THE RICHES OF BUNYAN:

SELECTED FROM HIS WORKS, FOR

THE AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY, BY Rev. Jeremiah Chaplin. 

WITH AN INTRODUCTORY NOTICE

BY

REV. WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. D. D. 

NEW YORK

1850

CONTENTS. 

PREFATORY NOTICE, by Rev. Dr. Williams

I. GOD Glory of God Majesty of God Justice of God Holiness of God Sovereignty of God Sovereignty of God in conversion Providence of God in conversion Condescension of God Mercy of God God the justifier Glory of God in redemption God a father Faithfulness of God Presence of God God's repenting Providence of God

II. THE TRINITY

III. THE SCRIPTURES

IV. MAN The image of God Value of the soul Adam's transgression Depravity of Nature Love of sin Sin Pride Envy Drunkenness Sinners Sinful ease The child and the bird The sinner warned Conscience A good conscience A tender conscience A guilty conscience

V. THE LAW Its nature and effects The law and the gospel The law a rule of life

VI. DIVINE GRACE Grace, love, and mercy Grace described Operation of grace Grace abused Grace, the water of life

VII. CHRIST The incarnation of Christ The humanity of Christ The humiliation of Christ The glory of Christ The love of Christ The righteousness of Christ Christ a complete Saviour Christ not a Saviour by his example Christ a teacher The death of Christ The resurrection of Christ The glorification of Christ The offices of Christ Christ an intercessor Christ an advocate

VIII. THE HOLY SPIRIT

IX. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH Faith the instrumental cause of salvation True and false faith distinguished Faith and works Justification and sanctification distinguished

X. CONVICTION OF SIN

XI. CONVERSION The difficulty of conversion Conversion the power of God Regeneration The strait gate Coming to Christ Temptations of the soul coming to Christ Trials and encouragements of the awakened Fears in coming to Christ Mercy's experience Fears and encouragements of the awakened Despair of mercy unreasonable Power of the gospel Bunyan's conversion Fears about election Young converts

XII. THE CHRISTIAN DESCRIBED Happiness of the Christian Dignity of the Christian The family in heaven and earth Feebleness of the Christian The Christian under a sense of guilt--Bunyan's experience Sin and the Saviour The Christian in darkness The valley of the shadow of death The Christian doubting Indwelling sin Mr. Fearing Encouragement for the doubting Christian Adoption Christ our life Union with Christ Life of faith Divine love improved Holy living Opportunities improved Good works Self-denial Obedience in little things Motives to holy living Obedience rewarded Self-examination Watchfulness Constitution-sins The Christian professor admonished Failings and sins of Christians The backslider

XIII. THE CHRISTIAN RACE

XIV. TRIALS OF THE CHRISTIAN Affliction--its nature and benefits Persecution Bunyan's trial and imprisonment Martyrs Christian courage The Christian warfare The Christian armor

XV. TEMPTATIONS Temptations of Satan Temptations of the world Encouragements for the tempted Bunyan's temptations

XVI. SECURITY OF CHRISTIANS

XVII. THE PROMISES

XVIII. CHRISTIAN GRACES Faith Trust Faith and hope Hope Patience Love Fear Humility Zeal Repentance

XIX. PRAYER Characteristics of prayer Preparation for prayer The throne of grace Prayer in the name of Christ Benefit of prayer Discouragements in prayer Discouragements to prayer removed Affectionate confidence in prayer God's method of answering prayer Relief in prayer Faith in prayer Wrestling prayer The publican's prayer Posture in prayer Closet-iniquity Formal prayer The prayerless

XX. FALSE PROFESSION Hypocrisy Christ's love abused Perversion of the truth A Latitudinarian Changing sins The unholy professor The fruitless professor The unpardonable sin The man in the iron cage

XXI. THE CHURCH From the preface to the "Holy City" Church-fellowship The church a light Spiritual character of the church Warning to the professor Church-order The church in affliction Satan's hostility to the church Security of the church Future glory of the church

XXII. THE MINISTRY Importance of the ministry Duty of churches to the ministry Different classes of ministers Duty of ministers Ministers warned Ministers servants of the church Gifts and grace in ministers The false minister The minister at the day of judgment Bunyan's ministry Bunyan's character and principles

XXIII. ANTICHRIST Antichrist described Rise and progress of antichrist Corruption of the church by antichrist Conflict between the church and antichrist Fall of antichrist Manner of antichrist's destruction Present state of antichrist Slaying of the witnesses Reasons for antichrist's destruction Time of antichrist's destruction Signs of antichrist's destruction Hope of antichrist's destruction Effects of antichrist's destruction Warning against a return to antichrist Introduction to the "Holy City" The wooden cross

XXIV. DEATH Death of the sinner Death of the Christian The Christian wishing to depart The dying Christian Death of Mr. Badman's wife Death of Standfast Death of Christian and Hopeful Bunyan's death

XXV. THE RESURRECTION Salvation complete at the resurrection

XXVI. THE JUDGMENT The saints judged Saints rewarded at the judgment Sinners judged Sinners without excuse at the judgment "Ignorance" condemned at the judgment

XXVII. HEAVEN Happiness and glory of heaven Employments of heaven Soul and body glorified in heaven Christ the glory of heaven The glory of salvation Heaven

XXVIII. HELL

XXIX. MISCELLANEOUS The Sabbath Woman The family Bunyan's domestic character Dr. Owen Truth Style The old and new dispensations The Pilgrim in New England

NOTICES OF BUNYAN

PREFATORY NOTICE. 

The subscriber has been requested by his friend the Rev. JeremiahChaplin, the worthy son of an honored father, [Footnote: The lateRev. Dr. Chaplin, the founder and first president of Watervillecollege, in the state of Maine. ] and the editor of the presentselections from Bunyan, to attach to them some prefatory remarks. Needless as he feels it himself to be, and presumptuous as, to some, the attempt even may seem, to say aught in behalf of a work that, faithfully drawn as it is from Bunyan's overflowing stores, canrequire no other recommendation; yet the subscriber could not refuseall compliance with the wishes of one who has given diligent andhearty and appreciating study to the rich and varied remains of "theimmortal Dreamer. "

Many of the Christians of our time, though conversant with thePILGRIM'S PROGRESS, and HOLY WAR, are apparently little aware of theglowing genius, and fervent piety, and strong sense, and picturesqueimagery, and racy, vigorous English, that mark the many otherwritings of the honored tinker of Elstow. These last, if less knownthan the story of the pilgrimage to the Celestial City, and of thesiege and recovery of the good town of Mansoul, yet bear all of themthe traces of the same vivid fancy, the same earnest heart, and thesame robust and sanctified intellect. To save from comparativedisuse and consequent unprofitableness--from being buried in anundeserved seclusion, if not oblivion, many sparkling truths, andpithy sayings, and pungent rebukes, likely to do great good if theycould but have, in our busy day, a more general currency over thewide mart of the world;--and to bespeak a new circle of influence, and a broader sphere of notoriety and usefulness for theseoverlooked legacies of a good and great man of a former age, hasbeen the editor's object in the prolonged sifting to which he hassubjected all Bunyan's writings. Of that patient and conscientiousstudy the present selection has been the result. It is not hoped, oreven wished for them, that in the case of any readers able to givethe requisite leisure, these excerpts should supersede the originalwritings. But these last, in mass, are beyond the means and the timewhich are at the command of many Christians, who would yet greatlyprize the briefer examples of Bunyan's experience and Bunyan'steachings that are here presented. And even to others of moreaffluence and leisure, this manual may serve to commend the author'sworks in their entireness. Mr. Chaplin himself would most anxiouslydisavow any claim to have exhausted the mines from which he bringsthese gatherings. His specimens resemble rather those laces whichthe good Bunyan tagged in Bedford jail--not in themselves garments, but merely adjuncts and ornaments of larger fabrics. He who wouldsee the entire wardrobe of the Dreamer's mind, and the shape andproportions of the goodly vestures of truth in which he sought toarray himself and his readers, must, after handling these the LACES, turn to the ROBES, from whose edge these have been skilfullydetached. 

In the character and history of JOHN BUNYAN, the great Head of thechurch seems to have provided a lesson of special significance, andsingular adaptedness, for the men and the strifes of our own time. Born of the people, and in so low a condition, that one of Bunyan'smodern reviewers, by a strange mistake, construed Bunyan'sself-disparaging admissions to mean that he was the offspring ofgypsies--bred to one of the humblest of handicrafts, and having butthe scantiest advantages as to fortune or culture, he yet rose, under the blessings of God's word and providence and Spirit, towidest usefulness, and to an eminence that shows no tokens ofdecline. Down to our own times, the branches of his expandinginfluence seem daily spreading and extending themselves; and theroots of his earthly renown seem daily shooting themselves deeper, and taking a firmer hold on the judgment of critics and the heartsof the churches. When the English houses of Parliament were recentlyrebuilt, among the imagery commemorative of the nation's literaryglories, a place was voted for the bust of the Bedford pastor, onceso maligned and persecuted. Once tolerated by dainty Christians forthe sake of his piety, while they apologized for what they deemedhis uncouthness; he is now, at last, even from men of the world, whodo not value that piety, receiving the due acknowledgment of hisrare genius and witching style. It is not many years since Gilpin, an English clergyman of cultivated taste--himself a ready andpopular writer--issued an edition of the Pilgrim's Progress, modified, if not rewritten in much of its phraseology, because hedeemed the original too rude for usefulness. In our own day, one ofthe highest authorities as to the graces and powers of our language, the English statesman and scholar, T. B. Macaulay, has pronouncedupon that style, which Gilpin by implication so disparaged, the mostglowing eulogies. Schools and leisure and wealth are useful, butthey are not indispensable either to felicity or to honor. Bunyanlacked them all; and yet in the absence of them achieved greatness--and what is far better, wide and enduring usefulness. No man, withGod's exhaustless Scriptures in his hands, and with the rich book ofnature and providence open in its pictured radiance before his eyes, needs to have either a dwindling or an impoverished soul. Of thatlatter volume, the works of God, as of that former, the word of God, Bunyan was evidently a delighted and unwearied student. Hisreferences to birds and insects, flowers and running brooks andevening clouds, and forests and mountains, all show a man whosenature was genially awake to the harmony and beauty of the materialworld that lay in order and splendor around him. It was, in Bunyan, no mere mimicry caught from books and companions--the echo of anyfashion of his times. He writes of what he had seen with his owneyes; and seems to avoid aiming at aught beyond that. Hence to theocean, which probably he never thus saw--and which had he beheld itin its placid vastness, or in its stormy wrath, he could not wellhave forgotten--his writings contain, as far as we remember, noallusions, in all the varied and exuberant imagery which theyemploy. His books, more than those of his more learnedcontemporaries, Richard Baxter, and John Owen, that "mightyarmor-bearer of the truth, " as Bunyan happily calls him, werewritten exclusively from the resources of his own personalobservation. And, in consequence of this, they have the freshnessand odors of the outer world pervading them--scents and sounds ofthe highways along which, in the trampings of his trade, he hadplodded, and of the hedges that had shaded him. To use the languageof the patriarch's benediction, they have "THE SMELL OF A FIELDWHICH THE LORD HATH BLESSED. " His books are, like Walton's Angler, of the open air, and the purling streams. You catch, back of thegood man's Bible, as he reverently ponders and commends it, glimpsesof rural landscapes, and of open skies--God's beautiful world, stilllovely, even though sin has marred it. Like the Sermon on the Mount, Bunyan's page has the traits of field-preaching. And it was so, also, in his references to the inner world of his own heart. Hewrote not from the dried specimens of earlier collectors--from theshrivelled and rustling leaves of some old herbary--from thephilosophy and metaphysical analysis of other men's emotions, somuch as from the glowing records of his own consciousness andexperience, the fruits of grace and plants of righteousness, blooming and fragrant in the watered garden of his own heart. Andthis dipping of the pencil into his own soul, and into the freshnessof nature around him, is doubtless a part of the secret of hisperpetual originality and unsating freshness. Now, when men sayrepiningly, and in a temper which impeaches alike society andprovidence, that a lowly lot, with its necessary privations and itsconsequent ignorance, is a barrier, perpetual and insuperable, against usefulness and happiness and honor, we turn to the name andmemory of Bunyan as an embodied denial of the impeachment, and ascarolling forth their cheerful rebuke of such unmanly and ungodlyplaints. With God's grace in the heart, and with the gleaming gatesof his heaven brightening the horizon beyond the grave, we may bereformers; but it cannot be in the destructive spirit displayed bysome who, in the prophet's language, amid darkness on the earth, "fret themselves, and curse their King and their God, and lookupward. " Poverty cannot degrade, nor ignorance bedwarf, norpersecution crush, nor dungeon enthral the free, glad spirit of achild of God, erect in its regenerate strength, and rich in itseternal hopes and heritage. And this hopeful and elastic temperamentcolors and perfumes every treatise that Bunyan sent out even fromthe precincts of his prison. With a style sinewy as Cobbett's, andsimple and clear as Swift's; with his sturdy, peasant nature showingitself in the roundness and directness of his utterance, how littlehas he of their coarseness. He was not, on the one hand, likeCobbett, an anarchist, or libeller; but yet, on the other hand, aslittle was he ever a lackey, cringing at the gates of Power, or atrain-bearer in the retinue of Fashion. Still less was he, likeSwift, the satirist of his times and of his kind, snarling at hisrulers, and turning at last to gnaw, in venomous rage, his ownheart. And yet he who portrayed the character of By-ends, and notedthe gossipings of Mrs. Bats-eyes, lacked neither keenness of vision, nor niceness of hand, to have made him most formidable in satire andirony. 

His present station in the literature of Britain affords anillustration, familiar and obvious to every eye, of God'ssovereignty, and of the arrangements of Him "who seeth not as manseeth. " Had Pepys, or any other contemporary courtier that huntedfor place and pension, or fluttered in levity and sin, in theantechambers of the later Stuarts, been asked, who of all thewriters of the times were likely to go down to posterity among thelights of their age, how ludicrously erroneous would have been hisapportionments of fame. Pepys might, from the Puritan education ofhis boyhood, have named Owen, Bates, and Baxter; or from theConformist associations of his later years, have selected South, orPatrick, or Tillotson, as the religious writers who had surpassedall rivalry, or named a Walton or Castell, as having taken bonds offame for the perpetuity of their influence. Had he known ofClarendon's preparations to become the historian of the Commonwealthand Restoration, or of Burnet's habits of preserving memoirs of theincidents and characters around him, he might have conjectured theirprobable honors in after-times. But in poetry he would have classedDryden the royalist far above Milton the republican apologist ofregicide; and might, aping the fashions of the palace, havepreferred to either the author of Hudibras together with the lewdplaywrights who were the delight of a shameless court--hailing thelast as the most promising candidates for posthumous celebrity. Howlittle could he have dreamed that among these Puritans andNon-conformists, whose unpopular cause he had himself deserted, andwhom his royal masters Charles and James had betrayed, amerced, exiled, and incarcerated; in those conventicles so closely watchedand so sternly visited, which these persecuted confessors yet bystealth maintained; aye, and in those dungeons, whither the informerso often from these conventicles dragged them, British freedom hadits truest guardians, and British literature some of its noblestillustrations. How little thought he that God had there, in his oldand glorious school of trial, his "hidden ones, " like Bunyan, whoseserene testimony was yet to shine forth victorious over wrong andneglect, and reproach and ridicule, eclipsing so many contemporarycelebrities, and giving to the homes and the sanctuaries of everyland inhabited by an English race, one of the names "men will notwillingly let die. " How little could gilded and callous favorites ofthe palace have dreamed that their Acts of Uniformity and Five-mileActs, and the like legislation of ecclesiastical proscription, werebut rearing for the best men of the age, in the prisons where theyhad been immured, a Patmos, serene though stern, where the suffererwithdrew from man to commune with the King of kings. There theprisoned student was receiving for the churches new lessons ofsurpassing beauty and potency; and the confessor, pillaged byinformers and bullied by judges, and lamented in his own strickenhousehold and desolate home, but only derided by his godlesssovereign and heartless courtiers, yet often found himselfcompensated for every loss, when, like an earlier witness for thegospel of the Cross, enwrapped "IN THE SPIRIT, ON THE LORD'S DAY. "Such were the schools where Non-conformist piety received itstemper, its edge, and its lustre. The story of Bunyan is, we say, one of the golden threads binding together into harmony andsymmetry, what, seen apart, seem but fragmentary and incoherentinfluences--the track of a divine Providence controlling the fatesand reputations of the race. It is a Providence disappointing men'sjudgments and purposes, exalting the lowly and depressing theillustrious, rebuking despondency on the one hand and on the othercurbing presumption, setting up one and putting down another. Thisis done even now and even here, as one of the many intimations whicheven time and earth present, of that final and universal reparationwhich is reserved for the general resurrection and the lastjudgment. Then the unforgetting and universal Sovereign will avengeall the forgotten of his people, nor leave unpunished one among thetallest and mightiest of his enemies. As the foreshadowing of this, there is often in this life what Milton has called, "a resurrectionof character. " Seen in Bunyan and others on earth, it will be oneday accomplished as to all the families of mankind. We pronounce TOOSOON upon the apparent inequalities of fame and recompense aroundus; while we fail to take in the future as well as the present, andattempt to solve the mysteries of time without including in thefield of our survey the retributions of that eternity which formsthe selvage and hem of all the webs of earth. And we pronounce notonly too soon but VERY SUPERFICIALLY upon the inequalities ofhappiness in the lot of those who fear and those who scorn God;while we look mainly or merely to the outward circumstances of homeand station and bodily well-being, but take no note of the inner andmore enduring elements of felicity, supplied to the sufferer forChrist by the blended powers of conscience and of hope--the one ofthem purified and pacified by the blood of the great sacrifice onCalvary; the other of them steadily and cheerfully soaring to theglories and rest of the mount Zion above. Faithful, in his cage, bearing the gibes and flouts of the rabble who thirsted for hisblood, was one of the happiest men in all Vanity Fair, even ere thehour when his spirit mounted the fiery chariot that hurried him tohis celestial home. 

The style of Bunyan, it may be further said, is one of the countlessand brilliant testimonials to the merit and power of our excellentreceived version of the Bible. Shut out, as Bunyan was, from directcontact with much other literature, he was most thoroughlyconversant with the remains of prophets and apostles, embalmed inthat venerable work. With those scriptures his mind was imbued, saturated, and tinged, through its whole texture and substance. Uponthe phraseology and imagery and idioms of that book was formed hisown vernacular style, so racy, glowing, and energetic--long indeedunderrated and decried, but now beginning to receive its due honors, and winning the praise of critics whose judgment and taste few willhave the hardihood to impeach. No immaculate perfection, indeed, isclaimed for the English version of the Scriptures. No perfectversion has the world ever seen, or is it ever like to see; but thewritings of Bunyan must be admitted to stand among the many crowdingtrophies of the power of our common Bible to furnish the mind with"thoughts that breathe and words that burn"--with holiestconceptions and mightiest utterances. 

And Bunyan himself, as a theologian on whose head no learned academyhad laid its hand of patronage, or let fall its anointing dews, butwho, whether confronting the fanatics of his time or thedistinguished latitudinarian divines, showed himself so powerful areasoner, so acute and clear and practical a thinker, and so mightyin his knowledge of the Scriptures--Bunyan himself, in his positionand merits as a theologian, furnishes a standing monument of thepower of the divine Spirit to fashion, by prayer and the study ofthe Bible, by affliction and by temptation, and by bitterpersecutions even, a preacher, pastor, and writer, such as nouniversity need have disdained to own. To that Spirit Bunyan gavezealous, earnest, and continual worship. Receiving his light andpower from that good Spirit, and anxiously directing to that greatAgent all the hopes and the praises of the flock whom he led, and ofthe readers whom he taught, his writings remain to diffuse andperpetuate the lesson of his life. Into whatever tribe of theancient East or of the remote West his Pilgrim has been introduced, the name and story of the writer bear, as their great lesson, thetestimony that God's Scriptures are the richest of pastures to thehuman soul; and that God the Holy Ghost, as working with thoseScriptures and by those Scriptures, is the one Teacher on whosesovereign aid all the churches, all the nations, and all the agesmust depend. For the absence of those influences of the divineSpirit no earthly lore can compensate; while the exuberance of thoseinfluences may supply, as on Pentecost, the lack of all humanhelpers and patrons, and more than replace all universities and alllibraries. We love to dwell on the illustrious Dreamer, as one ofthose characters for whom man had done so little and God did somuch. 

And to Christians who are neither authors nor preachers, this lifeof romantic privacy and illustrious obscurity has its lessons, aliketo awe and to cheer, of solemn warning and of sustaining hope. Noscene or station of all the earth that can eye paradise, or catchthe gleams of the atoning cross, is truly ignoble or utterlyforlorn. He who promised that, in the last days, the inscriptionwhich shone on the front of the high-priest's mitre, "HOLINESS UNTOTHE LORD, " should be written also on the very bells of the horses, and that "every pot" in Jerusalem, and its outlying streets shouldbecome holy as the consecrated furniture of his own temple andaltar, can in like manner render the lowliest scenes of human artand toil and traffic the schools of truth and duty and peace, schools ministering alike to the truest happiness and to the mostperfect holiness of our race. He who gave, as in Bunyan's case hedid, to the maker or mender of culinary vessels the sacred skill tograve the all-holy Name, as one dignifying and consecrating them, onall the objects and scenes and accompaniments of his humble labors, can, in our times and in our various stations, make each allowabletask of our earthly life to become also "HOLINESS TO THE LORD;" andas the Christian's body is made a TEMPLE of the Holy Grhost, so canhe render the Christian himself, in all his social relations andenterprises, "A PRIEST AND A KING UNTO GOD. " And the great principleof conciliation amid earth's jarring tribes and clashing interests, and of true and helpful communion among mankind, is not external butinternal, not material but spiritual, not, terrene but celestial;and is found in the blending by this one divine Spirit, of allearth's inhabitants, in a common contrition before a commonredemption, tending as these inhabitants are, under a common sin anddoom, to the same inevitable graves; but all of them invited, in theone name of one Christ, to aspire to the same heaven of endless andperfect blessedness. 

WILLIAM R. WILLIAMS. NEW YORK, January, 1851. 

THE RICHES OF BUNYAN. 

I. GOD. 

GLORY OF GOD. 

God is the chief good--good so as nothing is but himself. He is inhimself most happy; yea, all good and all true happiness are only tobe found in God, as that which is essential to his nature; nor isthere any good or any happiness in or with any creature or thing butwhat is communicated to it by God. God is the only desirable good;nothing without him is worthy of our hearts. Right thoughts of Godare able to ravish the heart; how much more happy is the man thathas interest in God. God alone is able by himself to put the soulinto a more blessed, comfortable, and happy condition than can thewhole world; yea, and more than if all the created happiness of allthe angels of heaven did dwell in one man's bosom. I cannot tellwhat to say. I am drowned. The life, the glory, the blessedness, thesoul-satisfying goodness that is in God, are beyond all expression. 

It was this glory of God, the sight and visions of this God ofglory, that provoked Abraham to leave his country and kindred tocome after God. The reason why men are so careless of and soindifferent about their coming to God, is because they have theireyes blinded--because they do not perceive his glory. 

God is so blessed a one, that did he not hide himself and his glory, the whole world would be ravished with him; but he has, I will notsay reasons of state, but reasons of glory, glorious reasons why hehideth himself from the world and appeareth but to particular ones. 

What is heaven without God? But many there be who cannot abide God;no, they like not to go to heaven, because God is there. The natureof God lieth cross to the lusts of men. A holy God, a glorious holyGod, an infinitely holy God; this spoils all. But to the soul thatis awakened, and that is made to see things as they are, to him Godis what he is in himself, the blessed, the highest, the only eternalgood, and he without the enjoyment of whom all things would soundbut empty in the ears of that soul. 

Methinks, when I consider what glory there is at times upon thecreatures, and that all their glory is the workmanship of God, "OLord, " say I, "what is God himself?" He may well be called the Godof glory, as well as the glorious Lord; for as all glory is fromhim, so in him is an inconceivable well-spring of glory, of glory tobe communicated to them that come by Christ to him. Wherefore, letthe glory and love and bliss and eternal happiness that are in God, allure thee to come to him by Christ. 

MAJESTY OF GOD. 

What is God's majesty to a sinful man, but a consuming fire? Andwhat is a sinful man in himself, or in his approach to God, but asstubble fully dry?

What mean the tremblings, the tears, those breakings and shakings ofheart that attend the people of God, when in an eminent manner theyreceive the pronunciation of the forgiveness of sins at his mouth, but that the dread of the majesty of God is in their sight mixedtherewith? God must appear like himself, speak to the soul likehimself; nor can the sinner, when under these glorious discoveriesof its Lord and Saviour, keep out the beams of his majesty from theeyes of its understanding. 

Alas, there is a company of poor, light, frothy professors in theworld, that carry it under that which they call the presence of God, more like to antics than sober, sensible Christians; yea, more liketo a fool of a play, than those who have the presence of God. Theywould not carry it so in the presence of a king, nor yet of the lordof their land, were they but receivers of mercy at his hand. Theycarry it even in their most eminent seasons, as if the sense andsight of God, and his blessed grace to their souls in Christ, had atendency in it to make men wanton: but indeed it is the mosthumbling and heart-rending sight in the world; it is fearful. 

OBJECTION. But would you not have us rejoice at the sight and senseof the forgiveness of our sins?

ANSWER. Yes; but yet I would have you, and indeed you shall when Godshall tell you that your sins are pardoned indeed, "rejoice withtrembling;" for then you have solid and godly joy: a joyful heartand wet eyes in this, will stand very well together; and it will beso, more or less. For if God shall come to you indeed, and visit youwith the forgiveness of sins, that visit removeth the guilt, butincreaseth the sense of thy filth; and the sense of this, that Godhath forgiven a filthy sinner, will make thee both rejoice andtremble. O, the blessed confusion which will then cover thy face, while thou, even thou, so vile a wretch, shalt stand before God toreceive at his hand thy pardon, and so the first-fruits of thyeternal salvation. "That thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more, because of thy shame, when I ampacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the LordGod. " Jer. 33:8, 9; Ezek. 16:63. 

Since the NAME of God is that by which his nature is expressed, andsince he naturally is so glorious and incomprehensible, his namemust needs be the object of our fear; and we ought always to have areverent awe of God upon our hearts at what time soever we think ofor hear his name; but most of all when we ourselves do take his holyand fearful name into our mouths, especially in a religious manner;that is, in preaching, praying, or holy conference. 

Make mention then of the name of the Lord at all times with greatdread of his majesty on your hearts, and in great soberness andtruth. To do otherwise is to profane the name of the Lord, and totake his name in vain. 

Next to God's nature and name, his service, his instituted worship, is the most dreadful thing under heaven. His name is upon hisordinances, his eye is upon the worshippers, and his wrath andjudgment upon those that worship not in his fear. 

His presence is dreadful; and not only his presence in common, buthis special, yea, his most comfortable and joyous presence. When Godcomes to bring a soul news of mercy and salvation, even that visit, that presence of God is fearful. When Jacoh went from Beersheba toHaran, he met with God in the way by a dream, in the which heapprehended a ladder set upon the earth, whose top reached toheaven. Now in this dream, at the top of this ladder, he saw theLord, and heard him speak unto him, not threateningly, not as havinghis fury come up into his face, but in the most sweet and graciousmanner, saluting him with promise of goodness after promise ofgoodness, to the number of eight or nine. Yet, I say, when he awoke, all the grace that discovered itself in this heavenly vision to himcould not keep him from dread and fear of God's majesty: "And Jacobawoke out of his sleep and said, 'Surely the Lord was in this place, and I knew it not;' and he was afraid, and said, 'How dreadful isthis place; this is none other but the house of God, and this is thegate of heaven. '"

At another time, when Jacob had that memorable visit from God, inwhich he gave him power as a prince to prevail with him; yea, andgave him a name, that by his remembering it he might call God'sfavor the better to his mind; yet, even then and there such dread ofthe majesty of God was upon him, that he went away wondering thathis life was preserved. Man crumbles to dust at the presence of God;yea, though he show himself to us in his robes of salvation. Gen. 28:10-17; 32:30. 

JUSTICE OF GOD. 

You may see a few of the sparks of the justice of God against sinand sinners, by his casting off angels for sin from heaven and hell, by his drowning the old world, by his burning of Sodom and Gomorrahto ashes. 

God is resolved to have the mastery. God is merciful, and is comeforth into the world by his Son, tendering grace unto sinners by thegospel, and would willingly make a conquest over them for their goodby his mercy. Now he being come out, sinners like briars and thornsdo set themselves against him, and will have none of his mercy. Well, but what says God? Saith he, "Then I will march on. I will gothrough them, and burn them together. I am resolved to have themastery one way or another; if they will not bend to me and acceptof my mercy in the gospel, I will bend them and break them by myjustice in hell-fire. "

HOLINESS OF GOD. 

The holiness of God makes the angels cover their faces, and crumblesChristians, when they behold it, into dust and ashes. 

SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD. 

The will of God is the rule of all righteousness, neither knoweth heany other way by which he governeth and ordereth any of his actions. Whatsoever God doeth, it is good because he doeth it; whether it beto give grace or to detain it, whether in choosing or refusing. Theconsideration of this made the holy men of old ascribe righteousnessto their Maker, even when yet they could not see the reason of hisactions; they would rather stand amazed and wonder at the heightsand depths of his unsearchable judgments, than quarrel at the moststrange and obscure of them. 

SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD IN CONVERSION. 

Mercy may receive him that we have doomed to hell, and justice maytake hold on him whom we have judged to be bound up in the bundle oflife. We, like Joseph, are for setting of Manasseh before Ephraim;but God, like Jacob, puts his hands across, and lays his right handupon the worst man's head and his left hand upon the best, Gen. 48, to the amazement and wonderment even of the best of men. 

PROVIDENCE OF GOD IN CONVERSION. 

Doth no man come to Jesus Christ by the will, wisdom, and power ofman, but by the gift, promise, and drawing of the Father? Then hereis room for Christians to stand and wonder at the effectual workingof God's providence, that he hath made use of as means to bring themto Jesus Christ. 

What was the providence that God made use of as a means, either moreremote or near, to bring thee to Jesus Christ? Was it the removingof thy habitation, the change of thy condition, the loss ofrelations, estate, or the like? Was it the casting of thine eye uponsome good book, the hearing thy neighbors talk of heavenly things, the beholding of God's judgments as executed upon others, or thineown deliverance from them, or thy being strangely cast under theministry of some godly man? O take notice of such providence orprovidences. They were sent and managed by mighty power to do theegood. God himself hath joined himself to this chariot, yea, and soblessed it that it failed not to accomplish the thing for which itwas sent. 

CONDESCENSION OF GOD. 

Notwithstanding there is such a revelation of God in his word, inthe book of creatures, and in the book of providences, yet thescripture says, "Lo, these are parts of his ways, but how little aportion is heard of him;" so great is God above all that we haveread, heard, or seen of him, either in the Bible, in heaven, orearth, or sea, or what else is to be understood. But now that a poormortal, a lump of sinful flesh, or, as the scripture phrase is, poordust and ashes, should be in the favor, in the heart, and wrapped upin the compassions of such a God! O amazing; O astonishingconsideration! And yet, "this God is our God for ever and ever, andhe will be our guide even unto death. "

MERCY OF GOD. 

As God has mercies to bestow, and as he has designed to bestow them, so those mercies are no fragments or the leavings of others, butmercies that are full and complete to do for thee what thou wantest, wouldst have, or canst desire. As I may so say, God has his bagsthat were never yet untied, never yet broken up, but laid by himthrough a thousand generations for those that he commands to hope inhis mercy. 

I tell you, sirs, you must not trust your own apprehensions norjudgments of the mercy of God; you do not know how he can cause itto abound: that which seems to be short and shrunk up to you, he candraw out and cause to abound exceedingly. There is a breadth andlength and depth and height therein, when God will please to openit, that for its infiniteness can swallow up not only all thy sins, but all thy thoughts and imaginations, and that also can drown theeat last. "Now unto him that is able, " as to mercy, "to do exceedingabundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the powerthat worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesusthroughout all ages, world without end. Amen. "

This therefore is a wonderful thing, and shall be wondered at to alleternity, that the river of mercy, that at first did seem to be butancle deep, should so rise and rise that at last it became "watersto swim in, a river that could not be passed over. " Ezck. 47:5. 

GOD THE JUSTIFIER. 

The first cause of justification before God dependeth upon the willof God, who will justify because he will; therefore the meritoriouscause must also be of his own providing, else his will cannot hereinbe absolute; for if justification depend upon our personalperformances, then not upon the will of God. He may not have mercyupon whom he will, but on whom man's righteousness will give himleave; but his will, not ours, must rule here, therefore hisrighteousness and his only. So then, men are justified from thecurse in the sight of God, while sinners in themselves. 

GLORY OF GOD IN REDEMPTION. 

In redemption by the blood of Christ, God is said to abound towardsus in all WISDOM. Here we see the highest contradictions reconciled;here justice kisseth the sinner; here a man stands just in the sightof God, while confounded at his own pollutions; and here he thathath done no good, hath yet a sufficient righteousness, "even therighteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ. "

The JUSTICE of God is here more seen than in punishing all thedamned. 

The MYSTERY OF GOD'S WILL is here more seen than in hanging theearth upon nothing; while he condemneth Christ though righteous, andjustifieth us though sinners, while he "maketh him to be sin for us, and us the righteousness of God in him. "

The POWER of God is here more seen than in making heaven and earth;for, for one to hear and get the victory over sin when charged bythe justice of an infinite Majesty, in so doing he shows the heightof the highest power; for where sin by the law is charged, and thatby God immediately, there an infinite Majesty opposeth, and thatwith the whole of his justice, holiness, and power; so then, he thatis thus charged and engaged for the sin of the world, must not onlyhe equal with God, but show it by overcoming that curse and judgmentthat by infinite justice is charged upon him for sin. 

When angels and men had sinned, how did they fall and crumble beforethe anger of God! They had not power to withstand the terror, norcould there be worth found in their persons or doings to appeasedispleased justice. Here then is power seen: sin is a mighty thing;it crusheth all in pieces, save him whose Spirit is eternal. Heb. 9:14. Set Christ and his sufferings aside, and you neither see theevil of sin nor the displeasure of God against it; you see them notin their utmost. Jesus Christ made manifest his eternal power andgodhead more by bearing and overcoming our sins, than in making orupholding the whole world. 1 Cor. 1:24. 

The LOVE AND MERCY of God are more seen in and by this doctrine thanany other way. Here is love, that God sent his Son--his darling--hisSon that never offended--his Son that was always his delight!Herein is love, that he sent him to save sinners--to save them bybearing their sins, by bearing their curse, by dying their death, and by carrying their sorrows! Here is love, in that while we wereyet without strength, Christ died for the ungodly!

GOD A FATHER. 

O how great a task is it for a poor soul that comes, sensible of sinand the wrath of God, to say in faith but this one word, Father! Itell you, however hypocrites think, yet the Christian that is soindeed finds all the difficulty in this very thing; he cannot sayGod is his Father. O, saith he, I dare not call him Father. Andhence it is that the Spirit must be sent into the hearts of God'speople for this very thing, to cry Father; it being too great a workfor any man to do knowingly and believingly without it. When I sayknowingly, I mean knowing what it is to be a child of God and to beborn again; and when I say believingly, I mean for the soul tobelieve, and that from good experience, that the work of grace iswrought in him. This is the right calling of God, Father; and not asmany do, to say in a babbling way the Lord's prayer by heart. No, here is the life of prayer, when in or with the Spirit, a man beingmade sensible of sin and how to come to the Lord for mercy, hecomes, I say, in the strength of the Spirit, and crieth, Father. That one word spoken in faith, is better than a thousand prayers ina formal, cold, lukewarm way. 

Naturally the name of God is dreadful to us, especially when he isdiscovered to us by those names that declare his justice, holiness, power, and glory; but the word FATHER is a familiar word; itfrighteth not the sinner, but rather inclineth his heart to love andbe pleased with the remembrance of him. Hence Christ also, when hewould have us to pray with godly boldness, put this word FATHER intoour mouths, saying, "When ye pray, say, Our Father which art inheaven;" concluding thereby that in the familiarity which by such aword is intimated, the children of God may take more holdness topray for and ask great things. I myself have often found that when Ican say but this word, FATHER, it doth me more good than when I callhim by any other scripture name. 

It is worth your noting, that to call God by his relative title wasrare among the saints in Old Testament times; but now in NewTestament times, he is called by no name so often as this, both bythe Lord Jesus Christ himself and by the apostles afterwards. Indeedthe Lord Jesus was he that first made this name common among thesaints, and that taught them in their discourses, in their prayers, and in their writings, so much to use it; it being more pleasing to, and discovering more plainly our interest in God, than any otherexpression. For by this one name we are made to understand that allour mercies are the offspring of God, and that we also who arecalled are his children by adoption. 

FAITHFULNESS OF GOD. 

Faithfulness in him that rules is that which makes Zion rejoice, because thereby the promises yield milk and honey. For now thefaithful God, that keepeth covenant, performs to his church thatwhich he told her he would. Wherefore our rivers shall run and ourbrooks yield honey and butter. Job 20:17. 

Let this teach all God's people to expect, to look, and wait forgood things from the throne. But O, methinks this throne out ofwhich good comes like a river, who but would be a subject to it? whobut would worship before it?

PRESENCE OF GOD. 

God's presence is renewing, transforming, seasoning, sanctifying, commanding, sweetening, and lightening to the soul. Nothing like itin all the world: his presence supplies all wants, heals allmaladies, saves from all dangers, is life in death, heaven in hell, all in all. 

GOD'S REPENTING. 

"And it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth. "Repentance in us is a change of the mind, but in God a change of hisdispensations; for otherwise he repenteth not, neither can he, because it standeth not with the perfection of his nature. "In himis no variableness, nor shadow of turning. "

Wherefore it is man, not God, that turns. When men reject the mercyand ways of God, they cast themselves under his wrath anddispleasure; which, because it is executed according to the natureof his justice and the severity of his law, they miss of the mercypromised before; which that we may know, those shall one day feelthat shall continue in final impenitency. Therefore God, speaking totheir capacity, tells them he hath repented of doing them good. Itrepented the Lord that he had made Saul king; and yet thisrepentance was only a change of the dispensation which Saul by hiswickedness had put himself under; otherwise the Strength, theEternity of Israel will not lie nor repent. 

The sum is, therefore, that men had now by their wickedness putthemselves under the justice and law of God; which justice, byreason of its perfection, could not endure they should abide on theearth any longer; and therefore now, as a just reward of their deed, they must be swept from the face thereof. 

PROVIDENCE OF GOD. 

We should tremblingly glory and rejoice when we see God in theworld, though upon those that are the most terrible of hisdispensations. God the Creator will sometimes mount himself and ridethrough the earth, in such majesty and glory that he will make allto stand in the tent-doors to behold him. O how he rode in hischariots of salvation, when he went to save his people out of theland of Egypt. How he shook the nations. Then his glory covered theheavens, and the earth was full of his praise. His brightness was asthe light: he had horns coming out of his hand, and there was thehiding of his power. 

These are glorious things, though shaking dispensations God isworthy to be seen in his dispensations as well as in his word, though the nations tremble at his presence. "O that thou wouldestrend the heavens, that thou wouldest comedown, " saith the prophet, "that the mountains might flow down at thy presence. "

"We know God, and he is our God, our own God; of whom or of whatshould we be afraid? When God roars out of Zion, and utters hisvoice from Jerusalem, when the heavens and the earth do shake, theLord shall be the hope of his people and the strength of thechildren of Israel. "

He that knows the sea, knows the waves will toss themselves; he thatknows a lion, will not much wonder to see his paw or to hear thevoice of his roaring. And shall we that know our God, be strickenwith a panic fear when he cometh out of his holy place to punish theinhabitants of the earth for their iniquity? We should stand likethose that are next to angels, and tell the blind world who it isthat is thus mounted upon his steed, and that hath the clouds forthe dust of his feet, and that thus rideth upon the wings of thewind: we should say unto them, "This God is our God for ever andever, and he shall be our guide even unto death. "

There are providences of two sorts, seemingly good and seeminglybad; and those do usually as Jacob did when he blessed the sons ofJoseph, cross hands and lay the blessing where we would not. Thereare providences unto which we would have the blessings entailed; butthey are not. And these are providences that smile upon the flesh, such as cast into the lap health, wealth, plenty, ease, friends, andabundance of this world's good: because these, as Manasseh's namedoth signify, have in them an aptness to make us forget our toil, our low estate, and from whence we were; but the great blessing isnot in them. 

There are providences again, that take away from us whatever isdesirable to the flesh; such are sickness, losses, crosses, persecution, and affliction; and usually in these, though they shockus whenever they come upon us, blessing coucheth and is ready tohelp us. For God, as the name of Ephraim signifies, makes usfruitful in the land of affliction. He therefore, in blessing hispeople, lays his hands across, guiding them wittingly and laying thechiefest blessing on the head of Ephraim, or in that providence thatsanctifies affliction. Abel-what to the reason of Eve was he, incomparison with Cain? Rachel called Benjamin the son of her sorrow;but Jacob knew how to give him a better name. Jabez, also, thoughhis mother so called him because, as it seems, she brought him forthwith more than ordinary sorrow, was yet more honorable, more godly, than his brethren. 

He that has skill to judge of providences aright, has a greatability in him "to comprehend with other saints what is the breadthand length and depth and height;" but he that has no skill as todiscerning them, is but a child in his judgment in those high andmysterious things. And hence it is that some shall suck honey out ofthat at which others tremble, for fear it should poison them. I haveoften been made to say, "Sorrow is better than laughter, and thehouse of mourning better than the house of mirth. " And I have moreoften seen that the afflicted are always the best sort ofChristians. There is a man never well, never prospering, never butunder afflictions, disappointments, and sorrows; why, this man, ifhe be a Christian, is one of the best of men: "They that go down tothe sea, that do business in great waters, they see the works of theLord and his wonders in the deep. "

I do not question but that there are some that are alive who havebeen able to say the days of affliction have been the best untothem, and who could, if it were lawful, pray that they might alwaysbe in affliction, if God would but do to them as he did when hishand was last upon them; for by them he caused his light to shine. 

Oh how should we, and how would we were but our eyes awake, standand wonder at the preservations, the deliverances, the salvations, and benefits with which we are surrounded daily, while so manymighty evils seek daily to swallow us up as the grave!

How many deaths have some been delivered from and saved out ofbefore conversion. Some have fallen into rivers, some into wells, some into the sea, some into the hands of men; yea, they have beenjustly arraigned and condemned, as the thief upon the cross, butmust not die before they were converted. They were preserved inChrist, and called. 

II. THE TRINITY

IF in the Godhead there be but one, not three, then the Father, theSon, or the Spirit must needs be that one, if any one only; so thenthe other two are nothing. Again, if the reality of a being beneither in the Father, Son, nor Spirit, as such, but in the eternalDeity, without consideration of Father Son and Spirit as three, thenneither of the three are any thing but notions in us, ormanifestations of the Godhead, or nominal distinctions, so relatedby the word; but if so, then when the Father sent the Son, and theFather and Son the Spirit, one notion sent another one manifestationsent another. This being granted, it unavoidably follows there wasno Father to beget a Son, no Son to be sent to save us, no HolyGhost to be sent to comfort us and to guide us into all the truth ofthe Father and Son. At most it amounts to hut this: a notion sent anotion, a distinction sent a distinction, or one manifestation sentanother. Of this error these are the consequences: we are only tobelieve in notions and distinctions, when we believe in the Fatherand the Son; and so shall have no other heaven and glory thannotions and nominal distinctions can furnish us withal. 

If thou feel thy thoughts begin to wrestle about this truth, and tostruggle concerning this, one against another, take heed ofadmitting such a question, "How can this be?" for here is no roomfor reason to make it out; here is only room to believe it is atruth. You find not one of the prophets propounding an argument toprove it, but asserting it; they let it lie for faith to take it upand embrace it. 

"The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and thecommunion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen. "

In a word, if you would see it altogether, God's love was the causewhy Christ was sent to bleed for sinners. Jesus Christ's bleedingstops the cries of divine justice. God looks upon them as completein him, and gives them to him as by right of purchase. Jesus everlives to pray for them that are thus given unto him. God sends hisHoly Spirit into them to reveal this to them, sends his angels tominister for them, and all this by virtue of an everlasting covenantbetween the Father and the Son. "Happy the people that are in such acase. " He hath made them brethren with Jesus Christ, members of hisflesh and of his bones, the spouse of this Lord Jesus; and all toshow how dearly, really, and constantly he loveth us who by thefaith of his operation have laid hold upon him. 

The doctrine of the Trinity! that is the substance, that is theground and fundamental of all, for by this doctrine and this onlythe man is made a Christian; and he that has not this doctrine, hisprofession is not worth a button. 

You must know that sometimes the church in the wilderness has butlittle light, hut the diminution of her light is not then so much inor as to substantials, as it is as to circumstantial things; she hasthen the substantials with her in her darkest day. 

The doctrine of the Trinity! you may ask me what that is? I answer, it is that doctrine that showeth us the love of God the Father ingiving his Son, the love of God the Son in giving himself, and thelove of the Lord the Spirit in his work of regenerating us, that wemay be made able to lay hold of the love of the Father by his Son, and so enjoy eternal life by grace. 

The Father's grace saveth no man without the grace of the Son, neither do the Father and the Son save any without the grace of theSpirit; for as the Father loves, the Son must die, and the Spiritmust sanctify, or no soul must be saved. 

Some think that the love of the Father, without the blood of theSon, will save them; but they are deceived, "for without shedding ofblood is no remission. "

Some think that the love of the Father and blood of the Son will do, without the holiness of the Spirit of God; but they are deceivedalso, for "if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none ofhis. "

There is a third sort, that think the holiness of the Spirit issufficient of itself; but they are deceived also, for it must be thegrace of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the grace of theSpirit, jointly, that must save them. 

But yet, as these three do put forth grace jointly and truly in thesalvation of a sinner, so they put it forth after a diverse manner. The Father designs us for heaven, the Son redeems from sin anddeath, and the Spirit makes us meet for heaven: not by electing, that is the work of the Father; not by dying, that is the work ofthe Son; but by his revealing Christ, and applying Christ to oursouls, by shedding the love of God abroad in our hearts, bysanctifying our souls, and taking possession of us as an earnest ofour possession in heaven. 

III. THE SCRIPTURES. 

THE Scriptures carry such a blessed beauty in them to that soul thathas faith in the things contained in them, that they do take theheart and captivate the soul of him that believeth them into thelove and liking of them, believing all things that are written inthe law and the prophets, and having hope towards God that thereshall be a resurrection of the dead both of the just and unjust. 

To him that believes the Scriptures aright, the promises orthreatenings are of more power to comfort or cast down, than all thepromises or threatenings of all the men in the world; and this wasthe cause why the martyrs of Jesus did so slight both the promisesof their adversaries when they would have overcome them withproffering the great things of this world unto them, and also theirthreatenings when they told them they would rack them, hang them, burn them. None of these things could prevail upon them or againstthem. 

I never had in all my life so great an inlet into the word of God asnow, [in prison. ] Those scriptures that I saw nothing in before, were made in this place and state to shine upon me. Jesus Christalso was never more real and apparent than now. Here I have seen andfelt him indeed: O that word, "We have not preached unto youcunningly devised fables, " and that, "God raised Christ from thedead and gave him glory, that our faith and hope might he in God, "were blessed words unto me in this condition. 

These three or four scriptures also have been great refreshmentsin this condition to me, John 14:1-4; 16:33; Heb. 12:22-24; so thatsometimes, when I have been in the savor of them, I have been ableto laugh at destruction, and to fear neither the horse nor hisrider. I have had sweet sights of the forgiveness of my sins in thisplace, and of my being with Jesus in another world. Oh the mountZion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the innumerable company of angels, andGod the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect; andJesus has been sweet to me in this place: I have seen THAT here, which I am persuaded I shall never while in this world be able toexpress. I have seen a truth in this scripture, "Whom having notseen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, yerejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory. "

The glass was one of a thousand. It would present a man one way withhis own features exactly, and turn it but another way and it wouldshow one the very face and similitude of the Prince of the pilgrimshimself. Yes, I have talked with them that can tell, and they havesaid that they have seen the very crown of thorns upon his head bylooking in that glass; they have therein also seen the holes in hishands, in his feet, and in his side. Yea, such an excellency isthere in that glass, that it will show him to one where they have amind to see him, whether living or dead, whether in earth or inheaven, whether in a state of humiliation or in his exaltation, whether coming to suffer or coming to reign. James I: 23-25; I Cor. 13:12; 2 Cor. 3:13. 

Then said Greatheart to Mr. Valiant-for-Truth, "Thou hast worthilybehaved thyself; let me see thy sword. " So he showed it him. "Whenhe had taken it into his hand, and looked thereon awhile, he said, Ha, it is a right Jerusalem blade. "

VALIANT. "It is so. Let a man have one of these blades, with a handto wield it and skill to use it, and he may venture upon an angelwith it. He need not fear its holding, if he can but tell how to layon. Its edge will never blunt. It will cut flesh and bones, and souland spirit, and all. "

I saw then in my dream, that they went on in this their solitaryground, till they came to a place at which a man is apt to lose hisway. Now, though when it was light their guide could well enoughtell how to miss those ways that led wrong, yet in the dark he wasput to a stand; but he had in his pocket a map of all ways leadingto or from the celestial city; wherefore he struck a light--for henever goes without his tinder-box also--and takes a view of his bookor map, which bids him be careful in that place to turn to the righthand.. And had he not been careful to look in his map, they had inall probability been smothered in the mud; for just a little beforethem, and that at the end of the cleanest way too, was a pit, noneknows how deep, full of nothing but mud, there made on purpose todestroy the pilgrims in. Then thought I with myself, Who that goethon pilgrimage but would have one of these maps about him, that hemay look when he is at a stand which is the way he must take?

If we consider that our next state must be eternal, either eternalglory or eternal fire, and that this eternal glory or this eternalfire must be our portion according as the word of God revealed inthe holy Scriptures shall determine, who will not but conclude thattherefore the words of God are they at which we should tremble, andthey by which we should have our fear of God guided and directed?for by them we are taught how to please him in every thing. 

"Noah drank of the wine and was drunken. " The Holy Ghost, when ithath to do with sin, loves to give it its own name; drunkenness mustbe drunkenness, murder must he murder, and adultery must bear itsown name. Nay, it is neither the goodness of the man, nor his beingin favor with God, that will cause him to lessen or mince his sin. Noah was drunken; Lot lay with his daughters; David killed Uriah;Peter cursed and swore in the garden, and also dissembled atAntioch. But this is not recorded to the intent that the name ofthese godly should rot, but to show that the best men are nothingwithout grace, and that "he that standeth should not be high-minded, but fear. " Yea, they are also recorded for the support of thetempted, who, when they are fallen, are oft raised up by consideringthe infirmities of others. "Whatsoever things were written aforetimewere written for our learning, that we through patience and comfortof the scriptures might have hope. "

God's word has two edges; it can cut back-stroke and fore-stroke: ifit do thee no good, it will do thee hurt; it is the savor of lifeunto life to those that receive it, but of death unto death to themthat refuse it. 

I do find in most such a spirit of idolatry concerning the learningof this world and wisdom of the flesh, and God's glory so muchstained and diminished thereby, that had I all their aid andassistance at command, I durst not make use of aught thereof, andthat for fear lest that grace and those gifts that the Lord hathgiven me, should be attributed to their wits, rather than to thelight of the word and Spirit of God. Wherefore I will not take ofthem from a thread to a shoe-latchet, lest they should say, We havemade Abraham rich. 

What you find suiting with the scriptures, take, though it shouldnot suit with authors; but that which you find against thescriptures, slight, though it should be confirmed by multitudes ofthem. Yea, further, where you find the scriptures and your authorsagree, yet believe it for the sake of scripture's authority. I honorthe godly as Christians, but I prefer the Bible before them; andhaving that still with me, I count myself far better furnished thanif I had, without it, all the libraries of the two universities. Besides, I am for drinking water out of my own cistern: what Godmakes mine by the evidence of his word and Spirit, that I dare makebold with. Wherefore, seeing, though I am without their learnedlines, yet well furnished with the words of God, I mean the Bible, Ihave contented myself with what I have there found; and having setit before your eyes, I pray read and take, sir, what you like best; And that which youlike not, leave for the rest. 

Read, and read again, and do not despair of help to understandsomething of the will and mind of God, though you think they arefast locked up from you. Neither trouble your heads though you havenot commentaries and expositions; pray and read, and read and pray;for a little from God is better than a great deal from men: alsowhat is from men is uncertain, and is often lost and tumbled overand over by men; but what is from God is fixed as a nail in a sureplace. There is nothing that so abides with us, as what we receivefrom God; and the reason why Christians at this day are at such aloss as to some things, is because they are content with what comesfrom men's mouths, without searching and kneeling before God to knowof him the truth of things. Things that we receive at God's handcome to us as things from the minting-house, though old inthemselves, yet new to us. Old truths are always new to us, if theycome to us with the smell of heaven upon them. 

IV. MAN. 

THE IMAGE OF GOD. 

MAN is God's image, and to curse wickedly the image of God, is tocurse God himself. Suppose that a man should say with his mouth, Iwish that the king's picture were burned; would not this man's sosaying render him as an enemy to the person of the king? Even so itis with them that by cursing wish evil to their neighbors orthemselves; they contemn the image of God himself. 

This world, as it dropped from the fingers of God, was far moreglorious than it is now. 

VALUE OF THE SOUL. 

The soul is a thing, though of most worth, least minded by most. Thesouls of most lie waste, while all other things are inclosed. 

Soul-concerns are concerns of the highest nature, and concerns thatarise from thoughts most deep and ponderous. He never yet knew whatbelonged to great and deep thoughts, that is a stranger tosoul-concerns. 

The soul is capable of having to do with invisibles, with angels, good or bad, yea, with the highest and supreme Being, even the holyGod of heaven. I told you before that God sought the soul of man tohave it for his companion; and now I tell you that the soul iscapable of communion with him, when the darkness that sin hathspread over its face is removed. The soul is an intelligent power, and it can be made to know and understand depths and heights andlengths and breadths, in those high, sublime, and spiritualmysteries that only God can reveal and teach; yea, it is capable ofdiving unutterably into them. And herein is God, the God of glory, much delighted--that he hath made for himself a creature that iscapable of hearing, of knowing and of understanding his mind, whenopened and revealed to it. 

The greatness of the soul is manifest by the greatness of the pricethat Christ paid for it to make it an heir of glory, and that washis precious blood. We do use to esteem things according to theprice that is given for them, especially when we are convinced thatthe purchase has not been made by the estimation of a fool. Now thesoul is purchased by a price, that the Son, the wisdom of God, thought fit to pay for the redemption thereof; what a thing then isthe soul!

Suppose a prince, or some great man, should on a sudden descend fromhis throne or chair of state, to take up, that he might put in hisbosom, something that he had espied lying trampled under the feet ofthose that stand by; would you think that he would do this for anold horseshoe, or for so trivial a thing as a pin or a point? Nay, would you not even of yourselves conclude that that thing for whichthe prince, so great a man, should make such a stoop, must needs bea thing of very great worth? Why, this is the case of Christ and thesoul. Christ is the prince, his throne is in heaven, and as he satthere he espied the souls of sinners trampled under the foot of thelaw and death for sin. Now what doth he, but comes down from histhrone, stoops down to the earth, and there, since he could not havethe trodden-down souls without price, he lays down his life andblood for them. 

ADAM'S TRANSGRESSION. 

In a word, Adam led mankind out of their paradise; that is one woe:and put out their eyes, that is another; and left them to theleading of the devil. O sad! Canst thou hear this, and not have thyears to tingle and burn on thy head? Canst thou read this and notfeel it, and not feel thy conscience begin to throb? If so, surelyit is because thou art either possessed with the devil, or besidethyself. 

O, this was the treasure that Adam left to his posterity, it was abroken covenant, insomuch that death reigned over all his children, and doth still to this day, as they come from him---both natural andeternal death. Rom. 5. 

DEPRAVITY OF NATURE. 

Let a man be as devout as is possible for the law and the holinessof the law. Yet if the principles from which he acts be but thehabit of soul, the purity, as he feigns, of his ownnature--principles of natural reason, or the dictates of humannature; all this is nothing else but the old gentleman in hisholiday clothes: the old heart, the old spirit, the spirit of theman, not the spirit of Christ, is here. 

LOVE OF SIN. 

Sin has been delightfully admitted to an entertainment by all thepowers of the soul. The soul hath chosen it rather than God; andalso, at God's command, refuses to let it go. 

If there be at any time, as indeed there is, a warrant issued outfrom the mouth of God to apprehend, to condemn and mortify sin, whythen the souls of sinners do presently make these shifts for thesaving of sin from things that by the word men arc commanded to dounto it:

1. They will, if possible, hide it, and not suffer it to bediscovered. 

2. As the soul will hide it, so it will excuse it, and plead thatthis and that piece of wickedness is no such evil thing, men neednot be so nice. 

3. As the soul will do this, so to save sin it will cover it withnames of virtue, either moral or civil. 

4. If convictions and discovery of sin be so strong and so plainthat the soul cannot deny but that it is sin, and that God isoffended therewith, then it will give flattering promises to Godthat it will indeed put it away; but yet it will prefix a time thatshall he long first, saying, Yet a little sleep, yet a littleslumber, yet a little folding of sin in my arms, till I am older, till I am richer, till I have had more of the sweetness and thedelights of sin. 

5. If God yet pursues, and will see whether this promise of puttingsin out of doors shall he fulfilled by the soul, why then it will bepartial in God's law; it will put away some, and keep some; put awaythe grossest, and keep the finest; put away those that can best bespared, and keep the most profitable for a help at a pinch. 

6. Yea, if all sin must be abandoned, or the soul shall have norest, why then the soul and sin will part--with such a parting as itis--even as Phaltiel parted with David's wife, with an ill-will anda sorrowful mind; or as Orpah left her mother, with a kiss. 2 Sam. 3:16; Ruth 1:14. 

7. And if at any time they can or shall meet with each other again, and nobody never the wiser, O what courting will be between sin andthe soul. 

By all these, and many more things that might be instanced, it ismanifest that sin has a friendly entertainment by the soul, and thattherefore the soul is guilty of damnation; for what do all thesethings argue, but that God, his word, his ways and graces, are outof favor with the soul, and that sin and Satan are its only pleasantcompanions?

SIN. 

Sin so sets itself against the nature of God that, if possible, itwould annihilate and turn him into nothing, it being in its naturepoint-blank against him. 

What a thing is sin; what a devil and master of devils is it, thatit should, where it takes hold, so hang that nothing can unclutchits hold, but the mercy of God and the heart-blood of his dear Son. 

No sin is little in itself; because it is a contradiction of thenature and majesty of God. 

O, sin, what art thou! What hast thou done! and what still wilt thoufurther do, if mercy and blood and grace do not prevent thee!

 Sin is the living worm, the lasting fire; Hell soon would loss its heat, could sin expire. Better sinless in hell, than to be where Heaven is, and to be found a sinner there. One sinless with infernals might do well, But sin would make of heaven a very hell. Look to thyself then, keep it out of door, Lest it get in and never leave thee more. 

 No match has sin but God in all the world; Men, angels, has it from their station hurled, Holds them in chains as captives, in despite Of all that here below is called might. Release, help, freedom from it none can give, But even He by whom we breathe and live. Watch therefore, keep this giant out of door, Lest, if once in, thou get him out no more. 

 Fools make a mock at sin, will not believe It carries such a dagger in its sleeve. How can it be, say they, that such a thing, So full of sweetness, e'er should wear a sting? They know not that it is the very spell Of sin, to make men laugh themselves to hell. Look to thyself, then, deal with sin no more, Lest He that saves, against thee shut the door. 

There are sins against light, sins against knowledge, sins againstlove, sins against learning, sins against threatenings, sins againstpromises and vows and resolutions, sins against experience, sinsagainst examples of anger, and sins that have great and high andstrange aggravations attending them; the which we are ignorant of, though not altogether, yet in too great a measure. 

Sins go not alone, hut follow one another as do the links of achain. 

A presumptuous sin is such a one as is committed in the face of thecommand, in a desperate venturing to run the hazard, or in apresuming upon the mercy of God through Christ, to be savednotwithstanding: this is a leading sin to that which isunpardonable, and will be found with such professors as do hankerafter iniquity. 

One leak will sink a ship; and one sin will destroy a sinner. 

He that lives in sin and hopes for happiness hereafter, is like himthat soweth cockle and thinks to fill his barn with wheat andbarley. 

Crush sin in the conception, lest it bring forth death in thy soul. 

Some men's hearts are narrow upwards and wide downwards--narrow asto God, but wide for the world. 

PRIDE. 

Pride is the ringleader of the seven abominations that the wise mannameth. Prov. 6: 16, 17. 

Apparel is the fruit of sin; wherefore, let such as pride themselvestherein remember, that they cover one shame with another. But letthem that are truly godly have their apparel modest and sober, andwith such shame-facedness put them on; remembering always, that thefirst cause of our covering our nakedness was the sin and shame ofour first parents. 

ENVY. 

Mr. Badman's envy was so rank and strong, that if it at any timeturned its head against a man, it would hardly ever be pulled inagain. He would watch over that man to do him mischief, as the catwatches over the mouse to destroy it; yea, he would wait seven yearsbut he would have an opportunity to hurt him, and when he had it, hewould make him feel the weight of his envy. This envy is the veryfather and mother of a great many hid eous and prodigiouswickednesses. It both begets them, and also nourishes them up tillthey come to their cursed maturity in the bosom of him thatentertains them. 

DRUNKENNESS. 

Drunkenness is so beastly a sin, a sin so much against nature, thatI wonder that any who have but the appearance of men can give upthemselves to so beastly, yea, worse than beastly a thing. 

Many that have begun the world with plenty, have gone out of it inrags, through drunkenness. Yea, many children that have been born togood estates, have yet been brought to a flail and a rake throughthis beastly sin of their parents. 

Yea, it so stupefies and besots the soul, that a man who is far gonein drunkenness is hardly ever recovered to God. Tell me, when didyou see an old drunkard converted? No, no; such a one will sleeptill he dies, though he sleep on the top of a mast; so that if a manhave any respect either to credit, health, life, or salvation, hewill not be a drunken man. 

"And Noah was uncovered. " Behold ye now, that a little of the fruitof the vine lays gravity, grey hairs, and a man that for hundreds ofyears was a lover of faith, holiness, goodness, sobriety, and allrighteousness, shamelessly as the object to the eye of the wicked. 

"And Noah lived after the flood three hundred and fifty years. " Helived, therefore, to see Abraham fifty-and-eight years old; he livedalso to see the foundation of Babel laid, nay, the top-stonethereof; and also the confusion of tongues; he lived to see of thefruit of his loins, mighty kings and princes. But in all this timehe lived not to do one, work that the Holy Ghost thought worthy torecord, for the savor of his name or the edification and benefit ofhis church, save only, that he died at "nine hundred and fiftyyears:" so great a breach did this drunkenness make upon his spirit. 

SINNERS. 

Usually in wicked families, some one or two are more arch forwickedness than are any other that are there. Now such are Satan'sconduit-pipes; for by them he conveys of the spawn of hell, throughtheir being crafty in wickedness, into the ears and souls of theircompanions. 

"And she bare Cain:" the first sprout of a disobedient couple, a manin shape, but a devil in disposition. 

The sinner, when his conscience is fallen asleep and grown hard, will lie like the smith's dog at the foot of the anvil, though thefire-sparks fly in his face. 

Peace in a sinful course is one of the greatest of curses. 

There is a wicked man that goes blinded, and a wicked man that goeswith his eyes open, to hell; there is a wicked man that cannot see, and a wicked man that will not see, the danger he is in; buthell-fire will open the eyes of both. 

The soul with some is the game, their lusts are the dogs, and theythemselves are the huntsmen; and never do they more halloo and lureand laugh and sing, than when they have delivered up their soul, their darling, to these dogs. 

I may safely say, that the most of men who are concerned in a trade, will be more vigilant in dealing with a twelvepenny customer, thanthey will be with Christ when he comes to make unto them by thegospel a tender of the incomparable grace of God. 

SINFUL EASE. 

'Tis true there is no man more at ease in his mind--with such easeas it is--than the man that hath not closed with the Lord Jesus, butis shut up in unbelief. Oh, but that is the man that standsconvicted before God, and that is bound over to the GREAT ASSIZE!that is the man whose sins are still his own, and upon whom thewrath of God abideth; for the ease and peace of such, though it keepthem far from fear, is but like to that of the secure thief that isignorant that the constable standcth at the door: the first sight ofan officer makes his peace to give up the ghost. Oh, how manythousands that can now glory that they were never troubled for sinagainst God--I say, how many be there that God will trouble worsethan he troubled cursed Achan, because their peace, though false andof the devil, was rather chosen by them than peace by Jesus Christ, than peace with God by the blood of his cross. 

Awake, careless sinners, awake, and arise from the dead, and Christshall give you light. Content not yourselves either with sin orrighteousness, if you be destitute of Jesus Christ; but CRY, CRY, Ohcry to God for light to see your condition by. Light is in the wordof God, for therein is the righteousness of God revealed; crytherefore for light to see this righteousness by: it is arighteousness of Christ's finishing, of God's accepting, and thatwhich alone can save the soul from the stroke of eternal justice. 

THE CHILD AND THE BIRD. 

 "My little bird, how canst thou sit And sing amidst so many thorns? Let me but hold vipon thee get, My love with honor thee adorns. Thou art at present little worth, Five farthings none will give for thee, But prithee, little bird, come forth, Thou of more value art to me. 

 "'Tis true it is sunshine to-day, To-morrow birds will have a storm; My pretty one, come thou away. My bosom then shall keep thee warm. Thou subject art to cold o' nights, When darkness is thy covering; At day thy danger's great by kites; How canst thou then sit there and sing?

 "Thy food is scarce and scanty too, 'Tis worms and trash that thou dost eat Thy present state I pity do, Come, I'll provide thee better meat. I'll feed thee with white bread and milk, And sugar-plums, if them thou crave; I'll cover thee with finest silk, That from the cold I may thee save. 

 "My father's palace shall be thine, Yea, in it thou shalt sit and sing; My little bird, if thou'lt be mine, The whole year round shall be thy spring. I'll teach thee all the notes at court, Unthought-of music thou shalt play, And all that thither do resort Shall praise thee for it every day. 

 "I'll keep thee safe from cat and cur, No manner o' harm shall come to thee; Yea, I will be thy succorer, My bosom shall thy cabin be. " But lo, behold, the bird is gone! These charmings would not make her yield; The child's left at the bush alone, The bird flies yonder o'er the field. 

 The child of Christ an emblem is; The bird to sinners I compare; The thorns are like those sins of theirs, Which do surround them everywhere. Her songs, her food, her sunshine day, Are emblems of those foolish toys Which to destruction lead the way-- The fruit of worldly, empty joys. 

 The arguments this child doth choose To draw to him a bird thus wild, Shows Christ familiar speech doth use, To make the sinner reconciled. The bird, in that she takes her wing To speed her from him after all, Shows us vain man loves any thing Much better than the heavenly call. 

THE SINNER WARNED. 

Thy bed, when thou liest down in it, preacheth to thee thy grave;thy sleep, thy death; and thy rising in the morning, thyresurrection to judgment. 

Wouldst thou know, sinner, what thou art? look up to the cross, andbehold a weeping, bleeding, dying Jesus; nothing could do but that, nothing could save thee but his blood: angels could not, saintscould not, God could not, because he could not lie, because he couldnot deny himself. 

What a thing is sin, that it should sink all that bear its burden;yea, it sunk the Son of God himself into death and the grave, andhad also sunk him into hell-fire for ever, had he not teen the Sonof God, had he not been able to take it on his hack and bear itaway. 

O this Lamh of God! Sinners were going to hell; Christ was thedelight of his Father, and had a whole heaven to himself; hut thatdid not content him, heaven could not hold him, he must come intothe world to save sinners. 

Aye, and had he not come thy sins had sunk thee, thy sins hadprovoked the wrath of God against thee to thy destruction for ever. There is no man hut is a sinner; there is no sin hut would damn anangel, should God lay it to his charge. 

Sinner, the doctrine of Christ crucified cries therefore aloud untothee, that sin has made thy condition dreadful. See yourselves, yoursins, and consequently the condition that your souls are in by thedeath and blood of Christ Christ's death gives us the most cleardiscovery of the dreadful nature of our sins. 

I say again, if sin he so dreadful a thing as to break the heart ofthe Son of God, how shall a poor, wretched, impenitent, damnedsinner wrestle with the wrath of God?

Awake, sinners; you are lost, you are undone, you perish, you aredamned; hell-fire is your portion for ever, if you abide in yoursins, and be found without a Saviour in the dreadful day ofjudgment. 

Sinner, doth not all this discourse make thy heart twitter after themercy that is with God, and after the way that is made by thisplenteous redemption thereto? Methinks it should; yea, thou couldestnot do otherwise, didst thou but see thy condition. Look behindthee, take a view of the path thou hast trodden these many years. Dost thou think that the way that thou art in will lead thee to thestrait gate, sinner? Ponder the path of thy feet with the greatestseriousness; thy life lies upon it; what thinkest thou? But make noanswer till in the night, till thou art in the night-watches;commune with thine own heart upon thy hed, and there say what thouthinkest of whither thou art going. 

Oh that thou wert serious! Is not it a thing to be lamented, thatmadness and folly should be in thy heart while thou livest, andafter that to go to the dead; when so much life stands before thee, and light to see the way to it? Surely men void of grace andpossessed of carnal minds must either think that sin is nothing, that hell is easy, and that eternity is short; or else that whateverGod has said about the punishing of sinners, he will never do as hehas said; or that there is no sin, no God, no heaven, no hell, andso no good or bad hereafter; or else they could not live as they do. But perhaps thou presumest upon it, and sayest, I shall have peace, though I live so sinful a life. Sinner, if this wicked thought be inthy heart, tell me again, dost thou thus think in earnest? Canstthou imagine thou shalt at the day of account outface God, or makehim believe thou wast what thou wast not; or that when the gate isshut up in wrath, he will at thy pleasure and to the reversing ofhis own counsel, open it again to thee? Why shall thy deceived heartturn thee aside, that thou canst not deliver thy soul, nor say, Isthere not a lie in my right hand?

Friend, because it is a dangerous thing to be walking towards theplace of darkness and anguish, and because notwithstanding, it isthe journey that most of the poor souls in the world are taking, Ihave thought it my duty for preventing thee, to tell thee what sadsuccess those souls have had that have persevered therein. Why, friend, it may be--nay, twenty to one, thou hast had thy back toheaven and thy face towards hell ever since thou didst come into theworld. Why, I beseech thee, put a little stop to thy earnest race, and take a view of what entertainment thou art like to have, if thoudo in deed and in truth persist in thy course. "Thy ways lead downto death, and thy steps to hell. " It may he, indeed, the path ispleasant to the flesh, but the end thereof will he bitter to thysoul. Hark! dost thou not hear the bitter cries of them that arenewly gone before thee, saying, "Let him dip the tip of his fingerin water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame!"Dost thou not hear them say, "Send one from the dead, to prevent myfather, my brother, my father's house, from coming to this place oftorment!" Shall not these mournful groans pierce thy flinty heart?Wilt thou stop thine ears and shut thine eyes? And wilt thou NOTregard? Take warning, and stop thy journey before it be too late. Wilt thou he like the silly fly, that is not quiet unless she beeither entangled in the spider's web or burnt in the candle? Osinner, sinner, there are better things than HELL to be had! Thereis heaven, there is God, there is Christ, there is communion with aninnumerable assembly of saints and angels!

The poor, carnal, ignorant world miss of heaven, even because theylove their sins and cannot part with them John 3:9, 20. 

The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they stop their earsagainst convictions, and refuse to come when God calls. Prov. 1:24-29. 

The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because the god of thisworld hath blinded their eyes, that they can neither see the eviland damnable state they are in at present, nor the way to get out ofit; neither do they see the beauty of Jesus Christ, nor how willinghe is to save poor sinners. 2 Cor. 4: 2, 3. 

The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they defer coming toChrist until the time of God's patience and grace is over. Someindeed are resolved never to come; but some again say, "We will comehereafter;" and so it comes to pass, that because God called andthey did not hear, so "they shall cry and I will not hear, " saiththe Lord. Zech. 7: 11-13. 

The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they have falseapprehensions of God's mercy. They say in their hearts, "We shallhave peace, though we walk in the imagination of our heart. " Deut. 29: 19-21. 

The poor ignorant world miss of heaven, because they make light ofthe gospel that offers mercy to them freely, and because they leanupon their own good meanings and thinkings and doings. Matt. 22:1-5; Rom. 9: 30, 31. 

The poor carnal world miss of heaven, because by unbelief, whichreigns in them, they are kept for ever from being clothed withChrist's righteousness, and from washing in his blood, without whichthere is no remission of sin nor justification. 

Blush, sinner, blush! Ah, that thou hadst grace to blush. 

My first word shall be to the openly profane. Poor sinner, thoureadest that many that expect heaven will go without heaven. Whatsayest thou to this, poor sinner? If judgment begins at the house ofGod, what will be the end of them that obey not the gospel of God?This is Peter's question: canst thou answer it, sinner? Yea, I sayagain, if judgment must begin at them, will it not make thee think, What shall become of me? And I add, when thou shalt see the stars ofheaven tumble down to hell, canst thou think that such a muck-heapof sin as thou art shall be lifted up to heaven? Peter asks theeanother question: "If the righteous scarcely be saved, where shallthe ungodly and the sinner appear?" Canst thou answer this question, sinner? Stand among the righteous thou mayst not: "The ungodly shallnot stand in the judgment. " Stand among the wicked thou then wiltnot dare to do: where wilt thou appear, sinner? To stand among thehypocrites will avail thee nothing: "The hypocrite shall not comebefore him, " that is, with acceptance, "but shall perish. "

Because it concerns thee much, let me over with it again. When thoushalt see less sinners than thou art bound up by angels in bundlesto burn them, where wilt thou appear, sinner? Thou mayst wishthyself another man, but that will not help thee, sinner. Thou maystwish, "Would I had been converted in time;" but that will not helpthee neither. And if, like the wife of Jeroboam, thou shouldst feignthyself to be another, the prophet, the Lord Jesus, would soon findthee out. What wilt thou do, poor sinner? Heavy tidings, heavytidings will attend thee, except thou repent, poor sinner!

Sluggard, art thou asleep still? art thou resolved to sleep thesleep of death? Will neither tidings from heaven nor hell awakethee? Wilt thou say still, "Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, alittle folding of the arms to sleep?"

O that I was one that was skilful in lamentation, and had but ayearning heart towards thee, how would I pity thee; how would Ibemoan thee! Poor soul, lost soul, dying soul, what a hard hearthave I that I cannot mourn for thee! If thou shouldst lose but alimb, a child, or a friend, it would not be so much; but, poor man, it is thy soul: if it was to lie in hell but for a day, but for ayear, nay, ten thousand years, it would in comparison be nothing;but O it is for ever! O this cutting EVER!

Sinner, awake; yea, I say unto thee, awake! Sin lieth at thy door, and God's axe lieth at thy root, and hell-fire is right underneaththee. I say again, awake. Every tree that bringeth not forth goodfruit, is hewn down and cast into the fire. 

Poor sinner, awake: Eternity is coming, and his Son; they are bothcoming to judge the world: awake; art yet asleep, poor sinner? letme set the trumpet to thine ear once again. The heavens will heshortly on a burning flame; the earth and the works thereof shall beburned up, and then wicked men shall go into perdition: dost thouhear this, sinner?

Hark again: the sweet morsels of sin will then be fled and gone, andthe bitter, burning fruits of them only left. What sayst thou now, sinner? canst thou drink hell-fire? will the wrath of God be apleasant dish to thy taste? This must be thine every day's meat anddrink in hell, sinner. 

I will yet propound to thee God's ponderous question, and then forthis time leave thee: "Can thine heart endure, or can thy hands bestrong in the day that I shall deal with thee, saith the Lord?" Whatsayst thou? Wilt thou answer this question now; or wilt thou taketime to do it; or wilt thou be desperate and venture all? And let meput this text in thine ear to keep it open, and so the Lord havemercy upon thee: "Upon the wicked shall the Lord rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion oftheir cup. " Repent, sinners. 

CONSCIENCE. 

Conscience hath its place in the soul, where it is as a judge todiscern of things good or bad, and judge them accordingly. Romans 2:14. This conscience is that in which is the law of nature, I Cor. 11: 14, which is able to teach the Gentiles that sin against the lawis sin against God. 

Now this conscience, this nature itself, because it can control andchide them for sin who give ear unto it--must it therefore beidolized and made a god of? O wonderful! that men should make a Godand a Christ of their consciences because they can convince of sin. 

Thou gayest, He that convinces of sins against the law, leads up tothe fulfilling of the law.. Friend, thy conscience convinces of sinsagainst the law: follow thy conscience, and it may lead thee underthe curse of the law, through its weakness; but it can never deliverthee from the curse of the law by its power. For if righteousnesscome by obedience to the law, or by thy conscience either, thenChrist is dead in vain. Gal. 2: 21. 

A GOOD CONSCIENCE. 

This must needs be a blessed help in distress, for a man to have agood conscience when affliction hath taken hold on him; for a manthen, in his looking behind and before, to return with peace to hisown soul, that man must needs find honey in this lion. 

This is the way to maintain always the answer, the echoing answer ofa good conscience in thy own soul. Godliness is of great use thisway; for the man that hath a good conscience to God-ward, hath acontinual feast in his own soul: while others say there is castingdown, he shall say there is lifting up; for God shall save thehumble person. Some indeed, in the midst of their profession, arereproached, smitten, and condemned of their own heart, theirconscience still biting and stinging them because of the uncleannessof their hands; and they cannot lift up their face unto God, theyhave not the answer of a good conscience towards him, but must walkas persons false to their God and as traitors to their own eternalwelfare. But the godly upright man shall have the light shine uponhis ways, and he shall take his steps in butter and honey. The workof righteousness shall be peace, and the effect of righteousness, quietness, and assurance for ever. "If our heart condemn us, God isgreater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if ourheart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God. "

A TENDER CONSCIENCE. 

A tender conscience is to some people like Solomon's brawling woman, a burthen to those that have it; but let it be to thee like thosethat invited David to go up to the house of the Lord. 

A GUILTY CONSCIENCE. 

"And Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LordGod. " These latter words are spoken, not to persuade us that men canhide themselves from God, but that Adam and those that are his bynature will seek to do it, because they do not know him aright. These words therefore further show us what a bitter thing sin is tothe soul; it is only for hiding-work, sometimes under itsfig-leaves, sometimes among the trees of the garden. O what ashaking, starting, timorous evil conscience is a sinful, guiltyconscience: especially when it is but a little awakened, it couldrun its head into every hole, first by one fancy, then by another;for the power and goodness of a man's own righteousness cannotwithstand or answer the demands of the justice of God and his holylaw. 

There is yet another witness for the condemning transgressors ofthese laws, and that is conscience: "Their consciences also bearingwitness, " says the apostle. Conscience is a thousand witnesses. Conscience! it will cry amen to every word that the great God dothspeak against thee. Conscience is a terrible accuser; it will holdpace with the witness of God, as to the truth of evidence, to ahair's breadth. The witness of conscience, it is of great authority;it commands guilt and fastens it on every soul which it accuses. Conscience will thunder and lighten at the day of judgment; even theconsciences of the most pagan sinners in the world will havesufficient wherewith to accuse, to condemn, and to make palenessappear in their faces and breaking in their loins, by reason of theforce of its conviction. O the mire and dirt that a guiltyconscience, when it is forced to speak, will cast up and throw outbefore the judgment-seat. It must out; none can speak peace norhealth to that man upon whom God has let loose his own conscience. Cain will now cry, "My punishment is greater than I can bear;" Judaswill hang himself; and both Belshazzar and Felix will feel thejoints of their loins to be loosened, and their knees to smite oneagainst another, when conscience stirreth. 

When conscience is once thoroughly awakened, as it shall be beforethe judgment-seat, God will need say no more to the sinner thanSolomon said to filthy Shimei, "Thou knowest all the wickedness thatthy heart is privy to. " As who should say, "Thy conscience knows, and can well inform thee of all the evil and sin that thou artguilty of. " To all which it answers even as face answers a face in aglass; or as an echo answers the man that speaks: as fast, I say, asGod chargeth, conscience will cry out, "Guilty, guilty, Lord; guiltyof all, of every whit; I remember clearly all the crimes thou layestbefore me. " Thus will conscience be a witness against the soul inthe day of God. 

V. THE LAW. 

ITS NATURE AND EFFECTS. 

