 
 the flesh ; which accordingly thou didst perform, by sending 
 thine only Son into the world, having a body framed by the 
 power of the Holy Spirit in the womb of a virgin ; and who 
 was born free from all that hereditary corruption which the 
 first parents of mankind did transmit to their posterity by 
 natural propagation ; who, by his voluntary obedience, ful- 
 filled thy whole law, and, by his death, did bear the whole 
 curse and punishment due to me and all elected mankind, in 
 the body of his flesh ; and that being thine eternal Son, the 
 express image of thy person, and God blessed forever, he 
 did fully pay the debt, and remove the curse and deserved 
 punishment from so many as thou hadst in thy eternal pur- 
 pose given him to be a ransom for, and superabundantly re- 
 covered thy image and favor to them again ; and that, being 
 truly dead, he raised himself by his own divine power, and 
 is ascended into the highest heavens, where he sitteth on the 
 right hand of the Majesty on high ; appearing always in thy 
 presence as Mediator, consisting of the two natures of God 
 and man in one person ; continually interceding before thee 
 
A SAN< l I LBT. 1 i 1 
 
 on the behalf of those whom he redeemed, and making the 
 ends and virtue of his mediatorship effectual for their good, 
 and od their behalf. 
 
 That he bath brought this State of life and salvation to 
 
 light by the gospel, contained in the hooks of the Old and 
 New Testament, and effectually dispensed the same under 
 dark types and prophecies until his incarnation ; Bince which 
 time he hath mightily declared himself by his word and 
 works; the Father also from heaven, and the Holy Spirit 
 testifying of him, that he is the Saviour of the world, and 
 that believing in him, " they who believe shall have lii'e 
 through his name." 
 
 That he has declared by chosen witnesses, who conversed 
 with him, and saw his miracles, that he is the eternal God, 
 and also true human nature, in one glorious person ; and has 
 appointed them to testify, that he is the Judge of quick and 
 dead; and that whosoever belie veth in him shall receive 
 remission of sins, and be justified from all conscience of 
 guilt ; and interested in a more abundant righteousness, life, 
 and happiness, than was lost before ; that he sendeth forth 
 his Spirit to breathe a new life by faith through the dispen- 
 sation of this gospel ; whereby he gathers all the elect into 
 a mystical, true, spiritual union with himself, who is the door 
 of their communion with God, and of his communion with 
 them ; and, having in himself the terms and parts of the 
 covenant relating to each party, he has so united them to- 
 gether in a covenant-bond, that the most righteous God 
 reaches them his hand, and proclaims himself theirs, and 
 they reach forth their hands by faith and resignation, and de- 
 clare they are wholly his. By which covenant-union they 
 are partakers of God, and all communicable good things in 
 him; and are spirited to give up themselves, and all that 
 they have and are, to his disposal in newness of life ; and 
 have freedom to come to the Mediator ibr teaching, strength 
 and purging, through the means appointed by him ibr that 
 end, as their daily necessity and weakness doth require, for 
 carrying on the true scope, and to answer the true end of 
 their covenant relation to God while they live on earth ; and, 
 through the resurrection of Christ, have an assured pledge 
 of safe convoy through the grave, to an eternal and visible 
 fellowship with him, and unutterable enjoyment of com- 
 munion with the Father, Son, and Spirit; being perfe< 
 forever, suitably to such a state, both in body and in soul. 
 
112 HOW TO FIND "GOD 
 
 A Solemn Covenant with God in the Name of Christ. 
 
 Now, according to this confession and acknowledgment, 
 grounded upon thy own word, breathed by thy Spirit, and 
 experienced by all thychosen people, according to the meas- 
 ure of thy revelation, and spiritual application thereof, I 
 throw myself down before thee, O most holy, righteous, all- 
 powerful, and gracious God ; I cast myself before thee as a 
 poor Syrian ready to perish, without any strength at all to 
 extricate myself from the guilt of sin, and its deserved pun- 
 ishment. I once lost thee quite, and had been lost from thee 
 forever, if thy naked arm had not brought thy salvation near, 
 and opened my ear to hear it : and now I do here declare 
 before thee, and before thy holy angels, that I do accept it, 
 and give up myself and all that is mine to comply with the 
 design of my restoration, which thy gracious wisdom has 
 found out. I do accept of Jesus Christ thy Son, to be my 
 wisdom, righteousness, sanctification and redemption : I do 
 accept of him to be my only access to thy favorable pre- 
 sence, and to enable me to walk acceptably before thee. I 
 close with thy appointment for laying my sins and all my 
 guiltiness upon him ; and do profess, through thy grace, that 
 I will not hazard thy displeasure by covering my guilt, or 
 bearing it myself, by unbelief cherished within me. In him 
 I do accept of thy glorious self to be my God, and all the 
 attributes of thy glorious nature to be my portion, and all 
 ready for my relief and advantage. I do accept of the 
 sanctifying virtue of thy Spirit, and am grieved that I have 
 so often vexed and grieved him by disobedience and unbe 
 lief. I do own and take to myself thy free and unchange- 
 able love in Christ. I doreceive the whole scriptures, and 
 acknowledge them to be thy express will ; and all thy gra- 
 cious commands, threatenings, and promises, to be in all 
 things most right ; and to be the issues of thy wisdom, holi- 
 ness, goodness, and truth, for my instruction, purging, com- 
 fort, and establishment in all cases, all the days of my life ; 
 which I engage, in thy strength, to adhere unto, as the rule 
 of my faith and conversation. I embrace the covenant, 
 wherein thou hast promised and sworn to be mine ; and that 
 blessing thou wilt bless me in Christ for thine own sake : 
 and I do here heartily, willingly, and joyfully, with fear and 
 trembling, offer up myself to thee, and to the belief of thy 
 word ; and do bind myself to thee this day with my whole 
 
\ SANCTC MM'. 1 L3 
 
 hearty and in express words, to be thine, and to yield myself, 
 mine and all that doth concern me, to the good pleasure of 
 
 thy will ; and that I will attend upon thee, through thy 
 
 grace, for wisdom and strength to love, fear, smc. and obey 
 thee; that I will choose the things that please thee, and not 
 repine at thy dealings towards me, as it' thou hadst forgotten 
 at any time to be gracious. I bind myself in the BCOpe and 
 virtue of this holy covenant with thee, to have tender affec- 
 tions to all thy people who are the joint object of thy lore, 
 and to attend upon the manifestation of the Spirit and power 
 in thy ordinances ; and, through thy strength, contentedly to 
 bear the cross thou shalt lay upon me, in conformity to the 
 death of Christ ; and that thyself and thy pure will shall be 
 the supreme mark and object of my affections. And () my 
 most glorious God, who pitiest the poor, and such who have 
 no strength, accept this offering from my hand and heart, and 
 succor thy servant, who, under much reluctancy of unbelief, 
 doth strive to yield himself to be wholly bound to thee. 
 When I look upon my own strength, I loathe it, and am 
 astonished at such a work as this ; but I implore thee, and 
 do profess I do with full desire of heart cast myself upon 
 the wings of thy power, to be carried above all impediments 
 that shall arise from Satan, from this present evil world, and 
 from the body of sin and death which is within me. 
 
 O Thou, who earnest in the flesh to purchase me, visit the 
 soul which thou hast allured to seek and follow thee ; and 
 cause the north and south wind to blow upon thy garden, 
 my soul, which with delight doth long after thee, in this day 
 of thy power and glory. Let no part of thy yoke be a 
 burden to me at any time, but a joy to my heart; because 
 it is thy yoke, and thou hast said, It is easy and light : O, 
 make it so to me. 
 
 And whensoever, O my God, I shall walk unsuitably to 
 any of these things, (for I am ready to halt,) and thou shalt, 
 as an offended Father, be angry with me, and turn away thy 
 face ; then behold the atonement which thou hast set forth 
 for sinners, and melt my heart before thee ; lead me to the 
 fountain that is opened for sin and uncleanness, and graciously 
 renew thy covenant with me ; and let me know that thou 
 dost graciously accept of this my free-will offering, by vouch- 
 safing thyself to be ready to be found, and by causing me to 
 be established in a daily experience, that this my labor and 
 purpose of heart (though in much infirmity, yet) in love to 
 10 
 
114 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 thy name, is not in vain. And now let an entrance be abun- 
 dantly administered into the kingdom of my Christ and my 
 God. I profess before thee that I do humbly expect these 
 things from thee, O faithful God, who canst not lie ; as what 
 thou hast graciously covenanted to give ; ] which covenant I 
 do this day, in thy fear, and in the faith of thy performance, 
 lay hold upon ; and in reference to all the difficulties of this 
 present life, of all sorts, and for needful supply of daily 
 bread, I accept of thy promises, and wholly cast and fully 
 rest myself upon thee, in them, through the Mediator, for 
 faith, courage, patience, contentedness, deliverance, and sup- 
 ply, according to thy word, 2 as my need from time to time 
 shall require. And also to be kept from polluting thy name 
 by sinful and scandalous miscarriages, and appearance of evil 
 in the sight of men, as thou hast promised. 3 I accept of, and 
 rely upon thy infinite goodness and truth contained in every 
 clause of thy word, (though not particularly at this time re- 
 hearsed,) for every good thing for my soul and body, here 
 and hereafter, as far as ever the purpose of thy grace ex- 
 tended, when thou saidst, I will be thy God ; and that all 
 that goodness and truth shall follow me all my days, and for- 
 ever. 4 And I willingly offer up myself to thy whole will, as 
 thou shalt from time to time reveal it in the same word of 
 thy grace ; and do covenant subjection thereto in thy 
 strength, through the mediation of Jesus Christ, and the 
 supply of thy Spirit. 
 
 And upon thy own encouragement, in thy promise made to 
 me, in that same covenant which thou madest with my father 
 Abraham, and didst seal to him and his seed, that thou 
 wouldst be his God, and the God of his seed, and causedst 
 the ruan-child of eight days old to receive the sign of that 
 covenant in his flesh ; (which blessing thou hast now brought 
 over to me a Gentile by Christ, in whom thou sayest Jew 
 and Greek, male and female, are all one in Christ ;) I do 
 again offer up my child, who has been already baptized into 
 thy name, relying on thee to make good thy covenant in 
 Christ to her, together with myself, in every branch thereof, 
 which I have through thy favor and grace entered into, and 
 spread before thee this day ; that she also may have a place 
 
 1 Jer. 32:38—41. 31:33, 34. 
 
 2 Psalm 27: 1—5. Micah 7: 7—9. Heb. 13: 5, 6. Matt. 6: 31—33. 
 
 3 Psalm 91: 9—12. 4 Bom. 8: 32. 
 
A BAN0TUAR1 . LIS 
 
 in thy house, and partake of nil the privileges and inheri- 
 tance of thy chosen. 
 
 And now, () Lord God, what shall I say to thee? who am 
 
 I? and what is my house, thai thou hast brought me hither- 
 to? All praise be to thy glorious name, ever-living Jeho- 
 vah, the Father, Son, and Spirit. Glory be to thee, 
 Father, who hast begotten me again to a lively hope ; who 
 hast drawn me to Jesus Christ, whom thou deliverers! up for 
 me, to be my ransom, and hast made me to receive him, and 
 in him to eall thee my reconciled Father. Glory be to thee, 
 O eternal Son of the Father, who earnest into flesh, and 
 undertookest the great office of mediatorship between a 
 righteous God and sinful man, and hast transacted a cove- 
 nant of peace for me, and perfected it in thy own person by 
 thy death and resurrection. And glory be to thee, O eternal 
 Spirit of the Father and Son ; who hast awakened my ear to 
 hear the joyful sound of reconciliation to God, "through the 
 blood of the Lamb," which was slain from the beginning of 
 the world; who hast been pursuing me, and didst never give 
 over, till thou hadst convinced my heart, and conquered my 
 will to a willing surrender of myself up to, and a laying 
 hold upon, the covenant of grace, held forth to sinners in the 
 volume of thy book. Now, O Lord God, let all the words 
 of thy grace be effectually applied, and established to me 
 thy servant ; pardon all my sins and failings, and all my un- 
 suitableness of heart, while I have been before thee musing, 
 and taking thy name and covenant in my mouth, and writing 
 it with my own hand in thy presence ; and as a fruit of thy 
 covenant-grace and truth, let my approach to thee be accept- 
 ed and prosper ; for which end I have delivered up myself, 
 and all that is mine, with full purpose of heart, according to 
 all that I have said before thee this day ; and with a holy 
 awe of thy presence in this great work, in confidence and 
 hope of thy pardoning, succoring, and assisting grace. I lie 
 at the footstool of thy mercy, and call heaven and earth to 
 witness, that I have chosen thee to be my God, and thy will 
 in all things to be my inheritance and my delight, and the 
 matter of my pursuance all my days, upon the ground and 
 promise which thou hast said, IIos. ii. 23. "I will say to 
 them which were not my people, Thou art my people ; and 
 they shall say, Thou art my God." I liave said it, and do 
 say it, and do leave this covenant in the hand of my ^Media- 
 tor, to see it fulfilled to me, and by me, through all the days 
 
116 HOW TO FIND GOD 
 
 of my infirmity and warfare, till I come to behold his face 
 as he is, and this vile body of mine be made like to his 
 glorious body. In reliance on which relief, and blessed 
 hope and help, I cling upon this covenant of free grace ; 
 in which I do both take and give as I have said, and do 
 subscribe it irrevocably with my hand. 
 
 Henry Dorney. 
 
 The Soul chides Unbelief. 
 
 Do not say, O grumbling unbelief, that these are nothing 
 but compiled words of human invention ; I tell thee, as far 
 as they are only invention, I do loathe them ; but the Spirit 
 of God doth witness with my spirit, that amongst these 
 words there hath been some hunger after God, some awe of 
 his presence, some love to be his devoted servant, some 
 prizing of the excellency of a pure life of faith, some holy 
 convictions of the importance and necessity of such an at- 
 tempt, at least, as this, to bring God and my soul nearer 
 together. 
 
 And therefore, though there is much chaffiness of a dead 
 heart, yet I cannot gratify my doubts and unbelief so far as 
 to conclude there is no wheat in the heap ; and I refer my- 
 self desirously and willingly to the heart-knowing eye of 
 Him who has his fan in his hand, to blow away all the chaff 
 from my thoughts and words, and to create in me a clean 
 heart, and pure language also ; and to gather what there is 
 of secret panting after him into his own garner, and put my 
 inward groanings after him, how weak and faint soever, into 
 his bottle ; and therefore I must (and by his help will) praise 
 him for any crumbs that fall from his table, and that I have 
 any appetite to eat them, and any desire after larger morsels. 
 
 My Redeemer is bountiful ; his breasts are full, and he 
 will not suffer a hungry child to draw nothing but wind. I 
 remember well what he said to the woman of Samaria : " If 
 thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to 
 thee, Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and 
 he would have given thee living water." 1 I have asked of 
 him, and have had his favor to wait on him now several 
 days together ; and will he return my bucket altogether 
 empty ? This is not his custom. The kingdom of God is 
 
 1 John 4: 10. 
 
A BANGTUABI 1 17 
 
 like seed sown, which Bpringa np av i 1 1 1 an insensible mo- 
 tion, ami yet a growing motion. 1 Ho proceeds in the 
 
 method oi % his own word; in which he sailh, "Seek, and 
 
 ye shall find: lor every one thai seeketh, Bndeth;" and 
 shall I say, My Beekings are lost ? My way is not hid 
 from God, when bis path is hid from mo. lie hath said, 
 u They that wait on the Lord shall renew their strength," 2 
 which I have obliged myself to do : and therefore, 
 though he humble me, to preserve a watchful appetite, 
 and to prevent some unhealthy surfeit growing upon me, 
 which he can discern in my constitution, better than I ; yet 
 I know, I shall not return ashamed, but be kept in more 
 wakeful pursuits after him ; and while I follow him, I am 
 with him in my desire ; and if I desire him, he desires me, 
 and there, in the communion of desires, we meet, 3 till the 
 shadow r s flee aw r ay. u A sluggard, indeed, desireth, and hath 
 not, because his hands refuse to labor ; " 4 but a laborious de- 
 sire after Christ, enjoys him in the eye of faith, and scrip- 
 ture evidence. 5 And therefore in patience and faith of the 
 scriptures I have hope. And what though some outward 
 disadvantage has been occasioned (which yet I know not of) 
 by this retirement to seek him, who knows my soul loveth 
 him. Will not he, some way or other, repay that loss, and 
 heal that breach ? O Lord, pardon, pity, and care for him, 
 who, in love to thyself, and thy holy will, desires " to seek 
 the kingdom of God first, and then cheerfully to depend 
 upon having all needful things added unto him." Matt. 
 vi. 33. 
 
 1 Mark 4: 26, 27. 2 Isa. 40: 31. 3 Cant. 7: 10. 
 
 4 Prov. 21: 25. 5 Rev. 21: 6. 22: 17. John 7: 38, 39. 
 
 10* 
 
118 
 
 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 UNION WITH CHRIST, 
 
 John 17:23. 
 
 I in them, and Thou in Me, that they may he made per- 
 fect in One. 
 
 When I consider this true-love's knot, uttered by Christ 
 himself, and the wondrous union in these three words, I — 
 thou — and they, declared by Christ, at his passage from 
 earth to heaven, as the contrived counsel of the eternal God, 
 Father, Son, and Spirit ; and when I find up and down in 
 the scriptures, that the elect (when once they are quickened 
 by the Spirit into the state of regeneration) are said to have 
 their life in God, 1 and that God lives in them, dwells in 
 them, and they in him ; 2 that their works are wrought in 
 God ; 3 that God worketh in them ; 4 that God walks in 
 them ; 5 that they walk with God, and in his name ; 6 that 
 Christ speaks in them, and they in him ; 7 I say, when I con- 
 sider such like expressions plentifully scattered by the Holy 
 Spirit in the scriptures, I conclude there is some admirable 
 union betwixt the Father of glory, and every one of his 
 elect seed in Christ; which is a mystery so spiritual, a sacred 
 palace so secret, that the most exquisite parts of nature can 
 never enter in, to view it as it is. It is New Jerusalem 
 under a vail, into which flesh and blood cannot enter. But 
 seeing Christ has said, " To you it is given to know the 
 mystery of the kingdom of God," 8 I would humbly wait for 
 the power of the Spirit to transform and fit me, and the 
 manifestation of the Spirit to teach me ; that so inquiring, I 
 
 1 Col. 3: 3. 2 2 Cor. 6: 16. 1 John 4: 13. 3 John 3: 21. 
 
 4 1 Cor. 12: 6. 5 2 Cor. 6: 16. 6 Gen. 5: 24. Mic. 4: 5. 
 
 7 2 Cor 13: 3, and 12: 19. e Mark 4: 1 1. 
 
UNION' with CHRIST. IT.) 
 
 ma j enter; and entering, may possess this purchased pos- 
 session, :ii least in the first-fruits and earnest thereof. And 
 although I am to Bhrivel up before the mysterious heat and 
 lustre of this gospel; ye< being commanded to Beek the 
 Lord, and being under a promise of help, 1 I wail on God 
 for strength and wisdom to attempt this inquiry. And me- 
 thinks these steps do oiler themselves : — 
 
 The infinitely wise God decreed to make man, and the 
 visible world to be his habitation, and the creatures to 
 serve him. 
 
 Man is made in a state of righteousness, and so stands 
 upon his own legs, but in a moment, (as it were) he begins 
 to totter, and falls from that state, into a state of sin and 
 misery; God so permitting it, that his justice and mercy 
 might be the more exalted. A remnant of undone mankind 
 are decreed to salvation in a way of mercy. And that the 
 justice of God against sin and sinners may be preserved, 
 and yet the elect remnant saved, God himself, in the person of 
 the eternal Son, assumes the nature of mankind into the 
 union of his person ! and in that nature pays to his own 
 justice all the debt in which this elect remnant, among the 
 rest of fallen mankind, had involved themselves ; in per- 
 forming whereof, he unites himself so near to them, and 
 them so near to himself, that what he did for them was 
 reckoned, by justice itself, accountable to the behoof and 
 concernment of each elected person, as much as if every one 
 of them had completely satisfied justice in their own per- 
 sons ; and the union is so near betwixt him and them, 
 that whereas he is the express image of the Father, and has 
 all power committed to him, he stamps upon them the image 
 of God anew, namely, righteousness and true holiness ; which 
 become theirs only through union with him, and do only ex- 
 ist in their existing in him. And this existence is wrought 
 by the Holy Spirit, forming him spiritually in their hearts, as 
 he formed him bodily in the virgin's womb ; which formation 
 of Christ in their hearts becomes a mystical, spiritual, and 
 true union betwixt him and them ; and this same Spirit 
 again works faith in them, that they may be made living 
 subjects, and suitably capacitated for this mutual union be- 
 twixt them also and him. And thus the Lord of life, having 
 enlivened to himself a living spouse, they enjoy each other 
 
 1 Jcr. 31:9 
 
120 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 by an unalterable nearness of spiritual indwelling in each 
 other ; such a nearness, that the Spirit of God, who manages 
 the union, sticks not to say of the church, and so of every 
 particular person thereof, that they are members of his body, 
 of his flesh, and of his bones ; and not only that, but he that 
 is joined unto the Lord, is one Spirit. 1 Hence it comes to 
 pass, that from the very moment that a soul hath accepted 
 of Jesus Christ, (being seized upon to that purpose by the 
 Spirit of regeneration, proceeding from the Father through 
 the Son, and received by believing,) that believing person, so 
 effectually visited by the call of the gospel, doth now, and 
 never before, become a new man; and though sins and 
 temptations, ever so many do batter and bruise, yet his house 
 cannot fall, nor his state be altered ; because God himself has 
 laid his foundation on a rock, and has drawn the soul's con- 
 sent, by believing, to lay it there too ; and this rock is Christ, 
 in whom the Almighty God receives this believing and re- 
 newed person into that union and true real nearness, which 
 lies shadowed forth in the scriptures of truth, under the 
 terms of father and child, 2 husband and wife, 3 vine and 
 branches ; 4 yea, as one body consisting of head and mem- 
 bers ; and many such like similitudes in the scriptures, to set 
 forth this wonderful nearness and union ; from whence it fol- 
 loweth, that no action, state or condition of such a renewed 
 person (whether it be inward or outward) is so entirely his 
 own, and of private concernment to himself alone, as it was 
 before. His sins were more entirely his own damage before ; 
 now they wound his relation, and grieve Christ. 5 He sinned 
 before against the law of God, he now sins in all his mis- 
 carriages against Christ also ; 6 and against the law of his 
 marriage relation to him. 7 He bare his own guilt before 
 perhaps with horror and distraction, now Christ bears it for 
 him before his very eyes, and melts his heart into remorse at 
 the sight of such a spectacle. 8 Ten thousand rivers of oil 
 could not expiate one sin before ; but now, as a cloud driven 
 before the wind, they all fly away before the efficacy of the 
 one sacrifice of Christ, to whom, and to which, by faith he 
 is united. His sins made him wander still farther and 
 farther from God before, now they are made (contrary to 
 
 1 Eph. 5: 29, 30. 1 Cor. 6: 15, 17. 2 2 Cor. 6: 17, 18. 
 
 3 Eph. 5: 25, etc. 4 John 15: 5. 5 Eph. 4: 30. 
 
 6 1 Cor. 8: 12. 7 Ezek. 16: 38. 8 Zcch. 12: 10. 
 
UNION WITH CHBIST. L21 
 
 their own nature) to scourge him into the fresh application 
 of Jesus Christ, by whom he draws near to God. 1 In all 
 his afflictions he was alone before, now Christ is bis partner; 9 
 Christ is truly touched with his calamities ; a his smart i 
 die pricking of the apple of Christ's ey< 
 
 As ibv \o>>{\< in temporal things, they were before judg- 
 ments upon him, they are now gracious trials of his faith 
 and patience, and means of purging him, and drawing him 
 into a nearer reliance on the Heir of all things : BO that his 
 losses and crosses do not now tend to undo him, but to 
 awaken and transform him. 5 In the midst of his fears he is 
 not forsaken ; ,: but through this union with Christ he is still 
 in safe hands. 1 
 
 Temptations of Satan and his fury cannot destroy him ; 
 because the Prince of Life, to whom a renewed person is 
 united, has cast out the prince of this world, 8 and tempers 
 his poisonous temptations into a physical potion, curbing 
 noxious humors in order to health; working the soul to 
 more humility, faith, prayer, and patient recumbency on God, 
 and contentment in him. 9 
 
 The mere civil actions of such a person, though the same 
 in themselves, yet, in respect of the change of the agent, 
 have some different consideration than they had before. He 
 sets about them with other motives, other dispositions, and 
 other ends than he had before ; which appear in this, that 
 although the thing be done or spoken ever so well to the 
 contentment of others, yet if Christ, to whom this new crea- 
 ture is united, be not served with singleness of heart therein, 
 this renewed soul aches as much as if the action itself had 
 been done ever so greatly amiss. And whence comes this 
 smiting of heart, 10 but from this union with God in Je 
 Christ, in that the proper sway and tendency of such con- 
 victions is to bring the soul still nearer and nearer to God 
 through Jesus Christ ; which gives a spiritual discovery of 
 the unseen and living breath and pulse of this union? 11 And 
 this seems to have relation to that expression used by the 
 Lord to his people of old, "The quarrel of my covenant ;" J2 
 threatening to punish them for their sins, as they were con- 
 
 i Psalm 89: 30-32. 1 Pet. 3: 18. a Isa. G3: 9. y Zcch. 1: 12. 
 
 4 Zech. 2: 8. 6 1 Sam. 30: 6. G 2 Cor. 4: 8, 9. 
 
 7 Psalm 22: 1. Isa. 43: 2. Dan. 3: 17, 18, 25. 8 John 12: 31. 
 
 9 2 Cor. 12: 7-10. 1Q 2 Sam. 24: 10. n Ezek. 20: 37. 
 
 Lev. 26: 25. 
 
122 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 trary not only to the law of righteousness, but also to the 
 law of covenant-relation. 
 
 Yea, all the labors, anxieties, and solicitous exigencies in 
 the affairs and business of a renewed person, do run along 
 through the sympathy of Christ, and, by reason of this near 
 union, he cannot but be copartner therein ; and looks to it, 
 that one way or other the incumbrance shall issue in advan- 
 tage. He condescends to be as one weak with them that are 
 weak, as one troubled with them who are troubled, that he 
 may discipline the grace, and exercise the faith of his people ; 
 whereby he guides them along into some unavoidable neces- 
 sity of resignation of themselves and their cares into the 
 arms of his divine power, and so ripens in them the appli- 
 cation of this union betwixt him and them in their hearts. 
 And his design being to bring his people, as a chaste virgin, 
 to himself, he aims rather at the carrying on of that drift, 
 than at the answering the natural desires of his people 
 about ease or deliverance, any otherwise than as may suit 
 with that end of his, in making them partakers of his holi- 
 ness ; and whispers secretly into their ear, " The servant is 
 not to be above his master. I trod the dirty and toilsome 
 way before you, and am treading over again every step of 
 it with you, and in you. You must be conformable to my 
 death, and shall be conformable to my resurrection. Come 
 along with me, and your burdens shall not break you, be- 
 cause they cannot break me. Your own projects may fail, 
 but in me you are heirs of blessing and deliverance, and 
 shall not go without them ; 1 I will give you rest." 2 He 
 relieved not his own body against the treachery of Judas 
 and the company that came to apprehend him, although he 
 was the omnipotent God, and had all power in his hands ; 
 because it suited not with the design of man's redemption : 
 and as it fared with that body of his that was in personal 
 union with the Godhead, so doth it fare, in some proportion, 
 with each member of his mystical body. Their burdens and 
 perplexities do not at all import that his hand is shortened, or 
 that he is really absent, or hath forgotten them, any more 
 than his divine nature could be separated from the human 
 nature, when the stress of his sorrow made him cry out, 
 " My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me ? " As that 
 union carried him through, so will this union carry through 
 his members also. 
 
 1 Heb. 6: 15. 2 Matt. 11: 28. 
 
UNION WITH CHBI8T. 123 
 
 Some Considerations in order to the Application^ and Im- 
 provement of this Union with God in Christ. 
 
 It being now about three years past that God was pleased 
 to put the aforesaid meditations into my hear! ; and having 
 Bince that time been a Stranger lor a season in a land beyond 
 the sea, and there passing through a dark vale of distance 
 from and privation of those ordinances and that society 
 which I formerly enjoyed ; and having there also lain in the 
 shadow of death, through a long and lingering sickness of 
 my body ; and being now, some months past, returned back 
 to my own native country, where the good hand of God 
 (which never left me quite desolate) hath caused me to 
 review the solemn covenant which, through his grace, I 
 entered into, the 30th December, 1G60, I renewed that 
 covenant yesterday ; and having therein solemnly given up 
 myself again to the Lord, and accepted of him, in the 
 tenders of his grace, to be my God and Saviour, and to own 
 him in all the relations of his condescending grace and love, 
 and also to submit willingly to his blessed yoke, rule and 
 will, expressed by his Spirit in his word ; I find still much 
 longing in my soul to know him more inwardly, that I might 
 the more enjoy him, and be more abundant in my service to 
 him ; and to that purpose, having perused over again the 
 foregoing meditations concerning the union between God and 
 all and every one of his people in Jesus Christ ; and my 
 heart assenting thereto, and being somewhat refreshed in 
 those truths of God, about the nature and advantageous ef- 
 fects of this mysterious union : and considering how greatly 
 the faith and improvement of this astonishing privilege 
 would conduce to carry on the ends of my covenant with 
 God, of his (for so he persuaded my heart to believe) with 
 me, I thought it necessary to employ a present providential 
 retirement on this 29th of January, 16G3, (and so from time- 
 to time, as God shall permit and assist me) to improve this 
 gospel-truth, of a believer's union with God in Christ, for 
 my soul's further nourishment, strength, and establishment, 
 as the principal inlet, both of new life, and of all spiritual 
 vigor and activity. 
 
 My inquiry then, at this time, is, how to sel up this 
 mirror so before the eyes of my mind, that I may, by ap- 
 plication thereof, be thoroughly transformed into the same 
 
121: A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 image, and to clear the pipes, that the life and spirit of this 
 union with Christ, and the Father in him, may enter into my 
 soul, and make me effectually to partake thereof, live there- 
 by, and act therein. 
 
 Breathe, O Almighty Spirit, upon my thoughts, fetch in 
 my heart, and prostrate it at the feet of thy infinite grace 
 and power, for purging, help, and healing ; for light, life, and 
 blessing, in this most necessary travail of my soul. How 
 long shall I view mysteries of fife, without a suitable living 
 transformation ? When shall the light of life appear ? 
 When shall Christ be so formed in me, that the man-child 
 of power and glory may be brought forth, ruling and new- 
 forming my poor soul ? Say, Oh ! say to my soul, ' I am 
 come, yea, I am come, not only to make thee to understand, 
 but understandingly to receive the mystery of this union, and 
 to be efficaciously united, and actually to live in the motions 
 and exercise of this union-life.' So be it, O my God, who 
 art the Spirit of all grace : so be it. 
 
 1. This union is pure in its nature. The Son of God 
 emptied himself, in descending to assume, and be united to, 
 the nature of man, and therein to the likeness of sinful flesh ; 
 and so works up every adopted child, through emptying it 
 from all the wisdom and strength of the first Adam, and 
 from all the guilt and pollution derived thence, to the par- 
 ticipation of union with him in the Spirit. 
 
 No unclean thing can enter in thither. There can be no 
 union but under consideration of perfect purity, effected by 
 " the law of the Spirit of life which is in Christ." He took 
 on him our nature, and was personally united thereto ; by 
 which means the sin of our nature was imputed to his 
 person, but could never be united to his person ; for he was 
 still sinless while he bare the likeness of " sinful flesh." * 
 And therefore the real spiritual union which believers have 
 with him, is, in the nature of it, pure and sinless ; and their 
 • persons, as they stand in that union, without spot ; 2 for, in 
 that respect, they are wholly brought over from the stock of 
 the first Adam, into the second, and return back no more, 
 although the polluted nature of the first Adam sticks in their 
 flesh, till its dissolution and total change. And from thence 
 it follows, that the Spirit of Christ, in applying this mystical 
 union with him to the soul, by faith, draws the soul of a be- 
 
 1 Heb. 4: 15. 2 Col. 1: 22. 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. [22 
 
 liever (haying sprinkled it from the conscience of guilt) into 
 
 a most quick and lively distaste of nil pollution; nnd so 
 divides between that which IS horn of the flesh, and that 
 which is born of the Spirit ; throwing aside the pollutions of 
 the flesh, that the union may be purely made in the Spirit 
 through faith; for, "He that is joined to the Lord is one 
 Spirit." 1 Hence it is, that while guilt and sinful pollution 
 invade the soul even of a believer, the application of this 
 union lies suspended; and during that season, a believer 
 abides dark and weak: and though he be in a state of union, 
 yet he cannot have the comfort of it ; but is as a strong man 
 that cannot find his hands. 
 
 And now, O my soul, consider thy own state ; consider 
 the centre of thy happiness, the call of the gospel, the privi- 
 lege and necessity of being transplanted into the pure stock 
 of the second Adam; and what thou art to do, in the 
 strength of free gra^, for entering into, and being made 
 partaker of, this wonderful privilege, and most secure rest. 
 