THE law is the chief and most pure resemblance of the justice andholiness of the heavenly Majesty, and doth hold forth to all men thesharpness and keenness of his wrath. 

This is the rule and line and plummet whereby every act of every manshall be measured; and he whose righteousness is not found every wayanswerable to this law, which all will fall short of but they thathave the righteousness of God by faith in Jesus Christ, he mustperish. 

The law is spiritual, I am carnal. Therefore every requirement isrejected and rebelled against. Strike a steel against a flint, andthe fire flies about you. Strike the law against a carnal heart, andsin appears, sin multiplies, sin rageth, sin is strengthened. 

Sin seen in the glass of the law is a terrible thing; no man canbehold it and live. "When the commandment came, sin revived and Idied;" when it came from God to my conscience, as managed by analmighty arm, then it slew me. And now is the time to confess sin, because now a soul knows what it is, and sees what it is, both inthe nature and consequence of it. 

He that is under the law is under the edge of the axe. 

The proper work of the law is to slay the soul, and leave it dead, in a helpless state. 

The law has laid all men for dead as they come into the world; butall men do not see themselves dead, until they see the law thatstruck them dead striking in their souls and having struck them thatfatal blow. As a man that is fast asleep in a house, and that onfire about his ears, and he not knowing it because he is asleep;even so because poor souls are asleep in sin, though the wrath ofGod, the curse of his law, and the flames of hell have beset themround about, yet they do not believe it because they are asleep insin. Now, as he that is awakened and sees this, sees that throughthis he is a dead man, even so they that see their state by nature, being such a sad condition, do also see themselves by that law to bedead men naturally. 

Take heed of fleshly wisdom. Reasoning suiteth much with the law: "Ithought verily that I ought to do many things against the name ofJesus, " and so to have sought for life by the law. For thus reasonwill say, Here is a righteous law, the rule of life and death;besides, what can be better than to love God, and my neighbor asmyself? Again, God has thus commanded, and his commands are just andgood; therefore, doubtless, life must come by the law. Further, tolove God and keep the law, are better than to sin and break it; andseeing men lost heaven by sin, how should they get it again but byworking righteousness? Besides, God is righteous, and will thereforebless the righteous. O the holiness of the law! It mightily swayethwith reason when a man addicts himself to religion. The light ofnature teaches that sin is not the way to heaven; and seeing no worddoth more condemn sin, than the words of the ten commandments, itmust needs be therefore the most perfect rule for holiness. Wherefore, says reason, the safest way to life and glory is to keepmyself close to the law. But though the law indeed be holy, yet themistake as to the matter in hand is as wide as the east from thewest; for therefore the law can do thee no good, because it is holyand just; for what can he that has sinned expect from a law that isholy and just? Naught but condemnation. "There is one that accusethyou, even. Moses in whom ye trust. "

Here is the poison; to set this law in the. Room of a Mediator, asthose do who seek to stand just before God thereby. And then nothingis so dishonorable to Christ, nor of so soul-destroying a nature asthe law; for that, thus placed, has not only power when souls aredeluded, but power to delude by its real holiness, theunderstanding, conscience, and reason of a man; and by giving thesoul a semblance of heaven, to cause it to throw away Christ, grace, and faith. 

Alas, he who boasteth himself in the works of the law, he doth nothear the law. When that speaks, it shakes mount Sinai, and writethdeath upon all faces, and makes the church itself cry out, AMediator! else we die. 

The law out of Christ is terrible as a lion; the law in him is meekas a lamb. 

FAITHFUL. "So I went on my way up the hill. Now when I had got abouthalf-way up, I looked behind me and saw one coming after me swift asthe wind; so he overtook me just about the place where the settlestands. 

"So soon as the man overtook me, he was but a word and a blow; fordown he knocked me, and laid me for dead. But when I was a littlecome to myself again, I asked him wherefore he served me so. Hesaid, 'Because of thy secret inclination to Adam the first;' andwith that he struck me another deadly blow on the breast, and beatme down backwards; so I lay at his foot as dead as before. When Icame to myself again, I cried to him for mercy; but he said, 'Iknow not how to show mercy;' and with that knocked me down again. Hehad doubtless made an end of me, but that one came by and bid himforbear. "

CHRISTIAN. "Who was it that bid him forbear?"

FAITHFUL. "I did not know him at first, but as he went by Iperceived the holes in his hands and his side; then I concluded thathe was our Lord. So I went up the hill. "

CHRISTIAN. "The man that overtook you was Moses. He spareth none, neither knoweth he how to show mercy to those that transgress hislaw. "

FAITHFUL. "I know it very well; it was not the first time that hehas met with me. It was he that came to me when I dwelt securely athome, and that told me he would burn my house over my head if Istaid there. "

This ungodly fear of God, is that which will put men upon adding tothe revealed will of God their own inventions and their ownperformances of them, as a means to pacify the anger of God. For thetruth is, where this ungodly fear reigneth, there is no end of lawand duty. When those that you read of in the hook of Kings, 2 Kings, 17: 26, were destroyed by the lions because they had set up idolatryin the land of Israel, they sent for a priest from Babylon thatmight teach them the manner of the God of the land; but behold, whenthey knew it, being taught it by the priest, yet their fear wouldnot suffer them to be content with that worship only. "They fearedthe Lord, " saith the text, "and served their own gods. " And again, "So these nations feared the Lord, and served their graven images. "It was this fear also that put the Pharisees upon inventing so manytraditions; as the washing of cups, and beds, and tables, andbasins, with abundance of such other gear. Mark 7: 4. None knows themany dangers that an ungodly fear of God will drive a man into. 

How has it racked and tortured the papists for hundreds of yearstogether! for what else is the cause but this ungodly fear, at leastin the most simple and harmless of them, of their penances--ascreeping to the cross, going barefoot on pilgrimage, whippingthemselves, wearing of sackcloth, saying so many pater-nosters, somany Ave-Marias, making so many confessions to the priest, giving somuch money for pardons, and abundance of other the like---but thisungodly fear of God? For could they be brought to believe thisdoctrine, that Christ was delivered for our offences and raisedagain for our justification, and to apply it by faith with godlyboldness to their own souls, this fear Would vanish, and soconsequently all those things with which they so needlessly andunprofitably afflict themselves, offend God, and grieve his people. 

THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL. 

Thou must have salvation either at the door of the law or at thedoor of grace. "But, " sayest thou, "I am for having it at the handsof both. I will trust solely to neither. I love to have two stringsto my bow. If one of them, as you think, can help me by itself, myreason tells me that both can help me better; therefore will I berighteous and good, and will seek by my goodness to be commended tothe mercy of God; for surely he that hath something of his own toingratiate himself into the favor of his prince withal, shall soonerobtain his mercy and favor than one that comes to him stripped ofall good. "

I answer, "But there are not two ways to heaven: there is but one'new and living way which Christ hath consecrated for us through theveil, that is to say, his flesh;' and besides that one, there is nomore. Heb. 10: 19-24. Why then dost thou talk of two strings to thybow?"

Mercy then is to be found alone in Jesus Christ. Again, therighteousness of the law is to be obtained only by faith of JesusChrist; that is, in the Son of God is the righteousness of the lawto be found; for he, by his obedience to his Father, is become theend of the law for righteousness. And for the sake of his legalrighteousness---which is also called the righteousness of God, because it was God in the flesh of the Lord Jesus that didaccomplish it---are mercy and grace from God extended to whomsoeverdependeth by faith upon God, by this righteousness of Jesus, forthem. 

He that is dark as touching the scope, intents, and nature of thelaw, is also dark as to the scope, nature, and glory of the gospel. 

I must confess it is a wonderful mysterious thing, and he had needhave a wiser spirit than his own that can rightly set these twocovenants in their right places, that when he speaks of the one hedoth not jostle the other out of its place. O, to be so wellenlightened as to speak of the one, that is the law, for to magnifythe gospel---and also to speak of the gospel so as to establish andyet not to idolize the law, nor any particulars thereof---it israre; and to be heard and found but in very few men's breasts. 

A man may appeal from the law to the throne, from Moses toChrist---from him that spoke on earth to him that speaks fromheaven; but from heaven to earth, from Christ to Moses, none canappeal. Acts 3: 22, 23. 

Tell me, you that desire to mingle the law and the gospel together, and to make of both one and the same gospel of Christ, did you eversee yourselves undone and lost, unless the righteousness, blood, death, resurrection, and intercession of that man Christ Jesus inhis own person, were imputed to you; and until you could by faithown it as done for you, and counted yours by imputation? Yea, or no?Nay, rather, have you not set up your consciences and the law, andcounted your obedience to them better and of more value than theobedience of the Son of Mary without you to be imputed to you? Andif so, it is because you have not been savingly convinced by theSpirit of Christ of the sin of unbelief. 

I would riot be mistaken; I do not say that the Spirit of Christgives the least liberty to sin; God forbid; but its convictions areof a more saving and refreshing nature than the convictions of thelaw, and do more constrain the soul to holiness than that: the lawsaying, Work for life; the Spirit saying, Now to him that workethnot (for life, ) but believeth on him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness. As thus: if I should owe totwo creditors ten thousand talents, the one should say unto me, "Thou owest me five thousand talents, pay that thou owest;" theother should say, "Thou owest me five thousand talents, and Ifrankly and freely forgive thee all. "

Now, these expressions are contrary one to another; even so is theend of the convictions of the law not according to the end of theconvictions of the Spirit of Christ: the one saying, "Pay me thatthou owest;" the other saying, "Thou art frankly and freely forgivenall. "

Then the Interpreter took Christian by the hand, and led him into avery large parlor that was full of dust, because never swept; thewhich, after he had reviewed it a little while, the Interpretercalled for a man to sweep. Now, when he began to sweep, the dustbegan so abundantly to fly about, that Christian had almosttherewith been choked. Then said the Interpreter to a damsel thatstood by, "Bring hither water and sprinkle the room;" the which, when she had done, it was swept and cleansed with pleasure. 

Then said Christian, "What means this?"

The Interpreter answered, "This parlor is the heart of a man thatwas never sanctified by the sweet grace of the gospel; the dust ishis, original sin and inward corruptions that have defiled the wholeman. He that began to sweep at first is the law; but she thatbrought water and did sprinkle it, is the gospel. Now whereas thousawest that so soon as the first began to sweep, the dust did so flyabout that the room by him could not be cleansed, but that thou wastalmost choked therewith: this is to show thee that the law, insteadof cleansing the heart by its working, from sin, doth revive, putstrength into, and increase it in the soul, even as it doth discoverand forbid it; for it doth not give power to subdue it. Rom. 5: 20;7:11; 1 Cor. 15:56. "

Again, as thou sawest the damsel sprinkle the room with, water, upon which it was cleansed with pleasure this is to show thee thatwhen the gospel comes in the sweet and precious influences thereofto the heart, then, I say, even as thou sawest the damsel lay thedust fry sprinkling the floor with water, so is sin vanquished andsubdued, and the soul made clean through the faith of it, andconsequently fit for the King of glory to inhabit. John 14: 21-23;15:3; Acts 15:9; Rom. 16: 25, 26; Eph. 5:26. 

When Christ dwells in my heart by faith and the moral law dwells inmy members, the one to keep up peace with God, the other to keep myconversation in a good decorum, then am I right, and not till then. 

But this will not be done without much experience, diligence, anddelight in Christ. For there is nothing that Satan more desires, than that the law may abide in the conscience of an awakenedChristian, and there take up the place of Christ and faith; for heknows if this may be obtained, the veil is presently drawn over theface of the soul, and the heart darkened as to the knowledge ofChrist; and being darkened, the man is driven into despair of mercy, or is put upon it to work for life. There is therefore muchdiligence required of him that will keep these two in their placesassigned them of God; much diligent study of the word, diligentprayer, with diligence to walk with God in the world. 

When this law with its thundering threatenings doth attempt to layhold on thy conscience, shut it out with a promise of grace: cry, The inn is taken up already; the Lord Jesus is here entertained, andhere is no room for the law. Indeed, if it will be content withbeing my informer, and so lovingly leave off to judge me, I will becontent; it shall be in iny sight, I will also delight therein: butotherwise, I being now made upright without it, and that too withthat righteousness which this law speaks well of and approveth, Imay not, will not, cannot, dare not make it my saviour and judge, nor suffer it to set up its government in my conscience; for by sodoing I fall from grace, and Christ Jesus doth profit me nothing. 

The sum then of what hath been said is this: the Christian hath nownothing to do with the law as it thundereth and burneth on Sinai, oras it bindeth the conscience to wrath and the displeasure of God forsin; for from its thus appearing he is freed by faith in Christ. Yethe is to have regard thereto, and is to count it holy, just, andgood; which that he may do, he is always, whenever he seeth orregards it, to remember that he who giveth it to us is MERCIFUL, GRACIOUS, LONG-SUFFERING, and ABUNDANT IN GOODNESS AND TRUTH. 

Here thou mayst say, O law, thou mayst roar against sin, but thoucanst not reach me; thou mayst curse and condemn, but not MY SOUL;for I have a righteous Jesus, a holy Jesus, a soul-saving Jesus, andhe hath delivered me from thy threats, thy curses, thycondemnations; I am out of thy reach and out of thy bounds; I ambrought into another covenant, under better promises of life andsalvation, free promises to comfort me without my merit, eventhrough the blood of Jesus, the satisfaction given to God for me byhim. 

The law is that which standeth at the entrance of the paradise ofGod, as a flaming sword, turning every way to keep out those thatare not righteous with the righteousness of God--that have not skillto come to the throne of grace by that new and living way which hehath consecrated for us through the veil, that is to say, his flesh. For though this law, I say, be taken away by Christ Jesus for allthat truly and savingly believe, yet it remains in full force andpower in every tittle of it against every soul of man that now shallbe found in his tabernacle, that is in himself and out of the LordJesus; it lie'th, I say, like a lion rampant at the gates of heaven, and will roar upon every unconverted soul, fiercely accusing everyone that new would gladly enter in through the gates into this city. So then, he that can answer all its most perfect and legal commands, and that can live in the midst of devouring fire and there enjoy Godand solace himself, he shall dwell on high and shall not be hurt bythis law. His place of defence shall be the munitions of rocks;bread shall be given him, and his waters shall he sure; thine eyesshall behold the King in his beauty, they shall see the land that isvery far off. 

THE LAW A RULE OF LIFE. 

The law is cast behind the back of many, when it should be carriedin the hand and heart that we might do it, to the end the gospelwhich we profess might he glorified in the world. Let then the lawbe with thee to love it, and do it in the spirit of the gospel, thatthou be not unfruitful in thy life. Let the law, I say, be withthee, not as it comes from Moses, but from Christ; for though thouart set free from the law as a covenant for life, yet thou still artunder the law to Christ; and it is to be received by thee, as out ofhis hand, to be a rule for thy conversation in the world. 

VI. DIVINE GRACE. 

GRACE, LOYE, AND MERCY. 

_I_ FIND that the goodness of God to his people is diverselyexpressed in his word, sometimes by the word grace, sometimes by theword love, and sometimes by the word mercy. When it is expressed bythat word grace, then it is to show that what he doeth is of hisprincely will, his royal bounty, and sovereign pleasure. When it isexpressed by that word love, then it is to show us that hisaffection was and is in what he doeth, and that he doeth what hedoeth for us with complacency and delight. But when it is set forthto us under the notion of mercy, then it bespeaks us to be in astate both wretched and miserable, and that his bowels andcompassions yearn over us in this our fearful plight. 

GRACE DESCRIBED. 

There are many things which men call the grace of God that are not. 

1. The light and knowledge that are in every man. 

2. That natural willingness that is in man to be saved. 

3. That power that is in man by nature to do something, as hethinketh, towards his own salvation. 

But do thou remember that the grace of God is his good-will andgreat love to sinners, in his Son Jesus Christ; by the whichgood-will they are sanctified, through the offering up of the bodyof Jesus Christ once for all. 

His blood is not laws, nor ordinances, nor commandments, but aprice, a redeeming price. He justifies us by bestowing upon us, notby expecting from us. He justifies us by his grace, not by ourworks. 

OPERATION OF GRACE. 

The good child is not the first-born, but Abel. God often doth asJacob did, even cross hands in bestowing blessings, giving thatwhich is best to him that is least esteemed; for Cain was "the man"in Eve's esteem: she thought, when she had him, she had got aninheritance; but as for Abel (vanity, ) he was little worth; by hisname they showed how little they set by him. 

It is so with the sincere to this day; they bear not the name ofglory with the world: Cain with them is the profitable son; Abel isof no credit with them, neither see they form or comeliness in him;he is the melancholy or lowering child whose countenance spoils themirth of the world. "The heart of the wise is in the house ofmourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth. "

Abel, last in appearance, but in truth the first in grace; as italso is at this day. Who do so flutter it out as our ruffling, formal worshippers? Alas, the good, the sincere, the humble, theyseem to be least and last; but the conclusion of the tragedy willmake manifest that the first is last and the last first. 

"And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering. " Herein arethe true footsteps of grace discovered; the person must be the firstin favor with God---the person first, the performance afterwards:for though it be true among men that the gift makes way for theacceptance of the person, yet in the order of grace it is afteranother manner; for if the person be not first accepted, theoffering must be abominable; for it is not a good work that makes agood man, but a good man makes a good work. The fruit does not makea good tree, but a good tree bringeth forth good fruit. 

Abel then presented his person and offering, as shrouding both byfaith under the righteousness of Christ, which lay wrapped up in thepromise; but Cain stands upon his own legs, and so presents hisoffering. Abel therefore is accepted, both his person and offering, while Cain remains accursed. This then makes the difference hetwixtAbel and his brother; Abel had faith, but Cain had none. Abel'sfaith covered him with Jesus Christ; therefore he stood righteous inhis person before God. 

There is a man proceeded against for life by the law and thesentence of death is in conclusion most justly and righteouslypassed upon him by the judge. Suppose now, that after this, this manlives and is exalted to honor, enjoys great things, and is put intoplace of trust and power, and this by him that he has offended, evenby him that did pass the sentence upon him. 

What will all say, or what will they conclude, even upon the veryfirst hearing of this story? Will they not say, "Well, whoever hewas that found himself wrapped up in this strange providence, mustthank the mercy of a gracious prince; for all these things bespeakgrace and favor?"

Forgiveness is according to the riches of God's grace, wherein hehas abounded towards us in all wisdom and prudence. Grace cancontinue to pardon, favor, and save---from falls, in falls, and outof falls. Grace can comfort, relieve, and help those that have hurtthemselves; and grace can bring the unworthy to glory. This the lawcannot do; this man cannot do; this angels cannot do; this Godcannot do, but only by the riches of his grace, through theredemption that is in Christ Jesus. 

A throne is the seat of majesty and greatness; it is not for thingsof an inferior quality to ascend or assume a throne. Now, then, since this river of water of life proceeds from the throne, itintimates that in grace and mercy there is great majesty; for grace, as it proceeds, has a voice from the throne. And indeed there isnothing in heaven or earth that can so awe the heart as the grace ofGod. Hos. 3: 5. It is that which makes a man fear; it is that whichmakes a man tremble; it is that which makes a man how and bend, andbreak to pieces. Jer. 33: 9; Exod. 34: 6-9. Nothing has suchmajesty, and commanding greatness in and upon the hearts of the sonsof men, as has the grace of God. There is nothing overmastereth theheart like grace, and so obligeth to sincere and unfeigned obedienceas that. 

Strong grace makes corruptions weak and strikes them through, layingthem at the point of death, always gasping for life. 

Mercy and the revelation thereof is the only antidote against sin. It is of a thawing nature; it will loose the heart that is frozen upin sin; yea, it will make the unwilling willing to come to Christfor life. 

Some say, When grace and a good nature meet together, they do makeshining Christians: but I say, When grace and a great sinner meet, and when grace shall subdue that great sinner to itself, and shalloperate after its kind in the soul of that great sinner, then wehave a shining Christian. 

Men may fall by sin, but cannot raise up themselves without the helpof grace. 

There were two men that went on pilgrimage; the one began when hewas young, the other when he was old: the young man had strongcorruptions to grapple with, the old man's were weak with the decaysof nature: the young man trode his steps as even as did the old one, and was every way as light as he. Who now, or which of them, hadtheir graces shining clearest, since both seemed to be alike? Theyoung man's, doubtless; for that which heads it against the greatestopposition, gives best demonstration that it is strongest. 

As nature, even where grace is, cannot without the assistance ofthat grace do any thing acceptably before God; so grace received, ifit be not also supplied with more grace, cannot cause that wecontinue to do acceptable service to God. 

A present dispensation of grace is like a good meal, a seasonableshower, or a penny in one's pocket, all of which will serve for thepresent necessity. But will that good meal that I ate last weekenable me without supply to do a good day's work in this? or, willthat seasonable shower which fell last year, be, without supplies, aseasonable help to the grain and grass that is growing now? or willthat penny that supplied my want the other day--I say, will the samepenny also, without a supply, supply my wants to-day?

The day of grace is the day of expense; this is our spending time. Hence we are called pilgrims and strangers in the earth; that is, travellers from place to place, from state to state, from trial totrial. Now, as the traveller at the fresh inn is made to spend freshmoney, so Christians, at a fresh temptation, at a new temptation, are made to spend fresh and a new supply of grace. Great men, whenand while their sons are travellers, appoint that their bags ofmoney be lodged ready or conveniently paid in at such and such aplace; and so they meet with supplies. Why, so are the sons of thegreat One; and he has allotted that we should travel beyond sea, orat a great distance from our Father's house: wherefore he hasappointed that grace shall be provided for us, to supply at such aplace, such a state or temptation, as need requires. But withal, asmy lord expeeteth his son should acquaint him with the presentemptiness of his purse and with the difficulty he hath now tograpple with; so God our Father expects that we should plead byChrist our need at the throne of grace, in order to a supply ofgrace. "Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that wemay obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. "

Then I saw in my dream that the Interpreter took Christian by thehand, and led him into a place where was a fire burning against awall, and one standing by it always casting much water upon it toquench it; yet did the fire burn higher and hotter. 

Then said Christian, "What means this?"

The Interpreter answered, "This fire is the work of grace that iswrought in the heart; he that casts water upon it to extinguish andput it out, is the devil; but in that thou seest the firenotwithstanding burn higher and hotter, thou shalt also see thereason of that. " So he had him about to the backside of the wall, where he saw a man with a vessel of oil in his hand, of which he didalso continually cast, but secretly, into the fire. 

Then said Christian, "What means this?"

The Interpreter answered, "This is Christ, who continually with theoil of his grace maintains the work already begun in the heart; bythe means of which, notwithstanding what the devil can do, the soulsof his people prove gracious still. 2 Cor. 12: 9. And in that thousawest that the man stood behind the wall to maintain the fire; thisis to teach thee that it is hard for the tempter to see how thiswork of grace is maintained in the soul. "

There is to be seen at the bottom of this holy river, the glory ofGod. We are saved, saved by grace, saved by grace through theredemption that is in Christ, to the praise and glory of God. Andwhat a good bottom is here. Grace will not fail, Christ has beensufficiently tried, and God will not lose his glory; therefore theythat drink of this river, shall doubtless be saved; to wit, theythat drink of it with a spiritual appetite to it. 

It pleased God, for the glory of his wisdom, to make this the way;to wit, to set up grace to reign. I have often thought, andsometimes said, If God will be pleased with any way, surely he willbe pleased with his own. Now this is the way of his own devising, the fruit and effect of his own wisdom. Wherefore, sinner, pleasehim, please him in that wherein he is well pleased; come to thewaters, cast thyself into them and fear not drowning; let God aloneto cause them to carry thee into his paradise, that thou mayest seehis throne. 

Let us take notice of the carriage of God to man, and again of manto God, in his conversion. 

First, of God's carriage to man. He comes to him while he is in hissins; he comes to him now, not in the heat and fire of his jealousy, but in the cool of the day, in unspeakable gentleness, mercy, pity, and love--not in clothing himself with vengeance, but in a way ofentreaty, and meekly beseecheth the sinner to be reconciled untohim. 2 Cor. 5: 19, 20. 

It is expected among men, that he who gives the offence, should bethe first in seeking peace; but, sinner, betwixt God and man it isnot so: not that we loved God, not that we chose God; but God was inChrist reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them. God is the first that seeketh peace; and in away of entreaty, he bids his ministers pray you in Christ's stead:"As if God did beseech you by us, we pray you in Christ's stead, beye reconciled to God. "

O sinner, wilt thou not open? Behold, God the Father and his SonJesus Christ stand both at the door of thy heart, beseeching therefor favor from thee, that thou wilt be reconciled to them; with thepromise, if thou wilt comply, to forgive thee all thy sins. O grace, O amazing grace! To see a prince entreat a beggar to receive analms, would be a strange sight; to see a king entreat the traitor toaccept of mercy, would be a stranger sight than that; but to see Godentreat a sinner, to hear Christ say, "I stand at the door andknock, with a heart full and a heaven full of grace to bestow uponhim that opens;" this is such a sight as dazzles the eyes of angels. What sayest thou now, sinner? Is not this God rich in mercy? hathnot this God great love for sinners? Nay, further, that thou maystnot have any ground to think that all this is hut complimenting, there is also here declared, that "God hath made him to be sin forus, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of Godin him. " If God would have stuck at any thing, it would have been atthe death of his Son; but he delivered him up for us freely: howshall he not then with him freely give us all things?

Let us now come to the carriage of these sinners to God, and thatfrom the first day he begins to deal with their souls, even to thetime that they are to be taken up into heaven. 

1. And to begin with God's ordinary dealing with sinners: when atfirst he ministers conviction to them by his word, how strangely dothey behave themselves. They love not to have their consciencestouched; they like not to ponder upon what they have been, what theyare, or what is like to become of them hereafter: such thoughts theycount unmanly and hurtful. And now they are for any thing ratherthan the word: an alehouse, a playhouse, sports, pleasures, sleep, the world, and what not, so they may stave of the power of the wordof God. 

2. If God now comes up closer to them, and begins to fastenconviction upon the conscience, though such convictions be the firststep to faith and repentance, yea, to life eternal, yet what shiftswill they have to forget them and wear them off! Yea, although theynow begin to see that they must either turn or turn, yet ofttimesthey will study to waive a present conversion. They object, they aretoo young to turn yet; seven years hence is time enough; when theyare old, or come upon a sick bed. 

O what an enemy is man to his own salvation! I am persuaded that Godhas visited some of you often with his word, and you have thrownwater, as fast as he hath by the word cast fire, upon yourconscience. 

Christian, what had become of thee, if God had taken thy denial foran answer, and said, "Then will I carry the word of salvation toanother, and he will hear it?"

"Sinner, turn!" says God. "Lord, I cannot attend to it, " says thesinner. "Turn or burn, " says God. "I will venture that, " says thesinner. "Turn and be saved, " says God. "I cannot leave mypleasures, " says the sinner; "sweet sins, sweet pleasures, sweetdelights, " says the sinner. But what grace is it in God thus toparley with the sinner! O the patience of God to a poor sinner! Whatif God should now say, "Then get thee to thy sins, get thee to thydelights, get thee to thy pleasures, take them for thy portion; theyshall be all thy heaven, all thy happiness, all thy portion?"

3. But God comes again, and shows the sinner the necessity ofturning now or not at all; yea, and giveth the sinner thisconviction so strongly that he cannot put it if. But behold, thesinner has one spark of enmity still: if he must needs turn now, hewill either turn from one sin to another, from great ones to littleones, from many to few, or from all to one, and there stop. Butperhaps convictions will not thus leave him. Why, then he will turnfrom profaneness to the law of Moses, and will dwell as long as Godwill let him, upon his own seeming goodness. And now observe him, heis a great stickler for legal performance; now he will be a goodneighbor, he will pay every man his own, will leave off hisswearing, the ale-house, his sports, and carnal delights; he willread, pray, talk of scripture, and be a very busy one in religion, such as it is; now he will please God, and make him amends for allthe wrong he has done him, and will feed him with chapters, andprayers, and promises, and vows, and a great many more such daintydishes as these; persuading himself that now he must be fair forheaven, and thinks besides that he serveth God as well as any man:but all this while he is as ignorant of Christ as the stool he sitson, and no nearer heaven than was the blind Pharisee, only he hasgot in a cleaner way to hell than the rest of his neighbors are. 

Might not God now cast off this sinner, and cast him out of hissight? might he not leave him to his own choice, to be deluded byand to fall in his own righteousness, because he trusts to it andcommits iniquity?

But grace, preventing grace preserves him. It is true, this turn ofthe sinner is a turning short of Christ. But, 4. God in this way of the sinner will mercifully follow him, andshow him the shortness of his performances, the emptiness of hisduties, and the uncleanness of his righteousness. This I speak ofthe sinner, the salvation of whose soul is graciously intended andcontrived of God; for he shall by gospel light be wearied out ofall; he shall be made to see the vanity of all, and that thepersonal righteousness of Jesus Christ, and that only, is it whichof God is ordained to save the sinner from the due reward of hissins. But behold, the sinner now, at the sight and sense of his ownnothingness, falleth into a kind of despair; for although he hath itin him to presume of salvation through the delusiveness of his owngood opinion of himself, yet he hath it not in himself to have agood opinion of the grace of God in the righteousness of Christ. Wherefore he concludeth that if salvation be alone of the grace ofGod through the righteousness of Christ, and all of a man's own isutterly rejected as to the justification of his person with God, then he is cast away. 

Now, the reason of this sinking of heart is the sight that God hasgiven him--a sight of the uncleanness of his best performance. Theformer sight of his immoralities did somewhat distress him, and makehim betake himself to his own good deeds to ease his conscience;wherefore this was his prop, his stay. But behold, now God has takenthis from under him, and now he falls. Wherefore his best doth alsonow forsake him, and fly away like the morning dew. 

Besides, this revelation of the emptiness of his own righteousnessbrings also with it a further discovery of the naughtiness of hisheart, in its hypocrisies, pride, unbelief, hardness of heart, deadness, and backwardness to all gospel obedience; which sight ofhimself lies like millstones upon his shoulders, and sinks him yetfurther into doubts and fears of damnation. For bid him now receiveChrist; he answers, he cannot, he dares not. Ask him why he cannot;he will answer, he has no faith nor hope in his heart. Tell him thatgrace is offered him freely; he says, "But I have no heart toreceive it. " Besides, he finds not, as he thinks, any graciousdisposition in his soul, and therefore concludes he does not belongto God's mercy, nor has an interest in the blood of Christ, andtherefore dares not presume to believe. Wherefore he sinks in hisheart, he dies in his thoughts, he doubts, he despairs, andconcludes he shall never be saved. 

5. But behold, the God of all grace leaves him not in this distress, but comes up now to him closer than ever; he sends the Spirit ofadoption, the blessed Comforter, to him to tell him God is love, andtherefore not willing to reject the broken in heart; bids him cryand pray for an evidence of mercy to his soul, and says, "Peradventure you may be hid in the day of the Lord's anger. "

At this the sinner takes some encouragement; yet he can get no morethan that which will hang upon a mere probability, which, by thenext doubt that ariseth in the heart, is blown quite away, and thesoul left again in its first plight, or worse; where he lamentablybewails his miserable state, and is tormented with a thousand fearsof perishing; for he hears not a word from heaven, perhaps forseveral weeks together. Wherefore unbelief begins to get the masteryof him, and takes off the very edge and spirit, of prayer, andinclination to hear the word any longer; yea, the devil also clapsin with these thoughts, saying, "All your prayers, and hearing, andreading, and godly company, which you frequent, will rise up injudgment against you at last; therefore better it is, if you must bedamned, to choose as easy a place in hell as you can. "

The soul at this being quite discouraged, thinks to do as it hasbeen taught, and with dying thoughts it begins to faint when it goesto prayer or to hear the word. But behold, when all hope seems to bequite gone, and the soul concludes, "I die, I perish, " in comes on asudden the Spirit of God again, with some good word of God which thesoul never thought of before; which word of God commands a calm inthe soul, makes unbelief give place, encourages to hope and waitupon God again: perhaps it gives some little sight of Christ to thesoul, and of his blessed undertaking for sinners. 

But behold, so soon as the power of things again begins to wear offthe heart, the sinner gives place to unbelief, questions God'smercy, and fears damning again. He also entertains hard thoughts ofGod and Christ, and thinks former encouragements were fancies, delusions, or mere think-sos. 

And why doth not God now cast the sinner to hell, for thus abusinghis mercy and grace? O no: "He will have mercy on whom he will havemercy, and he will have compassion on whom he will have compassion;"wherefore goodness and mercy shall follow him all the days of hislife, that he may dwell in the house of the Lord for ever. 

6. God, therefore, after all these provocations, comes by his Spiritto the soul again, and brings sealing grace and pardon to theconscience, testifying to it that its sins are forgiven and thatfreely, for the sake of the blood of Christ. And now has the sinnersuch a sight of the grace of God in Christ, as kindly breaks hisheart with joy and comfort. Now the soul knows what it is to eatpromises; it also knows what it is to eat and drink the flesh andblood of Jesus Christ by faith; now it is driven by the power of hisgrace to its knees, to thank God for forgiveness of sins and forhopes of an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faithwhich is in Christ; now it has a calm and a sunshine; now "he washeshis steps with butter, and the rock pours him out rivers of oil. "

7. But after this, perhaps the soul grows cold again; it alsoforgets the grace received, and waxes carnal; begins again to hankerafter the world; loseth the life and savor of heavenly things;grieves the Spirit of God; wofully backslides; casteth off closetduties quite, or else retains only the formality of them; is areproach to religion, and grieves the heart of them that are awakeand tender of God's name. 

But what will God now do? Will he take this advantage to destroy thesinner? No. Will he let him alone in his apostasy? No. Will he leavehim to recover himself by the strength of his now languishing grace?No. What then? Why, he will seek this man out till he finds him, andbring him home to himself again: "For thus saith the Lord God, Behold I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out, as ashepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among the sheepthat are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliverthem out of all places where they have been scattered. I will seekthat which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away; Iwill bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that whichwas sick. " Ezek. 34:11-16. 

Of God's ordinary way of fetching the backslider home I will not nowdiscourse; namely, whether he always breaketh his bones for hissins, as he broke David's, or whether he will all the days of hislife for this leave him under guilt and darkness; or whether he willkill him now, that he may not be condemned in the day of judgment, as he dealt with them at Corinth. I Cor. 11: 30-32. 

God is wise, and can tell how to imbitter backsliding to them heloveth. He can break their bones and save them; he can lay them inthe lowest pit, in darkness and the deep, and save them; he can slaythem as to this life, and save them. And herein appears wonderfulgrace, that Israel is not forsaken. 

8. But suppose God deals not either of these ways with thebackslider, but shines upon him again, and seals up to him theremission of his sins a second time, saying, "I will heal theirbackslidings, and love them freely. " What will the soul do now?Surely it will walk humbly now, and holily all its days. It willnever backslide again, will it? It may happen it will not; it mayhappen it will. It is just as his God keeps him; for although hissins are of himself, his standing is of God; I say, his standingwhile he stands, and his recovery if he falls, are both of God. Wherefore, if God leaves him a little, the next gap he finds, awayhe is gone again: "My people, " says God, "are bent to backslidingfrom me. "

Here is grace. So many times as the soul backslides, so many timesGod brings him back again--I mean the soul that must be saved bygrace; he renews his pardons and multiplies them. Yea, for aught Iknow, there are some saints, and they not long-lived either, thatmust receive, before they enter into life, millions of pardons fromGod for these; and every pardon is an act of grace, through theredemption that is in Christ's blood. 

The first step to the cure of a wounded conscience is for thee toknow the grace of God, especially the grace of God as tojustification. 

Grace can pardon our ungodliness and justify us with Christ'srighteousness; it can put the Spirit of Jesus Christ within us; itcan help us when we are down; it can heal us when we are wounded; itcan multiply pardons, as we through frailty multiply transgressions. 

GRACE ABUSED. 

A self-righteous man, a man of the law, takes grace and mercy forhis greatest enemy. 

The best of things that are of this world are some way hurtful. Honey is hurtful, wine is hurtful, silver and gold are hurtful; butgrace is not hurtful. Never did man yet catch harm by the enjoymentand fulness of the grace of God. There is no fear of excess orsurfeiting here. Grace makes no man proud, no man wanton, no manhaughty, no man careless or negligent as to his duty that isincumbent upon him, towards either God or man. No; grace keeps a manlow in his own eyes, humble, self-denying, penitent, watchful, savory in good things, charitable: and makes him kindly affectionedto the brethren, pitiful and courteous to all men. 

True, there are men in the world that abuse the grace of God, assome are said to turn it into wantonness and into lasciviousness. But this is not because grace has any such tendency, but becausesuch men are themselves empty of grace, and have only done as deathand hell have done with wisdom, "heard the fame thereof with theirears. "

Some receive the rain of God and the droppings of his clouds, because they continually sit under the means of grace. But alas, they receive it as stones receive showers, or as dunghills receivethe rain: they either abide as hard as stones still, or else returnnothing to heaven for his mercy, hut as dunghills do, a company ofstinking fumes. 

To slight grace, to do despite to the Spirit of grace, to prefer ourown works, thus derogating from grace---what is it but to contemnGod? to contemn him when he is on the throne, when he is on thethrone of his glory? I say again, it is to spit in his face, eventhen when he commands thee to how before him, to be subject untohim, and to glorify the grace of his glory, that proceeds from thethrone of his glory. If men in old time were damned because theyglorified him not as God, shall not they be more than damned, ifmore than damned can he, who glorify him not for his grace? And, tohe sure, none glorify him for his grace but those that close intherewith, and submit themselves thereto. Talkers of grace are butmockers of God, but flatterers of God. Grace God has exalted; hasset it upon the throne, and so made it a king, and given itauthority to reign; and thou goest by and nearest thereof, but wiltnot submit thyself thereto, neither thy soul, nor thy life. Why, what is this more than to flatter God with thy lips, and than to lieunto him with thy tongue? What is this but to count him less wisethan thyself, while he seeks glory by that by which thou wilt notglorify him---while he displays his grace before thee in the worldfrom the throne, and as thou goest by, with a nod thou callest it afine thing, but followest that which leadeth therefrom? Tremble, tremble, ye sinners, that have despised the riches of his goodness. The day is coming when ye shall behold and wonder and perish, ifgrace prevaileth not with you to be content to be saved by it to thepraise of its glory, and to the glory of him who hath set it uponthe throne. Acts 13: 38-41. 

There is a spring that yields water good and clear, but the channelsthrough which this water comes to us are muddy, foul, or dirty; nowof the channels the waters receive a disadvantage, and so come to usas savoring of what came not with them from the fountain, hut fromthe channels. 

This is the cause of the coolness, and of the weakness, and of theflatness, and of the many extravagances that attend some of ourdesires: they come warm from the Spirit and grace of God in us; hutas hot water running through cold pipes, or as clear water runningthrough dirty convey ances, so our desires gather soil. 

GRACE--THE WATER OF LIFE. 

"And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. " Rev. 22: 1. 

This "water of life" is the Spirit and grace of God, and the spiritof life. Zech. 12: 10; John 4: 10, 11, 14; 7: 37-39; Rev. 11: 11. 

A throne is the seat of justice: "Justice and judgment are thehabitation of thy throne. " Psal. 89: 14. And it is also from justicethat this river of grace flows to us: justice to Christ, and justiceto those that are found in him. Rom. 3: 24. God declares that he canjustly justify, justly forgive: now, if he can justly justify andjustly forgive, then can he give grace and cause that it shouldproceed to, yea, flow after us as a river. But whence must thiscome? the text says, from the throne--from the throne, the seat ofjustice; for from thence, by reason of what He hath found in Christfor us, he in a way of righteousness and justice lets out to usrivers of his pleasures, whoso original is that great and wide seaof mercy that flows in his infinite heart beyond thought. 

There is a river, clear and pleasant, the streams whereof make gladthe city of God. 

These are the waters that the doves love to sit by, because by theclearness of these streams they can see their pretty selves as in aglass. Song 5: 12. 

These he the streams where the doves wash their eyes, and by whichthey solace themselves and take great content. These streams areinstead of a looking-glass; their clearness presents us with anopportunity of seeing our own features. 

As in fair waters a man may see the hody of the sun, and of themoon, and of the stars, and the very body of heaven; so ho thatstands upon the bank of this river, and that washeth his eyes withthis water, may see the Son of God, the stars of God, the glory ofGod, and the habitation that God has prepared for his people. Andare not these pleasant sights? Is not this excellent water? Has notthis river pleasant streams?

Some men fly from the "river of the water of life, " as from a bear;arid some are afraid to drink of it, for fear it should he poisonunto them. Some again, dare not take it, because it is not mixed, and as they, poor souls, imagine, qualified and made toothsome by alittle of that which is called the wisdom of this world. Thus oneshucks, another shrinks, and another will none of God. Meanwhile, whoso shall please to look into this river, shall find it harmlessand clear; yea, offering itself to the consciences of all men tomake trial if it be not the only chief good, the only necessarywaters, the only profitable for the health of the soul, of all thethings that are in the world, and as clear of mischief as is the sunof spots. 

In old times the ancients had their habitations by the rivers; yea, we read of Aroer, that stood upon the brink of the river Arnon. Balaam also had his dwelling in his city Pethor, by the river of theland of the children of his people. O, by the river side is thepleasantest dwelling in the world; and of all rivers, the river ofthe water of life is the best. They that dwell there shall nothunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat or sun smite them; for hethat hath mercy on them shall lead them, even by springs of watershall he guide them. Isa. 49: 10; Psal. 1: 3; Jer. 17: 8. 

Trees planted by the rivers, and that spread out their roots by therivers, they are the flourishing trees, they bring forth their fruitin their season. And the promise is, that men that take up theirdwellings by this river of water of life, shall be fruitful as suchtrees. 

If thou be a Christian, thou hast more than an ordinary call andoccasion to abide by these waters; thy things will not grow but bythese waters. Weeds, and the excellences of most men, we may find inthe barren wilderness; they grow under every hedge, Jer. 31: 12; butthine are garden, and so choice, things, and will not thrive withoutmuch water; no, not without the water of God's river. Isa. 21: 1-3. Dwell therefore here, that thy soul may be as a watered garden. 

By the characters that are given of this water of life, thou artcapacitated to judge, when a notion, a doctrine, an opinion comes tothy ears, whether it is right good and wholesome, or how. This riveris pure, is clear, is pure and clear as crystal. Is the doctrineoffered unto thee so? or is it muddy and mixed with the doctrines ofmen? Look, man, and see if the foot of the worshippers of Bel[Footnote: Story of Bel and the dragon in the Apychrypha. ] be notthere; and if the waters be not fouled thereby. What water is fouledis not the water of life, or at least, not the water of life in itsclearness. Wherefore, if thou findest it not right, go up higher tothe spring-head; for always the nearer to the spring, the more pureand clear is the water. Fetch then thy doctrine from afar, if thoucanst not have it good nearer hand. Job 36: 3. Thy life lies atstake; the counterfeit of things is dangerous; every body that isaware, is afraid thereof. Now a counterfeit here is most dangerous, is most destructive; wherefore take heed how you hear what you hear;for, as men say of the fish, by your color it will be seen whatwaters you swim in. Wherefore look you well to yourselves. 

The grace of God is called a river, to show that it is only suitedto those who are capable of living therein. Water, though it is thatwhich every creature desireth, yet is not an element in which everycreature can live. Who is it that would not have the benefit ofgrace, of a throne of grace? But who is it that can live by grace?even none but those whose temper and constitution is suited tograce. Hence, as the grace of God is compared to a river, so thosethat live by grace are compared to fish; for that, as water is thatelement in which the fish liveth, so grace is that which is the lifeof the saint. "And there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither; for they shall he healed, and every thing shall live whither the river cometh. " Ezek. 47: 9. Art thou a fish, man--art thou a fish? canst thou live in the water?canst thou live always, and nowhere else hut in the water? is gracethy proper element? The fish dieth if she be taken out of the water, unless she be timely put in again; the saint dieth if he be not inthis river. Take him from his river, and nothing can make him live;let him have water, water of life enough, and nothing can make himdie. 

I know that there are some things besides fish that can make a shiftto live in the water; but the water is not their proper, their onlyproper element. The frog can live in the water, but not in the wateronly; the otter can live in the water, hut not in the water only. Give some men grace and the world, grace and sin--admit them to makeuse of their lusts for pleasure, and of grace to remove their guilt, and they will make a pretty good shift, as we say; they will finelyscrabble on in a profession. But hold them to grace only, confinetheir life to grace, put them into the river and let them havenothing hut river, and they die; the word, and way, and nature ofgrace, is to them as light bread, and their soul can do no other butloathe it, for they are not suited and tempered for that element. 

VII. CHRIST. 

THE INCARNATION OF CHRIST. 

THE first main design of the life and conversation of the LordJesus, was that thereby God, the Eternal Majesty, according to hispromise, might be seen by, and dwell with, mortal men. For theGodhead being altogether in its own nature invisible, and yetdesirous to be seen by and dwell with the children of men, thereforewas the Son, who is the self-same substance with the Father, clothedwith or tabernacled in our flesh, that in that flesh the nature andglory of the Godhead might be seen by and dwell with us. "The wordwas made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld his glory;" whatglory? "the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full ofgrace and truth. " Again, "The life"--that is, the life of God in theworks and conversation of Christ--"was manifest, and we have seen itand bear witness, and show unto you that eternal life which was withthe Father and was manifested unto us. " And hence he is called theimage of the invisible God; or he by whom the invisible God is mostperfectly presented to the sons of men. 

Did I say before that the God of glory is desirous to be seen of us?Even so also have the pure in heart a desire that it should be so. "Lord, " say they, "show us the Father, and it sufficeth us. " Andtherefore the promise is for their comfort, that "they shall seeGod. " But how then must they see him? Why, in the person, and by thelife and works of Jesus, When Philip, under a mistake, thought ofseeing God some other way than in and by this Lord Jesus Christ, what is the answer? "Have I been so long time with you, " saithChrist, "and hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me, hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?The words that I speak unto you, I speak not of myself; hut theFather, that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that Iam in the Father, and the Father in me, or else believe me for thevery work's sake. "

See, here, that both the words and works of the Lord Jesus were notto show you, and so to call you back to the holiness we had lost, but to give us visions of the perfections that are in the Father. "He hath given us the knowledge of the glory of God in the face ofJesus Christ. " And hence it is that the apostle, in that briefcollection of the wonderful mystery of godliness, places this in thefront thereof: "God was manifest in the flesh"--was manifested inand by the person of Christ, when in the flesh he lived among us;manifest, I say, for this as one reason, that the pure in heart, wholong after nothing more, might see him. "I beseech thee, " saidMoses, "show me thy glory. " "And will God indeed dwell with men onthe earth?" saith Solomon. 

Though Adam be called the image or similitude of God, yet but so asthat he was the shadow of a more excellent image. Adam was a type ofChrist, who only is the express image of his Father's person, andthe likeness of his excellent glory; for those things that were inAdam were but of a human, but of a created substance; but thosethings that were in Christ, of the same divine and eternalexcellency with the Father. 

Is Christ then the image of the Father, simply as considered of thesame divine and eternal excellency with him? Certainly not; for animage is doubtless inferior to that of which it is a figure. Understand, then, that Christ is the image of the Father's glory, asborn of the Virgin Mary, yet so as being very God also: not that hisGodhead in itself was a shadow or image, but by the acts and doingof that man, every act being infinitely perfect by virtue of hisGodhead, the Father's perfections were made manifest to flesh. Animage is to be looked upon, and by being looked upon, another thingis seen; so by the person and doings of the Lord Jesus, they thatindeed could see him as he was, discovered the perfection and gloryof the Father. "Philip, he that hath seen me, hath seen the Father;and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father?" Neither the Fathernor the Son can by us at all be seen, as they are simply andentirely in their own essence. Therefore the person of the Fathermust be seen by us through the Son, as consisting of God and man;the Godhead, by working effectually in the manhood, showing clearlythere through the infinite perfection and glory of the Father. "Theword was made flesh, and" then "we beheld his glory, the glory ofthe only begotten of his Father"--he being in his personalexcellencies, infinitely and perfectly, what is recorded of hisFather, "full of grace and truth. "

When Jesus Christ came down from glory, it was that he might bringus to glory; and that he might be sure not to fail, he clothedhimself with our nature--as if we should take a piece out of thewhole lump instead of the whole, Heb. 11:l4--and invested it withthat glory which he was in before he came down from heaven. Eph. 2:6. 

THE HUMANITY OF CHRIST. 

We perceive love, in that the human nature, the nature of man, notof angels, is taken into union with God. Whoso could consider thisas it is possible for it to be considered, would stand amazed tillhe died with wonder. By this very act of the heavenly Wisdom we havean inconceivable pledge of the love of Christ to man; for in that hehath taken into union with himself our nature, what doth it signifybut that he intends to take into union with himself our persons? Forthis very purpose did he assume our nature. Wherefore we read thatin the flesh he took upon him, in that flesh he died for us, "thejust for the unjust, that he might bring us to God. "

The psalmist saith of Christ, that "he was fairer than the childrenof men;" and that, as I believe in his outward man as well as in hisinward part, he was the exactest, purest, completest, andbeautifulest creature that ever God made, till his visage was somarred by his persecutions; for in all things he had, and shall havethe preeminence. 

THE HUMILIATION OF CHRIST

Christ did not only come into our flesh, but also into ourcondition, into the valley and shadow of death, where we were, andwhere we are, as we are sinners. 

That which would have been death to some--the laying aside of glory, and the King of princes becoming a servant of the meanest form--thishe of his own goodwill was heartily content to do. Wherefore he thatwas once the object of the fear of angels, is now become a littlecreature, a worm, an inferior one, born of a woman, brought forth ina stable, laid in a manger, scorned of men, tempted of devils, wasbeholden to his creatures for food, for raiment, for harbor, and aplace wherein to lay his head when dead. In a word, he made himselfof no reputation, took upon him the form of a servant, and was madein the likeness of men, that he might become capable to do thiskindness for us, to give himself a ransom for us. 

And it is worth your noting, that all the while that he was in theworld, putting himself upon those other preparations which were tobe antecedent to his being made a sacrifice for us, no man, thoughhe told what he came about to many, had, as we read of, a heart onceto thank him for what he came about. No; they railed on him theydegraded him, they called him devil, they said he was mad and adeceiver, a blasphemer of God and a rebel against the state; theyaccused him to the governor; yea, one of his own disciples sold him, another denied him, and they all forsook him, and left him to shiftfor himself in the hands of his horrible enemies, who beat him withtheir fists, spat on him, mocked him, crowned him with thorns, scourged him, made a gazing-stock of him, and finally, hanged him upby the hands and feet alive, and gave him vinegar to increase hisaffliction, when he complained that his anguish had made himthirsty. And yet all this could not take his heart off the work ofour redemption. To die he came, die he would, and die he did, beforehe made his return to the Father, for our sins, that we might livethrough him. 

When Christ betook himself to his ministry, he lived upon thecharity of the people; when other men went to their own houses, Jesus went to the mount of Olives. 

THE GLORY OF CHRIST. 

Christ is rich indeed, both in his blood, resurrection, intercession, and all his offices, together with his relations, andall his benefits; all which he bestoweth upon every one thatreceiveth him, and maketh them unspeakably wealthy. 

The pearl, as it is rich, and so worth much, so again it isbeautiful and amiable, even to take the eyes of all beholders; ithath, I say, a very sweet and sparkling light and glory in it, enough to take the eye and affect the heart of all those that lookupon it. And thus is Christ to all that come to him, and by him tothe Father. "My Beloved is white and ruddy, the chiefest of tenthousand; his mouth is most sweet, he is altogether lovely. "

THE LOVE OF CHRIST. 

Here is love, that God sent his Son, his darling, his Son that neveroffended, his Son that was always his delight. Herein is love, thathe sent him to save sinners; to save them by bearing their sins, bybearing their curse, by dying their death, and by carrying theirsorrows. Here is love, in that while we were yet enemies, Christdied for us; yea, here is love, in that while we were yet withoutstrength, Christ died for the ungodly. 

Oh, blessed Jesus, how didst thou discover thy love to man in thythus suffering! And, O God the Father, how didst thou also declarethe purity and exactness of thy justice, in that, though it wasthine only, holy, innocent, harmless, and undefiled Son Jesus, thatdid take on him our nature and represent our persons, answering forour sins instead of ourselves; thou didst so wonderfully pour outthy wrath upon him, to the making of him cry out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" And, O Lord Jesus, what a gloriousconquest hast thou made over the enemies of our souls--even wrath, sin, death, hell, and devils--in that thou didst wring thyself fromunder the power of them all. And not only so, but hast led themcaptive which would have led us captive; and also hast received forus that glorious and unspeakable inheritance that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man toconceive. 

The great Bringer of the gospel is the good Lord Jesus Christhimself; he came and preached peace to them that the law proclaimedwar against. And to touch a little upon the dress in which, by thegospel, Christ presents himself unto us, while he offers unto sinfulsouls his peace by the tenders thereof:

He is set forth as born for us, to save our souls. Isa. 9:6; Luke2:9-12; 1 Cor. 15:3; Gal. 3:13; Rom 10:4; Dan. 9:24. 

He is set forth before us as bearing our sins for us, and sufferingGod's wrath for us. 

He is set forth before us as fulfilling the law for us, and asbringing everlasting righteousness to us for our covering. 

Again, as to the manner of his working out the salvation of sinnersfor them, that they might have peace and joy, and heaven and gloryfor ever:

He is set forth as sweating blood while he was in his agony, wrestling with the thoughts of death, while he was to suffer for oursins, that he might save the soul. Luke 22:24. 

He is set forth as crying, weeping, and mourning under the lashes ofjustice that he put himself under, and was willing to bear for oursins. 

He is set forth as betrayed, apprehended, condemned, spit on, scourged, buffeted, mocked, crowned with thorns, crucified, piercedwith nails and a spear, to save the soul from being betrayed by thedevil and sin; to save it from being apprehended by justice andcondemned by the law; to save it from being spit on in a way ofcontempt by holiness; to save it from being scourged with guilt ofsins as with scorpions; to save it from being continually buffetedby its own conscience; to save it from being mocked at by God; tosave it from being crowned with ignominy and shame for ever; to saveit from dying the second death; to save it from wounds and grief forever. 

Dost thou understand me, sinful soul? He wrestled with justice, thatthou mightest have rest; he wept and mourned, that thou mightstlaugh and rejoice; he was betrayed, that thou mightest go free; wasapprehended, that thou mightst escape; he was condemned, that thoumightst be justified, and was killed, that thou mightest live; hewore a crown of thorns, that thou mightest wear a crown of glory;and was nailed to the cross with his arms wide open, to show withwhat freeness all his merits shall be bestowed on the coming soul, and how heartily he will receive it into his bosom. 

All this he did of mere good-will, and offers the benefit thereofunto thee freely. Yea, he comes unto thee in the word of the gospel, with the blood running down from his head upon his face, with histears abiding upon his cheeks, as with the holes fresh in his handsand his feet, and as with the blood still bubbling out of his side, to pray thee to accept of the benefit, and to be reconciled to Godthereby. 

By this we may see his love, in that as a forerunner he is gone intoheaven to take possession thereof for us; there to make ready andprepare for us our summer-houses, our mansions and dwelling-places;as if we were the lords, and he the servant. Oh, this love!

Thou Son of the Blessed, what grace was manifest in thycondescension! Grace brought thee down from heaven; grace strippedthee of thy glory; grace made thee poor and despicable; grace madethee bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdensof God's curse as are unspeakable. 

O Son of God, grace was in all thy tears; grace came bubbling out ofthy side with thy blood; grace came forth with every word of thysweet mouth; grace came out where the whip smote thee, where thethorns pricked thee, where the nails and spear pierced thee. Oblessed Son of God, here is grace indeed! unsearchable riches ofgrace! unthought of riches of grace! grace to make angels wonder, grace to make sinners happy, grace to astonish devils!

And what will become of them that trample under foot this Son ofGod?

Christ is the desire of nations, the joy of angels, the delight ofthe Father. What solace then must that soul be filled with, thathath the possession of him to all eternity. 

Who can tell how many heart-pleasing thoughts Christ had of usbefore the world began? Who can tell how much he then was delightedin that being we had in his affections, as also in the considerationof our beings, believings, and being with him afterwards?

Christ was never so joyful in all his life, that we read of, as whenhis sufferings grew near; then he takes the sacrament of his bodyand blood into his own hands, and with thanksgiving bestows it amonghis disciples; then he sings a hymn, then he rejoices, then he comeswith a "Lo, I come. " O the heart, the great heart that Jesus had forus to do us good! He did it with all the desire of his soul. 

When a man shall not only design me a purse of gold, but shallventure his life to bring it to me, this is grace indeed. But, alas, what are a thousand such short comparisons to the unsearchable loveof Christ?

Christ Jesus has bags of mercy that were never yet broken up orunsealed. Hence it is said, he has goodness laid up; things reservedin heaven for his. And if he breaks up one of these bags, who cantell what he can do?

It is not exaltation, nor a crown, nor a kingdom, nor a throne thatshall make Christ neglect his poor ones on earth; yea, because he isexalted and on the throne, therefore it is that such a river oflife, with its golden streams, proceeds with us. And it shallproceed, to be far higher than ever were the swellings of Jordan. Rev. 22:1. 

 How the brave sun doth peep up from beneath, Shows us his golden face, doth on us breathe; Yea, he doth compass us around with glories Whilst he ascends up to his highest stories, Where he his banner over us displays And gives us light to see our works and ways. 

 Nor are we now, as at the peep of light, To question is it day or is it night; The night is gone, the shadow's fled away, And now we are most certain that 'tis day. 

 And thus it is when Jesus shows his face, And doth assure us of his love and grace. 

This makes Christ precious, if I consider how he did deliver me: itwas, I, with his life, his blood; it cost him tears, groans, agony, separation from God; to do it, he endured his Father's wrath, barehis Father's curse, and died thousands of deaths at once. 

2. He did this while I was his enemy, without my desires, without myknowledge, without my deserts; he did it unawares to me. 

3. He did it freely, cheerfully, yea, he longed to die for me; yea, heaven would not hold him for the love he had to my salvation, whichalso he has effectually accomplished for me at Jerusalem. 

Honorable Jesus! precious Jesus! loving Jesus! Jonathan's kindnesscaptivated David, and made him precious in his eyes for ever. "I amdistressed for thee, my brother Jonathan, " said he; "very pleasanthast thou been to me; thy love to me was wonderful, passing the loveof women. " Why, what had Jonathan done? Oh, he had delivered Davidfrom the wrath of Saul. But how much more should He be precious tome, who hath saved me from death and hell--who hath delivered mefrom the wrath of God? "The love of Christ constraineth us. " Nothingwill so edge the spirit of a Christian as, "Thou wast slain, andhast redeemed us to God by thy blood. " This makes the heavensthemselves ring with joy and shouting. 

THE DAY, BEFORE THE SUN-RISING. 

 But all this while, where's he whose golden rays Drive night away, and beautify our days? Where's he whose goodly face doth warm and heal, And show us what the darksome nights conceal? Where's he that thaws our ice, drives cold away? Let's have him, or we care not for the day. Thus 'tis with those who are possessed of grace; There's naught to them like the Redeemer's face. 

Oh thou loving one, Oh thou blessed one, thou descrvest to have me;thou hast bought me; thou deservest to have me all; thou hast paidfor me ten thousand times more than I am worth!

O you that are upon this march [to hell, ] I beseech you, consider alittle. What, shall Christ become a servant for you, and will you bedrudges for the devil? Shall Christ covenant with God for thesalvation of sinners, and shall sinners covenant with hell, death, and the devil, for the damnation of their souls? Shall Christ comedown from heaven to earth to declare this to sinners; and shallsinners stop their ears against these good tidings? Will you nothear the errand of Christ, although he telleth you tidings of peaceand salvation? How if he had come, having taken a command from hisFather to damn you and to send you to dwell with devils in hell?Sinners, hear this message, John 3: 16, 17, etc. ; he speaketh noharm, his words are eternal life; all men that give ear unto themhave eternal advantage by them-advantage, I say, that never hath anend. 

Besides, do but consider these two things; they may have some swayupon thy soul. 

1. When he came on his message, he came with tears in his eyes, anddid even weepingly tender the terms of reconciliation to them--Isay, with tears in his eyes. And when he came near the city with themessage of peace, beholding the hardness of their hearts, he weptover it, and took up a lamentation over it, because he saw theyrejected his mercy, which was tidings of peace. I say, wilt thouthen slight a weeping Jesus, one that so loveth the soul that ratherthan he will lose thee, he will with tears persuade thee?

2. Not only so, but also when he came, he came all on a gore ofblood, to proffer mercy to thee, to show thee still how dearly hedid love thee; as if he had said, "Sinner, here is mercy for thee;but behold my bloody sweat, my bloody wounds, my accursed death;behold, and see what danger I have gone through to come unto thysoul. I am come indeed unto thee, and do bring thee tidings ofsalvation, but it cost me my heart's blood before I could come atthee, to give thee the fruits of my everlasting love. "

THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF CHRIST. 

Many there are who, in the day of grace and mercy, despise thosethings which are indeed the birthright to heaven, who yet when thedeclining days appear will cry as loud as Esau, "Lord, Lord, open tous;" but then, as Isaac would not repent, no more will God theFather, but will say, "I have blessed these, yea, and they shall beblessed; but as for you, Depart, you are workers of iniquity. "

When I had thus considered these scriptures and found that thus tounderstand them was not against, but according to the Scriptures, this still added further to my encouragement and comfort, and alsogave a great blow to that objection--to wit, that the Scripturescould not agree in the salvation of my soul. 

And now remained only the hinder part of the tempest, for thethunder was gone beyond me, only some drops did still remain thatnow and then would fall upon me; but because my former frights andanguish were very sore and deep, therefore it oft befell me still, as it befalleth those that have been seared with the fire, I thoughtevery voice was, "Fire, fire'!" Every little touch would hurt mytender conscience. 

But one day, as I was passing into the field, and that too with somedashes on my conscience, fearing lest yet all was not right, suddenly this sentence fell upon my soul: "Thy righteousness is inheaven;" and methought withal I saw with the eyes of my soul JesusChrist at God's right hand--there, I say, as my righteousness; sothat wherever I was, or whatever I was doing, God could not say tome, he wanted my righteousness, for that was just before him. I alsosaw, moreover, that it was not my good frame of heart that made myrighteousness better, nor yet my bad frame that made myrighteousness worse; for my righteousness was Jesus Christ himself, "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. "

Now did my chains fall off my legs indeed; I was loosed frorn myafflictions and irons; my temptations also fled away; so that fromthat time those dreadful scriptures [Footnote: Numb. 15:30; Jer. 7:16; Heb. 10:31; 12:27. ] of God left off to trouble me: now went Ialso home rejoicing, for the grace and love of God. So when I camehome, I looked to see if I could find that sentence, "Thyrighteousness is in heaven, " but could not find such a saying;wherefore my heart began to sink again, only that was brought to myremembrance, "He is made unto us of God wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. " By this word I saw the othersentence true. 

For by this scripture I saw that the man Christ Jesus, as he isdistinct from us as touching his bodily presence, so he is ourrighteousness and sanctification before God. Here, therefore, Ilived for some time very sweetly at peace with God through Christ. Oh, methought, Christ! Christ! there was nothing but Christ that wasbefore my eyes. I was now not only for looking upon this and theother benefits of Christ apart, as of his blood; burial, orresurrection, but considering him as a whole Christ--as he in whomall these, and all his other virtues, relations, offices, andoperations met together, and that he sat on the right hand of God inheaven. 

Further, the Lord did also lead me into the mystery of the unionwith the Son of God--that I was joined to him, and that I was fleshof his flesh and bone of his bone; and now was that a sweet word tome in Eph. 5:30. By this also was my faith in him as myrighteousness, the more confirmed in me; for if he and I were one, then his righteousness was mine, his merits mine, his victory alsomine. Now, I could see myself in heaven and earth at once: inheaven, by my Christ, by my Head, by my Righteousness and Life, though on earth by body or person. 

Let divine and infinite justice turn itself which way it will, itfinds One that can tell how to match it. For if it say, "I willrequire the satisfaction of man, " there is a man to satisfy its cry;and if it say, "But I am an infinite God, and must and will have aninfinite satisfaction, " here is One also that is infinite, even"fellow" with God; fellow in his essence and being; fellow in hispower and strength; fellow in his wisdom; fellow in his mercy andgrace, together with the rest of the attributes of God. So that, letjustice turn itself which way it will, here is a complete person anda complete satisfaction. 

"The law, " sayst thou, "must be obeyed. " I answer, "Christ Jesus hasdone that in his own person, and justified me thereby; and for mypart, I will not labor now to fulfil the law for justification, lestI should undervalue the merits of the man Christ Jesus, and what hehas done without me; and yet will I labor to fulfil, if it werepossible, ten thousand laws, if there were so many. And Oh, let itbe out of love to my sweet Lord Jesus; for the love of Christconstraineth me. "

Though no man can be justified by the works of the law, yet unlessthe righteousness and holiness by which they attempt to enter intothis kingdom be justified by the law, it is in vain once to think ofentering in at this strait gate. Now, the law justifieth not, butupon the account of Christ's righteousness; if therefore thou be notindeed found in that righteousness, thou wilt find the law lie justin the passage into heaven to keep thee out. 

CHRIST A COMPLETE SAVIOUR. 

"This is the Father's will which hath sent me, that of all which hehath given me, I should lose nothing, but should raise it up againat the last day. " John 6:39. 

The Father therefore, in giving them to him to save them, must needsdeclare unto us the following things:

1. That he is ABLE to answer this design of God to save them to theuttermost sin, the uttermost temptation. Hence he is said to "layhelp on one that is mighty, " mighty to save. Sin is strong, Satan isalso strong, death and the grave are strong, and so is the curse ofthe law; therefore it follows, that this Jesus must needs be by Godthe Father accounted almighty, in that he hath given his elect tohim to save them from these, and that in despite of all their forceand power. And he gave us testimony of this his might, when he wasemployed in that part of our deliverance that called for adeclaration of it. He abolished death; he destroyed him that had thepower of death; he was the destruction of the grave; he hathfinished sin, and made an end of it; he hath vanquished the curse ofthe law, nailed it to his cross, triumphed over them upon his cross, and made a show of these things openly. Yea, and even now, as a signof his triumph and conquest, he is alive from the dead, and hath thekeys of death and hell in his own keeping. 

2. The Father's giving them to him to save them, declares unto usthat he is and will be FAITHFUL in his office of Mediator, and thattherefore they shall be secured from the fruit and wages of theirsins, which is eternal damnation. And of this the Son hath alreadygiven a proof; for when the time was come that his blood was bydivine justice required for their redemption, washing, andcleansing, he as freely poured it out of his heart as if it had beenwater out of a vessel; not sticking to part with his own life, thatthe life which was laid up for his people in heaven might not failto be bestowed upon them. 

3. The Father's giving of them to him to save them, declares that heis and will be GENTLE AND PATIENT towards them under all theirprovocations and miscarriages. It is not to be imagined, the trialsand provocations that the Son of God hath all along had with thesepeople that have been given to him to save. Indeed, he is said to beA TRIED STONE; for he has been tried not only by the devil, guilt ofsin, death, and the curse of the law, but also by his people'signorance, unruliness, falls into sin, and declining to errors inlife and doctrine. Were we but capable of seeing how this Lord Jesushas been tried, even by his people, ever since there was one of themin the world, we should be amazed at his patience and gentlecarriages to them. It is said indeed, "The Lord is very pitiful, slow to anger, and of great mercy. " And indeed, if he had not beenso, he could never have endured their manners as he has done, fromAdam hitherto. Therefore are his pity and bowels towards his churchpreferred above the pity and bowels of a mother towards her child. "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not havecompassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will Inot forget thee, saith the Lord. "

God did once give Moses, as Christ's servant, a handful of hispeople to carry them in his bosom, but no further than from Egypt toCanaan; and this Moses, as is said of him by the Holy Ghost, was themeekest man that was then to be found upon the earth. God gave themto Moses that he might carry them in his bosom, that he might showgentleness and patience towards them, under all the provocationswherewith they would provoke him from that time till he had broughtthem to their land. But he failed in the work; he could not exerciseit, because he had not that sufficiency of patience towards them. But now it is said of the person speaking in the text, that "heshall gather his lambs with his arm, shall carry them in his bosom, and shall gently lead them that are with young. "

4. The Father's giving them to him to save them, declares that hehath a SUFFICIENCY OF WISDOM to wage with all those difficultiesthat would attend him in his bringing his sons and daughters untoglory. He hath made him to us to be wisdom; yea, he is called Wisdomitself. And God saith, moreover, that he "shall deal prudently. " Andindeed, he that shall take upon him to be the Saviour of the people, had need be wise, because their adversaries are subtle above any. Here they are to encounter the serpent, who for his subtletyoutwitted our father and mother when their wisdom was at highest. But if we talk of wisdom, our Jesus is wise, wiser than Solomon, wiser than all men, wiser than all angels; he is even "the wisdom ofGod. " And hence it is that he turneth sins, temptations, persecutions, falls, and all things, for good unto his people. 

I do not doubt but there is virtue enough in the blood of Christ, would God Almighty so apply it, to save the souls of the wholeworld. But it is the blood of Christ, his own blood, and he may dowhat he will with his own. It is also the blood of God, and he alsomay restrain its merits, or apply it as he sees good. But the comingsoul, he shall find and feel the virtue thereof, even the soul thatcomes to God by Christ, for he is the man concerned in its worth. 

There is sufficiency of merit in Christ to save a thousand times asmany more as are like to be saved by him. 

No man needs at all to go about to come at life and peace and rest:let him come directly from sin to grace, from Satan to Jesus Christ. 

The cross, it stands and hath stood from the beginning as a way-markto the kingdom of heaven. Art thou inquiring the way to heaven? Why, I tell thee Christ is the way; into him thou must get, into hisrighteousness to be justified; and if thou art in him, thou wiltpresently see the cross: thou must go close by it, thou must touchit, nay, thou must take it up, or else thou wilt quickly go out ofthe way that leads to heaven, and turn up some of those crookedlanes that lead down to the chambers of death. 

Many there be that begin with grace and end with works, and thinkthat is the only way. Indeed, works will save from temporalpunishments, when their imperfections are purged from them by theintercession of Christ; but to be saved and brought to glory, to becarried through this dangerous world from my first moving afterChrist until I set foot within the gates of paradise, this is thework of my Mediator, of my High-priest and Intercessor. It is hethat fetches us again when we are run away; it is he that lifts usup when the devil and sin have thrown us down; it is he thatquickens us when we grow cold; it is he that comforts us when wedespair; it is he that obtains fresh pardon when we have contractedsin, and that purges our consciences when they are laden with guilt. I know that rewards do wait for them in heaven, that believe inChrist, and shall do well on earth; but this is not a reward ofmerit, but of grace. We are saved by Christ, brought to glory byChrist, and all our works are no other ways made acceptable to Godbut by the person and personal excellencies and works of Christ;therefore, whatever the jewels are, and the bracelets and thepearls, that thou shalt be adorned with as a reward of service donefor God in the world, for them thou must thank Christ, and beforeall confess that he was the meritorious cause thereof. 

Christ must be helpful to thee every way, or he will be helpful tothee no way; thou must enter in by every whit of Christ, or thoushalt enter in by never a whit of him. Wherefore look not to havehim thy Saviour, if thou take him not for King and Prophet; nay, thou shalt not have him in any one, if thou dost not take him inevery one of these. 

Christ shall bear the glory of our salvation from sin, preservationin the midst of all temptations, and of our going to glory; also heshall bear the glory of our labor in the gospel, of our gifts andabilities, of making our work and labor effectual to the saving ofsinners, that in all things he might have the preeminence. 

If you have indeed laid Christ, God-man, for your foundation, thenyou do lay the hope of your felicity and joy on this, that the Sonof Mary is now absent from his children in his person and humanity, making intercession for them and for thee in the presence of hisFather. 2 Cor. 5:6. 

And the reason that thou canst rejoice hereat is, because thou hastnot only heard of it with thine ear, but dost enjoy the sweet hopeand faith of it in thy heart; which hope and faith are begotten bythe Spirit of Christ, which Spirit dwelleth in thee if thou be abeliever, and showeth those things to thee to be the only things. 

And God having shown thee these things thus within thee, by theSpirit that dwells in thee, thou hast mighty encouragement to hopefor the glory that shall be revealed at the coming again of the manChrist Jesus; of which glory thou hast also greater ground to hopefor a share, because that Spirit which alone is able to discover tothee the truth of these things, is given to thee of God as the firstfruits of that glory which is hereafter to be revealed---beingobtained for thee by the man Christ Jesus' death on Calvary, and byhis blood that was shed there, together with his resurrection fromthe dead out of the grave where they had laid him. 

Also, thou believest that he is gone away from thee in the same bodywhich was hanged on the cross, to take possession of that glorywhich thou, through his obedience, shalt at his the very same man'sreturn from heaven the second time, have bestowed upon thee, hehaving all this while prepared and preserved it for thee; as hesaith himself, "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go andprepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you tomyself; that where I am, there ye may be also. "

Again, if thou hast laid Christ, God-man, for thy foundation, thoughthou hast the Spirit of this man Christ within thee, yet thou dostnot look that justification should be wrought out for thee by thatSpirit of Christ that dwells within thee; for thou knowest thatsalvation is already obtained for thee by the man Christ Jesuswithout thee, and is witnessed to thee by his Spirit which dwellswithin thee. And thus much doth this man Christ Jesus testify untous, where he says, "He shall glorify me, " saith the Son of Mary. Buthow? Why, "he shall take of mine"---what I have done and am doingin the presence of the Father--"and shall show it unto you. " John16:14. 

CHRIST NOT A SAVIOUR BY HIS EXAMPLE. 

A third thing you mention is, that "the Son of God taught men theirduty by his own example, and did himself perform what he required ofthem; and that himself did tread before us every step of that whichhe hath told us leadeth to eternal life. "

ANSWER. Now we are come to the point, namely, that "the way toeternal life is, first of all, to take Christ for our example, treading his steps. " And the reason, if it be true, is weighty; for"he hath trod every step before us which he hath told us leads toeternal life. "

"Every step. " Therefore he went to heaven by virtue of an imputativerighteousness; for this is one of our steps thither. 

"Every step. " Then he must go thither by faith in his own blood forpardon of sin; for this is another of our steps thither. 

"Every step. " Then he must go thither by virtue of his ownintercession at the right hand of God before he came thither; forthis is one of our steps thither. 

"Every step. " Then he must come to God and ask mercy for some greatwickedness which he had committed; for this is also one of our stepsthither. 

But again, we will consider it the other way. 

"Every step. " Then we cannot come to heaven before we first be madeaccursed of God; for so was he before he came thither. 

"Every step. " Then we must first make our body and soul an offeringfor the sin of others; for this did he before he came thither. 

"Every step. " Then we must go to heaven for the sake of our ownrighteousness; for that was one of his steps thither. 

O, sir, what will thy gallant, generous mind do here? Indeed, youtalk of his being an expiatory sacrifice for us, but you put no moretrust to that than to baptism or the Lord's supper; counting thatwith the other two but things indifferent in themselves. 

You add again, that "this Son of God being raised from the dead andascended to heaven, is our high-priest there. " But you talk not atall of his sprinkling the mercy-seat with his blood, but clap uponhim the heathens' demons, negotiating the affairs of men with thesupreme God, and so wrap up [Footnote: That is, dismiss thesubject. ] with a testification that it is needless to enlarge on thepoint. 

What man that ever had read or assented to the gospel, but wouldhave spoken more honorably of Christ than you have done? Hissacrifice must be stepped over; his intercession is needless to beenlarged upon. But when it falleth in your way to talk of your humannature, of the dictates of the first principles of morals withinyou, and of your generous mind to follow it, Oh what need there isnow of amplifying, enlarging, and pressing it on men's consciences, as if that poor heathenish pagan principle was the very Spirit ofGod within us, and as if righteousness done by that was that andthat only that would or could fling heaven's gates off the hinges. 

Yea, a little after you tell us that "the doctrine of sending theHoly Ghost was to move and excite us to our duty, and to assist, cheer, and comfort us in the performance of it;" still meaning ourclose adhering, by the purity of our human nature, to the dictatesof the law as written in our hearts as men; which is as false as Godis true. 

For the Holy Ghost is sent into our hearts, not to excite us to acompliance with our old and wind-shaken excellencies that came intothe world with us, but to write new laws in our hearts, even the lawof faith, the word of faith and of grace, and the doctrine ofremission of sins through the blood of the Lamb of God, thatholiness might flow from thence. 

CHRIST A TEACHER. 

At this time I sat under the ministry of holy Mr. Gifford. Whosedoctrine, by God's grace, was much for my stability. This man madeit much his business to deliver the people of God from all thosehard and unsound tests that by nature we are prone to. He would bidus take special heed that we took not up any truth upon trust, asfrom this or that or any other man or men; but cry mightily to Godthat he would convince us of the reality thereof, and set us downtherein by his own Spirit in the holy word; "for, " said he, "if youdo otherwise, when temptation comes strongly upon you, you nothaving received them with evidence from heaven, will find you wantthat help and strength now to resist, that once you thought youhad. "

This was as seasonable to my soul as the former and latter rain intheir season, for I had found, and that by sad experience, the truthof these his words; for I had felt that no man, especially whentempted by the devil, "can say that Jesus Christ is Lord, but by theHoly Ghost. "

But O now, how was my soul led from truth to truth by God; even fromthe birth and cradle of the Son of God, to his ascension and secondcoming from heaven to judge the world. 

Once I was troubled to know whether the Lord Jesus was a man as wellas God, and God as well as man; and truly, in those days, let mensay what they would, unless I had it with evidence from heaven, allwas nothing to me. Well, I was much troubled about this point, andcould not tell how to be resolved; at last, that in Rev. 5:6 cameinto my mind: "And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne, andof the four beasts, and in the midst of the elders, stood a Lamb. ""In the midst of the throne"--thought I, there is the godhead; "inthe midst of the elders"--there is his manhood: but Oh, methoughtthis did glister; it was a goodly touch, and gave me sweetsatisfaction. That other scripture also did help me much in this:"Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, and the governmentshall be upon his shoulders; and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, the mighty God, the ever lasting Father, the Prince ofPeace. "

O friends, cry to God to reveal Jesus Christ unto you; there is noneteacheth like him. 

It would be long to tell you in particular how God did set me downin all the things of Christ, and how he did, that he might do so, lead me into his words; yea, and also how he did open them unto me, and make them shine before me, and cause them to dwell with me, talkwith me, and comfort me over and over, both of his own being and thebeing of his Son and Spirit, and word and gospel. 

THE DEATH OF CHRIST. 

We never read that Jesus Christ was more cheerful in all his life onearth, than when he was going to lay down his life for his enemies;now he thanked God, now he sang. 

Christ died and endured the wages of sin, and that without anintercessor, without one between God and him. He grappledimmediately with the eternal justice of God, who inflicted on himdeath, the wages of sin; there was no man to hold off the hand ofGod; justice had his full blow at him, and made him a curse for sin. 

A second thing that demonstrates that Christ died the cursed deathfor sin, is the frame of spirit that he was in at the time he was tobe taken. Never was poor mortal so beset with the apprehensions ofapproaching death as was this Lord Jesus Christ; amazement beyondmeasure, sorrow that exceeded seized upon his soul: "My soul isexceeding sorrowful, even unto death. And he began to be soreamazed, and to be very heavy. " Add to this that Jesus Christ wasbetter able to grapple with death, even alone, than the whole worldjoined all together. 1. He was anointed with the Spirit withoutmeasure. 2. He had all grace perfect in him. 3. Never had any somuch of his Father's love as he. 4. Never one so harmless andwithout sin as he, and consequently never man had so good aconscience as he. 5. Never one prepared such a stock of good worksto bear him company at the hour of death as he. 6. Never one hadgreater assurance of being with the Father eternally in the heavensthan he. And yet, behold, when he comes to die, how weak is he, howamazed at death, how heavy, how exceeding sorrowful! and, I say, nocause assigned but the approach of death. 

Alas, how often is it seen that we poor sinners can laugh atdestruction when it cometh; yea, and rejoice exceedingly when wefind the grave, looking upon death as a part of our portion, yea, asthat which will be a means of our present relief and help. 1 Cor. 3:22. 

This Jesus could not do, considered as dying for our sin; but thenearer death, the more heavy and oppressed with the thoughts of therevenging hand of God; wherefore he falls into an agony andsweats--not after the common rate, as we do when death is severingbody and soul: "His sweat was as it were great drops of bloodfalling down to the ground. "

What should be the reason but that death assaulted him with hissting? If Jesus Christ had been to die for his virtues only, doubtless he would have borne it lightly. 

How have the martyrs despised death, having peace with God by JesusChrist, scorning the most cruel torments that men and hell coulddevise and invent! but Jesus Christ could not do so, as he was asacrifice for sin; he died for us, he was made a curse for us. O, mybrethren, Christ died many deaths at once; he made his grave withthe wicked, and with the rich in his death. 

It was because of sin, the sin that was put into the death he died, and the curse of God that was due to sin, that that death was sobitter to Jesus Christ; it is Christ that died. The apostle speaksas if never any died but Christ; nor indeed did there, so wonderfula death as he. Death, considered simply as a deprivation of naturallife, could not have these effects in a person personally morerighteous than an angel; yea, even carnal wicked men, not awakenedin their conscience, how securely they can die! It must therefore heconcluded that the sorrows and agony of Jesus Christ came from ahigher cause, even from the curse of God that was now approachingfor sin. 

At last they condemn him to death, even to the death of the cross, where they hang him up by wounds made through his hands and feet, between the earth and the heavens; where he hanged for the space ofsix hours. No God yet appears for his help. While he hangs theresome rail at him, others wag their heads, others tauntingly say, "Hesaved others, himself he cannot save. " Some divide his raiment, casting lots for his raiment before his face; others mockingly hidhim come down from the cross; and when he desires succor, they givehim vinegar to drink. No God yet appears for his help. 

Now the earth quakes, the rocks are rent, the sun becomes black, andJesus still cries out, that he was forsaken of God; and presentlyboweth his head and dies. 

And for all this there is no cause assigned from God, but sin. "Hewas wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for ouriniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by hisstripes we are healed. "

THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST. 

You shall have the testimony of the holy angels by the Scriptures, to the resurrection of the Son of God. And first, in Mark 16: 3-7, the words are these:

"And they said among themselves, Who shall roll away the stone?"They had a good mind to see their Lord; but they could not, as theythought, get away the stone which covered the mouth of thesepulchre. "And when they had looked, " that is, towards thesepulchre, "they saw the stone rolled away, for it was great; andentering into the sepulchre, they saw a young man, " that is, anangel, "sitting on the right side, clothed with a long whitegarment; and they were affrighted. And he saith unto them, Be notafraid, " you have no cause for it; "you seek Jesus of Nazareth, whowas crucified; he is not here, he is risen: behold the place wherethey laid him. " What scripture can be plainer spoken than this? Hereis an angel of the Lord ready to satisfy the disciples of Jesus thathe was risen from the dead. And lest they should think it was notthe right Jesus he spoke of, Yes, saith he, it is the same Jesusthat you mean; you seek Jesus of Nazareth, do you not? Why, "he isrisen, he is not here. " But do you speak seriously and in goodearnest? Yea, surely; if you will not believe me, "behold the placewhere they laid him. " This scripture is very clear to our purpose. 

But again, in Matt. 28: 3-7, there is an angel as before bearingwitness of the resurrection of Jesus. "His countenance was likelightning, and his raiment white as snow. And for fear of him thekeepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answeredand said unto them, " the women who came to seek Jesus, "Fear younot; but let them that seek to keep the Lord in his grave fear ifthey will, for you have no ground of fear who seek the Jesus thatwas crucified: he is not here, he is risen; he cannot be here, inbody, and risen too: if you will not believe me, come, see where theLord lay. And go quickly and tell his disciples that he is risenfrom the dead; and behold, he goeth before you into Galilee, thereshall you see him. " But shall we be sure of it? "Yea, " saith theangel; "lo, it is I that have told you. " See how plainly thisscripture also doth testify of Christ's resurrection. "Here, " saiththe angel, "you seek a Saviour, and none will content you but he, even the same that was crucified: well, you shall have him, but heis not here. " Why, where is he then? "He is risen from the dead. "But are you sure it is the same that we look for? "Yea, it is thesame that was crucified. " But where shall we find him? Why, "hegoeth before you into Galilee, where he used to be in his lifetime, before he was crucified. And that you might be sure of it there tofind him, know that he is an angel of God that has told you. "

THE GLORIFICATION OF CHRIST. 

For God to adorn his Son with all this glory in his ascension, thusto make him ride conqueror up into the clouds, thus to go up withsound of trumpet, with shout of angels and with songs of praises, and let me add, to be accompanied also with those that rose from thedead after his resurrection, who were the very price of hisblood--this does greatly demonstrate that Jesus Christ, by what hehas done has paid a full price to God for the souls of sinners, andobtained eternal redemption for them: he had not else rode thus intriumph to heaven. 

Consider those glorious circumstances that accompany his approach tothe gates of the everlasting habitation. The everlasting gates areset, yea, bid stand open: "Be ye open, ye everlasting doors, and theKing of glory shall come in. " The King of glory is Jesus Christ, andthe words are a prophecy of his glorious ascending into the heavens, when he went up as the High-priest of the church, to carry the priceof his blood into the holiest of all. 

THE OFFICES OF CHRIST. 

Christ as a Saviour is not divided. He that hath him not in all, shall have him in none at all of his offices in a saving manner. 

CHRIST AN INTERCESSOR. 

Study the priesthood, the high-priesthood of Jesus Christ, both thefirst and second part of it. The first part was that when he offeredup himself without the gate, when he bore our sins in his own bodyon the tree. 

The second part is that which he executes there whither he is nowgone, even into heaven itself, where the throne of grace is. I say, study what Christ has done and is doing. Oh, what is he doing now?He is sprinkling his blood, with his priestly robes on, before thethrone of grace. That is too little thought on by the saints of God:"We have such a High-priest, who is set down on the right hand ofthe Majesty in the heavens, a minister of the sanctuary and of thetrue tabernacle, which the Lord pitched and not man. " Busy thyself, fellow-Christian, about this blessed office of Christ. It is full ofgood, it is full of sweet, it is full of heaven, it is full ofrelief and succor for the tempted and dejected. 

The priestly office of Christ is the first and great thing that ispresented to us in the gospel; namely, how he died for our sins, andgave himself to the cross, that the blessing of Abraham might comeupon us through him. But now because this priestly office of his isdivided into two parts, and because one of them, to wit, this of hisintercession, is to be accomplished for us within the veil, therefore--as we say among men, out of sight, out of mind--he is toomuch as to this forgotten by us. We satisfy ourselves with theslaying of the sacrifice; we look not after our Aaron as he goesinto the holiest, there to sprinkle the mercy-seat with blood uponour account. 

But since his dying is his laying down his price, and hisintercession the urging and managing the worthiness of it in thepresence of God against Satan, there is glory to be found therein, and we should look after him into the holy place. The second part ofthe work of the high-priests under the law, had great glory andsanctity put upon it. Forasmuch as the holy garments were providedfor him to officiate in within the veil, also it was there that thealtar stood on which he offered incense. Also there were themercy-seat and the cherubim of glory, which were figures of theangels, that love to be continually looking and prying into themanagement of this second part of the priesthood of Christ in thepresence of God. For although themselves are not the persons soimmediately concerned therein as we, yet the management of it, Isay, is with so much grace and glory, and wisdom and efiectualness, that it is a heaven to the angels to see it. O, to enjoy the odorousscent and sweet memorial, the heart-refreshing perfumes that ascendcontinually from the mercy-seat to the throne where God is, and alsoto behold how effectual it is to the end for which it is designed, is glorious; and he that is not somewhat let into this by the graceof God, there is a great thing lacking to his faith, and he missethof many a sweet bit that he might otherwise enjoy. Wherefore, I say, be exhorted to the study of this part of Christ's work in themanaging of our salvation for us. 

They who are justified by the blood of Christ, should still look tohim for the remaining part of their salvation; and let them look forit with confidence, for it is in a faithful hand. And for thyencouragement to look and hope for the completing of thy salvationin glory, let me present thee with a few things. 

1. The hardest or worst part of the work of thy Saviour is over: hisbloody work, his bearing thy sin and curse, his loss of the light ofhis Father's face for a time. His dying upon the cursed tree, thatwas the worst, the sorest, the hardest, and most difficult part ofthe work of redemption; and yet this he did willingly, cheerfully, and without thy desires; yea, this he did, as considering those forwhom he did it in a state of rebellion and enmity to him. 

2. Consider also that he has made a beginning with thy soul toreconcile thee to God, and to that end has bestowed his justice uponthee, put his Spirit within thee, and begun to make the unwieldablemountain and rock, thy heart, to turn towards him and desire afterhim, to believe in him and rejoice in him. 

3. Consider also that some comfortable pledges of his love thouhast already received; namely, as to feel the sweetness of his love, as to see the light of his countenance, as to be made to know hispower in raising thee when thou wast down, and how he has made theeto stand while hell has been pushing at thee utterly to overthrowthee. 

4. Thou mayst consider also, that what remains behind of the work ofthy salvation in his hands, as it is the most easy part, is so themost comfortable, and that part which will more immediately issue inhis glory; and therefore he will mind it. 

5. That which is behind is also more safe in his hand than if it wasin thine own. He is wise, he is powerful, he is faithful, andtherefore will manage that part that is lacking to our salvationwell, until he has completed it. It is his love to thee has made himthat he putteth no trust in thee: he knows that he can himself bringthee to his kingdom most surely, and therefore has not left thatwork to thee, no, not any part thereof. 

Live in hope, then, in a lively hope, that since Christ is risenfrom the dead he lives to make intercession for thee; and that thoushalt reap the blessed benefit of this twofold salvation that iswrought and that is working out for thee by Jesus Christ our Lord. 

Every believer may say, Christ did not only die and rise again, buthe ascended into heaven to take possession thereof for me, toprepare a place for me. He standeth there in the second part of hissuretyship to bring me safe thither, and to present me in a gloriousmanner, "not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing. " He istherefore exercising his priestly office for me, pleading theperfection of his own righteousness and the virtue of his blood. 

He is there ready to answer the accusations of the law, the devil, and sin, for me. Here a believer may through faith look the devil inthe face and rejoice, saying, "O Satan, I have a precious Jesus, asoul-comforting Jesus, a sin-pardoning Jesus. " Here he may listen tothe thunders of the law, and yet not be daunted. He may say, "O law, thou mayest roar against sin, but thou canst not reach me; thoumayest curse and condemn, but not my soul; for I have a righteousJesus, a holy Jesus, a soul-saving Jesus; and he hath delivered mefrom thy threats, thy curses, and thy condemnation. I am broughtinto another covenant, under better promises of life and salvation, freely to comfort me without my merit, through the blood of Jesus;therefore though thou layest my sins to my charge and provest meguilty, yet so long as Christ hath brought in everlastingrighteousness and given it to me, I shall not fear thy threats. MyChrist is all, hath done all, and will deliver me from thineaccusations. " Thus also thou mayest say, when death assaulteth thee, "O death, where is thy sting? Thou canst not devour; I have comfortthrough Jesus Christ, who hath taken thee captive and taken away thystrength; he hath pierced thy heart and let out all thysoul-destroying poison. Though I see thee, I am not afraid of thee;though I feel thee, I am not daunted; for thou hast lost thy stingin the side of the Lord Jesus, through whom I overcome thee. Also, OSatan, though I hear thee make a hellish noise, and though thouthreaten me highly, yet my soul shall triumph over thee so long asChrist is alive and can be heard in heaven--so long as he hathbroken thy head and won the field--so long as thou art in prison andcanst not have thy desire. When I hear thy voice, my thoughts areturned to Christ my Saviour; I hearken to what he will say, for hewill speak comfort: he hath gotten the victory and doth give me thecrown, and causeth me to triumph through his most glorious conquest. 

"And I beheld, and lo, in the midst of the throne stood a Lamb as ithad been slain. " Rev. 5: 6. That in the midst of the throne is oursacrifice, with the very marks of his death upon him, showing to Godthat sitteth upon the throne the holes of the thorns, of the nails, of the spear; and how he was disfigured with blows and blood when athis command he gave himself a ransom for his people; for it cannotbe imagined that either the exaltation or glorification of the bodyof Jesus Christ should make him forget the day in which he died thedeath for our sins; especially since that which puts worth into hiswhole intercession is the death he died, and the blood he shed upon, the cross for our trespasses. 

Since Christ is an intercessor, I infer that believers should notrest at the cross for comfort: justification they should look forthere; but being justified by his blood, they should ascend up afterhim to his throne. At the cross you will see him in his sorrows andhumiliations, in his tears and blood; but follow him to where he isnow, and then you shall see him in his robes, in his priestly robes, and with his golden girdle about him. There you shall see himwearing the breastplate of judgment, and with all your names writtenupon his heart. Then you shall perceive that the whole family inheaven and earth is named of him, and how he prevails with God theFather of mercies for you. Stand still awhile and listen, yea, enterwith boldness unto the holiest, and see your Jesus as he now appearsin the presence of God for you; what work he makes against the deviland sin, and death and hell, for you. Ah, it is brave following ofJesus Christ to the holiest: the veil is rent; you may see with openface as in a glass the glory of the Lord. 

This then is our High-priest; this is intercession--these thebenefits of it. It lies in our part to improve it; and wisdom to doso--THAT also comes from the mercy-seat or throne of grace where he, even our High-priest, ever liveth to make intercession for us. Towhom he glory for ever and ever. 

CHRIST AN ADVOCATE. 

"We have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. "This consideration will yield relief, when by Satan's abuse of someother of the offices of Christ, thy faith is discouraged and madeafraid. Christ, as a prophet, pronounces many a dreadful sentenceagainst sin; and Christ, as a king, is of power to execute them: andSatan, as an enemy, has subtlety enough to abuse both these to thealmost utter overthrow of the faith of the children of God. 

This consideration will help thee to put by that vizor [Footnote:That is, mask. ] wherewith Christ by Satan is misrepresented to thee, to the weakening and affrighting thee. There is nothing more commonamong saints, than thus to be wronged by Satan; for he will labor tofetch fire out of the offices of Christ to burn us: so to presenthim to us with so dreadful and so ireful a countenance, that a manin temptation and under guilt shall hardly be able to lift up hisface to God. 

But now, to think really that he is my Advocate, this heals all. Puta vizor upon the face of a father, and it may perhaps for a whilefright the child; but let the father speak, let him speak in his ownfatherly dialect to the child, and the vizor is gone, if not fromthe father's face, yet from the child's mind; yea, the child, notwithstanding that vizor, will adventure to creep into itsfather's bosom. 

Why, thus it is with the saints when Satan deludes and abuses themby disfiguring the countenance of Christ to their view: let them buthear their Lord speak in his own natural dialect--and he doth soindeed when we hear him speak as an advocate--and their minds arecalmed, their thoughts settled, their guilt vanished, and theirfaith revived. 

Is Christ Jesus the Lord my advocate with the Father? Then awake, myfaith, and shake thyself like a giant; stir up thyself and be notfaint: Christ is the advocate of his people; and as for sin, whichis one great stumble to thy actings, O my faith, Christ has not onlydied for that as a sacrifice, nor only carried his sacrifice untothe Father into the holiest of all, but is there to manage thatoffering as an advocate, pleading the efficacy and worth thereofbefore God against the devil for us. 

The modest saint is apt to be abashed, to think what a troublesomeone he is, and what a make-work he has been in God's house all hisdays; and let him be filled with holy blushing, but let him notforsake his Advocate. 

If thy foot slippeth, if it slippeth greatly, then know thou it willnot be long before a bill be in heaven preferred against thee by theaccuser of the brethren; wherefore then thou must have recourse toChrist as advocate, to plead before God thy Judge against the devilthine adversary for thee. And as to the badness of thy cause, letnothing move thee save to humility and self-abasement, for Christ isglorified by being concerned for thee; yea, the angels will shoutaloud to see him bring thee off. For what greater glory can weconceive Christ to obtain as advocate, than to bring off his peoplewhen they have sinned, notwithstanding Satan's so charging of themas he doth?

He gloried when he was going to the cross to die; he went up with ashout and the sound of a trumpet to make intercession for us; andshall we think that by his being an advocate he receives noadditional glory?

Christ, when he pleads as an advocate for his people in the presenceof God against Satan, can plead those very weaknesses of his peoplefor which Satan would have them damned, for their relief andadvantage. "Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?" This ispart of the plea of our Advocate against Satan, for his servantJoshua, when he said, "The Lord rebuke thee, O Satan. " Zech. 13: 2. Now, to be a brand plucked out of the fire, is to be asaint--impatient, weakened, defiled, and made imperfect by sin. Thisthen is the next plea of our goodly Advocate for us: "O Satan, thisis a brand plucked out of the fire. " As if he should say, "Thouobjectest against my servant Joshua, that he is black like a coal, or that the fire of sin at times is still burning in him. And whatthen? The reason why he is not totally extinct as tow, is not thypity but rny Father's mercy to him. I have plucked him out of thefire, yet not so out but that the smell thereof is yet upon him; andmy Father and I, we consider his weakness and pity him; for since heis as a brand pulled out, can it be expected by my Father or me, that he should appear before us as clear and do our biddings as wellas if he had never been there? This is a brand plucked out of thefire, and must be considered as such, and must be borne with assuch. "

His righteousness Christ presents to God for us; and God, for thisrighteousness' sake, is well pleased that we should be saved, andfor it can save us and secure his honor and preserve the law in itssanction. 

For Christ, in pleading against Satan as an advocate with, theFather for us, appeals to the law itself if he has not done itjustice; saying, "Most mighty law, what command of thine have I notfulfilled? What demand of thine have I not fully answered? Where isthat jot or tittle of the law that is able to object against mydoings for want of satisfaction?"

Here the law is mute; it speaks not one word by way of the leastcomplaint, but rather testifies of this righteousness that it isgood and holy. Rom. 3:22, 23; 5:15-19. 

Now then, since Christ did this as a public person, it follows thatothers must be justified thereby; for that was the end and reason ofChrist's taking on him to do the righteousness of the law. Nor canthe law object against the equity of this dispensation of heaven;for why might not that God who gave the law its being and itssanction, dispose as he pleases of the righteousness which itcommends? Besides, if men be made righteous, they are so; and if bya righteousness which the law commends, how can fault be found withthem by the law? Nay, it is "witnessed by the law and the prophets, "who consent that it should be "unto all and upon all them thatbelieve, " for their justification. Rom. 3:20, 21. 

And that the mighty God suffereth the prince of the devils to dowith the law what he can against this most wholesome and godlydoctrine, it is to show the truth, goodness, and permanency thereof;for this is as if it were said, Devil, do thy worst. 

When the law is in the hand of an easy pleader, though the causethat he pleads be good, a crafty opposer may overthrow the right;but here is the salvation of the children in debate, whether it canstand with law and justice: the opposer of this is the devil, hisargument against it is the law; he that defends the doctrine isChrist the advocate, who in his plea must justify the justice ofGod, defend the holiness of the law, and save the sinner from allthe arguments, pleas, stops, and demurs that Satan is able to put inagainst it. And this he must do fairly, righteously, simply, pleading the voice of the self-same law for the justification of thesoul that he standeth for, which Satan leads against it; for thoughit is by the new law that our salvation comes, yet by the old law isthe new law approved of, and the way of salvation thereby consentedto. 

VIII. THE HOLY SPIRIT. 

IT is the Spirit of God, even the Holy Ghost that convinceth us ofsin, and so of our damnable state because of sin. 

Therefore the Spirit of God, when he worketh in the heart as aspirit of bondage, doeth it by working in us by the law, for by thelaw is the knowledge of sin. Rom. 6: 20. And he in this his workingis properly called a spirit of bondage; because by the law he showsus that indeed we are in bondage to the law, the devil, and deathand danmation. 

He is called in his working the spirit of bondage, because he herealso holds us--to wit, in this sight and sense of our bondagestate--so long as it is meet we should be so held; which to some ofthe saints is a longer, and to some a shorter time. Paul was held init three days and three nights, but the jailer and the threethousand, so far as can be gathered, not above an hour; but some inthese later times are so held for days and months, if not for years. But I say, let the time be longer or shorter, it is the Spirit ofGod that holdeth him under this yoke, and it is good that a manshould be his time held under it. 

Now, as I said, the sinner at first is by the Spirit of God heldunder this bondage; that is, hath such a discovery of his sin and ofhis damnation for sin made to him, and also is held so fast underthe sense thereof, that it is not in the power of any man, nor yetof the very angels in heaven, to release or set him free, until theHoly Spirit changeth his ministration and comes in the sweet andpeaceable tidings of salvation by Christ in the gospel to his poordejected and afflicted conscience. 

The Spirit loveth to do what it does in private: that man to whomGod intendeth to reveal great things, he taketh him aside from thelumber and cumber of this world, and carrieth him away in the solaceand contemplation of the things of another world. 

This water of life is the very groundwork of life IN us, though notthe groundwork of life FOR us. The groundwork of life FOR us is thepassion and merits of Christ; this is that for the sake of whichgrace is given unto us, as is intimated by the text, Rev. 22:1. Itproceeds from the throne of God, who is Christ. Christ then havingobtained grace for us, must needs be precedent as to his merit, tothat grace he hath so obtained. Besides, it is clear that the Spiritand grace come from God through him. Therefore, as to thecommunication of grace to us, it is the fruit of his merit andpurchase. 

But I say, IN US grace is the groundwork of life; for though we maybe said before to live virtually in the person of Christ before God, yet we are dead in ourselves, and so must be until the Spirit bepoured upon us from on high; for the Spirit is life, and its gracesare life, and when that is infused by God from the throne, then welive, and not till then. And hence it is called as before, livingwater, the water of life, springing up in us into everlasting life. The Spirit then and graces of the Spirit, which is the river herespoken of, is that, and that only, which can cause us to live; thatbeing life to the soul, as the soul is life to the body. All mentherefore, as was said afore--though elect, though purchased by theblood of Christ--are dead and must be dead until the Spirit of lifefrom God and his throne shall enter into them; until they shalldrink it in by vehement thirst, as the parched ground drinks in therain. Now when this living water is received, it takes up its seatin the heart, whence it spreads itself to the awakening of all thepowers of the soul. For as in the first creation, the Spirit of Godmoved upon the face of the waters, in order to the putting of thatcreation into that excellent fashion and harmony which now we beholdwith our eyes, even so the new creation, to wit, the making of usnew to God, is done by the overspreading of the same Spirit also. 

As the herb that is planted or seed sown needs watering withcontinual showers of the mountains, so our graces implanted in us bythe Spirit of grace must also be watered by the rain of Heaven. "Thou waterest the ridges thereof abundantly, thou settest thefurrows thereof, thou makest it soft with showers, thou blessest thespringing thereof. " Hence he says that our graces shall grow. Buthow? "I will be as the dew unto Israel; he shall grow as the lily, and cast forth his roots as Lebanon. His branches shall spread, andhis beauty shall be as the olive-tree, and his smell as Lebanon. They that dwell under his shadow shall return; they shall revive asthe corn, and grow as the vine; the scent thereof shall be as thewine of Lebanon. "

All the warmth that we have in our communion, is the warmth of theSpirit. When a company of saints are gathered together in the nameof Christ to perform any spiritual exercise, and their souls areedified warmly and made glad therein, it is because this water, thisriver of water of life, has, in some of the streams thereof, runinto that assembly. Then are Christians like those that drink winein bowls, merry and glad; for that they have drank into the Spirit, and had their souls refreshed with the sweet gales and strong winethereof. This is the feast that Isaiah speaks of when he saith, "Inthis mountain shall the Lord of hosts make unto all people a feastof fat things, a feast of wine on the lees, of fat things full ofmarrow, of wines on the lees well refined. " Isa. 25:6. This iscalled in another place, "The communion of the Holy Ghost. " 2 Cor. 13:14. Now he warmeth spirits, uniteth spirits, enlightenethspirits, reviveth, cherisheth, quickeneth, strengtheneth graces;renews assurances, brings old comforts to mind, weakens lusts, emboldeneth and raiseth a spirit of faith, of love, of hope, ofprayer, and makes the word a blessing, conference a blessing, meditation a blessing, and duty very delightful to the soul. Withoutthis water of life, communion is weak, flat, cold, dead, fruitless, lifeless; there is nothing seen, felt, heard, or understood, in aspiritual, heart-quickening way. Now ordinances are burdensome, sinsstrong, faith weak, hearts hard, and the faces of our souls dry, like the dry and parched ground. 

This drink also revives us when tempted, when sick, when persecuted, when in the dark, and when we faint for thirst. The life of religionis this water of life; where that runs, where that is received, andwhere things are done in this spirit, there all things are well--thechurch thrifty, the soul thrifty, graces thrifty, and all is well. 

You that are spiritual, you know what a high and goodly lifting upof heart one small gale of the good Spirit of God will make in yoursouls; how it will make your lusts to languish, and your souls tolove and take pleasure in the Lord that saves you. You know, I say, what a flame of love, and compassion, and self-denial, and endearedaffection to God and all saints, it will beget in the soul: "Oh, itis good to be here, " saith the gracious heart. 

This is the reason why so many are carried away with the errors thatare broached in these days, because they have not indeed receivedthe Lord Jesus by the revelation of the Spirit and with power, butby the relation of others only; and so having no other witness toset them down withal, but the history of the word and the relationof others concerning the truths contained in it, yet not having hadthe Spirit of the Lord to confirm these things effectually to them, they are carried away with delusions. 

IX. JUSTIFICATION BY FAITH. 

True justifying faith is said to receive, to embrace, to obey theSon of God as tendered in the gospel; by which expressions is showedboth the nature of justifying faith in its actings in point ofjustification, and also the cause of its being full of good works inthe world. A gift is not made mine by my seeing it, or because Iknow the nature of the thing so given; but it is mine if I receiveand embrace it, yea, and as to the point in hand, if I yield myselfup to stand and fall by it. Now he that shall not only see butreceive, not only know but embrace the Son of God to be justified byhim, cannot but bring forth good works; because Christ, who is nowreceived and embraced by faith, leavens and seasons the spirit ofthis sinner, through his faith, to the making of him so to be. Acts15:9. For faith has joined Christ and the soul together, and beingso joined, the soul is one spirit with him: not essentially, but inagreement and oneness of design. Besides, when Christ is trulyreceived and embraced to the justifying of the sinner, in that man'sheart he dwells by his word and Spirit through the same faith also. Now Christ by his Spirit and word must needs season the soul he thusdwells in; so then the soul being seasoned, it seasoneth the bodyand soul, the life and conversation. 

If the receiving of a temporal gift naturally tends to the making ofus to move our cap and knee, and binds us to be the servant of thegiver, shall we think that faith will leave him who by it hasreceived Christ, to be as unconcerned as a stock or stone, or thatits utmost excellency is to provoke the soul to a lip-labor, and togive Christ a few fair words for his pains and grace, and so wrap upthe business? No, no; the love of Christ constraineth us thus tojudge, that it is but reasonable, since he gave his all for us, thatwe should give our some for him. 2 Cor. 5:14. 

We are said to be saved by faith, because by faith we lay hold of, venture upon, and put on Jesus Christ for life: for life, I say, because God having made him the Saviour, has given him life tocommunicate to sinners; and the life that he communicates to them isthe merit of his flesh and blood, which whoso eateth and drinketh byfaith hath eternal life, because that flesh and blood have meritsufficient to obtain the favor of God. Yea, it hath done so, thatday it was offered through the eternal Spirit a sacrifice of asweet-smelling savor to him. Wherefore God imputeth therighteousness of Christ to him that believeth in him, by whichrighteousness he is personally justified and saved from that justjudgment of the law that was due unto him. John 5:26; 6:53-57; Eph. 4:32; 5:2; Rom. 4:23-25. 

Here let Christians warily distinguish betwixt the meritorious andthe instrumental cause of their justification. Christ, with what hehas done and suffered, is the meritorious cause of ourjustification; therefore he is said to be "made unto us of Godwisdom and righteousness, " and we are said to be "justified by hisblood and saved from wrath through him, " 1 Cor. 1:30; Rom. 5:9, 10;for it was his life and blood that was the price of our redemption. 

Thou art therefore to make Christ Jesus the object of thy faith forjustification; for by his righteousness thy sins must be coveredfrom the sight of the justice of the law. Acts 16:31; Matt. 1:21. 

FAITH THE INSTRUMENTAL CAUSE OF SALVATION. 

Faith as the gift of God is not the Saviour, as our act doth meritnothing. Faith was not the cause that God gave Christ, neither is itthe cause why God converts men to Christ; but faith is a giftbestowed upon us by the gracious God, the nature of which is to layhold on Christ, whom God before did give for a ransom to redeemsinners. This faith hath its nourishment and supplies from the sameGod who at the first did give it; and is the only instrument throughthe Spirit that doth keep the soul in a comfortable frame both to doand suffer; for Christ helps the soul to receive comfort from him, when it can get none from itself, bearing up the soul in itsprogress heavenward. But that it is the first cause of salvation, Ideny; or that it is the second, I deny. It is only the instrument orhand that receiveth the benefits that God hath prepared for theebefore thou hadst any faith; so that we do nothing for salvation, asmen. But if we speak properly, it was God's grace that moved him togive Christ a ransom for sinners, and the same God with the samegrace, that doth give to the soul faith to believe and by believingto close in with him whom God out of his love and pity did send intothe world to save sinners; so that all the works of the creature areshut out as to justification and life, and men are saved freely bygrace. 

TRUE AND FALSE FAITH DISTINGUISHED. 

There are two sorts of good works; and a man may be shrewdly guessedat with reference to his faith, even by the works that he choosethto be conversant in. 

There are works that cost nothing, and works that are chargeable;and observe it, the unsound faith will choose to itself the mosteasy works it can find: for example, there is reading, praying, hearing of sermons, baptism, breaking of bread, church-fellowship, preaching, and the like; and there is mortification of lusts, charity, simplicity, and open-heartedness with a liberal hand to thepoor, and their like also. Now, the unsound faith picks and chooses, and takes and leaves; but the true faith does not so. Satan isafraid that men should hear of justification by Christ, lest theyshould embrace it. But yet if he can prevail with them to keepfingers off, although they do hear and look on and practise lesserthings, he can the better bear it; yea, he will labor to make suchprofessors bold to conclude they shall by that kind of faith enjoyChrist, though by that they cannot embrace him nor lay hold of him;for he knows that how far soever a man engages in a profession ofChrist with a faith that looks on but cannot receive nor embracehim, that faith will leave him to nothing but mistakes anddisappointments at last. 

The Son of God was manifest that he might destroy the works of thedevil, but these men profess his faith and keep these works alive inthe world. 1 John, 3. Shall these pass or such as believe to thesaving of the soul? For a man to be content with this kind of faithand to look to go to salvation by it, what to God is a greaterprovocation?

The devil laugheth here, for he knows he has not lost his vassal bysuch a faith as this, but that rather he hath made use of thegospel, that glorious word of life, to secure his captive, throughhis presumption of the right faith, the faster in his shackles. 

FAITH AND WORKS. 

When I write of justification before God from the dreadful curse ofthe law, then I must speak of nothing but grace, Christ, thepromise, and faith; hut when I speak of our justification beforemen, then I must join to these good works; for grace, Christ, andfaith are things invisible, and so not to be seen by another, otherwise than through a life that befits so blessed a gospel as hasdeclared unto us the remission of our sins for the sake of JesusChrist. He then that would have forgiveness of sins, and so bedelivered from the curse of God, must believe in the righteousnessand blood of Christ; but he that would show to his neighbors that hehath truly received this mercy of God, must do it by good works, forall things else to them is but talk; as for example, a tree is knownto be what it is, whether of this or that kind, by its fruit. A treeit is without fruit; but so long as it so abideth, there isminisered occasion to doubt what manner of tree it is. 

JUSTIFICATION AND SANCTIFICATION DISTINGUISHED. 

A believer is to do nothing for justification, only believe and besaved; though the law be a rule for every one that believes to walkby, it is not for justification. But if you do not put a differencebetween justification wrought by the Man Christ without, andsanctification wrought by the Spirit of Christ within, teachingbelievers their duty to their God for his love in giving Christ, youare not able to divide the word aright; but contrariwise, youcorrupt the word of God, and cast stumbling-blocks before thepeople, and will certainly one day most deeply smart for your folly, except you repent. 

To those who do believe in Christ aright, and lay him for theirfoundation: see that you are laborers after a more experimentalknowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ; fly more to his birth, death, blood, resurrection, ascension, and intercession, and fetchrefreshing for your souls more and more from him without, throughthe operation of his Spirit within; and though the fruits of theSpirit be excellent, and to be owned where they are found, yet havea care you take not away the glory of the blood of Christ shed onthe cross without the gates of Jerusalem, and give it them; whichyou will do, if you content yourselves and satisfy your conscienceswith this--that you find the fruits of the Spirit within you--and donot go for peace and consolation of conscience to the blood of Jesusshed on the cross. 

Therefore learn of the saints, or rather of the Spirit, who teachesto sing this song, "Thou art worthy to take the book and to open theseals thereof, for thou wast slain and hast redeemed us to God bythy blood. " Rev. 5: 9. 

And as for you that cannot yet well endure to think that you shouldbe justified by the blood of the Son of Mary shed on the crosswithout the gate, I say to you, "Kiss the Son, lest he he angry andye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little:blessed are all they that put their trust in him. " Psa. 2:12. 

The work of the Spirit is to lead us into the sayings of Christ;which, as to our redemption from death, are such as these: "I laydown my life, that you may have life; I give my life a ransom formany; and the bread which I give is my flesh, which I will give forthe life of the world. "

The Holy Ghost breatheth nowhere so as in the ministry of thisdoctrine; this doctrine is sent with the Holy Ghost from heaven. 

What is the church of God redeemed by from the curse of the law? Itis by something done within them, or by something done without them. 

If you say it is redeemed by something that worketh in them, thenwhy did the man Christ Jesus hang on the cross on Calvary, withoutthe gate of Jerusalem, for the sins of his children? and why do theScriptures say that "through this man is preached to us theforgiveness of sins?"

The answer thou givest is, "The church of God is redeemed by ChristJesus who is revealed in all believers, and Christ Jesus wrought inthem mightily, and it was he that wrought in them to will and to do. This is plain scripture; and the man Christ Jesus, " sayest thou, "hanged on the cross on Calvary because they wickedly judged him tobe a blasphemer, and through their envy persecuted him to deathbecause he bore witness against them, and in their account he diedand hanged on the cross an evil-doer. "

Ha, friend, I had thought thou hadst not been so much hardened. Artthou not ashamed thus to slight the death of the man Christ Jesus onthe cross, and reckon it not effectual for salvation, but sayest, the church is redeemed by Christ Jesus who is revealed within? andto confirm it, thou dost also corruptly bring in this scripture:"Whereunto I labor, according to his working which worketh in memightily; "by which words Paul signifies, that as God was with himin the ministry of the word, so did he also strive according to hisworking which wrought in him mightily. What is this to the purpose?

That thy answer is false, I shall clearly prove. First, because thoudeniest that redemption was wrought out for sinners by the manChrist Jesus on the cross on Calvary; when the scripture saysplainly, that when he did hang on the tree, then did he bear oursins there in his own body. And secondly, in thy saying it isredeemed by Christ within, by being within, when the work of theSpirit of Christ in believers is to make known to the soul, bydwelling within, which way and how they are redeemed by the manChrist Jesus on the cross. And this I prove further, because whenthou art forced to answer to these words, Why did the man ChristJesus hang en the cross, on Calvary for the sins of his children?thou sayest, "Because they wickedly judged him to be a blasphemer. "Friend, I did not ask thee why the JEWS did put him to death; butwhy was he crucified there for the sins of his children? But thou, willing to cover over thine error, goest on cunningly, saying, thatthrough their envy they persecuted him to death for an evil-doer. 

As for thy saying that salvation is Christ within, if thou mean inopposition to Christ without, instead of pleading for Christ thouwilt plead against him; for Christ, God-man, without on the cross, did bring in salvation for sinners; and the right believing of thatjustifies the soul. Therefore Christ within, or the Spirit of himwho did give himself a ransom, doth not work out justification forthe soul in the soul, but doth lead the soul out of itself and outof what can he done within itself, to look for salvation in that Manthat is now absent from his saints on earth. 2 Cor. 5:6. Why so? Forit knows that there is salvation in none other, Acts 4: 12; andtherefore I would wish thee to have a care what thou doest, for Itell thee, that Man who is now jeered by some, because he ispreached to be without them, will very suddenly come the second timeto the great overthrow of those who have spoken and shall stillspeak against him. 

And indeed they that will follow Christ aright must follow himwithout, to the cross without, for justification on. Calvarywithout--that is, they must seek for justification by his obediencewithout--to the grave without, and to his ascension and intercessionin heaven without; and this must be done through the operation ofhis own Holy Spirit that he has promised shall show these thingsunto them, being given within them for that purpose. Now the Spiritof Christ, that leads also; but whither? It leads to Christ without. 

What a poor argument is this to say, that "because the Spirit ofChrist doth convince of sin, therefore whatsoever doth convince ofsin must needs be the Spirit of Christ:" as much as to say, becausethe saints are called the light of the world, therefore the saintsare the Saviour of the world, seeing Christ also doth call himselfthe light of the world; or because the moon hath or is light, therefore the moon is the sun. 

X. CONVICTION OF SIN. 

WHEN man is taken and laid under the day of God's power, when Christis opening his ear to discipline, and speaking to him that his heartmay receive instruction, many times that poor man is as if the devilhad found him, and not God. How frenzily he imagines; how crossly hethinks; how ungainly he carries it under convictions, counsels, andhis present apprehension of things! I know some are more powerfullydealt withal, and more strongly bound at first by the word; butothers more in an ordinary manner, that the flesh and reason may beseen to the glory of Christ. Yea, and where the will is made morequickly to comply with its salvation, it is no thanks to the sinnerat all. It is the day of the power of the Lord that has made thework so soon to appear. Therefore count this an act of love, in theheight of love; love in a great degree. 

"I heard thy voice in the garden. " Gen. 3: 10. It is a word fromwithout that does it. While Adam listened to his own heart, hethought fig-leaves a sufficient remedy; but the voice that walked inthe garden shook him out of all such fancies. 

A man's own righteousness will not fortify his conscience from fearand terror, when God begins to come near to him to judgment. 

Few know the weight of sin. When the guilt thereof takes hold of theconscience, it commands homeward all the faculties of the soul. 

It was upon this account that Peter and James and John were calledthe sons of thunder, because in the word which they were to preachthere were to be not only lightnings, but thunders--not onlyilluminations, but a great seizing of the heart with the dread andmajesty of God, to the effectual turning of the sinner to him. 

Lightnings without thunder are in this case dangerous, because theythat receive the one without the other are subject to miscarry: theywere once enlightened, but you read of no thunder they had, and theywere subject to fall into an irrecoverable state. Paul had thunderwith his lightning, to the shaking of his soul; so had the threethousand, so had the jailer: they that receive light withoutthunder, are subject to turn the grace of God into wantonness; butthey that know the terror of God will persuade men. So then, when hedecrees to give the rain of his grace to a man, he makes a way forthe lightning and thunder; not the one without the other, but theone following the other. 

We have had great lightnings in this land of late years, but littlethunders; and that is one reason why so little grace is found wherelight is, and why so many professors run on their heads in such aday as this is, notwithstanding all they have seen. 

The method of God is to kill and make alive, to smite and then heal. 

He that hath not seen his lost condition, hath not seen a safecondition; he that did never see himself in the devil's snare, didnever see himself in Christ's bosom. 

Grace proceeds from the throne, from the throne of God and of theLamb. Wherefore, sinner, here is laid a necessity upon thee; one ofthe two must be thy lot: either thou must accept of God's grace, andbe content to be saved freely thereby, notwithstanding all thyundeservings and unworthiness, or else thou must be damned for thyrebellion, and for thy neglecting of this grace. Wherefore considerwith thyself, and think what is best to be done. Is it better thatthou submit to the grace and mercy of God, and that thou accept ofgrace to reign for thee, in thee, and over thee, than that thoushouldst run the hazard of eternal damnation because thou wouldstnot be saved by grace? Consider of this, I say, for grace is now inauthority: it reigns, and proceeds from the throne. This thereforecalls for thy most grave and sedate thoughts. Thou art in a strait;wilt thou fly before Moses, or with David fall into the hands of theLord? Wilt thou go to hell for sin, or to life by grace? One of thetwo, as was said before, must be thy lot; for grace is king, is uponthe throne, and will admit of no other way to glory. Rom. 5:2. Inand by it thou must stand, if thou hast any hope, or canst at allrejoice in hope of the glory of God. 

If thou do get off thy convictions, and not the right way--which isby seeing thy sins washed away by the blood of Jesus Christ--it is aquestion whether God will ever knock at thy heart again or no; butrather say, "Such a one is joined to idols; let him alone. Myspirit, my ministers, my word, my mercy, my grace, my love, my pity, my common providences, shall no more strive with him; let himalone. " O sad! O miserable! who would slight convictions that are ontheir souls, which tend so much for their good?

In the creation of man, God began with his outside; but in the workof regeneration, he first begins within, at the heart. 

Whoever receive the grace that is tendered in the gospel, they mustbe quickened by the power of God, their eyes must be opened, theirunderstandings illuminated, their ears unstopped, their heartscircumcised, their wills also rectified, and the Son of God revealedin them. 

XI. CONVERSION. 

THE DIFFICULTY OF CONVERSION. 

CONVERSION to God is not so easy and so smooth a thing, as somewould have men believe it is. Why is man's heart compared to fallowground, God's word to a plough, and his ministers to ploughmen, ifthe heart indeed has no need of breaking in order to the receivingof the seed of God unto eternal life? Why is the conversion of thethe soul compared to the grafting of a tree, if that be done withoutcutting?

CONVERSION THE POWER OF GOD. 

A broken heart is the handy-work of God, a sacrifice of his ownpreparing, a material fitted for himself. By breaking the heart heopens it, and makes it a receptacle for the graces of his Spirit;that is the cabinet, when unlocked, where God lays up the jewels ofthe gospel: there he puts his fear: "I will put my fear in theirheart;" there he writes his law: "I will write my law in theirheart;" there he puts his Spirit: "I will put my Spirit within you. "

The heart God chooses for his cabinet: there he hides his treasure;there is the seat of justice, mercy, and of every grace of God. 

Here is naught but open war, acts of hostility, and shamefulrebellion on the sinner's side; and what delight can God take inthat? Wherefore, if God will bend and buckle the spirit of such aone, he must shoot an arrow at him, a bearded arrow, such as may notbe plucked out of the wound--an arrow that will stick fast, andcause that the sinner fall down as dead at God's foot. Then will thesinner deliver up his arms, and surrender up himself as oneconquered into the hand of God, and beg for the Lord's pardon, andnot till then sincerely. 

And now God has overcome, and his right hand and his holy arm havegotten him the victory. Now he rides in triumph, with his captive athis chariot-wheel; now he glories, now the bells in heaven do ring, now the angels shout for joy, yea, are bid to do so: "Rejoice withme, for I have found my sheep which was lost. "

REGENERATION. 

Thou thinkest that thou art a Christian; thou shouldst be sorryelse. Well, but when did God show thee that thou wert no Christian?When didst thou see that; and in the light of the Spirit of Christsee that thou wert under the wrath of God because of original sin?Rom. 5:12. Nay, dost thou know what original sin means? Is it notthe least in thy thoughts? And dost thou not rejoice in secret thatthou art the same that thou ever wert? If so, then know for certainthat the wrath of God to this very day ahideth on thee, John 3:36;and if so, then thou art one of those that will fall in thejudgment, except thou art born again and made a new creature. 2 Cor. 5:17

THE STRAIT GATE. 

The porch, at which was an ascent to the temple, had a gatebelonging to it. This gate, according to the prophet Ezekiel, wassix cubits wide. The leaves of this gate were double, one foldingthis way, the other folding that. Ezek. 40:48. 

Now here some may object, and say, "Since the way to God by thesedoors was so wide, why doth Christ say the way and gate is narrow?"

ANSWER. The straitness, the narrowness, must not be understood ofthe gate simply, but because of that cumber that some men carry withthem that pretend to be going to heaven. Six cubits! What is sixteencubits to him who would enter in here with all the world on hisback? The young man in the gospel who made such a noise for heaven, might have gone in easy enough, for in six cubits breadth there isroom; but, poor man, he was not for going in thither unless he mightcarry in his houses upon his shoulders too; and so the gate wasstrait. Mark 10:17-23. 

Wherefore, he that will enter in at the gate of heaven, of whichthis gate into the temple was a type, must go in by himself, and notwith his bundles of trash on his back; and if he will go in thus, heneed not fear but there is room. "The righteous nation that keepeththe truth, they shall enter in. "

They that enter in at the gate of the inner court must be clothed infine linen; how then shall they go into the temple that carry theclogs of the dirt of this world at their heels? Thus saith the Lord, "No stranger uncircumcised in heart, or uncircumcised in flesh, shall enter into my sanctuary. "

The wideness, therefore, of this gate, is for this cause here mademention of, namely, to encourage them that would gladly enterthereat according to the mind of God, and not to flatter them thatare not for leaving off all for God. 

Wherefore let such as would go in remember that here is room, even agate to enter at, six cubits wide. We have been all this while buton the outside of the temple, even in the courts of the house of theLord, to see the beauty and glory that is there. The beauty hereofmade men cry out and say, "How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lordof hosts; my soul longeth, yea, fainteth for the courts of theLord;" and to say, "A day in thy courts is better than a thousand. "

COMING TO CHRIST. 

QUESTION. How must I be qualified before I shall dare to believe inChrist?

ANSWER. Come, sensible of thy sins and of the wrath of God due untothem, for thus thou art bid to come Matt. 11:28. 

QUESTION. Did ever any come thus to Christ?

ANSWER. David came thus, Paul and the jailer came thus; alsoChrist's murderers came thus. Psa. 51:1-3; Acts 9:6; 16:30, 31;2:37. 

QUESTION. But doth it not seem most reasonable that we should firstmend and be good?

ANSWER. The whole have no need of the physician, but those that aresick; Christ came not to call the righteous, but sinners torepentance. 

QUESTION. But is it not the best way, if one can, to mend first?

ANSWER. This is just as if a sick man should say, "Is it not bestfor me to be well before I go to the physician?" or as if a woundedman should say, "When I am cured I will lay on the plaster. "

QUESTION. But when a poor creature sees its vileness, it is afraidto come to Christ, is it not?

ANSWER. Yes, but without ground; for he has said, "Say to them thatare of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not;" and "to this man willI look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, andtrembleth at my word. " Isa. 35:4; 66:2. 

QUESTION. What encouragement can be given us thus to come?

ANSWER. The prodigal came thus, and his father received him, andfell upon his neck and kissed him. Thus Christ received theColossians, and consequently all that are saved. Luke 15; Col. 2:13. 

QUESTION. Will you give me one more encouragement?

ANSWER. The promises are so worded, that they that are scarletsinners, crimson sinners, blasphemous sinners, have encouragement tocome to him with hopes of life. Isa. 1: 18; Mark 3:28; John 6:36;Luke 24:47; Acts 13:36

TEMPTATIONS OF THE SOUL COMING TO CHRIST. 

No sooner doth Satan perceive what God is doing with the soul in away of grace and mercy, but he endeavoreth what he may, to make therenewing thereof bitter and wearisome work to the sinner. O whatmists, what mountains, what clouds, what darkness, what objections, what false apprehensions of God, of Christ, of grace, of the word, and of the soul's condition, doth he now lay before it, and haunt itwith! whereby he dejecteth, casteth down, daunteth, distresseth, andalmost driveth it quite into despair. Now, by the reason of thesethings, faith and all the grace that is in the soul is hard put toit to come at the promise, and by the promise, to Christ; as it issaid, when the tempest and great danger of shipwreck lay upon thevessel in which Paul was, "They had much work to come by the boat. "Acts 27:16. For Satan's design is, if he cannot keep the soul fromChrist, to make his coming to him and closing with him as hard, asdifficult and troublesome as he by his devices can. But faith, truejustifying faith, is a grace that is not weary by all that Satan cando; but meditateth upon the word, and taketh stomach and courage, fighteth and crieth; and by crying and fighting, by help fromheaven, its way is made through all the oppositions that appear somighty, and draweth up at last to Jesus Christ, into whose bosom itputteth the soul; where, for the time, it sweetly resteth, after itsmarvellous tossings to and fro. 

And besides what hath been said, let me yet illustrate this truthunto you by this familiar similitude. 

Suppose a man, a traitor, that by the law should die for his sin, isyet such a one that the king hath exceeding kindness for; may notthe king of his clemency pardon this man, yea, order that his pardonshould be drawn up and sealed, and so in every sense be made sure, and yet for the present keep all this close enough from the ears orthe knowledge of the person therein concerned? Yea, may not the kingafter all leave this person, with others under the sametransgression, to sue for and obtain this pardon with great expenseand difficulty, with many tears and heartachings, with many fearsand dubious cogitations?

Why, this is the case between God and the soul that he saveth: hesaveth him, pardoneth him, and secureth him from the curse and deaththat are due unto sin, but yet doth not tell him so; but he ascendsin his great suit unto God for it. Only this difference we must makebetween God and the potentates of this world: God cannot pardonbefore the sinner stands before him righteous by the righteousnessof Christ; because he has, in judgment, and justice, andrighteousness, threatened and concluded that he that lacksrighteousness shall die. 

TRIALS AND ENCOURAGEMENTS OF THE AWAKENED. 

There are two things in special, when men begin to be awakened, thatkill their thoughts of being saved. 

1. A sense of sin. 2. The wages due thereto. These kill the heart;for who can bear up under the guilt of sin? "If our sins he upon us, and we pine away in them, how can we then live?" How, indeed! it isimpossible. So neither can man grapple with the justice of God. Canthy heart endure, or thy hands be strong? they cannot. A woundedspirit, who can bear? Men cannot, angels cannot; wherefore, if nowChrist he hid, and the blessing of faith in his blood denied, woe beto them: such go after Saul and Judas, one to the sword and theother to the halter, and so miserably end their days. For come toGod they dare not; the thoughts of that eternal Majesty strike themthrough. 

But now present such poor dejected sinners with a crucified Christ, and persuade them that the sins under which they shake and tremblewere long ago laid upon the back of Christ, and the noise and senseand fear of damning begins to cease, depart, and fly away: dolorsand terrors fade and vanish, and that soul conceiveth hopes of life;for thus the soul argueth: "Is this indeed the truth of God, thatChrist was made to be sin to me--was made the curse of God for me?Hath he indeed borne all my sins, and spilt his blood for myredemption? O blessed tidings, O welcome grace! Bless the Lord, O mysoul, and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Now is peacecome, now the face of heaven is altered. Behold, all things arebecome new. " Now the sinner can abide God's presence, yea, seesunutterable glory and beauty in him; for here he sees justice smile. While Jacob was afraid of Esau, how heavily did he drive, eventowards the promised land; but when killing thoughts were turnedinto kissing, and the fears of the sword's point turned intobrotherly embraces, what says he? "I have seen thy face as though ithad been the face of God, and thou wast pleased with me. "

So and far better is it with a poor distressed sinner, at therevelation of the grace of God through Jesus Christ. "God was inChrist reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing theirtrespasses unto them. " O, what work will such a word make upon awounded conscience, especially when the next words follow: "For hehath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might bemade the righteousness of God in him. "

Now the soul sees qualifications able to set him quiet in the sightof God--qualifications prepared already. Prepared, I say, already, and that by God through Christ; even such as can perfectly answerthe law. What doth the law require? If obedience, here it is; ifbloody sacrifice, here it is; if infinite righteousness, here it is. Now then the law condemns no more him that believes before God; forall its demands are answered, all its curses are swallowed up in thedeath and curse Christ underwent. 

OBJECTION. But reason saith, "Since personal sin brought the death, surely personal obedience must bring us life and glory. "

ANSWER. True, reason saith so, and so doth the law itself, Rom. 10:5; but God we know is above them both, and he in the covenant ofgrace saith otherwise, to wit, "That if thou shalt confess with thymouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hathraised hint from the dead, thou shalt be saved. "

Let reason then hold its tongue; yea, let the law with all itswisdom subject itself to him that made it; let it look for sin whereGod hath laid it; let it approve the righteousness which Godapproveth: yea, though it be not that of the law, but that by faithof Jesus Christ. 

God hath made him our righteousness; God hath made him our sin; Godhath made him our curse; God hath made him our blessing: methinksthis word, God hath made it so, should silence all the world. 

I shall leave the obstinate where I found him, and shall say to himthat is willing to be saved, "Sinner, thou hast the advantage of thyneighbor, not only because thou art willing to live, but becausethere are those that are willing thou shouldst, to wit, those untowhom the issues of death belong; and they are the Father and theSon, to whom be glory with the blessed Spirit of grace. "

I have seen some, that have promised nothing at first setting out tobe pilgrims, and that one would have thought could not have livedanother day, that have yet proved very good pilgrims. 

OBJECTION. I am afraid the day of grace is past, and if it shouldbe, what shall I do then?

ANSWER. With some men indeed, the day of grace is past before theirlives are at an end: or thus, the day of grace is past before theday of death is come; as Christ saith, "If thou hadst known, eventhou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong unto thypeace, " the word of grace or reconciliation; "but now they are hidfrom thine eyes. " Luke 19:42. But for thy better satisfaction, letme ask, Doth the Lord knock still at the door of thy heart, by hisword and Spirit? If so, then the day of grace is not passed with thysoul; for where he doth so knock, there he doth also proffer andpromise to come in and sup, that is, to communicate of his love untothem; which he would not do were the day of grace passed with thesoul. Rev 3:20. 

OBJECTION. But how shall I know whether Christ doth so knock at myheart as to be desirous to come in, that I may know also whether theday of grace be passed with me or not?

ANSWER. Doth the Lord make thee sensible of thy miserable statewithout an interest in Jesus Christ; and that naturally thou hast noshare in him, no faith in him, no communion with him, no delight inhim, or the least love to him? If he hath, and is doing this, he isknocking at thy heart. Doth he, together with this, put into thyheart an earnest desire after communion with him, with holyresolutions not to be satisfied without it? Doth he sometimes givethee some secret persuasions, though scarcely discernible, that thoumayest attain an interest in him? Doth he now and then glance insome of the promises into thy heart, causing them to leave someheavenly savor, though but for a short time, on thy spirit? Dostthou at times see some little excellency in Christ, and doth it stirup in thy soul some breathings after him? If so, then fear not. Theday of grace is not passed with thy poor soul; for if the day ofgrace should be passed with such a soul as this, then that scripturemust be broken, where Christ saith, "Him that cometh to me, I willin no wise, " upon no terms whatsoever, "cast out. " John 6:37. 

Get thy heart warmed with the sweet promise of Christ's acceptanceof the coming sinner, and that will make thee make more haste untohim. Discouraging thoughts are like unto cold weather; they benumbthe senses and make us go ungainly about our business; but the sweetand warm gleeds [Footnote: Glowing coals. ] of promise are like thecomfortable beams of the sun, which enliveneth and refresheth. Yousee how little the bee and the fly do play in the air inwinter--why, the cold hinders them from doing it: but when the windand sun are warm, who so busy as they?

OBJECTION. But saith another, "I am so heartless, so slow, and, as Ithink, so indifferent in my coming, that to speak truth, I know notwhether my kind of coming ought to be called a coming to Christ. "

ANSWER. I read of some that are to follow Christ in chains--I say, to come after him in chains. Isa. 45:14. Surely they that come afterChrist in chains, come to him in great difficulty. 

And what chain so heavy as those that discourage thee? Thy chain, which is made up of guilt and filth, is heavy; it is a wretched bandabout thy neck, by which thy strength doth fail. But come, thoughthou comest in chains; it is glory to Christ, that a sinner comesafter him in chains. The chinking of thy chains, though troublesometo thee, is not, nor can be, destruction to thy salvation. It isChrist's work and glory to save thee from thy chains, to enlarge thysteps, and set thee at liberty. The blind man, though called, surelycould not come apace to Jesus Christ; but Jesus Christ could standstill and stay for him. 

To slight grace, to despise mercy, and to stop the ear when Godspeaks, when he speaks such great things so much to our profit, is agreat provocation. 

He offers, he calls, he woos, he invites, he prays, he beseeches us, in this day of his grace, to be reconciled to him; yea, and hasprovided for us the means of reconciliation himself. Now, to despisethese must needs be a provoking; and it is a fearful thing to fallinto the hands of the living God. 

OBJECTION. But some man may say unto me, "Fain I would be saved, fain I would be saved by Christ; but I fear this day of grace ispast, and that I shall perish, notwithstanding the exceeding richesof the grace of God. "

ANSWER. To this doubt I would answer several things. 

First, with respect to the day: 1. Art thou jogged and shaken andmolested at the hearing of the word? Is thy conscience awakened andconvinced, then, that thou art at present in a perishing state, andthat thou hast need to cry to God for mercy? This is a hopeful signthat the day of grace is not past with thee. 

2. Are there in thy more retired condition, arguings, strugglings, and strivings with thy spirit to persuade thee of the vanity of whatvain things thou lovest, and to win thee in thy soul to a choice ofChrist Jesus and his heavenly things? Take heed and rebel not, forthe day of God's grace and patience will not be past with thee tillhe saith his Spirit shall strive no more with thee: for then the woecomes, when he shall depart from them, and when he says to the meansof grace, "Let them alone. "

3. Art thou visited in the night seasons with dreams about thystate, and that thou art in danger of being lost? Hast thouheart-shaking apprehensions, when deep sleep is upon thee, of hell, death, and judgment to come? These are signs that God has not whollyleft thee, or cast thee behind his back for ever. 

All this while God has not left the sinner, nor is come to the endof his patience towards him, but stands at least with the door ofgrace ajar in his hand, as being loath as yet to bolt it againsthim. 

4. Art thou followed with affliction, and dost thou hear God's angryvoice in thy affliction? Doth he send with thy affliction aninterpreter to show thee thy vileness, and why or wherefore the handof God is upon thee and upon what thou hast, to wit, that it is forthy sinning against him, and that thou mightst be turned to him? Ifso, thy summer is not quite ended, thy harvest is not quite over andgone. Take heed; stand out no longer, lest he cause darkness, andlest thy feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and lest while youlook for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, and make itgross darkness. 

5. Hast thou any enticing touches of the word of God upon thy mind?Doth as it were some holy word of God give a glance upon thee, casta smile upon thee, let fall though it be but one drop of its savorupon thy spirit; yea, though it stays but one moment with thee? Oh, then, the day of grace is not past, the gate of heaven is not shut, nor God's heart withdrawn from thee as yet. Take heed therefore, andbeware that thou make much of the heavenly gift and of that goodword of God of which he has made thee taste. 

Secondly, with respect to thy desires, what are they? Wouldst thoube saved? Wouldst thou be saved with a thorough salvation? Wouldstthou be saved from guilt and filth too? Wouldst thou be the servantof thy Saviour? Art thou indeed weary of the service of thy oldmasters, the devil, sin, and the world? And have these desires putthy soul to the flight? Hast thou through desires betaken thyself tothy heels? Dost thou fly to him that is a Saviour from the wrath tocome, for life?

If these be thy desires, and if they be unfeigned, fear not. Thouart one of those runaways which God has commanded our Lord toreceive, and not to send thee back to the devil thy master again, but to give thee a place in his house, even the place which thoulikest best. 

"But, " you say, "I am afraid I am not elect or chosen to salvation. "

At present, lay the thoughts of thy election by, and ask thyselfthese questions: Do I see my lost condition? Do I see salvation isnowhere but in Christ? Would I share in this salvation by faith inhim? And would I be thoroughly saved from the filth as well as fromthe guilt? Do I love Christ, his Father, his saints, his words andways? This is the way to prove we are elect. 

Wherefore, sinner, when Satan or thine own heart seeks to puzzlethee with election, say thou, "I cannot attend to talk of this pointnow; but stay till I know that I am called of God to the fellowshipof his Son, and then I will show you that I am elect, and that myname is written in the book of life. "

If poor distressed souls would observe this order, they might savethemselves the trouble of an unprofitable labor under theseunreasonable and soul-sinking doubts. 

Let us therefore, upon the sight of our wretchedness, fly andventurously leap into the arms of Christ, which are now as open toreceive us into his bosom as they were when nailed to the cross. 

Let me tell thee, soul, for thy comfort, who art coming in to Christpanting and sighing as if thy heart would break, let me tell thee, soul, thou wouldst never have come to Christ if he had not first, bythe virtue of his blood and intercession, sent into thy heart anearnest desire after Christ; let me tell thee also, that it is hisbusiness to make intercession for thee, not, only that thou mayestcome in, but that thou mayest be preserved when thou art come in. 

They that are coming to Jesus Christ are ofttimes heartily afraidthat Jesus Christ will not receive them. 

This word, "in nowise, " cutteth the throat of all objections; and itwas dropped by the Lord Jesus for that very end, and to help thefaith that is mixed with unbelief. 

But I am a great sinner, sayest thou. I will in nowise cast out, says Christ. But I am an old sinner, sayest thou. I will in nowisecast out, says Christ. But I am a hard-hearted sinner, sayest thou. I will in nowise cast out, says Christ. But I have served Satan allmy days, sayest thou. I will in nowise cast out, says Christ. But Ihave sinned against light, sayest thou. I will in nowise cast out, says Christ. But I have sinned against mercy, sayest thou. I will innowise cast out, says Christ. But I have no good thing to bring withme, sayest thou. I WILL IN NOWISE CAST OUT, says Christ. 

FEARS IN COMING TO CHRIST. 

1. This fear that Christ will not receive thee is FOR CANT OF THEKNOWLEDGE OF CHRIST. Thou knowest but little of the grace andkindness that is in the heart of Christ; thou knowest but little ofthe virtue and merit of his blood; thou knowest but little of thewillingness that is in his heart to save thee. Slowness of heart tobelieve flows from thy foolishness in the things of Christ; this isevident to all that are acquainted with themselves, and are seekingafter Jesus Christ. The more ignorance, the more unbelief; the moreknowledge of Christ, the more faith. "They that know thy name, willput their trust in thee. "

2. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may be also ACONSEQUENCE OF THY EARNEST AND STRONG DESIRES AFTER THY SALVATION BYHIM. For this I observe, that strong desires to have are attendedwith strong fears of missing. What man most sets his heart upon, andwhat his desires are most after, he ofttimes most fears he shall notobtain. So, the ruler of the synagogue had a great desire that hisdaughter should live, and that desire was attended with fear thatshe would not. Therefore Christ saith unto him, "Be not afraid. "

Now thou fearest the sins of thy youth, the sins of thine old age, the sins of thy calling, the sins of thy Christian duties, the sinsof thine heart, or something; thou thinkest something or other willalienate the heart and affections of Jesus Christ from thee. 

But be content. A little more knowledge of him will make thee takebetter heart; thy earnest desires shall not be attended with suchburning fears; thou shalt hereafter say, "This is my infirmity. "

3. Thy fear that Christ will not receive thee, may arise from asense of THY OWN UNWORTHINESS. Thou seest what a poor, sorry, wretched, worthless creature thou art; and seeing this, thou fearestChrist will not receive thee. "Alas, " sayst thou, "I am the vilestof all men, a townsinner, a ringleading sinner. I am not only asinner my self, but I have made others twofold worse the children ofhell also. Besides, now I am under some awakenings and stirrings ofmind after salvation, even now I find my heart rebellious, carnal, hard, treacherous, desperate, prone to unbelief, to despair; itforgetteth the word, it wandereth, it runneth to the ends of theearth. There is not, I am persuaded, one in all the world that hathsuch a desperate wicked heart as mine is. My soul is careless to dogood; but none more earnest to do that which is evil. 

"Can such a one as I am live in glory? Can a holy, a just, and arighteous God think, with honor to his name, of saving such a vilecreature as I am? Saved I would be; and who is there that would not, were he in my condition? Indeed I wonder at the madness and folly ofothers, when I see them leap and skip so carelessly about the mouthof hell. Bold sinner, how darest thou tempt God by laughing at thebreach of his holy law? But, alas, they are not so bad one way, butI am worse another; I wish myself were any body but myself. And yet, here again I know not what to wish. When I see such as I believe arecoming to Jesus Christ, Oh I bless them. But I am confounded inmyself, to see how unlike I am to a very good many in the world. They can hear, read, pray, remember, repent, he humble, and do everything better than so vile a wretch as I. "

Thus the sense of unworthiness creates and heightens fears in thehearts of them that are coming to Jesus Christ. But indeed it shouldnot, for who needs the physician but the sick? Or whom did Christcome into the world to save, but the chief of sinners? Wherefore, the more thou seest thy sins, the faster fly thou to Jesus Christ. As it is with the man that carrieth his broken arm in a sling to thebonesetter, still, as he thinks of his broken arm, and as he feelsthe pain and anguish, he hastens his pace to the man. And if Satanmeets thee, and asketh, "Whither goest thou?" tell him thou artmaimed, and art going to the Lord Jesus. If he objects thine ownunworthiness, tell him, that even as the sick seeketh the physician;as he that hath broken bones seeks him that can set them; so thouart going to Jesus Christ for healing for thy sin-sick soul. 

But it ofttimes happeneth to him that flies for his life, hedespairs of escaping, and therefore delivers himself up into thehand of the pursuer. But up, up, sinner; be of good cheer; Christcame to save the unworthy one. Be not faithless, but believing. Comeaway, man. The Lord Jesus calls thee, saying, ". And him that comethto me, I will in nowise cast out. "

4. Thy fear that Christ will not receive thee, may arise from asense of THE EXCEEDING MERCY OF BEING SAVED. Besides, the Holy Ghosthath a way to greaten heavenly things to the understanding of thecoming sinner; yea, and at the same time to greaten, too, the sinand unworthiness of that sinner. Now, the soul staggering bywonders, saying, "What! to be made like angels, like Christ; to livein eternal bliss, joy, and felicity! This is for angels, and forthem that can walk like angels. "

Thus doth the greatness of the things desired quite dash andoverthrow the mind of the desire. "O, it is too big, it is too big, it is too great a mercy. "

But, coming sinner, let me reason with thee. Thou sayest it is toobig, too great. Well, will things that are less satisfy thy soul?Will a less thing than heaven, than glory and eternal life, answerthy desires? "No, nothing less. Yet I fear they are too big, and toogood for me even to obtain. " Well, as big and as good as they are, God giveth them to such as thou. They are not too big for God togive; no, not too big to give freely. Be content; let God give likehimself; he is that eternal God, and giveth like himself. When kingsgive, they do not use to give as poor men do. Now, God is a greatKing; let him give like a king; nay, let him give like himself, anddo thou receive like thyself. He has all, and thou hast nothing. 

5. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee, may arise from THINEOWN FOLLY IN INVETING, yea, in thy chalking out to God a way tobring thee home to Jesus Christ. Some souls that are coming to JesusChrist are great tormentors of themselves upon this account. Theyconclude that if their coming to Jesus Christ is right, they mustneeds be brought home thus and thus. 

Now, I say, if God brings thee to Christ, and not by the way thatthou hast appointed, then thou art at a loss; and for thy being at aloss, thou mayest thank thyself. God hath more ways than thouknowest of to bring a sinner to Jesus Christ; but he will not givethee before-hand an account by which of them he will bring thee toChrist. 

Sometimes he hath his ways in the whirlwind, but sometimes the Lordis not there. 

If God will deal more gently with thee than with others of hischildren, grudge not at it; refuse not the waters that go softly, lest he bring up to thee the waters of the rivers strong and many, even those two smoking firebrands, the devil and guilt of sin. Hesaith to Peter, "Follow me;" and what thunder did Zaccheus hear orsee? "Zaccheus, come down, " said Christ; and he came down, saysLuke, and received him joyfully. 

But had Peter or Zaccheus made the objection that thou hastmade-looking for a heavy load of guilt, or fearful temptations ofSatan-and directed the Spirit of the Lord as thou hast done, theymight have looked long enough before they had found themselvescoming to Jesus Christ. 

Poor creature! Thou criest, "If I were tempted, I could come fasterand with more confidence to Jesus Christ. " Thou sayest thou knowestnot what. What says Job? "Withdraw thy hand far from me, and let notthy dread make me afraid: then call thou, and I will answer; or letme speak, and answer thou me. " Job 13: 21, 22. It is not theover-heavy load of sin, but the discovery of mercy-not the roaringof the devil, but the drawing of the Father, that makes a man cometo Jesus Christ. I myself know all these things. 

True, sometimes they that come to Jesus Christ, come the way thatthou desirest-the loading, tempted way; but the Lord also leads someby the waters of comfort. If I was to choose when to go a longjourney, to wit, whether I would go it in the dead of winter or inthe pleasant spring-though if it was a very profitable journey, asthat of coming to Christ is, I would choose to go it through fireand water before I would lose the benefit-but I say, if I mightchoose the time, I would choose to go in the pleasant spring, because the way would be more delightsome, the days longer andwarmer, the nights shorter, and not so cold. 

Trouble not thyself, coming sinner: if thou seest thy lost conditionby original and actual sin; if thou seest thy need of the spotlessrighteousness of Jesus Christ; if thou art willing to be found inhim, and to take up thy cross and follow him, then pray for a fairwind and good weather, and come away. Stick no longer in a muse anddoubt about things, but come away to Jesus Christ. 

6. Thy fears that Christ will not receive thee may arise from THOSEDECAYS THAT THOU FINDEST IN THY-SOUL, even while thou art coming tohim. Some, even as they are coming to Jesus Christ, do findthemselves grow worse and worse. To explain myself: there is such aone coming to Jesus Christ, who, when he first began to look outafter him, was sensible, affectionate, and broken in spirit, but nowis grown dark, senseless, hard-hearted, and inclining to neglectspiritual duties. Besides, he now finds in himself inclinations tounbelief, atheism, blasphemy, and the like; now, he finds he cannottremble at God's word, his judgments, nor the apprehension ofhell-fire; neither can he, as he thinketh, be sorry for thesethings. 

This man is in the wilderness among wild beasts. Here he sees abear, there a lion, yonder a leopard, a wolf, a dragon. Devils ofall sorts, doubts of all sorts, fears of all sorts haunt and molesthis soul. This man feeleth the infirmity of his flesh; he findeth aproneness in himself to be desperate. Now he chides with God, flingsand tumbles like a wild bull in a net, and still the guilt of allreturns upon himself to the crushing of him to pieces. Yet hefeeleth his heart so hard that he can find, as he thinks, nokindness under any of his miscarriages. Now, he is a lump ofconfusion in his own eyes, whose spirit and actions are withoutorder. "Now, I see I am lost, " says the sinner; "this is not comingto Jesus Christ; such a desperately hard and wretched heart as mineis, cannot be a gracious one, " saith the sinner. And bid such a onebe better, he says, "I cannot; no, I cannot. "

QUESTION. But what will you say to a soul in this condition?

ANSWER. I will say, that temptations have attended the best of God'speople; I will say that temptations come to do us good; and I willsay also, that there is a difference betwixt growing worse andworse, and thy seeing more clearly how bad thou art. 

There is a man of an ill-favored countenance who hath too high aconceit of his heauty, and wanting the benefit of a glass, he stillstands in his own conceit. At last a limner is sent unto him, whodraweth his ill-favored face to the life. Now, looking thereon, hehegins to be convinced that he is not half so handsome as he thoughthe was. Coming sinner, thy temptations are these painters; they havedrawn out thy ill-favored heart to the life, and have set it beforethine eyes, and now thou seest how ill-favored thou art. 

Some that are coming to Christ cannot lie persuaded, until thetemptation comes, that they are so vile as the scripture saith theyare. True, they see so much of their wretchedness as to drive themto Christ. But there is an over and above of wickedness which theysee not. Peter little thought that he had had in his heart cursingand swearing and lying, and an inclination to deny his Master, before the temptation came; but when that indeed came upon him, thenhe found it there to his sorrow. 

It may be that thy graces must be tried in the fire, that that rustwhich cleaveth to them may be taken away, and themselves proved, both before angels and devils, to be far better than gold thatperisheth. It may be also, that thy graces are to receive specialpraises and honor and glory, at the coming of the Lord Jesus Christto judgment, for all the exploits that thou hast acted by themagainst hell and its infernal crew, in the day of thy temptation. 

But to conclude this, put the worst to the worst, and then thingswill be bad enough: suppose that thou art to this day without thegrace of God; yet thou art but a miserable creature, a sinner thathas need of a blessed Saviour; and the text presents thee with oneas good and kind as heart can wish, who also for thy encouragementsaith, "And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. "

MERCY'S EXPERIENCE. 

So the Interpreter addressed him to Mercy, and said unto her, "Andwhat moved thee to come hither, sweetheart?"

Then Mercy blushed and trembled, and for a while continued silent. 

Then said he, "Be not afraid; only believe, and speak thy mind. "

Then she began, and said, "Truly, sir, my want of experience is thatwhich makes me covet to be in silence, and that also that filleth mewith fears of coming short at last. I cannot tell of visions anddreams as my friend Christiana can, nor know I what it is to mournfor my refusing of the counsel of those that were good relations. "

INTERPRETER. "What was it then, dear heart, that hath prevailed withthee to do as thou hast done?"

MERCY. "Why, when our friend here was packing up to be gone from ourtown, [the city of Destruction, ] I and another went accidentally tosee her. So we knocked at the door and went in. When we were within, and seeing what she was doing, we asked her what she meant. She saidshe was sent for to go to her husband; and then she up and told ushow she had seen him in a dream, dwelling in a curious place, amongimmortals, wearing a crown, playing upon a harp, eating and drinkingat his Prince's table, and singing praises to him for the bringinghim thither. Now methought, while she was telling these things untous, my heart burned withm ran. And I said in my heart, 'If this betrue, I will leave my father and my mother, and the land of mynativity, and will, if I may, go along with Christiana. '

"So I asked her further of the truth of these things, and if shewould let me go with her; for I saw how that there was no dwelling, but with the danger of ruin, any longer in our town. But yet I cameaway with a heavy heart; not for that I was unwilling to come away, hut for thai so many of my relations were left behind. And I am comewith all my heart, and will, if I may, go with Christiana to herhusband and his King. "

INTERPRETER. "Thy setting out is good, for thou hast given credit tothe truth; thou art a Ruth, who did, for the love she hare to Naomiand to the Lord her God, leave father and mother, and the land ofher nativity, to come out and go with a people that she knew notbefore. 'The Lord recompense thy work, and a full reward be giventhee of the Lord God of Israel, under whose wings thou art come totrust. '"

FEARS AND ENCOURAGEMENTS OF THE AWAKENED. 

Some men are blood-red sinners, crimson sinners, sinners of a doubledye: dipped and dipped again before they come to Jesus Christ. Artthou that readest these lines such a one? Speak out, man. Art thousuch a one? and art thou now coming to Jesus Christ for the mercy ofjustification, that thou mightest be made white in his blood and becovered with his righteousness? Fear not; forasmuch as this thycoming betokeneth that thou art of the number of them that theFather hath given to Christ; for he will in no wise cast thee out. "Come now, " saith Christ, "and let us reason together: though yoursins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they bered like crimson, they shall be as wool. "

I might tell you of the contests and battles that great sinners attheir conversion are engaged in, wherein they find the besettings ofSatan above any other of the saints. At which time Satan assaultsthe soul with darkness, fears, frightful thoughts of apparitions;now they sweat, pant, cry out, and struggle for life. 

The angels now come down to behold the sight, and rejoice to see abit of dust and ashes overcome principalities, and powers, andmights, and dominions. 

But whea these come to be a little settled, they are prepared forhelping others, and are great comforts unto them. Their great sinsgive great encouragement to the devil to assault them; and by thesetemptations Christ takes advantage to make them the more helpful tothe churches. 

The biggest sinner, when he is converted and comes into the church, says to them all by his very coming in, "Behold me, all you that aremen and women of a low and timorous spirit, you whose hearts arenarrow--for that you have never had the advantage to know, becauseyour sins are few, the largeness of the grace of God--behold, I say, in me the exceeding riches of his grace. I am a pattern set forthbefore your faces, on whom you may look and take heart. " ChristJesus makes of the biggest sinners bearers and supporters to therest. 

Christ saved the thief, to encourage thieves to come to him formercy; he saved Magdalen, to encourage other Magdalens to come tohim for mercy; he saved Saul, to encourage Sauls to come to him formercy; and this Paul himself doth say: "For this cause, " saith he, "I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forthall long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafterbelieve on him to life everlasting. "

When Christ was crucified and hanged up between the earth andheavens, there were two thieves crucified with him; and behold, helays hold of one of them and will have him away with him to glory. Was not this a strange act and a display of unthought of grace? Werethere none but thieves there, or were the rest of that company outof his reach? Could he not, think you, have stooped from the crossto the ground, and have laid hold of some honester man, if he would?Yes, doubtless. O, but then he would not have displayed his grace, nor have so pursued his own designs, namely, to get himself a praiseand a name; but now he has done it to purpose. For who that shallread this story but must confess that the Son of God is full ofgrace? for a proof of the riches thereof he left behind him, whenupon the cross he took the thief away with him to glory. 

I have one thing more to offer for thy encouragement, who deemestthyself one of the biggest sinners; and that is, thou art as it werecalled by thy name, in the first place to come in for mercy. Thouman of Jerusalem, Luke 24:47, hearken to thy call: men do so incourts of judicature, and presently cry out, "Here, sir;" and thenshoulder and crowd, and say, "Pray give way, I am called into thecourt. " Why, this is thy case, thou great, thou Jerusalem sinner; beof good cheer, he calleth thee. Why sittest thou still? Arise. Whystandest thou still? Come, man, thy call should give thee authorityto corne. "Begin at Jerusalem, " is thy call and authority to come;wherefore up and shoulder it, man; say, "Stand away, devil, Christcalls me; stand away, unbelief, Christ calls me; stand away, all yediscouraging apprehensions, for my Saviour calls me to him toreceive of his mercy. " Men will do thus, as I said, in courts below;and why shouldst not thou approach thus to the courts above? TheJerusalem sinner is first in thought, first in commission, first inthe record of names; and therefore should give attendance withexpectation that he is first to receive mercy of God. 

Is not this an encouragement to the biggest sinners to make theirapplication to Christ for mercy? "Come unto me, all ye that laborand are heavy laden, " doth also confirm this thing; that is, thatthe biggest sinner and he that hath the biggest burden, is he who isfirst invited. Christ pointeth over the heads of thousands as hesits on the throne of grace, directly to such a man, and says, "Bring in hither the maimed, the halt, and the blind; let theJerusalem shiner that stands there hehind, come to me. " Wherefore, since Christ says to thee, Come, let the angels make a lane and letall men give place, that the Jerusalem sinner may come to Christ formercy. 

DESPAIR OF MERCY UNREASONABLE. 

Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to thebiggest sinners? Then this shows how unreasonable a thing it is formen to despair of mercy. 

I am concerned only with the despair of those that would be saved, but are too strongly borne down with the burden of their sins. Isay, therefore, to thee that art thus, And why despair? Thy despair, if it was reasonable, should flow from thee because found in theland that is beyond the grave, or because thou certainly knowestthat Christ will not or cannot save thee. 

But for the first, thou art yet in the land of the living; and forthe second, thou hast ground to believe quite the contrary. Christis able to save to the uttermost them that come to God by him; andif he were not willing, he would not have commanded that mercy, inthe first place, should be offered to the biggest sinners. Besides, he hath said, "And let him that is athirst come, and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely"--that is, with all my heart. What ground, now, is here for despair? If thou sayest, "The numberand burden of my sins;" I answer, Nay; that is rather a ground forfaith; because such a one, above all others, is invited by Christ tocome unto him, yea, promised rest and forgiveness, if he come. Matt. 11: 28. What ground, then, to despair? Verily, none at all Thydespair, then, is a thing unreasonable, and without footing in theword. 

"But I have no experience of God's love; God has given me no comfortor ground of hope, though I have waited upon him for it many a day. "

Thou hast experience of God's love, in that he has opened thine eyesto see thy sins, and in that he has given thee desires to be savedby Jesus Christ. For by thy sense of sin, thou art made to see thypoverty of spirit, and that has laid thee under a sure ground tohope that heaven shall be thine hereafter. 

Also, thy desires to be saved by Christ have put thee under anotherpromise, Matt. 5: 3, 6; so there are two to hold thee up in them, though thy present burden be never so heavy. As for what thou sayestas to God's silence to thee, perhaps he has spoken to thee once ortwice already, but thou hast not perceived it. Job 33:14, 15. 

Besides, God says, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew theirstrength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles;" but perhaps itmay be long first. "I waited patiently, " says David, "I sought theLord;" and at length his cry was heard: wherefore, he bids his soulwait on God, and says, "For it is good" so to do "before thysaints. " Psalm 40:1; 52:9; 62:5. 

And what if thou waitest upon God all thy days? Is it below thee?And what if God will cross his book and blot out the handwritingthat is against thee, arid not let thee know it as yet? Is it fit tosay unto God, Thou art hard-hearted? Despair not; thou hast noground to despair, so long as thou livest in this world. It is a sinto begin to despair before one sets his foot over the threshold ofhell-gates. For them that are there, let them despair, and sparenot; but as for thee, thou hast no ground to do it. What, despair ofbread in a land that is full of corn; despair of mercy, when our Godis full of mercy; despair of mercy, when God goes about by hisministers, beseeching sinners to be reconciled to him?