 2. It is inconsistent with unmortifiedness. This whole 
 work is wrought by the Lord, both in what his eternal pur- 
 pose of grace did decree, and what was carried on in the 
 person of Christ for thee, and also in that which he worketh 
 in thee by his Spirit, to make thee actually interested, es- 
 tablished, and daily growing up, in the light, life, and virtue 
 of this union-state with God in Christ. Thy nature is dead 
 in sins, thou art wholly polluted, and without strength ; but 
 the least serious conviction of this doth imply some step of 
 free grace towards thee ; nourish it, and so roll all thy guilt 
 upon the Lamb of God. Be laborious, diligent, and fre- 
 quent in this weighty exercise. There is no seeking this 
 union with any idol in the heart ; 2 for that provoketh to 
 jealousy : even an impure thought may not lodge in this bed. 
 A dry, earthly, sapless frame of heart cannot be refreshed 
 there, because this bed is green : 8 but such is the bounty of 
 free grace, that, through the sense and conviction of this in- 
 disposition of heart, it leads the soul to Jesus Christ, and 
 sprinkles it with his blood, (Oh this efficacious remedy !) and 
 washes it again in pure water, removes away the filthy gar- 
 ments, and gives it access into the king's presence : " The 
 pure in heart shall see God." 4 But thy innumerable impu- 
 
 1 Gal. 2: 20. 1 Cor. 6: 17. 2 Ezek. 14: 3. 
 
 3 Cant. 1: 16. 4 Matt. 5: 8. 
 
 11 
 
126 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 rities, my soul, and the continual returns of guilt and 
 darkness, hypocrisies, loathsome uncleannesses, unmindful- 
 ness of God, backslidings, and impenitent, stupifying fits, do 
 many times so captivate this sincerity, and strength, and 
 spiritual taste, that no balm can be found, nor anything to 
 help, but the free bounty and atonement of him who is 
 Michael thy prince. And this is even my case at present. 
 Oh, how little doth my heart relish and digest these things, 
 while I am musing and writing them ! I am estranged from 
 inward converse with God this day, and yet cannot seekingly 
 relent. I mention the blood of sprinkling, without prizing 
 it at its due value. Oh, let the watchful eye and tender 
 heart of him, whose compassions fail not, consider and visit 
 me ! But however, O my soul, this is thy work ; " Let 
 not evil lodge within thee ; be separate, touch no unclean 
 thing," declare thy chastity, by crying out ; and then the 
 promise lies fair and free before thee, 1 will receive you." l 
 Yea, cry out, and thou shalt be rescued; for "thy Redeemer 
 is strong." Here then I must stop, that I may adventure to 
 cast myself before him, who has the golden sceptre in his 
 hand, before I go any further ; who knows but that he will 
 reach it forth, and I shall find favor in his sight ? I come to 
 thee, O Lord. 
 
 3. It is only and wholly of God's free grace. This union 
 itself which I would come at, and actually live in, is beyond, 
 and, indeed, quite another thing than the notion of it. It is 
 the voluntary and delightful captivity of my will and affec- 
 tions, through the knowledge of him who has called me to 
 this glory and virtue ; it is my true dwelling-place, the very 
 foundation of my rest and repose, the palace of my triumph, 
 the very spring and rise of self-abhorring ; which makes 
 self-loathing brisk and vigorous, by issuing itself into the 
 soul's participation of the purity, light, and strength of the 
 divine nature, and into a sincere, open-hearted resignation 
 thereunto. It is begun and carried on wholly by the free 
 grace of God. It sprang from his electing and predestinat- 
 ing favor, who worketh it according to the " counsel of his 
 own will." 2 It is the scope of his free and gracious cove- 
 nant ; " I will be your God, and you shall be my people : " 3 
 the actual instating of my soul into it, ariseth from the free 
 call of God. 4 The overcoming and destroying all difficulties 
 
 1 2 Cor. 6: 17. 2 Eph. 1: 4, 10, 11. Rom. 8: 29. 
 
 3 Ezek. 37: 26,27. 4 1 Cor. 1: 9. 
 
UNION WITH CHBIBT. 127 
 
 that may obstrucl it, is thoroughly managed in the person of 
 Christ, who has made both one; and died, to "bring me to 
 God." ] As for the application and enjoyment of this union- 
 state, his prayer,&and promise, 8 do stand in force day and 
 night, without ceasing, to obtain ii for me, and effect it in 
 me. ^ His blood has confirmed the covenant for it, and has 
 put into it the virtue and force of a will and testament, 
 which cannot be disannulled. 4 And the manifestation <>t 
 this is only try his Word and Spirit, proclaiming and testify- 
 ing this good will of God to men ; 5 whereby he doth effect- 
 ually bring in this reconciliation, 6 and effecteth union there- 
 upon : " Ye are bought with a price ; therefore glorify God 
 in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's/" So that 
 I am wholly God's workmanship, who has ordained this 
 union, and created me in Christ for it. " I believe ; Lord, 
 help my unbelief." How little do I see ! How little do I 
 taste, and applyingly possess this bottomless privilege, which 
 the glorious angels desire to look into ! 
 
 Improve it then by meditation. Having considered the 
 purity of this union, and the inconsistency that is betwixt 
 this union and guilt, and unmodified sinful pollutions, as to 
 the comfortable application of it; and also the divine spring, 
 the free grace and bounty of God, in creating and carrying 
 it on ; into which thoughts and considerations the God of all 
 grace is only able to put seasoning and heart-framing force, 
 to make way for the application of it ; now, O my soul, com- 
 pel thyself to the serious meditation of the reality of this 
 union. 
 
 Application. 
 
 1. Be persuaded that it is a real union : It is invisible, but 
 real; wondrous and incomprehensible, but real and true. 
 God has made thy sins thy burden ; his holiness, and his 
 new stamp, thy greatest and most deliberate desire. Whence 
 comes this but from the Spirit of Christ, in whom the per- 
 fection of enmity against sin lies, and in whom all the trea- 
 sures of grace are laid up ? How comes his Spirit to work 
 an influence of the same nature in thee, bul as thou art 
 taken into union with Him, as a member of his body, par- 
 
 1 1 Pet. 3: 18. 2 John 17: 21. 3 John 14: 20. 
 
 4 Lnkc 22: 20. compared with 1 Pet 3: 18 and Heb. 9: 17 
 
 5 1 John 3: 24. 6 2 Cor. 5: 18, 19. * i Cor. 6: 20. 
 
128 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 taking of the vital influences of the head ? And seeing the 
 fulness of the Godhead dwells in him, whose Spirit dwells 
 in thee, 1 and the divine nature of the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit one and the same, 2 thou becomest (in a way of adop- 
 tion, and according to the created capacity thou art in) really, 
 at present, an heir, together with Christ, of the glory of God, 
 and shalt rightfully (through free grace) possess to the full 
 that inheritance. These are mine, saith the Lord, 3 I am thy 
 God : 4 In me thou shalt be saved : 5 Thy Maker is thy hus- 
 band. 6 What is all this but union with him ? 
 
 Now, O my soul, meditate again. Am I indeed, brought 
 in by Christ, to union with God ? Are we no longer two, 
 but one Spirit ? Can such a thing be ? I do not doubt it, 
 but admire it. What ? He that made heaven and earth, 
 and all men upon earth ; He who is the very life of the whole 
 creation ; He to whom Abraham, Moses, and David, and all 
 the worthies of old, prayed, whom they served and adored, 
 who carried them through all their trials ; to whose truth, 
 wisdom, love, and glorious power they did bear witness, and 
 do still testify it to all ages ; Is He mine own God ? Is this 
 God really mine ? Is it the word of his own mouth, I am 
 thy God ? How unsearchable is this union ! 
 
 Is He whom Simeon embraced in his arms, and said, 
 Mine eyes have seen thy salvation ; is He mine ? He who 
 wrought all those miracles, who healed diseases, cast out 
 devils, forgave sins on earth, is He mine ? He who had 
 compassion on the leper, and healed him ; He who had com- 
 passion on the multitude, and fed them ; who spied out Na- 
 thanael, visited Zaccheus, raised the dead ; is He mine ? He 
 who preached the gospel from heaven ; who, in the garden 
 and upon the cross, did bear our sins in his own body ; who 
 did sweat blood, and was pierced through for sins, for sin- 
 ners : Is He mine ? His satisfaction mine ? His compas- 
 sion mine ? Those tender bowels mine ? Was I then 
 comprised in his prayer ? 7 And is this Joseph yet alive, 
 and his nature not changed, but glorified to the perfection of 
 power and sympathy ? Is He mine ? And am I indeed his ?' 
 He who comforted his disciples, buried in oblivion their sins 
 and miscarriages, and blessed them immediately at his ascen- 
 sion ; and in the full warmth of his love ascended, and sat at 
 
 1 Col. 2: 9, 10. * 1 John 5: 7. 8 Mai. 3: 17. 4 Isa. 41: 10. 
 5 Isa. 45: 17. 6 Isa. 54: 5. "* John xvii. 
 
UNION with ciiuist. 129 
 
 the right hand of the Majesty on high, where love never 
 ceaseth ; is this, and none bul this, the Judge whom I expect, 
 even nay Lord, and my God ? Be whom Paul saw, whom 
 
 all the apostles did preach, who converted the GrOntileS, and 
 has kept alive the efficacy of his word, tO this day ; He who 
 is the faithful witness ; is He my own ? He who is exalted 
 
 to give repentance and remission of sins ; is lie mine, to 
 teach, purge, justify, and quicken me ? As near to me as 
 the head to the body ; the root to the tree and branches ; 
 the husband to the wife ; doth He even call me his own flesh 
 and bones ? Doth He live and breathe in me, and I in him ? 
 Oh ! for more faith, reverence, thanksgiving, with all man- 
 ner of becoming thoughts, words, and deeds concerning him, 
 and concerning the reality of such a privilege ! Oh ! when 
 shall the shadows flee away ? Be very serious, O my soul, 
 in exercising faith, to represent the truth and reality of this 
 union-state, that there is such a thing ; and let that exercise 
 dilate thy thoughts in an awful, serious, comfortable reve- 
 rence, and reverend love of God manifested in the flesh, to 
 be Emmanuel, God with us. Pursue this meditation till 
 thou even makest this union as visible as may be to the eye 
 of thy faith. 
 
 2. Consider the nature of this union. It is unchangeable ; it 
 was made in God's decree, before all time, and constituted for 
 eternity. The bond is God's faithfulness and love. It is an 
 indissoluble marriage ; an ingrafture into the fulness, fountain, 
 and perfection of life. It is the purchase, possession, and un- 
 withering inheritance of Him, who is the same yesterday, to- 
 day, and forever. It is reciprocal ; Christ is thine, and thou art 
 his ; "My beloved is mine, and I am his." ! What shall I give 
 thee ? saith Christ. Not only a kingdom, but myself. What 
 shall I render ? saith the soul. Not only all my praises, but 
 my whole self. Possess me, rule me, fill me ; take my heart, 
 and give me thine. Let thy love be shed into my heart with 
 a ravishing inundation ; and let my love be tender, fer- 
 vent, pure, and find no object elsewhere but thee. It is a 
 union that hath distinguishing excellency in it, a remnant 
 chosen out of many; between which remnant and the rest, 
 nothing made the difference but the free choice of God. It 
 is a union created of contraries made up of unreconciled 
 parties, who were at the extremest enmity, and now become 
 
 1 Cant. 2: 16. 
 11* 
 
130 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 of the most absolute and affectionate amity ; so it is in Christ, 
 and so it is (in the seed of it) in all the persons united to 
 him. A union in which the party wronged, voluntarily be- 
 gan to love first, 1 and wooed the offending party to a recon- 
 cilement. It issued from that peremptory, yet deliberate 
 sentence, " I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy." 
 It is in short a union, in all respects, wonderfully made. 
 And what thoughts are sufficient for these things ? 
 
 3. Consider the privileges of this union, which are all on 
 the sinner's side. Christ is exalted to give, and sinners 
 called up to receive. ■ And what must sinners receive, who 
 are received into this union ? Come in, O my soul, for thy 
 share, for the treasury is unspeakably rich. Through this 
 Emmanuel-knot of union, God is not ashamed to be called 
 the God of poor sinners ; only as he changeth their state, he 
 'changeth their names. They are now, in proper, true appel- 
 lation, saints, though sin remains in them : they are beloved, 
 who were not beloved ; they are sons and daughters of God ; 
 every one is a prince by a second birth : they are taken out 
 of prison, and do sit at the King's table ; their filthy gar- 
 ments are removed away, and they are clothed with white 
 raiment ; they are delivered from the pit, and return thither 
 no more ; they have a goodly heritage, God himself is their 
 portion ; all the power, truth, wisdom, goodness, and mercy 
 that ever God made known to, and for, his people, in all 
 ages, is their inheritance ; all the promises and providen- 
 ces which God made and wrought at any time, are for their 
 use, experience, teaching, and comfort; all the directions, 
 examples, and precepts in the scriptures, and all the reproofs 
 and threatenings there, are for their learning, consolation and 
 discipline, to purge, strengthen and guard them, till the old 
 man be quite destroyed, till they arrive beyond sin, change 
 and hazard : their society is with the Spirit of the Father 
 and the Son, with the image of Christ in his people, the mind 
 of Christ in his word, the breath, presence, and blessing of 
 Christ in his ordinances ; their sufferings, difficulties, and 
 fears have lost their destroying, deadly sting ; their life is 
 Christ in them the hope of glory ; their end is peace ; their 
 death is their gain. However it is for a season with their 
 outward or inward man, they are never otherwise than the 
 blessed of the Lord, and the objects of his delight, care, 
 
 1 1 John 4: 19. 
 
VNION WITH CHRIST. 181 
 
 good-will and protection, Jer.XXXli.88 — 41 ; Isa. xxvii. 3 ; 
 and utter this life, that unutterable blessedness which they 
 are to enjoy when they shall he ever with the Lord, u Eye 
 hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor can any bearl to the full 
 understand;" much less can my meditation reach it, or pen 
 declare it, only I may say, it is an exceeding — excellent — 
 eternal weight of glory! Consider these privileges, O 
 my soul, make the most of them. This prize is in thy hand ; 
 be not as a fool that has no heart; muse the matter, peruse 
 the scriptures, and muse it again and again. These are not 
 vain glosses, or pleasingly devised fables ; the things are 
 real, glorious and great. Have often and large thoughts of 
 this union with Christ ; let the application of it dwell with 
 thee day and night. 
 
 Improvement. 
 
 Improve this union by exercise. And that thou mayest 
 come up to a clearer vision of this fountain of life, and drink 
 abundantly of the water thereof, visit it often, pry modestly, 
 reverentially, and seriously into it ; not for curiosity, but for 
 transformation. It is all thy portion ; a portion that hath 
 seven portions in it, all portion in it. 1 He that by faith over- 
 cometh, and wins this prize, shall inherit all things : for " I 
 (saith the faithful witness) will be his God, and he shall be 
 my Son." 2 Here is the union, and the privilege also. 
 Familiarize this mystery of union with Christ, by remem- 
 bering and having recourse to it, in the use of all ordinances 
 of worship, in all Christian duties, in all use of gifts, in all 
 conditions of life ; in all seasons, day and night, in the exer- 
 cise of every grace. Send up many ejaculatory visits. 
 Stand upon thy watch continually. Let this word always 
 ring in thine ear, " Without Me (separate from me) ye can 
 do nothing." 3 Beware of cooling, beware of dismay; re- 
 member this union is grounded on God's eternal, unchangea- 
 ble love ; his faithfulness upholds it ; it is as the sun in the 
 firmament ; thou hast but a little time to take hold of it ; the 
 ruin of this union is the only thing which thine enemies, the 
 world, the flesh, and the devil aim at. And now, O my 
 precious soul, rouse up thyself to this exercise ; " thy labor 
 shall not be in vain in the Lord." 
 
 Matt. 19: 29. 2 Bcv. 21: 7. 8 John 15: 5. 
 
132 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 Use every ordinance to further this union. 
 
 1. Hearing. In hearing the word digest all the matter 
 into these two heads, as the main ultimate scope of whatever 
 thou hearest ; either a removal of obstructions which keep 
 God and thee asunder, or a supply of some uniting power, to 
 bring God and thee together. Come to the word with ex- 
 pectation to meet the Lord himself there ; deliver thyself to 
 the word in the hand of God ; hear his voice through rffan's 
 words ; account the Physician of souls wiser than thyself; 
 lie before him as a mere patient ; refuse no potion which the 
 word of reconciliation brings. Let it not rest in the under- 
 standing, but pass along into some real, transforming im- 
 pression on the will, that it may be won home to God in 
 Christ, the centre of thy new state. Get within the scope 
 and spirit of the matter, for there lies Christ attending to 
 meet thee. 
 
 2. Reading. In reading, observe, and get into the soul 
 (as it were) of him who was the writer, (whether Moses, 
 David, Paul, or any other,) as if thyself had been the 
 penman, by the inspiration of the Spirit. Use the Scrip- 
 tures as if this had been the first day they had been penned ; 
 as if thou hadst seen the persons, and hadst been in the 
 place with them, when they spake and wrote them ; as if 
 thou hadst seen Christ when he spake, did, and suffered what 
 thou readest ; and as if the scriptures had been sent only to 
 thee, to win and work thee up to a reconcilement with 
 God. 
 
 3. Seals. Labor to see the wisdom and goodness of God 
 in the seals of the covenant. Their end is to realize in- 
 visible things, and to enforce the obligation and union be- 
 tween Christ and thee, unto the strongest evidence and 
 application. 
 
 By baptism thou art sacramentally taken into, and by 
 the ordinance of the Lord's Supper sacramentally thou 
 art fed and nourished up, in this union. There was no 
 other end than this, as signifying the main union with Christ 
 as the head, and with his people as the members of his 
 body. The virtue is inward : Oh ! for more faith and sight 
 into this mystery ! 
 
 Tokens among men do oblige, and are very forcible ; they 
 carry in them the mind of the giver ; and the token being 
 candidly accepted, the mind of the giver is accepted ; and in 
 that token there meets consent and union betwixt giver and 
 
UNION WITH CHRIST. 188 
 
 receiver. The}- have (as it were) a magnetic force also, al 
 the experience of such things doth show. Tims it is with 
 these mysterious tokens between Christ and his people. 
 Ponder them, and improve them to that purpo-e. 
 
 4. Prayer, And as all ordinances are the galleries of in- 
 tercourse between God and his people in Christ ; BO prayer 
 hath in this work an eminency. It is the very intercession 
 of God's own Spirit in them : it is the private retirement, in 
 which the soul is brought into the presence-chamber, and 
 hath private conference with Christ, and the Father in him. 
 The very nature of prayer is a thirst after the living God. 1 
 It is the very breathing of the soul's union with God ; and 
 the means whereby it is preserved, fortified, carried on, and 
 confirmed; and whereby the sweetness and nourishing virtue 
 of it to the soul is improved, enjoyed and increased. Let 
 thy prayers then be inward and single-hearted ; chiefly aim- 
 ing at, and prizing this union. And refer all other things of 
 a remote nature to the wisdom of Him to whom thou art 
 united. Speak to him as one who is in his bosom ; and con- 
 sider him as thy only helper, and thy most sure friend. 
 Come reverently, believingly, with resignation of thine heart 
 to his, and so creep forward into an humble intimacy and 
 familiarity with thy God. This union only begets the true 
 cry of Abba, Father, and nourisheth it. 
 
 And if faith can but enter with all its glorious train, how 
 will this union shine forth ! Faith springs from this union 
 in order of nature, but in order of time it is brought forth 
 with it. There can be no faith, or any other grace, till the 
 God of all grace hath taken the soul into actual union with 
 Himself ; and so faith is the fruit of this union. Neither 
 can there be any union without some exercise of faith, in 
 which the life of this union begins to stir : for there can be 
 no union between God, who is living, and the soul, which by 
 nature, is dead in distance and sin, till faith, which is the first 
 spark of life in the new creature, do capacitate the soul for 
 its union with God in Christ. The spirit of this union, by 
 every spiritual means, doth hold out nourishment for faith 
 to grow by ; and faith, by those means, settles the soul more 
 and more in the bosom, warmth, and efficaciousness of its 
 union with Christ, and the Father in Him: in which interest 
 and efficaciousness, faith grows up, and puts the soul upon 
 
 i Psalm 63: 1. 
 
134 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 high and noble exercises ; strengthens it, and puts it forth to 
 mighty attempts ; so that the actual union of God to, in, and 
 with the soul, is the first principle of its life ; and faith is the 
 first motion of that life ; there can be no life without some 
 motion, no natural motion without some life : which quality 
 of motion does more and more declare that there is life as 
 the cause thereof. 
 
 The soul being made alive to God, 1 lives by faith. 2 The 
 primary means (in the hand of God's free grace) which 
 accomplished this union, is Christ, who hath taken the com- 
 mon nature of man into union with his person ; and in that 
 nature (the fulness of the godhead dwelling therein bodily) 
 he doth, by his Spirit, breathe the spirit of life nto those, 
 who, by the election of grace, are given to Him as his pos- 
 terity ; and therefore, as the ends of the earth are given to 
 Him for a possession, 3 He is called the Creator of the ends 
 of the earth ; 4 and Creator of this peace and union ; 5 and 
 the Everlasting Father also ; 6 by whom (as Mediator) the 
 living God and the enlivened soul (which was dead and sin- 
 ful before) are made one, namely, in the life and purity of 
 the Mediator. He reconciles them by removing the enmity 
 in his own body on the cross : He unites, by receiving the 
 souls and bodies of the elect into his own property and pos- 
 session. They are actually his in their new creation and 
 regeneration/ and being his, they are the Father's also : I 
 in them, and thou in me, and they in us. 8 
 
 The secondary means is the word of reconciliation and 
 promise ; 9 and faith closing with Christ thereby ; 10 and all 
 this wrought by the Spirit in a way of quickening and effi- 
 cacy, 11 conveyed into the soul, and maintained there by faith, 
 the free gift of God. 
 
 Which faith, being thus born, bred, and spirited, convers- 
 eth most with this union in the discoveries and application 
 thereof; and, by its much converse there, is capacitated to 
 dart the rays, influence, and virtue of this union into all the 
 rest of the graces of the Spirit ; without which influence, no 
 grace comes up to its true and proper exercise. And as the 
 whole soul is taken into this union by faith, and the body 
 
 1 Eph. 2: 1. Rom. 6: 11. 2 Gal. 2: 20. Hab. 2: 4. 
 
 3 Psalm 2: 8. * Isa. 40: 28. 5 Eph. 2: 16, 17. Isa. 57: 19. 
 
 6 Isa. 9:6. 7 J hn 17: 10. 2 Cor. 5: 17. 
 
 8 John 17: 21—23. 9 2 Cor. 5: 19. 2 Pet. 1: 4. 
 
 1° Gal. 3: 25. Eph. 1: 15. U Rom. 8: 10, 11. 
 
UNION WITB CHRIST. L8fi 
 
 also, through its union with the soul, the whole person is 
 called a believer ; who lives by faith, both in regard to its 
 inward, invisible operation, and also of its moulding anew 
 the outward and visible conversation : bo thai a believer both 
 loves by faith, 1 and walks by faith, 9 not only in Himself, bnl 
 manifestly to others, by words, 3 and examples. 4 
 
 Its chief scat is the understanding and the will. What- 
 ever it discovers, it calls in the will to assent to ; working 
 up the whole soul to a propensity of resignation to the power 
 and sovereignty of every divine truth; and, in particular, to 
 the enjoyment and privilege, government and laws, of this 
 union state: and so it sets itself, as a mighty champion in 
 the hand of the Lord, to exercise its skill and power in the 
 soul : and now r , Oh ! that it might be up and doing, in my 
 soul, and so go on and prosper ! And Oh! that its bow may 
 abide in strength, and the arms of its hands be made strong 
 through the hands of the mighty God of Jacob ; and, under 
 the influence of divine grace, be blessed, and made to go on, 
 increase, be enlarged, and conquer. Rise up, O shield and 
 buckler, O arm of the Lord ! I have waited, and do wait, 
 for thy salvation, O Lord : leave me not. 
 
 1 Heb. 10: 38. 2 2 Cor. 5: 7. 3 Kom. 1: 12. 4 Heb. 13: 7. 
 
136 
 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 GLORIFYING GOD 
 
 1 Cor. 6: 19, 20. 
 
 What, know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are 
 not your own ? For ye are bought with a price : there- 
 fore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which 
 are God's. 
 
 There are four principal things which this portion of 
 scripture offers to serious meditation and improvement. 
 
 First, That a true Christian is not his own. 
 
 Secondly, That he is the Lord's. 
 
 Thirdly, That he ought to know his renewed state. 
 
 Fourthly, That his renewed constitution does oblige him 
 to promote the glory of God, and live up thereto in soul 
 and body. 
 
 First, That a true Christian is not his own, which implies 
 three things : 1. That naturally a man acts as if he was his 
 own : 2. That true Christianity is more than speculative ; it 
 is a real change of the man ; you are not your own : 3. That 
 it doth mysteriously divide a man from himself. 
 
 This real alteration and mysterious contrariety is not a 
 natural change, but spiritual ; that is, the body, the soul, the 
 faculties of the soul, and the rational exercise of those facul- 
 ties, are still the same ; and yet a spiritual change doth 
 affect them all, and passeth upon the whole man. This 
 spiritual change begins in the most hidden part of a man, 
 the mind ; and therefore repentance is called a change of the 
 mind, 1 which change of the mind doth influence the whole 
 man. The mind is said to be changed, when the Spirit of 
 God enters in, and exerciseth its sovereign dominion of holi- 
 
 1 /uercwoia. 
 
GLORIFYING GOD. 187 
 
 ness, againsl the usurpation of the devil and Datura] corrup- 
 tion, which reigned there before : whereby the mind is 
 controlled into a willing propensity of subjection to the 
 authority of the Spirit of God, against the Invasion of Bin, 
 which still retains some haunl there, as a lurking subdued 
 enemy, (called the flesh Lusting againsl the Spirit.) till it be 
 destroyed utterly in the day of full redemption. 
 
 This dominion of the Spirit steers the natural faculties of 
 the soul in their rational exercise to new employment, and 
 arrays them thereunto with new habits. The understanding 
 has a sublimer light, the judgment a better rule, the will and 
 affections a better object, better motives, and a better end. 
 So that such a person is now said not to be his own ; he is 
 not under that universal darkness, pollution, and bondage to 
 sin, which he was conceived and born in at first. That was 
 his own natural state, but he is now rescued from it, and is no 
 longer his own. 
 
 While he was his own, he taught himself by the light of 
 fleshly wisdom, and accounted the gospel foolishness, 1 but 
 now loathes it ; and, being at a loss, cries, " Lord, what 
 wouldst thou have me to do ? " 2 and does, as they did 
 who burnt the books in which they learned curious arts 
 before, 3 in which lay no savor of Christ and spiritual 
 knowledge. 
 
 While he was his own, he ruled himself by the sight of 
 his eyes, and imagination of his heart ; 4 by the custom and 
 course of the world ; but now consults not with flesh and 
 blood. 5 He sees his own bias is false, and his own weights 
 too light. 
 
 Motives of pleasure, profit, or honor, do not now draw 
 him. lie was led by his own concupiscence, but now 
 he is dead to these, and saith, " 1 have no pleasure in 
 them." 
 
 He designs not any longer his own things, neither health,'"' 
 nor liberty. 7 nor ease, 8 nor safety, 9 nor wealth, nor lienor, 
 nor pleasure, as Moses, who refused to he the father of a 
 great nation; 10 and Esther, not satisfied with having the 
 honor and delights of being queen, when God's honor lay 
 at stake : yea. he designs not an unworthy preservation of 
 his own life. 11 
 
 1 lCor.l:23. 2 Acts 9: 6. 3 Actsl9:19. * Jer. 7: 24. 
 
 5 Gal. 1: 16. 6 Phil. 2: 27-30. 7 Acts 20: 23. 8 2 Cor. 11:27,28. 
 
 9 1 Cor. 15: 30. 10 Ex. 32: 10. n Arts 20: 24. 
 
 12 
 
138 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 The spirit of carnal comforts is gone in such a one's 
 esteem ; as Esther could not enjoy herself under the thoughts 
 of her people's ruin, though she was at the royal feast : 
 and to such a one, the tickling comfort of such things affects 
 not, but they are as the white of an egg ; yea, the unneces- 
 sary conference about such things is tasteless, as meat to 
 a sick man; and all because such a one is not his own 
 any longer. 
 
 When a man is not his own, he stands invested with many 
 privileges. He has hereby a shelter against outward af- 
 flictions : they sting not ; their profit reacheth farther than 
 their pain, when a man (as in an ecstasy) is not his own : 
 therefore Paul rejoiced in them. Persecutions on the out- 
 ward man reach not him who is not his own, who is not at 
 his own home ; as it was with David, when Saul's messen- 
 gers came to kill him they found him not, but an image. 1 He 
 can answer the accusations of guilt ; ' I am not my own, 
 and therefore my own guilt must not stick on me.' 
 
 When flesh and blood demands service, he can reply : ' I, 
 who am not my own, am not debtor to the flesh.' When sin 
 doth vex and molest by its pollutions in the flesh, he can say, 
 ' What do I here ? I am not my own. Let me go hence.' 
 When spiritual pride solicits, he can reply, ' What I have is 
 not my own.' And against carnal security he can say, ' I 
 cannot maintain my own grace, nor restore myself when 
 fallen ; and therefore am to work out my salvation with fear : 
 I am not my own.' 
 
 Against solicitude about future events and carking de- 
 spondency, c I am not at my own disposal, and therefore such 
 anxieties are to be none of my work.' Against the enchant- 
 ing comforts of the flesh and the world he can say, as Bar- 
 zillai did to David, i Can I hear the sound of such melodv ? 
 What is such music to a dead man ? I am not my own.' 
 
 Secondly, But whose am I, then ? will such a one say. 
 This scripture shows, that he who is washed, sanctified, and 
 justified, (as verse 11,) is God's; that is, by justification and 
 sanctification he is translated from the dominion and natural 
 right of corrupt self, to be the Lord's in body and spirit. As 
 he did bear the corrupted image of the first Adam, so now 
 he bears the spiritual image of the second. He is not his 
 own as before he was, but is now, by grace, the peculiar 
 property of God. 
 
 1 1 Sam. 19: 16. 
 
GLORIFYING GOD, 189 
 
 The nature of which may be more distinctly understood 
 by considering these three particulars, namely : — 
 
 I. What this peculiar property is, and wherein it lies. 
 
 II. How came it to pass, and was effected. 
 
 III. How the truth, fulness, entireness, and excellency of 
 
 it, arc demonstrated and held forth in the scriptures. 
 
 I. What this property is. 
 
 It is a property which stands distinguished from the 
 
 property which God has in the common state of man- 
 kind upon the whole earth i l it is a property which stands 
 in opposition to estrangement; 2 in opposition to that which 
 is another's; 3 and in opposition to former unsuitableness,' 
 and enmity : 5 so that a justified- person is peculiarly, inti- 
 mately, entirely, complacently, and fully the Lord's. 
 
 II. This property came to pass, and was effected, 1. By 
 the free, deliberate, gracious choice of God ; and therefore 
 they are called God's elect ; 6 which choice was made with 
 respect to Christ. 7 2. By giving these elect to Christ s and 
 so being Christ's, they are God's : ° and 3. By Christ's me- 
 diation and advocateship : whereby He takes away all that 
 which necessarily hindered the effecting of this property, 
 satisfying the justice of God, and removing out of the way 
 that pollution and enmity, which stood between the righteous 
 and holy God and defiled sinners, by the price and sprink- 
 ling of his own blood. 10 
 
 He sends forth the gospel, inviting all persons to apply to 
 themselves, by faith, the virtue and end of his death ; u and 
 assuring them that a covenant is made betwixt God and 
 sinners, and confirmed in his blood. 12 He gives faith to ap- 
 ply the same, 13 opening the understanding to receive it. 14 lie 
 reneweth the heart through his Spirit, and rendereth it suita- 
 ble and subject to the laws and state of this appropriation to 
 God. 1 ' He presents those whom he has thus redeemed to 
 his Father, 16 bequeathing them to him as his own, to be kept 
 from evil. 17 The Father accepteth of these chosen and re- 
 deemed ones, 18 and thereupon saith, These are mine.™ 
 
 l Ex. 19: 5. 2 Eph. 2: 12, 19, compared with Lev. 24: 22. 
 
 8 Hos. 3: 3. 4 Ezek. 16: 8. * Col. 1: 21. 6 Rom. 8: 33. 
 
 * Eph. 1: 4. * John 17: 6. 9 1 Cor. 3: 23. John 17: 10. 
 
 i° 1 Cor. G: 20. Eph. 2: 13—10. » Mark 16: 15, 16. Acta 13: 38, 39. 
 
 12 Heb.9:14,15. l3 Acts 14:27. Eph 2:8. ,4 Luke 24: 45. Acts 16: 14. 
 15 Eph. 4: 22—24. 1 Pet 1: 2, and from verse 14 to 19. Eph. I: 4. 
 18 1 Pet. 3: 18. Col. 1: 22. " John 17: 11, 15. 25. 
 
 13 Eph. 1: 6. 19 Mai. 3: 17. 
 
140 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 III. The truth, fulness, entireness, and excellency of this 
 property is set forth in the scriptures by divers sorts of re- 
 semblances, which have a most appropriating nature, and 
 endearing influence, amongst men in this world ; which are 
 comprehended chiefly under three heads : — 
 
 1. Resemblances which concern the property of estate. 
 
 2. Resemblances which concern a property in things that 
 betoken labor, care, and skill in the proprietor, to manage 
 them. 
 