Thou scrupulous fool, where canst thou find that God was ever falseto his promise, or that he ever deceived the soul that ventureditself upon him? He often calls upon sinners to trust him, thoughthey walk in darkness, and have no light. Isa. 50:10. They have hispromise and oath for their salvation, that flee for refuge to thehope set before them. 

Despair, when we have a God of mercy and a redeeming Christ alive!For shame, forbear; let them despair that dwell where there is noGod, and that are confined to those chamhers of death which can bereached by no redemption. 

A living man despair, when he is chid for murmuring and complaining!Lam. 3:39. Oh, so long as we are where promises swarm, where mercyis proclaimed, where grace reigns, and where Jerusalem sinners areprivileged with the first offer of mercy, it is a base thing todespair. 

Despair undervalues the promise, undervalues the invitation, undervalues the proffer of grace. Despair undervalues the ability ofGod the Father, and the redeeming blood of Christ his Son. Oh, unreasonable despair!

Despair makes man God's judge; it is a controller of the promise, acontradictor of Christ in his large offers of mercy; and one thatundertakes to make unbelief the great manager of our reason andjudgment, in determining about what God can and will do for sinners. 

Despair! it is the devil's fellow, the devil's master; yea, thechains with which he is captivated, and held under darkness forever: arid to give way thereto, in a land, in a state and time thatflows with milk and honey, is an uncomely thing. 

I would say to my soul, O my soul, this is not the place of despair;this is not the time to despair in. As long as mine eyes can find apromise in the Bible, as long as there is a moment left me of breathor life ill this world, so long will I wait or look for mercy, solong will I fight against unbelief and despair. 

This is the way to honor God and Christ; this is the way to set thecrown on the promise; this is the way to welcome the invitation andthe inviter; and this is the way to thrust thyself under the shelterand protection of the word of grace. Never despair, so long as ourtext is alive; for that doth sound it out, that mercy by Christ isoffered in the first place to the biggest sinner. 

Let none despair, let none presume: let none despair, that are sorryfor their sins and would he saved by Jesus Christ; let none presumethat abide in the liking of their sins, though they seem to know theexceeding grace of Christ; for though the doors stand wide open forthe reception of the penitent, yet they are fast enough barred andbolted against the presumptuous sinner. Be not deceived, God is notmocked; whatsoever a man sows, that shall he also reap. It cannot bethat God should be wheedled out of his mercy, or prevailed upon bylips of dissimulation; he knows them that trust in him, and thatsincerely come to him by Christ for mercy. 

It is, then, not the abundance of sins committed, but the not comingheartily to God by Christ for mercy, that shuts men out of doors. 

Is it so, that they that are coining to Jesus Christ, are ofttimesheartily afraid that he will not receive them? Then this shouldteach old Christians to pity and pray for young comers. You know theheart of a stranger, for you yourselves were strangers in the landof Egypt. You know the fears and doubts and terrors that take holdof them, for they sometimes took hold of you. Wherefore, pity them, pray for them, encourage them; they need all this. 

THE POWER OF THE GOSPEL. 

That Jesus Christ, by what he has done, has paid full price to Godfor sinners and obtained eternal redemption for them, is evident, ifyou consider how the preaching thereof has been from that time tothis a mighty conqueror over all kinds of sinners. What nation, whatpeople, what kind of sinners have not been subdued by the preachingof a crucified Christ? He upon the white horse with his bow and hiscrown has conquered, doth conquer, and goeth forth yet conqueringand to conquer. 

The doctrine of forgiveness of sin conquered his very murderers. They could not withstand the grace; those bloody ones that wouldkill him whatever it cost them, could stand no longer, but receivedhis doctrine, fell into his bosom, and obtained the salvation whichis in Christ Jesus. "They shall look upon him whom they havepierced, and mourn for him as one mourneth for his only son, andthey shall be in bitterness for him as one is in bitterness for hisfirst-born. " Now was the scripture eminently fulfilled, when thekindness of a crucified Christ broke to pieces the hearts of themthat had before been his betrayers and murderers. Now was there agreat mourning in Jerusalem; now was there wailing and lamentation, mixed with joy and rejoicing. 

Though Paul was mad, exceeding mad against Jesus Christ of Nazareth, seeking to put out his name from under heaven; yet the voice fromheaven, "I am Jesus, I am the Saviour, " how did it conquer him, makehim throw down his arms, fall down at Christ's feet, and accept ofthe forgiveness of sins freely by grace, through redemption by faithin his blood. 

How was the sturdy jailer overcome by a promise of forgiveness ofsins by faith in Jesus Christ. It stopped his hand of self-murder, it eased him of the gnawings of a guilty conscience and fears ofhell-fire, and filled his soul with rejoicing in God. 

What shall I say? no man could as yet stand before, and not fallunder, the revelation of the forgiveness of sins through a crucifiedChrist; as hanged, as dying, as accursed for sinners, he draws allmen unto him, men of all sorts, of all degrees. 

Shall I add, how have men broken through all difficulties to Jesus, when he hath been discovered to them! Neither lions, nor fires, norsword, nor famine, nor nakedness, nor peril; "neither death norlife; nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers; nor thingspresent, nor things to come; nor height, nor depth, nor any othercreature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which isin Christ Jesus our Lord. "

BUNYAN'S CONVERSION

I speak by experience: I was one of these verminous ones, one ofthese great sin-breeders; I infected all the youth of the town whereI was born with all manner of youthful vanities. The neighborscounted me so; my practice proved me so: wherefore Christ Jesus tookme first, and taking me first, the contagion was much allayed allthe town over. When God made me sigh, they would hearken, andinquiringly say, "What is the matter with John?" They also gavetheir various opinions of me; but, as I said, sin cooled, and failedas to his full career. When I went out to seek the bread of life, some of them would follow, and the rest be put into a muse at home. 

When it pleased the Lord to begin to instruct my soul, he found meone of the black sinners of the world; he found me making a sport ofoaths, and also of lies; and many a soul-poisoning meal did I makeout of divers lusts, as drinking, dancing, etc. , with the wickedones of the world. The Lord finding me in this condition, opened theglass of his law unto me, showing me so clearly my sins--both thegreatness of them, and also how abominable they were in hissight--that I thought the very clouds were charged with the wrath ofGod, and ready to let fall the fire of his jealousy upon me; yet forall this I was so wedded to my sins, that I thought with myself, "Iwill have them, though I lose my soul, " wretch that I was. But God, the great, the rich, the infinitely merciful God, did not take thisadvantage of my soul to cast me away; but followed me still, aridwon my heart by giving me some understanding, not only of mymiserable state which I was very sensible of, but also that theremight he hopes of mercy; taking away my love to lust, and placing inthe room thereof a holy love to religion. Thus the Lord won my heartto some desire to hear the word, to grow a stranger to my oldcompanions, and to accompany the people of God, giving me many sweetencouragements from several promises in the scriptures. But afterthis, the Lord wonderfully set my sins upon my conscience; thosesins especially that I had committed since the first convictions:temptations also followed me very hard; especially such as tended tomake me question the way of salvation--whether Jesus Christ was theSaviour or not, and whether I had best to venture my soul upon himfor salvation, or take some other course--and I continued a year andupwards without any sound evidence as from God to my soul, touchingsalvation as it comes by Jesus Christ. But at the last, as I maysay, when the set time was come, the Lord did set me down blessedlyin the truth of the doctrine of Jesus Christ. 

About this time the state and happiness of these poor people atBedford was thus, in a kind of a vision, presented to me. I saw asif they were on the sunny side of some high mountain, thererefreshing themselves with the pleasant beams of the sun, whilst Iwas shivering and shrinking in the cold, afflicted with frost, snow, and dark clouds. Methought also, between me and them I saw a wallthat did compass about this mountain. Now, through this mountain mysoul did greatly desire to pass; concluding that if I could, I wouldeven go into the very midst of them and there also comfort myselfwith the heat of their sun. 

About this wall I bethought myself to go again and again, stillprying as I went, to see if I could find some way or passage bywhich I might enter therein; but none could I find for some time: atthe last, I saw as it were a narrow gap, like a little door-way inthe wall, through which I attempted to pass; now the passage beingvery strait and narrow, I made many offers to get in, but all invain, even until I was well-nigh quite beat out by striving to getin; at last, with great striving, methought I at first did get in myhead, and after that, by a sideling striving, my shoulders and mywhole body; then was I exceeding glad, and went and sat down in themidst of them, and so was comforted with the light and heat of theirsun. 

Now, this mountain and wall, etc. , was thus made out to me: themountain signified the church of the living God; the sun that shonethereon, the comfortable shining of his merciful face on them thatwere therein; the wall I thought was that which did make separationbetwixt the Christians and the world; and the gap which was in thewall, I thought was Jesus Christ, who is the way to God the Father. But forasmuch as the passage was wonderful narrow, even so narrowthat I could not but with great difficulty enter in thereat, itshowed me that none could enter into life but those that were indownright earnest, and unless also they left that wicked worldbehind them; for here was only room for body and soul, but not forbody and soul and sin. 

This resemblance abode upon my spirit many days; all which time Isaw myself in a forlorn and sad condition, but yet was provoked to avehement hunger and desire to be one of that number that did sit inthe sunshine; now also would I pray wherever I was, whether at homeor abroad, in house or field; and would also often, with lifting upof heart, sing that of the fifty-first Psalm, "O Lord, consider mydistress;" for as yet I knew not where I was. 

Neither as yet could I attain to any comfortahle persuasion that Ihad faith in Christ; hut instead of having satisfaction here, Ibegan to find my soul to be assaulted with fresh doubts about myfuture happiness; especially with such as these: "Whether I waselected;" "But how if the day of grace should be past and gone?"

Now was I in great distress, thinking in very deed that this mightwell be so: wherefore I went up and down bemoaning my sad condition;counting myself far worse than a thousand fools for standing offthus long, and spending so many years in sin as I had done; stillcrying out, "O that I had turned sooner! O that I had turned sevenyears ago!" It made me also angry with myself to think that I shouldhave no more wit but to trifle away my time till my soul and heavenwere lost. 

But when I had been long vexed with this fear, and was scarce ableto take one step more, these words broke in upon my mind: "Compelthem to come in, that my house may he filled; and yet there isroom. " These words, but especially these, "and yet there is room, "were sweet words to me; for truly I thought that by them I saw therewas place enough in heaven for me, and moreover, that when the LordJesus spake these words, he did then think of me; and that heknowing that the time would come that I should be afflicted withfear that there was no place left for me in his bosom, did beforespeak this word and leave it upon record, that I might find helpthereby against this vile temptation. 

How lovely now in my eyes were all those that I thought to beconverted men and women. They shone, they walked like a people thatcarried the broad seal of heaven about them. Oh, I saw the lot wasfallen to them in pleasant places, and they had a goodly heritage. But that which made me sick, was that of Christ in Mark 3:13, "Hewent up into a mountain, and called unto him whom he would; and theycame unto him. " This scripture made me faint and fear, yet itkindled fire in my soul. That which made me fear was this, lestChrist should have no liking to me; for he called "whom he would. "But Oh, the glory that I saw in that condition did still so engagemy heart, that I could seldom read of any that Christ did call; butI presently wished, "Would I had been in their clothes; would I hadbeen born Peter; would I had been born John; or would I had been byand had heard him when he called them, how would I have cried, 'OLord, call me also. '" But Oh, I feared he would not call me. 

FEARS ABOUT ELECTION

Before thou canst know whether thou art elected, thou must believein Jesus Christ so really, that by thy faith there shall be lifebegotten in thy soul--life from the condemning of the law; life fromthe guilt of sin; life over its filth; life also to walk with God inhis Son and ways; the life of love to God the Father, to JesusChrist his Son, to his saints, and to his ways, because they areholy, harmless, and altogether contrary to iniquity. 

YOUNG CONVERTS

In young converts, hope and distrust, or a degree of despair, dowork and answer one another as doth the noise of the balance of thewatch in the pocket. Life and death is always the motion of the mindthen; and this noise continues until faith is stronger grown, anduntil the soul is better acquainted with the methods and ways of Godwith a sinner. Yea, was but a carnal man in a convert's heart, andcould see, he should discern these two, to wit, hope and fear, tohave a continual motion in the soul--wrestling and opposing oneanother as do light and darkness, in striving for the victory. 

And hence it is that you find such people so fickle and uncertain intheir spirits; now on the mount, then in the valleys; now in thesunshine, then in the shade; now warm, then frozen; now bonny andblithe, then in a moment pensive and sad, as thinking of a portionnowhere but in hell. 

In the general, all the days of our pilgrimage here are evil; yea, every day has a sufficiency of evil in it to destroy the best saintthat breatheth, were it not for the grace of God. But there are alsoparticular specious times, times more eminently dangerous andhazardous unto saints. As, 1. There are their young days, the days of their youth and childhoodin grace. This day is usually attended with much evil towards him orthem that are asking the way to Zion with their faces thitherward. Now the devil has lost a sinner; there is a captive has brokeprison, and one run away from his master; now hell seems to beawakened from sleep; the devils are come out, they roar, and roaringthey seek to recover their runaway; they tempt him, threaten him, flatter him, stigmatize him, throw dust in his eyes, poison him witherrors, spoil him while he is upon the potter's wheel; any thing tokeep him from coming to Jesus Christ. And is not this a needy time?Doth not such a one want abundance of grace? Is it not of absolutenecessity that thou, if thou art the man thus beset, shouldst ply itat the throne of grace for mercy and grace to keep thee in such atime of need as this?

To want a spirit of prayer now, is as much as thy life is worth. Oh, therefore, you that know what I say, you that are broke loose fromhell, that are fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set beforeyou, and that do hear the lion roar after you, and that are keptawake with the continual voice of his chinking chain, cry as youfly; yea, the promise is, that they that come to God with weeping, with supplication, he will lead them. 

Well, this is one needy time; now thy hedge is low, now thy branchis tender, now thou art but in the bud. Pray that thou be not marredin the potter's hand. 

XII. THE CHRISTIAN DESCRIBED

HAPPINESS OF THE CHRISTIAN

O HOW happy is he who is not only a visible, but also an invisiblesaint! He shall not be blotted out the book of God's eternal graceand mercy. 

DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN

There are a generation of men in the world, that count themselvesmen of the largest capacities, when yet the greatest of theirdesires lift themselves no higher than to things below. If they canwith their net of craft and policy encompass a bulky lump of earth, Oh, what a treasure have they engrossed to themselves!

Meanwhile, the man who comes to God by Christ, has laid siege toheaven, has found out the way to get into the city, and is resolved, in and by God's help, to make that his own. Earth is a drossy thingin this man's account; earthly greatness and splendors are but likevanishing bubbles in this man's esteem. None but God as the end ofhis desires, none but Christ as the means to accomplish this hisend, are things counted great by this man. No company now isacceptable to this man, but the Spirit of God, Christ, angels andsaints, as fellow-heirs with himself. All other men and things, hedeals with as strangers and pilgrims were wont to do. This man'smind soars higher than the eagle, or stork of the heavens. He is formusing about things that are above and their glory, and for thinkingwhat shall come to pass hereafter. 

Is it so, that coming to Christ is by the Father? Then this shouldteach us to set a high esteem upon them that are indeed coming toJesus Christ, for the sake of him by virtue of whose grace they aremade to come to Jesus Christ. 

We see that when men, by the help of human abilities, do arrive atthe knowledge of, and bring to pass that which, when done, is awonder to the world, how he that did it is esteemed and commended. Yea, how are his wits, parts, industry, and unweariedness in all, admired; and yet the man, as to this, is but of the world; and hiswork the effect of natural ability. The things also attained by him, end in vanity and vexation of spirit. Further, perhaps, in thepursuit of these his achievements, he sins against God, wastes histime vainly, and at long run loses his soul by neglecting of betterthings. Yet he is admired. 

But, I say, if this man's parts, labor, diligence, and the like, will bring him to such esteem in the world, what esteem should wehave of such a one that is, by the gift, promise, and power of God, coming to Jesus Christ?

1. This is the man with whom God is, in whom God works and walks--aman, whose motion is governed and steered by the mighty hand of God, and the effectual working of his power. Here is a man!

2. This man, by the power of God's might which worketh in him, isable to cast a whole world behind him, with all the lusts andpleasures of it, and to charge through all the difficulties that menand devils can set against him. Here is a man!

3. This man is travelling "to mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the city of the living God; and to an innumerable company of angels, and the spirits of just men made perfect, to God the judge of all, and to Jesus. " Here is a man!

4. This man can look upon death with comfort, can laugh atdestruction when it cometh, and long to hear the sound of the lasttrump, and to see the Judge coming in the clouds of heaven. Here isa man, indeed!

We pass through a threefold state from nature to glory; the state ofgrace in this life, the state of felicity in paradise, and our statein glory after the resurrection. 

They are all kings that go to that world, and so shall be proclaimedthere. They shall also be crowned with crowns, and they shall wearcrowns of life and glory, crowns of everlasting joy, crowns ofloving-kindness. 

The coming man, the man that comes to God by Christ, if his way, allhis way thither were strewed with burning coals, would choose, Godhelping him, to tread that path rather than to have his portion withthem that perish. 

"The angel of the Lord encampeth about them that fear him, anddelivereth them. " This, therefore, is a glorious privilege of themen that fear the Lord. Alas, they are some of them so mean, thatthey are counted not worth taking notice of by the high ones of theworld; but their betters do respect them: the angels of God countnot themselves too good to attend on them, and camp about them todeliver them. This then is the man that hath his angel to wait onhim, even he that feareth the Lord. 

It is said, that when the church is "fair as the sun, and clear asthe moon, " she is "terrible as an army with banners. " The presenceof godly Samuel made the elders of Bethlehem tremble; yea, whenElisha was sought for by the king of Syria, he durst not engage himbut with chariots and horses, a heavy host. Godliness is a wonderfulthing; it commandeth reverence, and the stooping of the spirit, evenof the ungodly ones. 

Godliness puts such a majesty and dread upon the professors of it, that their enemies are afraid of them; yea, even then when they rageagainst them, and lay heavy afflictions upon them. It is marvellousto see in what fear the ungodly are, even of godly men andgodliness; in that they stir up the mighty, make edicts againstthem, yea, and raise up armies, and what else can be imagined, tosuppress them; while the persons thus opposed, if you consider themas to their state and capacity in this world, are the mostinconsiderable--but as a dead dog or a flea. O, but they are clothedwith godliness; the image and presence of God is upon them. Thismakes the beasts of this world afraid. "One of you shall chase athousand. "

The ornament and beauty of this lower world, next to God and hiswonders, are the men that spangle and shine in godliness. 

THE FAMILY IN HEAVEN AND EARTH

"The whole family in heaven, and earth. " The difference betwixt usand them is, not that we are really two, but one body in Christ, indivers places. True, we are below stairs, and they above; they intheir holiday, and we in our working-day clothes; they in harbor, but we in the storm; they at rest, but we in the wilderness; theysinging, as crowned with joy, we crying, as crowned with thorns. Butwe are all of one house, one family, and are all the children of oneFather. 

FEEBLENESS OF THE CHRISTIAN

Israel, as the child of God, is a pitiful thing of himself; one thatis full of weaknesses, infirmities, and defects, should we speaknothing of his transgressions. He that is to be attended with somany mercies, absolutely necessary mercies, must needs be in himselfa poor indigent creature. Should you see a child attended with somany engines to make him go, as the child of God is attended withmercies to make him stand, you would say, "What an infirm, decrepid, helpless thing is this!" Would you not say, "Such a one is not worththe keeping, and his father cannot look for any thing from him, butthat he should live upon high charge and expense, as long as heliveth?" Why, this is the case. Israel is such a one, nay, a worse:he cannot live without tender mercy, without great mercy, withoutrich mercy, without manifold mercy. He cannot stand, if mercy dothnot compass him round about, nor go, unless mercy follows him. Yea, if mercy that rejoiceth against judgment doth not continuallyflutter over him, the very moth will eat him up, the canker willconsume him. 

THE CHRISTIAN UNDER A SENSE OF GUILT--BUNYAN'S EXPERIENCE

I had no sooner began to recall to my mind my former experience ofthe goodness of God to my soul, but there came flocking into my mindan innumerable company of my sins and transgressions; amongst whichthese were at this time most to my affliction, namely, my deadness, dulness, and coldness in holy duties; my wanderings of heart, mywearisomeness in all good things, and my want of love to God, hisways, and his people, with this at the end of all: "Are these thefruits of Christianity? Are these the tokens of a blessed man?" Now, I sunk and fell in my spirit, and was giving up all for lost; but, as I was walking up and down in the house, as a man in a most wofulstate, that word of God took hold of my heart, "Ye are justifiedfreely by his grace, through the redemption that is in JesusChrist. " But Oh, what a turn it made upon me. 

Now was I as one awakened out of some troublesome sleep and dream;and listening to this heavenly sentence, I was as if I had heard itthus spoken to me: "Sinner, thou thinkest that, because of thy sinsand infirmities, I cannot save thy soul; but behold, my Son is byme, and upon him I look, and not on thee, and shall deal with theeaccording as I am pleased with him. " At this I was greatlyenlightened in my mind, and made to understand that God couldjustify a sinner at any time; it was but his looking upon Christ, and imputing his benefits to us, and the work was forthwith done. 

And as I was thus in a muse, that scripture also came with greatpower upon my spirit, "Not by works of righteousness that we havedone, but according to his mercy he saved us. " Now was I got onhigh; I saw myself within the arms of grace and mercy; and though Iwas before afraid to think of a dying hour, yet now I cried, "Let medie;" now death was lovely and beautiful in my sight, for I saw weshould never live indeed till we reach the other world. Oh, methought, this life is but a slumber, in comparison of that above. At this time also I saw more in these words, "heirs of God, " thanever I shall be able to express while I live in this world. HEIRS OFGOD! God himself is the portion of the saints. This I saw andwondered at, but cannot tell you what I saw. 

Sometimes I have been so loaded with my sins, that I could not tellwhere to rest nor what to do; and at such times I thought it wouldhave taken away my senses; but God, through grace, hath soeffectually applied the atonement of Jesus to my poor wounded, guilty conscience, and I have found such a sweet, solid, sober, heart-comforting peace, that it hath made me rejoice exceedingly;and I have for a time been in a strait and trouble, that I shouldlove and honor him no more, the virtue of whose blood hath socomforted my soul. 

My sins have at times appeared so great, that I have thought one ofthem as heinous as all the sins of all the men in the world. Reader, these things are not fancies, for I have smarted for thisexperience; yet the least believing view of the blood of Jesus hathmade my guilt vanish to my astonishment, and delivered me into sweetand heavenly peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. 

Sometimes when my heart hath been hard, slothful, blind, andsenseless--which are sad frames for a poor Christian--then hath theprecious blood of Christ softened, enlivened, quickened, andenlightened my soul. 

When I have been loaded with sin and harassed with temptations, Ihad a trial of the virtue of Christ's blood, with a trial of thevirtue of other things; and I have found that when tears, prayers, repentings, and all other things could not reach my heart, oneshining of the virtue of his blood hath in a very blessed mannerdelivered me. It hath come with such life and power, with suchirresistible and marvellous glory, as to wipe off all the slurs, silence all the outcries, and quench all the fiery darts and flamesof hell-fire, that are begotten by the charges of the law, Satan, and doubtful remembrances of a sinful life. 

SIN AND THE SAVIOUR. 

Saints are sweetly sensible that the sense of sin and the assuranceof pardon will make famous work in their poor hearts. Ah, whatmeltings without guilt; what humility without casting down; and whata sight of the creature's nothingness, yet without fear, will thissense of sin work in the soul. The sweetest frame, the mostheart-endearing frame that possibly a Christian can get into whilein this world, is to have a warm sight of sin and of a Saviour uponthe heart at one time. Now it weeps not for fear and throughtorment, but by virtue of constraining grace and mercy, and is atthis very time so far off of disquietness of heart by reason of thesight of its wickedness, that it is driven into an ecstasy by reasonof the love and mercy that is mingled with the sense of sin in thesoul. The heart never sees so much of the power of mercy as now, norof the virtue, value, and excellency of Christ in all his offices, as now; and the tongue is never so sweetly enlarged to proclaim andcry up grace as now: now will Christ come to be glorified in hissaints and admired in them that believe. 

Dost thou see in thee all manner of wickedness? The best way that Ican direct a soul in such a case, is to place a steadfast eye on Himthat is full, and so to look to him by faith as that thereby thoumayest draw his fulness into thy heart. 

The best saints are most sensible of their sins, and most apt tomake mountains of their molehills. 

THE CHRISTIAN IN DARKNESS. 

I know it is dreadful walking in darkness; but if that should be theLord's lot upon me, I pray God I may have faith enough to stay uponhim till death; and then will the clouds blow over, and I shall seehim in the light of the living. 

THE VALLEY OF THE SHADOW OF DEATH. 

Then they went on again, and their conductor did go before them, till they came to a place where was cast up a pit the whole breadthof the way; and before they could be prepared to go over that, agreat mist and a darkness fell upon them so that they could not see. Then said the pilgrims, "Alas, what now shall we do?" But theirguide made answer, "Fear not; stand still, and see what an end willbe put to this also. " So they staid there, because their path wasmarred. Then they also thought they did hear more apparently thenoise and rushing of the enemies; the fire also and smoke of the pitwas much easier to be discerned. Then said Christiana to Mercy, "NowI see what my poor husband went through; I have heard much of thisplace, but I never was here before now. Poor man! he went here allalone in the night; he had night almost quite through the way; alsothese fiends were busy about him, as if they would have torn him inpieces. Many have spoke of it, but none can tell what the Valley ofthe Shadow of Death should mean until they come in themselves. The'heart knoweth its own bitterness; a stranger intermeddleth not withits joy. ' To be here is a fearful thing. "

"This, " said Mr. Greatheart, "is like doing business in greatwaters, or like going down into the deep; this is like being in theheart of the sea, and like going down to the bottom of themountains; now it seems as if the earth with its bars were about usfor ever. But let them that walk in darkness and have no light, trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon their God. For my part, I have often gone through this valley, and have been much harder putto it than now I am; and yet you see I am alive. I would not boast, for that I am not my own saviour; but I trust we shall have a gooddeliverance. Come, let us pray for light to Him that can lighten ourdarkness, and can rebuke not only these, but all the devils inhell. " So they cried and prayed, and God sent light and deliverance. 

THE CHRISTIAN DOUBTING. 

It is a rare thing for some Christians to see their graces, but athing very common for such to see their sins, yea, and to feel themtoo in their lusts and desires, to the shaking of their souls. 

QUESTION. But since I have lusts and desires both ways, how shall Iknow to which my soul adheres?

ANSWER. This may be known thus:

1. Which wouldest thou have prevail; the desires of the flesh, orthe lusts of the spirit? Whose side art thou of? Doth thy soul nowinwardly say, and that with a strong indignation, "Oh, let God, letgrace, let my desires that are good, prevail against my flesh, forJesus Christ's sake?"

2. What kind of secret wishes hast thou in thy soul, when thoufeelest the lusts of thy flesh to rage? Dost thou not inwardly, andwith indignation against sin, say, "O that I might never, never feelone such motion more. O that my soul were so full of grace, thatthere might be no longer room for even the least lust to come intomy thoughts?"

3. What kind of thoughts hast thou of thyself, now thou seest thosedesires of thine that are good so briskly opposed by those that arebad? Dost thou not say, "Oh, I am the basest of creatures; I couldeven spew at myself. There is no man in all the world, in my eyes, so loathsome as myself is. I abhor myself; a toad is not so vile asI am. O Lord, let me be any thing but a sinner; any thing, so thousubduest mine iniquities for me?"

4. How dost thou like the discovery of that which thou thinkest isgrace in other men! Dost thou not cry out, "Oh, I bless them in myheart! Oh, methinks grace is the greatest beauty in the world! Yea, I could be content to live and die with those people that have thegrace of God in their souls. A hundred times, and a hundred when Ihave been upon my knees before God, I have desired, were it the willof God, that I might be in their condition?"

5. How art thou, when thou thinkest that thou thyself hast grace?"Oh, then, " says the soul, "I am as if I could leap out of myself;joy, joy, joy then is in my heart. It is, methinks, the greatestmercy under heaven to be made a gracious man. "

And is it thus with thy soul indeed? Happy man! It is grace that hasthy soul, though sin at present works in thy flesh. Yea, all thosebreathings are the very actings of grace, even of the grace ofdesire, of love, of humility, and of the fear of God within thee. Beof good courage; thou art on the right side. 

"I find, " says the doubting Christian, "weakness and faintness as tomy graces; my faith, my hope, my love and desires to these and allother Christian duties, are weak: I am like the man in the dream, that would have run, but could not; that would have fought, butcould not, and that would have fled, but could not. "

ANSWER. Weak graces are graces--weak graces may grow stronger; butif the iron be blunt, put to the more strength. Eccles. 10:10. Christ seems to be most tender of the weak: "He shall gather lambswith his arm, shall carry them in his bosom, and shall gently leadthem that are with young. " Only here thy wisdom will be manifested, to wit, that thou grow in grace, and that thou use lawfully anddiligently the means to do it. 2 Pet. 3:18; Phil. 3:10, 11; I Thess. 3:11-13. 

I never heard a presumptuous man in my life say that he was afraidthat he presumed; but I have heard many an honest, humble soul saythat they have been afraid that their faith has been presumptive. 

INDWELLING SIN. 

A man, in mind and affections, may depart from that which yet willnot depart from him, yea, a man in mind may depart from that whichyet will dwell in him as long as he lives. 

For instance, there are many diseases that cleave to men, from whichin their minds they willingly depart; yea, their greatestdisquietment is, that so bad a distemper will abide by them; andmight they but have their desire accomplished, they would be as fartherefrom as the ends of the earth are asunder: and while they arefound to continue together, the mind departs therefrom, and is goneeither to God or to physicians for help and deliverance from it. 

And thus it is with the saint, and should be with every one that byway of profession nameth the name of Christ, Rom. 7; he shoulddepart from his indwelling sin with his mind: "With his mind heshould serve the law of God. "

MR. FEARING. 

HONEST. It seems he was well at last. 

GREAT-HEART. Yes, yes; I never had a doubt about him. He was a manof a choice spirit; only he was always kept very low, and that madehis life so burdensome to himself and so very troublesome to others. He was, above many, tender of sin; he was so afraid of doinginjuries to others, that he would often deny himself of that whichwas lawful, because he would not offend. 

HONEST. But what should be the reason that such a good man should beall his days so much in the dark?

GREAT-HEART. There are two sorts of reasons for it. One is, the wiseGod will have it so; some must pipe, and some must weep: now, Mr. Fearing was one that played upon the bass. He and his fellows soundthe sackbut, whose notes are more doleful than the notes of othermusic are, though indeed some say the bass is the ground of music. And, for my part, I care not at all for that profession that beginsnot in heaviness of mind. The first string that the musician usuallytouches is the bass, when he intends to put all in tune; God alsoplays upon this string first, when he sets the soul in tune forhimself. Only, there was the imperfection of Mr. Fearing, he couldplay upon no other music but this till towards his latter end. 

HONEST. He was a very zealous man, as one may see by the relationwhich you have given of him. Difficulties, lions, or Vanity Fair, hefeared not at all: it was only sin, death, and hell that were to hima terror, because he had some doubts about his interest in thatcelestial country. 

When he was come at the river where was no bridge, there he was in aheavy case. "Now, now, " he said, "he should be drowned for ever, andso never see that face with comfort, that he had come so many milesto behold. " And here I took notice of what was very remarkable--thewater of that river was lower at this time than ever I saw it in allmy life; so he went over at last, not much above wet-shod When hewas going up to the gate, Mr. Great-heart began to take his leave ofhim, and to wish him a good reception above; so he said, "I shall, Ishall;" then parted we asunder, and I saw him no more. 

ENCOURAGEMENT FOR THE DOUBTING CHRISTIAN. 

Doth this water of life run like a river, like a broad, full, anddeep river? Then let no man, be his transgressions never so many, fear at all but there is enough to save his soul and to spare. Nothing has been more common to many, than to doubt the grace ofGod: a thing most unbecoming a sinner of any thing in the world. Tobreak the law, is a fact foul enough; but to question thesufficiency of the grace of God to save therefrom, is worse thansin, if worse can be. Wherefore, despairing soul, for it is to theeI speak, forbear thy mistrusts, cast off thy slavish fears, hang thymisgivings as to this upon the hedge, and believe; thou hast aninvitation sufficient thereto, a river is before thy face. And asfor thy want of goodness and works, let that by no means daunt thee;this is a river of water of life, streams of grace and mercy. Thereis, as I said, enough therein to help thee, for grace brings allthat is wanting to the soul. Thou, therefore, hast nothing to do--Imean as to the curing of thy soul of its doubts and fears anddespairing thoughts--but to drink and live for ever. 

PRUDENCE. Can you remember by what means you find your annoyances, at times, as if they were vanquished?

CHRISTIAN. Yes; when I think on what I saw at the cross, that willdo it; and when I look upon my embroidered coat, that will do it;and when I look into the roll that I carry in my bosom, that will doit; and when my thoughts wax warm about whither I am going, thatwill do it. 

PRUDENCE. And what is it that makes you so desirous to go to mountZion?

CHRISTIAN. Why, there I hope to see him alive that did hang dead onthe cross, and there I hope to be rid of all those things that tothis day are in me, an annoyance to me: there, they say, there is nodeath; and there shall I dwell with such company as I like best. For, to tell you the truth, I love him because I was by him eased ofmy burden; and I am weary of my inward sickness. I would fain bewhere I shall die no more, and with the company that shallcontinually cry, "Holy, holy, holy!"

Be often remembering what a blessed thing it is to be saved, to goto heaven, to be made like angels, and to dwell with God and Christto all eternity. 

ADOPTION. 

The Spirit cannot, after he hath come to the soul as a Spirit ofadoption, come again as a Spirit of bondage to put the soul into hisfirst fear, to wit, a fear of eternal damnation, because he cannotsay and unsay, do and undo. As a Spirit of adoption, he told me thatmy sins were forgiven me and I was included in the covenant ofgrace, that God was my Father through Christ, that I was under thepromise of salvation, and that this calling and gift of God to meare permanent and without repentance. And do you think that, afterhe told me this, and sealed up the truth of it to my precious soul, he will come to me and tell me that I am yet in my sins, under thecurse of the law and the eternal wrath of God? No, no; the word ofthe gospel is not yea, yea; nay, nay. It is only yea and amen; it isso, "as God is true. " 2 Cor. 17:20. 

Sin, after that the Spirit of adoption has come, cannot dissolve therelations of Father and son, of Father and child. And this thechurch did rightly assert, and that when her heart was under greathardness and when she had the guilt of erring from his ways; saithshe, "Doubtless thou art our Father:" doubtless thou art, thoughthis be our case, and though Israel should not acknowledge us forsuch. 

That sin dissolveth not the relation of Father and son, is furtherevident: When the fulness of time was come, God sent forth his Sonmade of a woman, made under the law, that we might receive theadoption of sons. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth theSpirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, "Father, Father!" Nowmark: "Wherefore, thou art no more a servant;" that is, no moreunder the law of death and damnation, but a son; and if a son, thenan heir of God through Christ. 

Suppose a child doth grievously transgress against and offend hisfather; is the relation between them therefore dissolved? Again, suppose the father should scourge and chasten the son for suchoffences, is the relation between them therefore dissolved? Yea, suppose the child should now, through ignorance, cry and say, "Thisman is now no more my father;" is he therefore no more his father?Doth not every body see the folly of arguings? Why, of the samenature is the doctrine, the faith, that after we have received theSpirit of adoption, the Spirit of bondage is sent to us again to putus in fear of eternal damnation. 

Know then that thy sin, after thou hast received the Spirit ofadoption to cry unto God, "Father, Father, " is counted thetransgression of a child, not of a slave; and that all thathappeneth to thee for that transgression is but the chastisement ofa father: "And what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?"

Now let not any, from what hath been said, take courage to liveloose lives, under a supposition that once in Christ they are everin Christ, and the covenant cannot he broken, nor the relation ofFather and child dissolved; for they that do so, it is evident, havenot known what it is to receive the Spirit of adoption. It is thespirit of the devil, in his own hue, that suggesteth this unto them, and that prevaileth with them to do so. Shall we do evil that goodmay come? Shall we sin that grace may abound; or shall we be base inlife because God by grace hath secured us from wrath to come? Godforbid: these conclusions betoken one void of the fear of Godindeed, and of the Spirit of adoption too. 

Though God cannot, will not dissolve the relation which the Spiritof adoption hath made betwixt the Father and the sons, for any sinsthat such do commit; yet he can and often doth take away from themthe comfort of their adoption, not suffering children while sinningto have the sweet and comfortable sense thereof on their hearts. 

God can lay thee in the dungeon in chains, and roll a stone uponthee; he can make thy feet fast in the stocks, and make thee agazing-stock for men and angels. 

God can tell how to cause to cease the sweet operations and blessedinfluences of his grace in thy soul; to make those gospel-showersthat formerly thou hast enjoyed, to become now to thee nothing butpowder and dust. 

God can tell how to fight against thee with the sword of his mouth, and to make thee a butt for his arrows; and this is a dispensationmost dreadful. 

God can tell how to bow thee down with guilt and distress, that thoushalt in nowise be able to lift up thy head. 

God can tell how to break thy bones, and to make thee, by reason ofthat, to live in continual anguish of spirit; yea, he can send afire into thy bones that shall burn, and none shall quench it. 

God can tell how to lay thee aside, and make no use of thee as toany work for him in thy generation. He can throw thee aside as abroken vessel. 

God can tell how to kill thee, and take thee away from the earth forthy sins. 

God can tell how to plague thee in thy death, with great plagues andof long continuance. 

What shall I say? God can tell how to let Satan loose upon thee;when thou liest dying, he can license him then to assault thee withgreat temptations; he can tell how to make thee possess the guilt ofall thy unkindness towards him, and that when thou, as I said, artgoing out of the world; he can cause that thy life shall be incontinual doubt before thee, and not suffer thee to take any comfortday or night; yea, he can drive thee even to a madness with hischastisements for thy folly, and yet all shall be done by him tothee as a father chastiseth his son. 

Further, God can tell how to tumble thee from off thy death-bed in acloud, he can let thee die in the dark; when thou art dying, thoushalt not know whither thou art going, to wit, whether to heaven orto hell. Yea, he can tell how to let thee seem to come short oflife, both in thine own eyes and also in the eyes of them thatbehold thee. "Let us therefore fear, " says the apostle--though notwith slavish, yet with filial fear--"lest, a promise being left usof entering into rest, any of us should seem to come short of it. "

Now all this and much more can God do to his, as a father by his rodand a father by rebukes: ah, who know but those that are under them, what terrors, fears, distresses, and amazements, God can bring hispeople into? He can put them into a furnace, a fire, and no tonguecan tell what, so unsearchable and fearful are his fatherlychastisements, and yet never give them the spirit of bondage againto fear. Therefore, if thou art a son, take heed of sin, lest allthese things overtake thee and come upon thee. 

Dost thou fear the Lord? "The mercy of the Lord is from everlastingto everlasting on them that fear him. "

Child of God, thou that fearest God, here is mercy nigh thee, mercyenough, everlasting mercy upon thee. This is long-lived mercy. Itwill live longer than thy sin; it will live longer than temptation;it will live longer than thy sorrows; it will live longer than thypersecutors. It is mercy from everlasting to contrive thy salvation, and mercy to everlasting to resist all thy adversaries. Now what canhell and death do to him that hath this mercy of God upon him? Andthis hath the man that feareth the Lord. 

Take that other blessed word, and O, thou man that fearest the Lord, hang it like a chain of gold about thy neck: "As the heaven is highabove the earth, so great is his mercy to them that fear him. " Ifmercy as big, as high, and as good as heaven itself will be aprivilege, the man that feareth God shall have the privilege. 

CHRIST OUR LIFE. 

Here is my life, namely, the birth of this Man, the righteousness ofthis man, the blood of this man, the death and resurrection of thisman, the ascension and intercession of this man for me, and thesecond coming of this man to judge the world in righteousness. Isay, here is my life, if I see this by faith without me, through theoperation of the Spirit within me: I am safe, I am at peace, I amcomforted, I am encouraged; and I know that my comfort, peace, andencouragement is true, and given me from heaven by the Father ofmercies, through the Son of the Virgin Mary--the Son of man, the Sonof God, the true God. 

UNION WITH CHRIST. 

Stay not in some transient comforts, but abide restless till thouseest a union betwixt thee and this blessed One, to wit, that he isa root and thou a branch--that he is head, and thou a member. Andthen shalt thou know that the case is so between thee and him, whengrace and his Spirit have made thee to lay the whole stress of thyjustification upon him, and have subdued thy heart and mind to beone spirit with him. 

LIFE OF FAITH. 

O man or woman, whoever thou art, that art savingly convinced by theSpirit of Christ, thou hast such an endless desire after the LordJesus Christ, that thou canst not be content with any thing belowthe blood of the Son of God to purge thy conscience withal; eventhat blood that was shed without the gates. Also thou canst not beat quiet, till thou dost see by true faith that the righteousness ofthe Son of Mary is imputed unto thee and put upon thee. Rom. 3:21-23. Then also thou canst not be at quiet, till thou hast powerover thy lusts and corruptions, till thou hast brought them intosubjection to the Lord Jesus Christ. Then thou wilt never think thatthou hast enough of faith: no, thou wilt be often crying out, "Lord, give me more precious faith; Lord, more faith in thy righteousness;more faith in thy blood and death; more faith in thy resurrection;and, Lord, more faith in this--that thou art now at the right handof thy Father in thy human nature, making intercession for me amiserable sinner. " And then, O poor soul, if thou comest but hither, thou wilt never have an itching ear after another gospel. 

If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God has allottedthee to do in this world for his name labor to live in the savor andsense of thy freedom and liberty by Jesus Christ; that is, keepthis, if possible, ever before thee--that thou art a redeemed one, taken out of this world and from under the curse of the law, out ofthe power of the devil, and placed in a kingdom of grace andforgiveness of sins for Christ's sake. 

This is of absolute use in this matter; yea, so absolute that it isimpossible for any Christian to do his work christianly, withoutsome enjoyment of it. 

The first thing of which the soul is sick, and by which theconscience receiveth wounding, is the GUILT of sin and fear of thecurse of God for it; for which are provided the wounds and preciousblood of Christ, which flesh and blood, if the soul eat thereof byfaith, give deliverance therefrom. Upon this FILTH of sin appearsmost odious; for that it hath not only at present defiled the soul, but because it keeps it from doing those duties of love which by thelove of Christ it is constrained to endeavor the perfecting of. Forfilth appears filth, that is, irksome and odious to a contraryprinciple now implanted in the soul; which principle had itsconveyance thither by faith in the sacrifice and death of Christgoing before. "The love of Christ constraineth us; because we thusjudge, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that hedied for all, that they who live should not henceforth live untothemselves, but to him that died for them and rose again. "

The man that has received Christ desires to be holy, because thenature of the faith that lays hold on Christ worketh by love, andlongeth, yea, greatly longeth, that the soul may be brought not onlyinto a universal conformity to his will, but into his very likeness;and because that state agreeth not with what we are now, but withwhat we shall be hereafter: "Therefore in this we groan, beingburdened" with that which is of a contrary nature, "earnestlydesiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven;"which state is not that of Adam'a innocency, but that which isspiritual and heavenly, even that which is now in the Lord inheaven. 

Blessed be God for Jesus Christ, and for that he took our nature andsin and curse and death upon him; and for that he did also byhimself, by one offering, purge our sins. We that have believed havefound rest, even there where Christ and his Father have smelled asweet savor of rest: because we are presented to God even nowcomplete in the righteousness of him, and stand discharged of guilteven by the faith of him; yea, as sins past, so sins to come, weretaken up and satisfied for by that offering of the body of Jesus. Wewho have had a due sense of sins, and of the nature of the justiceof God, know that no remission of the guilt of any one can be, butby atonement made by blood. Heb. 9:22. 

We also know that where faith in Jesus Christ is wanting, there canbe neither good principle, nor good endeavor; for faith is the firstof all graces, and without it there is nothing but sin. Rom. 14:23. 

We know also that faith, as a grace in us, severed from therighteousness of Christ, is only a beholder of things, but not ajustifier of persons; and that if it lay not hold of and appliethnot that righteousness which is in Christ, it carries us no furtherthan to the devils. 

We know that this doctrine killeth sin, and curseth it at the veryroots: I say, we know it, who have mourned over him whom we havepierced, and who have been confounded to see that God by his bloodshould be pacified towards us for all the wickedness we have done. Yea, we have a double motive to be holy and humble before him: one, because he died for us on earth; another, because he now appears forus in heaven, there sprinkling for us the mercy-seat with his blood, there ever living to make intercession for them that come unto Godby him. "If any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, JesusChrist the righteous, who is the propitiation for our sins. " Yetthis works in us no looseness nor favor to sin, but so much the morean abhorrence of it: "She loveth much, for much was forgiven her;"yea, she weeps, she washeth his feet, and wipeth them with the hairsof her head, to the confounding of Simon the Pharisee, and all suchignorant hypocrites. 

DIVINE LOVE IMPROVED. 

Empty notions of the love of God and of Christ will do nothing butharm; wherefore they are not empty notions that I press thee to restin, but that thou labor after the knowledge of the savor of thisgood ointment which the apostle calls "the savor of the knowledge ofthis Lord Jesus. " Know it until it becomes sweet or pleasant to thysoul, and then it will preserve and keep thee. Make this love of Godand of Christ thine own, and not another's. Many there are that cantalk largely of the love of God to Abraham, to David, to Peter, andPaul. But that is not the thing. Give not over until this love bemade thine own; until thou find and feel it to run warm in thy heartby the shedding of it abroad there, by the Spirit that God has giventhee. Then thou wilt know it with an obliging and engagingknowledge; yea, then thou wilt know it with a soul-strengthening andsoul-encouraging knowledge. 

Wouldst thou improve this love of God and of Christ? then set itagainst the love of all other things whatsoever, even until thislove shall conquer thy soul from the love of them to itself. 

This is Christian. Do it therefore, and say, "Why should any thinghave my heart but God, but Christ? He loves me with love thatpasseth knowledge. He loves me, and he shall have me; he loves me, and I will love him; his love stripped him of all for my sake; Lord, let my love strip me of all for thy sake. I am a son of love, anobject of love, a monument of love, of free love, of distinguishinglove, of peculiar love, and of love that passeth knowledge; and whyshould not I walk in love? in love to God, in love to men, in holylove, in love unfeigned?"

This is the way to improve the love of God for thy advantage, forthe subduing of thy passions, and for sanctifying of thy nature. 

It is an odious thing to hear men of base lives talking of the loveof God, of the death of Christ, and of the glorious grace that ispresented unto sinners by the word of the truth of the gospel. Praise is comely for the upright, not for the profane. 

Therefore let him speak of love that is taken with love, that iscaptivated with love, that is carried away with love. If this manspeaks of it, his speaking signifies something; the powers and bandsof love are upon him, and he shows to all that he knows what he isspeaking of. But the very mentioning of love is, in the mouth of theprofane, like a parable in the mouth of fools. Wherefore, Christian, improve this love of God as thou shouldst, and that will improvethee as thou wouldst. 

It is natural for children to depend upon their father for what theywant. If they want a pair of shoes, they go and tell him; if theywant bread, they go and tell him; so should the children of God do. Do you want spiritual bread? Go tell God of it. Do you want strengthof grace? Ask it of God. Do you want strength against Satan'stemptations? Go and tell God of it. When the devil tempts you, runhome and tell your heavenly Father; go pour out your complaints toGod; this is natural to children--if any wrong them, they go andtell their father. 

If thou wouldst improve this love of God and of Christ, keep thyselfin it: "Keep yourselves in the love of God. " Living a holy life isthe way, after a man has believed unto justification, to keephimself in the favor and comfort of the love of God. And O that thouwouldst indeed do so. And that because, if thou shalt want the savorof it, thou wilt soon want tenderness to the commandment, which isthe rule by which thou must walk, if thou wilt do good to thyself, or honor God in the world. "To him that ordereth his conversationaright, I will show the salvation of God. " He that would live asweet, comfortable, joyful life, must live a very holy life. 

All God's children are criers: Cannot you be quiet unless you arefilled with the milk of God's word? cannot you be satisfied unlessyou have peace with God? Pray you consider it, and be serious withyourselves; if you have not these marks, you will fall short of thekingdom of God, you shall never have an interest there: there is nointruding: they will say, "Lord, Lord, open unto us;" and he willsay, "I know you not. " No child of God, no heavenly inheritance. Odo not flatter yourselves with a portion among the sons, unless youlive like sons. When we see a king's son playing with a beggar, thisis unbecoming; so if you bo the King's children, live like theKing's children: if you be risen with Christ, set your affections onthings above, and not on things below; when you come together, talkof what your Father promised you; you should all love your Father'swill, and be content and pleased with the exercises you meet with inthe world; if you are the children of God, live together lovingly;if the world quarrel with you, it is no matter, but it is sad if youquarrel together: if this be among you, it is a sign ofill-breeding; it is according to no rules you have in the word ofGod. Dost thou see a soul that has the image of God in him? Lovehim, love him; say, "This man and I must go to heaven one day;"serve one another, do good for one another; if any wrong you, prayto God to right you, and love the brotherhood. 

HOLY LIVING. 

Remember, man, if the grace of God hath taken hold of thy soul, thouart a man of another world, and indeed a subject of another and morenoble kingdom, the kingdom of God--which is the kingdom of thegospel, of grace, of faith, and righteousness, and the kingdom ofheaven hereafter. In these things thou shouldst exercise thyself, not making heavenly things which God hath bestowed upon thee, stoopto things that are of the world; but rather here beat down the body, to mortify thy members, hoist up thy mind to the things that areabove, and practically hold forth before all the world that blessedword of life. 

Assure thyself, thy God will not give thee straw, but he will expectbrick. 

It is amiable and pleasant to God when Christians keep their rank, relation, and station, doing all as becomes their quality andcalling. When Christians stand all in their places, and do the workof their stations, then they are like the flowers in the garden, that stand and grow where the gardener hath planted them; and thenthey shall both honor the garden in which they are planted, and thegardener that hath so disposed of them. From the hyssop in the wallto the cedar in Lebanon, their fruit is their glory. And seeing thestock into which we are planted is the most fruitful stock, the sapconveyed thereout the most fruitful sap, and the dresser of oursouls the wisest husband-man, how contrary to nature, example, andexpectation we should be, if we should not be rich in good works. Wherefore, take heed of being painted fire, wherein is no warmth; ofbeing painted flowers, which retain no smell; and of being paintedtrees, whereon is no fruit. Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift, is like clouds and wind without rain. Farewell; the Lord be with thyspirit, that thou mayest profit for time to come. 

THEY only have benefit by Christ to eternal life, who die by hisexample as well as live by his blood; for in his death was bothmerit and example; and they are like to miss in the first, that arenot concerned in the second. 

As it is natural for the stranger, so soon as ever he has enteredthe gates of a city, to have his feet in the streets of the city, soit is natural for the sinner, so soon as ever he is entered into thechurch of Christ, to have his feet treading in the way and paths ofholiness. Wherefore it is usual in the holy Scripture to call thetransformation of the sinner from Satan to God a holy way, and alsoto admonish him that is so transformed to walk in that way, saying, Walk in the faith, love, spirit, and newness of life, and walk inthe truth, ways, statutes, and judgments of God. 

Jacob, when sick, would worship God, though so weak as not able todo it without leaning upon the top of his staff: a blessed examplefor the diligent, and reproof for those that are slothful. 

OPPORTUNITIES IMPROVED. 

Good opportunities are God's seasons for doing the work; wherefore, watch for them and take them as they come. Paul tells us, he was "inwatchings often;" surely it was that he might take the season thatGod should give him to do his work for him; as he also says toTimothy, "Watch thou in all things, do the work, " etc. 

Opportunities as to some things come but once in one's lifetime, asin the case of Esther, and of Nicodemus and holy Joseph; when Estherbegged the lives of the Jews, and the other the body of Jesus; whichhad they once let slip or neglected, they could not have recoveredit again for ever. Watch, then, for the opportunity:

Because it is God's season, which without doubt is the best seasonand time for every purpose. 

Because Satan watches to spoil, by mistiming as well as bycorrupting whatever thou shalt do for God. "When I would do good, "says Paul, "evil is present;" that is, either to withdraw me from mypurpose, or else to infect my work. 

That the opportunity may not slip thee, either for want of care orforecast, 1. Sit always loose from an overmuch affecting thine ownconcernments, and believe that thou wast not born for thyself: abrother is born for adversity. 

2. Get thy heart tenderly affected with the welfare of all thingsthat bear the stamp and image of God. 

3. Study thy own place and capacity that God hath put thee in inthis world; for suitable to thy place are thy work andopportunities. 

4. Make provision beforehand, that when things present themselves, thou mayst come up to a good performance: be prepared for every goodwork. 

5. Take heed of carnal reasonings; keep the heart tender, but setthy face like a flint for God. 

6. And look well to the manner of every duty. 

GOOD WORKS. 

To stoop low is a good work, if it be done in faith and love; thoughbut by a cup of cold water, it is really more worth in itself, andof higher esteem with God, than all worldly and perishing glory. 

When holiness is lovely and beautiful to the soul, and when the nameof Christ is more precious than life, then will the soul sit downand be afflicted, because men keep not God's law. "I beheld thetransgressors, and was grieved, because they kept not thy word. "Psalm 119:158. 

The heart that is fullest of good works has in it the least room forSatan's temptations. 

Souls rightly touched, will labor to draw not only their families, but a whole city after Christ. John 4:28, 29. 

SELF-DENIAL. 

If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath appointedthee to do in this world for his name, then beware thou do not stopand stick when hard work comes before thee. The word and Spirit ofGod come sometimes like chainshot to us, as if it would cut downall--as when Abraham was to offer up Isaac, and the Levites to slaytheir brethren. Oh, how willingly would our flesh and blood escapethe cross for Christ! The comfort of the gospel, the sweetness ofthe promise, how pleasing is it to us! Like Ephraim, we like totread out the corn, and to hear those pleasant songs and music thatgospel sermons make, where only grace is preached and nothing of ourduty as to works of self-denial. But as for such, God will treadupon their fair neck, and yoke them with Christ's yoke; for thenthey have a work to do, even a work of self-denial. 

"Whosoever will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up hiscross and follow me. " Let him first sit down and count up the costand the charge he is like to be at, if he follow me; for followingof me is not like following of some other masters. The winds setalways on my face; and the foaming rage of the sea of this world, and the proud and lofty waves thereof do continually beat upon thesides of the bark that myself, my cause, and my followers are in; hetherefore that will not run hazards, and that is afraid to venture adrowning, let him not set foot into this vessel. 

Some, when they come at the cross, will either there make a stop andgo no further, or else, if they can, step over it; if not, they willgo round about. Do not thou do this, but take it up and kiss it, andbear it after Jesus. 

Where is the man that walketh with his cross upon his shoulder?Where is the man that is zealous of moral holiness? Indeed, forthose things that have nothing of the cross of the purse, or of thecross of the belly, or of the cross of the back, or of the cross ofthe vanity of household affairs--for those things, I find we havemany, and very busy sticklers; but otherwise, the cross, self-denial, charity, purity in life and conversation, is almostquite out of doors among professors. But, man of God, do thou besingular as to these. 

OBEDIENCE IN LITTLE THINGS. 

Little things do ofttimes prove us most; for we, through the prideof our hearts, are apt to overlook little things, because, thoughcommanded, they are but little. 

Sometimes God would have men exact to a word, sometimes even to atack or pin or loop, sometimes to a step. Be careful, then, inlittle things, but yet leave not the other undone. 

MOTIVES TO HOLT LIVING. When God shows a man the sin he hascommitted, the hell he has deserved, the heaven he has lost--and yetthat Christ and grace and pardon may be had--this will make himserious, this will make him melt, this will break his heart, thiswill show him that there is more than air, than a noise, than anempty sound in religion; and this is the man whose heart, whoselife, whose conversation and all will be engaged in the matter ofthe eternal salvation of his precious and immortal soul. 

Though there are many mercies that lay an obligation upon men to beholy, yet he that shall want the obligation that is begotten by thefaith of redeeming mercy, wanteth the main principle of trueholiness; nor will any other be found sufficiently to sanctify theheart to the causing of it to produce such a life; nor can suchholiness be accepted, because it comes not forth in the name ofChrist. That which constrained David was forgiving and redeemingmercy, and that which constrained Paul was the love that Christshowed to him in dying for his sins and in rising from the dead. 

Paul also beseecheth the Romans by the redeeming, justifying, preserving, and electing mercy of God, that they present their bodya living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which, saith he, isyour reasonable service. Hence all along, they that are exhorted toholiness in the New Testament, are exhorted to it upon thesupposition of the benefit of redemption which they have received byJesus Christ. Walk in love, as Christ loved us. 

Can you give me some motive to self-denial? Yes, the Lord Jesusdenied himself for thee: what sayest thou to that?

Oh, I have thought sometimes what bloody creatures hath sin made us. The beasts of the field must be slain by thousands before Christcame, to signify to us that we should have 'a Saviour; and afterthat, he must come himself and die a worse death than died thosebeasts, before the work of saving could be finished. O redemption, redemption by blood, is the heart-endearing consideration! This isthat which will make the water stand in our eyes, that will break aheart of flint, and that will make one do as they do that are inbitterness for their firstborn. 

Perhaps in the day of thy conversion thou wast more unruly thanmany. Like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke, hardly tamed, thouwast brought home by strong hands. Thou wouldst not drive: the LordJesus must take thee up, lay thee upon his shoulder, and carry theehome to his Father's house. This should engage thy heart to study toadvance the grace of God. 

It may do thee no harm but good to cast an eye over thy shoulder, atthose that now lie roaring under the vengeance of eternal fire; itmay put thee in mind of what thou wast once, and of what thou mustyet assuredly be, if grace by Christ preventeth not: keep then thyconscience awake with wrath and grace, with heaven and hell; but letgrace and heaven bear sway. 

Get thou thy soul possessed with the spirit of the Son, and believethou art perfectly set free by him from whatsoever thou by sin hastdeserved at the hand of revenging justice. This doctrine unlooseththy hands, takes off thy yoke, and lets thee go upright; thisdoctrine puts spiritual and heavenly inclinations into thy soul, andthe faith of this truth doth show thee that God hath so surprisedthee and gone beyond thee with his blessed and everlasting love, that thou canst not but reckon thyself his debtor for ever. "Therefore, brethren, we are debtors not to the flesh, to live afterthe flesh. " Rom. 8: 12. 

If thou wouldst be faithful to that work that God hath allotted theeto do in this world for his name, then labor to see a beauty andglory in holiness and in every good work; this tends much to theengaging of thy heart. O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness;fear before him all the earth; and for thy help in this, think muchon this in general, that "thus saith the Lord" is the wind-up ofevery command; for indeed much of the glory and beauty of dutiesdoth lie in the glory and excellency of the person that doth commandthem; and hence it is, that "Be it enacted by the king's mostexcellent majesty" is the head of every law, that that law shouldtherefore be reverenced by and be made glorious and beautiful toall. And we see upon this very account, what power and place theprecepts of kings do take in the hearts of their subjects, every oneloving and reverencing the statute because there is the name oftheir king. Will you rebel against the king? is a word that shakesthe world. Well then, turn these things about for an argument to thematter in hand, and let the name of God, seeing he is wiser andbetter and of more glory and beauty than kings, beget in thy heart abeauty in all things that are commanded thee of God. And indeed, ifthou do not in this act thus, thou wilt stumble at some of thy dutyand work thou hast to do; for some of the commands of God are inthemselves so mean and low, that take away from them the name of Godand thou wilt do as Naaman the Syrian, despise instead of obeying. What is there in the Lord's supper, in baptism, yea, in preachingthe word and prayer, were they not the appointments of God? His namebeing entailed to them makes them every one glorious and beautiful. Wherefore no marvel if he that looks upon them without theirtitle-page, goeth away in a rage like Naaman, preferring othersbefore them. "What is Jordan? Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers ofDamascus, better than all the waters in Israel? May I not wash inthem and be clean?" saith he. This was because he remembered notthat the name of God was in the command. Israel's trumpets oframs'-horns, and Isaiah's walking naked, and Ezekiel's wars againsta tile, would doubtless have been ignoble acts, but that the name ofGod was that which gave them reverence, power, glory, and beauty. Set therefore the name of God and "thus saith the Lord" against allreasonings, defamings, and reproaches that either by the world orthy own heart thou findest to arise against thy duty; and let hisname and authority alone be a sufficient argument with thee, tohehold the beauty that he hath put upon all his ways, and to inquirein his temple. 

Christians should so manage their time and the work that God hathappointed them to do for his name in this world, that they may nothave part thereof to do when they should be departing this world;because, if they do not, dying will be a hard work with them, especially if God awakeneth them about their neglect of their duty. The way of God with his people is to visit their sins in this life;and the worst time for thee to be visited by them is when thy lifeis smitten down as it were to the dust of death, even when allnatural infirmities break in like a flood upon thee-sickness, fainting, pains, wearisomeness, and the like: now, I say, to becharged also with the neglect of duty when in no capacity to doit-yea, when perhaps so feeble, as scarce able to abide to hear thydearest friend in this life speak to thee-will not this make dyinghard? yea, when thou shalt seem both in thine own eyes and also inthe eyes of others, to fall short of the kingdom of heaven for thisand the other transgressions; will not this make dying hard? Davidfound it hard when he cried, "O spare me a little, that I mayrecover strength, before I go hence and be no more. " David at thistime was chastened for some iniquity, yea, brought for his folly tothe doors of the shadow of death. But here he could not enterwithout great distress of mind; wherefore he cries out for respite, and time to do the will of God and the work allotted him. So again:"The pains of hell caught hold upon me, the sorrows of deathcompassed me about, and I found trouble and sorrow; then I criedunto the Lord. " Aye, this will make thee cry, though thou he as goodas David. Wherefore learn by his sorrow, as he himself also learnedat last to serve his own generation by the will of God, before hefell asleep. God can tell how to pardon thy sins, and yet make themsuch a bitter thing and so heavy a burden to thee that thou wouldstnot, if thou wast but once distressed with it, come there again forall this world. Ah, it is easy with him to have this pardon in hisbosom, even when he is breaking all thy bones and pouring out thygall upon the ground--yea, to show himself then unto thee in sodreadful a majesty, that heaven and earth shall seem to thee totremble at his presence. Let then the thoughts of this prevail withthee as a reason of great weight, to provoke thee to study to managethy time and work in wisdom while thou art well. 

OBEDIENCE REWARDED. 

Keep those grounds and evidences that God hath given you of yourcall to be partakers of this love of Christ, with all clearness uponyour hearts and in your minds. For he that lacks that sight of them, or a proof that they are true and good, can take but little comfortin this love. There is a great mystery in the way of God with hispeople. He will justify them without their works, he will pardonthem for his Son's sake. But they that are careless, carnal, and notholy in their lives, shall have but little comfort of what he hathdone, doth, and will do for them. 

Nor shall they have their evidences for heaven at hand, nor out ofdoubt with them; yea, they shall walk without the sun, and havetheir comforts by bits and knocks; while others sit at theirFather's table, have liberty to go into the wine-cellar, rejoice atthe sweet and pleasant face of their heavenly Father towards them, and know it shall go well with them at the end. 

Those that make conscience of walking in the commandments of God, they shall be blessed with the bread of life, when others shall behunger-bit. 

The greatest part of professors nowadays take up their time incontracting guilt and asking for pardon, and yet are not much thebetter. Whereas, if they had but the grace to add to their faith, virtue, etc. , they might have more peace, live better lives, and nothave their heads so often in a bag, as they have. "To him thatordereth his conversation aright, will I show the salvation of God. "

"And all the days of Enoch were three hundred sixty and five years. And Enoch walked with God, and was not, for God took him. " Enochtherefore lived here but a while: he was too good to live long inthis world; the world was not worthy of him; neither could he bespared so long out of heaven, for God took him. 

The end of walking with God, or the pathway thereof, leads men toheaven, to the enjoyment of the glory of God. Thus also it was withblessed Elijah; he followed God from place to place, till at lengthhe was caught up into heaven. 

Those that shall be found, in the day of their resurrection, thepeople of God most laborious for God while here, they shall at thatday enjoy the greatest portion of God, or shall be possessed of mostof the glory of the Godhead then. For that is the portion of thesaints in general. And why shall he that doeth most for God in thisworld, enjoy most of him in that which is to come, but because bydoing and acting, the heart and every faculty of the soul areenlarged and more capacitated, whereby more room is made for glory?Every vessel of glory shall at that day be made full of it: butevery one will not be capable to contain a like measure; and so ifthey should have it communicated to them, would not be able to standunder it; for there is an eternal weight in the glory that saintsshall then enjoy; and every vessel must be at that day filled, thatis, have its heavenly load of it. 

SELF-EXAMINATION. 

Examine: Dost thou labor after those qualifications that theScriptures describe a child of God by-that is, faith, yea, the rightfaith, the most holy faith, the faith of the operation of God? Andalso, dost thou examine whether there is a real growth of grace inthy soul, as love, zeal, self-denial, and a seeking by all means toattain, if possible, to the resurrection of the dead; that is, notto satisfy thyself until thou be dissolved and rid of this body ofdeath, and be transformed into that glory that the saints shall bein after the resurrection-day?

And in the mean time, dost thou labor and take all opportunities towalk as near as may be to the mark, though thou knowest thou canstnot attain it perfectly? Yet I say, thou dost aim at it, seek afterit, press towards it, and hold on in thy race; thou shunnest thatwhich may any way hinder thee, and also closest in with what may anyway further the same, knowing that that must be, or desiring that itshould be, thine eternal frame; and therefore, out of love andliking to it, thou dost desire and long after it, as being the thingthat doth most please thy soul. 

Or how is it with thy soul? Art thou such a one as regards not thesethings, but rather busiest thy thoughts about the things here below, following those things that have no scent of divine glory upon them?If so, look to thyself; thou art an unbeliever, and so under thewrath of God, and wilt for certain fall into the same place oftorment that thy fellows have fallen into before thee, to the griefof thy own soul and thy everlasting destruction. 

Consider and regard these things, and lay them to thy heart beforeit be too late to recover thyself, by repenting of the one anddesiring to close in with the other. 

Oh, I say, regard, regard; for hell is hot, God's hand is up, thelaw is resolved to discharge against thy soul. The judgment-day isat hand; the graves are ready to fly open; the trumpet is near thesounding; the sentence will ere long be past, and then you and Icannot call time again. 

Reckon with thy own heart every day before thou lie down to sleep, and cast up what thou hast received from God and done for him, andwhere thou hast also been wanting. This will beget praise andhumility, and put thee upon redeeming the day that is past; wherebythou wilt be able, through the continual supplies of grace, in somegood measure to drive thy work before thee, and to shorten it as thylife doth shorten, and mayst comfortably live in the hope ofbringing both ends sweetly together. 

WATCHFULNESS. 

He that will keep water in a sieve, must use more than ordinarydiligence. Our heart is a leaky vessel; and therefore we ought togive the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lestat any time we should let them slip. 

CONSTITUTION-SINS. 

They that name the name of Christ, let them depart from theirconstitution-sin, or if you will, the sin that their temper mostinclines them to. Every man is not alike inclined to the same sin, but some to one, and some to another. Now, let the man thatprofesses the name of Christ religiously consider with himself, "Unto what sin or vanity am I most inclined? is it pride? is itcovetousness? is it fleshly lust?" and let him labor by all means toleave off and depart from that. This is that which David called hisown iniquity, and saith, "I was also upright before him, and I keptmyself from mine iniquity. " Psa. 18:23. Rightly are these two puttogether, for it is not possible that he should be an upright manthat indulgeth or countenanceth his constitution-sin; but on thecontrary, he that keeps himself from that will be upright as to allthe rest; and the reason is, because if a man has grace to trampleupon and mortify his darling, his bosom, his only sin, he will moreeasily and more heartily abhor and fly the rest. 

And indeed, if a man will depart from iniquity, he must depart fromhis darling sin first; for as long as that is entertained, theother, at least those that are most suiting to that darling, willalways be haunting of him. There is a man that has such and suchhaunt his house and spend his substance, and would be rid of them, but cannot; but now, let him rid himself of that for the sake ofwhich they haunt his house, and then he shall with ease be rid ofthem. Thus it is with sin. There is a man that is plagued with manysins, perhaps because he embraceth one; well, let him turn that oneout of doors, and that is the way to be rid of the rest. Keep theefrom thy darling, thy bosom, thy constitution-sin. 

Among the motives to prevail with thee to fall in with thisexhortation, are, 1. There can no great change appear in thee, make what profession ofChrist thou wilt, unless thou cast away thy bosom sin. A man'sconstitution-sin is, as I may call it, his visible sin; it is thatby which his neighbors know him and describe him, whether it bepride, covetousness, lightness, or the like. Now, if these abidewith thee, though thou shouldst be much reformed in thy notions andin other parts of thy life, yet say thy neighbors, "He is the sameman still: his faith has not saved him from his darling. He wasproud before, and is proud still; was covetous before, and iscovetous still; was light and wanton before, and is so still; he isthe same man, though he has got a new mouth. " But now, if thyconstitution-sin be parted with, if thy darling be cast way, thyconversion is apparent; it is seen of all; for the casting away ofthat is death to the rest, and ordinarily makes a change throughout. 

2. So long as thy constitution-sin remains, as winked at by thee, solong thou art a hypocrite before God, let thy profession be what itwill; also, when conscience shall awake and be commanded to speak tothee plainly what thou art, it will tell thee so, to thy no littlevexation and perplexity. 

THE CHRISTIAN PROFESSOR ADMONISHED. 

O thou professor! thou lamp-carrier! have a care and look tothyself; content not thyself with only that which will maintain theein a profession, for that may be done without saving grace; but Iadvise thee to go to Aaron, to Christ the trimmer of our lamps, andbeg of him thy vessel full of oil, that is, grace for the seasoningof thy heart, that thou mayest have wherewith not only to bear theeup now, but at the day of the bridegroom's coming when many a lampwill go out and many a professor be left in the dark. 

Sin is in the best of men; and as long as it is so, without greatwatchfulness and humble walking with God, we may be exposed to shameand suffering for it. It is possible for Christians to suffer forevil-doing, and therefore let Christians beware; it is possible forChristians to be brought to public justice for their faults, andtherefore let Christians beware. 

A Christian can never be overcome unless he should yield of himself. 

There is no way to kill a man's righteousness but by his ownconsent. This Job's wife knew full well; hence she tempted him tolay violent hands on his own integrity. Job 2:9. 

FAILINGS AND SINS OF CHRISTIANS. 

"And Noah began to lie a husbandman, and he planted a vineyard. Andhe drank of the wine, and was drunken; and he was uncovered withinhis tent. "

This is the blot in this good man's scutcheon; and a strange blot itis, that such a one as Noah should be thus overtaken with evil. Onewould have thought that Moses would now have begun with a relationof some eminent virtues and honorable actions of Noah, since now hewas delivered from the death that overtook the whole world; and wasdelivered, both he and his children, to possess the whole earthhimself. Indeed, he stepped from the ark to the altar, as Israel ofold did sing on the shore of the Red sea; but as they, HE soonforgot; he rendered evil to God for good. 

Neither is Noah alone in this matter. Lot also, being delivered fromthat fire from heaven which burnt up Sodom and Gomorrah, falls soonafter into lewdness. Gideon also, after he was delivered out of thehands of his enemies, took that very gold which God had given him asthe spoil of them that hated him, and made himself idols therewith. 

What shall I say of David, and of Solomon also, who, after he hadbeen twenty years at work for the service of the true God, both inbuilding and preparing for his worship, and in writing proverbs bydivine inspiration, did after this make temples for idols, yea, almost for the gods of all countries? Yea, he did it when he wasold, when he should have been preparing for his grave and foreternity. 

All these were sins against mercies, yea, and doubtless againstcovenants and the most solemn resolutions to the contrary. For whocan imagine but that when Noah was tossed with the flood, and Lotwithin the scent and smell of the fire and brimstone that burneddown Sodom with his sons and daughters, and Gideon, when so fiercelyengaged with so great an enemy, and delivered by so strange a hand, should in the most solemn manner both promise and vow to God? Butbehold, now they in truth are delivered and saved, they recompenseall with sin: "Lord, what is man? how abominable and filthy is man, who drinketh in iniquity like water!"

Let these things teach us "to cease from man, whose breath is in hisnostrils; for wherein is he to be accounted of?" Indeed, it is avain thing to build our faith upon the most godly man in the world, because he is subject to err; yea, better men than he have been so. If Noah and Lot and Gideon and David and Solomon--who wanted notmatter from arguments, and that of the strongest kind, as argumentsthat are drawn from mercy and goodness be, to engage to holiness andthe fear of God--yet, after all, did so foully fall as we see, letus admire grace that any stand; let the strongest fear, lest hefearfully fall; and let no man but Jesus Christ himself be theabsolute platform and pattern of faith and holiness: as the prophetsaith, "Let us cease from man. "

THE BACKSLIDER. 

None knows the things that haunt the backslider's mind; his new sinsare all turned talking devil's, threatening devils, roaring devils, within him. Besides, he doubts of the truth of his first conversion, consequently he has it lying upon him as a strong suspicion, thatthere was nothing of truth in all his first experience; and thisalso adds lead to his heels, and makes him come, as to sense andfeeling, more heavily and with the greater difficulty, to God byChrist. As the faithfulness of other men kills him, he cannot see anhonest, humble, holy, faithful servant of God, but he is pierced andwounded at the heart. "Aye, " says he within himself, "that man fearsGod; that man hath faithfully followed God; that man, like the electangels, has kept his place; but I am fallen from my station like adevil. That man honoreth God, edifieth the saints, convinceth theworld and condemneth them, and is become 'heir of the righteousnesswhich is by faith. ' But I have dishonored God, stumbled and grievedsaints, made the world blaspheme, and, for aught I know, been thecause of the damnation of many. "These are the things, I say, together with many more of the same kind, that come to him; yea, they will come with him, yea, and will stare him in the face, willtell him of his baseness and laugh him to scorn, all the way that heis coming to God by Christ-I know what I say-and this makes hiscoming to God by Christ hard and difficult to him. Shame coverethhis face all the way he comes. He doth not know what to do; the Godthat he is returning to is the God that he has slighted, the Godbefore whom he has preferred the vilest lusts; and he knows Godknows it, and has before Him all his ways. 

The man that has been a backslider, and is returning to God, cantell strange stories, and yet such as are very true. No man was inthe whale's belly, and came out again alive, but backsliding andreturning Jonah; consequently no man could tell how he was there, what he felt there, what he saw there, and what workings of heart hehad when he was there, so well as he. 

The returning again of the backslider gives a second testimony tothe truth of man's state being by nature miserable, of the vanity ofthis world, of the severity of the law, certainty of death, andterribleness of judgment to come. His first coming to God by Christtold them so, but his second coming tells them so with a doubleconfirmation of the truth. "It is so, " saith his first coming; "OH, IT is SO!" saith his second. 

The backsliding of a Christian comes through the overmuch persuadingof Satan and lust, that the man was mistaken, and that there was nosuch horror in the things from which he fled, nor so much good inthe things to which he hasted. "Turn again, fool, " says the devil, "turn again to thy former course. I wonder what frenzy it was thatdrove thee to thy heels, and that made thee leave so much goodbehind thee, as other men find in the lusts of the flesh and thegood of the world. As for the law, and death, and an imagination ofthe day of judgment, they are but mere scarecrows, set up by politeheads to keep the ignorant in subjection. " "Well, " says thebackslider, "I will go back again and see;" so, fool as he is, hegoes back, and has all things ready to entertain him: his consciencesleeps, the world smiles, flesh is sweet, carnal company complimentshim, and all that can be got is presented to this backslider toaccommodate him. But behold, he doth again begin to see his ownnakedness, and he perceives that the law is whetting his axe: as forthe world, he perceives it is a bubble; he also smells the smell ofbrimstone, for God hath scattered it upon his tabernacle and itbegins to burn within him. "Oh, " saith he, "I am deluded; Oh, I amensnared. My first sight of things was true. I see it so again. " Nowhe begins to be for flying again to his first refuge: "O God, " saithhe, "I am undone; I have turned from thy truth to lies; I believedthem such at first, and find them such at last: have mercy upon me, O God. "

This, I say, is a testimony, a second testimony by the same man. 

"And him that cometh to me, I will in no wise cast out. " I shallhere speak a word or two to him that is coming, after backsliding, to Jesus Christ for life. 

Thy way, O thou sinner of a double dye, thy way is open to come toJesus Christ. I mean thee, whose heart, after long backsliding, doththink of turning to him again. Thy way, I say, is open to him, as isthe way of the other sorts of comers; as appears by what follows. 

1. Because the text makes no exception against thee. It doth notsay, "And any one but a backslider; any one but him. " The text dothnot thus object, but indefinitely openeth wide its golden arms toevery coming soul, without the least exception. Therefore thoumayest come. And take heed that thou shut not that door against thysoul by unbelief, which God has opened by his grace. 

2. Nay, the text is so far from excepting against thy coming, thatit strongly suggesteth that thou art one of the souls intended, Othou coming backslider; else why need that clause have been soinserted, "I will in no wise cast out?" as if he should say, "Thoughthose that come now are such as have formerly backslidden, I will inno wise cast away the fornicator, the covetous, the railer, thedrunkard, or other common sinners, nor yet the backslider neither. "

If thou yet, instead of repenting and doing thy first works, dostremain a backslider, 1. Then remember that thou must die; and remember also, that whenthe terrors of God, of death, and a back-slidden heart meettogether, there will be sad work in that soul: this is the man thathangeth tilting over the mouth of hell, while death is cutting thethread of his life. 

2. Remember, that though God doth sometimes, yea, often, receivebacksliders, yet it is not always so. Some draw back unto perdition;for, because they have flung up God and would none of him, he injustice flings up them and their souls for ever. Prov. I: 24-28. 

XIII. THE CHRISTIAN RACE. 

They that will go to heaven must run for it, because, as the way islong, so the time in which they are to get to the end of it is veryuncertain; the time present is the only time: it may be thou hast nomore time allotted thee than that thou now enjoyest: "Boast notthyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bringforth. " Do not say, I have time enough to get to heaven seven yearshence; for I tell thee the bell may toll for thee before seven daysmore be ended; and when death comes, away thou must go, whether thouart provided or not; and therefore look to it--make no delays--it isnot good dallying with things of so great concernment as thesalvation or damnation of thy soul. You know, he that hath a greatway to go in a little time, and less by half than he thinks of, hehad need to run for it. 

They that will have heaven must run for it, because the devil, thelaw, sin, death, and hell, follow them. There is never a poor soulthat is going to heaven, but the devil, the law, sin, death, andhell make after that soul. "Your adversary the devil, as a roaringlion, walketh about seeking whom he may devour. " And I will assureyou the devil is nimble; he can run apace, he is light of foot, hehath overtaken many, he hath turned up their heels, and hath giventhem an everlasting fall. Also the law, that can shoot a great way;have a care thou keep out of the reach of those great guns the tencommandments. Hell also hath a wide mouth; it can stretch itselffurther than you are aware of. And as the angel said to Lot, "Takeheed; look not behind thee, neither tarry thou in all theplain"--that is, anywhere between this and the mountain--"lest thoube consumed;" so say I to thee, Take heed; tarry not, lest eitherthe devil, hell, death, or the fearful curses of the law of God, doovertake thee and throw thee down in the midst of thy sins; thenthou, as well as I, wouldst say, They that will have heaven must runfor it. 