 3. Resemblances which concern the property of natural 
 relations. 
 
 1. In allusion to the property of estate among men, the peo- 
 ple of God, and so every regenerate person is called the in- 
 heritance of God, 1 which notes the settled part of an estate ; 
 as in Naboth's case ; 2 the habitation of God, 3 noting constancy 
 of residence, John viii. 35, "the servant abideth not in the 
 house forever, but the son abideth ever;" the temple of God, 4 
 noting sacred converse with God, 5 and divine presence, 6 and 
 great, stately magnificence, 7 where God is said to dwell and 
 walk, 3 and reign ; 9 the peculiar treasure of God, 10 noting the 
 delightful part of an estate; the jewels of God, 11 noting their 
 precious esteem and value ; and in general, the portion of 
 God, 12 which compriseth the whole of an estate. 13 
 
 2. In allusion to the property of things, wherein the skill, 
 labor and care of the proprietor is employed, a regenerate 
 person is called, a creature which God has formed for him- 
 self; 14 God's building; 15 God's workmanship; 10 all which do 
 set out the freeness of God's grace, and man's inability and 
 impossibility to regenerate himself, or add one cubit to his own 
 stature. Also, God's husbandry, 17 noting God's mindfulness, 
 care and (as it were) laborious hands towards his people : and 
 thus they are called his vineyard ; 1S noting peculiarness and 
 delight ; 19 and his garden, 20 made for retired delight and fa- 
 miliar use. To which may be added that they are called his 
 flock, 21 noting care of them, provision, and security for them. 
 
 3. In allusion to the property of natural relations, a re- 
 generate person is called the spouse of Christ, and is said to 
 be married unto God, 22 noting love and familiarity, and affec- 
 
 1 Psalm 33: 12. 2 1 Kings 21: 3. 3 Eph. 2: 22. 4 2 Cor. 6: 16. 
 
 1 Psalm 27:4. 6 Hag. 2: 7, 9. 7 Lnke21:5. 8 2 Cor. 6:16. 
 
 9 Psalm 11: 4. 10 Ex. 19: 5. " Mai. 3: 17. 1- Dent. 32: 9. 
 
 13 Luke 15: 12. 14 Isa. 43: 21. * 1 Cor. 3: 9. 16 Eph. 2: 10. 
 
 » 1 Cor. 3: 9. ' 18 Jer. 12: 10. 19 I<a. 5: 1, 2. etc. 20 Cant. 4: 12. 
 
 21 1 Pet. 5: 2. Acts 20: 28. 22 Cant. 4: 12. Jer. 3: 14. Isa. 62: 5. 
 
GLORIFYING GOD. Ill 
 
 donate remembrance j the Sou of God, and his child, 1 yea, 
 as a sucking child, casJ on God for relief, 9 shadowing out his 
 tender respect to his people; his body in Christ, and so ac- 
 counted as his flesh and his bone ; : and the apple of his i 
 noting his sympathy with his people. 4 
 
 Now walk about this city of God, tell the towers thereof, 
 
 mark well her bulwarks, consider her palace.-, and the excel- 
 lencies of being the peculiar property of God ; who will be 
 the guide of liis people even unto death, 5 and so bring them 
 to glory. 6 
 
 Hence for trial whether I am God's, let me see what an- 
 swerable effect this appropriated relation to God doth work, 
 declaring I am his, by my appropriating Ilim to be mine. 7 
 To this end, I would ask myself, 
 
 Do I give my consent, and render up myself to be the 
 Lord's ; and (as it were) subscribe it with my hand, and 
 change my name upon it ? which are the tokens of con- 
 firmation of consent, and translation of property, 8 and change 
 of condition. 
 
 Do I comply with God's method in making this purchase to 
 himself by Jesus Christ, 9 accounting the gospel of God, declar- 
 ing salvation by Christ, worthy of all acceptation ? 10 
 
 Do I put a value on this peculiar relation to God, own it 
 with open profession, as they did, Ezra v. 11, saying, " We 
 are the servants of the living God ? " and by faith shelter- 
 ing under it, and saying with them in Isa. lxiii. 19, "We are 
 thine," etc. 
 
 Do I improve it, humbly, and reverently, and thankfully, 
 saying, as David did, " Who am I, O Lord, God ? " etc. 2 
 Sam. vii. 18 — 24. Do I present myself to God as one that 
 is k 'made alive from the dead? 11 renouncing all other de- 
 fence ; u and walking worthy of God, who has called a vile 
 sinner out of his own pollution, to the household of God ? u 
 
 As for the privileges of them who are thus the property 
 and possession of an infinite, glorious God, who is he 
 that is able to number the dust thereof, or bring an ac- 
 count of the sands of that sea ! The whole earth is full of 
 that glory of God which shines upon his people as their in- 
 
 1 Ex. 4: 22. Jcr. 31: 20. " Isa. 49: 15, 16. 3 Eph. 5: 30. 
 
 4 Zech. 2: 8. 5 Psalm 48: 13, 14. ■ Psalm 73: 24. 
 
 7 Hos. 2: 23. 8 Isa. 44: 5, compared with Jer. 32: 10. 
 
 9 Matt. 17: 5. 10 1 Tim. 1: 11, 15. » Rom. 6: 13. 
 
 12 Hos. 14: 3. 13 1 Thess. 2: 12. Eph. 2: 19. 
 
 12* 
 
142 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 terest, unto which every particular person of that number is 
 entitled. But for the better access, with good welcome, to this 
 glorious feast, it is needful to see whether the wedding gar- 
 ment be on, or no ; which brings in the third general head. 
 
 Thirdly, That true Christians ought to know this their 
 renewed state, that they are not their own, but God's ; which 
 knowledge seems to have these steps, or rather parts, 
 included in it : A discerning and understanding of the 
 excellency of such a state ; 1 an inward persuasion of the 
 possibility of an interest in such a state ; 2 and an exercise 
 of faith, engaging the heart to lay claim to, be posssesed of, 
 and actually and altogether enjoy, an interest therein. 3 
 
 The means of this knowledge are chiefly, the Word and 
 Spirit of God, 4 prayer, 5 serious deliberation, meditation, and 
 application. 6 
 
 The evidences which declare a person to be the Lord's 
 are the echoings back of the soul to Him in the warmth of 
 his own grace and love ; wherein God draws the soul to own 
 him in a way suitable to his owning of such a person to be 
 his ; stamping his own image there, and giving it life to act 
 in a genuine, true, and proportionable method towards God 
 again. Which appears, 
 
 1. In that mutual avouchment mentioned in Deut. xxvi. 
 16 — 20, according to the terms of the covenant of grace, "I 
 will give them a heart to know me, that I am the Lord; and 
 they shall be my people, and I will be their God ; and they 
 shall return unto me with their whole heart : 7 As this is the 
 ground of those expressions in the scriptures, wherein the 
 people of God have echoed back their faith and hope in him, 
 by the same manner of expressions to him, as he useth to them. 
 
 As God has chosen them, Mark xiii. 20, they choose 
 God ; 8 and the things that please him. 9 God calls them his 
 inheritance, 10 and they call him their inheritance. 11 God 
 calls them his habitation ; 12 and they call him their habita- 
 tion, and dwelling-place. 13 God dwelleth in them, and they 
 in him. 14 God walks in them ; I5 and they walk in his 
 
 1 1 Cor. 2: 12, 14. 2 Isa. 55: 6. Joel 2: 19. 
 
 3 1 John 5: 20. John 20: 28. Heb. 11: 13. 
 
 4 John 20: 31. 16: 8, 13, 14. 1 Cor. 2: 12. 
 
 5 Psalm 143: 8. Prov. 2: 3 — 5. Job 34: 32. 
 
 6 Psalm 143: 5. 1 Tim. 4: 15. 2 Tim. 2: 7. Psalm 104: 34. 
 
 7 Jcr. 24: 7. 32: 38. b Josh. 34: 15: 22. 9 Isa. 56: 4. 
 10 Psalm 33: 12. » Psalm 16: 5. 12 Eph. 2: 22. 
 13 Psalm 71: 3, and 90: 1. u 1 John 4: 13. 15 2 Cor. 6: 16. 
 
GLORIFYING QOl). 1 18 
 
 name; 1 they walk with God. a They are precious to God, 3 
 and the Lord is precious to them. 4 They are God's por- 
 tion : B and God is theirs. 6 
 
 God loves them, 7 they love him. 8 
 
 In these and in many other respects, they bear the image 
 of God, and therein do evidence that they are his, and he 
 theirs. Let the heart examine itself, whether these proper- 
 ty s of the image of God be stamped there or i 
 
 2. It appears in complying with God's aim and method 
 in managing that peculiar interest and property in which he 
 owns them, he commands, and they obey; he reproves, and 
 they take reproof; he threatens, and they fear; he chasti 
 and they accept the punishment of their iniquities ; he 
 speaks, and they hear; lie promises, and they believe : and 
 thus they show that they are his, and lie theirs. Let the 
 heart examine itself, whether there be this compliance with 
 the mind and will of God, or not. 9 
 
 3. It appears in answering the duty of that relation in 
 which they stand to God. They are the spouse, and He 
 the husband ; they the children, He the Father ; they the 
 flock, He the Shepherd ; they the husbandry, He the hus- 
 bandman ; they the workmanship, He the worker ; they the 
 clay, He the potter : each relation imports the duty of them 
 who are thus related unto God: all which administers mat- 
 ter for several queries by way of trial, whether God be mine, 
 and I am his ? If I am his, he must necessarily be mine, 
 according to the tenor of the covenant. And therefore let 
 me propose some questions to my own soul, arising from the 
 former considerations, that I may know I am my own no 
 longer, but the Lord's; and that he is mine. 
 
 For making way to these queries it is to be considered, 
 that the scriptures -peak of several states of mankind in the 
 world ; as, a state of innocency, 10 a state of sin and death, 11 
 and a state of redemption and pardon through grace ; 12 and 
 thence cometh a state of renewing and sanctification, 13 which 
 issues from Christ's redemption," and so lodge- a soul in 
 this propriety of being God's peculiar people, showing forth 
 his praises : i5 and the Holy God is not ashamed to be called 
 their GodJ6 
 
 1 Zech. 10: 12. 2 Gen. 5: 24. 3 ha. 43: 4. 4 1 P< t. 2. 7. 
 
 5 Deut.32:9. 6 Lam. 3: 24. 7 Psalm 146: 8. B Rom. 8: 28. 
 
 9 Isa. 55:3,4. 10 Keel. 7: 29. ]1 Rom. 5: 12. lfl Eph. 1: 7. 
 
 13 Eph. 4: 24. 5:8. 14 Tit. 2: 14. ,5 1 Pet. 2: 9. 16 Heb.11:l6. 
 
144 A DISCGtRSE OF 
 
 The two first of these relate to all men universally ; but 
 all of them relate to them who arrive at this peculiar 
 interest in God. 
 
 The New Testament speaks but little about the primitive 
 innocency ; only glancing at it by implication, under the 
 words of straying ; l seeking that which was lost ; a being 
 alienated from the life of God, 3 and such like ; and treats 
 chiefly and most directly of the others, namely, sin, redemp- 
 tion, and holiness. This is that which the Spirit is pro- 
 mised to convince the world of ; 4 the state of sin under 
 unbelief, and of redemption and righteousness by Christ, 
 crucified and risen, who testified and assured, by his going 
 to his Father, that he had obtained eternal redemption ; 5 
 and the state of the conquest over the Prince of this world, 
 who works in the children of disobedience, 6 and thereby free- 
 dom to serve God in holiness and righteousness. 7 
 
 This is also set forth in Eph. ii. The state of sin and 
 death in verses 1, 2, 3, 12 ; of redemption, verses 4, 5, 6 ; 
 and of holiness, verses 21, 22. And all briefly put together 
 in Eph. 5, 3. "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now 
 are ye light in the Lord : walk as children of light." 
 
 From the consideration of each of these, there follow 
 divers questions for the trying of the state of the soul, and 
 knowing in what plight it now stands. Indeed, the glory of 
 primitive innocency is outshone by the superabundant grace 
 and image of Christ ; 8 as the glory of the second temple 
 exceeded the glory of the first : 9 yet the losing of that is 
 much to be bewailed, because w r e did so sinfully lose it. 
 
 Now, then, O my soul, canst thou take up Ezekiel's 
 lamentation over Tyrus, " Thou hast been in Eden, the 
 garden of God, and wast perfect in thy w r ays, but thine heart 
 was lifted up," etc. 10 And mourn as David mourned for the 
 death of Jonathan and Saul, though access was thereby made 
 to his own advancement : " The beauty of Israel is slain. 
 How are the mighty fallen ; the shield of the mighty is vilely 
 cast away ! " n And lament, How is the gold of primitive 
 innocency become dim ! And how is mankind that was 
 purer than snow, now become blacker than a coal ! as Jere- 
 miah lamented over Jerusalem ? 12 Canst thou say, Alas ! I 
 
 1 1 Pet. 2: 25. 2 Luke 19: 10. 3 Eph. 4: 18. 
 4 John 16, 8. 5 Heb. 9: 12. 6 Heb. 10: 12, 13. Luke 10: 19. 
 * Luke 1: 74, 75. 8 1 Cor. 15: 47 — 19. 9 Hag. 2: 9. 
 
 10 Ezek. 27: 2, and 28: 2—15. " 2 Sam. 1: 19—21. n Lam. 4: 1— S. 
 
GLORIFYING cop. 143 
 
 tin become vile : 1 u In me, thai is in my fl< Bh, dwelleth no 
 ft tiling;"- do truth, wisdom, or righteousness, and my 
 nature is only evil, and thai continually 
 
 Dost thou consider the nature of thy sinfulness ; and how 
 it doth pollute, weaken, deceive, and enslave thee? More 
 distinctly, 
 
 Dost thou know, that thou earnest up and down in thy 
 nature the seed- of all sins ; that all the idolatry. BU] erstition, 
 blasphemy : all the murders, uncleanness, \ iolence, injurious- 
 ness, hatred, envy, cruelty, falsehood, etc. that ever thou 
 didst read of in the scriptures,. or other histories; or that 
 ever thine ears heard, or thine eyes saw ; that the seed and 
 spiee of it all is in thine own heart? that all those black 
 lists enumerated in Rom. i. 29, to the end, Rom. iii. 11, ete. 
 
 1 Cor. vi. 9, 10, Gal. v. 19—21, Eph. ii. 12, and iv. 18—19, 
 
 2 Tim. iii. 2 — 4, and other places, thy nature is in some de- 
 gree or other tainted with ? And because this may seem 
 harsh and strange, 
 
 Consider, as far as any man has the nature of Adam, he 
 has the corruption of that nature ; and as far as all are equal 
 in their descent from Adam, so far are all equal in the cor- 
 ruption of that descent : " All guilty ; every mouth must 
 be stopped; death came upon all," Rom. iii. 19, and v. 
 12, 18. 
 
 Consider, that though restraining grace, or mortifying 
 grace, may curb, weaken, and subdue sinful corruption, yet 
 it still retains its dwelling in the flesh ; 4 and though the 
 righteousness of Christ be imputed to the person, yet the 
 corrupt nature of that person has still a subsistence, till cor- 
 ruption put on incorruption ; till which time 1 corrupt nature 
 loseth not its sinfulness, but its dominion. k - () wretched 
 man that I am ! " said Raul, "who shall deliver me from the 
 body of this death?" On this account, the state of the 
 person may be changed, but corrupt nature still remains. 
 
 Consider, the natural seed of every sin is a departure 
 from God, and a violation of his authority ; and therefore Ik 4 
 that is guilty of one sin violates the authority of God, and 
 has a seminal guilt of all sin. 5 As he who has one true 
 grace has the seed of all ; because it shows he i< united to 
 Chrh-t, and one with him in spirit, who is the Fountain of all 
 
 l Job 40: 4. 2 Rom. 7: IS. 3 Gen. 6: 5. 
 
 4 Rom. 7: 20, 25. 5 James 2: 10, 11. 
 
146 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 grace. So, wherever we see sin, we see the corruption and 
 pollution of our nature, that dwelleth in us. 
 
 Natural conscience, education, constitution, profession of 
 religion, moral considerations of fear, shame, or the like, may 
 curb the working of corruption in some measure, but cannot 
 root out the pollution of sin from the heart. 
 
 But more particularly in reference to God. Is there not 
 great ignorance and contempt of Him ? Are not sins of 
 thought more slighted than sins visible ? And is there not 
 more shame for a small miscarriage in the sight of man, 
 than a great miscarriage in the sight of God? What cus- 
 tomary ignorance of all his attributes ! How little is He the 
 object of the heart's love, desire, esteem, and meditation ! 
 Is not the heart more intent on other things ? How little is 
 He the motive and end of what we do ! Is serving and 
 pleasing Him the heart's design in all things ? In worship, is 
 not the heart formal, cold and wandering ? Are not convic- 
 tions stifled, and the impressions of the word of God quickly 
 gone ? Is there serious preparation for the ordinances 
 and due meditation afterwards ? Is the heart glad, when 
 the word reproves, as well as when it hears words of com- 
 fort ? 
 
 As for men : Is not the course of the world, the opinions 
 of others, and their esteem, of great account and value with 
 me ? Are their sins my burden ? Is there not towards them 
 envy, hatred, want of sympathy, evil surmises, etc. ? 
 
 As for my own soul : Is not my heart rash, vain, incon- 
 siderate ; my understanding dark ; my affections loose and 
 scattered ; my memory slippery, and all out of order ? Dost 
 thou not discern the weakening nature of sin, that it sucks 
 the strength of the soul ; the deceitfulness of it ; the deaden- 
 ing, blinding, and destructive nature of it ; and the perfec- 
 tion of divine wrath that attends it ? 
 
 And now doth all this make thee, O my soul, cry out, 
 wretched man that I am ! And that thou art a burden to 
 thyself! as Paul and Job did ? * Dost thou see a bottomless 
 deceit and desolation in thy nature, as it is in itself corrupt- 
 ed, and as that corruption is by circumstances aggravated ? 
 And being totally without refuge, dost thou lay the hope of 
 thy help upon a mighty Redeemer? If so, thou hast at- 
 tained one round, at least, of that blessed ladder, which leads 
 
 1 Rom. 7: 24. Job 7: 20. 
 
GLORIFYING con. 1 17 
 
 thee up to the fruition of that renewed state, in which thou 
 art God's, and He is thine. 1 
 
 In Laying hold on Christ lor redemption, do I sec f cannot 
 help myself, nor any other creature help me? s That none 
 can redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom lor him ; •' 
 that salvation is only of God, 4 of his arm? 5 That in &ee 
 mercy lie sent Christ to save?' 3 That Christ undertook this 
 salvation, and performed it ; 7 and that I am partaker of it by 
 mere faith? 8 Do I lay my whole weight upon this Saviour? 9 
 Doth my heart account him willing, able, and faithful?" 
 Do I rejoice in hope, and join with the redeemed in praise 
 on this account? 11 
 
 Fourthly, Upon this relief by Christ, do I yet go farther, 
 (as Esther did, to execute the children of Ilaman after he 
 was dead,) even to see the power of the prince of this world 
 broken in me ? What is the temper and employment of a 
 redeemed soul, in his justified and renewed state ? It is to 
 show forth the virtue of Him who hath called us from dark- 
 ness to light ; from sin and bondage, to freedom, holiness, 
 and righteousness. 12 And Oh ! that this might be and appear 
 in my soul ! To that end, let my heart suffer, and attend to 
 some questions concerning this ; whereby I may further 
 know that I am the Lord's, and not my own. 
 
 Do I account Christ only to be the fountain and author of 
 renewing and holiness ; and so cast myself by faith on Him 
 for it, as well as for pardon ; seeing I cannot think a thought, 
 nor will nor do any good thing of myself, 13 being created in 
 Christ thereto, 14 and quickened therein by him ? 
 
 Is the communion of the Father and the Son, in a way of 
 light and leading by his Spirit, the element I breathe in? 
 So that holiness is my choice, and sweet delight, and my 
 conversation in heaven ? l0 
 
 Do I make designs against the old man. and cherish the 
 new, by the lusting of the Spirit against the flesh? 16 coun- 
 termining the devices of Satan ; ,: watching and trying all 
 means, 18 to increase holiness ? Do I choose and aim at 
 
 i Job 33: 23—30. 1 Kin<rs 8: 38, 39. * Isa 03: 5. 
 
 3 Psalm 49: 7. 4 Hofl 13: 9. 10. 14: 3. 5 [sa. 63: 5. 
 
 6 John 3: 16. * Heb. 10: 7, 10. 9:12. B Eph. 2: fi 
 
 9 Isa. 64: 8. x I-;'. 63: 9. I Thess. 5: 24. 
 
 11 Rom. 5: 2. Rev. 5: 9—13. » Luke 1: 75. 
 
 w 2 Cor. 3: 5. Phil. 2: 13. 14 Eph. 2: 10. 
 
 15 Rom. 7: 22. Phil. 3: 10, 14, 20. * Gal. 5: 17. etc. 
 
 H2 Cor. 2:11. M PhiLft 11. 
 
148 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 pleasing God in what I do, as well as do the thing that is 
 good in itself ? l 
 
 In matters of worship : Do I aim to converse indeed 
 with God himself, as having to do with his presence, 2 acting 
 therein to him ? 3 
 
 Do I labor to snck sanctified light, and real holiness, out 
 of the ordinances, which are the fatness of God's house, 4 and 
 tend to make the new creature nourish ? 5 Do I bow down 
 and comply with every word of God submitting and assent- 
 ing to its full scope ? 6 Do I roll my eye towards God ; 
 eyeing his wisdom, goodness, and righteousness, in natural 
 things, 7 and in things that providentially come to pass ? 8 
 This is to walk with God. 
 
 Do I study and contrive which way I may advance the 
 interest of Christ and his gospel, in the station and capacity 
 in which He hath set me, 9 and to prevent the disparagement 
 of it ? 10 Do I consider, whether I go forward or backward 
 in the concerns of holiness ? Whether there be growth or 
 not, declining or not ? n Am I gaining and reaching for- 
 ward ? 12 If so, it shows my centre is above. 
 
 In these, and such like things, the mutual relation betwixt 
 God and a regenerate person doth shine forth. They are 
 tokens that God dwelleth in him, and he in God. Such a 
 one, because he has betaken himself to the laws, company 
 and mode of the new creation, is in a new state, created of 
 God in Christ, translated to a state of life in God. 
 
 A Christian's renewed state obliges him to glorify God in 
 body and spirit ; and he doth so. 
 
 1. When the soul doth acknowledge God to be that 
 which he is in himself; of him, and through him, and to 
 him, are all things ; to him be glory forever and ever, 
 amen : 13 that He is infinitely excellent in His nature, and 
 in His works, and in His sovereignty. 14 
 
 2. When God is acknowledged to be that which He is to 
 us in Jesus Christ ; 15 and gloriiied through Christ ? 16 
 
 3. When the spirit of a man within him, and the outward 
 
 1 I>a. 56: 4. Col. 1: 10, 11. 2 2 Cor. 2: 17. 3 Col. 3: 17. 
 4 Psalm 36: 8. 5 Psalm 92: 13. 6 Psalm 119: 127, 128. 
 
 " 1 Cor. 10: 31. 8 2 Cor. 7: 6. 2 Tim. 4: 17. Acts 12: 23. 
 
 9 1 Cor. 9: 15, 19, 23. 1° 1 Pet 2: 12. Tit, 2: 10. 
 
 11 Heb. 5: 12. w Phil. 3: 13. 2 Thess. 1: 3. 
 
 13 Rom. 11: 36. u 1 Chron. 29: 11—13. 
 
 15 Ex. 33: 18, 19, and 34: 6, 7. 2 Cor. 4: 6. 
 w 1 Cor. 1:30,31. I Pet. 4: 11. 
 
OltOBHTING <iOD. 119 
 
 man also (concurring according t<> his capacity) d<> ad to- 
 wards God, in an inward complying with, ; i n < 1 actual demon- 
 stration of, the glorious nature, will 9 and grace of God: which 
 is called a walking worthy of ( rod ; ! that is to Bay, conforma- 
 ble to him, (as the word worth)' seems to import ; comparing 
 Eph. v. 1, with Eph. iv. 1 — 4,) bearing his image; and 
 thereby manifesting what God is to as, and what we are to 
 Him ; namely, that God is ours, and we are his. Now this act- 
 ing towards God has a great variety of exercises in belie\ era ; 
 for a believer is the temple of God, in which his glory is 
 more excellently displayed than in all the world besides. 
 
 A believer, by his peculiar nearness to, and interest in 
 God, is capacitated, as a living and active agent, to glorify 
 God, 2 more than another who is only passive, as Pharaoh 
 was. 3 So then, whosoever is not his own, but the Lord's, and 
 the Lord is his, Ins proper element is, to be glorifying God in 
 all things, 4 as appears in these and the like particulars. 
 
 To reverence and adore the majesty of God in all his 
 holy attributes and works, as Nehemiah, 5 Jeremiah, 6 and 
 Daniel ; 7 and as David, and all the people of God, w r ere 
 wont to do : to be abased before God, in the sense of our 
 disproportion and corruption ; as Abraham, 8 Jacob, 9 Ezra, 10 
 and Daniel n were : to justify God in all his dealings, 12 as 
 Daniel, with confession and imploring mercy : 13 
 
 To honor the Father in the Son, 14 and through him : 15 to 
 own God in Christ as the fountain of every grace, 16 and every 
 good and perfect gift, 17 and the establisher and perfecter of 
 it : 18 thine is the kingdom, power and glory, amen. 
 
 To adore Him in his word, 19 believing it : to worship Him 
 with reverence ; 20 and to own Him in his people,- 1 and them 
 for his sake: to abound with the gracious fruits of righteous- 
 ness, which are by Jesus Christ to the praise and glory of 
 God; 22 and to confess Christ before men,' 3 Buffering re- 
 proach, 24 and death for his sake.-' 5 
 
 i 1 Thcss. 2: 12. Col. 1: 10. 2 1 Peter 2: 5—9. Lev. 10:3. 
 
 3 Ex. 14: 17. 4 1 Cor. 10: 31. 5 Nch. 9: 6. G Jer. 32: 17—19. 
 
 7 Dan. 9: 4, etc. 8 Gen. 18: 27. 9 Gen. 32: 10. 10 Ezra 9. 15. 
 11 Dan. 9: 7. ,2 Job 36: 3. Psalm 51: 4. * 3 Dan. 9:4, IS, 19. 
 
 1* John 5: 23. ,5 1 Peter 4: 11. »■ 1 Peter 5: 10. 
 
 1 7 James 1: 17. 1 Peter 4: 11. 13 Matt. G: 18. 
 
 19 2 Chron. 20: 18. Isa. 39: 8. Psalm 56: 4. 119: 106. 
 
 20 Psalm 86: 8—10. 99: 9. 21 Gal. 1: 24. Matt. 10: 24. 
 22 John 15: 11. Phil. 1:11. 23 Matt. 10: 32, 33. 
 
 2i 1 Peter 4: 14. 26 John 21: 19. 
 
 13 
 
150 A DISCOURSE OF 
 
 And now, Oh that God would lead my heart through all 
 these things by an impartial search, and cause me to com- 
 pare my present frame of heart and resolutions, with these 
 particular truths of his own word, and bring me up to glorify 
 Him in my body and spirit, which I trust are his. 
 
 Let me yet farther demand of myself a few questions, 
 which relate to the glorifying of God in my soul, and in my 
 walk. 
 
 Is it so with me that I cannot be quiet ; but restless under 
 guilt, and distance from God ? l Do I cry, Return, O Lord ; 2 
 Why art thou a stranger ? 3 Do I importunately long after 
 more heart-impressions of the knowledge of God, crying out, 
 Show me thy glory ? 4 Is the whole will of God my de- 
 light, and his word my daily diet ? 5 Do I praise, 6 and 
 acknowledge God in daily providences? 7 not repining at 
 his discipline, 8 but being brought nearer to Him by calam- 
 ities ? 9 
 
 Do I own him so, that the hiding of his face doth darken 
 all other comforts to me ; 10 and his presence support and 
 satisfy in the absence of earthly comforts ; u as it was with 
 David at Ziklag ? 12 Do I so approve myself to God, that 
 the approbation, esteem, or praise of man doth rather vex 
 than please me when my conscience within me doth smite 
 me ? 13 In case of guilt and fear, do I cast myself upon the 
 boundless mercy of God, declared in Christ, to be pardoned, 
 and revived, as a sufficient remedy ? 14 
 
 Do I thirst after pure communion with God, so that my 
 heart cries out, " Oh that my ways were directed to keep thy 
 statutes ! " Psa. cxix. 5. Oh that thou wert, etc. Cantic. 
 viii. 1. with all manner of other fervent desires and groans? 
 Psa. xxxviii. 9. 
 
 These and such like workings do testify, that God is the 
 highest good, and the centre of blessedness, and infinitely 
 glorious. And in these spiritual operations a soul doth de- 
 clare and witness him to be so ; and therein doth evidence 
 that God is his, and he is God's ; and hereby he is highly 
 privileged. God now will not take things at the worst with 
 him. 15 When he is at a loss, mercy will surprise, and de- 
 
 1 Psalm 32: 3—5. 2 Isa. 63: 17. 3 Jer. 14: 8. 
 
 4 Ex. 33: 18. 34: 6. 5 Jer. 15: 16. Job 23: 12. 6 Psalm 50: 23. 
 
 7 Gen. 48: 15. Prov. 3: 6. 8 Psalm 119: 75. 9 Isa. 1*/: 7. 
 
 10 Psalm 77: 2. " Psalm 142: 5. 12 1 Sam. 30: 6. 
 
 13 2 Cor. 10: 18. Rom. 2: 29. 14 2 Cor. 12: 9, 15 Matt. 26:40, 41. 
 
GLORIFYING GOD. L51 
 
 liverance overtake him: 1 When dull, his ears shall be 
 awakened to hear as the learned. 9 He shall be kept night 
 and day. 3 Christ will trim and dress him by the word, and 
 teach him by His Spirit.' And he will be tenderly affected 
 towards him, and be with him in trouble. 5 And ( i<><! will 
 not be ashamed to be called his God. 8 He will wipe away 
 his tears, 7 pardon his sins, and justify his person in the per- 
 son of Christ: 8 who will confess him to be his at the last 
 day; 1 ' where he shall Bee his face with joy, 10 and i 
 with the Lord. 11 
 
 Happy is the people that is in such a case ; yea. happy is 
 the people, happy is every particular person, whose God if 
 the Lord. Psa. cxliv. 15. 
 
 1 Ezek. 30: 21. 2 Isa. 50: 4. 3 Isa. 27: 3. 
 
 4 Eph. 5: 26. 5 Isa. 43: 2—7. (i Heb. 11: 16. 
 
 7 Rev. 7: 17. 8 Isa. 45: 25. 9 Rev. 3: 5. 
 
 10 Job 33: 26. u 1 Thess. 4: 17. 
 
152 
 
 HOW TO PURSUE A LAWFUL THING 
 LAWFULLY. 
 
 A Conflict of Mind. 
 
 How soon did Peter, James, and John forget the glorious 
 transfiguration, and Ml asleep when the temptation came ! 
 How soon is light gone, when the sun is eclipsed ! so it is 
 with me. When shall I have skill to discern and resist the 
 beginnings of decay? How soon doth a troop of armed 
 men break in at an unguarded gap ! I cannot thrust them 
 out again myself; but will rather go to Him who hath his 
 bridle in their jaws, and can both turn them back, and also 
 lock the door against them. O that I could lift up a Je- 
 hoshaphat's cry to the Lord of hosts ! Then would the day 
 clear up, and I should yet see my salvation come flying 
 upon the wings of the wind, and mounted upon the clouds 
 for my help. I have one hard task to do : but, O thou to 
 whom nothing is hard, reveal thy will, and conquer mine. 
 My sore task and travail is this ; how to retain a close appli- 
 cation of union with God in Christ, so as that I may prevent 
 the loss of tender converse, and holy, reverential familiarity 
 and intercourse with him. An immoderate minding of some- 
 what, in itself (for ought I can yet see) not unlawful, has been 
 a thorn in my flesh for several days, which has spent much 
 venom against my inward man ; but I must not submit to 
 any adversary : there is no safety but in overcoming. Help 
 me thoroughly, O my God, at this plunge, and thou shalt 
 have the honor of the day. I would fain inquire into my 
 soul, how I contracted this distemper : And, upon inquiry, I 
 find it had such steps as these. 
 
 I was withdrawn, I know not how, from the tender sight 
 of Christ ; and influences of spiritual warmth being damped, 
 night came upon me, and I considered it not. My soul fell 
 asleep, but without any refreshment : I awaked a little 
 now and then, but slumber benumbed me that I could not 
 rise up. I would fain have cried out for help, but my words 
 were like an arrow without feathers, that would not reach 
 the mark ; and all this while an earthly and momentary mat- 
 ter of delight solicited my fancy, and proffered some pleasure 
 
A CONFLICT OF MIND. 158 
 
 to my mind; and. as I judged it. not, as to the matter of it, 
 evil, I gave way, till it had eaten into mysoul like a canker, 
 and began to build its nesl in the very place which I bad 
 lately prepared and devoted tor the entertainment of Christ 
 
 only. Jt was 9, and would not vidd to Christ's su- 
 
 premacy in my affections, but still offered some moon-Ii 
 satisfaction to my mind, instead of the withdrawn beams of 
 the sun : and when Christ whispered some conviction into 
 my heart, and made it ache, and raised some small yearn] 
 after him, this glow-worm glistered upon me ; and though it 
 had neither light nor heat, yet it would offer itself as a com- 
 petent balance, instead of the true spiritual light and warmth 
 which I lately had, but now find was retired at a distance 
 from me, for my trial and exercise. I discerned the snare, 
 but herein lay my strait : my judgment told me, the matter 
 itself was necessary, and that a moderate diligence might be 
 employed about it ; but neither that, nor anything else must 
 dethrone Christ from the chief seat in my affections ; but I 
 found it had so twisted itself into my fancy, that I knew not 
 how to use my thoughts about it with that moderation which 
 would consist with Christ's supreme government and sw T ay 
 in my inmost delight and affections. So that, how to divide 
 betw r een the matter itself, and my excessive affection to it ; 
 to do the one, and guard against the other ; here lay the 
 difficulty. 
 
 The matter, on wdiich this inordinate fancy fed itself, was 
 something relating to literature ; which I judged, in its own 
 nature, lawful and useful. To remedy which distemper, I 
 poured out my complaint before the Lord, and began to 
 muse the following meditations : — 
 
 Be silent, O clamorous, unreasonable sense ! Thy fancy 
 is a poisonous delectation : the object of thy aim is mo- 
 mentary; thy workings are carnal, proud, impetuous, and 
 tyrannous ; spawned from the serpent in the day that it said 
 to Eve, Ye shall be as gods. Thou didst then feed thy ex- 
 pectation with forbidden fruit; thou forsookesl divine coun- 
 sel, lost thy aim, and hast beeu ever since crawling upon thy 
 belly to the earth, and feeding upon the dust. There lies 
 something in that first promise, "The seed of the woman 
 shall bruise the serpent's head." to loose me, in the inward 
 man, from the bonds of thy captivity: that blessed word 
 began the second creation, sentenced carnal sense and the 
 way of its reason, and brought in the draught of a new 
 
 13* 
 
154 HOW TO PURSUE 
 
 created state, in which the image of Christ is renewed upon 
 the soul ; swaying it by spiritual knowledge and understand- 
 ing, into a state of righteousness and holiness ; and giving it 
 dominion, by a holy force and rightful power, to subject all 
 human sense and reason, knowledge, understanding, and the 
 delights thereof, to the authority and full command of the 
 wisdom of the Spirit. And therefore I would wait for some 
 dew from this wisdom that is from above, to water and guide 
 :me : and by this conduct I would lay down these grounds. 
 
 How to pursue a lawful thing lawfully. 
 
 Every pursuit of a lawful thing is so far sinful to me, as 
 the pursuit thereof doth tend to distract my mind in prayer 
 and converse with God; and that which makes the mind of 
 Christ in his word, and godly conference, unrelishable to me. 
 That which tends to contract and confine my view of the 
 worth of Christ, my need of him, and relation to him. 
 That which hinders me from a penitent and vigorous watch- 
 fulness and resistance against the defiling nature of my heart- 
 corruptions. That which weakens the exercise of my faith 
 about the reality of divine truths, God's all-seeing eye, the 
 constant necessity of holiness in my heart and in my aim ; 
 unlimited and free resignation to the will of God, and a hun- 
 gering expectation of the appearing of Christ, and my own 
 dissolution. That which offers violence to all or any Chris- 
 tian duty, which takes off my desire to the ordinances, and 
 profitable use of them, as if the time were lost which is 
 spent in such work. That which cares not for an exercise of 
 faith, and prayer for a blessing upon it, and direction and 
 assistance from God in it. Every one of these doth declare 
 itself so far to be a work of the flesh,- and not wrought in 
 God. For if I am wholly redeemed, then nothing in me is 
 to be any longer at my natural command ; but my whole self, 
 and all my ways and concernments do come under the laws 
 of the Spirit of life which is in Christ. In all which fore- 
 mentioned particulars, I have found guilt sliding in upon 
 me with a strong hand. 
 
 In the next place, I would consider what civil actions, 
 labors, or studies may be truly accounted lawful, and within 
 that command and permission in the fourth commandment, 
 " Six days shalt thou labor, and do all that thou hast to do." 
 And upon inquiry they appear to be these. Whatsoever 
 
A LAWFUL THING LAWFULLY, 155 
 
 may conduce to administer any true Datura] good to the body, 
 estate, or credit of myself or others, which lies included in 
 all the precepts of the Becond table. 1 Whatsoever may con- 
 duce to polish true reason, and free the discerning faculty of 
 
 the mind from that captivity, darkness, and infirmity con- 
 tracted by the tall of our first parents, which disabled the 
 understanding, in a great measure, to discern between things 
 
 truly morally good and evil; without which the discursive 
 
 faculty of the soul cannot act within itself, or be capable of 
 any impressions for its good from the words of others ; the 
 freeing of which would tend much to make way for the en- 
 trance of gracious convictions where the word of God is 
 heard, or leave that soul more wilfully inexcusable : which 
 seems to be hinted in Isa. xliv. 18,19, where the prophet 
 speaks of the irrationality of idol-worship, as that which 
 contradicts the true use even of natural reason. And in 
 order hereunto, whatsoever may help reason in its exercise ; 
 as conference with, and reading the labors of such whom 
 God hath fitted, in any measure, for repairing the sad breach 
 made on human nature. Whatsoever may conduce to the 
 help of memory ; as the art of reading and writing ; which 
 art w r e find justified in the scriptures. 2 Whatsoever may 
 make the offices of humanity, as well as Christianity, more 
 communicable ; as the knowledge of tongues ; the ordinary 
 learning of which seems to be justified by the extraordinary 
 gift of tongues, whereby the apostles were enabled to dis- 
 pense the gospel in the world : whatsoever also may tend to 
 the understanding of the letter of the scriptures ; as the 
 knowledge especially of the original tongues. And whatso- 
 ever may facilitate the lawful employments of men ; as 
 arithmetic, navigation, and other arts and manufactures; not 
 properly serving the bare lust, but the true advantage, and 
 lawful comfort and conveniency, of the rational creature: 
 which curious manufactures and ingenious arts were used at 
 the making of the Mosaical tabernacle, and Solomon's 
 temple, in the fitting and adorning of them for that use for 
 which they were intended of God. 
 
 Having weighed the lawfulness of the forcmentioned par- 
 ticulars, among which, one of those cases doth (at present, 
 more than the rest) concern my own consideration, and 
 further inquiry ; I would therefore next consider, how a 
 
 1 Ex. 20: 12—17. * Dan. 9: 2. Deut. 6: 9. 
 
156 HOW TO PURSUE 
 
 natural, or civil lawful action may be done lawfully : so as 
 not to prejudice the inward man, by grieving the Spirit in 
 the manner of a man's labor, care, pains, diligence, or study ; 
 or in his utmost end and design therein. A right spiritual 
 end in natural and moral actions, lies in these respects: — 
 
 1. When I serve the will of God intentionally, in obey- 
 ing that law of nature which God has subjected me to, as in 
 eating, drinking, physic, clothing, sleep. 1 
 
 2. When I design more dutiful service to the will and 
 glory of God by my health, estate, credit, and endowment 
 of mind, than I could attain unto without those means. 2 
 
 3. When the will and glory of God are so far the soul 
 of my natural and civil actions and designs, that my delight 
 does not terminate in the things done or enjoyed ; but passing 
 through them, takes up its rest in the enjoying, pleasing, and 
 serving God therein. 3 
 
 For the better regulating the mind in such actions and 
 labors in pursuance of a right end, be attentive to these 
 rules and ends. Consider, 
 
 1. A Christian life lies in union with Christ, and not in 
 any of the things or enjoyments here below. 
 
 2. They are such things and enjoyments which the ene- 
 mies of God may be employed in, and possessed of in this 
 world, as well as the servants of God. 
 
 And, therefore, that such common work may be done 
 spiritually, 
 
 1. Sanctify it by prayer. 4 
 
 2. Eely on God by faith for such abilities of body or 
 mind, as are suitable to such work. 
 
 3. Let not the thoughts be inordinately devoured in it ; 
 and to that end, 
 
 4. Force the heart to read and meditate the scriptures 
 with more seriousness, and labor for an inward value thereof, 
 above any other labor or study. 
 
 5. Judge not any useful labor, work, or study, to be ma- 
 terially, or in itself evil, because your inordinate affection 
 about it is sinful : but rather regulate your desires to mod- 
 eration, and a right end in what you do. 
 
 6. Be contented in the measure of your attainment. 
 
 7. View the excellency of God in Christ appearing in all 
 
 1 1 Tim. 4: 3, 4. 1 Cor. 10: 31. 2 Prov. 3: 9. 
 
 3 1 Chron. 29: 9. 4 1 Tim. 4: 5. Ruth 2: 4. 
 
A LAWFUL THBffG LAWFULLY. L57 
 
 created skill, excellency and worth : strive to wind ap your 
 heart by creature-excellencies, instantly to a more actual en- 
 joyment of them as his gift only, and go to himself as the 
 fountain of perfection. 
 
 Thus have I been wrestling with a monster bred in my 
 own bowels; but, Captain of my salvation, breathe truth, 
 faith, virtue, and blessing, upon these meditations; or else 
 all my labor is lost, and my inquiry into my disease Bpent 
 in vain. k * Every good and perfect gift comes down from 
 above," and therefore, my eyes are to the hills, from whence 
 comes my help. Let not the poor return ashamed of his 
 hope : I leave my success upon thy hands, who hast re- 
 deemed me, O Lord God of truth. 
 
 And seeing a gracious God hath favored me thus far, to 
 drill me along ; sometimes wooing, sometimes reproving, 
 sometimes comforting, and confirming me in the various roll- 
 ings of my heart in these meditations, from time to time ; I 
 would now rest upon Him, to make good all the movings 
 of His spirit in my heart, and to issue forth from himself 
 through Christ, by his Spirit, a suitable supply, according as 
 my daily need, and proneness to decay, do require ; that it 
 may be evidenced to my soul, that these meditations (how 
 much frailty soever I have been laden with under them) 
 were not mere human labor and intention ; but that the 
 breath of the Holy Spirit has been, in some true measure, 
 present. And therefore, O thou, who art the God of all my 
 hope, be pleased to cause all that love to, and desire after, 
 pure union and fellowship with thee in Christ, which has 
 been at any time working towards thee in any of these 
 meditations, and at any other time, to be purged from my 
 personal guilt that cleaves to the best thing which I do : 
 and vouchsafe a return of my desires from the throne of 
 grace, as far as any exercise of spirit in me has been ac- 
 ceptable in thy sight, through my dear Redeemer : that 
 whether I sleep or wake, the groanings of thy Spirit may 
 be acceptable before thee day and night ; and though my 
 heart be vile, yet let it still be as a, garden watered by thy 
 hand, a soul which the Lord careth for. 
 
 Bring me through the great waters, that one day I 
 may be utterly and eternally delivered from every evil 
 work, inward and outward, and purely serve, live to, 
 and glorify Thee ; being presented spotless through Christ. 
 among that glorious liost of the "spirits of just men mad" 
 perfect," 
 
158 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 A. D. 1638.— 7b D. B. 
 
 Your letter I very gladly received ; and it is no small 
 delight to me, to see that your eyes are towards heaven, and 
 your desires to the fear of your Maker. Before, I was 
 hopeful, hut now I am confident. And, seeing the beautiful 
 light of the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ has enlightened 
 your soul, and purified your conscience from dead works, to 
 serve the living God ; seeing it is thus, fear not, only be 
 strong. Be thrifty of your time, exact in your course, 
 spiritual in your aim, bearing about with you an undaunted 
 triumph in believing. One thing among the rest, not un- 
 needful, I must advise you ; that you set yourself to pluck 
 up your spirits, and be of a lively heart ; getting what 
 necessary insight into the world you can, that you may the 
 better get within the humors of all people, in order to under - 
 stand the better how to carry yourself, in what condition of 
 life soever you shall be in, to your own comfort, and the 
 shunning of unnecessary reproach or contempt ; but, con- 
 trarily, obtaining credit and esteem of all, even of them that 
 are without. The exercise of worldly wisdom, policy, skill, 
 and utmost endeavor, must be used, albeit not depended on ; 
 nor the corruptions of the world practised. Something I do 
 the rather write this way, as conceiving some other course of 
 life will befall you ere long, than at present you are in; yet 
 still keep close to Almighty God; and whereas others, in 
 their course on earth, and creditable conversation here, do 
 sacrifice to their wits, boldness, contrivance, and the like ; do 
 you endeavor and pray, that you may sacrifice to the will, 
 wisdom, and assistance of God in heaven, made over to 
 you in the merits of Christ undoubtedly. The Lord be with 
 us, and grant us unearthly hearts and conversations, whatever 
 may hereafter betide us. There is no rock like our Rock, 
 no god like our God. To him I commit myself and you, 
 for an everlasting support. 
 
LETT] 1 V» 
 
 1689.— To I). B. 
 
 Having such an opportunity, I could nol bul write a few 
 lines: and all that I have to Bay is; Casl yourself upon 
 God in Jesus Christ. Ea1 his flesh, and drink his blood ; 
 be with him upon the cross, be with him ascended into 
 heaven : by the one, to be discharged from the clamor 
 the law, and the guiltiness of conscience; by the other, to 
 triumph in assurance 1 of victory over sin and sorrow. This 
 implanting into the Son by faith : this life of faith is fed by 
 meditation on the mystery, with prayer, attentive reading 
 and hearing, good conference with experienced b< liei 
 and the use of the sacraments. These things I believe your 
 heart doth ponder ; but we are bound to put one another in 
 mind. And next, seek and strive in your service to be 
 laborious, faithful, and discreet ; separate not the service of 
 Christ from the service of your master ; serve one in the 
 other ; strive mightily to temper them well one with the 
 other ; and then, whatsoever you put your hand unto, do it 
 with all your might, etc. 
 
 1646.— To B. J.'D. 
 
 I know you are under great suffering, and what work of 
 comfort or counsel to write to you I know not ; only this, 
 that "it is of the Lord." As Jonah was not to be angry, 
 you are not to be tortured with grief — that one, that two 
 gourds are withered together. Morality and reason plead 
 for patience and content, but your interest in the Maker and 
 Heir of all things may truly argue for it much more. He 
 that gave you them at first, has now called them away. The 
 Giver lives, though the gift be withdrawn. The Comforter 
 is the same, and the substance, though the comfort be re- 
 moved, and the leaves fallen. Haply your thoughts are — 
 Where are they ? whither gone? at rest, or not? Consider 
 whose eye saw them before they were formed in the womb. 
 The everlasting decree had disposed of them before they 
 were committed to your hands : leave the thought of them 
 to the Lord, whose free love is like a mighty dt en. And, 
 oh ! that the course which the Lord takes to mind us thai t\ic 
 end of all things is at hand, might powerfully dislodge our 
 hopes, peace, and comfort from an earthly resl in low tran- 
 sient things, and fix them on him who is the M Bock 
 
160 LETTERS. 
 
 ages ; " which we are called to do upon every hand. I trust 
 that outstretched hand of his will do it ; that at length we 
 may know no persons according to the flesh, nor things 
 neither. Then alone in enjoying the Lord shall you and I 
 enjoy ourselves, and the reality of every good thing, when 
 the shadows flee away. Is not your heavenly Father better 
 than ten sons, and his teaching rod than their presence ? 
 Consider it. Inquire his will, bless his name, comfort your 
 poor wife, and do not charge God foolishly. Seek God's 
 face the more, and let your conversation mount higher, and 
 then your loss will be repaid, and God will show you his in- 
 tent in this. This only, as a fellow-feeler of your cross, I 
 present unto you, etc. 
 
 1648.— To B.J. D. 
 
 Considering mine own weakness, and remembering you 
 are also in the body ; and withal, considering that mutual 
 communications, by pen or speech, are required to help each 
 other, and stir up one another to the relish and practice of 
 Christian walking, I thought fit (in mere discharge of duty) 
 to present my present thoughts to you. And that I may 
 declare more distinctly the state of my soul to you, I pass 
 by the general complainings and bewailings which often- 
 times arise from pretended religious compliment, or carnal 
 sloth, to a more particular account. 
 
 I find the reputation of the world doth much beguile me ; 
 especially when I have to do with men neither grossly 
 wicked, nor strictly good. And I find, intimacy with these 
 men, and in their actions of indifferency, doth plague my 
 soul with such coldness, dryness, and guilt, that (methinks) 
 sometimes I part from them, as Tamar from Amnon, full of 
 inward shame and disquiet. Let me at any time go out of 
 God's sight to act things, though indifferent in their nature, 
 yet when conscience calls for any spiritual duty or discourse, 
 methinks it is like the voice that came to Adam in the cool 
 of the day. I find also a strange influence upon my heart 
 from the ways of coveting any worldly advantage. TVell 
 was this wickedness called idolatry ; for it doth importunately 
 draw my eye and heart from the Lord, to admire and covet 
 after vain enjoyments, and yet I cannot say that to this day 
 I ever wanted any good thing. This I find to be both a de- 
 ceiving and unprofitable lust, spoiling the comfort of my soul, 
 
UBTTSBS. 161 
 
 and not enriching my body, nor even adding one cubit to my 
 stature. 
 
 Nothing dot 1 1 ever make the though! of any misery 
 miserable to me, bu1 the reflectinga of a betrayed heart ; 
 and they Btare upon me, as Delilah did on Samson, when his 
 Btrength was gone, and the Philistines were upon him ; and 
 then my soul is as weak as water. Bui should I go to num- 
 ber ii}) the deceits that are within me, they are innumera- 
 ble; only it is some ease, now and then, to open the im- 
 posthume, as to God, so also to good men. I know not how 
 tar your sense of the same or other infirmities may oppress 
 yon. bat I know you wear about with you the same nature 
 as I do, though, I hope, more enabled to strive against the 
 stream of nature than I am. But whatever strength you 
 have. 1 am sure it comes from above ; and, indeed, I must 
 needs say, (and my heart rejoieeth at the mention,) that I 
 am not forsaken in this conflict. My Redeemer is strong, 
 and mine infirmities are judged already, and shall not afflict 
 me forever. I am directed to a sure remedy, in Psalm 
 xxxvii. o — 5, and shall lay it before you, if your disease be 
 mine, namely, " to trust in the Lord in well-doing only ; de- 
 light in the Lord, and commit your way unto him." Let 
 this physic have its due work, and the truth of God is en- 
 gaged for a recovery. Sometimes I am (as it were) ven- 
 turing on such a resignment as this trusting, delighting, and 
 committing doth signify ; and, methinks, the very resolution 
 so to do, as a beam of God's power and love, doth rejoice 
 my heart in hope. Doubtless it is a heavenly life to give 
 up all our delight and trust, and commit all our way unto the 
 Lord. And doubtless that is the way to fight against our 
 lusts with much advantage, when we are got above them ; 
 and in our resignment to God, have engaged him in the 
 quarrel. I know the advantage is very great, by some little 
 sparks of it. And I never knew that I got power against 
 one lust of heart, or evil way, but by being firsl (as it were) 
 dissolved into the Lord, and then appearing against it in his 
 power. When God and I are made one through Christ in 
 opposition to my own sins, and I am no longer mine own, 
 but his, and my faith is acting through this union ; then, I 
 may, yea and must .-ay, do the Btrength and snares of tempta- 
 tion vanish at his appearing: And happy is that soul that 
 appears in no other strength but his. But while 1 am 
 writing, my heart doth accuse my pen for hinting an enjoy - 
 
 14 
 
162 LETTERS. 
 
 ment beyond what I have. I can only say this ; something 
 of this sort I have already tasted, and more I earnestly hope 
 for, as the only remedy for a weak, captivated, dismayed 
 heart. I pray, let me hear how it fareth with you ; that we 
 may, in the Lord, help one another, and build up one an- 
 other in our most holy faith, etc. 
 
 1649.— To C. A. D. 
 
 Yom friendly and Christian line$ I received, and do with 
 you rejoice in the happiness of your nearest relation. The 
 happiness is the greater, in that your principles accord, as 
 well as your affections ; which renders your condition a 
 more lively type of the conjugal interest betwixt Christ and 
 a believer. You say, your experience tells you it is good to 
 wait on God : do not forget the same experience in other 
 cases. Abound in spiritual affections to one another as 
 much as you can, and in ingenuous marriage-love and affec- 
 tions also ; but beware of that which is inordinate ; remem- 
 bering that they that marry are to be as if they married not. 
 It may be you may find new temptations in your new con- 
 dition, and God teaching you thereby : if so, there is still 
 cause of thankfulness ; for God has many ways, in variety 
 of trials, to teach, to purge, and comfort. 
 
 I perceive there is that within you which takes little con- 
 tent in high speculations without power. I think it is no 
 small happiness to be preserved from the vain, unsavory pro- 
 fession of the times, consisting more in phrase of words, 
 human wit, and pride, than power of religion. Doubtless, 
 the ancient path of sincerity, humility, patience, love, and 
 fruits of thankfulness, is the best path for saints to travel in ; 
 waiting on God for more enlarged hearts and enlightened 
 eyes, both to know and to do his will with more integrity. 
 Ah ! the purity and spirituality of the apostles' writings, and 
 the sermons of Christ ! There is no cavilling, no jeering ; 
 but bowels of tenderness, and awful, sweet reverence in the 
 things of God. Let your thoughts still fix there. Asso- 
 ciate with the most tender and sincere, and you shall escape 
 the destructive influence of that seemingly religious loose- 
 ness and atheism, which has (I fear) cankered many a hope- 
 ful professor. As for my own part, I am tossed to and fro 
 under temptations, yet reaping this fruit thereby, to thirst 
 the more after the day of Christ's appearance, and my de- 
 liverance, etc. 
 
LETTERS. L68 
 
 L652. — To B. I). 
 
 Con has been pleased to put as, and continue us long 
 asunder, and we have had our rariet} of* troubles, dang 
 
 ; temptations; and in regard we can conic no nearer each 
 other, let us speak at a distance. By the view I have t. 
 of earthly matters, and earthly conditions, I can say, with 
 my whole heart, the besl refreshment is vexation of spirit; 
 and if so, then comes this rebuke ; how have J laid out my 
 money for that which is not bread! God has delivered me 
 from being a burden to my friends, and yet my body and 
 soul (ah ! when will it once be !) are not given up as a sac- 
 rifice to him only. 
 
 Brother, I perceive so much of the unsearchable pity of 
 the Lord to me, that I know not what to do or say. Oh, 
 that my heart might break into a thousand pieces, and be 
 made up again by the Spirit of renewing! What a misery 
 is it to desire that that might live, which is nailed to the 
 cross, and crucified. ! Oh, for the newness of the Spirit, to 
 see the new creature, that old things might pass away from 
 one end of the soul unto the other ! I tremble at the men- 
 tion of these words, because the power is of God ; and the 
 dark design of the lust within me labors to destroy my in- 
 terest, ruin my peace, and make me unserviceable to my 
 God, to whom I am going. Oh, that I could, in the power 
 of my dear Saviour, raise my head so high out of the misery 
 that easily besets me, as to peep forth into the fresh air of a 
 whole resignment, even of whatsoever I have, am, or do ex- 
 pect, unto God, through Christ, nakedly and unreservedly ! 
 You are on my heart before the Lord, that you may be 
 saved from yourself and the world, from your fears, com- 
 forts, and hopes; that the kingdom of our dear Lord may 
 exalt itself exceedingly in your heart. The Lord himself 
 be your guide ; to whom, alone, I can adventure to surren- 
 der you. I am again returning from my wife's grave, into 
 to seek mine own, etc. 
 
 1C52.— To D. II. 
 
 Dear Sister : I account it my duty to hold up an in- 
 tercourse of writing to you, as opportunity and time will 
 permit ; as being sensible, in some measure, of the state of 
 
 your inward man. My words have no quickening life ; the 
 
164 LETTERS. 
 
 bodily speech of Christ himself could not bestow it without 
 the Spirit, much less the pen of a sinful worm, but I will 
 send you where this ware is to be sold at a cheap rate, if 
 compliments of self-preparedness (for I can call it no other) 
 do not hinder, (Isa. lv. 1,) " Buy wine and milk without 
 money." Say it over again ; " without money." What ? is 
 this the voice of your beloved ? and without price." Is it 
 indeed without price ? How hard is this one lesson, " with- 
 out price ! " My guilt can press me down ; but can it press 
 Him down who bears up heaven and earth ? Can my weak- 
 ness hinder me from lying down ? There is nothing more 
 acceptable to him, than for me, as it were, to lie down upon 
 him ; you can never lean too hard upon your well-beloved. 
 Nothing troubles him, but when you lean from him, Cant, 
 viii. 5. This is true gospel- venture : 
 
 Hence comes quickening, in the sweet season of God's 
 making. How easy, think you, it were for you to come to 
 Christ, if you were without spot ! But are you not ashamed 
 to let Christ wash you from all your sins ? You are loath 
 to trouble him so far, and yet you can never please him 
 better. The greater the work of his redemption, the greater 
 is his glory. This rather wins his heart to you, than ren- 
 ders you unpleasing or unwelcome to him. It is his own 
 bewailing language, " Ye will not come to me," etc. If you 
 will look up to the " brazen serpent," you will quickly know 
 freedom. There is no condition you can be in, but you are 
 well enough, if Christ be with you. That is the reason 
 that neither water nor fire, etc., can destroy. He is willing, 
 be you so, too. Trust him, and see if any condition what- 
 soever comes short of a remedy, where " Christ is all in 
 all ; " all for pardon, all for purging, all for advice, rest, and 
 satisfaction. In a few days you and my vail will be gone, 
 and we shall see what now we desire to believe. I leave 
 you and my little child to the teaching and blessing of the 
 Lord, etc. 
 
 1653.— To S. D. H. 
 
 Your long, large, and savory letter I received. I dis- 
 cern your thirst in those lines ; you are not alone in that 
 agony. You know that thirst is a restless want of refreshing 
 liquor; and you know the promise calls them who are in 
 such a state, blessed ; although as yet satisfaction be not 
 
LSTTEB 1611 
 
 given. If a restless desire be a blessing, why Bhould not 
 God have die honor of thai dispensation? Although the 
 refreshing presence of Christ, our bridegroom, has nol yet 
 entered the chambers of your sensible enjoyment, yet re- 
 member again, u Blessed arc they thai thirst ; fur they >hall 
 be filled." Your whole letter doth argue thirst ; and there- 
 fore you are truly blessed : And therefore you -hall be 
 satisfied. I could write many complaining lines 5 yea,] can 
 never complain too much of my vile, sinful body and mind, 
 but in doing that, I must not blemish the free grace of God 
 in Christ; yea, I am sorry I have done it too much wrong 
 hitherto. Devils are against it, flesh and blood are against 
 it ; and shall I be so too ? Let me embrace it rather ; never 
 mourning from God, but mourning towards him. in hope, 
 above hope. Study that word. Yield not to weariness nor 
 faintness in mind : through faith and patience you shall in- 
 herit it, as well as the rest of Abraham's daughters before 
 you. Was not Christ in an agony ? Did not he thirst ? 
 Was not even he straitened ? And must not you be con- 
 formable ? I say again ; Rejoice in it, and hold the "hem 
 of his garment," and you will find by and by the " virtue 
 come forth." He is not deaf; He cannot deny himself; He 
 does hear, and the " vision will speak." You do well to 
 pump the wells of salvation, the scriptures. The night will 
 . not long last, the day is coming; the "prince of this world is 
 judged," and " thy God reigneth." I shall one day (I doubt 
 not) with thee sing "the song of the Lamb," beyond sin, 
 fear, and sorrow. I leave thee to his care and love, which 
 is far beyond mine. I must end, but I leave you to him 
 whose words are life indeed. Farewell, in the bowels of 
 Christ, to whom I commit you, etc. 
 
 1G53.— To D. II. 
 
 The conveniency of this opportunity inciteth me to write 
 to you by this bearer, who ha- promised to see my child. I 
 ire that as she grows in capacity, you would be dropping 
 in somewhat of spiritual thing- for her tender thoughts to 
 feed upon. Though I cannot, at this distance, see your 
 yet I know your temptations in some part, and your de- 
 liverance too ; which will, in due time, appear. It ifl good 
 to be carried about, and disposed of by the hand of the Lord. 
 It is a blessed thing, and will one day appear so, to rejoice 
 
 14* 
 
166 LETTERS. 
 
 in the pleasure of the Lord, let him do with a poor creature 
 what he will, so he make you more like himself, by uns elfin g 
 you from carnal desires, and carnal discontents and fears, 
 and transplanting you into the power and joy of believing ; 
 enabling you really to account the offer of eternal kindness 
 in Christ more glory than any earthly dying comfort : And 
 certainly where the comforts here can comfort but little, the 
 crosses here can cross but little ; and shortly farewell both. 
 Let your heart dwell much on the free covenant of grace in 
 Christ, by prayer and meditation ; and let your sins come 
 into the same room with you, while you are on that inquiry. 
 When I am at a dead lift, then sometimes the Spirit of God 
 takes me up (as it were) into the arms of that covenant 
 which he made with Christ concerning me, and every one 
 who is not a wilful unbeliever. And the very glance of that 
 salvation wrought by the Lord, concerning which I am only 
 to believe, sets me again upon my feet. I have no other 
 task but to be willing in truth to receive it, and I shall have 
 it : and if so, then you and I shall be sure never to want 
 any one good thing. Evil (as evil from the Lord) cannot 
 befall us. You will then see the favor of God to you in 
 earthly seeming frowns. No such favor as to be dead to 
 sensible comforts, and as a stranger to earthly carnal con- 
 tentments, though this be tedious to flesh and blood ; yet 
 let it more appear that our rest is not in these things, but in 
 the everliving God: He is your teacher, and I leave you 
 to Him. 
 
 1653.— To J. EL 
 
 I niYE received your letter, and return you thanks for 
 your love. Should I give you a draught of my soul, it 
 would pity you to see it. Did not the mercy of God pre- 
 vent, you would find me in the four last vices mentioned in 
 Rom. i. But, blessed be the Lord, that though there be a 
 law in my members warring and tormenting, I have in the 
 Lord a little strength, and do sometimes view deliverance. 
 I have too long had too much content in a carnal walking 
 with God, and have been satisfied too much in a carnal ap- 
 pearance that way. There is a way to live with God in the 
 world, but it is of his own making ; no visible or sensible 
 thing can contribute anything to it : and yet I cannot die to 
 these vain helps. I shall never understand the word " all" 
 
LETTBBS. 1 67 
 
 in Matt xxu. 87, till the power of the fcfosl High doth 
 bear it in. Ah, when will it once be? Certainly that grt 
 will one day be very glorious, that hath attended a poor, dis- 
 ced heart, through the uncomfortable Bights and abundant 
 
 frailties of this corrupt, mortal condition. One pure. >eri- 
 
 ous, true, long-breathed desire of Christ's appearing, gives 
 
 sonic deliverance. Oh, the glory of that day, when the real 
 appearing shall be, and all filthy garments removed, and 
 every filthy smell be forever removed also ! Let us be found 
 
 among those that wait for redemption, and wail waking. 
 Truly, brother, we cannot word out one to another what i- 
 the state, duties, and privileges, of an interest in a new life, 
 and hope of glory. The best means, the best words, yea, 
 even the scriptures (though not so in themselves) are de- 
 ceiving to a deceived, carnal heart. Such a heart will turn 
 the most spiritual things into flesh, and so feed upon them to 
 satisfy carnal fancy. Oh that you and I could start up from 
 fleshly consultation, and listen quietly, leisurely, and yet 
 greedily, and obediently, to the mere dictate of the blessed 
 Spirit in his word ! Your opportunity and mine of honoring 
 God in the world is very far spent already. I desire that 
 you be for God not only in season, but out of season also. 
 Dear brother, I thought fit to give you a touch of what my 
 poor heart desires to be wrestling in. I know you mind the 
 same thing ; go on therein, and prosper : there is no other 
 way of peace, but this. I am rude ; but I had rather write 
 my heart than my invention. "Well, brother, I thank you 
 for your good wishes to my poor child : I trust the Lord will 
 vouchsafe her truth of grace, and shed abroad his mercy and 
 love into her heart, and make it appear, as her tender year- 
 will bear, and manifest the same. Remember me to my 
 sister, your wife, whom I have reason also to honor, for the 
 goodness of God to her ; and to you, I trust in her. I should 
 rejoice to hear that some others of your and my poor friends 
 had the Lord alone for their whole desire and portion : I 
 would rather remember such in my prayers, than in my 
 letter. Remember my love to your sister 1)., who is, 1 am 
 much assured, more precious in God'.- eye than in her own. 
 I leave all new- to the bearer, and commend the remem- 
 brance of you to the Lord, and remain, etc. 
 
168 LETTERS* 
 
 1655.— To S. D. H. 
 
 I trust you find the word of God faithful, and creating 
 faithfulness also (in the seed thereof) in your heart. I 
 think this is a true maxim : one deliberate, unfeigned 
 desire of perfect righteousness in Christ is the very fruit 
 of the perfect righteousness of Christ ; for who can 
 bring a clean thing out of an unclean, but he alone, by 
 his creating power and love ? Nourish faith tenderly and 
 humbly; try the Lord's will, and your own heart; prize 
 that faith which puts forward all grace, which takes away 
 discouragement from mortification, and makes it as the gate 
 of heaven, and the hope of glory ; for the apostle found it so, 
 and pleads it just so to us, Rom. vi. 5 — 8, etc. You have 
 a good guide ; give him the honor solely to order your heart 
 and way ; his voice is heard in the scripture. Believe not 
 your own heart or reason against the naked word of truth. 
 In cases of scruple, or discouragement of any sort, give 
 yourself the same counsel as by the scriptures you would 
 give to another person in the same case. The work of faith 
 is not to make sin no sin ; but because of sin, to bring the 
 soul to the Redeemer ; that the more sin it sees, it may the 
 more abhor it, and triumph the more, in consideration that 
 grace doth superabound through a Mediator. And here lies 
 the mystery of faith ; the Lord himself has it, and you and 
 I shall say, We have enough. 
 
 1655.— To D. H. 
 