They that go to heaven must run for it, because, perchance, thegates of heaven may be shut shortly. Sometimes sinners have notheaven's gates open to them so long as they suppose, and if they beonce shut against a man, they are so heavy that all the men in theworld and all the angels in heaven are not able to open them. "Ishut, and no man can open, " saith Christ. And how if thou shouldstcome but one quarter of an hour too late? I tell thee it will costthee an eternity to bewail thy misery in. Francis Spira [Footnote:Francis Spira, an eminent lawyer of Padua, Italy, flurished in thefirst half of the sixteenth century. He embraced the reformedreligion, and advocated evangelical sentiments with very great zeal. But at legnth, terrified by the threats of the papal church, he madea public recantation of his religious opinions. His apostasy fromthe faith threw him into despair, and amid intolerable mentalagonies, refusing all sustenance and comfort, and affirming hiscertain condemnation for having abjured the known truth, hemiserably expired. See Sleidan's History of the Reformation, page475. ] can tell thee what it is to stay till the gate of mercy bequite shut; or to run so lazily that they be shut before thou getwithin them. What, to be shut out--what, out of heaven! Sinner, rather than lose it, run for it; yea, and "so run that thou mayestobtain. "

Be not daunted though thou meetest with never so manydiscouragements in thy journey thither. That man that is resolvedfor heaven, if Satan cannot win him by flatteries, he will endeavorto weaken him by discouragements, saying, Thou art a sinner, thouhast broke God's law, thou art not elected, thou comest too late, the day of grace & past, God doth not care for thee, thy heart isnaught, thou art lazy--with a hundred other discouragingsuggestions. Then thou must encourage thyself with the freeness ofthe promises, the tender-heartedness of Christ, the freeness of hisinvitations to come in, the greatness of the sin of others that havebeen pardoned, and that the same God through the same Christ holdethforth the same grace free as ever. If these be not thy meditations, thou wilt draw very heavily in the way to heaven if thou do not giveup all for lost; therefore I say, take heart in thy journey, and sayto them that seek thy destruction, "Rejoice not against me, O myenemy, for when I fall I shall arise, when I sit in darkness theLord shall be a light unto me. "

Let me give thee a few motives along with thee. It may be they willbe as good as a pair of spurs to prick on thy lumpish heart in thisrich journey. 

1. Consider there is no way but this; thou must either win or lose. If thou winnest, then heaven, God, Christ, glory, ease, peace, life, yea, life eternal, are thine; thou shalt be made equal to the angelsin heaven; thou shalt sorrow no more, sigh no more, feel no morepain; thou shalt be out of the reach of sin, hell, death, the devil, the grave, and whatever else may endeavor thy hurt. 

But contrariwise, if thou lose, then thy loss is heaven, glory, God, Christ, ease, peace, and whatever else tends to make eternitycomfortable to the saints; besides, thou procurest eternal death, sorrow, pain, blackness and darkness, fellowship with devils, together with the everlasting damnation of thy own soul. 

2. Consider that this devil, this hell, death, and damnation followafter thee as hard as they can, and have their commission so to doby the law, against which thou hast sinned; and therefore for thysoul's sake make haste. 

3. If they seize upon thee before thou get to the city of refuge, they will put an everlasting stop to thy journey. This also cries, Run for it. 

4. Know also, that now heaven-gates, the heart of Christ with hisarms are wide open to receive thee O methinks that thisconsideration, that the devil followeth after to destroy, and thatChrist standeth open-armed to receive, should make thee reach outand fly with all haste and speed!

5. Keep thine eyes upon the prize: be sure that thine eyes becontinually upon the profit thou art like to get. The reason why menare so apt to faint in their race for heaven, lies chiefly in eitherof these two things:

(1. ) They do not seriously consider the worth of the prize; or elseif they do, they are afraid it is too good for them. Therefore keepthine eye much upon the excellency, the sweetness, the beauty, thecomfort, the peace that is to be had there by those that win theprize. 

(2. ) And do not let the thoughts of the rareness of the place makethee say in thy heart, This is too good for me; for I tell thee, heaven is prepared for whosoever will accept of it, and they shallhe entertained with hearty good welcome. 

6. Think much of them that are gone before; how safe they are in thearms of Jesus. Would they be here again for a thousand worlds? Or ifthey were, would they be afraid that God would not make themwelcome? What would they judge of thee if they knew thy heart beganto fail thee in thy journey, or thy sins began to allure thee and topersuade thee to stop thy race? Would they not call thee a thousandfools, and say, O that he did but see what we see, feel what wefeel, and taste of the dainties that we taste of? O if he were onequarter of an hour to behold, to feel, to taste, and enjoy but thethousandth part of what we enjoy, what would he do? What would hesuffer? What would he leave undone? Would he favor sin? Would helove this world below? Would he be afraid of friends, or shrink atthe most fearful threatenings that the greatest tyrants could inventto give him? Nay, those who have had but a sight of these things byfaith, when they have been as far off from them as heaven fromearth, yet they have been able to say with a comfortable and merryheart as the bird that sings in the spring, that this and more shallnot stop them from running to heaven. Sometimes when my base hearthath been inclining to this world, and to loiter in my journeytowards heaven, the very consideration of the glorious saints andangels in heaven hath caused me to rush forward--to disdain thesepoor, low, empty, beggarly things, and say to my soul, Come soul, let us not be weary; let us see what this heaven is; let us evenventure all for it, and try if that will quit the cost. SurelyAbraham, David, Paul, and the rest of the saints of God, were aswise as any are now, and yet they lost all for this gloriouskingdom. 

7. To encourage thee a little further, set to work, and when thouhast run thyself down weary, then the Lord Jesus will take thee upand carry thee. Is not this enough to make any poor soul begin hisrace? Thou perhaps criest, "O, but I am feeble, I am lame;" well, but Christ has a bosom; consider, therefore, when thou hast runthyself down weary, he will put thee in his bosom. "He shall gatherthe lambs with his arms, and carry them in his bosom. " This is theway that fathers take to encourage their children, saying, Run, sweet babe, until thou art weary, and then I will take thee up andcarry thee. 

8. Or else he will convey new strength from heaven into thy soul. 

9. Again, methinks the very industry of the devil, and the industryof his servants, should make you that have a desire to heaven andhappiness, run apace. Why, the devil he will lose no time, spare nopains, also neither will his servants, both to seek the destructionof themselves and others; and shall not we be as industrious for ourown salvation? Shall the world venture the damnation of their soulsfor a poor corruptible crown, and shall not we venture the loss of afew trifles for an eternal crown? Shall they venture the loss ofeternal friends, as God to love, Christ to redeem, the Holy Spiritto comfort, heaven for habitation, saints and angels for company, and all this to get and hold communion with sin and this world, anda few base wretches like themselves? And shall not we labor as hard, run as fast, seek as diligently, nay, a hundred times morediligently, for the company of these glorious eternal friends, though with the loss of such as these, nay, with the loss of athousand times better than these poor, low, base, contemptiblethings? Shall it be said at the last day, that wicked men made morehaste to hell than you did make to heaven; that they spent morehours, days, and that early and late, for hell, than you spent forthat which is ten thousand thousand of thousand times better? O letit not be so, but run with all might and main. 

Is the soul such an excellent thing, and is the loss thereof sounspeakably great? Then this commends those for the wise ones thatabove all business concern themselves with the salvation of theirsouls; those that make all other matters but things by the by, andthe salvation of their soul the one thing needful. 

Let me then encourage those that are of this mind to be strong andhold on their way. Soul, thou hast chosen right; I will say of thychoice, as David said of Goliath's sword, "There is none like that, give it me. "

But who told thee that thy soul was such an excellent thing as bythy practice thou declarest thou believest it to be? What, set moreby thy soul than by all the world? What, cast a world behind thyback for the welfare of a soul! Is not this to play the fool in theaccount of sinners, while angels wonder at and rejoice for thywisdom?

What a thing is this, that thy soul and its welfare should be morein thy esteem than all these glories wherewith the eyes of the worldare dazzled! Surely, thou hast looked upon the sun, and that makesgold look like a clod of clay in thine eyesight. 

But who put the thoughts of the excellencies of the things that areeternal--I say, who put the thoughts of the excellency of thosethings into thy mind in this wanton age, in an age wherein thethoughts of eternal life and the salvation of the soul are with toomany like the Morocco ambassador [Footnote: Evelyn, who lived in thetimes of Charles I. , Cromwell. Charles II. , and William, refers inhis "Diary" to this ambassador, named Hamet. When presented to theking, he and his retinue were "clad in the Moorish habite, cassocksof colored cloth or silk, with buttons and loopes; over this anALHAGA or white woolen mantle, so large as to wrap both head andbody; a shash or small turban; naked legg'd and armed, but withleather socks like the Turks; rich scymeters, and largecalico-sleeved shirts. The ambassador had a string of pearls oddlywoven in the turban. Their presents were lions and estridges(ostriches. ) But the concourse and tumult of the people wasintolerable, so as the officers could keep no order. "] and his menof strange faces, in strange habits, with strange gestures andbehaviors, monsters to behold?

But where hadst thou that heart that gives entertainment to thesethoughts, these heavenly thoughts? These thoughts are like theFrench Protestants, [Footnote: By the famous edict of Nantes, whichwas granted the Huguenots by Henry IV. , they were allowed liberty ofconscience and the free exercise of religion. Louis XIV. , grandsonof Henry, after a series of arbitrary infractions of that edict byhis father and himself at the instigation of the Jesuits, at lengthin 1685 abrogated it, and banished the Protestants from the kingdomunder circumstances of aggravated cruelty. Great numbers of themwere dispersed through all the countries of Europe. Evelyn, in hisDiary, says that in 1685, "there had now been numbered to passethrough Geneva onely forty thousand towards Swisserland. In Holland, Denmark, and all Germany were dispersed some hundred thousands, besides those in England. " In the Memoirs of the Reformation inFrance prefixed to Saurin's Sermons, it is stated that eight hundredthousand were banished from France, and that they carried with themmore than twenty millions of property. The refugees charged theirsufferings on the RELIGION of Rome, for Pope Innocent XI highlyapproved of this persecution. He wrote a brief to the king, assuringhim that what he had done against the heretics of his kingdom wouldbe immortalieied by the eulogies of the Catholic church. Hedelivered a discourse in the Consistory in 1689, in which he said, "The most Christian king's zeal and piety did wonderfully appear inextirpating heresy. " He ordered the TE DEUM to be sung. Evelyn says, "I was show'd the harangue which the bishop of Valentia on Rhonemade in the name of the cleargie, celebrating the French king forpersecuting the poor Protestants; with this expression in it: 'Hisvictory over heresy was greater than all the conquests of Alexanderand Caesar. '"] banished thence where they willingly would haveharbor: how came they to thy house, to thy heart, and to findentertainment in thy soul? The Lord keep them in every imaginationof the thoughts of thy heart for ever, and incline thine heart toseek him more and more. 

And since the whole world have slighted and despised and countedfoolish the thoughts wherewith thy soul is exercised, what strongand mighty supporter is it upon and with which thou bearest up thyspirit, and takest encouragement in this thy forlorn, unoccupied, and singular way, for so I dare say it is with the most? Butcertainly it is something above thyself, and that is more mighty touphold thee than is the power, rage, and malice of all the world tocast thee down, or else thou couldst not bear up, now the stream andthe force thereof are against thee. 

OBJECTION. "I know my soul is an excellent thing, and that the worldto come and its glories, even in the smallest glimpse thereof, doswallow up all the world that is here; my heart also doth greatlydesire to be exercised about the thoughts of eternity, and I countmyself never better than when my poor heart is filled with them; andas for the rage and fury of this world, it swayeth very little withme, for my heart is come to a point; but yet for all that, I meetwith many discouragements, and such things as indeed do weaken mystrength in the way. "

But, brave soul, pray tell me what the things are that discouragethee, and that weaken thy strength in the way. 

"Why, the amazing greatness of this my enterprise. I am now pursuingthings of the highest, the greatest, the most enriching nature, eveneternal things; and the thoughts of the greatness of them drownedme: for when the heat of my spirit in the pursuit after them is alittle returned and abated, methinks I hear myself talking thus tomyself: Fond fool, canst thou imagine that such a gnat, a flea asthou art, can take and possess the heavens, and mantle thyself up inthe eternal glories? If thou makest first a trial of thesuccessfulness of thy endeavors upon things far lower, more base, but much more easy to obtain, as crowns, kingdoms, earldoms, dukedoms, gold, silver, or the like, how vain are these attempts ofthine, and yet thou thinkest to possess thy soul of heaven. Away, away! by the height thereof, thou mayest well conclude it is farabove, out of thy reach; and by the breadth thereof, it is too largefor thee to grasp; and by the nature of the excellent glory thereof, too good for thee to possess. These are the thoughts that sometimesdiscourage me, and that weaken my strength in the way. "

ANSWER. The greatness of thy undertakings does but show thenobleness of thy soul, in that it cannot, will not be content withsuch low and dry things as the base-born spirits that are in theworld can and do content themselves withal. 

And as to the greatness of the things thou aimest at, though theybe, as they are indeed, things that have not their like, yet theyare not too big for God to give; and he has promised to give them tothe soul that seeketh him; yea, he hath prepared the kingdom, andlaid up in the kingdom of heaven the things that thy soul longethfor, presseth after, and cannot he content without. 

Art thou got into the right way? Art thou in Christ's righteousness?Do not say, Yes, in thy heart, when in truth there is no suchmatter. It is a dangerous thing, you know, for a man to think he isin the right way, when he is in the wrong. It is the next way forhim to lose his way; and not only so, but if he run for heaven, asthou sayest thou dost, even to lose that too. O this is the miseryof most men, to persuade themselves that they are right, when theynever had one foot in the way! The Lord give thee understandinghere, or else thou art undone for ever. Prithee, soul, search whenit was thou turnedst out of thy sins and righteousness into therighteousness of Jesus Christ. I say, dost thou see thyself in him;and is he more precious to thee than the whole world? Is thy mindalways musing on him; and lovest thou to be walking with him? Dostthou count his company more precious than the whole world? Dost thoucount all things but poor, lifeless, empty, vain things, withoutcommunion with him? Doth his company sweeten all things; and hisabsence imbitter all things? Soul, I beseech thee be serious, andlay it to heart, and do not take things of such weighty concernmentas the salvation or damnation of thy soul without good ground. 

Art thou unladen of the things of this world; as pride, pleasures, profits, lusts, vanities? What, dost thou think to run fast enough, with the world, thy sins and lusts in thy heart? I tell thee, soul, they that have laid all aside, every weight, every sin, and are gotinto the nimblest posture, they find work enough to run; so to runas to hold out. To run through all the opposition, all the jostles, all the rubs, over all the stumbling-blocks, over all the snares, from all the entanglements that the devil, sin, the world, and theirown hearts lay before them--I tell thee, if thou art goingheavenward, thou wilt find it no small or easy matter. 

Art thou therefore discharged or unladen of these things? Never talkof going to heaven if thou art not. It is to be feared thou wilt befound among the "many that shall seek to enter in and shall not beable. " If so, then in the next place, what will become of them thatare grown weary before they are got half-way thither? Why, man, itis he that holdeth out to the end, that must be saved; it is he thatovercometh, that shall inherit all things; it is not every one thatbegins. Agrippa took a fair step for a sudden: he steps almost intothe bosom of Christ in less than half an hour. "Almost, " saith he toPaul, "thou persuadest me to be a Christian. " Ah, it was but ALMOST;and so he had as good have never been a WHIT; he stepped fairindeed, but yet he stepped short; he was hot while he was at it, buthe was quickly out of wind. O this BUT ALMOST! I tellyou, this BUTALMOST lost his soul. Methinks I have seen sometimes how these poorwretches that get but almost to heaven, how fearfully their almostand their but almost will torment them in hell; when they shall cryout in the bitterness of their souls, saying, "Almost a Christian. Iwas almost got into the kingdom, almost out of the hands of thedevil, almost out of my sins, almost from under the curse of God;almost, and that was all; almost, but not altogether. O that Ishould be almost at heaven, and should not go quite through!"Friend, it is a sad thing to sit down before we are in heaven, andto grow weary before we come to the place of rest; and if it shouldbe thy case, I am sure thou dost not so run as to obtain. 

EVANGELIST. The crown is before you, and it is an incorruptible one;"So run, that you may obtain it. " Some there be that set out forthis crown, and after they have gone far for it, another comes inand takes it from them: "Hold fast, therefore, that ye have; let noman take your crown:" you are not yet out of the gunshot of thedevil; "you have not resisted unto blood, striving against sin:" letthe kingdom be always before you, and believe stead-fastlyconcerning things that are invisible; let nothing that is on thisside the other world get within you; and, above all, look well toyour own hearts and to the lusts thereof, for they are "deceitfulabove all things, and desperately wicked:" set your faces like aflint; you have all power in heaven and earth on your side. 

Though the way to heaven be but one, yet there are many crookedlanes and by-paths that shoot down upon it, as I may say. And again, notwithstanding the kingdom of heaven be the chief city, yet usuallythose by-paths are most beaten, most travellers go those ways; andtherefore the way to heaven is hard to be found, and as hard to bekept in, by reason of these. Yet, nevertheless, it is in this caseas it was with the harlot of Jericho; she had one scarlet threadtied in her window, by which her house was known: so it is here; thescarlet streams of Christ's blood run throughout the way to thekingdom of heaven; therefore mind that: see if thou do find thebesprinkling of the blood of Christ in the way; and if thou do, beof good cheer, thou art in the right way. 

XIV. TRIALS OF THE CHRISTIAN

AFFLICTION--ITS NATURE AND BENEFITS. 

The school of the cross is the school of light; it discovers theworld's vanity, baseness, and wickedness, and lets us see more ofGod's mind. Out of dark afflictions comes a spiritual light. 

In times of affliction, we commonly meet with the sweetestexperiences of the love of God. 

The end of affliction is the discovery of sin; and of that, to bringus to a Saviour. 

Doth not God ofttimes even take occasion, by the hardest of thingsthat come upon us, to visit our souls with the comforts of hisSpirit, to lead us into the glory of his word and to cause us tosavor that love that he has had for us even from before the worldbegan till now? A nest of bees and honey did Samson find even in thebelly of that lion that roared upon him. And is all this no good; orcan we do without such holy appointments of God? Let these things beconsidered by us, and let us learn like Christians to kiss the rod, and love it. 

The lamps of Gideon were discovered, when his soldiers' pitcherswere broken: if our pitchers are broken for the Lord and hisgospel's sake, those lamps will then be discovered that before layhid and unseen. 

People that live high and in idleness bring diseases upon the body;and they that live in all fulness of gospel ordinances, and are notexercised with trials, grow gross, are diseased and full of badhumors in their souls. 

The righteous are apt to be like well-fed children, too wanton, ifGod should not appoint them some fasting-days. 

The Lord useth his flail of tribulation to separate the chaff fromthe wheat. 

Observe Paul: he died daily, he was always delivered unto death, hedespaired of life. And this is the way to be prepared for anycalamity. When a man thinks he has only to prepare for an assault byfootmen, how shall he contend with horses; or if he looks no furtherthan to horses, what will he do at the swellings of Jordan?

Oh, when every providence of God unto thee is like the messengers ofJob, and the last to bring more heavy tidings than all that wentbefore him; when life, estate, wife, children, body and soul, andall at once, seem to be struck at by heaven and earth, here are hardlessons--now to behave myself even as a weaned child: now to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name ofthe Lord. "

Our afflictions work out for us a far more exceeding and eternalweight of glory. Our afflictions do it, not only because there islaid up a reward for the afflicted according to the measure ofaffliction, but because afflictions, and so every service of God, make the heart more deep, more experimental, more knowing andprofound, and so, more able to hold, to contain, and bear more. 

Let Christians beware that they set not times for God, lest all mensee their folly. "It is not for you to know the times and theseasons which the Father hath put in his own power;" yea, I sayagain, take heed lest, for thy setting of God a seven-day's time, heset thee so many as seven times seven. 

God's time is the time, the best time, because it is the timeappointed by him for the proof and trial of our graces, and that inwhich so much of the rage of the enemy and of the power of God'smercy, may the better be discovered unto us. "I the Lord do hastenit in his time;" not before, though we were the signet upon hishand. 

Afflictions are governed by God, both as to time, number, nature, and measure. In measure, when it shooteth forth, thou wilt debatewith it: "He stayeth his rough wind in the day of his east wind. "Our times, therefore, and our conditions in these times, are in thehand of God, yea, and so are our souls and bodies, to be kept andpreserved from the evil while the rod of God is upon us. 

Ease and release from persecution and affliction come not by chance, or by the good moods and gentle dispositions of men; but the Lorddoth hold them back from sin, the Lord restraineth them. 2 Chron. 18:31. 

"And he stayed yet other seven days. " It is not God's way with hispeople to show them all their troubles at once, but first he showsthem a part: first, forty days, after that, seven other days, andyet again, seven days more; that coming upon them by piecemeal, theymay the better be able to travel through them. When Israel was inaffliction in Egypt, they knew not the trial which would meet themat the Red sea. Again, when they had gone through that, they littlethought that yet for forty years they must be tempted and proved inthe wilderness. 

"And Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked;" the failingagain of his expected comforter caused him to be up and doing. Probably he had not as yet uncovered the ark, that is, to look roundabout him, if the dove, by returning, had pleased his humor; but shefailing, he stirs up himself. 

Thus it should also be with the Christian now. Doth the dove forbearto come to thee with a leaf in her bill as before? Let not this makethee sullen and mistrustful, but uncover the ark and look; and bylooking, thou shalt see a further testimony of what thou receivestby the first manifestations. "He looked, and behold the earth wasdry. "

God doth not let us see the hills for our help before we have firstof all seen them drowned. Look not to them, therefore, while thewater is at the rising; but if they begin to cease their raging, ifthey begin to fall, and with that the tops of the mountains be seen, you may look upon them with comfort; they are tokens of God'sdeliverance. Gen. 8. 

It was requisite that the hills, Gen. 7:19, should be covered, thatNoah might not have confidence in them; but surely this dispensationof God was a heart-shaking providence to Noah and them that werewith him; for here indeed was his faith tried, there was no hillleft in all the world; now were his carnal helpers gone, there wasnone shut up or left. Now therefore, if they could rejoice, it mustbe only in the power of God. 

Noah was to have respect in his deliverance not only to himself andfamily, but to the good of all the world. Men's spirits are toonarrow for the mind of God, when their chief end, or their onlydesign in their enjoying this or the other mercy, is for the sake oftheir own selves only. It cannot be according to God, that suchdesires should be encouraged. "None of us liveth unto himself;" why, then, should we desire life only for ourselves?

The church cries out thus: "God be merciful to us and bless us, andcause his face to shine upon us. " Why? "That thy way may be knownupon earth, and thy saving health among all nations. " So David:"Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me with thyfree Spirit; then will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinnersshall be converted unto thee. "

So then, we must not desire to come out of trials and afflictionsalone or by ourselves, but that in our deliverance the salvation ofmany may be concerned. 

In every affliction and persecution, the devil's design is to impairChrist's kingdom; wherefore, no marvel that God designs in ourdeliverance the impairing and lessening the kingdom of sin andSatan. Wherefore, O thou church of God, which art now upon the wavesof affliction and temptation, when thou comest out of the furnace, if thou come out at the bidding of God, there shall come out withthee the fowl, the beast, and abundance of creeping things. Gen. 8:17. "O Judah, he hath set a harvest for thee, when I returned thecaptivity of my people. "

PERSECUTION. 

There are several degrees of suffering for righteousness: there isthe scourge of the tongue, the ruin of an estate, the loss ofliberty, a jail, a gibbet, a stake, a dagger. Now answerable tothese are the comforts of the Holy Ghost prepared, like to like, part proportioned to part; only the consolations are said to abound. 2 Cor. 1:5. 

But the lighter the sufferings are, the more difficult it is tojudge of the comforts of the Spirit of God; for it is common for aman to be comfortable under sufferings when he suffereth but little, and knows also that his enemy can touch his flesh, his estate, orthe like, but little. And this maybe the joy of the flesh, theresult of reason; and may be very much, if not altogether, without amixture of the joy of the Holy Ghost therewith. The more deep, therefore, and the more dreadful the sufferings are, the moreclearly are seen the comforts of the Spirit. When a man has comfortwhere the flesh is dead, stirreth not, and can do nothing; when aman can be comfortable at the loss of all; when he is under sentenceof death, or at the place of execution--if yet a man's cause, aman's conscience, the promise, and the Holy Ghost, have all onecomfortable voice, and do all together with their trumpets make onesound in the soul, then good are the comforts of God and his Spirit. 

There are several degrees of sufferings; wherefore it is not to beexpected that he that suffers but little should partake of thecomforts that are prepared for them that suffer much. He that hasonly the scourge of the tongue, knows not what are the comforts thatare prepared for him that meets with the scourge of the whip. Andhow should a man know what manner of comforts the Holy Ghost dothuse to give at the jail and the gibbet, when himself forrighteousness never was there?

Persecution of the godly was never intended of God for theirdestruction, but for their glory, and to make them shine the morewhen they are beyond this valley of the shadow of death. 

"We that are Christians have been trained up by his Son in hisschool this many a day, and have been told what a God our Father is, what an arm he has, and with what a voice he can thunder; how he candeck himself with majesty and excellency, and array himself withbeauty and glory; how he can cast abroad the rage of his wrath, andbehold every one that is proud and abase him. Have we not talked ofwhat he did at the Red sea and in the land of Ham, many years ago;and have we forgot him now? Have we not vaunted and boasted of ourGod, both in church, pulpit, and books, and spake to the praise ofthem that attempted to drive antichrist out of the world with theirlives and their blood instead of stones; and are we afraid of ourGod? He was God, a Creator, then; and is he not God now? and will henot be as good to us as to them that have gone before us? or wouldwe limit him to appear in such ways as only smile upon our flesh, and have him stay and not show himself in his heart-shakingdispensations until we are dead and gone? What if we must now go toheaven, and what if he is thus come to fetch us to himself? If wehave been as wise as serpents and innocent as doves--if we can say, Neither against the law of the Jews, neither against the temple, noragainst Caesar, have we offended any thing at all--of what should webe afraid? Let heaven and earth come together; I dare say they willnot hurt us. "

Religion that is pure is a hot thing; and il usually burns thefingers of those that fight against it. 

Ah, when God makes the bed, he must needs lie easy whom weaknesshath cast thereon: a blessed pillow hath. That man for his head, though to all beholders it is hard as a stone. Psa. 41:1-3. 

It is as ordinary as for the light to shine, for God to make backand dismal dispensations usher in bright and pleasing. 

Christian reader, let me beg of thee that thou wilt not be offendedeither with God or men, if the cross is laid heavy upon thee. Notwith God, for he doeth nothing without a cause; nor with men, forthey are the hand of God: and will they, nill they, they are theservants of God to thee for good. Psa. 17:14; Jer. 24:5. Take, therefore, what comes from God by them thankfully. If the messengerthat brings it is glad that it is in his power to do thee hurt andto afflict thee, if he skips for joy at thy calamity, be sorry forhim, pity him, and pray to thy Father for him: he is ignorant, andunderstandeth not the judgment of thy God; yea, he showeth by thishis behavior, that though he as God's ordinance serveth thee byafflicting thee, yet means he nothing less than to destroy thee: bythe which also he prognosticates before thee that he is working outhis own damnation by doing thee good. Lay therefore the woful stateof such to heart, and render him that which is good for his evil, and love for his hatred to thee; then shalt thou show that thou artmoved by a spirit of holiness, and art like thy heavenly Father. Andbe it so, that thy pity and prayers can do such a one no good, yetthey must light somewhere, or return again, as ships come laden fromthe Indies, full of blessings into thine own bosom. 

Poor man, thou hast thy time to be afflicted by thy enemies, thatthy golden graces may shine the more; thou art in the fire and theyblow the bellows. But wouldst thou change places with them? Wouldstthou sit upon their place of ease? Dost thou desire to be with them?O rest thyself contented; in thy patience possess thy soul, and pityand bewail them in the condition in which they are. 

The cup that God's people in all ages have drank of, even the cup ofaffliction and persecution, it is not in the hand of the enemy, butin the hand of God; and he, not they, poureth out of the same. 

There are but two ways of obeying: the one to do that which I in myconscience do believe that I am bound to do, actively; and where Icannot obey actively, there I am willing to lie down and to sufferwhat they shall do unto me. 

A Christian, when he sees trouble coming upon him, should not fly inthe face of the instrument that brings, but in the face of the causeof its coming. Now the cause is thyself, thy base self, thy sinfulself, and thy unworthy carriages towards God under all the mercy, patience, and long-suffering that God has bestowed upon thee, andexercised towards thee. Here thou mayest quarrel, and be revenged, and spare not, so thou take vengeance in a right way; and thou wiltdo so, when thou takest it by godly sorrow. 1 Cor. 7:10, 11. 

It is a rare thing to suffer aright, and to have thy spirit insuffering beat only against God's enemy, sin. 

Let them that are God's sufferers pluck up a good heart; let themnot be afraid to trust God with their souls, and with their eternalconcerns. Let them cast all their care upon God, for he careth forthem. 

"But I am in the dark. " I answer, never stick at that. It is mostbravely done to trust God with the soul in the dark, and to resolveto serve God for nothing, rather than give out. Not to see and yetto believe, and to be a follower of the Lamb and yet to be atuncertainty what we shall have at last, argues love, fear, faith, and an honest mind, and gives the greatest sign of one that hathtrue sincerity in his soul. It was this that made Job and Peter sofamous; and the want of it took away much of the glory of the faithof Thomas. Wherefore, believe verily that God is ready, willing;yea, that he looks for and expects that thou, who art a sufferer, shouldst commit the keeping of thy soul to him as unto a faithfulCreator. 

Is there nothing in dark providences, for the sake of the sight andobservation of which such a day may be rendered lovely, when it isupon us? Is there nothing of God, of his wisdom and power andgoodness, to be seen in thunder and lightning, in hailstones, instorms and darkness and tempests? Why then is it said, he hath hisway in the whirlwind and storm? And why have God's servants of oldmade such notes, and observed from them such excellent and wonderfulthings? There is that of God to be seen in such a day, which cannotbe seen in another. His power in holding up some, his wrath inleaving others; his making shrubs to stand, and his suffering cedarsto fall; his infatuating the counsels of men, and his making thedevil to outwit himself; his giving his presence to his people, andhis leaving his foes in the dark; his discovering the uprightness ofthe hearts of his sanctified ones, and laying open the hypocrisy ofothers, is a working of spiritual wonders in the day of his wrathand of the whirlwind and storm. 

These days, these days of trial, are the days that do most aptlygive an occasion to Christians to take the exactest measures andscantlings of ourselves. We are apt to overshoot in days that arecalm, and to think ourselves far higher and more strong than we findwe are when the trying day is upon us. The mouth of Gaal, Judges9:38, and the boasts of Peter, were great and high before the trialcame; but when that came, they found themselves to fall far short ofthe courage they thought they had. We also, before the temptationcomes, think we can walk upon the sea; but when the winds blow, wefeel ourselves begin to sink. Hence such a time is rightly said tobe a time to try us, or to find out what we are; and is there nogood in this? Is it not this that rightly rectifies our judgmentabout ourselves, that makes us to know ourselves, that tends to cutoff those superfluous sprigs of pride and self-concitedness, wherewith we are subject to be overcome? Is not such a day the daythat bends us, humbles us, and that makes us bow before God for ourfaults committed in our prosperity? And yet doth it yield no goodunto us? We could not live without such turnings of the hand of Godupon us. 

Thine own doubts and mistrusts about what God will do and aboutwhither thou shalt go, when thou for him hast suffered awhile he canresolve, yea, dissolve, crush, and bring to nothing. He can makefear flee far away, and place heavenly confidence in its room. Hecan bring invisible and eternal things to the eye of thy soul, andmake thee see THAT, in those things in which thine enemies shall seenothing, that thou shalt count worth the loss of ten thousand livesto enjoy. He can pull such things out of his bosom, and can put suchthings into thy mouth; yea, can make thee choose to be gone, thoughthrough the flames, rather than to stay here and die in silkensheets. Yea, he can himself come near, and bring his heaven andglory to thee. The Spirit of glory and of God resteth upon them thatare but reproached for the name of Christ. And what the Spirit ofglory is, and what is his resting upon his sufferers, is quitebeyond the knowledge of the world, is but little felt by saints atpeace. They that are engaged, that are under the lash forChrist--they, I say, have it, and understand something of it. 

Look not upon the sufferings of God's people for their religion, tobe tokens of God's great anger. It is, to be sure, as our heavenlyFather orders it, rather a token of his love; for suffering for thegospel and for the sincere profession of it, is indeed a dignity putupon us, a dignity that all men are not counted worthy of. Count ittherefore a favor that God has bestowed upon thee his truth, andgrace to enable thee to profess it, though thou be made to sufferfor it. 

Let God's people think never the worse of religion because of thecoarse entertainment it meeteth with in the world. It is better'tochoose God and affliction, than the world, and sin, and carnalpeace. 

It is necessary that we should suffer, because we have sinned; andif God will have us suffer a little while here for his word, insteadof suffering for our sins in hell, let us be content, and count it amercy with thankfulness. 

The wicked are reserved to the day of destruction, they shall bebrought forth to the day of wrath. How kindly, therefore, doth Goddeal with us, when he chooses to afflict us but for a little, thatwith everlasting kindness he may have mercy upon us. 

Since the rod is God's as well as the child, let us not look uponour troubles as if they came from and were managed only by hell. Itis true, a persecutor has a black mark upon him; but yet theScriptures say that all the ways of the persecutor are God's. Wherefore as we should, so again we should not, be afraid of men: weshould be afraid of them, because they will hurt us; but we shouldnot be afraid of them as if they were let loose to do to us and withus what they will. God's bridle is upon them, God's hook is in theirnose; yea, and God hath determined the bounds of their rage; and ifhe lets them drive his church into the sea of troubles, it shall hehut up to the neck; and so far it may go and not he drowned. Isaiah8:7, 8. 

"May we not fly in a time of persecution? Your pressing upon us thatpersecution is ordered and managed by God, makes us afraid to fly. "

Thou mayest do in this even as it is in thy heart. If it is in thyheart to fly, fly; if it be in thy heart to stand, stand. Anythingbut a denial of the truth. He that flies, has warrant to do so; hethat stands, has warrant to do so. Yea, the same man may both flyand stand, as the call and working of God with his heart may be. Moses fled, Moses stood; Jeremiah fled, Jeremiah stood; Christwithdrew himself, Christ stood; Paul fled, Paul stood. 

But in flying, fly not from religion; fly not, for the sake of atrade; fly not, that thou mayest have care for the flesh: this iswicked, and will yield neither peace nor profit to thy soul, neithernow, nor at death, nor at the day of judgment. 

The hotter the rage and fury of men are against righteous ways, themore those that love righteousness grow therein. For they areconcerned for it, not to hide it, but to make it spangle; not toextinguish it, but to greaten it, and to show the excellency of itin all its features and in all its comely proportion. Now such anone will make straight steps for his feet, lest that which is lamebe turned out of the way. Heb. 12: 13. 

Now he shows to all men what faith is, by charity, by self-denial, by meekness, by gentleness, by long-suffering, by patience, by loveto enemies, and by doing good to them that hate us. Now he walkethupon his high places, yea, will not now admit that so slovenly aconversation should come within his doors, as did use to haunt hishouse in former times. Now it is Christ-mas, now it issuffering-time, now we must keep holy day every day. 

The reason is, that a man when he suffereth for Christ, is set upona hill, upon a stage, as in a theatre, to play a part for God in theworld. And you know, when men are to play their parts upon a stage, they count themselves if possible more bound to circumspection; andthat for the credit of their master, the credit of their art, andthe credit of themselves. For then the eyes of every body are fixed, they gape and stare upon them, Psalm 22:17, and a trip here is asbad as a fall in another place. Also now God himself looks on. Yea, he smileth, as being pleased to see a good behavior attending thetrial of the innocent. 

There are some of the graces of God that are in thee, that as tosome of their acts cannot show themselves, nor their excellency, northeir power, nor what they can do, but as thou art in a sufferingstate. Faith and patience in persecution have that to do, that toshow, and that to perform, that cannot be done, shown, norperformed, anywhere else but there. There is also a patience ofhope, a rejoicing in hope when we are in tribulation, that is overand above that which we have when we are at ease and quiet. Thatalso that all graces can endure and triumph over, shall not beknown, but when and as we are in a state of affliction. Now theseacts of our graces are of such worth and esteem with God, and he somuch delighteth in them, that occasion, through his righteousjudgment, must be ministered for them to show their beauty and whatbravery there is in them. 

It is also to be considered that those acts of our graces thatcannot be put forth or show themselves in their splendor but when wechristianly suffer, will yield such fruit to those whose trials callthem into exercise, as will in the day of God abound to theircomfort and tend to their perfection in glory. 1 Peter, 1:7; 2 Cor. 4:17. 

Why then should we think that our innocent lives will exempt us fromsufferings, or that troubles shall do us harm?

Alas, we have need of those bitter pills at which we so much wince. I see that I still have need of these trials; and if God will bythese judge me, as he judges his saints, that I may not he condemnedwith the world, I will cry, Grace, grace, for ever. 

Shall we deserve correction, and be angry because we have it? Orshall it come to save us, and shall we he offended with the handthat brings it? Our sickness is so great that our enemies takenotice of it; let them know too that we take our purges patiently. 

We are willing to pay for those potions that are given us for thehealth of our body, how sick soever they make us; and if God willhave us pay too for that which is to better our souls, why should wegrudge thereat? Those that bring us these medicines have littleenough for their pains; for my part, I profess I would not for agreat deal be bound, for their wages, to do their work. True, physicians are for the most part chargeable, and niggards are tooloath to part with their money to them; but when necessity says theymust either take physic or die, of two evils they desire to choosethe least. Why, affliction is better than sin; and if God sends theone to cleanse us from the other, let us thank him, and be alsocontent to pay the messenger. 

BUNYAN'S TRIAL AND IMPRISONMENT. FROM BUNYAN'S EXAMINATION BEFOREJUSTICES KEELING, CHESTER, [Footnote: On the restoration of thehouse of Stuart, Charles II. Entered London, in May, 1600. InNovember of that year, Bunyan was indicted for an upholder ofunlawful assemblies and conventicles, and for not conforming to thechurch of England. "He was sentenced, "] ETC. 

KEELING. Justice Keeling said that I ought not to preach, and askedme where I had my authority; with many other such like words. 

BUNYAN. I said that I would prove that it was lawful for me, andsuch as I am, to preach the word of God. 

KEELING. He said unto me, By what scripture?

BUNYAN. I said, by that in the first epistle of Peter, fourthchapter and eleventh verse, and Acts eighteenth, with otherscriptures; which he would not suffer me to mention, but said, Hold, not so many: which is the first?

BUNYAN. I said, This: "As every man hath received the gift, even solet him minister the same unto another, as good stewards of thegrace of God. If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles ofGod. "

KEELING. He said, Let me a little open that scripture to you. Asevery man hath received the gift; that is, said he, as every manhath received a trade, so let him follow says Crosby, "to perpetualbanishment, in pursuance of an act made by the then parliament. "This sentence was never executed, but he was kept in prison for morethan twelye years. 

Subsequently to this year, 1660, several oppressive acts werepassed, as the Corporation act, 1661, the act of Uniformity, 1662, the Five-mile act, 1665, the Conventicle acts, 1666 and 1671, andthe Test act, 1673. The act of Uniformity required that everyclergyman should be reordained; should declare his assent to everything contained in the Book of Common Prayer, etc. By this act, about two thousand dissenting ministers were ejected from theirlivings, and the most cruel persecution followed. The Five-mile andConventicle acts imposed various fines, imprisonment, and death uponall persons above sixteen years of age, who attended divine servicewhere the liturgy was not read; ordained that no non-conformistminister should live within five miles of any town; and aimed tosuppress all meetings for worship among the non-conformists. Thesein a short time made frightful desolations, and all the jails in thekingdom soon became filled with men who were the brightest ornamentsof Christianity. The persecuted included both sexes and all ages, from the child of nine or ten years, to the hoary-headed saint ofeighty. In Picart's Religious Ceremonies, it is stated that thenumber of dissenters of all sects, who perished in prison underCharles II. , was EIGHT THOUSAND. On the accession of William III. , these penalties and disabilities were removed by the Toleration act. The Corporation and Test acts, however, disgraced the statute-bookof England till the year 1828, when they were triumphantly repealed. Offer's Introduction, Hume's History, and Ency. Amer. It. If any manhath received a gift of tinkering, as thou hast done, let him followhis tinkering; and so other men their trades, and the divine hiscalling, etc. 

BUNYAN. Nay, sir, said I, but it is most clear that the apostlespeaks here of preaching the word: if you do but compare both theverses together, the next verse explains this gift what it is;saying, "If any man speak, let him speak as the oracles of God;" sothat it is plain that the Holy Ghost doth not so much in this placeexhort to civil callings, as to the exercising of those gifts thatwe have received from God. I would have gone on, but he would notgive me leave. 

KEELING. He said we might do it in our families, but not otherwise. 

BUNYAN. I said, if it was lawful to do good to some, it was lawfulto do good to more. If it was a good duty to exhort our families, itis good to exhort others; but if they held it a sin to meet togetherto seek the face of God, and exhort one another to follow Christ, Ishould sin still; for so we should do. 

KEELING. He said he was not so well versed in scripture as todispute, or words to that purpose. And said, moreover, that theycould not wait upon me any longer; but said to me, Then you confessthe indictment; do you not? Now, and not till now, I saw I wasindicted. 

BUNYAN. I said, This I confess: we have had many meetings togetherboth to pray to God and to exhort one another, and we have had thesweet comforting presence of the Lord among us for encouragement;blessed be his name therefor. I confessed myself guilty nootherwise. 

KEELING. Then said he, Hear your judgment. You must be had backagain to prison, and there lie for three months following; and atthree months' end, if you do not submit to go to church to heardivine service, and leave your preaching, you must be banished therealm: and if, after such a day as shall be appointed you to begone, you shall be found in this realm, or be found to come overagain without special license from the king, you must stretch by theneck for it; I tell you plainly. And so he bid my jailer have meaway. 

BUNYAN. I told him, as to this matter I was at a point with him; forif I was out of prison today, I would preach the gospel againtomorrow, by the help of God. 

I continued in prison till the next assizes, which are calledmidsummer assizes, being then kept in August, 1661. 

Now at that assizes, because I would not leave any possible meansunattempted that might be lawful, I did, by my wife, [Footnote:"This courageous woman [his second wife] and lord chief-justice Haleand Bunyan have long since met in heaven; but how little could theyrecognize each other's character on earth! How little could thedistressed, insulted wife have imagined, that beneath the judge'sermine there was beating the heart of a child of God, a man ofhumility, integrity, and prayer! How little could the great, learn-ed, illustrious, and truly pious judge have dreamed that the man, the obscure tinker whom he was suffering to languish in prison forwant of a writ of error, would one day be the subject of greateradmiration and praise than all the judges in the kingdom of GreatBritain. " Dr. Cheever's Lectures on Pilgrim's Progress, p. 158. ]present a petition to the judges three times, that I might be heard, and that they would impartially take my case into consideration. 

The first time my wife went, she presented it to Judge Hale, whovery mildly received it at her hand, telling her that he would doher and me the best good he could; but he feared, he said, he coulddo none. The next day again, lest they should through the multitudeof business forget me, we did throw another petition into the coachto Judge Twisdon, who, when he had seen it, snapt her up, andangrily told her I was a convicted person, and could not be releasedunless I would promise to preach no more, etc. 

Well, after this, she again presented another to Judge Hale, as hesat on the bench, who, as it seemed, was willing to give heraudience; only Justice Chester being present, stept up and said thatI was convicted in the court, and that I was a hot-spirited fellow, or words to that purpose; whereat he waived it, and did not meddlewith it. But yet, my wife being encouraged by the high-sheriff, didventure once more into their presence, as the poor widow did to theunjust judge, to try what she could do with them for my libertybefore they went forth of the town. The place where she went to themwas to the Swan Chamber, where the two judges and many justices andgentry of the country were in company together. She then, cominginto the chamber with abashed face and a trembling heart, began hererrand to them in this manner. 

WOMAN. My lord-directing herself to Judge Hale--I make bold to comeonce again to your lordship to know what may be done with myhusband. 

JUDGE HALE. To whom he said, Woman, I told thee before I could dothee no good, because they have taken that for a conviction whichthy husband spoke at the sessions; and unless there be somethingdone to undo that, I can do thee no good. 

WOMAN. My lord, said she, he is kept unlawfully in prison; theyclapped him up before there was any proclamation against themeetings; the indictment also is false; besides, they never askedhim whether he was guilty or no; neither did he confess theindictment. 

ONE OF THE JUSTICES. Then one of the Justices that stood by, whomshe knew not, said, My lord, he was lawfully convicted. 

WOMAN. It is false, said she; for when they said to him, Do youconfess the indictment? he said only this, that he had been atseveral meetings, both where there was preaching the word andprayer, and that they had God's presence among them. 

JUDGE TWISDON. Whereat Judge Twisdon answered very angrily, saying, What, you think we can do as we list! Your husband is a breaker ofthe peace, and is convicted by the law, etc. Whereupon Judge Halecalled for the statute-book. 

WOMAN. But, said she, my lord, he was not lawfully convicted. 

CHESTER. Then Justice Chester said, My lord, he was lawfullyconvicted. 

WOMAN. It is false, said she; it was but a word of discourse thatthey took for conviction. 

CHESTER. But it is recorded, woman, it is recorded, said JusticeChester; as if it must of necessity be true, because it wasrecorded. With which words he often endeavored to stop her mouth, having no other argument to convince her but, It is recorded, it isrecorded. 

WOMAN. My lord, said she, I was a while since at London, to see if Icould get my husband's liberty; and there I spoke with my LordBurkwood, one of the House of Lords, to whom I delivered a petition, who took it of me and presented it to some of the rest of the Houseof Lords for my husband's releasement; who, when they had seen it, said that they could not release him, but had committed hisreleasement to the judges at the next assizes. This he told me; andnow I come to you to see if any thing can be done in this business, and you give neither releasement nor relief. To which they gave herno answer, but made as if they heard her not. 

CHESTER. Only Justice Chester was often up with this, He isconvicted, and it is recorded. 

WOMAN. If it be, it is false, said she. 

CHESTER. My lord, said Justice Chester, he is a pestilent fellow;there is not such a fellow in the country again. 

TWISDON. What, will your husband leave preaching? If he will do so, then send for him. 

WOMAN. My lord, said she, he dares not leave preaching as long as hecan speak. 

TWISDON. See here: what should we talk any more about such a fellow?Must he do what he lists? He is a breaker of the peace. 

WOMAN. She told him again, that he desired to live peaceably and tofollow his calling, that his family might be maintained; andmoreover said, My lord, I have four small children that cannot helpthemselves, of which one is blind; and we have nothing to live uponbut the charity of good people. 

HALE. Whereat Justice Hale, looking very soberly on the matter, said, Alas, poor woman!

TWISDON. But Judge Twisdon told her that she made poverty her cloak;and said, moreover, that he understood I was maintained better byrunning up and down a preaching, than by following my calling. 

HALE. What is his calling? said Judge Hale. 

ANSWER. Then some of the company that stood by said, A tinker, mylord. 

WOMAN. Yes, said she, and because he is a tinker and a poor man, therefore he is despised and cannot have justice. 

HALE. Then Judge Hale answered, very mildly, saying, I tell thee, woman, seeing it is so that they have taken what thy husband spakefor a conviction, thou must apply thyself to the king, or sue outhis pardon, or get out a writ of error. 

CHESTER. But when Justice Chester heard him give her this counsel, and especially, as she supposed, because he spoke of a writ oferror, he chafed and seemed to be very much offended, saying, Mylord, he will preach and do what he lists. 

WOMAN. He preacheth nothing but the word of God, said she. 

TWISDON. He preach the word of God! said Twisdon--and withal shethought he would have struck her--he runneth up and down and doethharm. 

WOMAN. No, my lord, said she, it is not so; God hath owned him, anddone much good by him. 

TWISDON. God! said he; his doctrine is the doctrine of the devil. 

WOMAN. My lord, said she, when the righteous Judge shall appear, itwill be known that his doctrine is not the doctrine of the devil. 

TWISDON. My lord, said he to Judge Hale, do not mind her, but sendher away, HALE. Then said Judge Hale, I am sorry, woman, that I can do thee nogood: thou must do one of those three things aforesaid, namely, either to apply thyself to the king, or sue out his pardon, or get awrit of error; but a writ of error will be cheapest. 

WOMAN. At which Chester again seemed to be in a chafe, and put offhis hat, and as she thought scratched his head for anger; but when Isaw, said she, that there was no prevailing to have my husband sentfor, though I often desired them that they would send for him, thathe might speak for himself, telling them that he could give thembetter satisfaction than I could in what they demanded of him, withseveral other things which now I forget: only this I remember, thatthough I was somewhat timorous at my first entrance into thechamber, yet before I went out I could not but break forth intotears, not so much because they were so hard-hearted against me andmy husband, but to think what a sad account such poor creatures willhave to give at the coming of the Lord, when they shall there answerfor all things whatsoever they have done in the body, whether it begood or whether it be bad. So when I departed from them, the book ofstatutes was brought; but what they said of it I know nothing atall, neither did I hear any more from them. 

MARTYRS. 

In the house of the forest of Lebanon you find pillars, pillars; soin the church in the wilderness. Oh the mighty ones of which thechurch was compacted; they were all pillars, strong, bearing up thehouse against wind and weather; nothing but fire and sword coulddissolve them. As therefore this house was made up of great timber, so this church in the wilderness was made up of giants in grace. These men had the faces of lions; no prince, no king, no threat, noterror, no torment could make them yield. They loved not their livesunto the death. They have laughed their enemies in the face, theyhave triumphed in the flames. None ever showed higher saints thanwere they in the church in the wilderness. Others talked, these havesuffered; others have said, these have done; these have voluntarilytaken their lives in their hands, for they loved them not to thedeath, and have fairly and in cool blood laid them down before theworld, God, angels, and men, for the confirming of the truth whichthey have professed. 

That which makes a martyr, is suffering for the word of God after aright manner. And that is when he suffereth not only forrighteousness, but for righteousness' sake; not only for truth, butof love to truth; not only for God's word, but according to it, towit, in that holy, humble, meek manner that the word of Godrequireth. A man may give his body to be burned for God's truth, andyet be none of God's martyrs. 1 Cor. 13:1-3. 

CHRISTIAN COURAGE. 

When we see our brethren before us fall to the earth by death, through the violence of the enemies of God, for their holy andChristian profession, we should covet to make good their groundagainst them, though our turn should be next. We should valiantly doin this matter as is the custom of soldiers in war; take great carethat the ground be maintained, and the front kept full and complete. 

There are but few when they come to the cross, cry, Welcome, cross!as some of the martyrs did to the stake they were burned at. Therefore, if you meet with the cross in thy journey, in what mannersoever it be, be not daunted and say, Alas, what shall I do now? butrather take courage, knowing that by the cross is the way to thekingdom. Can a man believe in Christ, and not be hated by the devil?Can he make a profession of Christ, and that sweetly andconvincingly, and the children of Satan hold their tongue? Candarkness agree with light?

THE CHRISTIAN WARFARE. 

Departing from iniquity is not a work of an hour, or a day, or aweek, or a month, or a year; but it is a work that will last theethy lifetime, and there is the greatness and difficulty of it. Wereit to be done presently, or were the work to be quickly over, howmany are there that would be found to have departed from iniquity;but for that it is a work of continuance, and not worth any thingunless men hold out to the end; therefore it is that so few arefound actors or overcomers therein. Departing from iniquity, withmany, is but like the falling out of two neighbors; they hate oneanother for a while, and then renew their old friendship again. 

But again, since to depart from iniquity is a work of time, of allthy time, no wonder if it dogs thee, and offereth to return uponthee again and again; for sin is mischievous, and seeks nothing lessthan thy ruin. Wherefore, thou must in the first place take it forgranted that thus it will be, and so cry the harder to God for thecontinuing of his presence and grace upon thee in this blessed work, that as thou hast begun to depart from iniquity, so thou mayest havestrength to do it to the last gasp of thy life. 

And further, for that departing from iniquity is a kind of warfarewith it-for iniquity will hang in thy flesh what it can, and willnot be easily kept under-therefore no marvel if thou find itwearisome work, and that the thing that thou wouldst get rid of isso unwilling to let thee depart from it. 

And since the work is so weighty, and makes thee to go groaning on, I will for thy help give thee here a few things to consider of: And, 1. Remember that God sees thee, and has his eyes open upon thee, even then when sin and temptation are flying at thee to give themsome entertainment. This was the thought that made Joseph departfrom sin, when solicited to embrace it by a very powerful argument. Genesis 39:6, 7. 

2. Remember that God's wrath burns against it, and that he willsurely be revenged on it, and on all that give it entertainment. This made Job afraid to countenance it, and put him upon departingfrom it: "For destruction from God was a terror to me, and by reasonof his highness I could not endure. " Job 31: 23. 

3. Remember the mischiefs that it has done to those that haveembraced it, and what distress it has brought upon others. This madethe whole congregation of Israel tremble to think that any of theirbrethren should give countenance to it. Joshua 22: 16-18. 

4. Remember what Christ hath suffered by it, that he might deliverus from the power of it. This made Paul so heartily depart from it, and wish all Christians to do so as well as he. 2 Cor. 5: 14. 

5. Remember that those that are now in hell-fire went thither forthat they loved iniquity, and would not depart from it. Psalm 9: 17;11:6. 

6. Remember that a profession is not worth a pin, if they that makeit do not depart from iniquity. James 2:16, 17. 

7. Remember that thy death-bed will be very uneasy to thee, if thyconscience at that day shall be clogged with the guilt of thyiniquity. Hos. 7: 13, 14. 

8. Remember that at the judgment-day Christ will say, Depart fromme, to those that have not here departed from their sin andiniquity. Luke 13:27; Matt 25:41. 

Lastly, Remember well, and think much upon what a blessed reward theSon of God will give to them at that day, that have joined to theirprofession of faith in him a holy and blessed conversation. 

He that will depart from iniquity must be well fortified with faithand patience and the love of God; for iniquity has its beauty-spotsand its advantages attending on it; hence it is compared to a woman, Zech. 5: 7, for it allureth greatly. Therefore I say, he that willdepart there-from had need have faith; that being it which will helphim to see beyond it, and that will show him more in things that areinvisible, than can be found in sin, were it ten thousand times moreentangling than it is. 2 Cor. 4:18. He has need of patience also tohold out in this work of departing from iniquity. For indeed, todepart from that is to draw my mind off from that which will followme with continual solicitations. Samson withstood his Delilah for awhile, but she got the mastery of him at the last. Why so? becausehe wanted patience; he grew angry and was vexed, and could withstandher solicitations no longer. Judges 16: 15-17. Many there be, also, that can well enough be contented to shut sin out of doors for awhile; but because sin has much fair speech, therefore it overcomesat last. Prov. 7:21. For sin and iniquity will not be easily saidnay. Wherefore, departing from iniquity is a work of length, as longas life shall last. A work, did I say? It is a war, a continualcombat; wherefore, he that will adventure to set upon this work, must needs be armed with faith and patience, a daily exercise hewill find himself put to by the continual attempts of iniquity to beputting forth itself. Matt. 24: 13; Rev. 3:10. 

THE CHRISTIAN ARMOR. 

The war that the church makes with antichrist is rather defensivethan offensive. A Christian also, if he can but defend his soul inthe sincere profession of the true religion, doth what by duty, asto this, he is bound. Wherefore, though the New Testament admits himto put on the whole armor of God, yet the whole and every partthereof is spiritual, and only defensive. True, there is mentionmade of the sword, but that sword is the word of God-a weapon thathurteth none, none at all but the devil and sin, and those that loveit. Indeed, it was made for Christians to defend themselves andtheir religion with, against hell and the angels of darkness. 

OBJECTION. But he that shall use none other than this, must look tocome off a loser. 

ANSWER. In the judgment of the world this is true, but not in thejudgment of them that have skill and a heart to use it. For thisarmor is not Saul's which David refused, but God's; by which thelives of all those have been secured, that put it on and handled itwell. You read of some of David's mighty men of valor, that theirfaces were as the faces of lions, and that they were as swift offoot as the roes upon the mountains. Why, God's armor makes a man'sface look thus; also it makes him that useth it more lively andactive than before. God's armor is no burden to the body, nor clogto the mind, but rather a natural, instead of an artificialfortification. 

But this armor comes not to any, but out of the King's hand. Christdistributeth his armor to his church. Hence it is said, "It is givento us to suffer for him. " It is given to us by himself, and on hisbehalf. 

I saw also, that the Interpreter took him again by the hand and ledhim into a pleasant place, where was builded a stately palacebeautiful to behold; at the sight of which Christian was greatlydelighted: he saw also upon the top thereof certain persons walking, who were clothed all in gold. 

Then said Christian, "May we go in thither?"

Then the Interpreter took him, and led him up towards the door ofthe palace; and behold, at the door stood a great company of men, asdesirous to go in, but durst not. There also sat a man at a littledistance from the door, at a table-side, with a book and hisink-horn before him, to take the name of him that should entertherein; he saw also, that in the doorway stood many men in armor tokeep it, being resolved to do to the men that would enter what hurtand mischief they could. 

Now was Christian somewhat in a maze; at last, when every manstarted back for fear of the armed men, Christian saw a man of avery stout countenance come up to the man that sat there to write, saying, "Set down my name, sir;" the which when he had done, he sawthe man draw his sword, and put a helmet upon his head, and rushtowards the door upon the armed men, who laid upon him with deadlyforce; but the man was not at all discouraged, but fell to cuttingand hacking most fiercely. So after he had received and given manywounds to those that attempted to keep him out, he cut his waythrough them all, and pressed forward into the palace; at whichthere was a pleasant voice heard from those that were within, evenof those that walked upon the top of the palace, saying, "Come in, come in; Eternal glory thou shalt win. "

So he went in, and was clothed with such garments as they. ThenChristian smiled and said, "I think verily I know the meaning ofthis. "

In the description of the Christian armor, we have no provision forthe back. 

XV. TEMPTATIONS. 

TEMPTATIONS OF SATAN. 

Satan, even from himself, besides the working of our own lust, dothdo us wonderful injury, and hits our souls with many a fiery dart, that we think comes either from ourselves or from heaven and Godhimself. 

Satan diligently waiteth to come in at the door, if Careless hasleft it a little ajar. 

There is nothing that Satan more desires than to get good men in hissieve to sift them as wheat, that if possible he may leave themnothing but bran; no grace, but the very husk and shell of religion. 

So long as we retain the simplicity of the word, we have Satan atthe end of the staff; for unless we give way to a doubt about that, about the truth and simplicity of it, he gets no ground upon us. Intime of temptation, it is our wisdom and duty to keep close to theword that prohibits and forbids the sin; and not to reason withSatan, of how far our outward and worldly privileges go, especiallyof those privileges that border upon the temptation, as Eve heredid: "We may eat of all but one. " By this she goeth to the outsideof her liberty, and sees herself upon the brink of the danger. Christ might have told the tempter, when he assaulted him, that hecould have made stones bread, and that he could have descended fromthe pinnacle of the temple, as afterwards he did; but that wouldhave admitted of other questions; wherefore he chooseth to lay asidesuch needless and unwarrantable reasonings, and resisteth him with adirect word of God, most pertinent to quash the tempter and also topreserve himself in the way. To go to the outside of privileges, especially when tempted of the devil, is often if not always verydangerous and hazardous. 

As long as the devil is alive there is danger; and though a strongChristian may lie too hard for, and may overcome him in one thing, he may be too hard for, yea, and may overcome the Christian two forone afterwards. Thus he served David, and thus he served Peter, andthus he in our day has served many more. The strongest are weak, thewisest are fools, when suffered to be sifted as wheat in Satan'ssieve; yea, and have often been so proved, to the wounding of theirgreat hearts and the dishonor of religion. 

It is usual with the devil in his temptings of poor creatures, toput a good and bad together, that by show of the good the temptedmight be drawn to do that which in truth is evil. Thus he servedSaul; he spared the best of the herd and flock, under pretence ofsacrificing to God, and so transgressed the plain command. But thisthe apostle said was dangerous, and therefore censureth such as in astate of condemnation. Thus he served Adam; he put the desirablenessof sight and a plain transgression of God's law together, that bythe loveliness of the one they might the easier be brought to do theother. O, poor Eve, do we wonder at thy folly? Doubtless we had doneas bad with half the argument of thy temptation. 

Satan by tempting one may chiefly intend the destruction of another. By tempting the wife, he may aim at the destruction of the husband;by tempting the father, he may design the dsstruction of hischildren; and by tempting the king, he may design the ruin of hissubjects, even as in the case of David: "Satan stood up againstIsrael, and provoked David to number the people. " He had a mind todestroy seventy thousand, therefore he tempted David to sin. 

I have sent you here enclosed a drop of that honey that I have takenout of the carcass of a lion. I have eaten thereof myself, and ammuch refreshed thereby. Temptations, when we meet them at first, areas the lion that roared upon Samson; but if we overcome them, thenext time we see them we shall find a nest of honey within them. 

TEMPTATIONS OF THE WORLD. 

If thou wouldst be faithful to do that work that God hath appointedthee to do in this world for his name, then labor always to possessthy heart with a right understanding, both of the things that thisworld yieldeth, and of the things that shall be hereafter. I amconfident that most if not all the miscarriages of the saints andpeople of God have their rise from deceivable thoughts here. Thethings of this world appear to us more, and those that are to comeless, than they are; and hence it is that many are so hot and eagerfor things that be in the world, and so cold and heartless for thosethat be in heaven. Satan is here a mighty artist, and can show usall earthly things in a multiplying-glass; but when we look up tothings above, we see them as through sackcloth of hair. But takethou heed; be not ruled by thy sensual appetite that can only savorfleshly things, neither be thou ruled by carnal reason which alwaysdarkeneth the things of heaven; but go to the word, and as thatsays, so judge thou. That tells thee all things under the sun arevanity, nay, worse, vexation of spirit; that tells thee the world isnot, even when it doth most appear to be: wilt thou set thine heartupon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings, and fly away as an eagle towards heaven. The same may be said forhonors, pleasures, and the like; they are poor, low, base things tobe entertained by a Christian's heart. The man that hath most ofthem may in the fulness of his sufficiency be in straits; yea, whenhe is about to fill his belly with them, God may cast the fury ofhis wrath upon him; so is every one that layeth up treasure forhimself on earth, and is not rich towards God. A horse that is ladenwith gold and pearls all day, may have a foul stable and a galledback at night. And "woe to him that increaseth that which is nothis, and that ladeth himself with thick clay. " O man of God, throwthis bone to the dogs; suck not at it, there is no marrow there. "Set thy affections on things that are above, where Christ sittethon the right hand of God. " Colos. 3:1-4. 

ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR THE TEMPTED. 

Let us cast ourselves upon this love of Christ. No greaterencouragement can be given us, than what is in the text, Eph. 3:18, 19, and about it. It is great; it is "love that passethknowledge. " Men that are sensible of danger, are glad when they hearof such helps upon which they may boldly venture for escape. Why, such a help and relief the text helpeth trembling and fearfulconsciences to. Fear and trembling as to misery hereafter, can flowbut from what we know, feel, or imagine; but the text speaks of alove that passeth knowledge, consequently of a love that goes beyondall these. Besides, the apostle's conclusion upon this subjectplainly makes it manifest, that this meaning which I have put uponthe text is the mind of the Holy Ghost. Now "unto him, " saith he, "that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask orthink, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be gloryin the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world withoutend. Amen. " What can be more plain? What can be more full? What canbe more suitable to the most desponding spirit in any man? He can domore than thou knowest he will. He can do more than thou thinkest hecan. What dost thou think? Why, I think, saith the sinner, that I amcast away. Well, but there are worse thoughts than these; thereforethink again. Why, saith the sinner, I think that my sins are as manyas all the sins in the world. Indeed this is a very black thought, but there are worse thoughts than this; therefore prithee thinkagain. Why, I think, saith the sinner, that God is not able topardon all my sins. Aye, now thou hast thought indeed; for thisthought makes thee look more like a devil than a man; and yet, because thou art a man and not a devil, see the condescension andboundlessness of the love of thy God. He is able to do above allthat we think. Couldst thou, sinner, if thou hadst been allowed, thyself express what thou wouldst have expressed--the greatness ofthe love thou wantest--with words that could have suited theebetter? For it is not said he can do above what we think, meaningour thinking at present, but above all we can think; meaning, abovethe worst and most soul-dejecting thoughts that we have at any time. Sometimes the dejected have worse thoughts than they have at othertimes. Well, take them at their worst times, at times when theythink, and think, till they think themselves down into the verypangs of hell, yet this word of the grace of God is above them, andshows that he can yet recover and save these miserable people. 

And now I am upon this subject, I will a little further walk andtravel with these desponding ones, and will put a few words in theirmouths for their help against temptations that may come upon themhereafter. For as Satan follows such now with charges andapplications of guilt, so he may follow them with interrogatoriesand appeals; for he can tell how by appeals, as well as by chargingof sin, to sink and drown the sinner whose soul he has leave toengage. Suppose, therefore, that some distressed man or woman shouldafter this way be engaged, and Satan should with his interrogatoriesand appeals be busy with them, to drive them to desperation; thetext last mentioned, Eph. 3: 18, 19, to say nothing of the subject ofour discourse, yields plenty of help for the relief of such a one. Says Satan, Dost thou not know that thou hast horribly sinned? Yes, says the soul, I do. Says Satan, Dost thou not know that thou artone of the vilest in all the pack of professors? Yes, says the soul, I do. Says Satan, Doth not thy conscience tell thee that thou artand hast been more base than any of thy fellows can imagine thee tobe? Yes, says the soul, my conscience tells me so. Well, saithSatan, now will I come upon thee with my appeals. Art thou not agraceless wretch? Yes. Hast thou a heart to be sorry for thiswickedness? No, not as I should. And albeit, saith Satan, thouprayest sometimes, yet is not thy heart possessed with a belief thatGod will not regard thee? Yes, says the sinner. Why then, despair, and go hang thyself, saith the devil. And now we are at the end ofthe thing designed and driven at by Satan. And what shall I now do, saith the sinner? I answer, take up the words of the text againsthim: Christ loves with a love that "passeth knowledge. " And answerhim further, saying, Satan, though I cannot think that God loves me, though I cannot think that God will save me, yet I will not yield tothee; for God can do more than I think he can. And whereas thouappealedst unto me, if whether, when I pray, my heart is notpossessed with the belief that God will not regard me, that shallnot sink me neither; for God can "do abundantly above what I ask orthink. " Thus this text helpeth where obstructions are put in againstour believing, and thereby casting ourselves upon the love of God inChrist for salvation. 

And yet this is not all; for the text is yet more full: "He is ableto do abundantly more, yea, exceeding abundantly more, or above allthat we ask or think. " It is a text made up of words picked andpacked together by the wisdom of God; picked and packed together onpurpose for the succor and relief of the tempted; that they may, when in the midst of their distresses, cast themselves upon, theLord their God. He can do abundantly more than we ask. O, says thesoul, that he would but do so much for me as I could ask him to do:how happy a man should I then be. Why, what wouldst thou ask for, sinner? You may be sure, says the soul, I would ask to be saved frommy sins. I would ask for faith in, and love to, Christ; I would askto be preserved in this evil world, and ask to be glorified withChrist in heaven. He that asketh for all this, doth indeed ask formuch, and for more than Satan would have him believe that God isable or willing to bestow upon him. But mark: the text doth not saythat God is able to do all that we can ask or think, but that he isable to do above all, yea, abundantly above all, yea, exceedingabundantly above all that we ask or think. What a text is this! Whata God have we! God foresaw the sins of his people, and what work thedevil would make with their hearts about them; and therefore, toprevent their ruin by his temptation, he has thus largely, as yousee, expressed his love by his word. Let us therefore, as he hasbidden us, make this good use of this doctrine of grace, to castourselves upon this love of God in the times of distress andtemptation. 

The bird in the air knows not the notes of the bird in the snare, until she comes thither herself. 

When I have been laden with sin, and pestered with severaltemptations, and in a very sad manner, then have I had the trial ofthe virtue of Christ's blood, with trial of the virtue of otherthings; and I have found that when tears would not do, prayers wouldnot do, repentings and all other things could not reach my heart, Othen one touch, one drop, one shining of the virtue of THE BLOOD, ofthat blood that was let out with a spear, it hath in such a blessedmanner delivered me, that it hath made me to marvel. O, methinks ithath come with such life, such power, with such irresistible andmarvellous glory, that it wipes off all the slurs, silences all theoutcries, and quenches all the fiery darts and all the flames ofhell-fire, that are begotten by the charges of the law, Satan, anddoubtful remembrances of my sinful life. 

There are three things that do usually afflict the soul that isearnestly looking after Jesus Christ. 

1. Dreadful accusations from Satan. 2. Grievous, defiling, andinfectious thoughts. 3. A strange readiness in our nature to fall inwith both. By the first, of these, the heart is made continually totremble. Hence his temptations are compared to the roaring of alion. For as the lion by roaring killeth the heart of his prey, sodoth Satan kill the spirit of those that hearken to him; for when hetempteth, especially by way of accusation, he doth to us asRabshakeh did to the Jews; he speaks to us in our own language. Hespeaks our sin at every word; our guilty conscience knows it. Hespeaks our death at every word; our doubting conscience feels it. 

2. Besides this, there do now arise even in the heart such defilingand soul-infectious thoughts, as put the tempted to his wit's end, For now it seems to the soul that the very flood-gates of the fleshare opened, and that to sin there is no stop at all; now the airseems to be covered with darkness, and the man is as if he waschanged into the nature of a devil. Now, if ignorance and unbeliefprevail, he concludeth that he is a reprobate, made to be taken anddestroyed. 

3. Now also he feeleth in him a readiness to fall in with everytemptation--a readiness, I say, continually present. Romans 7:21. This throws all down. Now despair begins to swallow him up; now hecan neither pray, nor read, nor hear, nor meditate on God, but fireand smoke continually burst forth of the heart against him; now sinand great confusion puts forth itself in all. Yea, and the more thesinner desireth to do a duty sincerely, the further off he alwaysfinds himself; for by how much the soul struggleth under thesedistresses, by so much the more doth Satan put forth himself toresist, still infusing more poison, that if possible it might neverstruggle more, for stragglings are also as poison to Satan. 

The fly in the spider's web is an emblem of the soul in such acondition: the fly is entangled in the web; at this the spider showshimself; if the fly stirs again, down comes the spider to her, andclaps a foot upon her; if yet the fly makes a noise, then withpoisoned mouth the spider lays hold upon her; if the fly strugglesstill, then he poisons her more and more: what shall the fly do now?Why, she dies, if somebody does not quickly release her. This is thecase of the tempted; they are entangled in the web, their feet andwings are entangled; now Satan shows himself; if the soul nowstruggleth, Satan laboreth to hold it down; if it now shall make anoise, then he bites with blasphemous mouth, more poisonous than thegall of a serpent. If it struggle again, then he poisoneth more andmore; insomuch that it must needs at last die in the net, if theman, the Lord Jesus, helps not out. The afflicted conscienceunderstands my words. 

Further, though the fly in the web is altogether incapable oflooking for relief, yet this awakened, tempted Christian, is not. What must he do, therefore? How should he entertain hopes of life?If he looks to his heart, there is blasphemy; if he looks to hisduties, there is sin; if he strives to mourn and lament, perhaps hecannot; unbelief and hardness hinder. Shall this man lie down anddespair? No. Shall he trust to his duties? No. Shall he stay fromChrist till his heart is better? No. What then? Let him NOW look toJesus Christ crucified; then shall he see his sins answered for, then shall he see death dying, then shall he see guilt borne byanother, and then shall he see the devil overcome. This sightdestroys the power of the first temptation, purifies the heart, andinclines the mind to all good things. 

Didst thou never learn to outshoot the devil with his own bow, andto cut off his head with his own sword, as David served Goliath, whowas a type of Satan?

QUESTION. O how should a poor soul do this? This is rare indeed. 

ANSWER. Why, truly thus: Doth Satan tell thee thou prayest butfaintly, and with very cold devotion? answer him thus, and say, I amglad you told me, for this will make me trust the more to Christ'sprayers, and the less to my own; also I will endeavor henceforwardto groan, to sigh, and to be so fervent in my crying at the throneof grace, that I will, if I can, make the heavens rattle again withthe mighty groans thereof. And whereas thou sayest that I am so weakin believing, I am glad you remind me of it; I hope it willhenceforward stir me up to cry the more heartily to God for strongfaith, make me the more restless till I have it. And seeing thoutellest me that I run so softly, and that I shall go near to miss ofglory, this also shall be through grace to my advantage, and causeme to press the more earnestly towards the mark for the prize of thehigh calling of God in Christ Jesus. And seeing thou dost tell methat my sins are wondrous great, hereby thou bringest theremembrance of the unsupportable vengeance of God into my mind if Idie out of Jesus Christ, and also the necessity of the blood, death, and merits of Christ to help me; I hope it will make me fly thefaster and press the harder after an interest in him. And so allalong, if he tell thee of thy deadness, dulness, coldness, orunbelief, or the greatness of thy sins, answer him and say, I amglad you told me; I hope it will be a means to make me run faster, seek more earnestly, and be the more restless after Jesus Christ. Ifthou didst but get this art, so as to outrun him in his own shoes, as I may say, and to make his own darts to pierce himself, then thoumightest also say, Now do Satan's temptations, as well as all otherthings, work together for my good. 

OBJECTION. But I find so many weaknesses in every duty that Iperform, as when I pray, when I read, when I hear or attempt anyother duty, that it maketh me out of conceit with myself; it makethme think that my duties are nothing worth. 

ANSWER. Thou by this means art taken off from leaning on any thingbelow Jesus for eternal life. It is likely, if thou wast notsensible of many by-thoughts and wickednesses in thy bestperformances, thou wouldst go near to be some proud, abominablehypocrite, or a silly, proud, dissembling wretch at the best; such aone as wouldst send thy soul to the devil in a bundle of thy ownrighteousness. 

Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered, in the first place, to thebiggest sinner? Let the tempted harp upon this string for their helpand consolation. The tempted, wherever he dwells, always thinkshimself the biggest sinner, one most unworthy of eternal life. 

This is Satan's master-argument: Thou art a horrible sinner, ahypocrite, one that has a profane heart, and one that is an utterstranger to a work of grace. I say, this is his maul, his club, hismasterpiece; he does with this, as some do by their most enchantingsongs, singing them everywhere. I believe there are but few saintsin the world that have not had this temptation sounding in theirears. But were they but aware, Satan by all this does but drive themto the gap out at which they should go, and so escape his roaring. 

Saith he, Thou art a great sinner, a horrible sinner, aprofane-hearted wretch, one that cannot be matched for a vile one inthe country. 

And all this while Christ says to his ministers, Offer. Mercy in thefirst place to the biggest sinners. So that this temptation drivesthee directly into the arms of Jesus Christ. 

Was therefore the tempted but aware, he might say, Aye, Satan, so Iam, I am a sinner of the biggest size, and therefore have most needof Jesus Christ; yea, because I am such a wretch, therefore JesusChrist calls me; yea, he calls me first--the first proffer of thegospel is to be made to the Jerusalem sinner. I am he; whereforestand back, Satan, make way for me, my right is first to come toJesus Christ. 

This now will be like for like. This would foil the devil. Thiswould make him say, I must not deal with this man. Thus; for then Iput a sword into his hand to cut off my head. 

Well, sinner, thou now speakest like a Christian; but say thus in astrong spirit in the hour of temptation, and then thou wilt, to thycommendation and comfort, quit thyself well. 

This improving of Christ in dark hours is the life, though thehardest part of our Christianity. We should neither stop atdarkness, nor at the raging of our lusts, but go on in a way ofventuring and casting the whole of our concerns for the next worldat the foot of Jesus Christ. This is the way to make the darknesslight, and also to allay the raging of our corruption. 

What a brave encouragement is it for one that is come for grace tothe throne of grace, to see so great a number already there on theirseats, in their robes, with their palms in their hands and theircrowns upon their heads, singing of salvation to God and the Lamb!

And I say again--and speak now to the dejected--methinks it wouldbe strange, O thou that art so afraid that the greatness of thy sinswill be a bar unto thee, if amongst all this great number of pipersand harpers that are got to glory, thou canst not espy one that, when here, was as vile a sinner as thyself. Look, man; they arethere for thee to view them, and for thee to take encouragement tohope, when thou shalt consider what grace and mercy have done forthem. Look again, I say, now thou art upon thy knees, and see ifsome that are among them have not done worse than thou hast done. And yet behold, they are set down; and yet behold, they have crownson their heads, their harps in their hands, and sing aloud ofsalvation to their God and the Lamb. Behold, tempted soul; dost thounot yet see what a throne of grace here is, and what multitudes arealready arrived thither, to give thanks unto His name that sitsthereon, and to the Lamb for ever and ever? And wilt thou hang thyharp upon the willows, and go drooping up and down the world, as ifthere was no God, no grace, no throne of grace, to apply thyselfunto for mercy and grace to help in time of need? Hark; dost thounot hear them what they say? "Worthy, " say they, "is the Lamb thatwas slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honor, and glory, and blessing. And every creature which is inheaven"--where they are--"and on the earth"--where thou art--"andunder the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that aretherein, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. "

And this is written for our learning, that we through patience andcomfort of the Scriptures might have hope; and that the droopingones might come boldly to the throne of grace, to obtain mercy andfind grace to help in time of need. 

In general, God was pleased to take this course with me: First, tosuffer me to be afflicted with temptations concerning the truths ofthe gospel, and then reveal them to me; as sometimes I should lieunder great guilt for sin, even crushed to the ground therewith; andthen the Lord would show me the death of Christ, yea, and sosprinkle my conscience with his blood, that I should find, and thatbefore I was aware, that in that conscience where but just now didreign and rage the law, even there would rest and abide the peaceand love of God through Christ. 

Thus by the strange and unusual assaults of the tempter, my soul waslike a broken vessel driven as with the winds, and tossed, sometimesheadlong into despair, sometimes upon the covenant of works, andsometimes to wish that the new covenant and the conditions thereofmight, so far forth as I thought myself concerned, be turned anotherway and changed. But in all these, I was as those that jostleagainst the rocks; more broken, scattered, and rent. Oh, theunthought of imaginations, frights, fears, and terrors that areeffected by a thorough application of guilt yielding to desperation. This is the man that hath his dwelling among the tombs, with thedead--that is always crying out, and cutting himself with stones. But I say, all in vain; desperation will not comfort him, the oldcovenant will not save him: nay, heaven and earth shall pass awaybefore one jot or tittle of the word and law of grace will fail orbe removed. This I saw, this I felt, and under this I groaned. Yetthis advantage I got thereby, namely, a further confirmation of thecertainty of the way of salvation, and that the Scriptures were theword of God. Oh, I cannot now express what I then saw and felt ofthe steadfastness of Jesus Christ, the Rock of man's salvation: whatwas done could not be undone, added to, nor altered. 

Often when I have been making towards the promise, John 6:30, I haveseen as if the Lord would refuse my soul for ever; I was often as ifI had run upon the pikes, and as if the Lord had thrust at me, tokeep me from him, as with a flaming sword. Then would I think ofEsther, who went to petition the king contrary to the law. I thoughtalso of Benhadad's servants, who went with ropes upon their heads totheir enemies for mercy. The woman of Canaan also, that would not bedaunted though called a DOG by Christ, and the man that went toborrow bread at midnight, were also great encouragements unto me. 

I never saw such heights and depths in grace and love and mercy, asI saw after this temptation. Great sins draw out great grace; andwhere guilt is most terrible and fierce, there the mercy of God inChrist, when showed to the soul, appears most high and mighty. WhenJob had passed through his calamity, he had twice as much as he hadbefore. Blessed be God for Jesus Christ our Lord. 

If ever Satan and I did strive for any word of God in all my life, it was for this good word of Christ: "Him that cometh to me, I willin nowise cast out;" he at one end, and I at the other. Oh, whatwork we made. It was for this, in John. 6:30, I say, that we did sotug and strive: he pulled, and I pulled; but, God be praised, Iovercame him and got sweetness from it. 

I prayed to God, in prison, that he would comfort me, and give mestrength to do and suffer what he should call me to; yet no comfortappeared, but all continued hid. I was also at this time so reallypossessed with the thought of death, that oft I was as if on theladder with a rope about my neck: only this was some encouragementto me: I thought I might now have an opportunity to speak my lastwords unto a multitude, which I supposed would come to see me die;and thought I, if it must be so, if God will but convert one soul bymy last words, I shall not count my life thrown away nor lost. 

But yet all the things of God were kept out of my sight, and stillthe tempter followed me with, But whither must you go when you die?What will become of you? Where will you be found in another world?What evidence have you for heaven and glory, and an inheritanceamong them that are sanctified? Thus was I tossed for many weeks, and knew not what to do; at last, this consideration fell withweight upon me, That it was for the word and way of God that I wasin this condition; wherefore, I was engaged not to flinch a hair'sbreadth from it. 

I thought, also, that God might choose whether he would give mecomfort now, or at the hour of death; but I might not thereforechoose whether I would hold my profession or no. I was bound, but hewas free: yea, it was my duty to stand to his word, whether he wouldever look upon me, or save me at the last. Wherefore, thought I, thepoint being thus, I am for going on and venturing my eternal statewith Christ, whether I have comfort here or no: if God doth not comein, thought I, I will leap off the ladder even blindfold intoeternity, sink or swim, come heaven come hell. Lord Jesus, if thouwilt catch me, do; if not, I will venture for thy name. 