 Since God made your heart pant after that world, in 
 which dwell immortality and righteousness, did you ever 
 upon good ground (as you thought) judge any earthly 
 friend a certain comfort ? If so, then has God, by remov- 
 ing your sister, and now by removing your father, wit- 
 nessed the contrary. If you apprehend them as uncertain, 
 then why are they not sufficiently repaid in the fatherly 
 respect of an unchangeable God ? Is it good to be angry 
 with the Lord ? Do not study to be more sour and melan- 
 choly, but how to be more holy, self-denying, and cheerful, 
 on the account of a freely tendered covenant ; rejoicing that 
 shortly you shall take your journey, and go visit your 
 father, your sister, etc., and all the saints since the beginning. 
 Never study how to dishonor the nature of the gospel, by a 
 
us. 
 
 sullen, carnal pleading of Belf-unworthin688. The troth is, 
 sell' is not worthy to plead, bul Christ is worthy to be loved 
 an«! believed; and thai is enough. If He will love me, 
 heal me, purge me, Bave me, convince me, accept me freely, 
 why should I be offended at it. and say, He cannot mean as 
 the gospel speaks? My sullen heart is never broken till 
 almighty con vincemenl from God break my hear! to powder; 
 till that time I play with melancholy, under a kind ofves 
 delight. I trust God will teach you some good Lesson by 
 this visitation, that the knowledge of God in Christ, and the 
 knowledge of your heart may he wisely taken in. J earnestly 
 desire this, that all your thoughts may he brought over to a 
 subjection to the good pleasure of God, with delight in thai 
 good pleasure of his, and be thankful that you have an op- 
 portunity to honor him, by saying and thinking that all his 
 ways are mercy and truth. Though he take to himself your 
 nearest friends, you do them so much right as to rejoice that 
 they reign ; though you mourn after your beloved, and long 
 to leave yourself, that you may love him the better. I leave 
 you to Him who can and will do more in his love and pity, 
 than I or any friend can do. Rejoice in hope, lift up your 
 head, the days of your lamentation are almost ended. I 
 remain yours, in the fellow-feeling of the same burden, etc. 
 
 1655.— To A. C. 
 
 I ENJOY my health, through the goodness of God, as yet. 
 My soul has many dry and sapless seasons, many drowsy 
 and fainty qualms, through the deceit of heart that lies root- 
 ed within; but yet the Lord cries ever and anon in my ear, 
 " I am God, and I change not : therefore thou art not con- 
 sumed." I find it desperately dangerous to set my reason 
 and sen?e in dispute with that which faith only Bhould take 
 up, I mean reconcilement upon free terms. If there be any 
 sinfulness, or any aggravation of sin which seems to except 
 itself from the remedy of Christ's atonement, then certainly 
 the eye of faith takes not up its mark as it should do. If 
 there be any weakness and darkness, and the goul thinks to 
 get over it without a humble resignation of the case to 
 Christ for help, it will find the cure come badly on. A 
 heart which would not have a liberty for sinning, can never 
 engage in a free-hearted adventure on Christ too far for 
 pardon and strength. Christ never refused any one Binner 
 
170 LETTERS* 
 
 that came to him on earth, unless it were the mocking, 
 treacherous, and spiteful Pharisee : and, therefore, I am 
 bound to believe He hears and accepts every unfeigned re- 
 quest, though hardness and darkness afflict. So that I am, 
 with my lamenting after him, to rejoice that he is himself the 
 corner-stone of that work in my heart, that yearns after him 
 in a dry land. I recommend you to the Lord, etc. 
 
 1655.— To A. C. 
 
 I thought good to send you a few lines, which, while I 
 am writing, serve instead of a conference : there only wants 
 your answer to every sentence, and the mutual refreshing of 
 your voice. I can, at a distance, guess at your thoughts ; I 
 can also take refreshment in this, that the arm of the Lord, 
 seen by you, or unseen, yet holds you, teacheth you, and is 
 always near you. We are not to think the unchangeable 
 God doth change as oft as we use to change. Not every 
 cloud, nor all the clouds of the sky are able to hinder the 
 course of the sun, because the sun is above them ; and so is 
 the covenant of our peace above our darkness and weakness. 
 A small matter (if seasons of weakness and dulness may be 
 called so) is enough, when unbelief is cherished, to make as 
 " much mischief in the soul, as a wolf among a flock of 
 sheep. Indeed, every sin is hateful in the sight of God ; 
 and a sluggish heart, that is rather prone continually to all 
 that is evil, inwardly and outwardly, than inclined to good, 
 is grievous to the Spirit of God : but this is perpetually the 
 refuge, that God accounts the sinfulness of his people their 
 sickness, not their state ; and to purge and cure them, He 
 uses sometimes one means, and sometimes another ; witness 
 Psalm lxxxix. 31 — 34, and Isa. xxvii. 8, 9. But still the 
 covenant, being wholly of his contrivance, stands fixed in 
 heaven ; and so doth Jesus Christ, who has both your 
 nature, as much as if you yourself were there, and God's 
 nature too, in one person, to preserve that covenant, in your 
 stead, for your good. There is no creature-goodness of any 
 sort soever, that prefers any person to an interest in that 
 covenant ; because God showeth mercy to whom He will. 
 And there is nothing essentially needful to give any one a 
 right to apply this covenant, but a sense of necessity, and a 
 willingness to accept it, and be saved by it only. As wicked 
 people so fancy the way to heaven, as that they think they 
 
LBTTSBS. [71 
 
 can obtain it, while they desire to keep their sins in their 
 bosoms* and cannot hear of parting with then : bo, many 
 gracious people, though beloved of God,cannoi imagine that 
 eternal lite, being a blessing of that greatness, can h 
 easily gotten as by believing only. Or if they grant ii i< 
 to be had only by believing, yet they do so much look upon 
 personal qualifications, by which to try their faith, that unless 
 they he to such and such a degree, they think they have not 
 faith. And when they have gol the degree they desire, they 
 are as much to seek as before. And ail is, because God has 
 left no such qualifications, as things that shall give rest to 
 the soul : for they are but the garments of faith. That soul 
 that is willing Christ should both save him and purge him, 
 shall be saved and purged ; and God cannot but account him 
 clean from condemning guilt. I hope you live in the study 
 and consolation of these glad tidings of gospel-peace. I 
 trust, also, that God has and does sanctify all his dispensa- 
 tions to your heart, that you may be cheerful in believing, 
 and fruitful in holiness, as one who is taught of the Lord : 
 and thus commending you to the Lord, your rock, I rest, 
 yours in truth and love, etc. 
 
 1655.— To C. A. D. 
 
 Yours of the 25th of September last I received, and do 
 thank you for your Christian love and tenderness therein 
 expressed, and for the heads of that searching, refreshing 
 sermon : for, indeed, nothing can be refreshing, but what is 
 searching and convincing. The virtue and the excellency 
 of gospel-remedies can never be welcome, nor do their work, 
 till they be. permitted to search and overcome; that truth 
 may break forth, to victory, and there may be healing with- 
 out putrefaction at the bottom. And when a poor soul 
 cannot order his own distempers, yet then to consent to, and 
 approve of, the sovereignty of the medicine and skill of the 
 physician — Could I come up to that trust, faith, and resign- 
 ment, I should then more magnify that grace, and be more 
 fruitfully refreshed in the salvation of God. There is a 
 pure relief in the gospel, conveyable only by the arm (the 
 Spirit) of the Lord; but it is oftentimes, in a great measure, 
 spoiled and defiled in a carnal way of endeavor to receive it. 
 To entertain spiritual truths in the Spirit, and to be sub- 
 jected to their law, and formed into their mould, complexion 
 
172 LETTERS. 
 
 and constitution, this, I think, were religion indeed. For 
 my own part, I view these things at such a distance, that 
 sometimes I even doubt whether there be any more than 
 notion left; or if more, what it is that holds up any con- 
 nection betwixt my confused heart and that spiritual interest: 
 I am carried up and down by Him as a lighted candle in a 
 windy place, and its flame ever ready almost to flee from the 
 wick, were it not preserved by the hollow of his hand. His 
 discipline I cannot want, and live. And it is refreshment to 
 me, that your heart is under a constant pursuit of that mark, 
 for the prize of the high calling. Draw water still from the 
 fountain as much as you can. Be a stranger to all instru- 
 ments, means and helps, while you use them. Know none 
 but God, taste none but Him in all the earth ; and remem- 
 ber the galled feet of your fellow-travellers. I received a 
 letter from Mr. Gr. I pray return the enclosed to him ; his 
 advice is very savory. I think, indeed, Christ best approves 
 of a holy latitude for affection and communion amongst his 
 members. 
 
 1657.— % D. H. 
 
 Could I be more in the Spirit, I could then write with 
 more freedom : but this I know, that if I and you have our 
 faces towards Sion, we shall be brought thither at length. 
 Our great work is to cease from ourselves, that the Spirit of 
 Jesus Christ our Lord might have liberty to work in us, and 
 for us. I know no such door to the Mediator as to be re- 
 signed over to him, and to be yielded up to the salvation and 
 power of free grace : it is the only wholesome food and 
 physic of a sinner. AVhen the soul is widened by resigna- 
 tion to him and self-abhorrency, then his naked redemption 
 is sweet, welcome, and a soul-satisfying remedy. I oft see 
 a glimmering of this, but my eye is weak ; yet such glim- 
 merings tell me, that there, and there only, lie the first-fruits, 
 and hope of glory. I had rather see God do a little in me, 
 and for me, than do much myself; for God's little is infinite, 
 and my much is nothing in his sight, for me to be accepted 
 thereby. Therefore is faith the only key of all spiritual 
 treasure which is hid in Christ, and in Him only. And by 
 this going out of ourselves to Him, we are made his ; and 
 himself, and his treasures of pardon, righteousness, wisdom, 
 and perfection are made ours. Venture your prayers upon 
 
i i mots* 1 78 
 
 him; though they seem to be casl away, after many d 
 
 they will return. You can hardly find thai over Chrisl re- 
 proved bis disciples for anything bul unbelief, or little faith; 
 
 or for not suffering infants or others to come to him. Let 
 
 all these things teach you and mo whal i- our chief duty. 
 
 I leave yen to the Lord, remaining yours in truth and 
 love, ete. 
 
 1G58.— To B. D. 
 
 Your two last letters have much refreshed me, because 1 
 perceive it is not the compliment of invention, but the heart- 
 raising Spirit of God has been favorable to you. Be crav- 
 ing still, be thankful still, believe through the clouds. God 
 has thus appeared that He may teach you how to live on 
 Him when he appears less to sense : you are heir always to 
 the same joy, and infinitely more, when under the saddest 
 hours. Expect trials for every grace, especially for faith ; 
 winter follows summer, but the end will be victory and 
 peace ; of which you have had, I perceive, a taste. Covet 
 Christ's image insatiably, and to be at his disposal univer- 
 sally ; and let us bless his name night and day. I want a 
 heart to bless God enough for his goodness to us : the day 
 hastens, in which it will be done perfectly. I am in health 
 of body, laboring under the shameful load of an evil heart ; 
 yet in hope of victory, through Ilim who liveth forever to 
 make intercession for them who desire to come to God 
 through him only. Amongst all business, public or private, 
 it is good for you and me to be watchful, to keep a constant 
 motion upwards: Constant tenderness is a rich treasury. 
 Grace is that incomparable endowment, enough to put a 
 lustre upon every other requisite. What alliance is greater 
 than to be allied in the communion of the Spirit ? J per- 
 ceive God hath favored you with an affliction, I hope you 
 will not go without the blessing of it. Be more importunate 
 for a blessing, than anxious about the loss, or troubling your 
 thoughts about persons or instruments, or about ftitun 
 events; but commit yourself and estate, body and soul, to 
 God, a< unto a faithful Creator, and rejoice in the hope of a 
 better resurrection, and groan for nothing but the bod; 
 sin, till it is groaned out of doors. 
 15 
 
174 LETTEBS. 
 
 1658.— To S. D. H. 
 
 I am glad to see you strive to get up the hill, and that you 
 take the right way. Go on, and prosper, he is near who 
 justifieth you. Though he stands (as it were) behind the 
 wall, he hears your request, and all your desire is before 
 him : he himself has undertaken the whole. Light is sown 
 for you, the harvest is coining : Lift up your head, your 
 redemption is sure, and your water shall not fail. You can 
 never lay too much burden on Christ ; he bears up the pil- 
 lars of the earth, and has already borne your burden. The 
 work is over with him, and shall be over with you too, 
 shortly : Yet a litle while, and he that shall come will come, 
 and will not tarry. You are not your own workmanship, but 
 his : He has lifted up his hand to heaven, and sworn, that 
 blessing, he will bless you, and shortly tread Satan, and 
 every corruption under your feet. Cling about him, he will 
 not shake you off; your prayers are heard, your person is 
 accepted. Be not weary ; everlasting arms are under you, 
 the battle you are in will prosper. The greatness of his 
 power is not to amaze you, but to support you ; his righteous- 
 ness is to justify you, that you may not fear your Judge, 
 but reverence and love him who has washed you in his own 
 blood : the business is done already, and now there is no re- 
 voking of it. The more difficulties appear, the more you 
 are to triumph in him who overcame by the blood of his 
 cross, and will not leave you shelterless. He can teach you 
 better than I ; I leave you to him. I perceive by your 
 letter, that my dear friend R. M. is dead ; or rather now, I 
 confidently believe, perfectly alive, beyond sin and toil. I 
 know you are not wanting towards that poor child ; take 
 her to heaven, as much as you can, along with you. Let 
 us pray one for another, and we shall not seek that blessed 
 face of his in vain. I might write much of my own leanness 
 and unworthiness, and I would I could be more sensible of 
 it, so as to lay my starved limbs on that free, heart-reviving, 
 heart-renewing covenant of grace, confirmed in the person 
 of a crucified and risen Redeemer, the fountain of acceptance, 
 pardon, life, and health : In his hands I desire to leave you, 
 and remain, etc. 
 
ill I i R8. 1 i 5 
 
 L658.— To I). II. 
 
 Si ch is our bodily condition, that we c.'iiinoi make up 
 e distances, without the intervening of letters or friends; 
 bat that communion which, I trust, we nave mutually 
 (though under much darkness) with the Father and Son, by 
 the Spirit of grace, needs no >\wh helps. I trusl our praj 
 meet at a Bhorter cut, and that we strive together in 
 same faith of the gospel. It may be you find yon hi 
 much to do to keep your head above water: I find the 
 same: I hear about the same body of death, and find the 
 same contradiction in my corrupt and confused nature as 
 you do. One Christian seems to outrun another, till God 
 reveals the mischievous hell that dwells in our flesh. Then 
 Paul himself will cry out. Oh wretched man that I am ! 
 And Isaiah, that evangelical prophet, be forced to say, All 
 our righteousness is as filthy rags. What are our poor 
 glimmerings to the brightness of the Sun of righteousness : 
 Were there not an equal relief in the Mediator for the 
 youngest and the weakest of the flock, as for them who have 
 long travelled in the profession of godliness, the accoutre- 
 ments of the most experienced Christians would shrivel up 
 and wither away ; and leave nothing behind in the soul, but 
 such an outcry as that, " Who shall dwell with everlasting 
 burnings?" But he that is in the "burning bush" keeps it 
 from consuming. It was only the likeness of tin 4 Son of 
 man that made the three children in Daniel walk up and 
 down in the fire, safe from burning. " I will be with you, 
 saith God, in the fire and in the water." His name is " Em- 
 manuel, God with us." His covenant is free, the purpose of 
 grace wonderful; his good-will ariseth only from himself, 
 and will not, cannot change : and therefore the ons of Jacob 
 are not consumed. We little think oftentimes (in our fear 
 and discouragement) how far our weak prayers reach : they 
 are like an arrow gone out of our sight, and we (many 
 times) think them lost and forgot ; and consider not, that 
 every dry groan and watery tear is put into the bottle, and 
 winds up, through the ascending Virtue of the mediation of 
 Him who is one with the Father, to the throne of acceptance* 
 Let us comfort one another in this hope, that we may labor 
 and travail hard, but not faint by the way. I remain yours 
 in the highest bond, etc. 
 
176 LETTERS. 
 
 1658.— To B. D. 
 
 I received the sad news of my deceased sister ; blessed 
 be the name of Him who was dead, and is alive, and will 
 shortly cause the dead to come forth ! That will be a blessed 
 day for all the redeemed to visit their precious kindred. And 
 blessed be He, who has in any gracious manner watered 
 your heart ; let him favorably add this also, " That upon all 
 the glory there be a defence." This is by my precious 
 friend, whom God has mightily rescued by his grace. I 
 want nothing but more communion with that God, which you 
 pant after; more faith, more trust and resting upon him, more 
 satisfaction in him ; that I may say, and believe, and sing, 
 " God is my portion." Will he not rend the heavens ? Will 
 he not rend these hearts, and appear ; that the mountains of 
 all our fears and disquiets " may skip like lambs before the 
 presence of our God ? " When shall the promises be sub- 
 stance, and a faithful, compassionate God be an abundant 
 salvation ? Can the lowering face of an uncertain world, 
 and the things thereof, make the promise and unchangeable 
 good will of God of no effect ? Doth not he whisper through 
 every dark cloud, and say, " Come up hither ? " The Lord 
 open our ears to instruction, and let us rejoice to take our 
 leave of that which will not profit. Every prayer we make 
 saith, " We have chosen an invisible inheritance." Oh, 
 what a glorious thing is faith at a desperate pinch ! Then 
 is his throne high and lifted up, when Christ is in profit and 
 loss, in life and death, the heart's advantage above these 
 lower ebbings and flo wings. The Lord be with you, etc. 
 
 1659.— To D. IT. 
 
 Seeing our time here is a warfare, it is a comfort to per- 
 ceive the Lord's presence with any poor soul, so as to make 
 it stand out in hope and prayer, while temptations and cor- 
 ruptions, like fiery darts, are flying thick on every side. It 
 never goes desperately ill with those that travel towards 
 Zion, and are acquainted with assaults from Satan, and heart- 
 treachery from themselves, till they begin secretly to whisper 
 rebellion against the covenant and law of God's grace, and 
 say, " There is no help for me in God." David's excellency 
 lay not so much in his being freer from sin and sinful mis- 
 
LKTTBB8. 177 
 
 carriages than others ; but in this, thai he could not en- 
 dure to say, or hear others Bay, of his soul, "There is 
 no help for him in God," Psalm iii. 2, \lii., LO, and Ixxi. 
 11. Thai was the anchor thai made him ride oul the 
 
 Storms, and the rope that drew him up out of many a 
 
 deep pit. Let as use the same mean- with reverence, and 
 vet with freedom. God is a jealous God, and cannol endure 
 
 to be accounted changeable, Jer. wxiii. 2 1 — 26. I !<• keeps 
 both ends of the covenant, and will not give the glory of any 
 part of that trust out of his own hands. Every desire, every 
 
 thirst, and exercise of resolution or hope heavenwards, and 
 every soul and body deliverance to such, ariseth from this, 
 
 that God is faithful, 2 Thess. iii. 3, though our labor and 
 prayer ought therein also to be employed, as the means 
 which God has commanded on our part, for a closing with 
 the efficacious virtue of his Spirit, by believing : whereby 
 the force of Christ's death and resurrection becomes singly 
 applicable to remove guilt, and confer a gracious conformity 
 to his nature, and to the law of righteousness in the soul. I 
 see you level at the right mark, and own your relief from 
 the right place ; and why may I not say, you shall yet see 
 greater things than these ? etc. 
 
 1659.— To D. H. 
 
 I perceive B. Cr. hath much trouble through indisposi- 
 tion of body, and it is good it should be so, though disquiet- 
 ing to the flesh; and you have a gracious share I perceive 
 also. In such cases.it will be some help to turn our thoughts 
 from poring upon the affliction itself, and endeavor, by all 
 means, to .find out the lesson which God is teaching thereby ; 
 for that is properly and truly our work, in thai Christ hath 
 borne the curse for us: he hath taken away the wrathful 
 penalty, and left only an awakening and instructive nature 
 in all the afflictions that his people meet with, Isa. xwii. 7 — 
 9, and lxiii. 9, Psal. lxxxix. 30, 31, 32, etc. Oh that we could 
 believe this, and redeem our precious time, to learn the will 
 of God, and to be fashioned more to his likeness under earthly 
 fears or burdens ! A- for Betty's recreation, I would have 
 her, amongst other things, learn to sing; thai she may use the 
 glorious ordinance of singing Psalms with the more delight. 
 I must, as often as I can, put you in mind, and let us pul one 
 another in mind, while we are in this world of sin and 
 15* 
 
178 LETTERS. 
 
 trouble, that we labor constantly and earnestly to preserve 
 the health of the inward man. 
 
 Oh ! to keep a spiritual palate for right relishing spirit- 
 ual food ; and be every day girding on us afresh the long 
 robe of Christ's righteousness, that we may be suitable to the 
 state we are called to, the state of communion with the 
 Father himself, and Jesus Christ. It is a garment that 
 grows fresher and fresher to us by wearing. It is a garment 
 that will never sully, but cleanseth the soul that wears it. It 
 is defensive against cold, fainty fits, and the best armor that 
 can be against the rage of sin and Satan. It is a glorious 
 robe, and yet it hath a singular virtue to make the soul that 
 wears it humble. The first garment that the first Adam 
 made did somewhat hide his shame, but could not remove 
 his guilt and fear ; and therefore he ran with it from God. 
 But this garment of the second Adam has alone the excel- 
 lency to bring souls to God ; yea, to his very throne, with 
 boldness. They that wear this robe carry salvation about 
 them, and are objects of delight to the Father, Son, and 
 Spirit, and to the blessed angels, wherever they go, and what- 
 ever their condition be here : and as Job's friend said, (Job 
 v. 27), so may I ; that " So it is ; hear it, and know it for 
 thy good." I leave you to the Lord, and remain, etc. 
 
 1659.— % B. D. 
 
 As for your own fears under which you wrestle, it is not 
 the having or wanting earthly tranquillity that is any proper 
 character of God's love or anger ; but the discovering mark 
 of that, lies chiefly in the way of our deportment under such 
 trials, agreeable to the practice of the saints, recommended to 
 us in the scriptures by the Spirit of God. For there is no 
 temptation can befall us, which has not been (for substance) 
 the trial of them, who have endured and overcome before us : 
 and you are required to remember their faith and patience, 
 and the issue God gave, that you do not give way or faint, as 
 if God had forsaken the government of the world, or changed 
 the nature of the "everlasting covenant, ordered in all things, 
 and sure." I have been laboring to live upon the naked 
 promises of God in reference to my outward concernments, as 
 if I were in the want of all things ; and do think, if I could 
 come at it, it were a glorious portion. None but exercised 
 believers can tell truly, why the promises are called rich and 
 
i.i. i ni:-. 17'.i 
 
 precious, and how much lies in that word, "rich in faith," 
 James ii. 5. And what extensive satisfaction and glory lie- 
 in that word, good ; " All things shall work together for 
 i> to them that love God." 
 Yon know these things, etc. As fears or outward disap- 
 pointments abound, fly Mill a higher pitch ; till yon rejoice, 
 in manifold trials, that God counts yon worthy to he li 
 among them who could not he made happy by earthly thi: 
 nor miserable in the want of all things, whether estate, friend-, 
 health, credit or anything else, whilst they could flee to a 
 higher Rock. The Lord direct you, and make yon launch 
 forth upon the power, and in the wisdom, and under the 
 shelter, of the Lord: infinite and abundant is that shelter. 
 Oh ! that you and I could, with Luther, sing over all our 
 sins and fears, be what they will, the xlvi. Psalm ; u God is 
 a refuge for us, a present help in trouble." Here is our 
 comfort, this world is not our country ; a few days will call 
 us hence. The good Lord manage all your work, and open 
 such a window from heaven, that both you and I, and all 
 that seek the Lord, may be thoroughly transformed to a 
 hearty joy, even in divers temptations ; and know the 
 reason, through his grace, why the blessed Spirit did put 
 that clause into the holy scriptures, for our patience and solid 
 comfort, James i. 2. We are changeable, no rest here ; and 
 'tis well it is so ; that we might not relish any thing in this 
 world so sweet, as to tempt away our hearts from lovely 
 Canaan, and the desirable fellowship of Christ, face to face. 
 Oh, the day yet hastens, I trust, in which we shall sing away 
 heart-melancholy forever, etc. 
 
 1660.— To D. D. 
 
 "Whatever hazards or difficulties you may fear, they 
 are all under the compass of God's absolute disposal; and 
 the same faith that carries us to rest on Him for one thing, 
 in self-denying dependence, (which at this time God calls 
 upon us, eminently and graciously to exercise,) the same 
 faith (having such a God and Christ in its eye) is a- exten- 
 sive, and under promise of success in all things. " All things 
 are possible to him that believeth," Mark ix. 23, As once 
 Christ said, u Remember Lot's wife;" so I would Bay to 
 you, Remember Lot himself: observe how infirmly he carried 
 the matter, although his faith and obedience were stronger 
 
180 LETTERS. 
 
 than his wife's in the general ; and being sincere was accept- 
 ed : yet, although he saw the wonders of God before his face, 
 and his irresistible power, in destroying those cities in that 
 manner, and preserving him, as a father would preserve a 
 child ; he still feared to go to the mountain where God ap- 
 pointed him, lest he should perish. And when he was in 
 Zoar, a town which God told him He would save for his 
 sake ; yet there also he was afraid, and departed thence, as 
 if he had no longer an interest in the power of God to save 
 him. And how sadly he fell when he thought he had secured 
 himself in a cave, the story doth relate. And such like in- 
 stances do the scriptures yield in the history of Jacob, David, 
 and others. And because, after every exercise of faith, we 
 are apt to enter into a cave, God doth hold out new matter 
 for our exercise ; as it were, to keep us in the open air, to 
 make our faith hardy and warlike. God loves not to have 
 his children creep about the fire-side, the refuge and sparks 
 of their own kindling ; but for their health's sake enures 
 them to the weather, that they may be hardy in believing ; 
 according as the variety, and difficulty, and hazards do appear, 
 and the imagination of such things start into the mind. Let 
 us beg of God the practice of our own letters one to another, 
 and we shall yet see the salvation of God in that kind as shall 
 be best, even it may be to the outward man. He that can 
 be contented to venture his estate, his safety, his credit, his 
 soul, his labors, and the success of them, wholly upon God ; 
 and sit down, and sing a psalm to his Almighty mercy, good- 
 ness and truth ; that man has got a castle over his head, let 
 the wind blow which way it will. And herein the blessed 
 God and giver of faith will not fail, any more than the truth 
 of his nature, and the truth of his word, can change. I 
 would fain be at the practice. However, I must so far com- 
 mend the way of my God, and justify the method of his 
 discipline, both to me and you ; that the crown of our pro- 
 fession, and the glory of a Christian, lies in this life of 
 believing. 
 
 I do experience so many obstructions against clear de- 
 pendence upon, and resignation to, the safe hand of God's 
 power and love, and so many aching, contradicting fits of 
 flesh and blood, that it would, in some sense, grieve me to 
 put any friend, that acts only in a carnal mind, upon such 
 uncouth work as this is. But knowing that you have already 
 started the game, I would have you pursue cheerfully to a 
 
i.i.i i BBS. L81 
 
 perfect surrender, and glorying in Gad. Believe it, as bad 
 a place a< yon are in, God baa made it, for a sea on, his 
 Bcbool to yous and till God doth some ray clear things by 
 his providence, \ov your removal, expect more practical 
 teaching, and more shelter under his wing, where von are, 
 than elsewhere; although your company would be to me 
 exceedingly desirable, etc. 
 
 uei.— To i). n. 
 
 I perceive my aunt hath had her weakness returned; such 
 is the constitution of this clayey Lump: but what a wonderis 
 it, that a treasure of grace and eternal life should continue to 
 dwell, through all the days of our sin, trouble, and vanity, in 
 such a tabernacle ; and that the Spirit of Christ, the Spirit 
 of grace, holiness, and glory, should never cease striving, in 
 the midst of all that coarse entertainment of Him, and fre- 
 quent opposition on our part, and never give over, till our 
 sins be utterly and forever extinguished, and mortality swal- 
 lowed up of life ; and so these vile bodies and polluted souls 
 made conformable to our Redeemer, and the eternal com- 
 panions of his bosom. Let us fix our eye there, and we shall 
 be alw r ays delighting in or doing something for Him ; and 
 never be discontented with our Avorks, though we rid but little 
 ground. Let us prize him, and love him, and all his rules 
 and orders ; himself in the first place, and all the rest for 
 his sake only ; and that will make our work our delight, 
 not our toil and vexation ; for there is no want of help, 
 either for strength, or pardon, or both. He takes sinners to 
 himself, that he may spend intimacy of good-will upon 
 them; and never lets them go quite out of his hands any 
 more. Oh, how little do we know Him ! How little do we 
 remember, that every conviction we have had, every groan, 
 ever}' desire of soul after him, was horn first in his heart, 
 and given to us, as the new creature's food, to ripen it for 
 glory ! We breathe towards him in the strength of his own 
 breath. We may be yet much more winnowed, but cannot 
 be lost, nor our strength quite fail ; because He prays tor us 
 as never man did. His prayers cannot but speed; for the 
 will of the Father, Son, and Spirit, is one will, for they are 
 one God; and that will is nothing but good-will to us, who 
 hope in Him, and take hold of his free covenant-good-will to 
 men. I have very lately had news out of the north, that 
 
182 LETTERS. 
 
 my dear brother D. is departed out of this world. How 
 should these things make us love to be trading for that coun- 
 try, where all our best friends go. and not think it much that 
 this world yields so many sorrowful bits ; because God never 
 appointed it for our abiding place, but only that we may hear 
 his voice, and be contracted to Him while we are below, 
 in order to the consummating the marriage above. The 
 Lord make us cheerfully serious in the business of our day, 
 while it lasteth, that we may prepare to launch forth when 
 our Lord shall call. Blessed are they who watch, etc. 
 
 1661.— To D. A. 
 
 What God speaks in his word we may take for our com- 
 fort, to carry us through the mire, till we land beyond sin 
 and pain. The salvation of such poor sinners as you and 
 me, was and is the delight of the blessed Trinity. The 
 Father did, in his grace and love, elect ; the Son delighted 
 to come and do the Father's will in redeeming ; the Holy 
 Spirit loves to apply it, and therefore is called the Com- 
 forter ; the angels rejoice, that good-will from God is come 
 to men. If God say, You must go to the top of the mount, 
 and die, set your face towards him who has died before you, 
 to bring you through. Flee to the mere grace and love of 
 the glorious God, that has designed pardon and righteous- 
 ness for poor sinners, for his own sake, in the person of his 
 own Son. If he say, You must launch forth, roll upon the 
 Rock of ages alone. The wearier you are of your sins, the 
 more welcome to a Saviour. The wearier you are of your 
 pains and burdens, the sweeter will be the bosom of an in- 
 dulgent Father, when you arrive at your Father's house. 
 The whole race of the residue of the redeemed are your 
 fellow-travellers. The whole Trinity is on your side, the 
 scriptures are on your side, and the eternal covenant of 
 grace is on your side, while you bow your head, and lean 
 only on your beloved Redeemer. Look up to him, and fear 
 not your passage. I leave you to the arms of endless care, 
 counsel, comfort, strength, and pity, etc. 
 
 1661.— To D. H. 
 
 Our work in this world is only to follow after God, under 
 all the changes and trials that accompany an earthly life : 
 
LEI l ; i 
 
 and we have this encouragement •, "] will never leave you, 
 nor forsake you" Grace, and the exercise of it aJ 
 from God: None can cleanse a foul heart, or quicken a dead 
 . luit he who raised your and my Et< deemer from the dead. 
 And therefore, if my hearl be as hard as a Btone, as foul i 
 dunghill, as weak as water,and as deceitful, treacherous, and 
 vile as maybe; 1 have no refuge, but to flee to my most 
 pure, holy Redeemer, to my unchangeable God in J< 
 Christ, who is both my Judge and Saviour. He hears the 
 inward panting of his own Spirit, when we can BCarcely hear 
 the voice of our own prayers, or scarcely know what to 
 make of them. He, who creates light out of darkness, kn< 
 how to work up an acceptance of us to himself in Christ, 
 when our persons and services, as they come from us, are 
 filthy rags in our own eyes. We never go down the wind, 
 till we say in our hearts by unbelief, The covenant cannot 
 -tand in heaven, because I have sinned against it on earth. 
 But what saith the Lord, "I am God, I change not, therefore 
 ye sons of Jacob are not consumed." Truly, sister, I find 
 very often I have as much need of pardoning grace, as ever 
 I had at first conversion. And I scarcely know anything 
 that makes the difference betwixt me and the vilest hypo- 
 crites, but only this — that God makes my distempers my 
 burden ; and, in the riches of his love, inclines my heart 
 to hanker after him for help. And forever blessed be his 
 name, that doth not suffer us to die away utterly from l\]< 
 relief. How great is his goodness ! How wealthy and end- 
 less is that store of perfection which is laid up in Christ for 
 his ransomed and new-born seed ! Get Christ in your eye, 
 and that will affect your heart, etc. 
 
 1661.— To D. II. 
 