Before I had got thus far out of these my temptations, I did greatlylong to see some ancient godly man's experience, who had writ somehundreds of years before I was born; for those who had writ in ourdays, I thought--but I desire them now to pardon me--that they hadwrit only that which others felt; or else had, through the strengthof their wits and parts, studied to answer such objections as theyperceived others were perplexed with, without going themselves downinto the deep. Well, after many such longings in my mind, the God inwhose hands are all our days and ways, did cast into my hand one daya book of Martin Luther's: it was his Comment on the Galatians; itwas also so old that it was ready to fall piece from piece, if I didbut turn it over. Now I was pleased much that such an old book hadfallen into my hands; the which when I had but a little way perused, I found my condition in his experience so largely and profoundlyhandled, as if this book had been written out of my heart. This mademe marvel; for thus thought I, this man could not know any thing ofthe state of Christians now, but must needs write and speak theexperience of former days. 

Besides, he doth most gravely also, in that book, debate of the riseof these temptations, namely, blasphemy, desperation, and the like;showing that the law of Moses, as well as the devil, death, andhell, hath a very great hand therein: the which, at first, was verystrange to me; but considering and watching, I found it so indeed. But of particulars here I intend nothing; only this methinks I mustlet fall before all men, I do prefer this book of Martin Luther uponthe Galatians, excepting the Holy Bible, before all the books thatever I have seen, as most fit for a wounded conscience. 

XVI. SECURITY OF CHRISTIANS. 

Christians, were you awake, here would be matter of wonder to you, to see a man assaulted with all the power of hell, and yet come offa conqueror. Is it not a wonder to see a poor creature, who inhimself is weaker than the moth, stand against and overcome alldevils, all the world, all his lusts and corruptions? Or if he fall, is it not a wonder to see him, when devils and guilt are upon him, rise again, stand upon his feet again, walk with God again, andpersevere after all this in the faith and holiness of the gospel? Hethat knows himself, wonders; he that knows temptation, wonders; hethat knows what falls and guilt mean, wonders: indeed, perseveranceis a wonderful thing and is managed by the power of God; for he only"is able to keep us from falling, and to present us faultless beforethe presence of his glory, with exceeding joy. "

He that is saved must, when this world can hold him no longer, havea safe conduct to heaven; for that is the place where they that aresaved must to the full enjoy their salvation. Here we are saved byfaith and hope of glory; but there we that are saved shall enjoy theend of our faith, and hope, even the salvation of our souls. 

But now for a poor creature to be brought thither, this is the lifeof the point. But how shall I come thither? There are heights anddepths to hinder. Rom. 8:38, 39. Suppose the poor Christian is upona sick-bed, beset with a thousand fears, and ten thousand at the endof that--sick-bed fears, and they are sometimes dreadful ones:fears that are begotten by the review of the sin perhaps of fortyyears' profession--fears that are begotten by fearful suggestions ofthe devil, the sight of death and the grave, and it may be of hellitself--fears that are begotten by the withdrawing and silence ofGod and Christ. But now, out of all these the Lord will save hispeople; not one sin, nor fear, nor devil shall hinder, nor the gravenor hell disappoint thee. But how must this be? Why, thou must havea safe conduct to heaven. What conduct? A conduct of angels. "Arethey not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for themthat shall be heirs of salvation?"

These angels therefore are not to fail them that are saved, butmust, as commissioned of God, come down from heaven to do thisoffice for them. They must come, I say, and take the care of oursouls, to conduct them safely into Abraham's bosom. It is not ourmeanness in the world, nor our weakness of faith, that shall hinderthis; nor shall the loathsomeness of our diseases make thesedelicate spirits shy of taking this charge upon them. Lazarus thebeggar found this a truth--a beggar so despised of the rich gluttonthat he was not suffered to come within his gate; a beggar full ofsores and noisome putrefaction--yet behold, when he dies angels comefrom heaven to fetch him thither. 

True, death-bed temptations are ofttimes the most violent, becausethen the devil plays his last game with us; he is never to assaultus more. Besides, perhaps God suffereth it thus to be that theentering into heaven may be the sweeter, and ring of this salvationthe louder. O it is a blessed thing for God to be our God and ourguide, even unto death, and then for his angels to conduct us safelyto glory. This is saving indeed. 

Mercy seems to be asleep when we are sinking; for then we are as ifall things were careless of us; but it is but as a lion couchant, itwill awake in time for our help. 

There are those that have been in the pit, Psa. 40:2, now upon mountZion, with the harps of God in their hands, and with the song of theLamb in their mouths. 

God hath set a Saviour against sin, a heaven against a hell, lightagamst darkness, good against evil, and the breadth and length anddepth and height of the grace that is in himself for my good, against all the power and strength and subtlety of every enemy. 

Is it not a thing amazing, to see one poor inconsiderable man, in aspirit of faith and patience, overcome all the threatenings, cruelties, afflictions, and sorrows that a whole world can lay uponhim? None can quail him, none can crush him, none can bend down hisspirit; none can make him forsake what he has received of God, acommandment to hold fast. His holy, harmless, and profitablenotions, because they are spiced with grace, yield to him morecomfort, joy, and peace; and do kindle in his soul a goodly fire oflove to and zeal for God that all the waters of the world shallnever be able to quench. 

Now, a creation none can destroy but a creator, wherefore, here iscomfort. But again, God hath created us in Christ Jesus; that'sanother thing. The sun is created in the heavens; the stars arecreated in the heavens; the moon is created in the heavens. Who canreach them, touch them, destroy them, but the Creator? Why, this isthe case of the saint, because he has to do with a Creator: he isfastened to Christ, yea, is in him by an act of creation. So thatunless Christ and the creation of the Holy Ghost can be destroyed, he is safe that is suffering according to the will of God, and thathath committed the keeping of his soul to him in well-doing, as untoa faithful Creator. 

The strife is now, Who shall be Lord of all: whether Satan theprince of this world, or Christ Jesus the Son of God; or which canlay the best claim to God's elect, he that produces their sinsagainst them, or he that laid down his heart's blood a price ofredemption for them. Who then shall condemn, when Christ has diedand does also make intercession?

Stand still, angels, and behold how the Father divides his Son a"portion with the great, " and how he "divides the spoil with thestrong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death, and wasnumbered with the transgressors, and did bear the sin of many, andmade intercession for the transgressors. " The grace of God and theblood of Christ will, before the end of the world, make brave workamong the sons of men. They shall come for a wonderment to God byChrist, and--be saved for a wonderment for Christ's sake. "Behold, these shall come from far; and lo, these from the north andfrom the west, and these from the land of Sinim. "

"What man is he that feareth the Lord?" says David; "him shall heteach in the way that he shall choose. "

Now, to be taught of God, what is like it? Yea, what is like beingtaught in the way that them shalt choose? Thou hast chosen the wayto life, God's way; hut perhaps thy ignorance about; it is so great, and those that tempt thee to turn aside are so many and so subtle, that, they seem to outwit thee and confound thee with their guile. Well, but the Lord whom thou fearest will not leave thee to thyignorance, nor yet to thine enemies' power or subtlety, but willtake it upon himself to be thy teacher and thy guide, and that inthe way that thou hast chosen. Hear, then, and beliold thyprivilege, O thou that fearest the Lord; and--whoever wanders, turnsaside, and swerveth from the way of salvation, whoever is benightedand lost in the midst of darkness--thou shalt find the way to heavenand the glory that thou hast chosen. 

There is between those that have taken sanctuary in Christ, and thebottomless pit, an invincible and mighty wall of grace and heavenlypower, and of the merits of Christ to save to the utmost all andevery one that are thus fled to him for safety. 

Oh, how my soul did at this time [while in spiritual darkness] prizethe preservation that God did set about his people. Ah, how safelydid I see them walk whom God had hedged in. Now did those blessedplaces that spake of God's keeping his people, shine like the sunbefore me, though not to comfort me, yet to show me the blessedstate and heritage of those whom the Lord had blessed. Now I sawthat as God had his hand in all the providences and dispensationsthat overtake his elect, so he had his hand in all the temptationsthat they had to sin against him; not to animate them in wickedness, but to choose their temptations and troubles for them, and also toleave them for a time to such things only as might not destroy, buthumble them--as might not put them beyond, but lay them in the wayof the renewing of his mercy. But Oh, what love, what care, whatkindness and mercy did I now see, mixing itself with the most severeand dreadful of all God's ways to his people! He would let David, Hezekiah, Solomon, Peter, and others fall; but he would not let themfall into the sin unpardonable, nor into hell for sin. O, thought I, these be the men that God hath loved--these be the men that God, though he chastiseth them, keeps in safety by him, and whom he makesto abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 

Surely his salvation, his saving, pardoning grace, is nigh them thatfear him; that is, to save them out of the hand of their spiritualenemies. The devil and sin and death do always wait even to devourthem that fear the Lord; but to deliver them from these, hissalvation doth attend them. So, then, if Satan tempts, here is theirsalvation nigh; if sin by breaking forth beguiles them, here isGod's salvation nigh them; yea, if death itself shall suddenly seizeupon them, why, here is their God's salvation nigh them. 

I have seen that great men's little children must go no whitherwithout their nurses be at hand. If they go abroad, their nursesmust go with them; if they go to meals, their nurses must go withthem; if they go to bed, their nurses must go with them; yea, --andif they fall asleep, their nurses must stand by them. 

O, my brethren, those little ones that fear the Lord are thechildren of the highest; therefore they shall not walk alone, be attheir spiritual meats alone, go to their sick-beds or to theirgraves alone: the salvation of their God is nigh them, to deliverthem from the evil. This is then the glory that dwells in the landof them that fear the Lord. 

"He will fulfil the desire of them that fear him. " Where now is theman that feareth the Lord? let him hearken to this. "What sayestthou, poor soul? Will this content thee? the Lord fulfil thydesires. O thou that fearest the Lord, what is thy desire? "All mydesire, " says David, "is all my salvation;" so sayest thou, "All mysalvation is all my desire?" Well, the desire of thy soul is grantedthee; yea, God himself hath engaged himself even to fulfil this thydesire. "He will fulfil the desires of them that fear him; he willhear their cry, and will save them. " O this desire, when it cometh, what "a tree of life" will it be to thee! Thou desirest to be rid ofthy present trouble; the Lord shall rid thee out of trouble. Thoudesirest to be delivered from temptation; the Lord shall deliverthee out of temptation. Thou desirest to be delivered from thy bodyof death; and the Lord shall change this thy vile body, that it maybe like to his glorious body. Thou desirest to be in the presence ofGod, and among the angels in heaven; this thy desire also shall befulfilled, and thou shalt be made equal to the angels. Exod. 6:6; 2Peter, 2:9; Phil. 3:20, 21; Luke 16:22; 26:35, 36. "Oh, but it islong first. " Well, learn first to live upon thy portion in thepromise of it, and that will make thy expectation of it sweet. Godwill fulfil thy desires; God will do it, though it tarry long: Waitfor it, because it will surely come, it will not tarry. "

XVII. THE PROMISES. 

GOD hath strewed all the way from the gate of hell where thou wast, coming sinner, to the gate of heaven whither thou art going, withflowers out of his own garden. Behold how the promises, invitations, calls, and encouragements, like lilies, lie about thee. Take heedthou dost not tread them under foot. 

You say you believe the Scriptures to be the word of God. I say, Wert thou ever quickened from a dead state by the power of theSpirit of Christ through the covenant of promise? I tell thee fromthe Lord, if thou hast been, thou hast felt such a quickening powerin the words of Christ, that thou hast been lifted out of the deadcondition thou before wert in; and that when thou wast under theguilt of sin, the curse of the law, the power of the devil, and thejustice of the great God, thou hast been enabled by the power of Godin Christ, revealed to thee by the Spirit through and by theScripture, to look sin, death, hell, the devil, and the law, and allthings that are at enmity with thee, with boldness and comfort inthe face, through the blood, death, resurrection, and intercessionof Christ, made mention of in the Scriptures. 

On this account, O how excellent are the Scriptures to thy soul! Ohow much virtue dost thou see in such a promise, in such aninvitation! They are so large as to say, Christ will in nowise castme out. My crimson sins shall be as white as snow. 

I tell thee, friend, there are some promises through and by whichthe Lord has helped me to lay hold of Jesus Christ, that I would nothave out of the Bible for as much gold and silver as can lie betweenYork and London piled up to the stars; because through them Christis pleased by his Spirit to convey comfort to my soul. I say, whenthe law curses, when the devil tempts, when hell-fire flames in myconscience, my sins with the guilt of them tearing of me, then isChrist revealed so sweetly to my poor soul through the promises, that all is forced to fly and leave off to accuse my soul. So alsowhen the world frowns, when the enemies rage and threaten to killme, then also the precious promises do weigh down all, and comfortthe soul against all. 

The grace of God and the Spirit of grace are called or compared to ariver, to answer those unsatiable desires, and to wash away thosemountainous doubts, that attend those who indeed do thirst for thatdrink. The man that thirsteth with spiritual thirst, fears nothingmore than that there is not enough to quench his thirst: all thepromises and sayings of God's ministers to such a man, seem but asthimbles instead of bowls: I mean, so long as his thirst and doubtswalk hand in hand together. There is not enough in this promise, Ifind not enough in that promise, to quench the drought of mythirsting soul. He that thirsteth aright, nothing but God can quenchhis thirst. "My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God. " Psalm43:2; 63:1; 143:6. Well, what shall he done for this man? Will hisGod humor him, and answer his desires? Mark what follows: "When thepoor and needy seek water, and there is none"--when all the promisesseem to be dry, and like clouds that return after the rain--"andtheir tongue faileth for thirst, I the Lord will hear them, I theGod of Israel will not forsake them. " Aye, but, Lord, what wilt thoudo to quench their thirst? "I will open rivers, " saith he, "in highplaces, and fountains in the midst of the valleys: I will make thewilderness a pool of water, and the dry land springs of water. "Behold, here are rivers and fountains, a pool and springs, and allto quench the thirst of them that thirst for God. 

What greater argument to holiness, than to see the scriptures sofurnished with promises of grace and salvation by Christ, that a mancan hardly cast his eye into the Bible but he espies one or anotherof them? Who would not live in such a house, or he a servant to sucha prince; who, besides his exceeding in good conditions, has goldand silver as common in his palace as stones are by the highwayside?

It sometimes so falleth out, that the very promise we have thoughtcould not reach us to comfort us by any means, has at another timeswallowed us up with joy unspeakable: Christ the true prophet hasthe right understanding of the word as an Advocate, has pleaded itbefore God against Satan; and having overcome him at the common law, he has sent to let us know it by his good Spirit, to our comfort andthe confusion of our enemies. 

XVIII. CHRISTIAN GRACES. 

FAITH. 

FAITH! Peter saith, faith, in the very trial of it, is much moreprecious than gold that perisheth. If so, what is the worth or valuethat is in the grace itself?

Faith is so great an artist in arguing and reasoning with the soul, that it will bring over the hardest heart that it hath to deal with. It will bring to my remembrance at once, both my vileness againstGod, and his goodness towards me; it will show me, that though Ideserve not to breathe in the air, yet God will have me an heir ofglory. 

Faith is the mother-grace, the root-grace, the grace that has allothers in the bowels of it, and that from which all others flow. 

Faith will suck sweetness out of God's rod; but unbelief can find nocomfort in his greatest mercies. 

Faith makes great burdens light; but unbelief maketh light onesintolerably heavy. 

Faith helpeth us when we are down; but unbelief throws us down whenwe are up. 

Unbelief may be called the WHITE DEVIL; for it often-times, in itsmischievous doing in the soul, shows as if it was an angel of light;yea, it acteth like a counsellor of heaven. 

It is that sin above all others that most suiteth the wisdom of ourflesh. The wisdom of our flesh thinks it prudent to question awhile, to stand back a while, to hearken to both sides a while; andnot to be rash, sudden, or unadvised in too bold a presuming uponJesus Christ. 

There is nothing like faith to help at a pinch; faith dissolvesdoubts, as the sun drives away the mists. And that you may not beput out, know your time of believing is always. There are times whensome graces may be out of use; but there is no time wherein faithcan be said to be so. Faith is the eye, the mouth, the hand, and oneof these is of use all day long. Faith is to see, to receive, towork, or to eat; and a Christian should be seeing, or receiving, orworking, or feeding, all day long. Let it rain, let it blow, let itthunder, let it lighten, a Christian must still believe. 

"Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith you shall be ableto quench all the fiery darts of the wicked:" to quench them, thoughthey come from him as kindled with the very fire of hell. Noneknows, save he that feels it, how burning hot the fiery darts ofSatan are; and how, when darted, they kindle upon our flesh andunbelief; neither can any know the power and worth of faith toquench them, but he that hath it and hath power to act it. 

There are three things in faith, that directly tend to make a mandepart from iniquity. 

1. It apprehendeth the truth of the being and great ness of God, andso it aweth the spirit of a man. 

2. It apprehendeth the love of this God in Christ, and so itconquereth and overcometh the spirit of a man. 

3. It apprehendeth the sweetness and blessedness of the nature ofthe godhead, and thence persuadeth the soul to desire here communionwith him, that it may be holy, and the enjoyment of him when thisworld is ended, that it may be happy in and by him for ever. 

There is a man sows his field with wheat, but as he sows, some iscovered with great clods: now, that grows as well as the rest, though it runs not upright as yet; it grows, and yet is kept down. So do thy desires--when one shall remove the clod, the blade willsoon point upward I know thy mind; that which keeps thee that thoucanst not yet arrive to this, to desire to depart and to be withChrist, is because some strong douht or clod of unbelief as to thyeternal welfare lies hard upon thy desiring spirit. Now let butJesus Christ remove this clod, and thy desires will quickly start upto be gone. 

UPON THE SWALLOW. 

This pretty bird, O how she flies and sings! But could she do so ifshe had not wings? Her wings bespeak my faith, her songs my peace. When I believe and sing, my doubtings cease. 

TRUST. 

Why, this is the case, thou art bound for heaven, but the waythither is dangerous. It is beset everywhere with evil angels, whowould rob thee of thy soul. What now? Why, if thou wouldst gocheerfully on in thy dangerous journey, commit thy treasure, thysoul, to God to keep. And then thou mayest say with comfort, "Well, that care is over. For whatever I meet with in my way thither, mysoul is safe enough; the thieves, if they meet me, cannot come atthat; I know to whom I have committed my soul, and I am persuadedthat he will keep that to my joy and everlasting comfort against thegreat day. "

When a tyrant goes to dispossess a neighboring prince of what islawfully his own, the men that he employeth at arms to overcome andget the land, fight for half-crowns and the like, and are contentwith the wages; but the tyrant is for the kingdom, nothing willserve him but the kingdom. This is the case: Men, when theypersecute, are for the stuff; but the devil is for the soul, norwill any thing less than that satisfy him. Let him then that is asufferer, commit the keeping of his soul to God, lest stuff and souland all be lost at once. 

Now, to commit this soul to God, is to carry it to him, to lift itto him upon bended knees, and to pray him for the Lord JesusChrist's sake, to take it into his holy care, and to let it be underhis keeping. Also, that he will please to deliver it from all thosesnares that are laid for it between this and the next world, andthat he will see that it be forthcoming, safe and sound, at thegreat and terrible judgment, notwithstanding so many have engagedthemselves against it. 

FAITH AND HOPE. 

No faith, no hope. To hope without faith, is to see without eyes, orto expect without grounds; for "faith is the substance of thingshoped for, " as well with respect to the grace, as to the doctrine offaith. 

Faith has its excellency in this, hope in that, and love in anotherthing. Faith will do that which hope cannot do, hope can do thatwhich faith cannot do, and love can do things distinct from boththeir doings. Faith goes in the van, hope in the body, and lovebrings up the rear; and thus now abideth faith, hope, and charity. 

Faith is the mother-grace, for hope is born of her, but charityfloweth from them both. 

Faith comes by hearing, hope by experience. Faith comes by hearingthe word of God, hope by the credit that faith has given to it. Faith believes the truth of the word, hope waits for the fulfillingof it. Faith lays hold of that end of the promise that is next tous, to wit, as it is in the Bible; hope lays hold of that end of thepromise that is fastened to the mercy-seat. For the promise is likea mighty cable that is fastened by one end to a ship, and by theother to the anchor. The soul is the ship where faith is, and towhich the hither end of this cable is fastened; but hope is theanchor that is at the other end of this cable, and "which enterethinto that within the veil. "

Thus faith and hope getting hold of both ends of the promise, theycarry it safely ALL away. 

Faith looks to Christ as dead, buried, and ascended; and hope to hissecond coming. Faith looks to him for justification, hope for glory. 

Faith fights for doctrine, hope for a reward; faith for what is inthe Bible, hope for what is in heaven. 

Faith purifies the heart from bad principles, hope from bad manners. 2 Peter, 3:11, 14. 

Faith sets hope at work, hope sets patience at work. Faith says tohope, Look for what is promised; hope says to faith, So I do, andwill wait for it too. 

Faith looks through the word of God in Christ; hope looks throughfaith, beyond the world, to glory. 

Thus faith saves, and thus hope saves. Faith saves by laying hold ofGod by Christ; hope saves by prevailing with the soul to suffer alltroubles, afflictions, and adversities that it meets with betwixtthis and the world to come, for the sake thereof. Take the matter inthis plain similitude:

There was a king that adopted such a one to be his child, andclothed him with the attire of the children of the king, andpromised him that if he would fight his father's battles and walk inhis father's ways, he should at last share in his father's kingdom. He has received the adoption and the king's robe, but not yet hispart in the kingdom; but now, hope of a share in that will make himfight the king's battles, and also tread the king's paths. Yea, andthough he should meet with many things that have a tendency to deterhim from so doing, yet thoughts of the interest promised in thekingdom, and hopes to enjoy it, will make him cut his way throughthose difficulties, and so save him from the ruin that thoseobstructions would bring upon him, and will, in conclusion, usherhim into a personal possession and enjoyment of that inheritance. 

Hope has a thick skin, and will endure many a blow; it will put onpatience as a vestment, it will wade through a sea of blood, it willendure all things if it be of the right kind, for the joy that isset before it. Hence patience is called "patience of hope, " becauseit is hope that makes the soul exercise patience and long-sufferingunder the cross, until the time conies to enjoy the crown. 

Learn of Abraham not to faint, stumble, or doubt, at the sight ofyour own weakness; for if you do, hope will stay below, and creak inthe wheels as it goes, because it will want the oil of faith. 

HOPE. 

Hope is the grace that relieves the soul when dark and weary. Hopecalls upon the soul not to forget how far it is arrived in itsprogress towards heaven. Hope will point and show it the gate afaroff; and therefore it is called the HOPE OF SALVATION. 

True hope, in the right exercise of it upon God, makes no stumble atweakness or darkness, but rather worketh up the soul to some comfortby these. Thus Abraham's hope wrought by his weakness. And as forthe dark, it is its element to act in that, "For hope which is seenis not hope. "

Hope is a head-grace and governing. There are several lusts in thesoul that cannot be mastered, if hope be not in exercise-especiallyif the soul be in great and sore trials. There is peevishness andimpatience, there is fear and despair, there is doubting andmisconstruing of God's present hand; and all these become masters, if hope be not stirring; nor can any grace besides put a stop totheir tumultuous raging in the soul. But now, hope in God makes themall hush, takes away the occasion of their working, and lays thesoul at the foot of God. 

PATIENCE. "And he stayed yet other seven days. " This staying showsus that lie exercised patience, waiting God's leisure till the floodshould be taken away. This grace, therefore, has yet seven days'work to do, before he obtained any further testimony that the waterswere decreasing. O this staying work is hard work. Alas, sometimespatience is accompanied with so much heat and feverishness, thatevery hour seems seven until the end of the trial, and the blessingpromised be possessed by the waiting soul. It may be, Noah might notbe altogether herein a stranger. I am sure the psalmist was not, inthat he often under affliction cries, But how long, O Lord; forever? Make haste. O Lord, how long?

LOVE. 

Love is the very quintessence of all the graces of the gospel. 

FEAR. 

It seems to me as if this grace of fear was the darling grace, thegrace that God sets his heart upon at the highest rate. As it were, he embraces and lays in his bosom the man that hath and grows strongin this grace of the fear of God. 

This grace of fear is the softest and most tender of God's honor ofall the graces. It is that tender, sensible, and trembling grace, that keepeth the soul upon its continual watch. To keep a good watchis, you know, a wonderful safety to a place that is in continualdanger because of the enemy. Why, this is the grace that setteth thewatch, and that keepeth the watchman awake. 

A man cannot watch as he should, if he be destitute of fear: let himbe confident, and he sleeps; he unadvisedly lets into the garrisonthose that should not come there. 

This fear of the Lord is the pulse of the soul; and as some pulsesheat stronger, some weaker, so is this grace of fear in the soul. They that beat best are a sign of best life; but they that beatworst, show that life is present. As long as the pulse beats, wecount not that the man is dead, though weak; and this fear, where itis, preserves to everlasting life. Pulses there are also that areintermitting; to wit, such as have their times of beating for alittle, a little time to stop, and beat again: true, these aredangerous pulses, which, nevertheless, are a sign of life. This fearof God also is sometimes like this intermitting pulse; there aretimes when it forbears to work, and then it works again. David hadan intermitting pulse; Peter had an intermitting pulse, as also manyother of the saints of God. I call that an intermitting pulse, withreference to the fear we speak of, when there is some obstruction bythe workings of corruption in the soul: I say, some obstruction fromand hinderance of the continual motion of this fear of God; yet noneof these--though they are various, and some of them signs ofweakness--are signs of death, but life. "I will put my fear in theirheart, and they shall not depart from me. "

Where the fear of the Lord and sin are, it will be with the soul asit was with Israel when Amri and Tibni strove to reign among themboth at once. One of them must be put to death, they cannot livetogether. Sin must down, for the fear of the Lord begetteth in thesoul a hatred against it, an abhorrence of it; therefore sin mustdie, that is, as to the affections and lusts of it. 

"Thy heart shall fear and be enlarged"--enlarged towards God, enlarged to his ways, enlarged to his holy people, enlarged in loveafter the salvation of others. Indeed, when this fear of God iswanting, though the profession be never so famous, the heart is shutup and straitened, and nothing is done in that princely free spirit, which is called "the spirit of the fear of the Lord, " but withgrudging, legally, or with desire of vain glory. Psa. 51:12; Isa. 11:2. 

If a king will keep a town secure to himself, let him be sure to mansufficiently the main fort thereof. If he have twenty thousand menwell armed, if they lie scattered here and there, the town may betaken for all that; but if the main fort be well manned, then thetown is more secure. What if a man had all the parts, yea, all thearts of men and angels, that will not keep the heart to God. 

But when the heart, this principal fort, is possessed with the fearof God, then he is safe, not else. 

O they are a sweet couple, to wit, a Christian conversation coupledwith fear. 

Your great, ranting, swaggering roysters, that are ignorant of thenature of this fear of God, count it a poor, sneaking, pitiful, cowardly spirit in men to fear and tremble before the Lord. Butwhoso looks back to jails and gibbets, to the sword and the burningstake, shall see in the martyrs THERE the most mighty and invinciblespirit that has been in the world. 

This grace of fear can make the man that in many other things is notcapable of serving God, serve him better than those that have allelse without it. Poor Christian man, thou hast scarce been able todo any thing for God all thy days, but only to fear the Lord. Thouart no preacher, and so canst not do him service that way: thou artno rich man, and so canst not do him service with outward substance:thou art no wise man, and so canst not do any thing that way; buthere is thy mercy, thou fearest God. Though thou canst not preach, thou canst fear God. Though thou hast no bread to feed the belly, nor fleece to clothe the back of the poor, thou canst fear God. Ohow blessed is the man that feareth the Lord, because this duty offearing of God is an act of the mind, and may be done by the manthat is destitute of all things but that holy and blessed mind. 

Blessed, therefore, is that man; for God hath not laid the comfortof his people in the doing of external duties, nor the salvation oftheir souls, but in believing, loving, and fearing God. Neither hathhe laid these things in actions done in their health, nor in the duemanagement of their most excellent parts, but in the receiving ofChrist, and fear of God; the which, good Christian, thou mayest do, and do acceptably, even though thou shouldst lie bedrid all thydays; thou mayest also be sick and believe, be sick and love, besick and fear God, and so be a blessed man. 

And here the poor Christian hath something to answer them thatreproach him for his ignoble pedigree, and shortness of the glory ofthe wisdom of the world. True, may that man say, I was taken out ofthe dunghill, I was born in a base and low estate; but I fear God. Ihave no worldly greatness, nor excellency of natural parts, but Ifear God. 

When Obadiah met with Elijah, he gave him no worldly and fantasticalcompliment, nor did he glory in his promotion by Ahab the king ofIsrael, but gravely and after a gracious manner said, "I thy servantfear the Lord from my youth. " Also, when the mariners inquired ofJonah, saying, "What is thine occupation, and whence comest thou;what is thy country, and of what people art thou?" this was theanswer he gave them: "I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord, the God ofheaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land. " Jonah 1:8, 9. 

Indeed this answer is the highest and most noble in the world, norare there any, save a few, that in truth can thus expressthemselves, though other answers they have enough: most can say, Ihave wisdom, or might, or riches, or friends, or health, or thelike; these are common, and are greatly boasted in by the most; butthe man that feareth God can say, when they say to him, "What artthou?" "I thy servant do fear the Lord:" he is the man of many, he isto be honored of men, though this, to wit, that he feareth the Lord, is all that he hath in this world. He hath the thing, the honor, thelife, and glory, that is lasting; his blessedness will abide whenall men's but his is buried in the dust, in shame and contempt. 

Dost thou fear God? The least DRACHM of that fear giveth theprivilege to be blessed with the greatest saint: "He will bless themthat fear the Lord, small and great. " Psalm 115:13. Art thou inthine own thoughts, or in the thoughts of others, of these lastsmall ones, small in grace, small in gifts, small in esteem uponthis account? Yet if thou fearest God, if thou fearest God indeed, thou art certainly blessed with the best of saints. The least starstands as fixed as the brightest of them all, in heaven. "He shallbless them that fear him, small and great. " He shall bless them, that is, with the same blessing of eternal life. For the differencein degrees of grace in saints doth not make the blessing, as to itsnature, differ. It is the same heaven, the same life, the sameglory, and the same eternity of felicity, that they are in the textpromised to be blessed with. Christ at the day of judgmentparticularly mentioneth and owneth the least: "Inasmuch as ye did itnot to one of the least. " The least then was there, in his kingdomand in his glory, as well as the greatest of all. 

Dost thou fear God? Why, the Holy Ghost hath on purpose indited forthee a whole psalm to sing concerning thyself. So that thou mayesteven as thou art, in thy calling, bed, journey, or whenever, singout thine own blessed and happy condition to thine own comfort, andthe comfort of thy fellows. The psalm is called the 128th Psalm. 

"Ye that fear the Lord, trust in the Lord; he is their help andtheir shield. " Psalm 115:11. Now what a privilege is this: anexhortation in general to sinners, as sinners, to trust in him, is aprivilege great and glorious; but for a man to be singled out fromhis neighbors, for a man to be spoken to from heaven as it were byname, and to be told that God has given him a license, a special andpeculiar grant to trust in him, this is abundantly more; and yetthis is the grant that God has given that man that feareth the Lord. 

"O fear the Lord, ye his saints, for there is no want to them thatfear him. The young lions do lack, and suffer hunger; but they thatseek the Lord"--that fear him--"shall want no good thing. " Psalm34:9, 10. 

Not any thing that God sees good for them, shall those men want thatfear the Lord. If health will do them good, if sickness will do themgood, if riches will do them good, if poverty will do them good, iflife will do them good, if death will do them good, then they shallnot want them; neither shall any of these come nigh them, if theywill not do them good. 

Sinner, hast thou deferred to fear the Lord? Is thy heart still sostubborn as not to say yet, Let us fear the Lord? O, the Lord hathtaken notice of this thy rebellion, and is preparing some dreadfuljudgments for thee. "Shall I not visit for these things, saith theLord; shall not my soul be avenged of such a nation as this?"

Sinner, why shouldst thou pull vengeance down upon thee? whyshouldst thou pull vengeance down from heaven upon thee? Look up;perhaps thou hast already been pulling this great while, to pull itdown upon thee. Oh, pull no longer; why shouldst thou be thine ownexecutioner? Fall down upon thy knees, man, and up with thy heartand thy hands to the God that dwells in the heavens; cry, yea, cryaloud, "Lord, unite my heart to fear thy name, and do not hardenmine heart from thy fear. " Thus holy men have cried before thee, andby crying have prevented judgment. 

HUMILITY. 

I take the pinnacles on the top of the temple to be types of thoselofty, airy notions, with which some delight themselves, while theyhover like birds above the solid and godly truths of Christ. Satanattempted to entertain Christ Jesus with this type and antitype atonce, when he set him on one of the pinnacles of the temple, andoffered to thrust him upon a false confidence in God, by a false andunsound interpretation of a text. Matt. 4:5, 6; Luke 4:9-11. 

You have some men who cannot be content to worship in the temple, but must be aloft; no place will serve them but pinnacles--pinnacles, that they may be speaking in and to the air, that they may be promotingtheir heady notions, instead of solid truth--not considering that nowthey are where the devil would have them be. They strut upon theirpoints, their pinnacles; but let them look to it: there is difficultstanding upon pinnacles; their neck, their soul, is in danger. We read, God is in his temple, not upon these pinnacles. Psalm 4; Hab. 2:20. 

It is true, Christ was once upon one of these; but the devil set himthere, with intent to dash him in pieces by a fall; and yet eventhen told him, if he would venture to tumble down, he should be keptfrom dashing his foot against a stone. To be there, therefore, wasone of Christ's temptations; consequently one of Satan's stratagems:nor went he thither of his own accord, for he knew that there wasdanger; he loved not to clamber pinnacles. 

This should teach Christians to be low and little in their own eyes, and to forbear to intrude into airy and vain speculations, and totake heed of being puffed up with a foul and empty mind. 

ZEAL. 

The loaves or showbread in the temple were to have frankincensestrewed upon them as they stood upon the golden table, which was atype of the sweet perfumes of the sanctification of the Holy Ghost. 

They were to be set upon the pure table, new and hot, to show thatGod delights in the company of new and warm believers. "I rememberthee, the kindness of thy youth; when Israel was a child, I lovedhim. " Men at first conversion are like to a cake well baked, and newtaken from the oven; they are warm, and cast forth a very fragrantscent, especially when, as warm, sweet increase is strewed uponthem. 

"When the showbread was old and stale, it was to be taken away, andnew and warm put in its place, to show that God has but littledelight in the service of his own people, when their duties growstale and mouldy. Therefore he removed his old, stale, mouldy churchof the Jews from before him, and set in their room upon the goldentable the warm church of the Gentiles. "

Zeal without knowledge is like a mettled horse without eyes, or likea sword in a madman's hand; and there is no knowledge where there isnot the word. 

REPENTANCE. 

Repentance carries with it a divine rhetoric, and persuades Christto forgive a multitude of sins committed against him. 

One difference between true and false repentance lieth in this: theman who truly repents crieth out against his heart; but the other, as Eve, against the serpent, or something else. 

There are abundance of dry-eyed Christians in the world, andabundance of dry-eyed duties too--duties that never were wet withthe tears of contrition and repentance. 

Take heed that a sin in thy life goes not unrepented of, for thatwill make a flaw in thine evidence, a wound in thy conscience, and abreach in thy peace; and a hundred to one if at last it doth notdrive all the grace in thee into so dark a corner of thy heart, thatthou shalt not be able, for a time, by all the torches that areburning in the gospel, to find it out to thy own comfort andconsolation. 

As vices hang together, and have the links of a chain, dependenceone upon another, even so the graces of the Spirit also are thefruits of one another, and have such dependence on each other thatthe one cannot be without the other. 

No faith, no fear of God: devil's faith, devil's fear; saints'faith, saints' fear. 

XIX. PRAYER. 

CHARACTERISTICS OF PRAYER. 

WHAT is prayer? A sincere, sensible, affectionate pouring out of thesoul to God, through Christ, in the strength and assistance of theSpirit, for such things as God hath promised. 

The best prayers have often more groans than words. 

Alas, how few there be in the world whose heart and mouth in prayershall go together. Dost thou, when thou askest for the Spirit, orfaith, or love to God, to holiness, to saints, to the word, and thelike, ask for them with love to them, desire of them, hungeringafter them? Oh, this is a mighty thing; and yet prayer is no morebefore God than as it is seasoned with these blessed qualifications. Wherefore it is said, that while men are praying, God is searchingthe heart to see what is the meaning of the Spirit, or whether therebe the Spirit and his meaning in all that the mouth hath uttered, either by words, sighs, or groans, because it is by him and throughhis help only that any make prayers according to the will of God. Rom. 8:26, 27. 

PREPARATION FOR PRATER. 

Before you enter into prayer, ask thy soul these questions: To whatend, O my soul, art thou retired into this place? Art thou not cometo discourse the Lord in prayer? Is he present, will he hear thee?Is he merciful, will he help thee? Is thy business slight, is it notconcerning the welfare of thy soul? What words wilt thou use to movehim to compassion?

THE THRONE OF GRACE. 

We know the throne of grace from other thrones by the glory that italways appears in when revealed to us of God: its glory outshinesall; there is no such glory to be seen anywhere else, either inheaven or earth. But I say, this comes by the sight that God gives, not by any excellency that there is in my natural understanding, assuch: my understanding and apprehension, simply as natural, areblind and foolish; wherefore, when I set to work in mine own spiritand in the power of mine own abilities, to reach to this throne ofgrace and to perceive somewhat of the glory thereof, then am I dark, rude, foolish; I see nothing, and my heart grows flat, dull, savorless, lifeless, and has no warmth in the duty; but it mounts upwith wings like an eagle when the throne is truly apprehended. 

This throne is the seat of grace and mercy, and therefore it iscalled the mercy-seat and throne of grace. This throne turns allinto grace, all into mercy; this throne makes all things worktogether for good. It is said of Saul's sons, 2 Sam. 21:10-14, theywere not buried after they were hanged until water dropped upon themout of heaven; and it may be said of us, there is nothing sufferedto come near us until it is washed in that water that proceeds fromthe throne of grace. Hence afflictions flow from grace; persecutionsflow from grace; poverty, sickness, yea, death itself is now madeours by the grace of God through Christ. Psa. 119:67-71; 1 Cor. 3:22; Rev. 3:19; Heb. 12:5-7. O grace, O happy church of God! allthings that happen to thee are for Christ's sake turned into grace. They talk of the philosopher's stone, and how if one had it, itwould turn all things into gold. Oh, but can it turn all things intograce--can it make all things work together for good? No, no; thisquality, virtue, excellency--what shall I call it?--nothing has init but the grace that reigns on the throne of grace, the river thatproceeds from the throne of God. This, this turns majesty, authority, the highest authority, glory, wisdom, faithfulness, justice, and all into grace. Here is a throne; may God let us seeit. John had the honor to see it, and to see the streams proceedingfrom it. O sweet sight, O heart-cherishing sight! "He showed me apure river of water of life proceeding out of the throne of God. "

Indeed, as was hinted before, in the days of the reign of antichristthere are not those visions of this throne, nor of the river thatproceedeth therefrom: now he holdeth back the face of his throne, and spreadeth a cloud upon it; but the preserving, saving benefitsthereof we have, as also have all the saints in the most cloudy anddark day. And since we can see so little, we must believe the more;and by believing, give glory to God. We must also labor for moreclear scripture knowledge of this throne, for the holy word of Godis the perspective-glass by which we may, and the magnifying-glassthat will cause us to behold with open face the glory of this Lord. 2 Cor. 3: 18. 

"A throne was set in heaven, and one sat on the throne;" that is, God. And this intimates his desirable rest for ever; for to sit isto rest, and Christ is his rest for ever. Was it not therefore wellworth the seeing-yea, if John had taken the pains to go up thitherupon his hands and knees?

It is grace that chooses, it is grace that calleth; it is grace thatpreserveth, and it is grace that brings to glory, even the gracethat, like a river of water of life, proceeds from this" throne ofgrace;" and hence it is, that from first to last, we must cry, Grace, grace, unto it. 

Thus you see what a throne the Christian is invited to: it is athrone of grace whereon doth sit the God of all grace; it is athrone of grace before which the Lord Jesus ministers continuallyfor us; it is a throne of grace sprinkled with the blood, and in themidst of which is a Lamb as it had been slain; it is a throne with arainbow round about it, which is the token of the everlastingcovenant, and out of which proceeds a river, a pure river of waterof life, clear as crystal. 

Look then for these signs of the throne of grace, all you that wouldcome to it, and rest not until by some of them you know that you areeven come to it: they are all to be seen, have you but eyes; and thesight of them is very delectable, and has a natural tendency torevive and quicken the soul. 

PRAYER IN THE NAME OF CHUIST. 

He that thinks to find grace at God's hand, and yet enters not intothe holiest by the blood of Jesus, will find himself mistaken, andwill find a dead instead of a living way. For if not any thing belowor besides blood can yield remission on God's part, how shouldremission be received by us without our acting faith therein? We arejustified by his blood, through faith in his blood. 

Wherefore look, when thou approachest the throne of grace, that thougive diligence to seek for the "Lamb as it had been slain, " that isin the midst of the throne of grace; and then thou wilt have notonly a sign that thou presentest thy supplication to God where andas thou shouldst, but there also wilt thou meet with matter tobreak, to soften, to bend, to bow, and to make thy heart as thouwouldst have it. This sight shall dissolve and melt down the spiritof that man that is upon his knees before the throne of grace formercy; especially when he shall see, that not his prayers, nor histears, nor his wants, but the blood of the Lamb, has prevailed witha God of grace to give mercy and grace to an undeserving sinner. 

God hath prepared a golden altar for thee to offer thy prayers andtears upon, coming sinner. A golden altar! It is called a _goldenaltar_, to show what worth it is of in God's account; for thisgolden altar is Jesus Christ--this altar sanctifies thy gift, andmakes thy sacrifice acceptable. 

This altar then makes thy groans golden groans, thy tears goldentears, and thy prayers golden prayers, in the eye of that God thoucomest to. 

BENEFIT OF PRAYER. 

Pray often; for prayer is a shield for the soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge for Satan. 

Look yonder! Ah, methinks mine eyes do see Clouds edged with silver, as fine garments be; They look as if they saw the golden face Thatmakes black clouds most beautiful with grace. 

Unto the saints' sweet incense of their prayer, These smoky curledclouds I do compare; For as these clouds seem edged or laced withgold, Their prayers return with blessings manifold. 

Prayer is as the pitcher that fetcheth water from the brook, therewith to water the herbs: break the pitcher and it will fetch nowater, and for want of water the garden withers. 

The godly have found all other places, the throne of grace excepted, empty, and places that hold no water. They have been at mount Sinaifor help, but could find nothing there but fire and darkness, butthunder and lightning, but earthquakes and trembling, and a voice ofkilling words. 

They have sought for grace by their own performances; but, alas, they have yielded them nothing but wind and confusion; not aperformance, not a duty, not an act in any part of religiousworship, but they, looking upon it in the glass of the Lord, do findit specked and defective. 

They have sought for grace by their resolutions, their vows, theirpurposes, and the like; but alas, they all do as the other, discoverthat they have been very imperfectly managed, and so are such as canby no means help them to grace. 

They have gone to their tears, their sorrow, and repentance, ifperhaps they might find some help there; but all has fled away likethe early dew. 

They have gone to God as the great Creator, and have beheld howwonderful his works have been; they have looked to the heavensabove, to the earth beneath, and to all their ornaments; but neitherhave these, nor what is of them, yielded grace to those that hadsensible want thereof. 

They have gone with these pitchers to their fountains, and havereturned empty and ashamed; they found no water, no river of waterof life. 

Paul, not finding it in the law, despairs to find it in any thingelse below, but presently betakes himself to look for it where hehad not yet found it: he looked for it by Jesus Christ, who is thethrone of grace, where he found it, and rejoiced in hope of theglory of God. 

O, when a God of grace is upon a throne of grace, and a poor sinnerstands by and begs for grace, and that in the name of a graciousChrist, in and by the help of the Spirit of grace, can it beotherwise but such a sinner must obtain mercy and grace to help intime of need?

All the sorrow that is mixed with our Christianity proceeds, as theprocuring cause, from ourselves, not from the throne of grace; forthat is the place where our tears are wiped away, and also where wehang up our crutches: the streams thereof are pure and clear, notmuddy nor frozen, but warm and delightful, and they make glad thecity of God. 

DISCOURAGEMENTS IN PRAYER. 

There is an aptness in those that come to the throne of grace, tocast every degree of faith away that carries not in it self-evidenceof its own being and nature, thinking that if it be faith, it mustbe known to the soul; yea, if it be faith, it will do so andso--even so as the highest degree of faith will do: when, alas, faith is sometimes in a calm, sometimes up, and sometimes down, andsometimes in conflict with sin, death, and the devil. Faith now hasbut little time to speak peace to the conscience; it is nowstruggling for life, it is now fighting with angels, with infernals;all it can do now, is to cry, groan, sweat, fear, fight, and gaspfor life. 

I know what it is to go to God for mercy, and stand all the whilethrough fear afar off, being possessed with this, Will not God nowsmite me at once to the ground for my sins? David thought somethingso when he said as he prayed, "Cast me not away from thy presence, and take not thy Holy Spirit from me. "

None know, but those that have them, what turns and returns, whatcoming on and going off, there are in the spirit of a man thatindeed is awakened, and that stands awakened before the gloriousMajesty in prayer. 

It is a great matter, in praying to God, not to go too far; nor cometoo short; and a man is very apt to do one or the other. ThePharisee went so far, he was too bold; he came into the templemaking, such a ruffle with his own excellencies, there was in histhoughts no need of a Mediator. 

It has been the custom of praying men to keep their distance, andnot to be rudely bold in rushing into the presence of the holy andheavenly Majesty, especially if they have been sensible of their ownvileness and sins, as the prodigal, the lepers, and the poorpublican were. Yea, Peter himself, when upon a time he perceivedmore than commonly he did of the majesty of Jesus his Lord, whatdoth he do? "He fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord. "

Oh, when men see God and themselves, it fills them with holy fear ofthe greatness of the majesty of God, as well as with love to, anddesire after, his mercy. 

What is poor sorry man, poor dust and ashes, that he should crowdup, and go jostlingly into the presence of the great God?

For my part, I find it one of the hardest things that I can put mysoul upon, even to come to God, when warmly sensible that I am asinner, for a share in grace, in mercy. Oh, methinks it seems to meas if the whole face of the heavens were set against me. Yea, thevery thought of God, strikes me through; I cannot bear up, I cannotstand before him; I cannot but with a thousand tears say, "God bemerciful to me a sinner. " Ezra 9: 15. 

At another time, when my heart is more hard and stupid, and when histerror doth not make me afraid, then I can come before him and askmercy at his hand, and scarce be sensible of sin or grace, or thatindeed I am before God. But above all, they are the rare times, whenI can go to God as the publican, sensible of his glorious majesty, sensible of my misery, and bear up, and affectionately cry, "God bemerciful to me a sinner. "

At certain times the most godly man in the world may be hard put toit by the sin that dwelleth in him; yea, so hard put to it, thatthere can be no way to save himself from a fall, but by imploringheaven and the throne of grace for help. This is called theneedy-time, the time when the wayfaring man that knocked at David'sdoor shall knock at ours; or when we are got into the sieve intowhich Satan did get Peter; or when those fists are about our earsthat were about Paul's; and when that thorn pricks us that Paul saidwas in his flesh. But why, or how comes it to pass, that the godlyare so hard put to it at these times, but because there is inthem--that is, in their flesh--no good thing, but consequently allaptness to close in with the devil and his suggestions, to theoverthrow of the soul?

But now, here we are presented with a throne of grace, unto which, as David says, we must continually resort; and that is the way toohtain relief and to find help in time of need. 

DISCOURAGEMENTS TO PRAYER REMOVED. 

QUERY. What would you have a poor creature do, that cannot tell howto pray?

ANSWER. Thou canst not, thou complainest, pray; canst thou see thymisery? Hath God showed thee that thou art by nature under the curseof his law? If so, do not mistake. I know thou dost groan, and thatmost bitterly; I am persuaded thou canst scarcely be found doing anything in thy calling. But prayer breaks from thy heart. Have not thygroans gone up to heaven from every corner of thy house? I know itis thus: and so also doth thine own sorrowful heart witness thytears and thy forgetfulness of thy calling. Is not thy heart so fullof desires after the things of another world, that many times thoudost even forget the things of this world? Prithee, read thisscripture: Job 23: 12. 

QUERY. Yea, but when I go in secret, and intend to pour out my soulbefore God, I can scarce say any thing at all. 

ANSWER. Ah, sweet soul, it is not thy words that God so muchregards, that he will not mind thee except thou comest before himwith some eloquent oration. His eye is on the brokenness of thyheart; and that it is which makes the compassions of the Lord runover: "A broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise. "

The stopping of thy words--may arise from overmuch trouble in thyheart. David was so troubled sometimes that he could not speak. Butthis may comfort all such sorrowful hearts as thine, that thoughthou canst not through the anguish of thy spirit speak much, yet theHoly Spirit stirs up in thy heart groans and sighs so much the morevehement. 

AFFECTIONATE CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER. 

God has given thee his Son's righteousness to justify thee; he hasalso, because thou art a son, sent forth the Spirit of his Son intothy heart to satisfy thee, and to help thee to cry unto him, Father, Father! Wilt thou not cry? wilt thou not desire? Thy God has "biddenthee open thy mouth; he has bid thee open it wide, " and promised, saying, "and I will fill it;" and wilt thou not desire?

Oh, thou hast a license, a leave, a grant to desire; wherefore, "benot afraid to desire great mercies of the God of heaven. "

OBJECTION. "But I am an unworthy creature. "

ANSWER. That is true; but God gives to no man for his worthiness, nor rejects any for their sinfulness, that come to him sensible ofthe want and worth of mercy for them. Besides, the desires of arighteous man, and the desires or his God, agree. God has a desireto thee, thou hast a desire to him. God desires truth in the inwardparts and so dost thou with all thy heart. God desires mercy, and toshow it to the needy; that is what thou also wantest, and what thysoul craves at his hand. 

Seek, man; ask, knock, and do not be discouraged; the Lord willgrant all thy desires. Thou sayest thou art unworthy to ask thegreatest things, things spiritual and heavenly: well, will carnalthings serve thee, and answer the desires of thy heart? Canst thoube content to be put off with a belly well filled and a back wellclothed?

"Oh, better I never had been born. "

See! thou wilt not ask the best, and yet canst not make shiftwithout them. 

"Shift? no; no shift without them; I am undone without them, undonefor ever and ever, " sayest thou. 

Well then, desire. 

"So I do, " sayest thou. 

Ah, but desire with more strong desires; desire with more largedesires; desire spiritual gifts, covet them earnestly; thou hast alicense too to do so. God bids thee do so, for he hath said, "Thedesire of the righteous shall be granted. "

GOD'S METHOD OF ANSWERING PRAYER. 

"The desire of the righteous shall be granted. " But I find it notso, says one; for though I have desired and desired a thousand timesupon my knees, for something that I want, yet I have not my desire;and indeed, the consideration of this has made me question whether Iam one of those to whom the promise of granting desires is made. 

ANSWER. What are the things thou desirest; are they lawful orunlawful? for a Christian may desire unlawful things. 

But we will suppose that the thing thou. Desirest is good, and thatthy heart may be right in asking, as, suppose thou desirest moregrace; yet there are several things for thy instruction may beapplied to thy objection: as, 1. Thou, though thou desirest more of this, mayest not yet be sosensible of the worth of what thou askest, as perhaps God will havethee be before he granteth thy desire. 

2. Hast thou well improved what thou hast received already?

3. When God gives to his people the grant of their desires, he dothit so as may be best for our advantage: as, (1. ) Just before a temptation comes; then if it rains grace on theefrom heaven, it may be most for thy advantage. This is like God'ssending plenty in Egypt just before the years of famine came. 

(2. ) Christians, even righteous men, are apt to lean too much totheir own doings; and God, to wean them from them, ofttimes defersto do, what they by doing expect, until in doing their spirits arespent, and they, as to doing, can do no longer. When they that criedfor water, had cried till their spirits failed, and their tongue didcleave to the roof of their mouth for thirst, then the Lord didhear, and then the God of Israel did give them their desire. Therighteous would be too light in asking, and would too much owrprizetheir works, if their God should not sometimes deal in this mannerwith them. 

(3. ) It is also to the advantage of the righteous, that they be keptand led in that way which will best improve grace already received, and that is, when they spin it out and use it to the utmost; whenthey do with it as the prophet did with that meal's meat that he ateunder the juniper-tree, "go in the strength of it forty days andforty nights, even to the mount of God. " Or when they do as thewidow did--spend upon their handful of flour in the barrel, and uponthat little oil in the cruse, till God shall send more plenty. 

A little true grace will go a great way, yea, and do more wondersthan we are aware of. If we have but grace enough to keep usgroaning after God, it is not all the world that can destroy us. 

4. Perhaps thou mayest be mistaken. The grace thou prayest for mayin a great measure be come unto thee. 

Thou hast been desiring of God, thou sayest, more grace, but hast itnot. 

But how, if while thou lookest for it to come to thee at one door, it come to thee at another? And that we may a little inquire intothe truth of this, let us a little, consider what are the effects ofgrace in its coming to the soul, and then see if it has not beencoming unto thee almost ever since thou hast set upon this freshdesire after it. 

(1. ) Grace, in the general effect of it, is to mend the soul, and tomake it better disposed. Hence, when it comes, it brings convincinglight along with it, by which a man sees more of his baseness thanat other times. If, then, thou seest thyself more vile thanformerly, grace by its coming to thee has done this for thee. 

(2. ) Grace, when it comes, breaks and crumbles the heart in thesense and sight of its own vileness. A man stands amazed andconfounded in himself; breaks and falls down on his face before God;is ashamed to lift up so much as his face to God, at the sight andapprehension of how wicked he is. 

(3. ) Grace, when it comes, shows to a man more of the holiness andpatience of God; his holiness to make us wonder at his patience, andhis patience to make us wonder at his mercy, that yet, even yet, such a vile one as I am should be admitted to breathe in the land ofthe living, yea more, suffered to come to the throne of grace. 

(4. ) Grace is of a heart-humbling nature; it will make a man accounthimself the most unworthy of any thing, of all saints. It will makea man put all others before him, and be glad too if he may be onebeloved, though least beloved because most unworthy. It will makehim with gladness accept of the lowest room, as counting all saintsmore worthy of exaltation than himself. 

(5. ) Grace will make a man prize other men's graces and graciousactions above his own; as he thinks every man's candle burnsbrighter than his, every man improves grace better than he, everygood man does more sincerely his duty than he. And if these be notsome of the effects of the renewings of grace, I will confess I havetaken my mark amiss. 

(6. ) Renewings of grace beget renewed self-bemoanings, self-condemnations, self-abhorrences. 

And say thou prayest for communion with, and the presence of God. God can have communion with thee and grant thee his presence, andall this shall, instead of comforting thee at present, more confoundthee and make thee see thy wickedness. 

Some people think they never have the presence and renewings ofGod's grace upon them, but when they are comforted and when they arecheered up--when, alas, God may be richly with them, while they cryout by these visions, My sorrows are multiplied; or, Because I haveseen God, I shall die. 

And tell me now, all these things considered, has not grace, eventhe grace of God which thou hast so much desired, been coming tothee and working in thee in all these hidden methods? Thus thereforethy desire is accomplishing, and when it is accomplished will besweet to thy soul. 

5. But we will follow thee a little in the way of thy heart. Thousayest thou desirest, and desirest grace, yea, hast been a thousandtimes upon thy knees before God for more grace, and yet thou canstnot attain. 

I answer, (1. ) It maybe, the grace which thou prayest for is worththy being upon thy knees yet a thousand times more. "We find thatusually they that go to king's courts for preferment, are there atgreat expenses, yea, and wait a great while, even until they havespent their whole estates, and worn out their patience too. "

Yet they at last prevail, and the thing desired comes; yea, and whenit is come, it sets them up anew and makes them better men, thoughthey did spend all they had to obtain it, than ever they werebefore. Wait, therefore, wait, I say, on the Lord; bid thy soulcheer up and wait. "Blessed are all they that wait for him. "

(2. ) Thou must consider that great grace is reserved for greatservice. Thou desirest abundance of grace; thon doest well, and thoushalt have what shall qualify thee for the service that God has forthee to do for him, and for his name in the world. The apostlesthemselves were to stay for great grace until the time their workwas come. I will not allot thy service, but assure thyself, when thydesire cometh, thou wilt have occasion for it--new work, new trials, new sufferings, or something that will call for the power and virtueof all the grace thou shalt have to keep thy spirit even, and thyfeet from slipping, while thou art exercised in new engagements. 

Assure thyself thy God will not give thee straw, but he will expectbrick. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him much shall berequired. " Wherefore, as thou art busy in desiring more grace, bealso desirous that wisdom to manage it with faithfulness may also begranted unto thee. 

Thou wilt say, Grace, if I had it, will do all this for me. 

It will, and will not. It will, if thou watch and be sober; it willnot, if thou be foolish and remiss. Men of great grace may growconsumptive in grace, and idleness may turn him that wears a plushjacket into rags. David was once a man of great grace, but his sinmade the grace which he had so to shrink up and dwindle away as tomake him cry out, O take not thy Spirit utterly from me!

(3. ) Or, perhaps God withholds what thou wouldst have, that it maybe the more prized by thee when it comes. "Hope deferred maketh theheart sick; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life. "

(4. ) Lastly. But dost thou think that thy more grace will exemptthee from temptations? Alas, the more grace, the greater trials. Thou must be, for all that, like the ship of which thou readest:sometimes high, sometimes low; sometimes steady, sometimesstaggering; and sometimes even at the end of thy very wits: "For sohe brings us to our desired haven. "

Yet grace is the gold and preciousness of the righteous man: yea, and herein appears the uprightness of his soul, in that, though allthese things attend the grace of God in him, yet he chooseth gracehere above all, for that it makes him the more like God and hisChrist, and for that it seasons his heart best to his own content;and also for that it capacitates him to glorify God in the world. 

RELIEF IN PRAYER. 

If from a sense of thy vileness thou do pour out thy heart to God, desiring to be saved from the guilt and cleansed from the filth withall thy heart, fear not; thy vileness will not cause the Lord tostop his ear from hearing thee. The value of the blood of Christ, which is sprinkled upon the mercy-seat, stops the course of justice, and opens a floodgate for the mercy of the Lord to be extended untothee. 

FAITH IN PRAYER. 

Of old, beggars did use to carry their bowls in their laps when theywent to a door for alms; consequently, if their bowls were butlittle, they ofttimes came off with a loss, though the charity ofthe giver was large. Art thou a beggar, a beggar at God's door? besure thou gettest a great bowl, for as thy bowl is, so will be thymess. "According to thy faith be it unto thee. "

WRESTLING PRAYER. 

A wrestling spirit of prayer is a demonstration of an Israel of God;this Jacob had, this he made use of, and by this he obtained thename of Israel. A wrestling spirit of prayer in straits, difficulties, and distresses--a wrestling spirit of prayer whenalone, in private, in the night, when no eye seeth but God's, thento be at it, then to lay hold of God, then to wrestle, to hold fast, and not to give over until the blessing is obtained, is a sign ofone that is an Israel of God. 

As this word, "LET Israel hope in the Lord, " is sometimes equivalentto a command, so it is expressed sometimes also to show a grant, leave, or license to do a thing, such are these that follow: "Let uscome boldly to the throne of grace; let us draw near with a trueheart; let us hold fast the profession of our faith withoutwavering. " Understand the word thus, and it shows you how muddy howdark those of Israel are, and how little they are acquainted withthe goodness of their God who stand shrinking at his door likebeggars, and dare not in a godly sort be bold with his mercy. Wherefore standest thou thus with thy ifs and thy O-buts, O thoupoor benighted Israelite? Wherefore puttest thou thy hand in thybosom, as being afraid to touch the hem of the garment of thy Lord?

THE PUBLICAN'S PRAYER. 

"God be merciful to me a sinner. " Herein the publican showethwonderful wisdom. For, 1. By this he thrusts himself under the shelter and blessing of thepromise; and I am sure it is better and safer to do so than to relyupon the best excellencies that this world can afford. Hosea 14:1-4. 

2. He takes the ready way to please God; for God takes more delightin showing mercy than in any thing that we can do. Hosea 6:6; Matt. 9:13; 12:7. Yea, and that also is the man that pleaseth him, even hethat hopes in his mercy. Psalm 147: 1. The publican, therefore, whatever the Pharisee might think, stood all this while upon sureground, and had by far the start of him for heaven. Alas, his dullhead could look no further than to the conceit of the pitiful beautyand splendor of his own righteousness; nor durst he leave that totrust wholly to the mercy of God. But the publican comes out, thoughin his sins, yet like an awakened, enlightened, resolved man; andfirst abases himself, then gives God the glory of his justice, andafter that the glory of his mercy, by saying, "God be merciful to mea sinner. " And thus in the ears of the angels he did ring thechanges of heaven. And, 3. The publican, in his thus putting himself upon mercy, showeththat in his opinion there is more virtue in mercy to save, thanthere is in the law and sin to condemn. And although this is notcounted a great matter to do, while men are far from the law andwhile their conscience is asleep within them, yet when the law comesnear and conscience is awake, whoso tries it will find it alaborious work. Cain could not do thus for his heart, no, nor soul;nor Judas neither. This is another kind of thing than most men thinkit to be, or shall find it whenever they shall behold God's angryface, and when they shall hear the words of his law. 

However, our publican did it, and ventured his body, soul, andfuture condition for ever in this bottom, with other the saints andservants of God; leaving the world to swim over the sea of God'swrath, if they, will, in their weak and simple vessels of bulrushes, or to lean upon their cobweb-hold, when he shall arise to thejudgment that he hath appointed. 

"He would not lift up his eyes to heaven. " Why? Surely because shamehad covered his face. Shame will make a man blush and hang his headlike a bulrush. Shame for sin is a virtue, a comely thing, yea, abeauty-spot in the face of a sinner that cometh to God for mercy. 

Oh, to stand, or sit, or lie, or kneel, or walk before God inprayer, with blushing cheeks for sin, is one of the excellent sightsthat can be seen in the world. 

POSTURE IN PRAYER. 

There is no stinted order presented for our behaving ourselves inprayer, whether kneeling, or standing, or walking, or lying, orsitting; for all these postures have been used by the godly. Paulkneeled down and prayed; Abraham and the publican stood and prayed;David prayed as he walked; Abraham prayed lying upon his face; Mosesprayed sitting. And indeed prayer, effectual fervent prayer, may beand often is made unto God under all these circumstances. For Godhas not tied us up to any of them; and he that shall tie himself orhis people to any of these, doeth more than he hath warrant for fromGod. And let such take care of innovating; it is the next way tomake men hypocrites and dissemblers in those duties in which theyshould be sincere. Acts 20:36; 2 Sam. 15:30, 31; Gen. 17:17, 18;Exod. 17:12. 

CLOSET-INIQUITY. 

Let those that name the name of Christ depart from the iniquity oftheir closet--when men have a closet to talk of, not to pray in; acloset to look upon, not to bow before God in, a closet to lay upgold in, but not to mourn in for the sins of the life; a closetthat, could it speak, would say, My owner is seldom here upon hisknees before the God of heaven, seldom here humbling himself for theiniquity of his heart, or to thank God for the mercies of his life. 

Then also a man is guilty of closet-iniquity when, though he dothnot utterly live in the neglect of duty, he formally, carnally, andwithout reverence and godly fear, performs it. Also when he askethGod for that which he cannot abide should be given him; or when heprayeth for that in his closet, that he cannot abide in his housenor his life. 

It is a great thing to be a closet-Christian, and to hold it; hemust be a close-Christian that will be a closet-Christian. When Isay a close-Christian, I mean one that is so in the hidden part, andthat also walks with God. Many there be that profess Christ, who dooftener frequent the coffee-house than their closet; and that soonerin a morning run to make bargains, than to pray unto God and beginthe day with him. But for thee, who professest the name of Christ, do thou depart from all these things; do thou make conscience ofreading and practising; do thou follow after righteousness; do thoumake conscience of beginning the day with God. For he that begins itnot with him, will hardly end it with him; he that runs from God inthe morning, will hardly find him at the close of the day; nor willhe that begins with the world and the vanities thereof in the firstplace, be very capable of walking with God all the day after. It ishe that finds God in his closet, that will carry the savor of himinto his house, his shop, and his more open conversation. When Moseshad been with God in the mount his face shone, he brought of thatglory into the camp. Exod. 34. 

FORMAL PRAYER. 

"Thy kingdom come; thy will be done. " Wouldst thou have the kingdomof God come indeed, and also his will to be done in earth as it isin heaven? Nay, notwithstanding thou sayest, "Thy kingdom come, " yetwould it not make thee ready to run mad, to hear the trumpet sound, to see the dead arise, and thyself just now to go and appeal beforeGod, to reckon for all the deeds thou hast done in the body? Nay, are not the very thoughts of it altogether displeasing to thee?

And if God's will should be done on earth as it is in heaven, mustit not be thy ruin? There is never a rebel against God in heaven;and if he should so deal on earth, must he not whirl thee down tohell? And so of the rest of the petitions. 

Ah, how sadly would even these men look, and with what terror wouldthey walk up and down the world, if they did but know the lying andblaspheming that proceedeth out of their mouth, even in their mostpretended sanctity!

THE PRAYERLESS. 

I tell thee who never prayest, the ravens shall rise up in judgmentagainst thee; for they will, according to their kind, make signs anda noise for something to refresh them when they want it; but thouhast not the heart to ask for heaven, though thou must eternallyperish in hell if thou hast it not. 

XX. FALSE PROFESSION. 

As there are trees and herbs that are wholly right and noble, fitindeed for the vineyard, so there are also their semblance, butwild; not right, but ignoble. There is the grape, and the wildgrape; the vine, and the wild vine; the rose, and the canker-rose;flowers, and wild flowers; the apple, and the wild apple, which wecall the crab. Now, fruit from these wild things, however they mayplease the children to play with, yet the prudent and grave countthem of little or no value. There are also in the world a generationof professors that, notwithstanding their profession, are wild bynature; yea, such as were never cut out or off from the wildolive-tree, nor ever yet planted into the good olive-tree. Now thesecan bring forth nothing but wild olive-berries; they cannot bringforth fruit unto God. Such are all those that have lightly taken upa profession, and crept into the vineyard without a new birth andthe blessing of regeneration. 

The porch [Footnote: This passage is from "The House of the Forestof Lebanon, " which Bunyan regarded as a type of the church in herpersecuted state. ] is but the entrance of the house, whither many gothat yet step not into the house, but make their retreat fromthence; but it is because they are non-residents: they only come tosee; or else, if they pretended more, it was not from the heart. "They went out from us, " said John, "but they were not of us; for ifthey had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us; butthey went out that it might be made manifest that they were not allof us. "

And forasmuch as this porch was fifty cubits long, men may take manya step straightforward therein, and be but in the porch yet; even aswe have seen men go as one would think till they are out of view, inthe porch of this church in the wilderness; but presently you havethem without the door again. 

True, this porch was made of pillars; and so to every one, at firstentrance, it seemed the power of the place. The church in thewilderness also is so builded, that men may see that it is ordainedfor defence. Men also, at their first offer to step over thethreshold there, with mouth profess that they will dwell as soldiersthere. But words are but wind: when they see the storm coming, theywill take care to shift for themselves. This house or church in thewilderness must see to itself for all them. 

The church also in the wilderness, even in her porch or firstentrance into it, is full of pillars--apostles, prophets, andmartyrs of Jesus. There also hang up the shields that the oldwarriors have used, and there are plastered upon the walls the braveachievements which they have done. There also are suchencouragements there for those that stand, that one would think nonethat came thither with pretence to serve there, would for very shameattempt to go back again; and yet not to their credit be it spoken, they will forsake the place without blushing, yea, and plead forthis their so doing. 

There is the wilfully ignorant professor, or he that is afraid toknow more for fear of the cross. He is for picking and choosing oftruth, and loveth not to hazard his all for that worthy name bywhich he would be called. When he is at any time overset byarguments or awakenings of conscience, he uses to heal all by, "Iwas not brought up in this faith;" as if it were unlawful forChristians to know more than hath been taught them at firstconversion. There are many scriptures that lie against this man, asthe mouths of great guns. 

There is another professor; and he is for God and for Baal too: hecan be any thing for any company; he can throw stones with bothhands; his religion alters as fast as his company; he is a frog ofEgypt, and can live in the water and out of the water; he can livein religious company, and again as well out. Nothing that isdisorderly comes amiss to him; he can hold with the hare and runwith the hound; he carries fire in one hand and water in the other;he is a very, any thing but what he should be. This is also one ofthe many that "will seek to enter in, and will not be able. "

Christian and Hopeful, after their headstrong manner, (said Mr. By-ends, ) conclude that it is their duty to rush on their journeyall weathers; and I am for waiting for wind and tide. They are forhazarding all for God at a clap; and I am for taking all advantagesto secure my life and estate. They are for holding their notions, though all other men be against them; but I am for religion in whatand so far as the times and any safety will bear it. They are forreligion when in rags and contempt; but I am for him when he walksin golden slippers, in the sunshine, and with applause. 

Then I saw in my dream that Christian and Hopeful forsook him, andkept their distance before him; but one of them looking back, sawthree men following Mr. By-ends; and behold, as they came up withhim he made them a very low congee, and they also gave him acompliment. The men's names were, Mr. Hold-the-world, Mr, Money-love, and Mr. Save-all; men that Mr. By-ends had formerly beenacquainted with, for in their minority they were schoolfellows, andwere taught by one Mr. Gripe-man, a schoolmaster in Love-gain, whichis a market-town in the county of Coveting, in the North. Thisschoolmaster taught them the art of getting, either by violence, cozenage, flattery, lying, or by putting on a guise of religion; andthese four gentlemen had attained much of the art of their master, so that they could each of them have kept such a school themselves. 

The Interpreter takes them out into his garden, and had them to atree whose inside was all rotten and gone, and yet it grew and hadleaves. Then said Mercy, "What means this?" "This tree, " said he, "whose outside is fair and whose inside is rotten, is it which maybe compared to them that are in the garden of God, who with theirmouths speak high in behalf of God, but in deed will do nothing forhim; whose leaves are fair, but their heart good for nothing but tobe tinder for the devil's tinder-box. "

This is the reason of that evil-favoredness that you see attendingsome men's lives and professions; they have been corrupted, as Adamwas, either by evil words or bad examples, even till the very faceof their lives and professions are disfigured as with the pox orcanker. 

As the bramble said to the rest of the trees, so saith Christ tofeigned thanksgivers, who pretend to give thanks for liberty, butrather use their liberty as an occasion for the flesh: If in truthye anoint me king over you, then come and put your trust under myshadow; submit to my law, and be governed by my testament. 

HYPOCRISY. 

Hypocrisy is one of the most abominable of iniquities. It is a sinthat dares it with God. It is a sin that saith God is ignorant, orthat he delighteth in iniquity. It is a sin that flattereth, thatdissembleth, that offereth to hold God, as it were, fair in hand, about that which is neither purposed nor intended. It is also a sinthat puts a man upon studying and contriving to beguile and deceivehis neighbor as to the bent and intent of the heart, and also as tothe cause and end of actions. It is a sin that persuadeth a man tomake a show of civility, morality, or religion, as a cloak, apretence, a guise to deceive withal. It will make a man preach for aplace and praise, rather than to glorify God and save souls; it willput a man upon talking, that he may be commended; it will make aman, when he is at prayer in his closet, strive to be heard withoutdoor; it will make a man ask for that he desireth not, and show zealin duties when his heart is as cold, as senseless, and as muchwithout savor as a clod; it will make a man pray to be seen andheard of men, rather than to be heard of God; it will make a manstrive to weep when he repenteth not, and to pretend much friendshipwhen he doth not love; it will make a man pretend to experience andsanctification when he has none, and to faith and sincerity when heknows not what they are. There is opposed to this sin, simplicity, innocence, and godly sincerity, without which three graces thou wiltbe a hypocrite. Believe that a hypocrite, with the cunning andshrouds for his hypocrisy, can go unseen no further than the grave;nor can he longer flatter himself with thoughts of life. 

A hypocrite and a false professor may go a great way; they may passthrough the first and second watch, to wit, may be approved byChristians and churches; but what will they do when they come at theiron gate that leadeth into the city?

As Luther says, "In the name of God" begins all mischief. Forhypocrites have no other way to bring their evils to maturity, butby using and mixing the name of God and religion therewith. Thusthey become whited walls; for by this white, the white of religion, the dirt of their actions is hid. 

Religion to most men is but a by-business, with which they use tofill up spare hours; or as a stalking-horse, which is used to catchthe game. 

The Pharisees did carry the bell and wear the garland for religion. 

A fawning dog and a wolf in sheep's clothing; they differ a littlein outward appearance, but they can both agree to worry Christ'slambs. 

CHRIST'S LOVE ABUSED. 

Take heed of abusing this love of Christ, Eph. 3: 18, 19. Thisexhortation seems needless; for love is such a thing as one wouldthink none could find in their hearts to abuse. But for all that, Iam of opinion that there is nothing that is more abused amongprofessors at this day, than is this love of God. And what can sucha one say for himself in the judgment, that shall be charged withthe abuse of love? Christians, deny yourselves, deny your lusts, deny the vanities of this present life, devote yourselves to God, become lovers of God, lovers of his ways, and a people zealous ofgood works; then shall you show to one another and to all men thatyou have not received the grace of God in vain. And what a thingwill it be to be turned off at last, as one that abused the love ofChrist; as one that presumed upon his lusts, this world, and allmanner of naughtiness, because the love of Christ to pardon sins wasso great! What an unthinking, what a disingenuous one wilt thou becounted at that day; yea, thou wilt be found to be the man that madea prey of love, that made a stalk ing-horse of love, that made oflove a slave to sin, the devil, and the world; and will not that behad?

OBJECTION. If it be so, then men need not care what they do; theymay live in sin, seeing Christ hath made satisfaction. 

ANSWER. If I were to point out one under the power of the devil, going hastily to hell, I would look no further for such a man thanto him that would make such a use as this of the grace of God. What, because Christ is a Saviour, thou wilt be a sinner; because hisgrace abounds, therefore thou wilt abound in sin! O wicked wretch, let me tell thee before _I_ leave thee, as God's covenant withChrist for his children stands sure, immutable, and unchangeable, soalso hath God taken such a course with thee, that unless he denyhimself, it is impossible that thou shouldst go to heaven, dying inthat condition. They tempted God, proved him, and turned his graceinto lasciviousness; so he sware in his wrath, They shall not enterinto my rest. No, saith God, if Christ and heaven will not satisfythem, hell must devour them. God hath more places than one in whichto put sinners: if they do not like heaven, hell must be theirresidence; if they do not love Christ, they must dwell for ever withdevils. 

PERVERSION OF THE TRUTH. Let those that name the name of Christdepart from the iniquity that cleaveth to opinions. This is a sadage for that: let opinions in themselves be never so good, never sonecessary, never so innocent, yet there are spirits in the worldthat will entail iniquity to them, and will make the vanity soinseparable from the opinion, that it is almost impossible with someto take in the opinion and leave out the iniquity that by craft andsubtlety of Satan is joined thereto. Nor is this a thing new and ofyesterday; it has been thus almost in all ages of the church of God, and that not only in things small and indifferent, but in thingsfundamental and most substantial. I need instance in none other forproof hereof, but the doctrine of faith and holiness. If faith bepreached as that which is absolutely necessary to justification, then faith fantastical, and looseness and remissness in life, withsome, are joined therewith. If holiness of life be preached asnecessary to salvation, then faith is undervalued and set below itsplace, and works, as to justification with God, set up and madecopartners with Christ's merits in the remission of sins. Thusiniquity joineth itself with the greatest and most substantialtruths of the gospel; and it is hard to receive any good opinionwhatever, but iniquity will join itself thereto. 

A LATITUDINARIAN. 

What you say about doubtful opinions, alterable modes, rites, andcircumstances in religion, I know none so wedded thereto asyourselves, For you thus argue: "Whatsoever of such are commended bythe custom of the place we live in, or commanded by superiors, ormade by any circumstance convenient to be done, our Christianliberty consists in this-that we have leave to do them. "

So that, do but call them things indifferent, things that are thecustoms of the place we live in, or made by any circumstanceconvenient, and a man may not doubt but he hath leave to do them, let him live at Rome or Constantinople, or amidst the greatestcorruption of worship and government. There are therefore, doubtless, a third sort of fundamentals, by which you can wrestlewith conviction of conscience, and stifle it-by which you can suityourself for every fashion, mode, and way of religion. Here you mayhop from Presbyterianism to a prelatical mode; and if time andchance should serve you, backwards and forwards again: yea, here youcan make use of several consciences, one for this way now, anotherfor that anon; now putting out the light of this by a sophistical, delusive argument. Then putting out the other by an argument thatbest suits the time. Yea, how oft is the candle of the wicked putout by such glorious learning as this. Nay, _I_ doubt not but a manof your principles, were he put upon it, would not stick to countthose you call gospel-positive precepts, [Footnote: "Latitudinarian. " This term is used of a "remarkableclass of divines, " who flourished in England about the middle andtowards the close of the seventeenth century. Coleridge, in hisLiterary Remains, says that they were generally Platonists, and allof them admirers of Grotius. "They fell into the mistake of findingin the Greek philosophy many anticipations of the Christian faith, which in fact were but its echoes. The inference is as perilous asinevitable, namely, that even the mysteries of Christianity neededno revelation, having been previously discovered and set forth byunaided reason. " They are thus characterized by Dr. Wm. R. Williams, ("Miscellanies, " p. 196:) "Against infidelity and popery they didgood service in the cause of truth. Their dread of enthusiasm madethem frigid, and their mastery of the ancient philosophy made themprofound. Their doctrines were generally Arrninian. Their notions ofchurch power were less rigid than those of the rival party, and theywere also more tolerant of difference in opinion. But in theirpreaching they laid the whole stress, well-nigh, of their effortsupon morals, to the neglect of doctrine; and in their theology, theyattributed to human reason a strength and authority which graduallyopened the way to the invasion of the gravest heresies. Of generallypurer character than their opponents, they were also ablerpreachers. But while valuable as moral treatises, their sermons weremost defective; for the peculiar doctrines and spirit of the gospelwere evaporated. " It cannot be doubted, that a class which includedsuch men as Henry More, Cudworth, Tillotson, and Burnet, hardlydeserves the wholesale reprobation hurled upon it by Bunyan. Thatsome of them carried their LIBERALISM to a dangerous extreme, andthat all of them allowed too great latitude of sentiment intheology, and, by their philosophical speculations, obscured thesimple glory of the gospel, is indeed true; but some who bore thisname were men of unquestionable piety, as well as of eminent geniusand scholarship. ]

It is interesting to contrast the mixture of divine truth and humanspeculation, and the almost melancholy doubts, exhibited in thewritings of so excellent a man as Cudworth, with the strong andcertain convictions, and the clear, well-defined views of Christiandoctrine of John Bunyan, connected as they were in his case with thealmost exclusive study of the word of God. We learn thereby not todespise learning and philosophy, but to beware of lowering theauthority and of no value at all in the Christian religion; for now, even now, you do not stick to say that even the duty of going to Godby Christ is one of these, and such a one as, if absolutelyconsidered in itself, is neither good nor evil. 

How, then, if God should cast you into Turkey, where Mahomet reignsas lord? it is but reckoning that it is the religion and custom ofthe country, and that which is authorized by the power that isthere; wherefore, it is but sticking to your dictates of humannature, and remembering that coming to God by Christ is a thing ofan indifferent nature in itself, and then for peace' sake and tosleep in a whole skin, you may comply and do as your superiorcommands. Why? because in Turkey are your first sort of fundamentalsall found; there are men that have human nature and the law ofmorals written in their hearts; they have also the dictates thereofwritten within them, which teach them those you call the eternallaws of righteousness: wherefore you both would agree in youressential and immutable differences of good and evil, and differonly about these positive laws--indifferent things. Yea, and Mahometalso for the time, because by a custom it is made convenient, mightbe now accounted worshipful; and the circumstances that attend hisworship, especially those of them that clash not with the dictatesof your human nature, might also be swallowed down. 

Behold you here then, good reader, a glorious Latitudinarian, thatcan, as to religion, turn and twist like an eel on the hook; orrather like the weathercock that stands on the steeple. 

CHANGING SINS. 