 Touching what you write, that you have an interest in 
 the mercies I receive, it accord- well with that word, 1 Cor. 
 xii. 27, "Ye are the body of Christ, and members in par- 
 ticular thereof;" and what a mutual Interest is thai ! First 
 Christ's, and then one another's in him. Something of this 
 affinity appears in the contentment of thai mutual society of 
 Christian-, but more in the mutual faith in which they com- 
 municate with one another, Rom. i. 12. The Btreams are 
 obvious to our 3< use ; but the streams would dvy uj>, if the 
 fountain did not feed them. The more you put on Jesus 
 
184 LETTERS. 
 
 Christ, the more doth the morning-star of perfection, in that 
 and all other contentment, twinkle upon us. Still honor 
 God, so as to lean upon him, and love him, and all the 
 methods he takes. Nothing doth so much bring disquiet, 
 as disappointment ; and nothing doth so much bring disap- 
 pointment, as the fixing one's expectations upon uncertain- 
 ties. Be ever therefore trimming up jour expectations on 
 things above, where Christ is, and abides forever. Dissolve 
 into his good will, and he will never disappoint jour hope, 
 nor suffer jou to be at an utter loss. What think jou is 
 the verj meaning of that place, Hab. iii. 17, 18, "Although 
 the fig-tree shall not blossom," etc., "Yet will I rejoice in 
 the Lord ? " etc. Doth it not speak out tins ? That God 
 is the same, and his word the same, when all things fail 
 besides. If I have disquiet or fears, let me inquire what it 
 is that I fear, and on what ground ; whether about mj 
 present or future state of bodj or soul ? And let me not 
 make questions or answers but what scripture doth coun- 
 tenance. I maj make use of former experiences of mj own 
 or others, as they bear witness to divine writ, and so be 
 thankful : but I must not make experiences of anj sort mj 
 rule, nor the guide of mj faith. My meaning is : We are 
 apt to oppose something or other that we find, by observation 
 or experience, against the word of the living God ; or ex- 
 pound the great and faithful promises by those experiences 
 or observations : as where it is said, " Sin shall not have 
 dominion over you." " I will send you the Comforter, and 
 he shall teach you all things." " I will satisfy the longing 
 soul." " I will give you a new heart." " I will circumcise 
 your hearts to love me." " The righteous shall not want 
 any good thing." " Their souls shall not be desolate." " No 
 evil shall come near them." " Your sins and your iniqui- 
 ties I will remember no more," and such like, which abound 
 throughout the scriptures. We are apt to cast cold water, 
 out of our experiences and observations, upon those promises, 
 rather than kindle our faith at them, and so live by faith on 
 them. We are apt to say, " Yes ; but I do not find it so : 
 I find sin prevail against me, my graces wither, my conscience 
 clamors, my heart is hard ; I pray, and have no answer ; my 
 condition is distressed, and I fear it will be worse : He that 
 said, " No evil shall come near," doth yet suffer his people 
 to be greatly distressed ; even so far sometimes as to die 
 under it, and therefore it is not directed to me ; or there is 
 
LETTERS. L85 
 
 not Buch a sovereign good in it, as the gospel seems to pro- 
 claim." But I would say as Solomon did, Eccles. vii. lo, 
 "Thou dost not consider wisely concerning this." It is im- 
 possible the oath and promise of («<><! Bhould fail; the mis- 
 take is on our part, not considering the work of the Lord, and 
 the operation of his hands. He trieth, rooteth, and teaeheth 
 faith by ways of opposition; for Christ is always laboring in 
 this vineyard: " My Father worketh hitherto, and I work," 
 saith he. His groat design is to reveal himself, and baptize 
 his people into the spirit of his death and resurrection. He 
 slays sin by suffering his people sometimes to be, in a sense, 
 slain by it ; that they may more fully die from their own 
 power, into his life, Gal. ii. 19. He brings the soul to an 
 utter strait, to make it look out, and venture upon him ; as 
 the four lepers, who, to flee from famine, ventured to flee to 
 an enemy's army. When he would bring his people from 
 sensible refuges, and from a man's personal worth, and in- 
 herent strength, (which usually gets in like rust upon the 
 soul,) he dasheth all that, to teach us, that our life and every 
 act of it is the mere operation of his grace, who lives, moves, 
 and breathes in his people. How is it possible we should 
 know patience but by sufferings ; and the infinite power and 
 truth of God in great deliverances, if the sun did always 
 shine upon us ? This made David say, " In very faithfulness- 
 thou hast afflicted me : " And Paul, " I will rejoice in mine 
 infirmities, (or weaknesses,) that the power of Christ may 
 rest upon me." Growth of grace lies chiefly in more and 
 more expertness in owning of, and living nakedly on, the 
 good that is in Christ, as being really mine own; and de- 
 riving good from him by perpetual motion. Man's life lies> 
 not so much in his breath, as in his breathing; so it is with 
 spiritual life, which is maintained by exercising fresh and 
 fresh acts of recourse to Jesus Christ : and, by this means, 
 the soul comes at length to be (as it were) bathed in the 
 comfort of his truth and love by an operating faith. Let my 
 condition be what it will, inwardly or outwardly, I am not to 
 be dismayed from running to God, and encouraging myself 
 in him. But my work is, to be searching out what God re- 
 proves or teaches thereby; holding this as an immovable 
 truth, that his love never fails from his people one moment ; 
 and his people are they, who in good earnest choose him 
 for their God; whose very hearts fly out in fervent desires 
 after him ; such as come to God by Christ, who design that 
 
 1G 
 
186 LETTERS. 
 
 as their aim. The whole scripture doth justify this plain 
 difference between persons and persons ; between those who 
 come to the light, and those who hate it, John iii. 20, 21. 
 
 Now I say, my work is, never to let my heart question 
 his love to me. If he has made me to hanker after him, and 
 if he loves continually, then there is continually room for 
 access to him. It is true, that he hath suffered his people 
 sometimes to fall grievously, as David and others ; and he 
 hid his face upon it : but did we ever read, that he turned 
 away from the prayer of the poor ? and that, while it is 
 nothing else but his own Spirit interceding in them, and 
 Christ at the same time interceding for them ? It is not 
 imaginable. Though he seems not to answer sometimes, 
 yet he loves their voice continually. Faith, or an acting out 
 of our own life, in the life and Spirit of Christ, for all man- 
 ner of good from God by him, is and was always a conquer- 
 ing successful grace. In the greatest surge it either gives 
 contentment, or it hastens the opening of the door for de- 
 liverance ; and usually both together, one way or other. It 
 is a sad thing, that when we should be exercising faith for 
 getting the good of an affliction, and prying after further dis- 
 coveries of God's truth, love, and wisdom ; and inquiring 
 what the voice of our Father is, and what it means ; I say, 
 it is a sad thing, that, at that time, we should spend our 
 thoughts in an unseasonable distrust of an interest in Him. 
 His rod, his trials walk up and down among his people, to 
 show he is their Father, and his discipline is amongst his 
 children ; and yet we are apt to take the very sign of our 
 reconciliation, and make it an occasion of our distrust, that 
 we are not related to him. This wisdom comes not from 
 above, but is carnal, sensual, and unworthy of them who 
 have heard the word of faith ; and more so of them who 
 have accepted it also for many years. It is bad tempting 
 God, and vexing his Spirit in that which provoketh him 
 most. But if I think I have not been related to him hither- 
 to, let me flee to him in Christ now, and I shall be his, 
 though I was not actually so before ; for he casts away no 
 sincere comer. But I do suppose you armed by the Lord to 
 encounter these assaults, and am persuaded your faith will 
 grow by every trial ; yea, when it is most assaulted, you will 
 be made to expect some good in the rear, which will make 
 you glorify God even in the fires. Dear sister, I commend 
 you to the Lord : Christ prays for you, and therefore your 
 
i.i rrr.i:s. 1 57 
 
 faith cannot fail. He will be eyes to the blind, Bud feel to 
 
 the lame : He will give -race and glory, and no good t li in^r 
 
 will he withhold, etc. 
 
 1C6L— To T. N. 
 
 In pursuance of my promise, and also that the mutual re- 
 membrance of each other may be kepi alive, I account my* 
 
 self engaged to present you these lines. It i- one comfort, 
 that the Lord rules the world ; yea, no other hut that ( fad 
 to whom the supplications of his people are always accepta- 
 ble in Jesus Christ; and that nothing can he perfectly a 
 misery to them who are constituted heirs of blessing, and 
 past away from the curse through the cross of Christ And 
 though the glorious arm and truths of God seem to be over- 
 whelmed in the w r orld ; yet, when God shall appear to vin- 
 dicate his name, and clothe himself with jealousy, what 
 obstruction shall hinder his course, or stop his hand ? I 
 know you are not only struggling with difficulties without, 
 as well as I am, but with enemies within ; and truly that is 
 my case also. And I know nothing that keeps me from 
 being overwhelmed, but only this ; some blinks of the free, 
 eternal, unchangeable bounty of God, who has, for his owm 
 sake only, pitched upon such an unworthy creature, and 
 caused my soul to hanker after Him. When I am tired out 
 with my own darkness, infirmity, pollution, and unbelief, his 
 good Spirit is pleased sometimes to sway my heart, to throw 
 myself, body and soul, and all my sins and cares, upon Him 
 through Jesus Christ; and so, out of my own shame and 
 confusion of face, there darts in sometimes a beam of relief 
 from Him who "quickened the dead, and calleth the things 
 that are not, as if they were." Could we come off more 
 smoothly to own and fix that hold upon Jesus Christ, which 
 the word of God's grace doth invite us to, we might launch 
 forth, and venture securely in the ark Jesus Christ, when 
 there is not a foot of dry ground here below to stand upon. 
 When w r e cannot pray, then to remember Christ intercedes. 
 — When we are all over defiled and confused, to remember 
 the Mediator is clothed with our nature, and that, on our he- 
 half, in perfect purity, and in the same nature which each of 
 us doth bear. — That he did conquer all that we are as yej 
 conflicting with in his name. — That we are esteemed, not 
 according to our present infirmity, but according to that per- 
 
188 LETTERS. 
 
 fection to which we are entitled in him who is at God's right 
 hand. — Could we be more exercised in this view and blessed 
 prospect, it would make our dry and dead limbs recover heat 
 and life ; as it was with Jacob when he heard that Joseph 
 was yet alive. Blessed be God ! Joseph, our brother, is yet 
 alive ; and all power is committed into his hands : He has 
 the keys of hell and death, and is himself the door of life 
 also. 
 
 Oh, how unpersuadable are our hearts for the most part, 
 and loath to credit the word of his grace and truth, so far as 
 to resign up ourselves, our sins, our burdens of all sorts, to 
 the virtue and power of his atonement and sovereignty, who 
 has ended all differences, and brought in an everlasting 
 righteousness and good-will, that a righteous God and sin- 
 ful man might be reconciled together in Him, who has 
 balanced the account exactly ; and being gone, has left a 
 legacy of blessing and peace to every soul that flees to him 
 to feed upon him, till the days of full refreshing appear, and 
 we see him as he is ! When I only muse on my own weak- 
 ness, it makes me more weak. While I converse with 
 anxious thoughts, it makes my heart dark, sour, and feeble ; 
 but millions of sins, cares, fears, and disquiets, flee before 
 one hearty closure with Christ, his power and grace, by faith. 
 If Christ, in the soul, saith, " I am He," whole troops of ad- 
 versaries fall backwards ; difficulties vanish, and desponding, 
 fleshly consultations of unbelief fly as dust before the wind : 
 and that because our Redeemer is strong, though we are 
 weak. I am ready to think sometimes, it is a pity that we 
 should ordinarily (as we do) hear so much, and read so 
 much, spoken or written to each other, of this certain, real 
 refuge, and yet account it not more real. What a thing is 
 this, that Christ hath engaged that not one of his shall be 
 capable of losing what he hath purchased and bequeathed 
 for them ! Such a good-will, and free grace, as our sins shall 
 never be able to sin away, any more than they can be able 
 to sin away Christ from the right-hand of his Father; for 
 were it otherwise, we were undone every moment ! Who is 
 it that maintains any thirst after him ; that enables poor dust 
 and ashes to conflict against all the powers of darkness ; and 
 of weak, sometimes to become strong? Who is it that main- 
 tains any indignation against the law of our flesh that is in 
 our members, but he who hath overcome in his own person, 
 and will shortly tread down Satan under our feet also, and is 
 
LBTTSB& 1 }9 
 
 hastening the day when the last enemy shall be d< 
 and every sigh and tear removed? Lei us oomforl our he 
 in this, and pray for each other, thai we ma] as good soldi 
 of Jesus Christ, fight this -nod fight of faith, laying hold on 
 eternal life; and so surmount the miseries of the present 
 evil world, etc. Pray present my heart] respects to four 
 daughter, whose soul I know is laboring in this work, etc 
 
 1661.— To S. D. 
 
 The Lord is yours, if you are willing to be his; and I 
 doubt not that is your desire and aim. Stand up in the 
 midst of all your dumps and trials, and venture one hallelu- 
 jah to him that rides upon the heavens for your help; yea, 
 in the thickest of your doubts about soul and body, do but 
 cast a wishful eye to him who hath swallowed up all manner 
 of deaths in victory, and you shall overcome, and rise above 
 the waves, because he is risen. It may be, you little think 
 how it cheers the heart of Christ to see you sit down, and 
 sing a psalm of praise for all his loving-kindnesses, in the 
 midst of all worldly darkness. Measure not spiritual and 
 eternal things by those that are for a moment. Do not 
 wrong the wisdom of God your Father, by repining against 
 the instruments and the events of his providence. Let your 
 design be how to fortify each other's faith and joy, and never 
 ask counsel of flesh and blood in the business. Read over 
 the xlvi. Psalm, and make it yours by meditation and prayer. 
 Dear sister, fare you well in the Lord. Hasten heaven- 
 wards, and count all things else but trifles, that you may 
 finish your course with joy. Let the same mind be in you 
 as was in Christ, who emptied himself to do the will of his 
 Father, for saving such poor sinners as you and me ; and 
 when he might have enjoyed all the glory of the world, he 
 refused it, and wandered up and down despised of men. 
 Love the footsteps of the Captain of your salvation ; and 
 whenever any sinful disquiets boil up in your heart, carry 
 your heart and your disquiets to the Lord, and beg of him 
 to judge them, and give you the new heart he promised in 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 26. The good-will, the heart-refreshing peace 
 and comfort of a dear leather, a dear Redeemer, and the 
 dear, blessed Spirit, be with you. Blessed he, blessed she, 
 that overcomes ; and blessed be the Son of God, who hath 
 
 1G* 
 
190 LETTERS. 
 
 undertaken that we shall overcome in his victory. Once 
 more, farewell ; fear not, only believe. 
 
 1661.— To B. D. 
 
 I perceive your family is still visited. The God of the 
 spirits of all flesh knows what scourges are most suitable for 
 them whom he designs for glory, honor, and eternal life ; 
 among whom, I trust, you and your yokefellow are enrolled. 
 There is hope that good lies at the bottom, when the heart is 
 drawn the more to seek, resign up to, and wait patiently for, 
 the salvation of God, to a delightful thought of the appear- 
 ance of Christ, and of your gathering to him : the whole 
 world is not a purchase for one quarter of an hour's free access 
 to God. If he draws and drives the heart to himself, let us 
 bless and love him, whatever means he useth to bring it about. 
 I desire to bless the Lord, that you are striving to trace the 
 steps of that faith "that believed in hope against hope." 
 Such faith, such hope, will never return ashamed. I am 
 struggling with the same difficulties, and none can help me 
 but the faithful Promiser ; who is able to quicken his word 
 to me, and soften my heart to mix it with faith. As you 
 write that he has not been a barren wilderness to you, (which 
 is unspeakable grace,) so I have often found ; and therefore 
 I have hope, that, at length, He will perfect the design of 
 favor and pity upon such a poor worm. The Lord help you 
 and me to find fountains in the valley of Baca, till the last 
 surge be over, and every tear removed. We have no other 
 way to communicate with each other, but in prayer and faith, 
 affections, and letters. Letters, indeed, may miscarry, but 
 no earthly obstructions can hinder the three former : faith 
 and prayers fly invisibly, and Christian affections also. As 
 for myself, the Lord is every day forcing my soul to look out 
 more after the mysterious privilege of his most absolute free 
 grace in Christ. There, the wearied find rest, the polluted 
 find purity, and the dejected find an anchor of hope. Some- 
 times I am confounded in my own thoughts, and my prayers 
 rather shame than comfort me ; then I stand stifl, and look 
 for the salvation of God only : He sends his naked arm out 
 of the thick cloud, and creates some beam of light and refuge, 
 which makes a pilgrim sing in a land of darkness. 
 
 He seems to be gone sometimes, but returns again ; He 
 withdraws, but never bids farewell utterly. He suffers me 
 
LBTTEB8. 191 
 
 sometimes to tumble in mine own filth, bu1 brings me to the 
 laver again ; to the " Fountain opened to the house of 
 David, for sin and uncleanness." Bis unchangeable pur- 
 I ose and grace holds its course as the Bun ; and therefore 
 poor worms are never undone, though ever so low* Could 
 I more actually resign to his will, and read thai golden line 
 of love which runs within every providence of his, and in 
 every part of his discipline, and put my BeaJ to it, how might 
 I triumph and say, "0 death, where is thy sting? grave, 
 where is thy victory ? " He dasheth earthly comforts, that 
 himself might comfort alone : He suffers corruption to swell 
 and rage, that he may appear to be the only mighty Re- 
 deemer: He glorifies the excellency of his word, by forcing 
 the soul thither for refuge. Brother, let us be flying into 
 this ark ; his word endures to a thousand generations. AVe 
 have the same God, and no other than wdiat Abraham, Isaac, 
 and Jacob, Moses, David, and Paul had. He never left a 
 poor supplicant, nor will do it ; for the Spirit of supplication 
 is his own breath ; and Himself deeply concerned in all the 
 concernments of his people ; they are his, and their con- 
 cernments his also. Let us muse on this privilege seriously, 
 and glorify his good-will by faith and thankfulness ; and so 
 rejoice in believing above hope. The Lord be a hiding 
 place to you and me ; never yield to let him go ; but let 
 us cling fast by faith and hope, till he cause salvation and 
 light to shine forth out of obscurity, and comfort all that 
 mourn. Glorify God by faith, patience, and thankfulness ; 
 lose not that, and you will be no loser : though the day be 
 dark, the sun is not down. The times of refreshing will 
 come to us, and we to them; for our Redeemer lives forever. 
 I leave you to that God, and remain, etc. 
 
 1661.— To S. D. 
 
 That is the happiest man or woman in the world, that 
 can truly hear the voice of God in his rod. Thai happy 
 profit I press and long for: and that happiness I heartily 
 wish to yourself and my brother; that as God hath 
 made you partners in affliction, you may endeavor to the 
 utmost to support each other's faith and holy patience in a 
 stormy day. Afflictions, be they what they will, can never 
 make you miserable. Nothing makes the rod tedious, but 
 unwarrantable vexation of spirit : in days of trouble, that i> 
 
192 LETTERS. 
 
 the usual temptation ; and there is no such cure as the naked 
 sight of God's wise, disposing hand. If there have been 
 any misgiving thoughts between you, about future concern- 
 ments relating to yourselves and your children, (as under 
 such surges you have met with, our frailty is very apt unto), 
 spread that infirmity before the Lord, who is abundant in 
 pardon, mercy, and truth ; who can spare the lives of the 
 rest if he please, and will not suifer the seed of his servants 
 to be desolate. All the scriptures are full of counsel, and 
 infallible grounds of consolation ; yet such is our carnality, 
 darkness, and unbelief, many times, that we think the rock 
 cannot yield honey : and so we gauge things by fleshly and 
 worldly observation ; and are apt secretly to condemn the 
 wisdom, goodness, and faithfulness of God before we are 
 aware ; whereas the only way to find the pearl of real 
 advantage in the blessed word is, to lay the heart to the 
 word by an exercise of faith ; and then cast the soul with 
 full reliance upon the Lord, though it seems to be ever so 
 much against that sense and reason, which flesh and blood is 
 always dictating to us. Dear sister, I must confess I travail 
 under a treacherous heart of mine own, which is ever betray- 
 ing away my peace, my strength, my faith, and hope ; and 
 that is my daily burden : but I never come before the Lord 
 with any openness, and unfeigned resignation to him for par- 
 don and succor in vain. I am somewhat a partner with you 
 in the temptations and waves of a present world, but cannot 
 call it dismal, so long as God doth in some measure steer my 
 course in any sincerity after him. Let us provoke one 
 another to this, and the storm will be over ; the day will 
 break, and the darksome shadows will flee away ; or we 
 shall flee through, or flee beyond them ; for faithful is he 
 that hath promised. 
 
 1662.— To D. H. 
 
 Truly, sister, I do sometimes wonder at the sottishness 
 of my heart, that can be so affected with the christian 
 respects of a dear friend, and yet have no more flames of 
 affection to the Fountain of all love and loveliness. Me- 
 thinks nothing makes any friend truly excellent in my 
 thoughts, but grace, and the inhabitation of Christ there. 
 And if a beam of his grace creates a delightful aspect 
 wherever it pitches, how excellent for perfection is Jesus 
 
l.i i i ii:s. 
 
 Chrisl himself I Sometimes our hearts are apl to fancy 
 Christ, as if he were humorsome and revengeful, as if he 
 would make the worst of things, and not the better: some- 
 times, as if he had forgotten, were far off, did not hear, were 
 reserved, exceedingly ready to take exceptions, and such 
 like ; whereas, we may go to a poor lump of clay, where a 
 .-park only of his nature dwells, and have sometimes a taste 
 of that affection which is scarcely capable of reflecting back 
 any such prejudices, or the least shadow of them. And the 
 reason is, because there is a rooted persuasion of some pre- 
 dominant principle of christian, spiritual, and reciprocal love. 
 O then, how seriously should we pray, that our heart- might 
 be directed into the love of Christ; and that it may he Bhed 
 abroad in our hearts. A Christ that loves once, and ever: 
 yea, and to the full he loveth: he loved, and came; lie loved, 
 and died ; he loved, and proclaimed the everlasting gospel ; 
 he loves, and pardons ; he loves, and heals ; he loves, and 
 corrects ; he loves, and teaches ; he loves, and reproves ; he 
 loves, and holds fast forever ; he loves, and saves. When a 
 soul is sunk as deep as hell in sin and filth, in love he re- 
 deems that soul, and is not ashamed, nor thinks it much, to 
 cleanse it again, because love constrains him. All his ways, 
 (not one excepted) are mercy and truth to them that fear 
 him. He has a noble and surmounting love, not capable of 
 melancholy, misconstruction, or mistake. He knew all the 
 defects of his spouse before he betrothed her to himself in 
 loving-kindness and tender mercies. And he so far abhors 
 the declining of his love, that the very beholding of any de- 
 fect there, inflames his heart to remove it, that he may pre- 
 sent her to himself without spot. When we have any agony 
 against our sins, doth this come from the flesh? Is it net 
 purely the Lord's arm? What shall I say? The Lord 
 reveal himself, that we may purely rejoice in God our 
 Maker ; and cling to him in the virtue and power of his own 
 unsearchable and endless grace and love. I long for 
 other society than lean have here; few friend- here, and 
 little help; especially as to that interest in which you and 1 
 are most concerned ; hut there is a river thai never dries up, 
 and a counsellor that never fails. I am yet in health, and 
 as to outward freedom, as 1 was when I came hither first ; 
 but not without some daily exercises; hut my chief adver- 
 sary lurks within, which God will one day destroy, and all 
 warfare will be over. Let us pray to Him for each other, for i' 
 is not in vain. 
 
194 
 
 LETTERS. 
 
 1662.— Zb T.N. 
 
 Dear Sir : However it goes with you, I trust you have 
 no reason to count yourself alone, whilst so good a friend 
 hath said, " I will be with you in the fire, and in the water." 
 When we are in any deep affliction, then is a time to exer- 
 cise scripture reason, and not worldly reason ; and to draw 
 such conclusions in reference to soul and body, as the wisdom 
 and truth of God do teach. The Lord make his furnace to 
 be purifying at this day. Some in one kind, some in another, 
 have their various trials, but the " Father of mercies'' doth 
 govern the matter ; so that, at the close, it shall be well with 
 the righteous. Let us labor with might and main to keep 
 up good thoughts of God, and the glory of our interest in 
 him. Though the heavens and earth do shake, the sense of 
 his covenant cannot change ; his Son cannot be dethroned ; 
 nor the promises of his grace and presence be destroyed. 
 Clouds may darken the sun as to us, but they can never 
 diminish the natural light of the sun, nor stop its course. 
 The sun is as nigh the earth when clouds interpose, as it was 
 before ; and our dear Lord is now as near his afflicted ones, 
 as when the branch of earthly things was never so green in 
 their hands. Faith, repentance, and love to the Lord Jesus, 
 are glorious ornaments for a pilgrim travelling towards that 
 city that hath foundations. Sir, I know not how in particu- 
 lar it fares with you, but I doubt not that it goes well : for 
 can any dealings of an infinitely wise God, a faithful and 
 gracious father, be amiss; seeing he has promised,' and will 
 not fail to " give, grace and glory, and will withhold no good 
 thing from them that fear him ? " Let us not deny his truth 
 by unbelief, nor his love by a lowring despondency of heart : 
 however the waves rise and swell, he is above them ; and the 
 great redemption is near. 
 
 1662.— To B. D. 
 
 I am affected with your trouble, and yet comforted in 
 your faith and comfort. But he who makes rivers run in 
 the desert, knows how to refresh the dry ground. When 
 we hear the news that our troubles will one day expire, 
 there is some refreshment with it, and not a little support 
 the while. But oh, forever blessed be that glorious hope, 
 
i i in I, 195 
 
 that not only outward troubles, but Bin also shall be do more; 
 yea, and that, while we are striving and toiling under a body 
 
 of sin, we arc yd. in the second Adam, brought over from a 
 
 state of sin, to a present Btate of righteousness, acceptance, 
 and blessing. This Is the crown and conquest of faith, hope, 
 
 and consolation. "All these things will I give," said tin- 
 tempter; yes, but upon whal terms? "if thou wilt fall down, 
 and worship me." Ah, cursed and deceitful proffer! Let 
 
 my portion and yours bo found still, and forever, in a cruci- 
 fied and tisen Christ. If he loved us when he washed 06 in 
 his blood, then no slaying providences can separate from the 
 same love : so that we may, musing the matter aright, say, 
 ' He loved me, when he hurried me hither and thither, When 
 he brake my bones, emptied me from vessel to vessel, and 
 made me as the mire of the street.' Yes, his blessing once 
 bequeathed can never be revoked, nor his eternal love 
 change. Though his paths are in the deep, and his ways and 
 judgments past finding out, while he maintains in our soul> 
 a cry after him (which is the voice of his own Spirit inter- 
 ceding in us) he hath not forgotten to be gracious, nor 
 caused his bowels to cease from yearning towards us. Sin 
 only makes outward burdens intolerable ; outward troubles 
 declare the venom of sin, and tend to open the ear to in- 
 struction : and so both of them send the souls of the re- 
 deemed to the atonement of Christ's blood for healing, and 
 into his bosom for refuge. Certainly, brother, his promises 
 are as good now, as they were before the storm rose upon 
 us ; and the covenant of grace and love and good-will smiles 
 as much as ever; and when the cloud is blown over and 
 gone, we shall see it. Now, to justify God's truth, and Bub- 
 mit to his wise hand; to maintain good and honorable 
 thoughts of him, and all his dealing-, when BO many things 
 from without, and al>o from within, do war against it ; this 
 is like the faith of God's elect, and doth, in some ble88ed 
 measure, betoken the knowledge of what God is in himself, 
 
 and what he is eternally to US, and that the seed of God re- 
 maineth in us. 1 leave you in his hand, and to Strive under 
 your affairs, as ho shall give you wisdom and strength. 
 
 Lord, purge and heal U8: He will do it. and all will he well. 
 Let us hold on to pray lor each other, for "the vision will 
 speak," etc., Ilab. ii. 3, 4. Yours to love and live with you 
 in the Lord, etc. 
 
196 LETTERS. 
 
 1662.— To P. D. 
 
 I have no other thing to recommend to you but this ; 
 that as you have already found this present world to be a 
 slippery foundation, so beware how you lay the whole stress 
 of your expectation upon it, or the persons in it. A thirsty 
 man may dream that he drinketh ; yet when he awakes, he 
 may faint. The drink of a dream gives not refreshment ; 
 it is only the water of life, issuing from the rock Christ, that 
 is satisfying and healing ; " He that drinks of that water 
 shall never thirst.'' Frowns and favors of men are some of 
 the strongest engines the devil has, to shake a soul from 
 simple and single-hearted following of the Lamb ; and 
 besides them, the treachery of our carnal and unbelieving 
 hearts is ever watching to betray our poor souls into a dis- 
 relish of the pure paths of life ; dulling the edge of zeal, 
 and blinding the eye from beholding the excellency that lies 
 in the person of Christ crucified and risen, and the excellent 
 grace that has shone from heaven for recovering poor sinners 
 out of the snare of the devil. So that you and I have need 
 to be much attending at the footstool of that throne, where 
 the Lord of life sways the sceptre of relief, mercy, and saving 
 health for all coiners. Let my portion be in the fountain of 
 life, and not in the broken cisterns of earthly, deceitful con- 
 tentments. If you would save yourself from grieving the 
 good Spirit of God, (which, I trust, dwells in you,) retire 
 yourself, as much as you can, into the contemplation of such 
 things as may cause the fear and love of God to be and 
 remain, witli some odoriferous verdure and kindly growth in 
 your soul; and take an ingenuous and serious view, whether 
 the plants of the Lord do llourish, or else are blighted. No 
 less than an infinity of power is requisite to such work ; and 
 he only, who engageth his heart to it, lieth under the promise 
 of the influences of Heaven, to quicken and satisfy him with 
 good things full of marrow. I have no more, but to recom- 
 mend you to the Lord, to keep you from declining in a de- 
 clining time ; and that you may be preserved from evil, and 
 your affections be where Christ is. I remain, etc. 
 
 1662.— To S. H. 
 
 I know you yearn after the same country, which I have 
 some hope (through the riches of that bounty that has ap- 
 
1 1 1 ■ 1 1 I 
 
 peared from heaven to men) to Bee; and when the 
 here below are over, to breathe forth blessing, honor, and 
 praise to Him. who, I trust, has Loved as both, and washed 
 us iii bis own blood ; and I have some ground to hope the 
 number there will be one the more for pour oomps 
 Only spend your love upon him, your delight in him, 
 your desires after him, and r\rvy part of his will j as well 
 to carry the cross, as to wear the crown, for both 
 privileges. 
 
 When your heart is oppressed with sin or trouble, then 
 think, oh, how free is He from sin, who sits conqueror at the 
 right hand of God, as my Advocate, Surety, and Rede* mer : 
 yea, my principal self; whose I am by his redemption. more 
 than I am mine own ! Sins, evil thought-, heart-lusts, and 
 despondency of spirit, shall not always tear and torment : 
 for he has judged them in his flesh upon the tier, and is 
 risen on our behalf. I could write a volume, had 1 words 
 and time, of the terrible inroads which the enemy, especially 
 my own corrupt heart, makes upon me; but I doubt not, you 
 know the same warfare. What remains, but that with faith, 
 hope, and patience, we cry out, " How long, Lord, holy and 
 true, how long ere the Canaanite be expelled, and ti 
 thorns in our flesh be consumed forever?" Oh, what pure 
 and uninterrupted communion with Christ will that he. when 
 neither sin within, nor troubles and fears without, shall gaB 
 any more ! wdien melancholy doubts and unbelief, as a black 
 cloud, shall be dispelled, and dried up forever before the 
 sparkling face of the Sun of righteou>ne— , Bolemniring the 
 marriage of his spouse ! We have no oratory that can eut- 
 pass what he has already uttered concerning this : and hi- 
 words are not vain, though ours are many times too. too 
 chaffy about these things, the more is the pity it Bhould be 
 so. When he says, k - Sin -hall not have dominion over youj 
 I will circumcise your hearts to love me: I will redeem 
 Jacob out of all his troubles : I will be with you, and deliver 
 you," his words are all true ; but our little exercise of faith 
 is either like a weak-handed grasp, or a leaky vessel ; ye1 our 
 faith itself is in hi- keeping, and his intercession is incessant ; 
 therefore it cannot utterly fail. Dear sister, wait on ! 
 pluck up your soul to the business; your labor will not he 
 in vain, nor shall any unfeigned desire after him return 
 disappointed and ashamed. Throw husband, child, and Ben 
 upon him, into his bosom; and there lodge together by faith, 
 
 17 
 
198 LETTERS. 
 
 in the joy of the Holy Ghost, and so take your rest : I 
 mean a laborious, and yet a sweet rest ; for so he giveth his 
 beloved sleep. His own concernments are mixed in ours ; 
 though his own are chief in his eye, yet he can look upon 
 them, without overlooking ours ; for the covenant is made ; 
 the blood that concerns it is already shed, and fully accepted ; 
 the redemption is complete ; and the Lord's portion and de- 
 light is his people. So that he, as it were (if I may say as 
 it were, in so true and real a business,) raiseth in himself an 
 endless delight, by loving his ransomed seed, dressing them 
 according to his own heart, and shedding a measure of that 
 love into their hearts also, for carrying on a spirit of conju- 
 gal affection in the souls of his people towards him now : till 
 the shadows flee away, and we come to know him as we are 
 known of him ; and so love him without interruption, as Ave 
 are loved of him. The day is near, when a thousand-fold 
 more of this will really appear than words can utter : for 
 who can speak how much there lies in God's purpose, yea, 
 in his very heart, to do for them whom he bought so dear, 
 and rescued with so high a hand ? Deut. x. 15. How then 
 should we look out to awaken our faith, and lift up our 
 heads, because our Redeemer is alive and risen, and our 
 safety is in him ! Oh, that my own heart and yours were 
 more warmed with such a view ! I have no more, but to 
 recommend you to the bosom of him who is the God of all 
 grace, pity, power, and consolation. Yours, in the hope of 
 thissaving health and relief, etc. 
 
 1663. — Tb D. H. 
 
 I have not yet found out a way of employment ; but am 
 looking out, and do desire to be looking up ; for my advice 
 and u help cometh from the hills," as David speaks. Disap- 
 pointments (as a wise and faithful God orders them) are as 
 useful many times as success. God has not cast me out of 
 his gracious covenant, nor my soul into murmuring dis- 
 couragement ; but tells me, the trial of my faith is better, 
 much better than gold. However it is with my outward 
 man, yet my chief want is not there ; and although my sin- 
 ful and corrupt heart wars strongly against the Spirit and 
 the new creature, yet I believe the Spirit, in the operations 
 of his grace in the new creature, will carry the day, when all 
 is done, for our Redeemer is strong. I am laden with dark- 
 
i i rii u, 198 
 
 Bess, weakness, corrupt lusts, vanity, distrust, unsteady and 
 uneven walking, deadness and hardness of hear! ; but I find 
 the fountain of mercy for cleansing atil] open, and the grace, 
 mercy, and truth of God in the covenant unchangeable: and 
 
 in this stands "all my -alvation, and all my desire," '2 Sam. 
 
 xxiii. 5. I want nothing but more faith, more spiritual light 
 and furniture, more of Christ's image, more renewing in the 
 spirit of my mind, to have less carnal carefulness, Luke xii. 
 22. and more of the just man's life, llahhak. ii. 1. Sin 
 makes a man poor, weak, fend fearful; the grace of God, 
 which brings salvation, makes a soul rich, strong, and confi- 
 dent! for the covenant of grace, and the promises, are more 
 than words. The treasure is full ; and if I could bring my 
 empty sack in earnest, it would be filled in earnest J \ 
 you a short hint of my conviction, my conditions, travails, 
 and desires : that, in the like, you may see you are not alone. 
 and that we may strive together in spirit towards the glorious 
 prize of our high calling. I commend you to your and my 
 strong rock, the blessed and ever-living God, etc. 
 