Dost thou profess the name of Christ, and dost thou pretend to be aman departing from iniquity? Then take sufficiency of divinerevelation before human reason and speculation, and to acknowledgewith humble gratitude the rich rewards of an earnest and prayerfulstudy of the English Scriptures. Heed thou dost not deceive thyself, by changing one bad way of sinning for another bad way of sinning. This was a trick that Israel played of old; for when God's prophetsfollowed them hard with demands of repentance and reformation, thenthey would "gad about to change their ways. " Jer. 2: 36. But behold, they would not change a bad way for a good, but one bad way foranother; hopping as the squirrel from bough to bough, but notwilling to forsake the tree. Many times men change their darlingsins, as some change their servants; that which would serve for sucha one this year, may not serve for the year ensuing. Hypocrisy woulddo awhile ago, but now debauchery. Profaneness would do whenprofaneness was in fashion, but now a deceitful profession. Takeheed, professor, that thou dost not throw away thy old darling sinfor a new one. Men's tempers alter. Youth is for pride andwantonness; middle age for cunning and craft; old age for the worldand covetousness. Take heed, therefore, of deceit in this thing. 

Dost thou profess the name of Christ, and dost thou pretend to be aman departing from iniquity? take heed lest thy departing frominiquity should be but for a time. Some do depart from iniquity, aspersons in wrangling fits depart from one another, to wit, for atime; but when the quarrel is over, by means of some intercessorthey are reconciled again. Oh, Satan is the intercessor between thesoul and sin; and though the breach between these two may seem to beirreconcilable, yea, though the soul has sworn it will never moregive countenance to so vile a thing as sin is, yet he can tell howto make up this difference, and to fetch them back to their vomitagain, who, one would have thought, had quite escaped his sins andbeen gone. 2 Pet. 2: 18--22. Take heed, therefore, O professor, forthere is danger of this, and the height of danger lies in it; and Ithink that Satan, to do this thing, makes use of those sins again tobegin, this rejoinder, which he findeth most suitable to the temperand constitution of the sinner. These are, as _I_ may call them, themaster-sins, they suit, they agree with the temper of the soul. These, as the little end of the wedge, enter with ease, and so makeway for those that come after, with which Satan knows he can rendthe soul in pieces. Wherefore, To help this, take heed of parleying with thy sins again, when oncethou hast departed from them: sin has a smooth tongue; if thouhearken to its enchanting language, ten thousand to one but thou artentangled. Take heed, therefore, of listening to the charmswherewith sin enchanteth the soul. In this, be like the deaf adder;stop thine ear, plug it up to sin, and let it only be open to hearthe words of God. 

THE UNHOLY PROFESSOR. 

A professor that hath not forsaken his iniquity, is like one thatcomes out of the pest-house, among the whole, with his plague-soresrunning upon him. This is the man that hath the breath of a dragon;he poisons the air round about him. This is the man that slays hischildren, his kinsmen, his friend, and himself. What shall _I_ say?A man that nameth the name of Christ, and that departeth not frominiquity, to whom may he be compared? The Pharisees, for that theyprofessed religion but walked not answerably thereto, unto what dothChrist compare them but to serpents and vipers; what does he callthem but hypocrites, whited walls, painted sepulchres, fools, andblind, and tells them that they made men more the children of hellthan they were before? Matt. 23. Wherefore, such a one cannot go outof the world by himself; for as he gave occasion of scandal when hewas in the world, so is he the cause of the damnation of many. Theapostle did use to weep when he spake of these professors, such anoffence he knew they were and would be in the world. Acts 20:30;Phil. 3:18, 19. 

These are the chief of the engines of Satan; with these he workethwonders. One Balaam, one Jeroboam, one Ahab, O how many fish suchbring to Satan's net. These are the tares that he strives to sowamong the wheat, for he knows they are mischief to it. "Whereforelet every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity. "

Those that religiously name the name of Christ and do not departfrom iniquity, how will they die; and how will they look that Man inthe face, unto the profession of whose name they have entailed anunrighteous conversation; or do they think that he doth not knowwhat they have done, or that they may take him off with a few criesand wringing of hands, when he is on the throne to do judgmentagainst transgressors. O, it had been better they had not known, hadnot professed; yea, better they had never been born. And as Christsays it had been good, so Peter says it had been better, Mark 14:12;14:22; 2 Pet. 2: 20, 2l--good they had not been born, and betterthey had not known and made profession of the name of Christ. 

We read that the tail of the dragon, or that the dragon by his tail, did draw and cast down abundance of the stars of heaven to theearth. Rev. 12:4; Isa. 9:14, 15. The prophet that speaketh lieseither by opinion or practice, he is the tail, the dragon's tail, the serpentine tail of the devil. Isa. 9:14, 15. And so in his order, every professor that by his iniquity draweth both himself and othersdown to hell, he is the tail. Nor can Satan work such exploits byany, as he can by unrighteous professors. These he useth in his handas the giant useth his club; he, as it were, drives all before himwith it. It is said of Behemoth, that "he moveth his tail like acedar. " Job 40:17. Behemoth is a type of the devil; but behold howhe handleth his tail, even as if a man should swing about a cedar. This is spoken to show the hurtfulness of the tail, as it is alsosaid in another place, Rev. 9:5, 10, 19. Better no professor than awicked professor; better openly profane, than a hypocritical namerof the name of Christ; and less hurt shall such a one do to his ownsoul, to the poor ignorant world, to the name of Christ, and to thechurch of God. 

There is the sin of professors; there is a profession that willstand with an unsanctified heart and life. The sin of such willoverpoise the salvation of their souls, the sin-end being theheaviest end of the scale: I say, that being the heaviest end whichhath sin in it, they tilt over, and so are, notwithstanding theirglorious profession, drowned in perdition and destruction. 

The iniquity that cleaveth to men that profess, if they cast it notaway, but countenance it, will all prove nettles and briars to them;and I will assure thee, yea, thou knowest, that nettles and thornswill sting and scratch but ill-favoredly. "I went, " saith Solomon, "by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man voidof understanding; and lo, it was all grown over with thorns, andnettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof wasbroken down. " Prov. 24:30, 31. 

Suppose a man were, after work all day, to be turned into a bed ofnettles at night; or, after a man had been about such a business, should be rewarded with chastisements of briars and thorns; thisreward for work would be but little help, relief, or comfort to him. But this is the reward of a wicked man, of a wicked professor fromGod: nettles and thorns are to cover over the face of his vineyard, his field, his profession, and that at the last of all; far thiscovering over the face of his vineyard with nettles and thorns, isto show what fruit the slovenly, slothful, careless professor willreap out of his profession when reaping-time shall come. 

Nor can he whose vineyard, whose profession is covered over withthese nettles and thorns of iniquity, escape being afflicted withthem in his conscience; for, as they cover the face of his vineyardthrough his sloth now, so will they cover the face of his consciencein the day of judgment. For profession and conscience cannot beseparated long: if a man then shall make profession withoutconscience of God's honor in his conversation, his profession andconscience will meet in the day of his visitation. Nor will he whosecondition this shall be, be able to ward off the guilt and sting ofa slothful and bad conversation from covering the face of hisconscience, by retaining in his profession the name of Jesus Christ;for naming and professing the name of Christ will, instead ofsalving such a conscience, put venom, sting, and keenness into thosenettles and thorns that then shall be spread over the face of suchconsciences. I beseech you, consider this, namely, that the man thatprofesseth the name of Christ and yet liveth a wicked life, is thegreatest enemy that God has in the world, and consequently one thatGod will most eminently set his face against. 

THE FRUITLESS PROFESSOR. 

Barren-fig-tree, thou art not licensed by thy profession, nor by theLord of the vineyard, to bear these clusters of Gomorrah; neithershall the vineyard, nor thy being crowded among the trees there, shelter thee from the sight of the eye of God. Many make religiontheir cloak and Christ their stalking-horse, and by that means coverthemselves and hide their own wickedness from men: but God seeththeir hearts, hath his print upon the heels of their feet, andpondereth all their goings; and at last, when their iniquity isfound to be hateful, he will either smite them with hardness ofheart and so leave them, or awaken them to bring forth fruit. Fruithe looks for, seeks, and expects, O thou barren fig-tree. 

But what, come into the presence of God to sin What, come into thepresence of God to hide thy sin! Alas, man, the church is God'sgarden, and Christ Jesus is the great Apostle and High-priest of ourprofession. What, come into the house that is called by his name, into the place where his honor dwelleth, where his eyes and heartare continually--what, come there to sin, to hide thy sin, to cloakthy sin! His plants are an orchard with pleasant fruits; and everytime he goeth into his garden, it is "to see the fruits of thevalley, " and to see if the vines flourish and if the pomegranatesbud. 

Yea, he came seeking fruit on this fig-tree. The church is the placeof God's delight, where he ever desires to be; there he is night andday. He is there to seek for fruit, to seek for fruit of all andevery tree in the garden. Wherefore assure thyself, O fruitless one, that thy ways must needs be open before the eyes of the Lord. Oneblack sheep is soon espied, although in company with many; it istaken with the first cast of the eye; its different color stillbetrays it. I say, therefore, a church and a profession are notplaces where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from God, that seeks for fruit: "My vineyard, " saith God, "which is mine, isbefore me. " Song 8:12; Psa. 26:8; 1 Kings, 9:3; Song 4:13-15. 

Barren soul, how many showers of grace, how many dews from heaven, hast thou enjoyed! How many times have the silver streams of thecity of God run gliding by thy roots, to cause thee to bring forthfruit! These showers and streams, and the drops that hang upon thyboughs, will all be accounted for; and will they not testify againstthee, that thou oughtest of right to be burned? Hear and tremble, Othou barren professor!

When a man seeks for fruit on a tree, he goes round it and round it, now looking into this bough and then into that; he peeps into theinmost boughs and the lowermost boughs, if perhaps fruit may bethereon. Barren fig-tree, God will look into all thy boughs. 

There is a man that hath a hundred trees in his vine yard, and atthe time of the season he walketh into his vineyard to see how thetrees flourish; and as he goes and views and pries and observes howthey are hung with fruit, behold, he cometh to one where he findethnaught but leaves. Now he makes a stand, looks upon it again andagain; he looks also here and there, above and below; and if, afterall this seeking, he finds nothing but leaves thereon, then hebegins to cast in his mind how he may know this tree next year, whatstands next it, or how far it is off the hedge; but if there benothing there that may be as a mark to know it by, then he takes hishook and giveth it a private mark, saying, Go thy way, fruitlessfig-tree, thou hast spent this season in vain. 

Yet doth he not cut it down--"I will try it another year; may bethis was not a hitting season. " Therefore he comes again next yearto see if now it have fruit; but as he found it before, so he findsit now, barren, barren, every year barren; he looks again, but findsno fruit. Now he begins to have second thoughts. How, neither hitlast year nor this! Surely the barrenness is not in the season, surethe fault is in the tree; however, I will spare it this year also, but will give it a second mark; and, it may be, he toucheth it witha hot iron, because he begins to be angry. 

Well, at the third season he comes again for fruit, but the thirdyear is like the first and second, no fruit yet; it only cumbereththe ground. What now must be done with this fig-tree? Why, the Lordwill lop its boughs with terror; yea, the thickets of thoseprofessors with iron. I have waited, saith God, these three years; Ihave missed of fruit these three years; it hath been a cumber-groundthese three years; cut it down. Precept hath been upon precept, andline upon line, one year after another, for these three years, hutno fruit can be seen; I find none: fetch out the axe. 

"Lord, let it alone this year also. " Here is astonishing graceindeed; astonishing grace, that the Lord Jesus should concernhimself with a barren fig-tree; that he should step in to stop theblow from a barren fig-tree! True, he stopped the blow but for atime; but why did he stop it at all? Why did he not fetch out theaxe? Why did he not do execution? Why did he not cut it down?

Barren fig-tree, it is well for thee that there is a Jesus at God'sright hand, a Jesus of that largeness of pity to have compassion fora barren fig-tree; else justice had never let thee alone to cumberthe ground, as thou hast done. 

See the care, the love, the labor, and way which the Lord Jesus, thedresser of the vineyard, is fain to take with thee, if haply thoumayest be made fruitful. 

"Lord, let it alone this year. " Lord, a little longer; let us notlose a soul for want of means. I will try, I will see if I can makeit fruitful; I will not beg a long life, nor that it might still bebarren, and so provoke thee. I beg for the sake of the soul, theimmortal soul; Lord, spare it one year only, one year longer, thisyear also; if I do any good to it, it will be in little time. Thoushalt not be overwearied with waiting; one year and then--

Barren fig-tree, dost thou hear what a striving there is between thevinedresser and the husbandman for thy life?

"Cut it down, " says one; "Lord, spare it, " says the other. "It is acumber-ground, " saith the Father; "One year longer, " prays the Son:"let it alone this year also. "

"Till I shall dig about it and dung it. " I doubt if it is not toomuch ground-bound. "The love of this world and the deceitfulness ofriches" lie too close to the roots of the heart of this professor. The love of riches, the love of honors, the love of pleasures, arethe thorns that choke the word; how then can there be fruit broughtforth to God?

Barren fig-tree, see how the Lord Jesus by these words suggests thecause of thy fruitlessness of soul. The things of this world lie tooclose to thy heart; the earth and its things have bound up thyroots; thou art an earth-bound soul, thou art wrapped up in thickclay. "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not inhim;" how then can he be fruitful in the vineyard?

This kept Judas from the fruit of caring for the poor. This keptDemas from the fruit of self-denial. And this kept Ananias andSapphira his wife from the goodly fruit of sincerity and truth. IJohn, 2:15, 16; John 12: 6; 2 Tim. 4:10; Acts 5: 5-10; I Tim. 6: 9, 10. 

"And if it bear fruit, well. " And if the outlay of all my labor dothmake this fig-tree fruitful, I shall count my time, my labor, andmeans, well bestowed upon it; and thou also, O my God, shalt betherewith much delighted; for thou art gracious and merciful, andrepentest thee of the evil which thou threatenest to bring upon apeople. 

These words therefore inform us, that if a barren figtree, a barrenprofessor, shall now at last bring forth fruit to God, it shall gowell with that professor, it shall go well with that poor soul. Hisformer barrenness, his former tempting of God, his abuse of God'spatience and long-suffering, his misspending year after year, shallnow be all forgiven him. Yea, God the Father and our Lord JesusChrist will now pass by and forget all, and say, "Well done, " at thelast. 

"And if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. " There isnothing more exasperating to the mind of a man, than to find all hiskindness and favor slighted; neither is the Lord Jesus so provokedwith any thing, as when sinners abuse his means of grace. If it bebarren and fruitless under my gospel, if it turn my grace intowantonness, if, after digging and dunging and waiting, it yet remainunfruitful, I will let thee cut it down. 

Gospel-means applied are the last remedy for a barren professor; ifthe gospel, if the grace of the gospel will not do, there can benothing expected but, "Cut it down. "

"O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets and stonestthem that are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thychildren together, as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. "Matt. 23:37, 38. 

Yet it cannot be but that this Lord Jesus, who at first did put astop to the execution of his Father's justice, because he desired totry more means with the fig-tree--it cannot be but that a heart sofull of compassion as his, should be touched to behold thisprofessor must now be cut down. "And when he was come near, hebeheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, eventhou, at least in this thy day, the things that belong to thy peace!but now they are hid from thine eyes. "

When Christ giveth thee over, there is no intercessor, no mediator, no more sacrifice for sin; all is gone but judgment, but the axe, but "a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fieryindignation, which shall devour the adversaries. " Heb. 10:26-28. 

The day of grace ends with some men before God takes them out ofthis world. Now, then, I would show you by some signs how you mayknow that the day of grace is ended, or near to ending with thebarren professor. 

First sign. The day of grace is like to be past, when a professorhath WITHSTOOD, ABUSED, AND WORN OUT GOD'S PATIENCE: then he is indanger; this is a provocation; now God cries, "Cut it down. "

There are some men that steal into a profession, nobody knows how, even as this fig-tree was brought into the vineyard by other handsthan God's; and there they abide lifeless, graceless, careless, andwithout any good conscience to God at all. Perhaps they came in forthe loaves, for a trade, for credit, for a blind; or it may be, tostifle and choke the checks and grinding pangs of an awakened anddisquieted conscience. Now, having obtained their purpose, like thesinners of Zion, they are at ease and secure, saying, like Agag, Surely the bitterness of death is past: I am well; I shall be savedand go to heaven. Thus in these vain conceits they spend a year, two, or three; not remembering that at every season of grace, and atevery opportunity of the gospel, the Lord comes seeking fruit. 

Well, sinner, well, barren fig-tree, this is but an evil beginning. God comes for fruit. What have I here? saith God. What a fig-tree isthis, that hath stood this year in my vineyard, and brought me forthno fruit! I will cry unto him, Professor, barren fig-tree, befruitful; I look for fruit, I expect fruit, I must have fruit;therefore bethink thyself. At these the professor pauses; but theseare words, not blows; therefore off goes this consideration from theheart. 

When God comes the next year, he finds him still as he was, abarren, fruitless cumber-ground. And now again he complains, Hereare two years gone, and no fruit appears; well, I will defer mineanger for my name's sake. I will yet wait to be gracious. But thishelps not, this hath not the least influence upon the barrenfig-tree: Tush, saith he, here is no threatening; God is merciful, he will defer his anger, he waits to be gracious; I am not yetafraid. O, how ungodly men, that are unawares crept into thevineyard, how do they turn the grace of our God into lasciviousness!

Well, he comes the third year for fruit, as he did before, but stillhe finds but a barren fig-tree; no fruit. Now he cries out again, Othou dresser of my vineyard, come hither: here is a fig-tree hathstood these three years in my vineyard, and hath at every seasondisappointed my expectation; for I have looked for fruit in vain. Cut it down; my patience is worn out, I shall wait on this fig-treeno longer. 

And now he begins to shake the fig-tree with his threatenings: Fetchout the axe. Now the axe is death; death therefore is called for. Death, come, smite me this fig-tree. And withal the Lord shakes thissinner, and whirls him upon a sick-bed, saying, Take him, death; hehath abused my patience and forbearance, not remembering that itshould have led him to repentance and to the fruits thereof: death, fetch away this fig-tree to the fire, fetch this barren professor tohell. At this, death comes with grim looks into the chamber, yea, and hell follows with him to the bedside, and both stare thisprofessor in the face, yea, begin to lay hands upon him. One smiteshim with pains in his body, with headache, heartache, backache, shortness of breath, fainting qualms, trembling of joints, stoppingat the chest, and almost all the symptoms of a man past allrecovery. Now, while death is thus tormenting the body, hell is busywith the mind and conscience, striking them with its pains, castingsparks of fire in thither, wounding with sorrows and fears ofeverlasting damnation the spirit of this poor creature. And now hebegins to bethink himself, and to cry to God for mercy: Lord, spareme; Lord, spare me. Nay, saith God, you have been a provocation tome these three years. How many times have you disappointed me! Howmany seasons have you spent in vain! How many sermons and othermercies did I of my patience afiord you; but to no purpose at all. Take him, death. O good Lord, saith the sinner, spare me but thisonce; raise me but this once. 

Indeed I have been a barren professor, and have stood to no purposeat all in thy vineyard; hut spare, O spare me this one time, Ibeseech thee, and I will he better. Away, away, you will not; I havetried you these three years already; you are naught: if I shouldrecover you again, you would he as bad as you were before. (And allthis talk is while death stands by. ) The sinner cries again, GoodLord, try me this once; let me get up again this once, and see if Ido not rnend. But will you promise me to mend? Yes indeed, Lord, andvow it too. I will never be so bad again, I will he better. Well, saith God, Death, let this professor alone for this time: I will tryhim a little longer; he hath promised, he hath vowed, that he willamend his ways. It may be he will mind to keep his promises. Vowsare solemn things; it may he he may fear to break his vows. Arisefrom off thy bed. And now God lays down his axe. At this the poorcreature is very thankful, praises God, and fawns upon him, shows asif he did it heartily, and calls to others to thank him too. Hetherefore riseth, as one would think, to be a new creature indeed. But by that he hath put on his clothes, is come down from his bed, and ventured into the yard or shop, and there sees how all thingsare gone to sixes and sevens, he begins to have second thoughts, andsays to his folks, What have you all been doing? How are all thingsout of order! I am I cannot tell how much behindhand; one may see ifa man be but a little laid aside, that you have neither wisdom norprudence to order things. And now, instead of seeking to spend therest of his time for God, he doubleth his diligence after thisworld. Alas, he saith, all must not be lost; we must have providentcare. And thus, quite forgetting the sorrows of death, the pains ofhell, the promises and vows which he made to God to be better, because judgment was not speedily executed, therefore the heart ofthis poor creature is fully set in him to do evil. 

These things proving ineffectual, God takes hold of his axe again, sends death to a wife, to a child, to his cattle. I will blast him, cross him, disappoint him, cast him down; and will set myselfagainst him in all that he putteth his hand unto. At this the poorbarren professor cries out again, Lord, I have sinned; spare me oncemore, I beseech thee. O take not away the desire of mine eyes; sparemy children, bless me in my labors, and I will mend and be better. No, saith God, you lied to me last time, I will trust you in this nolonger; and withal he tumbleth the wife, the child, the estate, intoa grave. 

At this the poor creature is afflicted and distressed, rends hisclothes, and begins to call the breaking of his promise and vows tomind; he mourns and prays, and like Ahab, a while walks softly atthe remembrance of the justness of the hand of God upon him. And nowhe renews his promises: Lord, try me this one time more, take offthy hand and see; they go far that never turn. Well, God spareth himagain, sets down his axe again: "Many times he did deliver them, butthey provoked him with their counsels, and were brought low fortheir iniquities. " Now they seem to be thankful again, and are as ifthey resolved to be godly indeed. Now they read, they pray, they goto meetings, and seem to be serious for a while; but at last theyforget. Their lusts prick them, suitable temptations presentthemselves; wherefore, they return to their own crooked ways again. 

Yet again, the Lord will not leave this barren professor, Luke 13:6-9, but will take up his axe again, and will put him under a moreheart-searching ministry, a ministry that shall search him and turnhim over and over--a ministry that shall meet with him, as Elijahmet with Ahab, in all his acts of wickedness: and now the axe islaid to the roots of the tree. Besides, this ministry doth not onlysearch the heart, but presenteth the sinner with the golden rays ofthe glorious gospel: now is Christ Jesus set forth evidently, now isgrace displayed sweetly; now, now are the promises broken, likeboxes of ointment, to the perfuming of the whole room. But alas, there is yet no fruit on this fig-tree. While his heart is searched, he wrangles; while the glorious grace of the gospel is unveiled, this professor wags and is wanton, gathers up some scraps thereof, tastes the good word of God and the power of the world to come, drinketh in the rain that cometh oft upon him, but bringeth notforth fruit meet for him whose gospel it is; takes no heed to walkin the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart, butcounteth that the glory of the gospel consisteth in talk and show, and that our obedience thereto is a matter of speculation--that goodworks lie in good words, and if men can finely talk, they may thinkthey bravely please God. He thinks the kingdom of God consistethonly in word, not in power; and thus proves ineffectual this fourthmeans also. 

Well, now the axe begins to be heaved higher, for now indeed God isready to smite the sinner: yet before he will strike the stroke, hewill try one way more at last; and if that misseth, down goes thefig-tree. 

Now this last way is to labor and strive with this professor by hisSpirit. Therefore the Spirit of the Lord is now come to him; but notalways to strive with man, Gen. 6:8; yet awhile he will strive withhim, he will awaken, he will convince, he will call to remembranceformer sins, former judgments, the breach of former vows andpromises, the misspending of former days. He will also presentpersuasive arguments, encouraging promises, dreadful judgments, theshortness of time to repent in; and that there is hope if he come. He will show him the certainty of death and of the judgment to come, yea, he will pull and strive with this sinner. But behold, themischief now lies here; here is laboring and striving on both sides. The Spirit convinces, the man turns a deaf ear to God; the Spiritsaith, Receive my instruction and live, but the man pulls away hisshoulder; the Spirit shows him whither he is going, but the mancloseth his eyes against it; the Spirit offers violence, the manstrives and resists: he has "done despite unto the Spirit of grace. "Heb. 10:29. The Spirit parleyeth a'second time and urgeth reasons ofa new nature, but the sinner answereth, No; I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. Amos 4: 6-12. At this, God comes out ofhis holy-place, and is terrible; now he sweareth in his wrath theyshall never enter into his rest. Ezek. 34:13. I exercised towardsyou my patience, yet you have not turned unto me, saith the Lord. Ismote you in your person, in your relations, in your estate, yet youhave not returned unto me, saith the Lord. "Cut it down; whycumbereth it the ground?"

The second sign that such a professor is almost, if not quite pastgrace, is when God hath GIVEN HIM OVER, or lets him alone andsuffers him to do any thing, and that without control; helpeth himnot either in works of holiness, or in straits and difficulties:"Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone. " "Woe be to them when Idepart from them. " "I will laugh at their calamity; I will mock whentheir fear cometh. "

Barren fig-tree, thou hast heretofore been digged about; God'smattock has heretofore been at thy roots; thou hast heretofore beenstriven with, convinced, awakened, made to taste and see, and cry, Othe blessedness! Thou hast heretofore been met with under the word;thy heart has melted, thy spirit has fallen, thy soul has trembled, and thou hast felt something of the power of the gospel. But thouhast sinned, thou hast provoked the eyes of his glory, thy iniquityis found to be hateful; and now perhaps God has left thee, giventhee up, and lets thee alone. 

Heretofore thou wast tender; thy conscience startled at thetemptation to wickedness, for thou wert taken off from thepollutions of the world through the knowledge of our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ, 2 Pet. 2: 20-22; but that very vomit that oncethou wert turned from, now thou lappest up again, Seest thou a man that heretofore had the knowledge of God, and thathad some awe of majesty upon him; seest thou such a one sportinghimself in his own deceivings, Rom. 1:30, 31, "turning the grace ofGod into lasciviousness, and walking after his own ungodly lusts?His judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and his damnationslumbereth not. " 2 Pet. 2:13. 

Dost thou hear, barren professor? It is astonishing to see how thosewho once seemed sons of the morning, and were making preparationsfor eternal life, now at last, for the rottenness of their hearts, by the just judgment of God are permitted, being past feeling, "togive themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleannesswith greediness. " Eph. 4:18, 19. A great number of such were in thefirst gospel days; against whom Peter and Jude and John pronouncethe just judgment of God. 2 Pet. 2:3-8; Jude 5-8. Barren fig-tree, dost thou hear? These are beyond all mercy; these are beyond allpromises; these are beyond all hopes of repentance; these have nointercessor, nor any more share in the one sacrifice for sin. Forthese there remains nothing but a fearful looking for of judgment. 

These men go whither they will, do what they will; they may rangefrom opinion to opinion, from notion to notion, from sect to sect, but are steadfast nowhere: they are left to their own uncertainties;they have not grace to establish their hearts; and though some ofthem have boasted themselves of this liberty, yet Jude calls themwandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. They are left to be fugitives and vagabonds in the earth, towander everywhere but to abide nowhere, until they shall descend totheir own place, with Cain and Judas, men of the same fate withthemselves. 

Look thou certainly, fruitless professor, for an eternaldisappointment in the day of God; for it must be; thy lamp will heout at the first sound the trump of God shall make in thine ears;thou canst not hold up at the appearance of the Son of God in hisglory; his very looks will he to thy profession as a strong wind isto a blinking candle, and thou shalt he left only to smoke. 

Oh, the alteration that will befall a foolish virgin. She thoughtshe was happy, and that she should have received happiness withthose that were right at the heart; but behold the contrary: herlamp is going out, she has now to seek for saving grace, when thetime of grace is over; her heaven she thought of has proved a hell, and her god has proved a devil. God hath cast her out of hispresence, and closes the door upon her. She pleads her professionand the like, and she hath for her answer repulses from heaven. "Soare the paths of all that forget God; and the hypocrite's hope shallperish; whose hope shall be cut off, and whose trust shall be thespider's web: though he lean upon his house, it shall not stand; heshall hold it fast, but it shall not endure. "

Take heed, therefore; thy soul, heaven, and eternity lie at stake;yea, they turn either to thee or from thee upon the hinge of thyfaith, If it be right, all is thine; if wrong, then all is lost, however thy hope and expectations are to the contrary. 

There are bare notions, there are common workings, and there is awork that is saving and that will do the soul good to eternity. 

1. There are bare notions, and they that have them are such untowhom the gospel comes in word only, 1 Thess. 1:5; 1 Cor. 4:19, 20;such whose religion stands in word only, and is not attended with apower suitable: that is, there goes not with the word a powersufficient to subdue and work over the heart to a cordial andgracious close with thut word that comes to them. Yet such is thenoise and sound of the word, that they are willing to becomeprofessors thereof; there is some kind of musicalness in it, especially when well handled and fingered by a skilful preacher. "And lo, " saith God unto such preachers, when their auditory is madeup of such kind of hearers, "lo, thou art unto them as a very lovelysong of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on aninstrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not. "

2. But then, besides these there is another sort, and they gofurther than these. For to them the word came, not in word only butalso in power: though not in such a power as is sufficient, absolutely against all attempts whatsoever, to bring the soul toglory. 

(1. ) They attain light or illumination to see much of their state bynature. Heb. 6:4. 

(2. ) This light stands not in bare speculation, but lets fall uponthe conscience convincing arguments to the bowing and humbling ofthe spirit. 1 Kings, 21: 27-29. 

(3. ) They submit to these convictions and reforms, and may for atime not only come out from them that live in error, but escape thepollutions of the world by the knowledge of our Lord and SaviourJesus Christ. 2 Peter, 2:18-20; Gal. 3:4; 4:20. 

(4. ) Yea, so powerful will this dispensation be, that it willprevail with them to do and suffer many things for the vindicationof the truth of that gospel which they profess. For the word will besweet unto them; Christ, the gift of God, will be relished by them. Heb. 6:4, 5. The powers of the world to come will be in them; someworkings of the Holy Ghost will be in them; and joy, which is as oilto the wheels, will be with their souls. Luke 8:13. 

Thus is it with some professors, who yet cannot be said to departfrom iniquity, because the things that now are upon them abide withthem but awhile: "For awhile they believe; they rejoice in the lightfor a season, " and after that return to their old course, and areagain entangled with their iniquities and overcome. 

Now the causes of this declension, or falling away again untoiniquity, are many. 

One is, that this work, this work of power which they have been madepartakers of, has not been thorough enough upon all the powers oftheir souls. Their understandings, their judgments and conscienceshave been dealt with, but the power of God has not been upon theirwills and minds and affections rightly to subdue them to the graceof the gospel. 

Therefore also such persons, upon the withdrawing of thoseinfluences that at present are mighty upon them, do forthwith forgetboth what they had and what work it made upon them. Straightway theyforget what manner of men they were. It is said of Israel, "Theysang his praises; they soon forgat his word. " So these; they forget. 

They forget what light and what convictions they had. They forgetwhat sorrow for sin they had. They forget what tastes of Christ andhis word they had. 

They forget what joy and comfort they had. They forget how fair forheaven they were. And they forget how cleansed once they were. "Theyhave forgotten that they were purged from their old sins. " 2 Pet. 1:9. 

Now, forgetfulness makes things that are past as nothings; and ifso, then it can lay no obligations upon the mind to engage it todelight in them; no, not in thoughts of them, as if they wereremembered by us. 

Forgetfulness is a very dangerous thing; it makes preaching vain, profession vain, faith vain, and all to no purpose. 1 Cor. 15:1, 2. Such profession is but a dream; and such professors but as dreamers;all vanishes in the morning. This made Paul so caution theCorinthians that they should forget not the preaching; arid thewriter to the Hebrews so earnestly call them, in their backsliding, back to the remembrance of former days, and to the recollecting whatit was that then made them so willingly endure their great fight ofaffliction. 

Forgetfulness, I say, makes things nothings; it makes us as ifthings had never been; and so takes away from the soul one greatmeans of stay, support, and encouragement. When choice David wasdejected, the remembrance of the hill Hermon was his stay; when hewas to go out against Goliath, the remembrance of the lion and thebear was his support; so when those that have had the power of thethings of God upon them, can think of this when they are withdrawn, it will, even the thinking of it, have some kind of operation uponthe soul. And therefore you shall find, that the recovering of abackslider usually begins at the remembrance of former things. "Remember from whence thou art fallen, and repent and do thy firstworks. "

It is marvellous to see how some men are captivated with thisforgetfulness. Those that sometimes have prayed, cried, groaned, andsighed for eternal life; those that sometimes thought no pains toomuch, no way too far, no hazards too great to run, for eternal life;those that sometimes were captivated with the word, and with thecomforts and joy thereof, and who, had it been possible, would havepulled out their eyes, and have given them to gospel ministers, sodear and sweet were the good tidings which they brought. To such. Isay, it is marvellous to see how such men are captivated with theforgetfulness of this. They are as if they had never been those men;they are as if they had had no such things, or as if they never hadthought about them. Yea, they are strange, and carry it strangely toall those that still are under the power of that word, and of thatmighty hand by which sometimes themselves were guided. 

Should one say to them, Art not thou the man that I once saw cryingunder a sermon, that I once heard cry out, "What must I do to besaved?" and that some time ago I heard speak well of the holy wordof God? how askew will they look upon one; or if they willacknowledge that such things were with them once, they do it morelike images and rejected ghosts, than men. They look as if they wereblasted, withered, cast out and dried to powder, and now fit fornothing but to be cast into the fire and burned. John 15. 

THE UNPARDONABLE SIN. 

THE MAN IN THE IRON CAGE. 

"Now, " said Christian, "let me go hence. " "Nay, stay, " said theInterpreter, "till I have showed thee a little more, and after thatthou shalt go on thy way. " So he took him by the hand again, and ledhim into a very dark room, where there sat a man in an iron cage. 

Now the man to look on, seemed very sad. He sat with his eyeslooking down to the ground, his hands folded together, and he sighedas if he would break his heart. Then said Christian, "What meansthis?" At which the Interpreter bid him talk with the man. 

Then said Christian to the man, "What art thou?" The man answered, "I am what I was not once. "

CRISTIAN. "What wert thou once?"

The man said, "I was once a fair and flourishing professor, both inmine own eyes, and also in the eyes of others; I once was, as Ithought, fair for the celestial city, Luke 8:13, and had then evenjoy at the thoughts that I should get thither. "

CHRISTIAN. "Well, but what art thou now?"

MAN. "I am now a man of despair, and am shut up in it as in thisiron cage. I cannot get out: O NOW I cannot. "

CHRISTIAN. "But how earnest thou in this condition?"

MAN. "I left off to watch and be sober; I laid the reins upon theneck of my lusts; I sinned against the light of the word, and thegoodness of God; I have grieved the Spirit, and he is gone; Itempted the devil, and he is come to me; I have provoked God toanger, and he has left me; I have so hardened my heart that I CANNOTrepent. "

Then said Christian to the Interpreter, "But is there no hope forsuch a man as this?" "Ask him, " said the Interpreter. 

Then said Christian, "Is there no hope but you must be kept in theiron cage of despair?"

MAN. "No, none at all. "

CHRISTIAN. "Why? the Son of the Blessed is very pitiful. "

MAN. "I have crucified him to myself afresh; I have despised hisperson, I have despised his righteousness, I have counted his bloodan unholy thing. I have done despite to the Spirit of grace, Luke19:14; Heh. 6:4-6; 10:28, 29; therefore I have shut myself out ofall the promises, and there now remains to me nothing butthreatenings, dreadful threatenings, fearful threatenings of certainjudgment and fiery indignation which shall devour me as anadversary. "

CHRISTIAN. "For what did you bring yourself into this condition?"

MAN. "For the lusts, pleasures, and profits of this world; in theenjoyment of which I did then promise myself much delight; but nowevery one of those things also bites me and gnaws me like a burningworm. "

CHRISTIAN. "But canst thou not repent and turn?"

MAN. "God hath denied me repentance. His word gives me noencouragement to believe; yea, himself hath shut me up in this ironcage: nor can all the men in the world let me out. O eternity, eternity! how shall I grapple with the misery that I must meet within eternity?"

Then said the Interpreter to Christian, "Let this man's misery heremembered by thee, and be an everlasting caution to thee. "

"Well, " said Christian, "this is fearful! God help me to watch andhe sober, and to pray that I may shun the cause of this man'smiseiy. "

We that religiously name the name of Christ should depart frominiquity, because the Spirit of the Father will else be grieved. Eph. 4:30. The countenancing of iniquity, the not departingtherefrom, will grieve the Spirit of God, by which you are sealed tothe day of redemption; and that is a sin of a higher nature than mencommonly are aware of. He that grieveth the Spirit of God shallsmart for it here, or in hell, or both. And that Spirit thatsometimes did illuminate, teach, and instruct them, can keepsilence, can cause darkness, can. Withdraw itself, and sufler thesoul to sin more and more; and this last is the very judgment ofjudgments. He that grieves the Spirit, quenches it; and he thatquenches it, vexes it; and he that vexes it, sets it againsthimself, and tempts it to hasten destruction upon himself. 1 Thess. 5:19. 

Wherefore take heed, professors, I say, take heed, you thatreligiously name the name of Christ, that you meddle not withiniquity, that you tempt not the Spirit of the Lord to do suchthings against you; whose beginnings are dreadful, and whose end inworking of judgments is unsearchable. Isa. 63:10; Acts 5:9. 

A man knows not whither he is sjoing, nor where he shall stop, thatis but entering into temptation; nor whether he shall ever turnback, or go out at the gap that is right before him. 

He that has begun to grieve the Holy Ghost, may be sufiered to go onuntil he has sinned that sin which is called the sin against theHoly Ghost. And if God shall once give thee up to that, then, thouart in the IRON CAGE, out of which there is neither deliverance norredemption. 

There is a sin called the sin against the Holy Ghost, from whichthere is no redemption, and this sin doth more than ordinarilybefall professors; for there are few, if any, that are notprofessors, that are at present capable of sinning this sin. Theywhich "were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, andwere made partakers of the Holy Ghost, and have tasted the good wordof God, and the powers of the world to come, " Heb. 6:4, 5--of thissort are they that commit this sin. Peter also describes them to besuch, that sin the unpardonable sin: "For if after they have escapedthe pollution of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord andSaviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. " 2 Pet. 2:2. 

The other passage in the tenth of the Hebrews holdeth forth the samething: "For if we sin wilfully, after we have received the knowledgeof the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. But acertain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation thatshall devour the adversaries. "

These, therefore, are the persons that are the prey for this sin. This sin feedeth upon professors, and they that are such do oftenfall into the rnouth of this eater. 

The unpardonable sin, the sin against the Holy Ghost, is a sin ofthis nature: For a man after he hath made some profession ofsalvation to come alone by the blood of Jesus, together with somelight%and power of the same upon his spirit--I say, for himknowingly, wilfully, and despitefully to trample upon the blood ofChrist shed on the cross, and to count it an unholy thing, or nobetter than the blood of another man; and rather to venture his soulany other way, than to be saved by this precious blood. 

It is called the sin against the Holy Ghost, because such sinagainst the manifest light of the Spirit; that is, they have beenformerly enlightened into the nature of the gospel, and the meritsof the man Christ, and his blood, righteousness, intercession, etc. , and also have professed and confessed the same, with some life andcomfort in and through the profession of him; yet now against allthat light, they maliciously and with despite to all their formerprofession, turn their backs, and trample upon the same. 

This sin is immediately committed against the motions andconvictions and light of that Holy Spirit of God, that makes it hisbusiness to hand forth and manifest the truth and reality of themerits and virtue of the Lord Jesus. 

To some men that have grievously sinned under a profession of thegospel, God. Gives this token of his displeasure: they are deniedthe power of repentance; their heart is bound, they cannot repent. It is impossible they should ever repent, should they live athousand years. It is impossible for those fall-aways to be renewedagain unto repentance, seeing they crucify to themselves the Son ofGod afresh, and put him to open shame. Now, to have the heart sohardened, so judicially hardened, this is as a bar put in by theLord God against the salvation of this sinner. This was the burdenof Spira's complaint: "I cannot do it; O, now I cannot do it. "

This man sees what he has done, what should help him, and what willbecome of him; yet he cannot repent. He pulled away his shoulderbefore, he shut his eyes before, and in that very posture God lefthim; and so he stands to this very day. I have had a fancy thatLot's wife, when she was turned into a pillar of salt, stood yetlooking over her shoulder, or else with her face towards Sodom; asthe judgment caught her, so it bound her, and left her for amonument of God's anger to after-generations. 

I have been the more plain and simple in my writing, because the sinagainst the Holy Ghost is in these days more common than formerly, and the way unto it more beautified with color and pretence of truthI may say of the way to this sin, it is, as was once the way toJerusalem, strewed with boughs and branches, and by some there iscried a kind of Hosanna to them that are treading these steps tohell. Oh, the plausible pretences, the golden names, the feignedholiness, the demure behavior mixed with damnable hypocrisy, thatattend the persons that have forsaken the Lord Jesus, that havedespised his person, trampled upon him, and "counted the blood ofthe covenant wherewith they were sanctified an unholy thing. " Theyhave crucified him to themselves, and think that they can go toheaven without him, yea, pretend they love him, when they hate him;pretend they have him, when they have cast him off; pretend theytrust in him, when they bid defiance to his undertakings for theworld. 

So they both went on, and Ignorance he came after. Now, when theyhad passed him a little way, they entered into a very dark lane, where they met a man whom seven devils had bound with seven strongcords, and were carrying him back to the door that they saw on theside of the hill. Matt. 12: 45; Prov. 5: 22. Now good Christianbegan to tremble, and so did Hopeful, his companion; yet as thedevils led away the man, Christian looked to see if he knew him; andhe thought it might be one Turn-away that dwelt in the town ofApostasy. But he did not perfectly see his face; for he did hang hishead like a thief that is found. But being gone past, Hopeful lookedafter him, and espied on his back a paper with this inscription:"Wanton professor and damnable apostate. "

XXI. THE CHURCH. 

FROM THE PREFACE TO THE "HOLY CITY. "

UPON a certain First-day, I being together with my brethren in ourprison-chamber, they expected that, according to our custom, something should be spoken out of the word for our mutualedification; but at that time I felt myself--it being my turn tospeak--so empty, spiritless, and barren, that I thought I shouldnot have been able to speak among them so much as five words oftruth, with life and evidence: but at last it so fell out thatprovidentially I cast my eye upon the 11th verse of the 21st chapterof this prophecy of Revelation; upon which when I had consideredawhile, methought I perceived something of that Jasper, in whoselight you there find this holy city is said to come or descend:wherefore, having got in my eye some dim glimmerings thereof, andfinding also in my heart a desire to see further thereinto, I, witha few groans, did carry my meditation to the Lord Jesus for ablessing. This he did forthwith grant, according to his grace; andhelping me to set before my brethren, we did all eat and were allrefreshed; and behold also, that while I was in the distributing ofit, it so increased in my hand that, of the fragments that we leftafter we had well dined, I gathered up this basketful. Methought themore I cast my eye upon the whole discourse, the more I saw lie init. Wherefore, setting myself to a more narrow search, throughfrequent prayer to God--what first with doing, and then withundoing, and after that with doing again--I thus did finish it. 

But yet, notwithstanding all my labor and travail in this matter, Ido not, neither can I, expect that every godly heart should in everything see the truth and excellency of what is here discoursed;neither would I have them imagine that I have so thoroughly viewedthis holy city, but that much more than I do here crush out is yetleft in the cluster. Alas, I shall only say thus: I have crushed outa little juice to sweeten their lips withal; not doubting but in alittle time more large measures of the excellency of this city, andof its sweetness and glory, will by others be opened and unfolded, yea, if not by the servants of the Lord Jesus, yet by the Lordhimself, who will have this city builded and set in its own place. 

CHURCH-FELLOWSHIP. 

It is the ordinance of God, that Christians should be oftenasserting the things of God to each other; and that by their sodoing, they should edify one another. 

The doctrine of the gospel is like the dew and the small rain, thatdistilleth upon the tender grass, wherewith it doth flourish and iskept green. 

Christians are like the several flowers in a garden, that have uponeach of them the dew of heaven; which being shaken with the wind, let fall their dew at each other's roots, whereby they are jointlynourished and become nourishers of one another. 

Church-fellowship, rightly managed, is the glory of all the world. No place, no community, no fellowship is adorned and bespangled withsuch beauties, as is a church rightly knit together to their Head, and lovingly serving one another. 

The church and a profession are the best of places for the upright;but the worst in the world for the cumberground. 

THE CHURCH A LIGHT. 

The Holy Ghost is well pleased to bring in the shining virtues ofthe church, under the--notion of a shining moon; because, as thechurch herself is compared to the moon, so her virtues are asnaturally compared to a shining light: as Christ saith, "Let yourlight so shine;" and again, "Let your loins be girded, and yourlights burning. " For indeed, while we are here, that church andcongregation of the Lord doth most shine, and most send forth thegolden rays and pleasant beams of Christianity, that is most in theexercise of the aforementioned virtues. Take away the moon, and thenight is doubtful; or, though the moon be in the firmament, if shehath lost her light, the night is not thereby made more comfortable. And thus, I say, it is first with the world, where there is nochurch to shine, or where there is a church that doth not so shinethat others may see and be lighted. 

SPIRITUAL CHARACTER OF THE CHURCH. 

She meddleth not with any man's matters but her own; she comes allalong by the king's highway; that is, only by the rules that herLord hath prescribed for her in his testament. The governors of thisworld need not at all fear a disturbance from her, or a diminutionof aught they have. She will not meddle with their fields norvineyards, neither will she drink of the water of their wells. Onlylet her go by the king's highway, and she will not turn to the righthand or to the left, until she has passed all their borders It is afalse report that the governors of the nations have received againstthe city, this new Jerusalem, if they believe according to the talethat is told of her, that she is and has been of old a rebelliouscity, and destructive to kings, and a diminisher of their revenues. She is not for meddling with any thing that is theirs, from a threadeven to a shoe-latchet. Her glory is spiritual and heavenly, and sheis satisfied with what is her own. 'Tis true, the kings and nationsof this world shall one day bring their glory and honor to thiscity; but yet not by outward force or compulsion: none shallconstrain them but the love of Christ, and the beauty of this city. "The Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightnessof thy rising. " The light and beauty of this city, these only shallengage their hearts and overcome them. 

Indeed, if any shall, out of mistrust or enmity against this cityand her prosperity, bend themselves to disappoint the designs of theeternal God concerning her building and glory, then they must takewhat follows. Her God in the midst of her is mighty; he will rest inhis love, and rejoice over her with singing, and will UNDO all thatafflict her. Wherefore, associate yourselves, O ye people, and yeshall he broken in pieces; for God is with us. 

WARNING TO THE PROFESSOR. 

He that sins himself out of the church, can find no good in theworld; and they that have sinned God out, can find no good in thechurch. A church that has sinned God away from it, is a sad lumpindeed. You, therefore, that are in God's church, take heed ofsinning yourselves out thence; also take heed, that while you keepin, you sin not God away, for thenceforth no good is there. "Yea, woe unto them when I depart from them, saith the Lord. "

CHURCH-ORDER. 

It is hard to have all things according to rule in the day of thechurch's affliction, because of the weakness and fearfulness ofsome, and because possibly those who have most skill in that mattermay for a time be laid up in chains. But when the church has restand quietness, then as she praises God, so she conceives and bringsforth governors and good government and rule among her members. David, a man of blood, could not build the house to the Lord, whichpeaceable Solomon, that man of rest, afterwards did. When armies areengaged and hot in battle, it is harder to keep them in rank andfile than when they have rest and time for discipline. 

THE CHURCH IN AFFLICTION. 

When the church of God is afflicted, both heaven and hell have theirhand therein; but from a differing consideration, and to a diverseend. From heaven it comes, that we may remember we have sinned, andthat we may be made white and tried; but from hell, that we mightsin the more, and that we might despair and be damned. 

SATAN'S HOSTILITY TO THE CHURCH. 

Satan has tried many ways to be at amity with the church--notbecause he loves her holiness, but because he hates her welfare. Andthat he might bring about his enterprise, he sometimes has alluredher with the dainty delicacies of this world, the lusts of the fleshand of the eyes, and the pride of life. This being fruitless, he hasattempted to entangle and bewitch her with his glorious appearanceas an angel of light; and to that end he has made his ministers ofrighteousness, preaching up righteousness, and contending for adivine and holy worship. But this failing also, he has taken in handat length to fright her into friendship with him, by stirring up thehellish rage of tyrants to frighten and molest her; by finding outstrange inventions to torment and afflict her children; by makingmany bloody examples of her own bowels before her eyes, if by thatmeans he might at last obtain his purpose. But behold, all has beenin vain; there can be no reconciliation. And why, but because Godhimself maintains the enmity? God hath put enmity between the deviland the woman; between that old serpent called the devil and Satan, and the holy and beloved and espoused wife of Christ. 

SECURITY OF THE CHURCH. 

Gold is a metal so invincible and unconquerable, that no fire canconsume it: it may burn it indeed, and melt it; the dross indeeddoth consume and give way to the power of the fire, but the goldremains and holds its ground, yea, it gets ground even of thefurnace and fire itself; for the more it is burned and melted, themore it recovers its color, and the more it shakes off its dross anddishonor. 

Just thus it is with the people of God, and hath been so even fromthe beginning: the more men oppressed them, the more they grew. Hischurch has been now for many hundred years in the king of Babylon'sfurnace; all which time she hath most gloriously endured andwithstood the heat; and at last, when the fire hath done its worstagainst her, behold, there comes out a city of gold. Wherefore, lether be bold to say, even before she comes out of the fire, "When Iam tried, I shall come forth as gold. "

So long as the church endured hardship and affliction, she wasgreatly preserved from revolts and backslidings; but after she hadturned her face from the sun, and had found the plain of Shinar, Genesis 11, that is, the fleshly delights that the pleasures andprofits and honors of this world afford, she, forgetting the wordand order of God, was content to dwell in the land of Babel. 

As the sins of God's people brought them into captivity, so theirsins can hold them there; yea, and when the time comes that gracemust fetch them out, yet the oxen that draw this cart may stumble, and the way, through roughness, may shake it sorely. However, heavenrules and overrules: and by one means and another, as the captivityof Israel did seem to linger, so it came out at the time appointed, in the way that best pleased God, that most profited them, and thatmost confounded those that were their implacable enemies. Thistherefore should instruct those that yet dwell where the "woman"sitteth, to quietness and patience. 

To quietness; for God rules and has the disposal of things. Besides, it is a kind of arraigning of his wisdom, to be discontent at thatwhich at present is upon the wheel. Above all, it displeases himthat any should seek, or go about to revenge their own injuries, orto work their own deliverances; for that is the work of God: nor ishe weak, nor has he missed the opportunity; nor does he sleep, butwaketh, and waiteth to be gracious. 

This also should teach them to be patient, and put them upon bearingwhat at present they may undergo, patiently Let them wait upon God;patiently let them wait upon men, and patiently let them bear thefruits of their own transgressions; which though they should be noneother but a deferring of the mercy wished for, is enough to try, andcrack, and break their patience, if a continual supply and a dailyincrease thereof be not given by the God of heaven. 

And before I conclude this, let me add one word more, to wit, toexhort them to look that they may see what God at present may bedoing among the Babylonians. 

When God had his people into Babylon of old, he presented them withsuch varieties there as he never showed them in their own country. And is there nothing now to be seen by them that are not yetdelivered from that oppression, that may give them occasion to staythemselves and wonder? What, is preservation nothing? What, isbaffling and befooling the enemies of God's church nothing? In theMaryan [Footnote: Upon the accession of Mary to the throne ofEngland, the sanguinary laws against heretics were revived, andthose shocking scenes of cruelty followed which have fixed upon thisprincess the epithet of Bloody Queen Mary. Her gloomy bigotry causedthat two hundred and seventy-seven persons should be committed tothe flames, including prelates, private clergymen, laymen of allranks, women, and even children. 

Among the number were archbishop Cranmer, bishops Ridley. Latimer, and Hooper, John Rogers, John Bradford, and John Philpot. 

Bishops Latimer and Ridley were burnt together. When they came tothe stake, Dr. Ridley embraced Latimer fervently, and bade him be ofgood heart; he then knelt by the stake, and after earnestly prayingtogether, they had a short private conversation. A lighted fagot waslaid at Dr. Ridley's feet, which caused the other to say, "Be ofgood cheer, Ridley, and play the man. We shall this day, by God'sgrace, light up such a candle in England, as I trust will never beput out. " When Dr. Ridley saw the flame approaching him, heexclaimed, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. " Latimerceased not to say, "O Father of heaven, receive my soul. "

Sanders, another martyr, was offered a pardon; but he rejected it, and embraced the stake, saying, "Welcome the cross of Christ!welcome, everlasting life!" Fox's Book of Martyrs and Hume's Hist. Eng] days here at home, there were such sweet songs sung in thefire, such sweet notes answering them from prison, and suchprovidences, like coals of burning fire, still dropping here andthere upon the heads of those that hated God, that it might, anddouhtless did, make those that did wisely consider of God's doings, think God was yet near in behalf of his despised and afflictedpeople. 

Deep things are seen by them that are upon the waters. "They that godown to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters, thesesee the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. " Indeed itoft falls out that the church sees more of God in affliction, thanwhen she is at rest and ease; when she is tumbled to and fro withwaters, then she sees the works of God and his wonders in the deep. And this makes persecution so pleasant a thing; this makes "the arkgo upon the face of the waters. " She sees more in this her state, than in all the treasures of Egypt. 

Nothing is more natural to the church, while in a wildernesscondition, than such cups and draughts as the cup of the Lord'sfury, the cup of trembling, the cup of astonishment. 

Hence she is said to be clothed in sackcloth, to mourn, to weep, tocry out, and to be in pain as a woman in travail. Since the churchin the wilderness has been so persecuted, so distressed, sooppressed, and made the seat of so much war, so much blood, and somany murders of her children within her, can it be imagined that shedrank of more of these cups? Yes, yes, she has drunk the red wine atthe Lord's hand, even the cup of blood, of fury, of trembling, andof astonishment; witness her own cries, sighs, tears, andtremblings, with the cries of the widows, children, and orphanswithin her. 

But all these cups are of pure gold. They are of God's ordaining, appointing, filling; and also sanctified by him for good to those ofhis that drink them. Hence Moses chose rather to drink a brimmer ofthese, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. 

The sourness, bitterness, and wormwood of them, therefore, is onlyto the flesh, that loveth neither God, nor Christ, nor grace. Theafflictions, therefore, that the church in the wilderness hath metwith, these cups of gold, are of more worth than are all thetreasures of Egypt; they are needful and profitable, andpraiseworthy also, and tend to the augmenting of our glory when thenext world shall come. 

Besides, they are signs, tokens, and golden-marks of love, andjewels that set off the beauty of the church in the sight of God themore. They are also a means by which men are proved to be sound, honest, faithful, and true lovers of God; to be those whose gracesare not counterfeit, feigned, or unsound, but true, and such as willbe found to praise and honor and glory at the appearing of JesusChrist. 

And this has been the cause that the men of our church in thewilderness have gloried in tribulation, taking pleasure inreproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, and in distresses, forChrist's sake. Yea, this is the reason why they have bade oneanother rejoice, when they fell into divers temptations, saying, "Happy is the man that endureth temptations;" and, "Behold, we countthem happy that endure. " And again, "If ye be reproached for thename of Christ, happy are ye. "

These, therefore, are vessels of pure gold, though they contain suchbitter draughts, at which we make so many wry faces before we canget them down. 

Do you think that a Christian, having even this cup in his hand todrink, would change it for a draught of that which is in the hand ofthe woman that sits on the back of the scarlet-colored beast? No, verily; for he knows that her sweet is poison; and that his bitteris to purge his soul, body, life, and religion, of death. 

God sends his love-tokens to his church two ways; sometimes by herfriends, sometimes by her enemies. When they come by the hand of afriend, as by a minister, a brother, or by the Holy Ghost, then theycome smoothly, sweetly, and are taken, and go down like honey. Butwhen these love-tokens come to them by the hand of an enemy, thenthey are handed to them roughly. Pharaoh handed love-tokens to themroughly; the king of Babylon handed these love-tokens to themroughly. They bring them of malice; God sends them of love. Theybring them and give them to us, hoping they will be our death; theygive them therefore with many a foul curse; but God blesses themstill. 

Nor is this cup so bitter but that our Lord himself drank deep ofit, before it was handed to his church. He did, as loving mothersdo, drink thereof himself, to show us it is not poison, also toencourage us to drink it for his sake, and for our endless health. Therefore the cup is called Christ's cup: "Are ye able to drink ofthe cup that I drink of? Ye shall indeed drink of my cup. " Here yousee they are joined in a communion in this cup of affliction. 

But these are not all the cups that belong to the church in thewilderness. There is also a cup, out of which, at times, is drunkwhat is exceeding sweet. It is called the cup of consolation, thecup of salvation; a cup in which God himself is, as David said, "TheLord is the portion of my cup. "

This cup, they that are in the church in the wilderness have usuallyfor an after-draught to that bitter one that went before. Thus, astender mothers give their children plums or sugar to sweeten theirpalate after they have drunk a bitter potion, so God gives hischildren the cups of salvation and consolation after they havesuffered awhile: "For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, soour consolation aboundeth by Christ. "

Some of these cups are filled until they run over; as David said hisdid, when the valley of the shadow of death was before him: "Thoupreparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies; thouanointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over. "

This is that which the apostle calls "exceeding"--that which isbeyond measure. "I am, " says he, "filled with comfort; I amexceeding joyful in all our tribulation. "

Now he has one answering the other: "Thou hast made summer andwinter; thou hast made the warm beams of thy sun answerable to thecold of the dark night. " This may yet be signified by the buildingof this house, this type of the church in the wilderness, in sopleasant a place as the forest of Lebanon was. Lebanon! Lebanon wasone of the sweetest places in all the land of Canaan. Therefore weread of the fruit of Lebanon, of the streams from Lebanon; thescent, the smell, the glory of Lebanon; and also of the wine andflowers of Lebanon. 

Lebanon! That was one thing that wrought with Moses to desire thathe might go over Jordan, that he might see that goodly mountain, andLebanon. The glory and excellent beauty of the church Christ alsosetteth forth by comparing her to Lebanon: "Thy lips, O my spouse, drop as a honeycomb; honey and milk are under thy tongue, and thesmell of thy garments is like the smell of Lebanon. "

I know there are extravagant opinions in the world about the kingdomof Christ, as if it consisted in temporal glory in part; and as ifhe would take it to him by carnal weapons, and so maintain it in itsgreatness and grandeur. But I confess myself an alien to thesenotions, and believe and profess quite the contrary, and look forthe coming of Christ to judgment personally; and betwixt this andthat, for his coming in Spirit and in the power of his word; todestroy antichrist, to inform kings, and so to give quietness to hischurch on earth: which shall assuredly be accomplished when thereign of the beast, the false prophet, and the man of sin is out. 

Let this teach men not to think that the church is cursed of God, because she is put in a wilderness state. Alas, that is but to trainher up in a way of solitariness, to make her Canaan the more welcometo her. Rest is sweet to a laboring man. 

Yea, this condition is the first step to heaven; yea, it is apreparation to that kingdom. God's ways are not as man's: "I havechosen thee, " saith he, "in the furnace of affliction. " When Israelcame out of Egypt, they were led of God into the wilderness. Butwhy? That he might have them to a land that he had espied for them, that he might bring them to a city of habitation. 

The world know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment of our God. Do you think that saints that dwell in the world, and that have moreof the mind of God than the world, could so rejoice in God, in thecross, in tribulations and distresses, were they not assured thatthrough many tribulations is the very road to heaven?

Let this then encourage the saints to hope, and to rejoice in hopeof the glory of God, notwithstanding present tribulations. This isour seed-time, our winter: afflictions are to try us of what mettlewe are made; yea, and to shake off worm-eaten fruit, and such as arerotten a core. 

Troubles for Christ's sake are but like the prick of an awl in thetip of the ear, in order to hang a jewel there. 

Let this also put the saints upon patience. When we know that atrial will have an end, we are encouraged to exercise patience. Ihave a bad master, but I have only a year to serve under him, andthat makes me serve him with patience. I have but a mile to go inthis dirty way, and then I shall have my path pleasant and green, and this makes me tread the dirty way with patience. 

I am now in my rags; but by that a quarter of a year is come andgone, two hundred [Footnote: That is, pounds: a large income in theEngland Bunyan's day. ] a year comes into my hand; wherefore I willwait and exercise patience. Thus might I multiply comparisons. 

Be patient, then, my brethren. But how long? "To the coming of theLord. " But when will that be? "The coming of the Lord draweth nigh. "

How unseen the strength of the church under persecution is of allthat are without her. Alas, they think that she will be run downwith a push; or, as they said, "What do these feeble Jews? Will theyfortify themselves? will they sacrifice? will they make an end in aday? will they revive the stones out of the heaps of rubbish whichare burnt? Alas, if a fox go up, he will even break down their stonewall. "

But do you think these men saw the strength of the Jews? No, no;their pillars were within, and so were shadowed from their eyes. David himself could not tell what judgment to make of the way of theworld against the people of God, until he went into the sanctuary ofGod. 

How then can the world judge of the condition of the saints? Alas, had they known the church's strength, surely they would not have sofuriously assaulted her. But what have they got by all they havedone, either, against the Head or body of the church?

She has yet being in the world, and will have, shall have, thoughall the nations on earth should gather themselves together againsther. Nor is it the cutting off of many that will make her cease toflourish. Alas, were she not sometimes pruned and trimmed, herboughs would stand too thick. Those therefore that are taken awaywith God's pruning-hooks, are removed that the under branches maygrow the better. 

No man needs be afraid to let Jesus Christ be chief in the world: heenvies nobody; he designs the hurt of none: his kingdom is not ofthis world, nor doth he covet temporal matters: let but his wife, his church, alone, to enjoy her purchased privileges, and all shallbe well; which privileges of hers, since they are soul-concerns, make no infringement upon any man's liberties. Let but faith andholiness walk the streets without control, and you may be as happyas the world can make you. I speak now to them that contend withhim. 

But if seasonable counsel will not go down, if hardness of heart andblindness of mind and so perishing from the way shall overtake you, it is but what you of old have been cautioned of: "Be wise now, therefore, O ye kings; be instructed, ye judges of the earth. Servethe Lord with fear, and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lesthe be angry, and ye perish from the way when his wrath is kindledbut a little. Blessed are all they that put their trust in him. "

The very name of Jesus is the very tower of the Christian church, and that by which she frights the world, not designedly, but throughtheir misunderstanding; for neither she nor her Jesus is for doingthem any hurt. However, this is that which renders her yet, in theireye, terrible as an army with banners. 

Always when antichrist made his inroads upon the church in thewilderness, to slay, to cut off, and to kill, yet some of thepillars stood; they were not all burnt in the fire, nor cut down. They said indeed, "Come, let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance. " But whatthen? There is a difference betwixt saying and doing; the bush wasnot therefore consumed because it was set on fire; the church shallnot be consumed, although she be afflicted. 

And the reason is, because God has his reserve: therefore if Abelfalls by the hand of Cain, Seth is put in his place; if Moses istaken away, Joshua shall succeed him; and if the devil break theneck of Judas, Matthias is at hand to take his office. God has asuccession of pillars in his house; he has to himself a reserve. 

They therefore brought out Faithful, to do with him according totheir law; and first they scourged him, then they buffeted him, thenthey lanced his flesh with knives; after they had stoned him withstones, they pricked him with their swords; and last of all, theyburned him to ashes at the stake. Thus came Faithful to his end. NowI saw in my dream that Christian went not forth alone, for there wasone whose name was Hopeful--being so made by the beholding ofChristian and Faithful in their words and behavior in theirsufferings at the fair--who joined himself unto him; and enteringinto a brotherly covenant, told him that he would be his companion. 

Thus one died to bear testimony to the truth, and another rises outof his ashes, to be a companion with Christian in his pilgrimage. 

"And she bare a son, and called his name Seth; for God, saith she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew. "Gen. 4. When Seth comes, then the ground is made good again; then aliving saint is found to stand, and maintain that truth which butnow his brother bled for. 

THE FUTURE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 

Thy children shall all be holy or righteous, and "great shall be thepeace of thy children; and the nations of them that are saved shallwalk in the light of it. " Surely the Holy Ghost would never havespoken such a word as this if he had not intended to show us that atthe day of the setting up of this Jerusalem, a great harvest ofsinners shall be gathered by the grace of the gospel. But the truthis, the Scriptures go with open arms towards the latter end of theworld, even as if they would grasp and compass about almost allpeople then upon the face of the whole earth with the grace andmercy of God: "The earth shall be filled with the knowledge of theglory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea. "

Never was fair weather after foul, nor warm weather after cold, nora sweet and beautiful spring after a heavy and nipping and terriblewinter, so comfortable, sweet, and desirable and welcome to the poorbirds and beasts of the field, as this day will be to the church ofGod. Darkness! it was the plague of Egypt; it is an empty, forlorn, desolate, solitary, and discomforting state. Wherefore light, eventhe illuminating grace of God, especially in the measure that itshall be communicated unto us at that day, it must needs beprecious. In light there is warmth and pleasure. It is by the lightof the sun that the whole universe appears unto us distinctly, andit is by the heat thereof that every thing groweth and flourisheth;all which will now be gloriously and spiritually answered in thisholy and new Jerusalem. O how clearly will all the spiders anddragons and owls and foul spirits of antichrist, at that day, bediscovered by the light hereof. Now also will all the pretty andlittle birds in the Lord's field, most sweetly send forth theirpleasant notes, and all the flowers and herbs in his garden spring. Then will it be said to the church by her husband and Saviour, "Riseup, my love, my fair one, and come away; for lo, the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, the flowers appear on the earth, the timeof the singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle isheard in our land; the fig-tree putteth forth her green figs, andthe vine with her tender grapes give a good smell. " You know howpleasant this is, even to be fulfilled in the letter of it, not onlyto birds and beasts, but to men; especially it is pleasant to suchmen as have for several years been held in the chains of affliction. It must needs therefore be most pleasant and desirable to theafflicted church of Christ, who hath lain now in the dungeon ofantichrist for. Above a thousand years. But, Lord, how will thislady, when she gets her liberty and when she is returned to her owncity, how will she then take pleasure in the warmth and spanglingbeams of thy shining grace, and solace herself with thee in thegarden, among the nuts and pomegranates, among the lilies andflowers, and all the chief spices!

"And in the midst of the street of it, and on either side of theriver, was there the tree of life, which bare twelve manner offruits, and yielded her fruit every month; and the leaves of thetree were for the healing of the nations. "

This tree of life is the Lord Jesus Christ; and that he is herecalled a tree, is to show how fruitful and exceeding advantageous hein all his benefits will be to the inhabitants of this city. This isthe tree under whose branches the fowls of heaven shall now mostsafely lodge, and find relief from the hot and fainting beams of thepersecuting sun of this world. 

In that he saith this city hath a tree of life in it, he alludes tothe garden of Eden, the pleasant paradise that God began the worldwithal; whereby he signifies, that as the world began with aparadise, so also it shall end with a paradise, when sin and Satanhave done their worst. This new Jerusalem shall be the wind-up ofthe world; and in it shall stand the tree of life, as there stoodone in the goodly garden which was the beginning thereof. 

Now this tree of life being in the midst of this city, it signifiesthat the inhabitants of it shall be sweetly shadowed, refreshed, anddefended with its coolness, and also sweetly nourished and comfortedwith its dainties. "As the apple-tree is among the trees of thewood, so is my Beloved among the sons. I sat under his shadow withgreat delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. " Indeed theshadow of this tree of life, as always it is refreshing to thetempted and weary, so now it will be far more: "They that dwellunder his shadow shall return; they shall revive as the corn andgrow as the vine, and the scent thereof shall be as the wine ofLebanon. " His shadow will make us return, that is, to our firstlove--to the days of our youth, to our young, fresh, tender, andflourishing faith, love, and self-denial, that we received in theday of our espousals. 

O they will be green, savory, reviving, flourishing, growingChristians that shall walk the streets of the new Jerusalem. 

Now there shall be a oneness of judgment and understanding in thehearts of all saints; they shall be now no more two, but one in theLord's hand. 

Alas, the saints are yet but as an army routed, and are aptsometimes through fear, and sometimes through forgetfulness, tomistake the word of their Captain-general the Son of God, and arealso too, too prone to shoot and kill even their very right-handman. But at that day all such doing shall be laid aside, for theknowledge of the glory of the Lord shall cover the earth, as thewaters cover the sea: which knowledge shall then strike through theheart and liver of all swerving and unsound opinions in Christ'smatters; for then shall every one of the Christians call upon thename of the Lord, and that with one pure lip, or language, to servehim with one consent. 

XXII. The Ministry. 

Importance of the ministry. 

The church itself, without its watchmen, is a weak, feeble, and veryhelpless thing. What can the lady or mistress do to defend herselfagainst thieves and sturdy villains, if there be none but she athome? It is said, when the shepherd is smitten, the sheep will bescattered. What could the temple do without its watchmen? 1 Chron. 9:24. 

Then let the churches love their pastors, hear their pastors, beruled by their pastors, and suffer themselves to be watched over, and to be exhorted, counselled, and if need be, reproved and rebukedby their pastors. And let the ministers not sleep, but be watchful, and look to the ordinances, to the souls of the saints, and thegates of the church. Watch, man; WATCH, MAN; WATCH!

Duty Of Churches To The Ministry. 

O churches, let your ministers be beautified with your love; thatthey may beautify you with their love, and also be an ornament untoyou, and to that gospel they minister to you, for Jesus Christ'ssake. 

Different Classes Of Ministers. 

Is the soul such an excellent thing, and is the loss thereof sounspeakably great? Then this should teach the people to be verycareful to whom they commit the teaching and guidance of theirsouls. 

This is a business of the greatest concern: men will be careful towhom they commit their children, whom they make the executors oftheir wills, in whose hand they trust the writing and evidences oftheir lands; but how much more careful should we be, unto whom wecommit the teaching and guidance of our souls. And yet most men arein these matters least of all careful. 

There are idol shepherds. Zech. 11:7. There are foolish shepherds. Zech. 11:15. There are shepherds that feed themselves, and not theirflocks. Ezek. 34:2. There are hard-hearted and pitiless shepherds. Zech. 11:3. There are shepherds that instead of healing, smite, push, and wound the diseased. Ezek. 34:4, 21. There are shepherdsthat cause their flocks to go astray. Jer. 50:6. And there areshepherds that feed their flocks: these are the shepherds to whomthou shouldst commit thy soul for teaching and for guidance. 

Then said the Interpreter, "Come in; I will show thee that whichwill be profitable to thee. " So he commanded his man to light acandle, and bade Christian follow him. So he had him into a privateroom, and bid his man open a door: the which when he had done, Christian saw the picture of a very grave person hang up against thewall; and this was the fashion of it: it had eyes lifted up toheaven, the best of books in its hand, the law of truth was writtenupon its lips, the world was behind its back; it stood as if itpleaded with men, and a crown of gold did hang over its head. 

Then said Christian, "What meaneth this?"

INTERPRETER. "The man whose picture this is, is one of a thousand;he can beget children, 1 Cor. 4:15, travail in birth with children, Gal. 4:19, and nurse them himself when they are born. And whereasthou seest him with his eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of booksin his hand, and the law of truth written on his lips; it is to showthee that his work is to know and to unfold dark things to sinners;even as also thou seest him stand as if he pleaded with men. Andwhereas thou seest the world as cast behind him, and that a crownhangs over his head; that is to show thee that, slighting anddespising the things that are present for the love that he hath tohis Master's service, he is sure, in the world that comes next, tohave glory for his reward. 

"Now, " said the Interpreter, "I have showed thee this picture first, because the man whose picture this is, is the only man whom the Lordof the place whither thou art going hath authorized to be thy guidein all difficult places thou mayest meet with in the way; wherefore, take good heed to what I have showed thee, and bear well in thy mindwhat thou hast seen, lest in thy journey thau meet with some thatpretend to lead thee right, but their way goes down to death. "

DUTY OF MINISTERS. 

Would Jesus Christ have mercy offered in the first place to thebiggest sinners? then let God's ministers tell them so. 

There is a tendency in us, I know not how it doth come about, whenwe are converted to contemn them that are left behind. Poor fools aswe are, we forget that we ourselves were so. 

But would it not become us better, since we have tasted that theLord is gracious, so to act towards them that we may give themconvincing ground to believe that we have found that mercy whichalso sets open the door for them to come and partake with us?

Austerity doth not become us, neither in doctrine nor inconversation. We ourselves live by grace; let us give as we receive, and labor to persuade our fellow-sinners whom God has left behindus, to follow after, that they may partake with us of grace. We aresaved by grace, let us live like them that are gracious. Let all ourthings to the world be done in charity towards them; pity them, prayfor them, be familiar with them for their good. Let us lay aside ourfoolish, worldly, carnal grandeur; let us not walk the streets, andhave such behaviors as signify we are scarce for touching the poorones that are left behind, no, not with a pair of tongs. 

Remember your Lord; he was familiar with publicans and sinners to aproverb. "Behold a gluttonous man and a wine-bibber; a friend ofpublicans and sinners. " Matt. 11:19. The first part, concerning hisgluttonous eating and drinking, to be sure, was a horrible slander;but for the other, nothing was ever spoken truer of him by theworld. 

Now why should we lay hands cross on this text; that is, choose goodvictuals and love the sweet wine better than the salvation of thepoor publican? Why not be familiar with sinners, provided we hatetheir spots and blemishes, and seek that they may be healed of them?Why not be fellowly with our carnal neighbors, if we take occasionto do so that we may drop and be distilling some good doctrine upontheir souls? Why not go to the poor man's house, and give him apenny and a scripture to think upon?

MINISTERS WARNED. 

"There were giants in the earth in those days. " These words seem tobe spoken to show us the hazards that Noah run while he preached thetruth of God; he incurred the displeasure of the giants, whodoubtless made all men tremble and kept the whole world in awe. ButNoah must engage the giants, he must not fear the face of a giant. 

This way God also took with Moses and with his people of Israel. They must go to possess the land of the giants, a people high andtall as the cedars, a people of whom went the proverb, "Who canstand before the children of Anak?" They must not be afraid of Ogthe king of Bashan, though his head be as high as the ridge of ahouse, and his bedstead a bedstead of iron. 

This should teach us not to fear the faces of men; no, not the facesof the mighty; not to fear them in the matters of God, though theyshould run upon us like a giant. 

Persecution, or the appearance of the giants against the servants ofGod, is no new business; not a thing of yesterday, but of old, evenwhen Noah did minister for God in the world. 

"And Noah began to be a husbandman. " This trade he took up for wantof better employment; or rather, in mine opinion, from some libertyhe took to himself to be remiss in his care and work as a preacher. For seeing the church was now at rest, and having the world beforethem, they still retaining outward sobriety, poor Noah, good man, now might think with himself, "I need not now be so diligent, watchful, and painful in my ministry as formerly; the church is butsmall, without opposition and also well settled in the truth; I maynow take to myself a little time to tamper with worldly things. " Sohe makes an essay upon husbandry: "He began to be a husbandman. " Ha, Noah, it was better with thee when thou wast better employed; yea, it was better with thee when a world of ungodly men set themselvesagainst thee--yea, when every day thy life was in danger to bedestroyed by the giants, against whom thou wast preacher above ahundred years--for then thou didst walk with God: then thou wastbetter than all the world; but now thou art in the relapse. 

MINISTERS, SERVANTS OF THE CHURCH. 

Gifts and office make no men sons of God; as so, they are butservants; though these, as ministers and apostles, were servants ofthe highest form. It is the church, as such, that is the lady, aqueen, the bride, the Lamb's wife; and prophets, apostles, andministers are but servants, stewards, laborers for her good. 

As therefore the lady is above the servant, the queen above thesteward, or the wife above all her husband's officers, so is thechurch, as such, above these officers. 

GIFTS AND GRACE IN MINISTERS. 

A tinkling cymbal, 1 Cor. 13:1, 2, is an instrument of music withwhich a skilful player can make such melodious and heart-inflamingmusic, that all who hear him play can scarcely hold from dancing;and yet behold, the cymbal hath not life, neither comes the musicfrom it, but because of the art of him that plays therewith; so thenthe instrument at last may come to naught and perish, --though intimes past such music hath been made upon it. 

Just thus I saw it was and will be with them that have gifts, butwant saving grace: they are in the hand of Christ, as the cymbal inthe hand of David; and as David could with the cymbal make thatmirth in the service of God as to elevate the hearts of theworshippers, Christ can so use these gifted men, as with them toaffect the souls of his people in his church; and yet when he hathdone all, hang them by, as lifeless, though sounding cymbals. 

A man may be used as a servant in the church of God, and may receivemany gifts and much knowledge of the things of heaven, and yet atlast, himself be no more than a very bubble and nothing. 

This our day doth indeed abound with gifts; many sparkling wits areseen in every corner; men have the word and truths of Christ attheir fingers' ends. But alas, with many, yea a great many, there isnaught but wits and gifts: they are but words; all their religionlieth in their tongues and heads; the power of what they say andknow is seen in others, not in themselves. These are like the lordon whom the king of Israel leaned; they shall see the plenty, theblessed plenty that God doth provide and will bestow upon hischurch, but they shall not taste thereof. 

Alas, great light, great parts, great works, and great confidence ofheaven, may be where there is no faith of God's elect, no love ofthe Spirit, no repentance unto salvation, no sanctification of theSpirit, and so, consequently, no saving grace. 

THE FALSE MINISTER. 

So Christian and Hopeful went on, and Ignorance followed. They wentthen till they came to a place where they saw a way put itself intotheir way, and seemed withal to lie as straight as the way whichthey should go; and here they knew not which of the two to take, forboth seemed straight before them; therefore, here they stood stillto consider. 

And as they wore thinking about the way, behold, a man black offlesh, but covered with a very light robe, came to them, and askedthem why they stood there. They answered, that they were going tothe celestial city, but knew not which of these ways to take. "Follow me, " said the man; "it is thither that I am going. " So theyfollowed him in the way that but now came into the road, which bydegrees turned, and turned them so far from the city that theydesired to go to, that in a little time their faces were turned awayfrom it; yet they followed him. But by and by, before they wereaware, he led them both within the compass of a net, in which theywere both so entangled that they knew not what to do; and with thatthe white robe fell off from the black man's back: then they sawwhere they were. Wherefore, there they lay crying some time, forthey could not get themselves out. 

Then said Christian to his fellow, "Now do I see myself in an error. Did not the shepherds bid us beware of the flatterer?" Thus they laybewailing themselves in the net. At last they spied a shining onecoming towards them with a whip of small cords in his hand. When hewas come to the place where they were, he asked them whence theycame, and what they did there. They told him that they were poorpilgrims going to Zion, but were led out of their way by a black manclothed in white, who bid us, said they, follow him, for he wasgoing thither too. Then said he with the whip, "It is Flatterer, afalse apostle that hath transformed himself into an angel of light. "So he rent the net, and let the men out. 

Then said he to them, "Follow me, that I may set you in your wayagain. " So he led them back to the way which they had left to followthe flatterer. Then he asked them, saying, "Where did you lie thelast night?" They said, "With the shepherds upon the delectablemountains. " He asked them then, if they had not a note of directionfor the way. They answered, "Yes. " "But did you not, " said he, "whenyou were at a stand, pluck out and read your note?" They answered, "No. " He asked them, "Why?" They said they forgot. He asked, moreover, if the shepherds did not bid them beware of the flatterer. They answered, "Yes; but we did not imagine, " said they, " that thisfine-spoken man had been he. " Rom. 16:17, 18. 

Then I saw in my dream that he commanded them to lie down, Deut. 29:2; which when they did, he chastised them sore, to teach them thegood way wherein they should walk, 2 Chron. 6:26, 27; and as hechastised them he said, "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten; bezealous therefore and repent. " This done, he bid them go on theirway, and take heed to the other directions of the shepherds. So theythanked him for his kindness, and went softly along the right way, singing. 

Another reason why delusions do so easily take place in the heartsof the ignorant, is because those that pretend to be their teachersdo behave themselves so basely among them. And indeed I may say ofthese, as our Lord said of the Pharisees in another case, All theblood of the ignorant, from the beginning of the world, shall belaid to the charge of this generation. They that pretend they aresent of the Lord, and come saying, Thus saith the Lord; we are theservants of the Lord; our commission is from the Lord--I say, thosewho pretend themselves to be the preachers of truth, but are not, doby their loose conversation render the true doctrine of God and hisSon Jesus Christ contemptible, and do give the adversary mightyencouragement to cry out against the truths of our Lord JesusChrist, because of their wicked walking. Now "shall not his soul beavenged on such a nation as this?" who pretend to be teachers of thepeople in goodness, when, as for the most part of them, they are themen that at this day do harden their hearers in their sins, bygiving them such ill examples that none goeth beyond them forimpiety? As for example, Would a parishioner learn to be proud? heor she need look no further than to the priest, his wife, andfamily; for there is a notable pattern before them. Would the peoplelearn to be wanton? they may also see a pattern among theirteachers. Would they learn to be drunkards? they may also have thatfrom some of their ministers; for indeed they are ministers in this, to minister ill examples to their congregations. Again, would thepeople learn to be covetous? they need but look to their ministers, and they shall have a lively, or rather a deadly, resemblance setbefore them, in both riding and running after great benefices andparsonages, by night and by day; nay, they among themselves willscramble for the same. I have seen, that so soon as a man hath butdeparted from his benefice as he calls it, either by death or out ofcovetousness of a bigger, we have had one priest from this town, andanother from that, so run for these tithe-cocks and handfuls ofbarley, as if it were their proper trade and calling to hunt afterthe same. 