 1664.— To B. D. 
 
 I do not doubt but the same God, who has made com- 
 munion with himself sweet to you, will gather you under 
 his wings, and perfect in you the good pleasure of his will. 
 What a majestic privilege is this, that the omnipotent God 
 should voluntarily be in the nearest covenant relation with 
 a poor sinner ! That Christ, God-man, should be our Priest, 
 our Advocate, and every hour of the day and night alive, to 
 make intercession for all those who come to God through 
 him! What though great and new temptations come, and 
 sore tempests arise, he did, and doth, say to the storm-. u Be 
 still," and they must ail obey him. Strong is our Redeemer, 
 and therefore the floods cannot drown a weather-beaten 
 .■I; yea, he is both ship and pilot, and therefore the 
 venture cannot miscarry. Who is it that keeps the small 
 grain, the little spark of faith, alive, btit he who made Jonah, 
 in the deep, to say, "Yet I will look again toward- thy holy 
 temple?" Our whole care and burden lie upon his hands, 
 "who bears up the pillars of the earth." lit,' lives t<> give 
 and nourish faith, and in believing to give peace: therefore 
 sin shall not have niter dominion, nor condemnation find 
 room to enter. lie is bringing us through many waters to 
 
200 LETTERS. 
 
 a safe shore. The victory determined and promised will 
 break forth, because our Head is exalted above all authority 
 and power. We may look all manner of deaths and dis- 
 couragements, all manner of disappointments and difficulties 
 here below, in the face, without an appalled heart, and 
 amazing terror; because the Prince of life and deliverance 
 has engaged his life, his crown, and dignity, to be the hope 
 and strength of his poor servants. Happy is that soul that 
 makes him his only and continual refuge, as I perceive you 
 do ; and blessed be his name for it ! Mr. Th. Tr. is dead ; 
 and thus rolls away the world, and the things and lusts 
 thereof. The days of an anxious pilgrimage are running- 
 out. The Lord direct our eyes to that serene and un- 
 changeable state, where sins, fears, and temptations, tur- 
 moils and difficulties, will cease forever : to the comfort and 
 communion of whose gracious Spirit I commend you. 
 
 1665.— To B. J. D. 
 
 I do, by one or other, sometimes hear of your health, 
 which is welcome news to me. Although the years of my 
 life have not reached the number that yours are now at ; 
 yet, methinks, the Lord hath given me a fair respite to seek 
 that pearl which doth surmount the value of the whole world 
 and the lusts thereof, which pass away : but the deceit, pol- 
 lution, and negligence of my own heart are such, and so 
 unsuitable has been my improvement of time in a day of 
 grace, under the means thereof, that I may cry out, Where 
 have I been ? what have I done all this while ? how little 
 have I answered the gospel call ! how little have I pried 
 applyingly into the mystery of Christ ! and what miserable 
 returns have I made to all the bounteous offers of the gos- 
 pel that I have read and heard ! But yet the Lord hath, in 
 some measure, hinted to my soul, that he has made with me 
 in Christ an everlasting covenant. There I desire humbly 
 to cling, and there to place all my expectation, my hope of 
 acceptance and salvation, and all my desire. And you that 
 have seen more days than I have done, I entreat you also 
 to give them a serious review. Let neither of us leave our 
 choicest concernments at uncertainties. Oh, for a rousing 
 visit from the God of all grace upon each of our hearts, that 
 may alarm us out of ourselves into the city of refuge, before 
 we are benighted ! Let each of us be as much afraid to 
 
i rsRS. 201 
 
 have any wholesome COnvictiOD die upon Qfl now, :\< we 
 
 would be afraid hereafter to be found without our wed- 
 ding garment I have Little news, but thai the plagu< 
 greatly increased, and seems to import thai wrath has gone 
 forth. The Lord help us to put our house (our hearts) in 
 order, with the utmost zeal and diligence. The alarm from 
 heaven Bounds louder and louder, and seems to give more 
 than an uncertain sound. It .-peaks out Divine wrath most 
 distinctly: happy would this city and land be, if they heard 
 and submitted to the voice of the rod. Lei US look out. and 
 be fitted to meet our Lord. It is a pity to let an eternal 
 state be at uncertainties with us, when a temporal life is thus 
 tottering. Such a fleeing to Christ a- i- accompanied with a 
 clear resignation of our wills wholly to his will, is the b 
 preparative for our change. 
 
 1065.— To B.J.D. 
 
 Though there is not often intercourse betwixt us by 
 letters, yet I can truly say, you are many times upon my 
 heart. The affairs of your precious and never-dying soul 
 are the principal theme of my anxious and affectionate re- 
 membrance of you. I have you in my eye when I do not 
 bodily see you, and in my prayers to Him who quicken eth 
 all things, and giveth life and growth to whomsoever he will. 
 Your convictions, your temptations inward and outward, the 
 wiles and power of the prince of darkness, who stand- against 
 you in battle-array, your infirmity, the deceitfulneSfi of -in, 
 (that will turn and wind and shift from one corner of the 
 soul to the other to preserve itself from being dislodged) the 
 lulling baits, the powerful suasives, the threats, exigencies, 
 and influences of a present evil world, the difficulty, and yet 
 the necessity of that spiritual warfare to which you are 
 called, and unto which the promise of victory is made : 
 these things, I say, are in my eye. And then I think, here 
 is matter enough for one brother to remember another, and 
 to cry out, "0 Lord, who shall raise my brother into a vigor- 
 ous exercise of faith with power, into inward and exemplary 
 holiness? Who shall bring him into the rivers of effectual 
 contrition, and land him on the right shore ; for he is feeble, 
 unable, and ready to halt in the way ': Xs no -hall bring him 
 into the strong city, the walls whereof are salvation, and the 
 habitation thereof purity, serenity, and peace ? Wilt not 
 17* 
 
202 LETTERS. 
 
 thou, O God, who alone canst slay the crooked serpent, and 
 say to all obstacles whatsoever, Give way ; let the ransomed 
 of the Lord return : let the seed of my servants, to whom 
 my promise is made, come and enter into the strong hold ; 
 for I have found a ransom ? " Dear brother, how and in 
 what frame of heart my letter will find you, I know not ; but 
 God has guided my pen to let you know a little what kind 
 of musings I have, in my jealousy and tender affection to- 
 wards you. If you are busied in these things already, these 
 lines may be a spur and encouragement : if otherwise, God 
 can make them a successful alarm ; though, as mine, they 
 are weak, short, and impotent. I live here among the graves, 
 and do not know but that my decease may be at hand, though 
 at present in good health ; and therefore I think meet to let 
 my arrow fly, as near as I can, to the white of the mark ; 
 for there is no work nor invention in the grave ; no return 
 from thence, nor further opportunity to set the house (the 
 heart) in order. Though my bow may be drawn at random, 
 God can direct the arrow within the joints of the armor : to 
 him I commend it and you. I have sent you a bill of mor- 
 tality. The voice of God crieth to the city, to the country, 
 to you, and to me : the man of wisdom, and none else, shall 
 see, and fear his name. 
 
 1665.— ^ E. D. 
 
 The greatest thing I desire is, that the presence and 
 blessing of the Lord may be mine and your portion ; and 
 that is the best portion which is obtained from Him by 
 prayer and resignment to his pure will. How, in reference to 
 me, God has ordered the things of this world to come and 
 go, you have in some measure seen, that you with me should 
 lay hold upon the most durable substance ; that so we may 
 become heirs of that peace and that treasure, which the 
 world is neither able to give nor take away. Upon such a 
 bottom as that, and no other, there is safe swimming by faith 
 through all changes and difficulties, unto a condition of rest, 
 purity, peace, and satisfaction that will never change. I 
 hope Christ has numbered you amongst his lambs ; and if 
 God himself be to you and me a Shepherd, we may, in the 
 words of his own Spirit, say, We shall want no good thing. 
 Therefore call much upon him, to reveal himself in his Son 
 unto your heart, and that he would carry and mould your 
 
i.Ki i BBS. 
 
 concernments and mine in his own bosom, take the whole 
 care and guidance of us into his own hands, and also conform as 
 perfectly to Ids will ; and then we are beyond hazard, and 
 may be assured to be supplied sufficiently; be guided by his 
 grace here, and arrive at glory hereafter. 
 
 1GG8.— To C, E. I). 
 
 I apprehend it a providential favor of God to me, that 
 Pie gave me an opportunity of seeing my dear cousin, your 
 husband, before the Lord removed him hence; thai I might 
 have some fresh taste of the frame of his soul, when he 
 stood upon the brink of eternity, ready to launch forth. I 
 know it is an afflicting providence to you, to be deprived of 
 the society of so dear a relation, after you had so long en- 
 joyed the endearment of each other's affections, and had 
 passed through many afflicting dispensations together in this 
 vale of trouble ; and had also, I doubt not, many joint ap- 
 plications to God, praying together, and, according to the 
 ability which God gave, endeavoring to promote each other's 
 spiritual and everlasting welfare. But herein there is mat- 
 ter of consolation, and thankfulness to God ; not only that 
 He lent you this choice comfort through so many years of 
 pilgrimage, but that Pie caused you to see his faithfulness 
 and goodness in carrying this your dear husband through, to 
 the end of his spiritual warfare ; and that God preserved 
 him from staining his profession in the eyes of the world, 
 and has rendered the remembrance of him precious amongst 
 his people, and fulfilled his word touching him, "Mark the 
 righteous man, and behold the upright ;" etc. And though 
 he be taken out of our sight for a little time, there is no 
 reason to repine, that the Lord hath seen it good to take 
 him into the vision and perfect fruition of himself among 
 the blessed, (as he hath given us ground to be fully per- 
 suaded,) and has now put an end to his troubles and dis- 
 quiets, has healed his aches, cured his diseases, and removed 
 his pains of body; translating him from this world, where 
 He is yet pleased to leave you, for a further exercise of 
 your faith and patience. And now what remain-, but that 
 you gird up the loins of your mind, to run the remainder of 
 your own race? And while you are here, in time, breathe 
 after the same eternal rest; rejoicing amidst all trials, and 
 believing that our faithful and gracious God, who has begun 
 
204 LETTERS. 
 
 his good work in your heart, will never cease till He hath 
 carried you through, and landed you safe, beyond all tempta- 
 tion, sin, and sorrow. Unto the hands of this gracious God 
 I commend you, etc. 
 
 1668.— To E. D. 
 
 Since my former, God has been pleased to draw a cloud 
 over my poor family. Tuesday last, little Tommy fell sick, 
 and on Wednesday morning died, and is this day to be 
 buried. A great and sudden stroke, which doth almost 
 overwhelm my dear wife ; who goes up and down lamenting, 
 and often crying out, That she has sinned away her sweet 
 babe into the grave. You may see, in short, how it is with 
 us at present ; I need not add more ; for I know what tender 
 love yourself did bear to this sweet and heart-taking infant. 
 Only I desire both you and my dear sister, and our friends 
 there, to pray for us, that this stroke may be blest to us all, 
 and that my desolate, dear wife may be guided through her 
 present confusion of spirit, to the only and right refuge. I 
 delivered her your letter, which was very acceptable ; and 
 therefore pray write her something again ; and I desire my 
 sister would do the same : it is good to help in time of need. 
 Her heart is much broken, and my affliction is not a little 
 one : I believe it is for some further good that God intends 
 to us both. A few lines from you, whom I know she doth 
 dearly value, will be very seasonable. No affliction is at 
 present joyous, but grievous ; but afterwards comes the 
 sweet and wholesome fruit : and this is the portion of them 
 who take hold of the full and sure covenant, and the cruci- 
 fied, risen Christ, who dies no more. There is nothing will 
 so wean affections hence, and from the mischief of creature- 
 love, as the study of Christ ; viewing him in the gospel, 
 pondering his excellent person, and his glorious mediatory 
 office for us ; and so set the affections on him, as to be in- 
 flamed with his love, under a view of our own right to and 
 interest in him. And therefore, not only with the bowels of 
 an earthly father, but in the bowels of Jesus Christ, I intreat, 
 and in his name do charge you, to study and muse day and 
 night, the unmeasurable, endless love of God, who sent his 
 Son ; the infinite, unwearied, and endless love of Christ, 
 who came, died, rose again, and lives forever, to be your 
 only portion ; and to make you, even you, a delightful por- 
 
i.r.iTi .i:s. 
 
 tioii to him; and to render you (through the blood of sprink- 
 ling, and the communion and influence of thai one Spirit of 
 the Father and Son) an object of his delight, and a monu- 
 ment o\' his pardoning grace, and hie purifying virtue, to all 
 eternity. To him I commend you. 
 
 1GG8.— To E. D. 
 
 BoTn myself and my wife are very sensible of this Bore 
 storm with which the Lord is pleased to exercise your faith 
 and patience at this time. But Christ is in the vessel, and 
 therefore you cannot perish : in the lire and in the water, 
 
 in every cold and hot fit, lie is with you, and has a tender 
 sense of every jot of your pain and sickness. It is a father's 
 chastisement and trial : and all his aim is, to purify and lit 
 you for an object of his eternal delight. I know his ever- 
 lasting arms are under you; and though the dispensation be 
 dark, yet he is doing you good with all his heart, according 
 to his covenant, and with all his soul. He inclined your 
 heart, of his own grace, to choose him, because he first chose 
 you, and will yet choose you in the furnace. Throw your- 
 self upon him ; for nothing shall separate you from his love 
 in Christ. Christ himself was once sick, for your sake, to 
 the very death, and in great darkness ; yet always beloved 
 of his Father : and his God and Father, is your God and 
 Father ; and therefore he will not forsake your soul in ad- 
 versity, but make your bed in your sickness ; for his tender 
 mercy toward you can never dry up. Resign yourself 
 wholly to Him, and -be comforted in Him; for He who is 
 your own God and Saviour, is Lord both of life and death. 
 My heart is melting over you, and yet I am but an earthly 
 father ; all affection is derived from Him ; but his affections, 
 his love and pity are infinite. I do remember you, and my 
 poor wife also; both of us have and do spread your case 
 before the Lord; and I have abundant satisfaction in the 
 Lord, that it is and will be well with you, living or dying; 
 but we earnestly desire, if it bo his will, thai you may yel 
 live to show forth the praises of Him upon the earth, who 
 has done great things for you. For what greater fevor can 
 He give a poor creature, than to make you seek his face, and 
 to number you amongst his followers; which II<- has given 
 evidence of (blessed be his name) already. Be not dejected, 
 but lift up your head and heart to your God and Saviour ; 
 
206 LETTERS. 
 
 throw all your sins, and cares, and fears upon him, and 
 spare not ; for so you honor him, and can never please him 
 better. He sees you through a cloud, and delights to do 
 you good ; and will never cease, till he open before you the 
 endless volume of his eternal love, and so love you into his 
 eternal rest. Therefore bear up, and be revived ; for God 
 himself is with you for a refuge. To him I leave you, 
 waiting his good pleasure, etc. 
 
 1668.— 2b E. D. 
 
 I received yours of the 10th instant, October, desiring 
 to own the gracious hand of God in this speedy recovery 
 of yours. When Hezekiah was reprieved from death for a 
 season, it is said, he rendered not according to the benefit ; 
 take heed of that : whatever awakening you have had, en- 
 deavor to retain it ; and that is the best kind of thankful- 
 ness ; and this the Lord will give, if you often let him know 
 that it is the real desire of your heart: He satisfieth the 
 longing soul. Present the same things to him, by faith and 
 prayer, which you mention to me in your letter, and then 
 you may expect to speed. He can compose and direct your 
 thoughts ; for he art- work is his only to manage. When you 
 put faith and prayer to the word, you make it another thing 
 than it was before in the mere letter ; that is the way to draw 
 water out of the wells of salvation. And thus humbly, 
 seriously, and cheerfully expect whatever good there lies 
 bequeathed to you in the New Testament, which is your 
 legacy, etc. 
 
 1669.— To D. H. 
 
 I AM refreshed in the experience you have had of the good 
 hand of God towards you ; and though God has caused you 
 to walk in many rough paths, as to your outward condition, 
 yet he still appears a God of all grace ; and doth, in these 
 things, plainly tell you, that this world is not your rest ; and 
 therefore you meet with thorns and briers here, that you 
 may have the fresher desires maintained in your heart, as- 
 piring upwards. The greatest of earthly contentments will 
 be of no worth nor use in heaven ; neither can they of them- 
 selves, any way add to the comfort or thriving of a spiritual 
 life on earth. The only life we are allowed to live in this 
 
I I II I I 
 
 world is the life of Faith ; which grows better under difficul- 
 ties, than in a Bmooth state of affairs in this world. I know 
 no sweeter entertainment God has to give in this world to 
 his poor children, than thai he give often convincement, thai 
 the best of this world is too lean diel for them to feed apon; 
 and bo make them take the truer taste of that marrow and 
 fatness which, in Christ, they arc always to live uj.cn ; that 
 
 is, no loss than God himself, the fountain of blessed] 
 
 safety, peace, sufficiency, and -olid joy. 
 
 What can come amiss to that soul, which Christ under- 
 takes, by all things, and through all things, to bring to him- 
 self? For this end he died: this is the great end of <•- 
 trial you meet with ; and upon this ground the Spirit saith, 
 Count it all joy when you fall into clivers temptations. All 
 the glory, fulness, and ease of this world is but horror and dis- 
 tress to a convinced soul, that looks on God as an enemy : but 
 nothing can be dismayingly sad, when God saith, I am thine ; 
 when the Infinite saith, 'I am thine; I, who am the Maker 
 of all things, am thy husband ; thy trials shall not quite 
 overwhelm thee; thy sins shall not ruin thee ; death ii 
 shall not destroy thee.' O death, where is thy destruction, 
 when God shall say, i I will be with thee in the fire, and in 
 the water ; thy person is accepted, thy prayers (though in 
 thine own eyes without any form or comeliness) are sweet, 
 and accepted in Christ, who hath chosen thee, and thou hast 
 chosen him ? ' What shall I say ? The freeness of God's 
 grace in Christ, his powerful and most voluntary love if 
 such, wherever it darts, that neither sin nor devil can stand 
 before it, to hinder a jot of all that good which such a ( I 
 has promised and undertaken to perform, (and that merely 
 upon the account of his own nana-) streaming forth thn i 
 Christ in the gospel, to such poor, ill-deserving creat 
 you and I are. I shall add no more at present, except com- 
 mitting you to this God, whose you are, whom you B6I 
 and who will never leave nor forsake, hut guide you by his 
 coun>el. and support you by his Spirit, till he ha- brought 
 you to glory, the perfection and fulness of what you pray 
 and long for. 
 
 1G70.— To M. D. 
 
 Every day here is tedious to me, only I am now and 
 then refreshed among savory acquaintance. I have had 
 
208 LETTERS. 
 
 some difficulties in my own spirit under the present dispen- 
 sation ; but God has given some hints to me, that it shall 
 be for advantage. Some clouds have come, but ever and 
 anon it shines again ; which shews, that though darkness be 
 intermixed, yet the sun is not set, nor day utterly gone ; nor 
 will ever cease till the present warfare issues in freedom 
 and victory ; and all through the rich grace and faithfulness 
 of God, who " delighteth in mercy," who will " abundantly 
 pardon and save to the uttermost." I have you often in my 
 eye, and the rest of my dear friends, to whom I am related 
 in the fellowship of the gospel ; for all of whom I offer up 
 daily requests to our God and Father. Let us pray, believe, 
 hope, and rejoice in our God, our rock. " He giveth power 
 to the faint, will revive the weary, and never turn from 
 them who wait on him, to do them good." Oh, that when- 
 ever we meet again, it may be with some advanced degrees 
 of holiness, and spiritual light and life : more faithful, more 
 capacious to take in the mystery of Christ, more discerning 
 our union with him, more inward in our communion, more 
 often in our converse with him; that we may spring up- 
 wards with more frequent desires, and improve the grace of 
 adoption in a greater height of filial obedience ; and with 
 more freedom, resolvedness, and delight, make Christ our 
 all in all. Surely God aims at this in our trials, and the 
 trials of his church, and I trust " the zeal of the Lord of 
 hosts will effect and perform it." I know my affairs at home 
 suffer by my absence, but God knows how to balance that 
 loss ; and therefore, while I am serving his present provi- 
 dence, I desire to leave that care upon him. I commend 
 you to the gracious bosom of our blessed God and Father ; 
 even to him who is your best friend and keeper ; and with 
 my choicest affections I remain, etc. 
 
 1670.— To P. D. 
 
 The best advice, which, in the first place, I would give 
 you (and which I would take myself) in all straits, is se- 
 riously to consider the deserving cause of trouble, and how 
 far there hath been in you the least accessoriness thereunto, 
 and so to spread it penitently before the Lord, imploring the 
 help of his Spirit through Jesus Christ, to give your soul 
 a thorough turn to him ; applying yourself heartily and un- 
 feignedly to the throne of grace, for the removing away all 
 
L Mill. 
 
 guilt : and thai your conscience being cleansed through the 
 blood of Christ, peace maj be made between God and pour 
 soul. And if the Lord shall please thus to incline j 
 heart to him, it will be Bome forerunning token, thai he will 
 find a way (far be can best do it) to take off the edge of 
 men's severity, and turn it. though against the grain of their 
 own interest) into pity and kindness, ♦•!<•. 
 
 1G72.— To B.J. D. 
 
 I am glad to hear that you are in health, which the ; 
 continue with the addition of the highest blessing, thai 
 spiritual endowment, and that interest in Christ, that Baving 
 
 and powerful work of grace, and that activity for God in the 
 ways and power of godliness, and that exemplary pattern of 
 holiness in your walk, which can only render long life a bl - 
 
 ing, and truly make an hour of dissolution sweet, and the con- 
 sideration of that great day of our appearance to be pleasant) 
 and, upon safe grounds, desirable. That famous and laborious 
 minister, Mr. Joseph Caryl, your ancient friend and com- 
 panion, is departed this life, aged about seventy-one years ; his 
 death is greatly lamented by the people of God throughout 
 this city. About the beginning of his sickness I was with him, 
 and he inquired concerning you, and perceiving him to be 
 somewhat weak, though he did not then keep his chamber, I 
 desired him, while he was yet alive, to continue to pray 
 for you ; which motion he cheerfully and readily embraced. 
 And coming to him again, about three days before his death. 
 I found him very weak, and past hope of life; lie then told 
 me. a- well as I could understand him. (for his speech wa- 
 low.) that he had remembered his promise to mo concerning 
 you. I think good to mention this particular passage, to 
 provoke you to all seriousness in reference to your own -mil. 
 whose eternal welfare lay so much upon the heart of this 
 servant of Christ Hi- labor- were great, his Btudies in 
 sant, his conversation unspotted, his sincerity, faith, /rah and 
 wisdom, gave a fragrant smell among the churches and - 
 rants of Christ His sickness, though painful, was borne 
 witli patience, and joy in believing; and BO he parted from 
 time to eternity, under full .-ail of desire, and joy in the 
 Holy Spirit, lie lived his own Bermons: he did at last de- 
 sire his friend- to forbear .-peaking to him, that BO he in- 
 retire within himself; which time-, they perceived, he .-pent 
 18 
 
210 LETTERS. 
 
 in prayer ; oftentimes lifting up his hands a little ; and at 
 length his friends, seeing not his hand to move, drew near, 
 and perceived he was silently departed from them, leaving 
 many mournful hearts behind. 
 
 And now, dear brother, O that this may be an exciting 
 motive to you and me, to redeem the time which the 
 caterpillars have eaten, that we be not found unready. 
 And if ever you expect to be a companion again with Mr. 
 Caryl, break off from all such company which were not his 
 delight. Concern yourself to make a fresh and thorough 
 surrender to God in your old age. Beg, I beseech you, beg 
 such a convincing, impartial, heart-breaking sight of your 
 sins in youth and old age, that may force you to Christ 
 for refuge, while he may be found ; and beg his Spirit, 
 that you may glorify him on earth, the few days that yet 
 remain, as signally as ever you have dishonored him. 
 What a joy will it be to this glorified saint, Mr. Caryl, at 
 the last day, to see that his prayers for you have prevailed ! 
 Dear brother, I pray excuse my earnestness in what I have 
 written ; it may be, you and I may never again see each 
 other in this world : you are much upon my heart, I mean 
 as to your eternal estate ; and glad I should be to hear of 
 some eminent change as to soul-concernments, before either 
 I hear of your, or you hear of my. launching forth into vast 
 eternity, where there can be no more changes ; and the hour 
 is near, in which the eye that hath seen you shall see you 
 no more: " As the tree falls, so shall it lie:" the eternal 
 judgment follows death at the heels. I can say no more : 
 it must be divine power and grace that must set the wheels 
 a-going, if ever they move. And therefore, whilst I am in 
 this world, I hope I shall not cease to pray for you, whilst 
 you are in this world also ; for our prayers cannot reach be- 
 yond the grave. Dear brother, farewell ; yea, fare better 
 and better, till you fare best of all, etc. 
 
 1674— To B. D. 
 
 I bless the Lord, I can remember and mention you as 
 one who is interested in that promise, Jer. xxxii. 41, "I will 
 rejoice over them, to do them good ; " and that he will never 
 leave you, till he has perfected that which concerns you, in 
 a way of grace, mercy, and love. My great and frequent 
 request on your behalf is, above all, that God would pre- 
 
LETTERS. 211 
 
 serve you from the evil of sin, and from mares in jrour 
 daily walk; that he would sprinkle you frith the blood, with 
 the merit, of Christ's satisfaction and righteousness ; that he 
 
 would direct your path, and do all your works in you, and 
 for yon; and cause you to lean strongly and cheerfully on 
 
 the arm of his truth and grace, iu reference to all present 
 and future trials; and that you may more than conquer 
 through believing, iu every exigence you do or may meet 
 with ; till the warfare l><' accomplished, and the days of 
 trial terminate in the fruition of perfect freedom. For my 
 own part, J have reason to bless the Lord, thai he has 
 favorably held me up, and carried me along now then- many 
 years, since we saw each other; and although he hath 
 ercised me with some difficulties, and considerable Lose 
 I hope and do think, lie has some way or other a reserve of 
 kindness for me (unworthy me and mine) ; u for the earth is 
 the Lord's, and the fulness thereof." And through this 
 grace, I have, in some measure and desire, held on -till to 
 choose him for my portion, as to things present and eternal. 
 Your time and mine are in the hands of God, who is most 
 wise, and to be adored and submitted to. The days of our 
 anxious pilgrimage are running out; the Lord direct our 
 eyes to that serene, unchangeable state, where sins, fears, 
 temptations, turmoils, and difficulties, will cease forever : to 
 the care, counsel, comfort, and communion of whose gracious 
 Spirit I commend you. 
 
 1674— ToH.W. 
 
 Remembering that ancient amity and respect, that was 
 heretofore between my father and yourself, and the con- 
 tinuance thereof, for a long time after his decease, between 
 yourself and his family; and being not at all conscious to 
 myself, that I have, for my own part, hitherto merited, much 
 designed the suspense of that good will; but being -till 
 heartily desirous of your welfare, I am, though distant in 
 ision presents, often inquiring how it is with 
 
 you; and understanding that your days are yet drawn forth, 
 
 and that your pilgrimage, though under much infirmity of <>ld 
 . doth yet continue, 1 was willing to evidence my real 
 
 respects unto you by a line or two: and a- I do net doubt, 
 but that your general aim, throughout your days, has b 
 to employ your talents in the service of Christ, while Btrength 
 
212 LETTERS. 
 
 and time permitted ; so I earnestly desire, that in the ap- 
 proaches of a dissolution, you may find that fulfilled to you, 
 which David prayed for ; " That the Lord would not forsake 
 him in his old age, when strength faileth," Psalm lxxi. 9. 
 The same I desire for you, even that you may now expe- 
 rience the refreshing virtue of all those gospel-truths, which 
 Christ has so long entrusted you with, as his messenger 
 unto others ; that you may have the merit of his satisfaction 
 and righteousness applied, for your perfect absolution from 
 all sin and guilt ; the influence and conduct of his Spirit, to 
 steer all your meditations, and thoughts, hopes, and desires ; 
 the consolations of his grace and love, to sweeten your 
 travel through the valley of death, and give you at last a 
 refreshing arrival at the throne of eternal rest ; and there 
 harbor you, after all the incumbrance and warfare of this 
 present state, in the fruition of his immediate presence, with- 
 out spot, in Jesus Christ ; the glimpses whereof I heartily 
 desire you may beforehand partake of, as an earnest of that 
 great, full, and perfect revelation and enjoyment, when time 
 shall be no more. So, with my hearty and unfeigned respects, 
 I remain, in truth and real affection Yours. 
 
 1674— To H.¥. 
 
 I received yours of the 25th past, which was exceed- 
 ingly welcome to me ; and therefore I return you hearty 
 thanks, both for it, and your candid acceptance of that token 
 I sent you ; being an indication (such as it was) of the 
 respect and value, which from my very heart, and that de- 
 servedly, I bear towards you. Your letter, written (as I 
 see) with an aged, feeble hand, I have read over with great 
 acceptation, and account it to me the same as a precious 
 balm. I understand that Mr. O., after a very small time of 
 sickness, in a few moments' space, departed this life : and 
 thus we are dropping away, hastening towards a dissolution, 
 where the eye that now seeth us, shall see us no more. 
 Blessed be that Redeemer, who will not call home any of 
 his peculiar number, before he has finished the design of his 
 grace, and the purpose of his will by them, and in them. 
 And blessed are those souls that are, in any saving measure, 
 helped by his Spirit to creep out of themselves, into his 
 heart ; and in that union partake of all the benefits of his 
 death, and purchase, both for present grace, and hope of 
 
v : in which Qumber I am undoubtingly persu 
 you are included; and that you lie under the aspect 
 thai divine goodness and love, which will feed the <>il in 
 your lamp, and will cause it t<> be readj trimmed and 
 ning ; that so, when the bridegroom comes, and c 
 I oil' to immortality and life, yon may In- able to 
 Lo, I come, tor all is ready: such a readiness the I 
 grant also to my poor soul. To his grace and favor, and 
 consolation of his Spirit, 1 commit you, and rest, etc. 
 
 1674.— To E. I). 
 
 Let your consideration feed on the quickening trutl 
 the gospel; fleeing to, and relying on. Christ, who i> the 
 arm of the Lord ; rejoicing in him, who requires you to c 
 
 every depressing burden from yourself, upon him : that is 
 the true gospel method, and you shall not be disappoint 
 Faithful is God, who hath called you into the fellowship of 
 his dear Son ; and thereby you have ground of boldness to 
 enter in within the vail, and he has promised you shall 
 never be cast out ; for your iniquities he will remember no 
 more : and though the cross be somewhat difficult to bear, 
 yet the reserve at last will fully recompense all ; and there- 
 fore lift up your head, for redemption is coming. We I 
 
 troubled at the troubles the churches meet with in , 
 
 and elsewhere. It is a sad day, when the word of salva: 
 comes to be suppressed by souls that must perish without it : 
 our business is, cheerfully and humbly to prepare for grea 
 shocks. Nearness to God in Christ is the safest and bw< 
 /actuary. 
 
 1675.— To E. D. 
 
 I have not received any letter from you for many w 
 which is not a little afflictive. You arc upon our hearts, 
 and we cease not the particular mention of von in our 
 prayers. Sometimes [fear your body lies under Buch ex- 
 tremity, that you cannot write : and sometimes I am will 
 to relieve my thoughts by supposing, if it were 90, I might, 
 at least, have a letter from S. II. Bui though I know 
 your present case, yet J know my God and your Grod 
 you under his own love and care. Hi- great design, for 
 own glory, and your and my good, is to instruct us, and l< 
 us into the life of resignation, ami dependence singly BO ! 
 18* 
 
214 LETTERS. 
 
 fully upon himself. Saving light, faith, and truth are the 
 very lessons he is calling upon me, and drawing me to learn ; 
 and, O for some good proficiency in this learning : nothing 
 so sweet, nothing so secure, and nothing so completely ad- 
 vantageous. I left the lady F. this afternoon, very near, in 
 appearance, to a dissolution, and A. P. breathing, and wait- 
 ing for her change. Happy souls, who choose that part that 
 shall never be taken away, but abide through death, unto 
 life in perfection. I doubt not but where you are, you will 
 have the good presence of God, who is both a sun and a 
 shield ; and withal, according to his promise, he will with- 
 hold no good thing from you, seeing he has given you to his 
 Son, and his Son to you, who will cause you to have an up- 
 right regard to the law of that blessed relation ; which is the 
 condition of that promise. To the shadow of his wing I 
 commend both you and my sister, longing to hear of her re- 
 covery, if the Lord please ; but she is in a Father's hand, 
 and under her Father's care and love. In sickness and 
 health, living and dying, nothing can come amiss to those 
 that love him, and give themselves perfectly away to him; 
 as I am persuaded she has done, and can rejoice in that 
 blessed bargain ; a contract made by and through Christ, the 
 faithful Witness, and watchful, prevalent Advocate ; and 
 however outward dispensations and providences work, they 
 will work together for good, because his love, mercy and 
 truth endure forever. Where the eye of his favor once 
 fixes, he never takes it off; the tokens of which favor you 
 have (through his free grace) had some taste of, that thereby 
 you may be led, and helped to hope perfectly to the end, and 
 humbly rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, in what 
 method soever he is pleased to act in the way of his fatherly 
 discipline. He is omnipotently, universally, and continually 
 good in himself, and in the communications of his goodness 
 to his people, waiting on him, and trusting in him. To him 
 I commend you daily, and with him I leave you, etc. 
 
 1675.— To B. D. 
 
 Ix my last I acquainted you with the weakness of my 
 daughter Elizabeth, at which time she continued with an in- 
 termixture of revivings now and then, and much refresh- 
 ment, as to the state of her soul, and things eternal ; and. in 
 the doctors' opinion, in some good hope of recovery, until 
 
the - th-day ; and then 
 
 the doctors saw thai the Lord had determin< do . and 
 
 thai evening he called her to himself. The lose of wl 
 company is not only a piercing affliction to myself, eta, but 
 lamented by divers others, who had experience of thai worth 
 which God himself had graciously beautified her BOtil h 
 He is most wise: oh thai he may cause me distinctly 
 his voice herein, and to improve it to the utmost use he in- 
 tends ii for. It is your affliction thai yon are, by the pn 
 dence of God, held so Long at Mich a distance from us, under 
 so many trials of your faith and patience on everj hand; 
 which, as the Lord is pleased to help, J am after my v 
 measure, often presenting before him, entreating thai he 
 would bear up your heart, and assist you as he hath hitherto 
 done, to go through the residue of your exercise in this pil- 
 grimage. Commending you to his gra gth, com 
 and blessing, I remain, etc. 
 
 1G77.— To J. L. 
 
 Some years have now passed without the intercourse of 
 any letter between us. I should be glad our old acquaint- 
 ance might not quite die, while we live and continue here. 
 How it is with you I know not; but for my own part. I have 
 and do pass my pilgrimage here through a thorny wilderness 
 of cares, difficulties, and temptations, all along ; and do ex- 
 pect no other, till I leave my sinful nature, and a dark, de- 
 filed world behind me : for I have abundant daily proof | 
 this lower state is not my rest, but I wait and hope l'<>v that 
 rest which remaineth. I am stricken in Ing now 
 
 in the sixty-fourth year of my ago : and through the ricl 
 of free grace (and that alone) .-ailing toward- the end 
 time, under the hope of eternal life ; and through the <j:<«n\- 
 3 of the Lord, do yet enjoy the company of my dear and 
 able yoke fellow, a- a helper and sweet companion with 
 me in my voyage. I find also a gracious child, my daugh- 
 ter Elizabeth, whom the Lord eminently prepared for hi 
 . and then translated her hence; and God has left us i 
 little branch : the Lord grant she may lov< 
 her sister, and enter, at last, in 
 I heartily desire ii may ever] well with you; and 
 
 that, though distance of place hinder our a 
 we may, at last, see the face of Christ, and one anotl 
 
216 LETTERS. 
 
 in the perfection of purity, and fulness of joy, in a better 
 country. 
 
 1677.— To C. S. D. 
 
 I understand, by Mr. F., that you are all in health ; 
 long may it continue, and well may your time and health be 
 improved. And as to any counsel that I am able to give 
 you, 'tis far short of what you do or may receive ; not only 
 from the solemn ministration of the gospel by the faithful 
 dispensers of the word, but also by those excellent books, 
 fit for meditation, use, and application, of which I suppose 
 you have many lying by you. Only I would say this ; the 
 principal part of religion (that which, in scripture, is called 
 the kingdom of God) lies chiefly in heart-renewing power ; 
 whereby the throne and dominion of sin is broken ; with 
 daily warnings against it, and daily laboring to be free from 
 its captivity ; and to that end, there is necessity of the con- 
 viction of our sinful, yea, damnable condition by nature ; 
 and that not only in our own opinion and judgment, but in 
 real view, sense, feeling, and inward operation and exercise ; 
 that so the knowledge of, and interest in Christ, may appear 
 indispensably necessary, and perfectly desirable, as a " pro- 
 pitiation for sin," and to translate the soul into the pure 
 image of himself in this world, as the fore-runner of an 
 eternal fruition of all that blessedness he died to purchase. 
 And upon manifold considerations, it doth eminently concern 
 you to dig for this wisdom, as for hidden treasure. You 
 have seen, and may further see, what a lean satisfaction it is 
 that this lower world doth afford ; what a sandy foundation 
 it is to build our hope, delight or dependence upon; and how 
 soon every flower withers. Therefore, daily beg of God 
 light, truth in the inward part, and saving wisdom, to be 
 your principle and guide, through the residue of time. Unto 
 his grace I commend you, and rest, etc. 
 
 1677.— To C. H. D. 
 
 I received your letter, and delivered that which you 
 sent my brother : both he and I are sensible of the loss of 
 your only brother. It doth concern you to consider the 
 voice of God in these afflictions, one after another, afkl 
 to improve them, so as to make God himself in Christ 
 
817 
 
 your only Btanding refuge. And o rtainly, if these thi 
 do cause you to turn your eyea directly ujm.fi him, and to 
 tre iu him alone, you will find him "the husband of the 
 widow, and father of the fatherless. 91 In ever] trouble our 
 wisest course is, to endeavor to learn whal God is plea 
 to say to our souls therein : which is to gel the hearts of his 
 people more united unto himself by faith and clear resigna- 
 tion; for though the things and persona of this world do 
 wither and fade, yel God himself is the rock of ages; and 
 hath promised, "The righteous .-hall not bo utterly desoL 
 for in the fire and in the water he will ho with them, and 
 never leave or forsake them." And therefore I would <\<- 
 sire you to endeavor rather to improve your affliction by 
 faith for spiritual use. than to waste away your thoughts un- 
 profitably through unbelief in pondering, and dejecting your 
 heart under these outward trials, though they be great 
 Therefore read and meditate the word, where provision of 
 support is made, to answer all eases of distress. Spread 
 your soul often before the Lord ; open the bottom of your 
 heart to him. Flee to the blood of Christ for daily atone- 
 ment ; and give yourself up to him who has >aid. " ( 
 your burden upon the Lord, and he will sustain you : n and 
 then you will see reason, at length, to Bay, "It ¥ I for 
 
 me that I was afflicted ; and that he or she is blessed whom 
 God afflicts, and teaeheth his law." Unto him I comn* 
 you, praying for you, that you and yours may have the 
 gracious shelter of his love and kindn< ss in every condition* 
 
 1G78.— To C. E. D. 
 
 I OFTEN think of you ; and look upon it BS a graciOUS 
 dealing of God towards you, ool only to prolong your life 
 to thi- age, but also, and chiefly, that ho hath crowned your 
 old age with an unwearied tendency towards a better lite 
 
 than • I have ever n. with that Bight which 
 
 we cannot here be capable of. I do b times by 
 
 or another, both of your bring in the land of the In ing, and 
 »u walk as b.c-' aged disciple <>f Christ ; 
 
 adorning the doctrine yon profess with a conversation sn 
 ble thereunto. The last time I heard from you waa by our 
 good friend Mrs. Stubbs; wh re but a few d 
 
 fore her husband, that holy and laborious mini-' 
 
218 LETTERS. 
 
 took his leave of her ; breathing forth his last farewell to this 
 present world ; and to that body of clay, in which he had 
 served Christ, for gaining of souls into his flock, through a 
 long course of years, diligent (I hope prospering) in the 
 great embassage which the great Shepherd employed him 
 in. His death was much bewailed by many, (especially by 
 them that best knew his worth,) as a great loss to the 
 interest and cause of Christ, both in city and country. The 
 Lord, in mercy, raise up more supplies of like sincerity, 
 diligence, and faithfulness in the Lord's vineyard. Dear 
 cousin, the Lord is pleased to use many ways anct means to 
 cause us to make the utmost improvement of seasons and 
 opportunities of grace, and gives many motives thereto ; 
 amongst which this is one, that the prophets do not live 
 forever ; and therefore he requires us to make speed, while 
 the day of grace, and while the time of life, continues; 
 that we may not be found naked and unready, when our 
 summons from hence, by death, shall be sent us. I have 
 not arrived to the length of your days, but the effects of old 
 age are much upon me, and the shadows of the evening have 
 begun to appear ; therefore, as it is always, so especially is 
 it needful for you and me, who are almost at the utmost 
 bounds of our time, to look into, and much to strive after, 
 the real and essential parts of godliness ; which lies much 
 in this ; to ponder the corruption of our own nature, and the 
 contradiction that it stands in, to the pure nature of God, 
 and his revealed will ; till we arrive at such a self-abhorrence, 
 and despair of any relief, which we can derive from what- 
 ever we are, or whatever we can do, ' as of ourselves ; ' that 
 we may betake ourselves entirely and perfectly to the grace 
 revealed in Christ ; casting our anchor of hope there, and 
 there only ; fleeing to the merits of Christ, and his single 
 righteousness ; in the virtue, and under the covering where- 
 of, to appear before him, when all flesh shall stand and. re- 
 ceive their unalterable sentence ; that then we may have the 
 comfortable happiness of that good word, " There is no con- 
 demnation to those that are in Christ." I cannot at present 
 add more, only this ; let none of your past or present 
 troubles, of what kind soever, hinder your rejoicing in 
 your gracious God and Saviour, who hath fed you all your 
 life long ; and will be your God, and your guide, and (as I 
 am abundantly persuaded you will find him, according to all 
 that he hath promised) your exceeding great reward, when 
 
LETT] B 
 
 die days of rest and end!, king Bhall o me. I 
 
 gracious guidance I commit you, and to tl i 
 lowship of ilif ll<>h Spirit. I pray for you, and d< 
 be remembered also bj you, in your prayers unto tl 
 of all grace ; even our own God and I 
 whose wring 1 desire to leave you, and remain, etc 
 
 1681.— To C. E. D, 
 
 God has been pleased to continue your life unto a 
 length of days; and though your outward man hs 
 withering, (yet, blessed be God, I perceive) your ini 
 man hath been assisted by his good Spirit hitherto, to make 
 a happy voyage to the haven of true rest The Lord, in 
 merey, accompany you through the remaining part 
 voyage, till you enter safely into the harbor, and are settled 
 in the mansions, which Christ is gone before to prepare for 
 you. I have myself much infirmity of body, and am in 
 daily combat with the corruption and vileness of my own 
 heart ; from which, I hope, through the riches of free grs 
 to be ere long delivered: and I have an abundant hope as 
 to the same, concerning yourself. Fix your eye upon the 
 great Mediator, cast yourself wholly upon him ; for he will 
 never leave you, nor forsake you. One day's communion 
 with God, without all sin. in that heavenly country, will 
 make you full amends for all the difficulties you havi 
 through in your earthly pilgrimage. And though I am 
 like on in this world, I hope, through ;, 
 
 the everlasting covenant, to Bee you where there will 
 neither Bin, nor old age, to molest either you or me 
 more. Dear cousin, the arms of divine love, 
 mercy, be continually embracing yon. I can now add 
 
 more: but do Commend you into the hand- of that ( 
 
 whose I am persuaded you are, and whom yon Ben 
 affectionate respe< >urself, and all yourrelatio 
 
 that seed of God which ho hath br«n pleased to plant in 
 your neighborhood. I remain your affections • 
 
 and brother in Christ 
 
220 
 
 MEDITATION ON HIS DEATH-BED.* 
 
 April 18. — In the morning he spake, saying, "0 Lord, 
 how do I pass through nights and days ! O wise God, and 
 dost thou (speaking to himself) account him so ? Lord, 
 make me to account thee wise ; and, good Lord, pardon me, 
 and receive me. Oh happy day that is coming! Oh blessed 
 day that is coming ! I pass through death unto eternal life." 
 After that he said, " The captive shall return, there will be no 
 more captivity. Oh sweet redemption ! Much of our heaven 
 here lies even in that little talk we have about it : and yet 
 when we speak a word of it, we have scarcely a thought 
 suitable to the greatness of it." Some space after he fetched a 
 deep groan ; and with his eyes lifted up, and his right hand 
 stretched forth, (as if the pains of death were upon him,) he 
 said, " Sharp and welcome, sharp and welcome." And a 
 while after he said, " Lord, let me not die with any guilt 
 upon me ; but leave it all behind. Oh, let not any sin 
 remain in me unrepented of. Let not any concurrence of 
 heart with the least guilt be in me. Let there be upon my 
 will an edge of hatred against every sin : create it in me 
 now. Thou canst make me to delight in that which is con- 
 trary to my own will. Oh, let thy will be pleasing to me, 
 and let my will be every way according to thy will. Let 
 not the agonies of death be too terrible ; let not the tem- 
 pestuous billows of it be too terrible to me, nor to any of the 
 race thou hast redeemed from death. Let the agonies of 
 death be even pleasing to me in Christ. Oh the bitter cup, 
 the unspeakable anger of God ! (We have not drunk of it.) 
 Oh the intolerable wrath of God, borne by that man ! 
 (meaning Jesus Christ) Oh the woful travail of Christ ! We 
 have discerned and laid to heart but a little of it ; and that 
 hath made repentance slight, and holy care trivial. And 
 now, O Lord, thou reckonest with me, for undervaluing of 
 that bloody agony : Lord, forgive me my guilt in this thing. 
 
 * The length of this Meditation prevented us from inserting it in 
 the Life of Mr. Dorney. Christian Biography, No. 23. 
 
MKDli A HON ON ]|!S LI \ I II , 
 
 I have not bees ;i Christian in :,i. Oh ! he 
 
 that made himself the bottom of all i Buffer* '1 
 
 6nitely. Oh, such a Redeemer, oh, Bach ;i 
 Alas! how unsuitable I have been to him I Lord, 
 my unsuitableness ; I have been a- a beast before thee: ! 
 have n<>t oome up to the call of thai unutterable 
 now, O Lord, I cannot stand in the battle : I cannot, 
 arrows of death stick in my flesh ; and I .annoi bear it u ith- 
 out great concussions of sou! within me. Bui Oh! < 
 
 Oh! thou who art the God of all grace, who hast B€t D 
 kingdom of grace, and art the Head of that I 
 thou now pleased to show thy glory. Make death 
 make the tendencies to deatli sweet, make ever] de- 
 
 liverance a pleasing step, O my God. Save thy worm; av< 
 thy worm, O my God, according to thy promises made 
 Jacob. I hearken what the Lord will sa y ; he will Bp 
 peace in the blood of Jesus. Own me, Lord, own me to 
 be thy friend; yes, say to me, as thou Bpakest of Abraham, 
 Thou art my friend. Dost thou love me ? Dost thou at this 
 time love me with thy whole heart, and with thy whole a 
 Dost thou love me more than my nearest and dearest frit nds ? 
 than those intimate relations here, that continue with me i. 
 my tribulation? with a more inward, intense love? with an 
 infmiteness beyond all these ? Lord, let me know that [] 
 lovest me in very deed; let me know, that thou ]<.-. 
 by name ; let me know that thou hast an eye upon me, a 
 than doctors and friends; let me know, that - 
 thine toward me is the effect of thy love. Love me,< 
 with thy whole heart; oh, make me to believe it. Help 
 to apprehend, that thou dost take notice of me, and art with 
 me every moment; with me, as to my present c 
 concernment, h is dead friendship, when friends can i 
 hear nor see one another ; but sure there ifl another friend- 
 ship between thee and thine, and thou standee t in the • 
 relations to them. Art n<»i thou my I 
 the Church said bo, Lord, thou art our 1 
 Ixiv. 8). Thou art my Husband, my Friend; and art 
 imed to be called my Brother: oh wonderful! thou be- 
 st me, ] nm horn of thee. Lord, what Bhall I do with 
 
 the great things of the gospel, if thou doet d 
 
 Spirit of faith? Lord, wilt not thou, who art brut! 
 art life, wilt not thou take the great work of making 
 religion practical upon th< 
 
 19 
 
222 MEDITATION OX HIS DEATH-BED. 
 
 power and truth unto me, so as may answer the very design 
 thou aimest at. I have been praying through the days of 
 thv drawing me after thee. O Lord, I would come to that 
 kind of praying while I am here in the world, as might be 
 a lovely copy of that praying, of that converse that will be 
 with thee in heaven. Will prayer altogether cease in 
 heaven ? No, surely. Lord, glorify thyself, glorify thy- 
 self; glorified be God. O then, O that the very life and 
 soul of that state may now be begun ! O that I might 
 hasten to that state ! Thou detainest me here in thy wisdom. 
 I would go unto thee, and into that life which will most 
 glorify thee eternally. I would go where life is, and no 
 death. I would go where the fullest expression of the 
 power of grace overcoming sinners may be openly manifest 
 in me ; even in me, who am a poor mortal. There are 
 many things which I have found here, that are only like- 
 nesses to pure likeness to thee ; and here I have lost wofully 
 my way ; Lord, open it. The heart is deceitful above all 
 things, and it will have its working one way or other ; but, 
 Lord, I would go where there is purity without impurity ; I 
 would be with thee, Lord ; for then I can speak to thee in 
 thine own language better." 
 
 About two of the clock that day in the afternoon, he 
 further extended his speech, as followeth : " The old world 
 will be the old world still ; it will remain to eternity ; it will 
 be only translated from hence, where it received its curse, 
 to hell, to be in chains of darkness forever; but all the 
 redeemed number shall be instated in their palaces of glory. 
 I am in the very period of seeing wonders ; I am in the 
 very period of viewing death and life. I am under some 
 sufferings, and they shall be sweet." And (speaking to him- 
 self) he said, " Thou shalt lie down in thy bed." And then, 
 speaking to God, "Thou wilt not throw me into the grave in 
 anger : thou wilt put me into the grave : thou wilt not say. 
 Sleep there in death ; thou wilt say, Sleep there a little, till 
 the indignation be overpast ; till that is inflicted on thee for 
 sin, which was pronounced ; and then that which passed 
 away from Christ, shall also pass from thee. Lord, 
 thou wilt not be unfaithful to thy word. God cannot lie ; 
 God cannot forget to be gracious : he cannot forget his own 
 work. This is that God I desire to believe in, and resolve 
 eternally to cling unto, with the truth of my whole heart. I 
 have sinned, and thou hast pardoned me, and saved me with 
 
BIS D] I i II B] i>. 
 
 a mighty hand. Help me in this hour, takeaway mj 
 The last Btroke thai will be given, will be by the devil him- 
 self, because it is his last battle; and thou mil permit hi] 
 
 but thou wilt bind him: and when thou nasi unclenched 
 hand-;, ho shall never fa-ten them upon me again. II 
 that lasting enemy which attends us from conversion 
 vation. Lord, wilt not thou, who hast been destroys 
 enmity all along, now cause his enmity ; 
 manifestly destroyed? O, down with it', down, I pray t] 
 with the strength, the might, the power of the life of sin . 
 darkness. Lord, thou hast promised to plague antichrist for 
 all the plagues with which he hath plagued thine; Lord, 
 do thou pour out thy plagues upon him, while thou doel sus- 
 tain him to be fighting in his last battle. Let him fight 
 battle ; but let him, O God, drink of the rivers of thy wrath 
 along with it. Let the weak overcome the strong; let thy 
 people be lions, but let the devil he an enfeebled enei 
 Serve thyself of all thy instruments, whatever they are | 
 Lord, let them do the utmost service they are respectively 
 capable of. Thy proper instruments, O make them glorious, 
 make them glorious both in qualifications and actions; and 
 those that are improper instruments, that are not instrrn 
 ments of thy delight, cause them also to do thy will, in all 
 that work that is proper for them, and proper towards thy 
 people, for the designs of thy glory upon them: BO that the 
 work -of God may thrive in the world, and thy glory 
 mightily exalted. Oh thy majesty, thy kingdom, th . 
 
 O that thou wouldst be wonderfully 
 glorious in thy acting- : thy nature 
 
 from inli ellency and glory. () let God 
 
 let God be glorified. <> Lord, thousands 
 of kindnesses I have had from thee, and thou hast not 
 had from me any suitable thanks. Lord, take me out £ 
 of this bod; me into the land of truth, win 
 
 IS nothing but purity, holiness, and righteoti— • 
 - imetimes I begin a little to be I at my 
 
 unsuitable acting- towards thee in the • | but, 
 
 Lord, thou v trry thing- so, that 1 might know my 
 
 ace indeed. The best of all good thii 
 thou hast given me, and thou 1. rved me enti 
 
 . I must travel all the way with a dead '•• 
 
 within the scent, the stench of it; ah, wofiil pavorl \ 
 this beside hath madi Thou 
 
224 MEDITATION ON HIS DEATH-BED. 
 
 and yet I carry that along with me that is my constant de- 
 struction, as a continual combatant till I see thy salvation. 
 Thou lovest me all over, and yet hatest all over the least sin 
 that is in me. And now, Lord, thou comest to show me 
 what is the issue of these things. Little, indeed, it is thou 
 showest me ; yet that little is glorious. Oh, that the Son of 
 God should come into the world, to be joined to me in the 
 nearest conjunction ; to assume the same nature, and to unite 
 me to himself ; that he might display the insuperable virtue 
 and power of his own righteousness, for my righteousness, 
 for my justification ! We have reason to think the heavens 
 will declare it, even this, to eternity; and this I have been 
 made a partaker of. Oh, where are they that have the 
 whole shine of the grace of the gospel upon them ? Where 
 they are, thou knowest, and ever}' one of thy number shall 
 know ; they are not lost, they are treasured up. Lord, help 
 me throughout this little period of suffering. Here I am, 
 seeming to myself to be just taking leave of this poor body, 
 that hath been wandering up and down some years. Dear 
 God, wilt thou be pleased to help me ? Thou hast helped 
 me all along ; now help me, that I may have such thoughts 
 as become an heir of life ; that my faith may not fail, that 
 my soul may not be desolate, that my mind may not be dark. 
 Lord, save me from the wonted assaults of Satan, now that 
 I know not for how many days, or how many nights, thou 
 hast designed me. Dear Lord, let me have thy special 
 presence with me, and a heart formed to thy contrivance ; 
 and let me not contrive for myself. I know not the effects 
 of this night. If I shall attain the period of my days this 
 night, let it be in Divine rest. I have no other period but 
 to be in God, to be in Christ. There is no way to a good 
 issue of this conflict, but to overcome by the blood of the 
 Lamb. Now I leave myself with thee, be with me, and be 
 with all thy dear Zion : be with that beloved spouse whom 
 thou hast redeemed from the earth ; and this by means of 
 the contrivance of thy grace in Christ ; who lives, and will 
 live, and is "the beginning of the creation of God," and was 
 ever so. There is a promise of truth ; fulfil it, O God of 
 truth ; " My people shall be all holy : " verify it, O God ; 
 verify thine own truth ; thy word hath said it, " My people 
 shall be all holy." Lord, thou hast a people, thou hast surely 
 a people, and thy people, thou hast said shall be known ; or 
 else there would be no discovery of thy truth in promises, of 
 
MED ;ns DEATH 
 
 tliy truth in \}\]\ : and, O Lord, this thou hi 
 
 thai there is the rice betwei n 
 
 pie and their concerns, and others. Thou will be singu- 
 larly known in Jacob : now, Lord, be thou plea ed to i 
 it known that we are thine ; and lei it be made known to 
 all. We were tricked and beguiled away from thee a1 I 
 but now we are grafted into life by that, which was do frau- 
 dulent pretence, but a reality; the most important reality 
 
 that ever sun, moon, and stars saw, tkat ever : 
 that is the thing I yearn towards. I resl me in God hi 
 little while ; 1 am, in the Spirit, waiting minutely, m< 
 when he will say, Come, and retire to be with me eternally. 
 Yet a little while, and Ave shall say, that full 
 the completion of all. All Israel shall be saved ; and I 
 period is coming on apace : now. now it is coming to me. < > 
 now let there be no blind child of God ; () now no lazy child 
 of God; O now for winged saints; for those that mount 
 and soar, who may answer what hath keen promised in the 
 book of the Revelation : the Spirit will have a time to do it 
 in, when sloth shall be, by the Spirit of life, turned into in- 
 dustry, when the love of God shall be seven times more, 
 when the glory of Christ's image shall be as when the Bun 
 shineth seven times brighter. Will God always be scarcely 
 known in the earth? Will the God of all that grace that 
 shines in men be himself continually so obscured ? No, DO. 
 He longs to be glorified, and to glorify himself; and his chil- 
 dren shall be answerable to their high calling. And. () that 
 this might make my soul insatiably longing for this | 
 I adore him t\>v any little thirst Oh, I 
 time, when the heavens shall echo with the voice of all the 
 
 emed hearts and tongues. Oh, the melody, wh< i 
 redeemed tongue shall be able to Bpeak to the bearin 
 ends of the whole heavens. Oh, the melody of thai gi 
 
 . when saints and angel- innumerable shall the 
 
 chorus. Oh, never, never was there such melody ! <> 1 
 
 p me iii my present work, till thou calli 
 work, and prepare me for the glorifying of thee fi>W 
 Help me in this instant ; help m< . 
 me through this thicl iously. I 
 
 with me at my dissolution, that nothing but acti 
 an( ] . upon ni«'. I leai e i • ltn 
 
 thee ; I desire to do it | erfectl; 
 
OBITUARY NOTICE. 
 
 Mr. Henry Dorney was born in the year 1613, at Uley, in 
 the county of Gloucester, England, and was the fifth child, and 
 son of Mr. Thomas Dorney, Gent., and Joanna his wife, both very 
 religious characters. They had eleven children, towards whom 
 they exercised a most tender and parental care, and were indus- 
 triously diligent in bringing them up in the nurture and admoni- 
 tion of the Lord. 
 
 After Mr. Henry Dorney had been religiously educated by his 
 parents, and furthered in learning at country schools, he was, 
 about the fourteenth year of his age, brought to London ; where 
 he spent much of his time with them, in attendance on the public 
 ordinances of God's word and worship, at the morning and weekly 
 lectures, besides the solemnities of worship on the Lord's day ; at 
 which time, as it was judged, the work of God's grace began effec- 
 tually to seize on his heart. 
 
 After a short continuance in London, he retired again into the 
 country, in the pursuit of human learning, and was at length settled 
 at Newbury free-school, where, in a year's time, or a little more, 
 he thrived so much in learning, that he became completely fit for 
 the University. But for some cogent reasons his father (with his 
 own consent, he being always very obedient) thought it more con- 
 venient to dispose of him to a trade ; in attendance on which, and 
 all along in the variety of outward changes in the course of his life, 
 and amidst his busiest secular affairs and employments, he yet kept 
 the rudiments of his school-learning; applying himself with great 
 diligence, as he had spare time, to perfect his studies in the origi- 
 nal tongues, wherein he was very expert and accurate, especiallv 
 in the Hebrew, and retained an exact knowledge of them to his 
 dyingr day. 
 
 His last sickness commenced on the 11th of March, 1083, and 
 continued to the 25th of April following, when he died, in the 70th 
 year of his age. And as he lived in all manner of conversation 
 holily, so he finished his course, and died triumphantly. 
 
 It does not appear that Mr. Dorney published anything in his 
 life time. The Tracts in this volume were his private meditations, 
 and the Letters were written in confidence to his friends, without 
 the least design of their ever being made public ; but after his 
 death, the persons, into whose hands they fell, read them with 
 delight, and printed them. 
 
WA RB i:\ I'. DRA PER, 
 
 PUBLISHER J±JSTJO> BOOi 
 
 AND( >VER, mass. 
 Publishes nd oflen tor Sale the follow in*, v Lifli w ill 
 
 GUERICKE'S CHURCH HISTORY. Translated by W. G. 
 Brown Professor In Andover Theological Seminary. 488 pp. I 
 
 Tli is volmm> includes the period of the a.nch.n r Cbubcb (the Ural <r the 
 
 Apostolic ami Patristic Church. 
 
 r Shedd's version, now under notice, m a happy specimen of 
 n rather than a rxAHSLATioir, which many of the German treatises should 
 Ihe style of his version is far superior to that of the original.— [Blh. Beers, Jan. 
 
 DISCOURSES AND ESSAYS. By Pbof. W. G. T. Shedd. '271 pp. 
 12mo. 85 eta. 
 
 Few clearer ami more penetrating minds can be found in our country than thai I 
 
 . And besides, be writes with a chaste and sturdy eloquence, transparent as crystal ; 6>> 
 that if he goes deep, we love to follow him. If the mind gets dull, or dry, or i 
 put it to grappling with these masterly productions.— [Congregational Herald, < 
 
 LECTURES UPON THE PHILOSOPHY OF HISTORY. B) 
 Prop. W. G. T. Shedd. 128 pp. 12mo. Go ets. 
 
 COXTEHTS : The abstract Idea of History ; The Nature and Definition of Secular 1 ' 
 The Nature and Definition of Church History ; The Verifying Test in Church Histoiy. 
 
 OUTLINES OF SYSTEMATIC PvHETORIC. From the German of 
 Dk. Francis Theremin, by Prop. W G. T. Shedd. 162 pp. 12mo 
 
 Every minister and theological professor (.in composition and rhetoric especially ) shoo 
 it. A more thorough ar.d suggestive, and, in the main, SENSIBLE view of the tub, 
 to be found. The central idea in Theremin's theory i . 
 reads this little book will be sure to receive an impulse in the direction of I 
 discourse.--- [Cong. Herald, Chicago. 
 
 BIBLE HISTORY OF PRAYER. By I 
 12mo. $1.00. 
 
 tim of this little volume is to embody an account of tl 
 of believers with 
 ii in narrative, op< oing and BzplalnL • 
 
 several prayers. 
 
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF BPE 
 LOSOPHY Ii. 
 Chai 
 
 ■ 
 
 VINET'S HISTO 
 EIGB 
 
 WORKS OF LEONARD WOODS, I>. D. 
 
Publications of W. F. Draper, Andorer. 
 
 THEOLOGIA GERMANICA. Which setteth forth many fair lineaments 
 of Divine Truth, and saith very lofty and lovely things touching a Perfect Life. 
 Edited by Dr. Pfeiffer, from the only complete manuscript yet known. 
 Translated from the German by Susanna TTinkavorth. With a Preface by 
 the Rev. Charles Kingsley, Rector of Eversley; and a Letter to the Trans- 
 lator, by the Chevalier Bunsen, D. D , D. C. L., etc. ; and an Introduction 
 by Trof. Calvin E. Stowe, D. D. 275 pp. 16mo. Cloth, $1.00 : calf, $2 00. 
 This treatise was discovered by Luther, who first brought it into notice by an edition which 
 he published in 1516, of which he says : " And I will say, though it be boasting of myself, and 
 ' I speak as a fool,' that, next to the Bible and St. Augustine, no book hath ever come into my 
 hands whence I have learnt, or would wish to learn, more of what God and Christ, and mau, 
 and all things, are." 
 
 " The times and the circumstances in which this most rich, thoughtful, and spiritually 
 quickening little treatise was produced, — the national and ecclesiastical tendencies and influ- 
 ences which invested its author, and which gave tone, direction, and pressure to his thoughts, 
 — are amply and well 6et forth in the preface by Miss Winkworth, and the letter of Bunsen. 
 The treatise itself is richly deserving of the eulogies upon it so emphatically and affectionately 
 uttered by Prof. Stowe and Mr. Kingsley, and, long before them, by Luther, who said that it 
 had profited him ' more than any other book, save only the Bible and the works of Augustine.' 
 Sin, as a universal disease and defilement of the nature of man ; Christ, as an indwelling life, 
 light, and heavenly power; Holiness, as the utmost good for the soul; and Heaven, as the 
 state or place of the consummation of this holiness, with the consequent vision of God, and 
 the ineffable joy and peace,— these are the theme of the book. Audit has the grand, and in 
 this day the so rare and almost singular merit, of having been prompted by a real and deep relig- 
 ious experience, and of having been written, not with outward assistance, but with the enthu- 
 siasm, the spiritual wisdom, and the immense inward freedom and energy, of a soul itself con- 
 scious of union with Christ, and exulting in the sense of being made, through him, ' a partaker 
 of the Divine nature.' 
 
 " Those who have known the most of Christ will value most this "golden treatise." Those 
 whose experience of the divine truth has been deepest and most central will find the most in 
 it to instruct and to quicken them. To such it will be an invaluable volume worth thousands 
 upon thousands of modern scientific or hortatory essays upon " Religion made easy." 
 
 •' It is printed by Mr. Draper, at the Andover press, in the old English style, with beautiful 
 
 carefulness and skill, and is sent, post paid, to all who remit to him one dollar." — [Independent. 
 
 The work is at once a literary curiosity and a theological gem.— [Puritan Recorder. 
 
 This little volume which is brought out in antique type, is, apart from its intrinsic value, a 
 
 curiosity of literature. It may be regarded as the harbinger of the Protestant Reformation. — 
 
 [Evening Traveller. 
 
 WRITINGS OF PROFESSOR B. B. EDWARDS. With a Memoir 
 by Professor Edwards A. Tark. 2 vols. 12mo. 82.00. 
 
 These works consist of seven Sermons, sixteen Essays, Addresses and Lectures, and a Me- 
 moir by Professor Park. 
 
 ERSKINE ON THE INTERNAL EVIDENCE FOR THE 
 TRUTH OF REVEALED RELIGION. Third American, from the Fifth 
 Edinburgh Edition. 139 pp. lGmo. 50 cents. 
 
 " The entire treatise cannot fail to commend the positions which it advocates to intelligent 
 and considerate minds. It is one of the best, perhaps the best, of all the discussions of tl>:s 
 momentous subject." — [Congregationalist. 
 
 " This argument of Erskine for the Internal Evidence of the Truth of Revealed Religion, ia 
 the most compact, natural and convincing we have ever read from o.'ny author." — [Chris. Chron. 
 
 " No man ought to consider himself as having studied theology, unless he has read, and pon- 
 dered, and read again, * Erskine on the Internal Evidence.' " — [The Independent. 
 
 THE ANGEL. OVER TES RIGHT SHOULDER. By the author 
 of u Sunny Side." 29 pp. ^rao. 20 cents. 
 
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