A covetous minister is a base thing; a pillar more symbolizing Lot'swife, than a holy apostle of Jesus Christ. 

The unbelieving world slight the Scriptures because carnal prieststickle the ears of their hearers with vain philosophy and deceit, and thereby harden their hearts against the simplicity of the gospeland word of God; which things the apostle admonished those that havea mind to close in with Christ, to avoid, saying, "Beware lest anyman, " be he what he will, "spoil you through philosophy and vaindeceit, after the traditions of men and rudiments of the world, andnot after Christ. "

And you who muzzle up your people in ignorance, with Aristotle, Plato, and the rest of the heathenish philosophers, and preachlittle if any thing of Christ rightly--I say unto you, that you willfind you have sinned against God and beguiled your hearers, when Godshall in the judgment-day lay the cause of the damnation of manythousands of souls to your charge, and say, "I will require theirblood at your hands. "

THE MINISTER AT THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. 

Some men, it is to be feared, at the day of judgment, will be foundto be the authors of destroying whole nations. How many souls, doyou think, Balaam with his deceit will have to answer for? How manyMahomet? How many the Pharisees that hired the soldiers to say thedisciples stole away Jesus, and by that means stumbled theirbrethren to this day?

How many poor souls hath Bonner to answer for, think you; andseveral filthy, blind priests? How many souls have they been themeans of destroying by their ignorance and corrupt doctrine?preaching that which was no better for their souls than ratsbane tothe body, for filthy lucre's sake. They shall see that they, many ofthem it is to be feared, will have whole towns to answer for, wholecities to answer for. Ah, friend, I tell thee, thou that hast takenin hand to preach to the people, it may be thou hast taken in handthou canst not tell what. Will it not grieve thee to see thy wholeparish come bellowing after thee to hell, crying out, This we maythank thee for; thou didst not teach us the truth; thou didst leadus away with fables; thou wast afraid to tell us of our sins, lestwe should not put meat fast enough into thy mouth. O cursed wretch, that ever thou shouldst beguile us thus, deceive us thus, flatter usthus. We would have gone out to hear the word abroad, but that thoudidst reprove us, and also tell us that that which we see now is theway of God was heresy and a deceivable doctrine, and wast notcontented, blind guide as thou wert, to fall into the ditch thyself, but hast also led us thither with thee. 

I say, look to thyself, lest thou cry out when it is too late, SendLazarus to my people, my friends, my children, my congregation towhom I preached, and whom I beguiled through my folly. Send him tothe town in which I did preach last, lest I be the cause of theirdamnation. 

BUNYAN'S MINISTRY. 

In my preaching of the word, I took special notice of this onething, namely, that the Lord did lead me to begin where his wordbegins with sinners; that is, to condemn all flesh, and to open andallege that the curse of God by the law doth belong to, and lay holdon all men as they come into the world, because of sin. 

Now this part of my work I fulfilled with great feeling; for theterrors of the law, and guilt for my transgressions, lay heavy on myconscience: I preached what I felt, what I smartingly did feel; eventhat under which my poor soul did groan and tremble to astonishment. 

Indeed, I have been as one sent to them from the dead; I went myselfin chains, to preach to them in chains; and carried that fire in myown conscience, that I persuaded them to be aware of. I can trulysay, and that without dissembling, that when I have been to preach, I have gone full of guilt and terror even to the pulpit-door, andthere it hath been taken off, and I have been at liberty in my minduntil I have done my work; and then immediately, even before I couldget down the pulpit-stairs, I have been as bad as I was before; yetGod carried me on, but surely with a strong hand, for neither guiltnor hell could take me off my work. 

Thus I went on for the space of two years, crying out against men'ssins, and their fearful state because of them. After which the Lordcame in upon my soul with some sure peace and comfort throughChrist; for he did give me many sweet discoveries of his blessedgrace through him: wherefore now I altered my preaching--for still Ipreached what I saw and felt. Now, therefore, I did much labor tohold forth Jesus Christ in all his offices, relations, and benefitsunto the world; and did strive also to discover, to condemn, andremove those false supports and props on which the world doth bothlean and by them fall and perish. On these things also I staid aslong as on the other. 

When I have been preaching, I thank God, my heart hath often all thetime of this and the other exercise, with great earnestness cried toGod that he would make the word effectual to the salvation of thesoul; still being grieved lest the enemy should take the word awayfrom the conscience, and so it should become unfruitful: wherefore Ihave labored so to speak the word, as that thereby, if it werepossible, the sin and person guilty might be particularized by it. 

And when I have done the exercise, it hath gone to my heart to thinkthe word should now fall as rain on stony places; still wishing frommy heart, Oh, that they who have heard me speak this day did but seeas I do, what sin, death, hell, and the curse of God are; and alsowhat the grace, and love, and mercy of God are, through Christ; tomen in such a case as they are who are yet estranged from him. Andindeed, I did often say in my heart before the Lord, that if Ishould be hanged up presently before their eyes, and it would be ameans to awaken them and confirm them in the truth, I gladly shouldbe contented. 

For I have been in my preaching, especially when I have been engagedin the doctrine of life by Christ without works, as if an angel ofGod had stood at my back to encourage me. Oh, it hath been with suchpower and heavenly evidence upon my own soul, while I have beenlaboring to unfold it, to demonstrate it, and to fasten it upon theconsciences of others, that I could not be contented with saying, Ibelieve, and am sure. Methought I was more than sure--if it belawful thus to express myself--that those things which then Iasserted were true. 

If any of those who were awakened by my ministry did after that fallback--as sometimes too many did--I can truly say, their loss hathbeen more to me than if my own children, begotten of my body, hadbeen going to their grave. I think verily I may speak it without anyoffence to the Lord, nothing has gone so near me as that; unless itwas the fear of the loss of the salvation of my own soul. I havecounted as if I had goodly buildings and lordships in those placeswhere my children were born: my heart hath been so wrapped up in theglory of this excellent work, that I counted myself more blessed andhonored of God by this, than if he had made me emperor of theChristian world or the lord of all the glory of the earth withoutit. Oh these words: "He that converteth the sinner from the error ofhis way, shall save a soul from death. " "The fruit of the righteousis a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. " "They that bewise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they thatturn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever. " "Forwhat is our hope, our joy, our crown of rejoicing? Are not even yein the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye areour glory and joy. " These, I say, with many others of a like nature, have been great refreshments to me. 

I have observed that a word cast in by the by, hath done moreexecution in a sermon, than all that was spoken besides: sometimesalso, when I have thought I did no good, then I did the most of all;and at other times, when I thought I could catch them, I have fishedfor nothing. 

BUNYAN'S CHARACTER AND PRINCIPLES

For my descent, it was, as is well known by many, of a low andinconsiderable generation; my father's house being of that rank thatis meanest and most despised of all the families of the land. Wherefore I have not, as others, to boast of noble blood and of anyhigh-born estate according to the flesh; though all thingsconsidered, I magnify the heavenly Majesty for that by this door hebrought me into the world, to partake of the grace and life that isin Christ by the gospel. 

What need you, before you have showed one syllable of a reasonableargument in opposition to what I assert, thus trample my person, mygifts, and grace--have I any--so disdainfully under your feet, because of my low descent among men; stigmatizing me for a person ofthat rank that need not to be heeded. And what, is my rank so meanthat the most gracious and godly among you may not duly and soberlyconsider what I have said? Was it not the act of the false apostlesto say thus--to bespatter a man that his doctrine might bedisregarded? "Is not this the carpenter?" and, "His bodily presenceis weak and his speech contemptible, " did not use to be in themouths of the saints; for they knew the wind blew where it listed. Neither is it high birth, worldly breeding, or wealth; but electinglove, grace, and the wisdom that comes from heaven, that those whostrive for strictness of order in. The things and kingdom of Christ, should have in regard and esteem. Need I read you a lecture? Hathnot God chosen the foolish, the weak, the base, yea and even thingsthat are not to bring to naught things that are? Why then do youdespise my rank, my state, and quality in the world?

Since you would know by what name I would be distinguished fromothers, I tell you, I would be, and I hope I am, A CHRISTIAN; andchoose, if God should count me worthy, to be called A CHRISTIAN, ABELIEVER, or other such name which is approved by the Holy Ghost. 

Your artificial, squibbling suggestions to the world about myself, my imprisonment, and the like, I freely bind unto me as an ornamentamong the rest of my reproaches, till the Lord shall wipe them offat his coming. 

Faith and holiness are my professed principles, with an endeavor, sofar as in me lieth, to be at peace with all men. What shall I say?Let mine enemies themselves be judges, if any thing in thesefollowing doctrines, or if aught that any man hath heard me preach, doth or hath, according to the true intent of my words, savoredeither of heresy or rebellion. I say again, let them themselves bejudges, if aught they find in my writing or preaching doth render meworthy of almost twelve years' imprisonment, or one that deservethto be hanged or banished for ever, according to their tremendoussentence. Indeed my principles are such as lead me to a denial tocommunicate in the things of the kingdom of Christ with the ungodlyand open profane; neither can I consent that my soul should begoverned in any of my approaches to God by the superstitiousinventions of this world, because commanded to the contrary, orcommended for so refusing. Wherefore, excepting in this onething--for which I ought not to be rebuked--I shall, I trust, indespite of slandor and falsehood, discover myself at all times apeaceable anl obedient subject. But if nothing will do, unless Imake my conscience a continual butchery or slaughter-shop--unless, putting out mine own eyes, I commit myself to the blind to lead me, as I doubt not is desired by some--I have determined, the AlmightyGod being my help and shield, yet to suffer, if frail life mightcontinue so long, even till the moss shall grow on mine eyebrows, rather than thus to violate my faith and principles. 

To the reader. I marvel not that both yourself and others do thinkmy long imprisonment strange--or rather strangely of me for the sakeof that--for verily I should also have done it myself, had not theHoly Ghost long since forbidden me. 1 Pet. 4: 12; 1 John, 3: 13. Nay, verily, notwithstanding that, had the adversary but fastenedthe supposition of guilt upon me, my long trials might by this timehave put it beyond dispute; for I have not hitherto been so sordid, as to stand to a doctrine right or wrong; much less, when so weightyan argument as above eleven years' imprisonment is continuallydogging of me to weigh and pause and weigh again the grounds andfoundation of those principles for which I thus have suffered. Buthaving not only at my trial asserted them, but also since--even allthis tedious tract of time, in cool blood, a thousand times--by theword of God examined them, and found them good, I cannot, I dare notnow revolt or deny the same, on pain of eternal damnation. 

XXIII. ANTICHRIST. 

ANTICHRIST DESCRIBED. 

ANTICHRIST is the adversary of Christ; an adversary really, a friendpretendedly. So then antichrist is one that is against Christ; onethat is for Christ, and one that is contrary to him; and this isthat "mystery of iniquity. "

Against him in deed; for him in word, and contrary to him inpractice: antichrist is so proud as to go before Christ, so humbleas to pretend to come after him, and so audacious as to say thathimself is HE. Antichrist will cry up Christ; antichrist will crydown Christ; antichrist will proclaim that himself is one aboveChrist. 

Antichrist is the "man of sin, " the "son of perdition;" a beast thathath two horns like a lamb, but speaks as a dragon. 

Christ is the Son of God; antichrist is the son of hell. 

Christ is holy, meek, and forbearing; antichrist is wicked, outrageous, and exacting. 

Christ seeketh the good of the soul; antichrist seeks his ownavarice and revenge. 

Christ is content to rule by his word; antichrist saith the word isnot sufficient. 

Christ preferreth his Father's will above heaven and earth;antichrist preferreth himself and his traditions above all that iswritten, or that is called God or worshipped. 

Christ has given us such laws and rules as are helpful and healthfulto the soul; antichrist seeketh to abuse those rules to our hurt anddestruction. 

The spirit or soul or life of antichrist is that spirit of error, "that wicked, " that "mystery of iniquity, " that under color andpretence of verity draws men from truth to falsehood. 

The body or flesh of antichrist is that church or synagogue of Satanin which the spirit of antichrist dwells, or unto which the spiritof antichrist is become a soul and life. 

But God will destroy both soul and body. 

Antichrist therefore is a mystical man, so made or begotten of thedevil, and sent into the world, Satan himself being the chief andhighest part of him. 

Three things therefore go to the making up of antichrist: the head, body, and soul. The devil, he is the head; the synagogue of Satan, that is the body; that wicked spirit of iniquity, that is the soulof antichrist. 

Christ then is the head of his church, the devil is the head ofantichrist; the elect are the body of Christ, the reprobateprofessors are the body of antichrist; the Holy Ghost is the Spiritof life that acteth Christ's body; that wicked spirit of iniquity isthat which acteth the body of antichrist. 

Thus therefore are the two great mighties set forth before us, whoare the heads of those two bodies. 

RISE AND PROGRESS OF ANTICHRIST. 

The reason why Christ came into the world was, that he might destroyall the works of the head of antichrist, and them which he endeavorsto complete by his wicked spirit working in his body. And the reasonwhy antichrist came into the world was, that the church, which isthe body of Christ, might be tried and made white by suffering underhis tyranny, and by bearing witness against his falsehoods. For, forthe trial of the faithful and for the punishment of the world, antichrist was admitted to come. But when he came, he first appearedwhere one would have thought there had been no place nor corner forhis reception. 

Here therefore was his first appearance, even in the church of God. Not that the church did willingly admit him there to sit as such; hehad covered his cloven foot; he had plums in his dragon's mouth, andso came in by flatteries, promising to do for Christ and his churchthat which he never meant to perform; for he showed himself that hewas God, and in appearance set his heart to do as the heart of God. 

And who could have found in their heart to shut the door upon such aone? True, he came, when he came thither, out of the bottomless pit;but there came such a smoke out thence with him, and that smoke sodarkened the light of the sun, of the moon, of the stars, and of theday, that had they been upon their watch, as they were not, theycould not have perceived him from another man. Besides, there camewith him so many locusts to usher him into the house of God, andthey so suited the flesh and reason of the godly of that day, thatwith good words and fair speeches, by their crafty and cunningsleights whereby they lay in wait to deceive, they quite got him in, and set him up and made him a great one, even the chief, before theywere aware. Further, he quickly got him a beast to ride on, far, forsumptuous glory, beyond--though as to nature as assish a creatureas--that on which Balaam was wont to ride; and by this exaltation henot only became more stately, but the horns of the beast would pushfor him. 

Again, this man of sin, when he came into the world, had the art ofmetamorphosing, and could change himself, both in form and shape, into the likeness of a beast, a man, or woman. 

A lily among thorns, a pearl on a dunghill, and beauty under a veil, will make one turn aside to look on it. Answerable to this, thechurch, even in the wilderness or under persecution, is compared notonly to a woman, but to a comely and delicate woman. Thus thechurch, though in her weeds of widowhood, is become the desire ofthe eyes of the nations; for indeed her features are suchconsidering who is her head, where mostly to the eye beauty lies, that whoso sees but the utmost glimpse of her is easily ravishedwith her beauties. The church, the very name of the church of God isbeautiful in the world; and as among women, she that has beauty hasher head desired, if it might be, to stand upon another woman'sshoulders; so this and that and every nation that beholds the beautyof the church, would fain be called by that name. 

The church, one would think, was but in a homely dress when she wascoming out of captivity; and yet then the people of the countriesdesired to be one with her: "Let us, " said they to Zerubbabel and tothe fathers of the church, "build with you, for we seek your God asyou do. "

The very name of the church is striven for of the world; but that isthe church which Christ has made so; her features also remain withherself. Hear the relation that the Holy Ghost gives of theintrinsic beauty of the church when she was to go to be in apersecuted state: "She was clothed with the sun, had the moon underher feet, and had upon her head a crown of twelve stars. " And yetnow the dragon stood by. But I say, here is a woman! Let any one whowill attempt it show such another in the world if he can. 

They therefore that have any regard to morality, civility, or toceremonial comeliness, covet to be of the church of God, or toappropriate that glorious title to themselves. 

And here indeed antichrist came in. She took this name to herself;and though she could not come at the sun, nor moon, nor stars, toadorn herself with them, yet she has found something that makes hercomely in her followers' eyes. See how the Holy Ghost sets herforth: she was arrayed in purple and scarlet color, and decked withgold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in herhand. Hence she is called the well-favored harlot, the lady ofkingdoms. 

But because the chaste matron, the spouse of Christ, would not allowthis harlot to run away with this name therefore she gets upon theback of her beast, and by him pushes this woman into the dirt; butbecause her faith and love to her husband remain, she turns againand pleads by her titles, her features, and ornaments, that she andshe only is she whose square answereth to the characters which herLord had given of his own; and so the strife began. For so soon asthis mistress became a dame in the world, and found that she had herstout abettors, she attempts to turn all things topsy-turvy, and toset them and to make of them what she lists. 

CORRUPTION OF THE CHURCH BY ANTICHRIST. 

Mischief must needs follow this ugly deed of the man of sin. If ahouse be on fire, though it is not burnt down, the smell of theflame may long remain there: also we count it no wonder to see someof the effects upon rafters, beams, and some of the principal poststhereof. The calf that was set up at Dan defiled that people untilthe captivity of the land. 

For by antichristian darkness, though they might call it light, thetrue light was darkened, and so the eye made dim, even the eye ofthe truly godly. Also the Holy Ghost did much withdraw himself fromthe church; so the doctrines, traditions, and rudiments of the worldtook more hold there, and spread themselves more formidably over theface of that whole church. 

And this being the effect of light against light at first, is thecause of what to this day we see in the church among the truebrotherhood. For as a cause produceth an effect, so oftentimes aneffect sets on foot another cause. Witness the jars, theoppositions, the contentions, emulations, strifes, debates, whisperings, tumults, and condemnations, that like cannon-shot haveso frequently on all sides been let fly against one another. 

The godly all hold the Head; for there antichrist could never dividethem. Their divisions therefore are only about smaller things. 

I do not say that the antichristian darkness has done nothing in thechurch as to the hurting it in the great things of God. But I say, it has not been able to do that which could sever their Head fromthem. Otherwise, there appears even too much of its doings there. For even as to the offices of our Lord, some will have his authoritymore large, some more strait; some confine his rules to themselvesand to their more outward signification, and some believe they areextended further; some will have his power in the church purelyspiritual, others again would have it mixed; some count his wordperfect and sufficient to guide in all religious matters, othersagain hold that an addition of something human is necessary. 

This darkness could not sever the true church from her Head; yet ithas eclipsed the glory of things. By two lights a man cannot seethis or that thing so exactly as by one single light; no, they bothmake all confused, though they make not all invisible. As forinstance, sunlight and moonlight together, firelight and sunlighttogether, candlelight and moonlight together, make things moreobscure than to look on them by a single light. The word reflectingupon the understanding without the interposing of man's traditions, makes the mind of God to a man more clear than when attended withthe other. 

Things therefore will never be well in the church of God so long asthere is thus light against light therein. When there is but oneLord among us, and his name one; and when divisions, by the consentof the whole, are banished--I mean, not persecuted, but abandoned inall by a joint consent, and when every man shall submit his ownsingle opinion to those truths that by their being retained are forthe health of all--then look for good days, and not till then. 

CONFLICT BETWEEN THE CHURCH AND ANTICHRIST. 

They that are the church do in God's light see light but they thatare not, do in their own way see. And let a man and a beast look outat the same window, the same door, the same casement, yet the onewill see like a man, and the other but like a beast. 

No marvel then if there is here a disagreement; the beast can butsee as a beast, but the church is resolved not to be guided by theeye of a beast, though he pretends to have his light by that verywindow by which the church has hers. The beast is moon-eyed, andputs darkness for light, yea, and hates the light that is so indeed;but the saints will not hear him, for they know the voice of theirLord. 

On both sides they are resolved to stand by their way: the church isconfident, the man of sin is confident; they both have the samewindows--that is, "the word"--to see by, and so they manage theirmatters; yet not so simply by the windows as by the diverse judgmentthey make of that which shineth in at them. Each one therefore thathath the true or false profession will be confident of his own way:he that was right, knew he was right; and he that was wrong, thoughthe was right; and so the battle began: "There is a way that seemethright to a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. "

Nor is it in man to help it: there has been reasoning, there hasbeen disputing, there has blood also been spilt on both sides, through the confidence that each had of the goodness of his own way:but no reconciliation is made; the enmity is set here of God; ironand clay cannot mix; God will have things go on thus in the worldtill his word shall be fulfilled; the deceived and the deceiver arehis. Things therefore must have their course in the church in thewilderness till the mystery of God shall be fulfilled. God will getto himself great glory by permitting the hoar, the man of sin andthe dragon, to revel in the church of God; for they by setting upand contending for their darkness, and calling it the light, and bysetting it against that light which is light in very deed, do notonly prove the power of truth where it is, but illustrate it so muchthe more; for as black sets off white, and darkness light, so errorsets off truth. He that calls a man a horse, doth but fix the beliefof his humanity so much the more in the apprehension of all rationalcreatures. 

It is not therefore to be wondered at that we hear both partiesplead so much for their authority, crying out against each other asthose that destroy religion. So doth the church, so doth the man ofsin. The living child is mine, saith one. Nay, but the dead child isthine, and the living child is mine, says the other. And thus theyspake before the king. 

The church will not give place, for she knows she has the truth; thedragon and his angels, they will not give place, but as beaten backby the power of truth. Therefore there will, there must, therecannot but be a spiritual warfare here, and that until one of thetwo is destroyed, and its body given to the burning flame. 

FALL OF ANTICHRIST. 

Antichrist had a time to come into the world, and so must he have atime to go out again. For although he saith that he is a god, yet hemust he subject to the will of God, and must go as well as comeaccording to that will. Nor can all the fallen angels, with all themembers and limbs of antichrist, cause this, that their brat shouldabide so much as one day longer than our God's prefixed time. TheLord Jesus shall consume him, and cause him to melt away; not all atonce, but now this part and then that, now his soul and after thathis body, even until soul and body are both destroyed. 

And that you may be convinced of the truth of this thing, do butlook back and compare antichrist four or five hundred years ago, with antichrist as he is now, and you shall see what work the LordJesus has begun to make with him, even with the spirit and soul andlife of antichrist, both in confounding and blasting it by theSpirit of his mouth, as also by forcing it to dishonorable retreats, and by making it give up to him as the conqueror, not only some ofhis superstitious and diabolical rites and ceremonies to bedestroyed, but many a goodly truth which this vile one had takenfrom his church, to be renewed to them. Nay, further, he has alsoalready begun to take from him both kingdoms and countries, thoughas to some not so absolutely as he shall do by and by. 

And how has this long ago been fulfilled here in England, as also inScotland, Holland, Germany, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, andother places. Nor has this spirit of antichrist, with all his artand artifices, been able to reduce to antichrist again those people, nations, or parts of nations, that by the Spirit of Christ's mouthand the brightness of his coming have been made to forsake him, andto turn from him to Christ. 

The reason is, that the Lord has not retreated, but is still goingon in the Spirit of his mouth and in his brightness to make thatconquest over him that is determined, in the way that is determined;for the pathway that he goeth is as the shining light which shinesmore and more unto noon. 

The first and chief proceeding of the Lord with the man of sin is toslay his soul, that his body may also be consumed; and when thespirit of antichrist shall be made to leave both the body andordinances of antichrist, it will be easy to deal both with the oneand the other. 

And first, for the ordinances of antichrist, because the spirit oferror is in them as well as in the body itself. When that spirit hasleft them, they will of themselves even moulder away and not be; aswe have seen by experience here in England, and as others also haveseen in other countries. 

For as concerning his masses, prayers for the dead, images, pilgrimages, monkish vows, sinful fasts, and the beastly single lifeof their priests, though when the spirit of antichrist was in themthey did bear some sway in the world, yet now of what esteem arethey, or who has reverence for them? They are now blown togetherunder hedges as the dry leaves, for the mice and frogs to harbor in. By ordinances of antichrist, I do not intend things that onlyrespect matters of worship in antichrist's kingdom, but those civillaws that impose and enforce them also, yea, enforce that worshipwith pains and penalties, as in the Spanish inquisition. 

These are the very pillars and sinews by which antichristianismremains; and were these dispirited, the whole building would quicklybecome a ruinous heap. 

What could the king of Babylon's golden image have done, had it notbeen for the burning fiery furnace that stood within view of theworshippers? Yea, what could that horrible command to pray forthirty days to neither God nor man but to the king, have done, hadit not been for the dark den and the roaring lions there inreadiness to devour those that disobeyed it?

As therefore the burning fiery furnace and the den of lions were thesupport of the horrible religion of the Babylonians of old, sopopish edicts are the support of the religion of antichrist now; andas long as there is spirit, that is, authority in them, they arelike to those now mentioned. The spirit of such laws it is thatmakes them dreadful: for as the furnace would have been next tonothing if void of fire, and the den as little frightful ifdestitute of lions, so these laws will be as insignificant whenChrist has slain the spirit that is in them--that spirit whichcauses that as many as will not worship the image of the beastshould be killed. 

MANNER OF ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

Antichrist shall be brought to ruin gradually; a part after a part:here a fenced city and there a high tower, even until she is made tolie even with the ground. 

As for the order of the angels that pour forth this wrath, theyplainly show that this enemy must come down by degrees; for thesevials are by them poured out one after another. Now, since by thesevials antichrist must fall, it is evident that this man of sin, thisson of perdition, is to fall and die by degrees. He would not die atall, as is manifest by his wrestling with it; but it is an almightyGod that judges, and therefore he must come down. His friends also, with what cordials they can, will labor to lengthen out histranquillity; but God hath set his bounds, and he cannot go beyondthe time appointed. 

We must also put a difference betwixt his being fought with andwounded, and that of his dying the death. Michael and his angelshave been holding him in play a long season, but yet he is not dead;but, as I said, he shall descend into battle and perish, and shallbe found no more for ever. 

"And the cities of the nations fell, " Rev. 16:19; the cities of thenations, the antichristian churches, otherwise called the daughtersof the mother of harlots. This is a second stroke that God will givethis man of sin, and a third cometh quickly. 

Wherefore it follows, upon the downfall of those cities of thenations, that great Babylon came into remembrance before God, togive unto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. Now then, strike at great Babylon. Great Babylon! What is that? Why, I take it to be the mother, the metropolitan, the great harlotherself. For though sometimes by great Babylon we may understand thechurch of antichrist in general, yet by it is meant more properlythe mother of the daughters, of whose overthrow we have spokenbefore. 

We are now, then, come to the threshold of the door of the house ofthe old one--to the door of the mother of harlots and abomination ofthe earth. This then that but now is said to come into remembrancewith God, is that which gave being to the cities destroyed before, to wit, the ministers, the queen, the mother-church as she callsherself. 

And this is the wisdom of God concerning her, that she should not bethe first that should die, but that she should live to see thedestruction of her daughters, and pine away under the fright andsense of that, even until judgment also shall overtake herself. 

Thus Pharaoh and his chief ones did live to see the greatest part ofEgypt destroyed, before judgment overtook them; but at last it cameto their doors also. Zedekiah lived to see his children slain beforehis face, before judgment overtook him to his own personaldestruction. 

Babylon also, when God sent the cup of his fury unto her, yet was tolive to see the nations drink before her. 

From all which I conclude that the mother, the metropolitan, thelady of kingdoms, shall live to see her daughters executed beforeher face; after which, she shall come into consideration herself, for she must assuredly drink of the cup. 

This destruction must be last for this reason also, because she mostdeserves the bottom of the cup. The bottom is the dregs, the mostbitter part, and that where the most heat and fiercest wrath of Goddo lie. And great Babylon came into remembrance before God: "To giveunto her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of his wrath. "

Now then is the time of iniquity, when it will be come to the full;and now also is the time of God's anger, when it will be come to thefull. Now therefore must the murders and thefts and blasphemies andfornications belonging to this mother of harlots, be recompensed tothe full, to wit, with the dregs of this cup. Yet since thehailstones come by weight and the wrath comes by measure--for so atalent and a cup imports, Rev. 16:17-21--it follows that thealmighty God, even in the midst of the heat of all this anger, willkeep to the rules of justice and judgment while he is dealing withthis enemy: he has not passions to carry him beyond rules ofjudgment, nor weakness to cause him to fall short of doing justice;therefore he has his judgments for her by weight, and hisindignation by measure. But yet this weight and measure are notsuited to her constitution, not with an intent to purge or refineher; but it is disposed according to the measure and nature of heriniquity, and comes to sweep her as with the besom of destruction, until she is swept off from the face of all the earth. 

Now since she is dying, let us ring her passing-bell; for when sheis dead, we that live to see it intend to ring out. 

PRESENT STATE OF ANTICHRIST. 

Now I saw in my dream, that at the end of this valley lay blood, bones, ashes, and mangled bodies of men, even of pilgrims that hadgone this way formerly; and while I was musing what should be thereason, I spied a little before me a cave, where two giants, Popeand Pagan, dwelt in old time; by whose power and tyranny the menwhose bones, blood, and ashes lay there, were cruelly put to death. But by this place Christian went without much danger, whereat Isomewhat wondered; but I have learnt since, that Pagan has been deadmany a day; and, as for the other, though he be still alive, he is, by reason of age, and also of the many shrewd brushes that he metwith in his younger days, grown so crazy and stiff in his joints, that he now can do little more than sit in his cave's mouth, grinning at pilgrims as they go by, and biting his nails because hecannot come at them. 

SLAYING OF THE WITNESSES. 

Thus, as to sense and reason, all shall be hush, all shall be quietand still, Rev. 11:7-15: the followers of the Lamb shall be down;the followers of the beast shall be up, shall cry, Peace and safety, and be as secure as a hard heart, false peace, and a deceitful devilcan make. Them. But behold, while they thus sing in the window, death is striding over the threshold! While they are crying peaceand safety, sudden destruction cometh. By that they have wellsettled themselves at their table with Adonijah, 1 Kings, 1, theyshall hear it proclaimed with sound of trumpet, The witnesses arerisen again. 

Now the Christians' pipes will go again, and surely the earth willbe rent with the sound of their shouts and acclamations, while theycry with joyful sound, "The kingdoms of this world are become thekingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign for everand ever. "

REASONS FOR ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

Antichrist must be destroyed, for that he has usurped the name andattributes of God upon himself. He hath said, I am God. For thatantichrist has thus taken the place of God, prescribed and imposed aworship as a God, got the world to worship and wonder after him asafter a God; therefore he shall die the death of the uncircumcised, both in the soul, spirit, body, or flesh of antichrist. Thereforewill God enlighten and gather and set the kings and nations againsthim, that both he and his may be buried, and have their dolesomewithdrawing-rooms from the world in the sides of the pit's mouth. 

Antichrist must be destroyed, because he hath set himself againstthe Son of God; against the Father, and against the Son. He had aspite against the Son betimes, even then when he came forth but inlittle things, when he attempted to deny that He was come in theflesh. But seeing he could make no earnings of that, he has changedhis methods, and seeks to run him out and down by other means andways. "Because, therefore, he hath set himself against the Son ofGod, the King, therefore he must die. "

That he hath also set himself against the Son of God, is evident;for he has his name from thence: he is therefore called Anti-Christ. 

That he hath set himself against Him, is yet further evident; forthat he has endeavored to take from him his headship once, and hisoffices for and in the church, which is his body; and has calledhimself the head of the universal church of God. 

Antichrist must he destroyed, because of his exceeding covetousness. Religion, such as it is, is the thing pretended to; but the greatthings of this world are the things really intended by him in allhis seeming self-denials and devotions. And for this covetousnessalso it is that this destruction is to fall upon him. Woe to himthat coveteth an evil covetousness to his house, (to his church, )that he may set his nest on high: for he could not do the one beforehe had obtained the other. For then indeed they began to be high, when they had so inveigled Constantine that he bestowed upon themmuch riches and honor; and then it was cried, by an angel, and thecry was heard in the city of Constantinople, Woe! woe! woe! this dayis venom poured into the church of God. 

Nor has any generation, since the world began, been so insatiablygreedy of gain, as these POOR people have been. They have gotkingdoms, they have got crowns, they have got--what have they notgot? They have got every thing but grace and pardon. Did I saybefore that religion was their pretence? Doth not the whole courseof their way declare it to their face? Every one of them, from theleast even to the greatest, is given to covetousness; from theprophet even to the priest, every one dealeth falsely. Money, money, [Footnote: Similar is the testimony of an eminent historian. "Inevery misapplication which the popes now (thirteenth century) madeof their power, money was the object. Every new operation which theyperformed, was one of extortion; and every new act of oppression wason their part, a financial speculation. " Planck. V. 574. 

Says Luther, in his address to the German nobility, speaking of thepope, "He is a shepherd: yes, so far as you have money, and nofarther. " The above passage from Bunyan is altogether in the mannerof Luther when describing the rapacity and avarice of Rome. Hathremoved them. And these seeds has antichrist sown where the kingdomof Christ should stand. ] as the pedlar cries, "broken or whole, " isthe sinews of their religion; and it is for that they set kingdoms, crowns, principalities, places, preferments, sacraments, pardons, prayers, indulgences, liberty, yea, and souls and bodies of men, women, and children, to sale; yea, it is for this that they haveinvented so many places, offices, names, titles, orders, vows, etc. :it is to get money, to rob countries, that they may make their nestson high. And indeed they have done it, to the amazement of all theworld. They are clambered up above kings and princes and emperors;they wear the triple crown; they have made kings bow at their feet, and emperors stand barefoot at their gates; they have kicked thecrowns of princes from their heads, and set them on again with theirtoes. Thus their covetousness hath set them on high, even above thesuns, moons, and stars of this world: but to what end? that they maybe cast down to hell. 

Antichrist must be destroyed, because he stands in the way of thesetting up of the kingdom of Christ in the world. Many princes werein Edom before there was a king in Israel; and Christ has sufferedantichrist to set up before him; and he stands in Christ's way, andhas so overspread the world in all places with that which isdirectly contrary to him, that he cannot set up his kingdom untilthat which is antichrist's is tumbled down to the ground. Even as aman whose ground is full of thorns and briars and weeds, cannot sowin expectation of a crop, until he hath removed them. And theseseeds has antichrist sown where the kingdom of Christ should stand. 

When God came from Egypt with his people to set up his kingdom inCanaan, he cast out the heathen before them, in order thereunto:"Thou hast brought a vine out of Egypt; thou hast cast out theheathen and planted it. " Wherefore antichrist must be removed anddestroyed for this; for antichrist is in flat opposition to Christ, as Tibni was to Omri; wherefore antichrist must die. 

The reason is, because Christ's kingdom shall be peaceable, withoutmolestation, and glorious without the fumes and fogs ofantichristian darkness. Because also, as the world has seen themanner of the reign of antichrist, and how tyrannical and outrageousa kingdom his is; so they shall see the reign of Christ by his wordand Spirit in his people, how peaceable, how fruitful in blessednessand prosperity his kingdom is. And hence it is, that God purposes tobury antichrist before he sets glory in the land of the living; asalso you read in the book of Revelation, for there you find thekingdom of antichrist was destroyed before the new Jerusalem was setup. When men intend to build a new house, if in the place where theold one stood, they first pull down the old one and raze thefoundation, and then they begin their new. Now God, as I said, willhave his primitive church-state set up in this world, even whereantichrist has set up; wherefore, in order to this, antichrist mustbe pulled down, stick and stone; and then they that live to see it, will behold the new Jerusalem come down from heaven, as a brideadorned for her husband. 

TIME OF ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

The time of her fall is not certainly known by the saints, nor atall believed by her; wherefore her plagues must come unlooked for byher. And as to the saints, their guesses as to the time of her ruinmust needs be conjectural and uncertain. For her part, she shallsay, and that when she stands where she must suddenly fall, "I shallbe a lady for ever. "

Nor have I been without thought but that this mistake of the godlymay become a snare to antichrist, and a trap to her upholders. Forwhat can be a greater judgment, or more effectually harden thehearts of the wicked, than for them to behold that the predictions, prophecies, expectations, and hopes of their enemies as to theirruin, should quite, as to the time, be frustrate and made void?

It is to be bewailed, namely, the forwardness of some in this matterwho have predicted concerning the time of the downfall ofantichrist, to the shame of them and their brethren; nor will thewrong that such by their boldness have, done to the church of God beever repaired by them nor their works. But the judgments of God area great deep; and therefore who can tell, since the enemy of Godwould not be convinced by the power of truth and the virtuous livesof some, but that God might leave them to be snared, hardened, andemboldened to run upon their unavoidable destruction by the lies andlightness of others? They begin to vaunt it already, and to say, Where is the word of the Lord as to this? let it come now. But whenAgag said, "Surely the bitterness of death is passed, " then was thetime for him to be hewn in pieces. 

I shall not therefore meddle with the times and seasons which theFather has put in his own power--no, though they, as to antichrist'sruin, are revealed--because by the Holy Ghost there is a challengemade, notwithstanding the time is set, and by the word referred tothe man of wisdom to find it out if he can. 

If Sampson's riddle was so puzzling, what shall we think of this?And though the angel hath intimated that this sealed matter shall beopened towards the time of the end, yet it is evident some haveeither been too hasty, or presumed too much upon their ownabilities; for I am sure they have missed the mark, hardened theheart of the enemy, stumbled the weak, and shamed them that lovethem. 

SIGNS OF ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

Forbearance is no payment: God's patience is not a sign that heforgetteth to take vengeance, but rather that he waiteth till hisown are come out of her, and until her iniquity is filled up; forthen he will execute the judgment written, and will remember theBabylonians and all their ways. 

Must antichrist be destroyed? Then this should make us glad when wesee the signs of his fall presenting themselves to our view. Indeed, the signs of his fall, or those that forerun it, are terrible andamazing to behold. But what of that, since the wrinkles that are intheir faces threaten not us but them? A man is angry and willpunish; yea, whets his sword and makes his rod; and he speaks not aword, but blood, blood is in it. 

Indeed this should make them that are concerned in that angerafraid. But what terror is there in all this to those for thepleading of whose cause he is so angry with the other? Nothingwhereat the innocent should be afraid. 

Cold blasts in November are not received with such gentleness as arecolder in March and April; for that these last cold ones are but thefarewell notes of a piercing winter; they also bring with them thesigns and tokens of a jomfortable summer. Why, the church is now atthe rising of the year; let then the blasts at present or to come bewhat they will, antichrist is surely drawing towards his downfall. And though the devil, knowing what is to be done to him and to hiskingdom, shall so blind his disciples and fright the godly, and dosomething like it upon the church of Christ, yet we should lookthrough these paper windows, and espy in all this that fear, yea, certain terrible judgments, are following him at the heels, by whichnot only the soul, spirit, and life of antichrist, but the bodythereof--yea, body and soul and head--are quickly to go downthither, from whence they, as such, shall not arise again. Amen. 

HOPE OF ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

Is antichrist to be destroyed? then let us live in the expectationof it; and let this be one of our songs in the house of ourpilgrimage. God bids his people, while in Babylon, to let Jerusalemcome into their mind; and writes to them that were then in her, toacquaint them that he remembered them still, and would assuredlydeliver them from that place and state. And wherefore doth he thus, but to beget an expectation in them of their salvation anddeliverance? The Lord is so pleased with the faith and expectationof his people as to this, that they seldom are herein concerned asthey should, but he steps in with them and warms their hearts. Thereason is, because the faith of God's people as to the downfall ofBabylon, stands upon so sure a foundation as doth the salvation oftheir souls; and that next to that, God is as much delighted in whathe has purposed to do against Babylon, as in any thing else in theearth: and therefore, if you consider it well, the great andglorious promises that are to be fulfilled on earth, are to befulfilled when antichrist is dead and buried. These dainties are toogood even for his children to have, so long as this dog is by, lesthe should snatch at the crumbs thereof; wherefore they are reserveduntil he is gone. Jer. 19: 31, 32. 

EFFECTS OF ANTICHRIST'S DESTRUCTION. 

It shall be done unto antichrist as he hath done to the church ofGod. As he hath made women childless, so shall he be made childless;as he has made Zion sit upon the ground, so now must this wicked onecome down to sit in the dust; yea, as he has made many churchesdesolations, so now shall he lie also made a desolation. Wherefore, whoso will find his body, must look for it in the side of the pit'smouth; and whoso will find his friends and companions, must look forthem there likewise. 

Now then Babylon is gone down, when all these things shall befulfilled. And what remains now but to talk of her as folk use to doof them that are dead; for the day will come, that the church of Godshall have no more of antichrist, Babylon, or the mother of harlots, than only the remembrance of her; that there was such an enemy ofGod in the world; that there was such a superstitious, idolatrous, bloody people in the world. Wherefore, the people, that shall beborn, that shall live to serve God in these happy days, shall seeantichrist only in its ruins; they shall, like the sparrows, thelittle robins, and the wren, sit and sing, and chirp one to another, while their eyes behold this dead hawk. Here, shall they say, didonce the lion dwell; and there once a dragon inhabited: here didthey live that were the murderers of the saints; and there anotherthat did use to set his throat against the heavens: but now in theplaces where these ravenous creatures lay, grows grass, with reedsand rushes; now their habitation is cursed; nettles grow, and so dothorns and brambles, where their palaces were wont to be. 

A day is coming when antichrist shall be unknown; not seen nor feltby the church of God. There are men to be born who shall not knowantichrist, but as they read in the word that such a thing has been. These shall talk of her as Israel's children's children were to talkof Pharaoh--of his cruelty, of his tasks, of his pride, of the Redsea, and how he was drowned there. They shall talk of them as ofthose that have been long dead; as of those who, for their horriblewickedness, are laid in the pit's mouth. This will be some of thatsweet chat that the saints shall at their spare hours have, in timeto come. 

There will he a strange alteration when antichrist is dead; and thatboth in the church and in the world. The church and the members ofit then shall wear the name of their God in their foreheads; thatis, they shall be bold in the profession of their King and God, yea, it shall be their glory to be godly, and carnal men shall praisethem for it; the praise of the whole earth shall the church of Godbe in those days. Now the world shall return and discern, betweenthe righteous and the wicked; yea, they shall cleave to andcountenance the people of God, being persuaded, as Laban was ofJacob, that the Lord will bless them for his people's sake. 

Now will he broken up those prophecies and promises that to this daylie as under lock and key, and that cannot be opened until they befulfilled. Now the church of God shall read with great plainness thedepths of providence, and the turnings and windings of all God'sdark and intricate dispensations, through which she hath waded inthe cloudy and dark day: now, I say, they shall see there was aharmony in them, and that, if one of them had been wanting, the workand way of her deliverance could not have been so full of the wisdomand justice and goodness of God. Wherefore now will that song besung with clearer notes than ever: "Great and marvellous are thyworks, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King ofsaints. Who shall not fear thee, O Lord, and glorify thy name? forthou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship beforethee; for thy judgments are made manifest;"

WARNING AGAINST A RETURN TO ANTICHRIST. 

Must antichrist be destroyed? Then what mean they who were toappearance once come out, but now are going thither again. 

If it cost Lot's wife dear for but looking hack, shall it not costthem much dearer that are going back, that are gone back again; andthat after the angel had flown through the midst of heaven, preaching the gospel to those that dwell on the earth?

They that received the mark of the beast at first, before this angelcame forth, are, when compared with these, excusable. Wherefore theyare not threatened with the smoking wrath that these are. 

You dread that which is like to become of them that will be so madas to run into a house when fire is put to the gunpowder barrel inorder to its blowing up. Why, thus do they, let their pretendedcause he what it will, that are returning again to Babylon. Are herplagues pleasant or easy to be borne? Or dost thou think that God isat play with thee, and that he threateneth but in jest? Her plaguesare death and mourning and famine and fire; are these things to beoverlooked? And they that, as before hinted, shall receive the markof the beast in their forehead or in their hand, and shall worshiphim, they shall drink the wine of the wrath of God. And will this bea delightsome draught?

FROM THE "INTRODUCTION TO THE HOLY CITY. "

My fourth word is to the lady of kingdoms, the well-favored harlot, the mistress of witchcrafts and the abominations of the earth. 

I suppose I have nothing here that will either please your wantoneye, or go down with your voluptuous palate. Here is bread indeed, as also milk and meat; but here is neither paint to adorn thywrinkled face, nor crutch to uphold or undershore thy shaking, tottering, staggering kingdom of Rome; but rather a certain presageof thy sudden and fearful final downfall, and of the exaltation ofthat holy matron whose chastity thou dost abhor, because by it shereproveth and condemneth thy lewd and stubborn life. Wherefore, lady, smell thou mayest of this, but taste thou wilt not. I knowthat both thy wanton eye, with all thy mincing brood that areintoxicated with thy cup and enchanted with thy fornications, will, at the sight of so homely and plain a dish as this, cry, Foh! willsnuff, put the branch to the nose, and say, Contemptible! "Butwisdom is justified of all her children. " "The virgin-daughter ofZion hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; Jerusalem hathshaken her head at thee;" yea, her God hath smitten his hands at thydishonest gains and freaks. "Rejoice ye with Jerusalem and be gladwith her, all ye that love her; rejoice for joy with her, all yethat mourn for her, that ye may suck and be satisfied with thebreasts of her consolations, and be delighted with the abundance ofher glory. "

THE WOODEN CROSS. 

Some have thought the altar to mean the cross on which the body ofChrist was crucified when he gave himself an offering for sin; butthey are greatly deceived, for he also himself was the altar throughwhich he offered himself; and this is one of the treasures of wisdomwhich are hid in him, and of which the world and antichrist areutterly ignorant. 

The altar is always greater than the gift, and since the gift wasthe body and soul of Christ--for so saith the scripture, "He gavehimself for our sins"--the altar must be something else than a sorrybit of wood, or than the accursed tree. 

Wherefore I will say to such, as one wiser than Solomon said to theJews when they superstitiously magnified the gift, in counting itmore honorable than the altar, "Ye fools and blind; for whether isgreater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?"

If the altar be greater than the gift, and yet the gift so great athing as the very humanity of Christ, can it--I will now direct myspeech to the greatest fool--can that greater thing be the cross?Was the cross, the wooden cross, the cursed tree that some worship, greater than the gift, to wit, the sacrifice which Christ offered, when he gave himself for our sins? O idolatry! O blasphemy!

But what then was the altar?

The divine nature of Christ, that eternal Spirit, by and in theassistance of which "he offered himself without spot, to God. " "Hethrough the eternal Spirit offered himself. "

And it must be this, because, as was said, the altar is greater thanthe gift; but there is nothing but Christ's divine nature greaterthan his human. To be sure, a sorry bit of wood, a tree, the stockof a tree, is not. 

It must be this, because the Scripture says plainly, the altarsanctifies the gift, that is, puts worth and virtue into it. But wasit the tree, or the godhead of Christ, that put virtue and efficacyinto this sacrifice that he offered to God for us? If thou canst butcount thy fingers, judge. 

Let the tree then be the tree, the sacrifice the sacrifice, and thealtar the altar; and let men have a care how, in their worship, theymake altars upon which, as they pretend, they offer the body ofChrist; and let them leave off foolishly to doat upon wood and theworks of their hands. 

XXIV. DEATH. 

Seeing man was taken from the ground, he is neither God nor angel, hut a poor earthen vessel, such as God can easily knock in piecesand cause to return to the ground again. 

And the time of need is the day of death, when I am to pack up allto be gone from hence, the way of all the earth. Now the greatesttrial is come, except that of the day of judgment. Now a man is tohe stripped of all but that which cannot be shaken. Now a man growsnear the borders of eternity. Now he begins to see into the skirtsof the next world. Now death is death, and the grave the graveindeed. Now he begins to see what it is for soul and body to part, and what to go and appear before God. Now the dark entry and thethoughts of what is in the way from a death-bed to the gate of theholy heaven, come nearer the heart than when health and prosperitydo compass a man about. 

Some men are cut off like the tops of the ears of corn, and some areeven nipped by death in the very bud of their spring; but the safetyis when a man is ripe, and shall be gathered to his grave as a shockof corn to the barn in its season. 

DEATH OF THE SINNER. 

Death is the axe which God often useth, therewith to take the barrenfig-tree out of the vineyard, out of a profession, and also out ofthe world at once. But this axe is now new-ground; it cometh welledged to the roots of this barren fig-tree. It hath been whetted bysin, by the law, and by a formal profession, and therefore must andwill make deep gashes, not only in the natural life, but in theheart and conscience also of this professor. The wages of sin isdeath, the sting of death is sin. Wherefore, death comes not to thisman as he doth to saints, muzzled, or without his sting, but withopen mouth, in all his strength; yea, he sends his first-born, whichis guilt, to devour his strength and to bring him to the king ofterrors. 

The dark entry which the barren professor is to go through will be asore amazement to him, for "fears shall be in the way, " yea, terrorswill take hold on him when he shall see the yawning jaws of deathgape upon him, and the doors of the shadow of death open to give himpassage out of the world. Now, who will meet me in this dark entry?How shall I pass through this dark entry into another world?

There is no judgment to be made by a quiet death of the eternalstate of him that so dieth. Suppose one man should die quietly, another should die suddenly, and a third should die under greatconsternation of spirit; no man can judge of their eternal conditionby the manner of any of these kinds of death. He that dies quietly, suddenly, or under consternation of spirit, may go to heaven, or maygo to hell; no man can tell whither a man goes by any such manner ofdeath. The judgment, therefore, that we make of the eternalcondition of man, must be gathered from another consideration, towit, Did the man die in his sins? Did he die in unbelief? Did he diebefore he was born again? He that is a good man, a man that hathfaith and holiness, a lover and worshipper of God by Christ, according to his word, may die in consternation of spirit; for Satanwill not be wanting to assault good men upon their death-bed. Butthey are secured by the word and power of God, yea, and are alsohelped, though with much agony of spirit, to exercise themselves infaith and prayer; the which he that dieth in despair can by no meansdo. 

DEATH OF THE CHRISTIAN. 

Let dissolution come when it will, it can do the Christian no harm, for it will be but only a passage out of a prison into a palace; outof a sea of troubles into a haven, of rest; out of a crowd ofenemies to an innumerable company of true, loving, and faithfulfriends; out of shame, reproach, and contempt, into exceeding greatand eternal glory. 

Another improvement of Christ's death for us was this: by it he slewfor us our infernal foes; by it he abolished death; by death hedestroyed him that had the power of death; by death he took away thesting of death; by death he made death a pleasant sleep to saints, and the grave for a while an easy house and home for the body. 

We change our drossy dust for gold, From death to life we fly: Welet go shadows, and take hold Of immortality. 

Blood takes away the guilt; inherent grace weakens the filth; butthe grave is the place, at the mouth of which sin and the saved musthave a perfect and final parting. Not that the grave of itself is ofa sin-purging quality, but God will follow Satan home to his owndoor, for the grave is the door or gate of hell, and will there, where the devil thought to have swallowed us up, even there by thepower of his mercy, make us shine like the sun and look like angels. 

THE CHRISTIAN WISHING TO DEPART. 

"I have a desire to depart, and to be with Christ. "

The strength of this desire is such that it is ready, so far forthas it can, to dissolve that sweet knot of union that is betwixt bodyand soul--a knot more dear to a reasonable creature than that can bewhich is betwixt wife and husband, parent and child, or a man andhis estate; for even all that a man hath will he give for his life, and to keep body and soul firmly knit together. But now, when thisdesire comes, this silver cord is loosed, is loosed by consent. Thisdesire delightfully grants to him that comes to dissolve this union, leave to do it. "We are confident and willing rather to be absentfrom the body, and to be present with the Lord. "

The strength of this desire shows itself in this, that it is willingto grapple with the king of terrors, rather than to be detained fromthat sweet communion which the soul looks for when it comes into theplace where its Lord is. Death is not to be desired for itself; theapostle chose rather to be clothed upon with his house which is fromheaven, that mortality might be swallowed up of life. 

But yet rather than he would be absent from the Lord, he was willingto be absent from the body. Death, in the very thought of it, isgrievous to flesh and blood; and nothing can so master it in ourapprehensions as that by which we attain to these desires. Thesedesires do deal with death, as Jacob's love to Rachel dealt with theseven long years which he was to serve for her. It made them seemfew, or but a little time; so do these desires deal with deathitself. They make it seem little, nay, a servant, nay, a privilege, because by that a man may come to enjoy the presence of his belovedLord. I have a desire to depart, to go from the world and relations, to go from my body, that great piece of myself--I have a desire toventure the tugs and pains, and the harsh handling of the king ofterrors, so I may be with Jesus Christ. These are the desires of therighteous. 

Are not these therefore strong desires? Is there not life and mettlein them? Have they not in them power to loose the bands of nature, and to harden the soul against sorrow? Flow they not, think you, from faith of the finest sort, and are they not bred in the bosom ofa truly mortified soul? Are these the effect of a purblind spirit?Are they not rather the fruits of an eagle-eyed confidence? Oh, these desires! they are peculiar to the righteous. 

Christ in glory is worth the being with. If the man out of whom theLord Jesus cast a legion, prayed that he might be with himnotwithstanding all the trials that attended him in this life, howcan it be but that a righteous man must desire to be with him, nowhe is in glory?

To see Jesus Christ, to see him as he is, to see him as he is inglory, is a sight that is worth going from relations and out of thebody and through the jaws of death to see; for this is to see himHead over all, to see him possessed of heaven for his church, to seehim preparing mansion-houses for those his poor ones that are now byhis enemies kicked to and fro like footballs in the world: and isnot this a blessed sight?

Secondly, I have a desire to be with him, to see myself with him;this is more blessed still: for a man to see himself in glory, thisis a sight worth seeing. 

Sometimes I look upon myself and say, Where am I now? and do quicklyreturn answer to myself again, Why, I am in an evil world, a greatway from heaven, in a sinful body, among devils and wicked men;sometimes benighted, sometimes beguiled, sometimes fearing, sometimes hoping, sometimes breathing, sometimes dying. But then Iturn the tables, and say, But where shall I be shortly? Where shallI see myself anon, after a few more times have passed over me? Andwhen I can but answer this question thus: I shall see myself withJesus Christ; this yields glory, even glory to one's spirit now. 

Thirdly, I have a desire to be with Christ: there the spirits of thejust are perfected; there the spirits of the righteous are as fullas they can hold. A sight of Jesus in the word; some know how itwill change them from glory to glory. But how then shall we bechanged and filled, when we shall see him as he is? "When he shallappear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. "

Moses and Elias appeared to Peter and James and John, at thetransfiguration of Christ, "in glory. " Hew so? Why, they had been inthe heavens, and came thence with some of the glories of heaven uponthem. Gild a bit of wood, yea, gild it seven times over, and it mustnot be compared, in difference from wood which is not gilt, with thesoul that but a little while has been dipt in glory. 

Glory is a strange thing to men that are on this side of heaven; itis that which eye hath not seen nor ear heard, nor hath entered intothe heart of man: only the Christian has a word and Spirit that attimes give a little of the glimmering thereof unto him. 

But Oh, when he is in the Spirit and sees in the Spirit, do youthink his tongue can tell? But if the sight of heaven at so vast adistance is so excellent a prospect, what will it be when one is init?

No marvel, then, if the desires of the righteous are to be withChrist. 

There is a man upon a bed of languishing; but Oh, he dares not die, for all is not as he would have it betwixt God and his poor soul;and many a night he lies thus in great horror of mind; but do youthink that he doth not desire to depart? Yes, yes; he also waits andcries to God to set his desires at liberty. At last the visitorcomes and sets his soul at ease, by persuading him that he belongsto God; and what then? Oh, Now let me die; welcome death!

THE DYING CHRISTIAN. 

When men are faithful to God in this world, to do the work he hathappointed for them, by this means a dying bed is made easier. 

1. By reason of that present peace such shall have, even in theirtime of languishing. 

2. By reason of the good company such shall have at their departure. The angels of heaven shall wait upon them, as they did upon theblessed Lazarus, to carry them into Abraham's bosom. I know all thatgo to paradise are by these holy ones conducted thither; but yet, for all that, such as die under the clouds for unchristian walkingwith God, may meet with darkness in that day--may go heavily hence, notwithstanding that; yea, their bed may be as uncomfortable to themas if they lay upon nothing but the cords, and their departing fromit, as to appearance, more uncomfortable by far. 

But as for those who have been faithful to their God, they shall seebefore them; shall know their tabernacle shall be in peace; "theeverlasting gates shall be opened unto them:" in all which fromearth they shall see the glory of heaven. 

DEATH OF MR. BADMAN'S WIFE. 

ATTENTIVE. "And how did his good wife take it when she saw that hehad no amendment, but that he returned to his old courses again?"

WISEMAN. "Why, it broke her heart; it was a worse disappointment toher than the cheat that he gave her in marriage; at least she laidit more to heart, and could not so well grapple with it. You mustthink that she had put up many a prayer to God for him before, evenall the time that he had carried it so badly to her; and now when hewas so affrighted in his sickness, and so desirous that he mightlive and mend, poor woman, she thought that the time was come forGod to answer her prayers; nay, she did not fail with gladness towhisper out amongst her friends that it was so. But when she sawherself disappointed by her husband turning rebel again, she couldnot stand up under it, but fell into a languishing distemper, and ina few weeks gave up the ghost. "

ATTENTIVE. "Pray how did she die?"

WISEMAN. "Die! she died bravely; full of comfort in the faith of herinterest in Christ, and by him in the world to come. She had manybrave expressions in her sickness, and gave to those that came tovisit her many signs of her salvation. The thoughts of the grave, especially of her rising again, were sweet thoughts to her. Shewould long for death, because she knew it would be her friend. Sheexpressed herself like one that was making herself ready to go tomeet her bridegroom. 'Now, ' said she, 'I am going to rest from mysorrows, my sighs, my tears, my mournings, and complaints: I haveheretofore longed to be among the saints, but might by no means besuffered to go; but now I am going, and no man can stop me, to thegreat meeting, 'to the general assembly and church of the first-bornwhich are written in heaven. ' There I shall have my heart's desire;there I shall worship without temptation or other impediment; thereI shall see the face of my Jesus whom I have loved, whom I haveserved, and who now I know will save my soul. I have prayed oftenfor my husband that he might be converted, but there has been noanswer of God in that matter. Are my prayers lost; are theyforgotten; are they thrown over the bar? No; they are hanged uponthe horns of the golden altar, and I must have the benefit of themmyself that moment that I shall enter into the gates, in at whichthe righteous nation that keepeth truth shall enter: I say, I shallhave the benefit of them. I can say as holy David--I say, I can sayof my husband as he could of his enemies, 'As for me, when they weresick, my clothing was of sackcloth; I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into my bosom. ' My prayers are not lost, mytears are yet in God's bottle; I would have had a crown and gloryfor my husband, and for those of my children that follow his steps;but so far as I can see yet, I must rest in the hope of having allmyself. '

"When she drew near her end she called for her husband, and when hewas come to her, she told him that now he and she must part; and, said she, 'God knows, and thou shalt know, that I have been aloving, faithful wife unto thee; and as for all the abuses that Ihave received at thy hand, those I freely and heartily forgive, andstill shall pray for thy conversion, even as long as I breathe inthis world. But, husband, I am going thither where no bad man shallcome; and if thou dost not turn, thou wilt never see me more withcomfort. Let not my plain words offend thee; I am thy dying wife, and of my faithfulness to thee would leave this exhortation withthee: Break off thy sins, fly to God for mercy while mercy's gatestands open: remember that the day is coming when thou, though nowlusty and well, must lie at the gates of death, as I do; and whatwilt thou then do, if thou shalt be found with a naked soul to meetthe cherubims with their flaming swords? Yea, what wilt thou then doif death and hell shall come to visit thee, and thou in thy sins andunder the curse of the law?'

"When she saw that she was not regarded, she fetched a deep sigh andlay still. So he went down; and then she called for her children, and began to talk to them. And first she spoke to those that wererude, and told them the danger of dying before they had grace intheir hearts. She told them also, that death might be nearer thanthey were aware of; and bid them look, when they went through thechurchyard again, if there were not little graves there. 'And ah, children, ' said she, 'will it not be dreadful to you, if we onlyshall meet at the day of judgment, and then part again and never seeeach other more?' And with that she wept; the children also wept. Soshe held on her discourse: 'Children, ' said she, 'I am going fromyou. I am going to Jesus Christ; and with him there is neithersorrow nor sighing, nor pain nor tears, nor death: thither would Ihave you go also; but I can neither carry you nor fetch you thither. But if you shall turn from your sins to God, and shall beg mercy athis hands by Jesus Christ, you shall follow me, and shall, when youdie, come to the place where I am going, that blessed place of rest;and then we shall be for ever together, beholding the face of ourRedeemer, to our mutual and eternal joy. ' So she bade them rememberthe words of a dying mother when she was cold in her grave, andthemselves were hot in their sins, if perhaps her words might put acheck to their vice, and they might remember and turn to God. 

"Then they all went down but her darling, to wit, the child that shehad most love for, because it followed her ways. So she addressedherself to that: 'Come to me, ' said she, 'my sweet child, thou artthe child of my joy; I have lived to see thee a servant of God; thoushalt have eternal life. I, my sweetheart, shall go before, and thoushalt follow after, if thou shalt hold the beginning of thyconfidence steadfast to the end. When I am gone, do thou stillremember my words. Love thy Bible, follow my ministers, denyungodliness still, and if troublesome times shall come, set a higherprice upon Christ, his word and ways, and the testimony of a goodconscience, than upon all the world besides; carry it kindly anddutifully to thy father, but chose none of his ways. 

"'I would have thee also, my dear child, to love thy brothers andsisters, but learn none of their naughty tricks; 'Have no fellowshipwith the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them. 'Thou hast grace; they have none. Do thou therefore beautify the wayof salvation before their eyes, by a godly life and conversationconformable to the revealed will of God, that thy brothers andsisters may see and be the more pleased with the good ways of theLord. '

"Thus she talked to her children and gave them counsel; and aftershe had talked to this a little longer, she kissed it and bid it godown. 

"Well, in short, her time drew on, and the day that she must die. Soshe died with a soul full of grace, a heart full of comfort, and byher death ended a life of trouble. "

DEATH OF STANDFAST. 

When Mr. Standfast had thus set things in order, and the time beingcome for him to haste him away, he went down to the river. Now therewas a great calm at that time in the river; wherefore Mr. Standfast, when he was about half way in, stood a while and talked to hiscompanions that had waited upon him thither: and he said, "Thisriver has been a terror to many; yea, the thoughts of it also haveoften frightened me: now, methinks, I stand easy; my foot is fixedupon that on which the feet of the priests that bare the ark of thecovenant stood, while Israel went over this Jordan. 

"The waters indeed are to the palate bitter and to the stomach cold;yet the thoughts of what I am going to, and of the convoy that waitsfor me on the other side, doth lie as a glowing coal at my heart. Isee myself now at the end of my journey; my toilsome days are ended. I am going to see that head that was crowned with thorns, and thatface that was spit upon for me. I have formerly lived by hearsay andfaith, but now I go where I shall live by sight, and shall be withhim in whose company I delight myself. I have loved to hear my Lordspoken of; and whenever I have seen the print of his shoe in theearth, there I have coveted to set my foot too. His name has been tome as a civet-box, yea, sweeter than all perfumes. His voice to mehas been most sweet, and his countenance I have more desired thanthey that have most desired the light of the sun. His words I diduse to gather for my food, and for antidotes against my faintings. He has held me, and hath kept me from mine iniquities, yea, my stepshave been strengthened in his way. "

Now while he was thus in discourse, his countenance changed; his"strong man bowed under him;" and after he had said, "Take me, for Iam come unto thee, " he ceased to be seen of them. 

But glorious it was to see how the open region was filled withhorses and chariots, with trumpeters and pipers, with singers andplayers on stringed instruments, to welcome the pilgrims as theywent up, and followed one another in at the beautiful gate of thecity. 

DEATH OF CHRISTIAN AND HOPEFUL. 

They then addressed themselves to the water, and entering, Christianbegan to sink, and crying out to his good friend Hopeful, he said, "I sink in deep waters; billows go over my head, all his waves goover me. "

Then said the other, "Be of good cheer, my brother; I feel thebottom, and it is good. "

Then said Christian, "Ah, my friend, the sorrow of death hathcompassed me about. I shall not see the land that flows with milkand honey. " And with that a great darkness and horror fell uponChristian, so that he could not see before him; also he in a greatmeasure lost his senses, so that he could neither remember nororderly talk of any of those sweet refreshments that he had met wilhin the way of his pilgrimage. But all the words that he spake stilltended to discover that he had horror of mind, and heart-fears thathe should die in that river and never obtain entrance in at thegate. 

Here also, as they that stood by perceived, he was much introublesome thoughts of the sins that he had committed both sinceand before he began to be a pilgrim. It was also observed that hewas troubled with apparitions of hobgoblins and evil spirits; forever and anon he would intimate so much by words. 

Hopeful therefore here had much ado to keep his brother's head abovewater; yea, sometimes he would be quite gone down, and then, ere awhile, he would rise up again half dead. Hopeful did also endeavorto comfort him, saying, "Brother, I see the gate, and men standingby to receive us; but Christian would answer, "It is you, it is youthey wait for; you have been hopeful ever since I knew you. "

"And so have you, " said he to Christian. 

"Ah, brother, " said he, "surely if I was right, he would now ariseto help me; but for my sins he hath brought me into the snare, andhath left me. "

Then said Hopeful, "My brother, you have quite forgot the text, where it is said of the wicked, 'There are no bands in their death, but their strength is firm: they are not troubled as other men, neither are they plagued like other men. ' These troubles anddistresses that you go through in these waters, are no sign that Godhath forsaken you, but are sent to try you whether you will call tomind that which heretofore you have received of his goodness, andlive upon him in your distresses. "

Then I saw in my dream that Christian was in a muse a while. To whomalso Hopeful added these words: "Be of good cheer; Jesus Christmaketh thee whole. "

And with that Christian broke out with a loud voice, "Oh, I see himagain, and he tells me, 'When thou passest through the waters, Iwill he with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflowthee. '"

Then they both took courage, and the enemy was after that as stillas a stone until they were gone over. Christian therefore presentlyfound ground to stand upon, and so it followed that the rest of theriver was but shallow; thus they got over. 

Now upon the bank of the river, on the other side, they saw the twoshining men again, who there waited for them. Wherefore, being comeout of the river, they saluted them, saying, "We are ministeringspirits, sent forth to minister to those that shall be heirs ofsalvation. " Thus they went along towards the gate. 

BUNYAN'S DEATH. 

FROM THE FIRST BIOGRAPHY OF BUNYAN. 

"He comforted those that wept about him, exhorting them to trust inGod, and pray to him for mercy and forgiveness of their sins;telling them what a glorious exchange it would be, to leave thetroubles and cares of a wretched mortality to live with Christ forever, with peace and joy inexpressible; expounding to them thecomfortable scriptures by which they were to hope and assuredly comeunto a blessed resurrection in the last day. He desired some to praywith him, and he joined with them in prayer; and his last words, after he had struggled with a languishing disease, were these: 'Weepnot for me, but for yourselves. I go to the Father of our Lord JesusChrist, who will, through the mediation of his blessed Son, receiveme, though a sinner; where I hope we ere long shall meet to sing thenew song, and remain everlastingly happy, world without end. '"

XXV. THE RESURRECTION. 

The doctrine of the resurrection, however questioned by heretics anderroneous persons, yet is such a truth, that almost all the holyscriptures of God point at and centre in it. 

There is a poor dry and wrinkled kernel cast into the ground; andthere it lieth, swelleth, breaketh, and, one would think, perisheth. But behold, it receiveth life, it chippeth, it putteth forth ablade, and groweth into a stalk. There also appeareth an ear; italso sweetly blossoms, with a full kernel in the ear. It is the samewheat; yet behold how the fashion doth differ from what was sown. And our BRAN will be left behind, when we rise again. The bodyariseth, as to the nature of it, the self-same nature; but as to themanner of it, how far transcendent! The glory of the terrestrial isone, and the glory of the celestial is another. 

"It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. " At our firstappearance, the world will tremble. Behold, the gates of death andthe bars of the grave are now carried away on our shoulders, asSampson carried away the gates of the city. Death quaketh, anddestruction falleth down dead at our feet. What then can standbefore us? We shall then carry such grace, majesty, terror, andcommanding power in our souls, that our countenances shall be aslightning. Then shall death be swallowed up of victory. 

Glory is the sweetness, comeliness, purity, and perfection of athing. The light is the glory of the sun, strength is the glory ofyouth, and gray hairs are the glory of old age. That is, it is theexcellency of these things and that which makes them shine. Therefore to arise in glory, it is to arise in all the beauty andutmost completeness that is possible for a human creature topossess, in all its features and members inconceivably beautiful. Sin and corruption have made mad work in our bodies as well as inour souls; 'tis sin commonly that is the cause of all that deformityand ill-favoredness that now cleaveth to us, and that rendereth usso dishonorable at our death. But now at our rising, we shall beraised incorruptible; we shall appear in such perfection that allthe beauty and comeliness, sweetness and amiableness that hath atany time been in this world, it shall be swallowed up a thousandtimes told with this glory. 

The body when it ariseth will be so swallowed up of life andimmortality, that it will be as if it had lost its own human nature. You know that things which are candied by the art of the apothecary, are so swallowed up with the sweetness and virtue of that in whichthey are candied, that they are now as though they had no othernature than that in which they are boiled. Just thus, at the lastday, it will be with our bodies. We shall be so candied by beingswallowed up of life, that we shall be as if we were all spirit;when in truth, it is but this body that is swallowed up of life. 

The body is also gathered up into glory, but not simply for its ownsake, or because it is capable of itself to know and understand theglories of its Maker, but that it has been a companion with the soulin this world, and has also been its house, its mantle, its cabinet, and tabernacle here: it has also been that by which the soul hathacted, in which it hath wrought, and by which its excellentappearances have been manifested; and it shall also there be itscopartner and sharer in its glory. 

In this world the soul of the regenerate is a gracious soul; and inthat world it shall be a glorious one. In this world the body wasconformable to the soul as it was gracious, and in that world itshall be conformable to it as it is glorious. Yea, it shall have anadditional glory to adorn and make it yet the more capable of beingserviceable to and with the soul in its great acts before God ineternal glory. 

If a man receive the mercy of the resurrection of the body, what abundle of mercies will be received as wrapt up in that. He willreceive perfection, immortality, heaven, and glory. And what isfolded up in these things, who can tell?

As to the manner of the change of the body in its rising, thissimilitude also doth fitly suit: as, 1. It is sown a dead corn, itis raised a living one. 2. It is sown dry, and without comeliness;it riseth green and beautiful. 3. It is sown a single corn, itriseth a full ear. 4. It is sown in the husk, but in its rising itleaveth that husk behind it. 

Further, though the kernel thus die, be buried, and meet with allthis change in these things, yet none of them can cause the natureof the kernel to cease; it is wheat still. Wheat was sown, and wheatarises; only it was sown dead, dry, and barren wheat, and risethliving, beautiful, and fruitful wheat. "God giveth it a body as itpleaseth him; but to every seed his own body. "

All the glory that a glorified soul can help this body to, it atthis day shall enjoy. That soul that has been these hundreds orthousands of years in the heavens, in the bosom of Christ, it shallin a moment come spangling into the body again, and inhabit everymember and vein of the body, as it did before its departure. ThatSpirit of God also, that took its leave of the body when it went tothe grave, shall now in all perfection dwell in the body again. Itell you, the body at this day will shine brighter than the face ofMoses or Stephen, even as bright as the sun, the stars and angels. "When Christ who is our life shall appear, we shall appear with himin glory. "

Christ has showed us what our body at the resurrection shall be, byshowing us in his word what his body was at and after hisresurrection. We read that his body after he was risen from thedead, though it yet retained the very same flesh and bones that didhang upon the cross, yet how angelical was it at all times, upon alloccasions! He could come in to his disciples with that very body, when the doors were shut upon them. He could at pleasure, to theiramazement, appear in the twinkling of an eye in the midst of them. He could be visible and invisible, as he pleased, when he sat atmeat with them. In a word, he could pass and repass, ascend anddescend in that body with far more pleasure and ease than the birdby the art of her wing. 

Now I say, as we have in this world borne the image of our firstfather; so at that day we shall have the image of Jesus Christ, andbe as he is. 1 Cor. 15:49. 

To mount up to heaven, and to descend again with pleasure, shallwith us in that day be ordinary. If there were ten thousand bars ofiron, or walls of brass, to separate between us and our pleasure anddesire at that day, they should as easily be pierced by us as is thecobweb, or as air by the beams of the sun. And the reason is, because to the Spirit, wherewith we shall be inconceivably filled atthat day, nothing is impossible; and the working of it at that dayshall be in such nature and measure as to swallow up allimpossibilities. "Who shall change our vile body, that it may befashioned like unto his glorious body"--now mark--"according to theworking whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself. "

Nay further, we do not only see what operation the Spirit will havein our body by the carriage of Christ after his resurrection, buteven by many a saint before his death. The Spirit used to catchElijah away, no man could tell whither. It carried Ezekiel hitherand thither. It carried Christ from the top of the pinnacle of thetemple into Galilee; through it he walked on the sea. The Spiritcaught away Philip from the eunuch, and carried him as far asAzotus. 

Thus the great God has given us a taste of the power and glory thatare in himself, and how easily they will help us, by possessing usat the resurrection, to act and to do like angels; as Christ saith, "They that shall be counted worthy of that world and of theresurrection from the dead, they shall not die, but be equal to theangels. "

SALVATION COMPLETE AT THE RESURRECTION. 

"Now we shall see him, " to wit, Christ in his glory. Not byrevelation only, as we do now, but then face to face; and he willhave us with him to this very end. Though John was in the Spiritwhen he had the vision of Christ, yet it made him fall at his feetas dead; and also turned Daniel's beauty into corruption, it was soglorious and so overweighing a glory that he appeared in. But weshall at the day of our resurrection be so furnished, that we shallwith the eagle be able to look upon the sun in his strength. Weshall then "see Him as he is, " who now is in the light that no eyehath seen, nor any man can see till that day. 

Now we shall see into all things; there shall not be any thing hidfrom us. For the Spirit, with which we shall in every cranny of souland body be filled, "searcheth all things, yea, the deep things ofGod. " We see what strange things have been known by the prophets andsaints of God; and that when they knew but in part. Abraham could byit tell to a day how long his seed should be under persecution inEgypt. Elisha by it could tell what was done in the king ofAssyria's bedchamber. Abijah by this could know Jeroboam's wife sosoon as, yea, before her feet entered within his door, though he sawher not. The prophet of Judah could tell by this what God would doto Bethel for the idolatry there committed, and could also point outthe man by name that should do the execution, long before he wasborn. 

What shall I say? Enoch by it could tell what should be done at theend of the world. How did the prophets circumstantially prophesy ofChrist's birth, his death, his burial, of their giving him gall andvinegar, of their parting his raiment and piercing his hands andfeet, of his riding on an ass also. All this they saw when theyspake of him. Peter also, though half asleep, could at the veryfirst word call Moses and Elias by their names, when they appearedto Christ in the holy mount. He is very ignorant of the operation ofthe Spirit that scrupleth these things. 

But now, I say, if these things have been done, seen, and known byspiritual men while their knowledge has been but "in part, " howshall we know, see, and discern, when "that which is perfect iscome!" which will be at the resurrection: "It is raised a spiritualbody. "

Paul said to the Philippians that he was confident that he who hadbegun a good work in them, would perform it until "the day ofChrist. " Which day of Christ was not the day of their conversion, for that day was past with them already, they were now the childrenof God; but this day of Christ is the same which in other places iscalled the day when he shall come with the sound of the last trumpto raise the dead. For you must know that the work of salvation isnot at an end with them that are now in heaven; no, nor ever will beuntil their bodies be raised again. God has made our bodies themembers of Christ, and God does not count us thoroughly saved, untilour bodies be as well redeemed and ransomed out of the grave anddeath, as our soul from the curse of the law and dominion of sin. 

Though God's saints have felt the power of much of his grace, andhave had many a secret word fulfilled on them, yet one word will beunfulfilled on their particular person, so long as the grave canshut her mouth upon them. But when the gates of death do open beforethem, and the bars of the grave do fall asunder, then shall bebrought to pass that saying which is written, "Death is swallowed upof victory. " And then will they hear that most pleasant voice, "Awake and sing, ye that dwell in the dust; for thy dew is as thedew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth her dead. "

The body is no such ridiculous thing in the account of Christ as itwas in the account of the Sadducees. "The body is not forfornication, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body;" and thatnot only in this world, but in that which is to come. 

XXVI. THE JUDGMENT. 

Oh my heart, it is in vain now to dissemble, or to hide, or tolessen transgressions; for there is a judgment to come, a day inwhich God will judge the secrets of men by his Son. 

THE SAINTS JUDGED. 

When the saints are raised, they must give an account of all thingsthat they have done while they were in the world, of all things"whether they be good or bad. "

1. Of all their bad. But mark, not under the consideration ofvagabond slaves and sinners, but as sons, stewards, and servants ofthe Lord Jesus. "We must all stand before the judgment-seat ofChrist;" we saints; "for it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. "

It is true, God loveth his people; but yet he loveth not their sins, nor any thing they do, though with the greatest zeal for him, if itbe contrary to his word. Wherefore, as truly as God will give areward to his saints and children, for all that they have indeedwell done, so truly will he at this day distinguish their good andbad; and when both are manifest by the righteous judgment of God, hewill burn up their bad, with all their labor and travail in it, forever. He can tell how to save his people, and yet take vengeance ontheir inventions. 

That is an observable place, 1 Cor. 3:12-15: "If any man build uponthis foundation, (Christ, ) gold, silver, precious-stones, wood, hay, stubble, every man's work shall be manifest; for the day shalldeclare it; because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shalltry every man's work of what sort it is. If any man's work shallabide that he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. Ifany man's work shall be burned, that man shall suffer loss, but hehimself shall be saved, yet so as by fire. "

I am persuaded that there are many things done by the best ofsaints, which then they will gladly disown and be ashamed of; yea, they have and do still do this with great devotion. In many thingsnow, we offend all; and then we shall see the many offences we havecommitted, and shall ourselves judge them as they are. 

But yet take notice, that in this day when the saints are thusaccounting for their evil before their Saviour and Judge, they shallnot then, as now at the remembrance and confession of sin, be filledwith that guilt, confusion, and shame, that now, through theweakness of faith, attend their souls: neither shall they in theleast be grieved or offended that God has, before the angels and therest of their holy brethren, laid open to a tittle their infirmitiesfrom the least and first to the biggest and last. 

For the God to whom they confess all, they will now more perfectlythan ever see he doth love them and free them from all, even whenand before they confess and acknowledge them to him; and they shallhave their soul so full of the ravishing raptures of the life andglory that now they are in, that they shall be of it swallowed up inthat measure and manner that neither fear, nor guilt, nor confusioncan come near them or touch them. Their Judge is their Saviour, their husband, and head; who, though he will bring every one of themfor all things to judgment, yet will keep them for ever out ofcondemnation. Perfect love casteth out fear, even while we are here;much more then when we are with the Saviour, our Jesus, being passedfrom death to life. 

SAINTS REWARDED AT THE JUDGMENT. 

Now the saved having accounted for all their evil, and confessed toGod's glory how they fell short and did not the truth in this orthat particular, and having received their eternal acquittance fromthe Lord and Judge, in the sight of both angels and saints, forthwith the Lord Jesus will make inquiry into all the good andholy actions they do in the world. Now here shall all things bereckoned up, from the very first good thing that was done by Adam orAbel, to the last that will fall out to be done in the world--thegood of all the holy prophets, of all apostles, pastors, teachers, and helps in the church--here also will be brought forth to lightall the good deeds of masters of families, of parents, of children, of servants, of neighbors, or whatever good things any man doeth. 

1. Here will be a recompense for all that have labored sincerely inthe word and doctrine. Now shall Paul the planter, and Apollos thewaterer, with every one of their companions, receive the reward thatis according to their works. 

Now all the preaching, praying, watching, and labor thou hast beenat, in thy endeavoring to catch men from Satan to God, shall berewarded with spangling glory. Not a soul thou hast converted to theLord Jesus, not a soul thou hast comforted, strengthened, or helpedby thy wholesome counsel, admonition, and comfortable speech, but itshall stick as a pearl in that crown which the Lord the righteousJudge shall give thee at that day; that is, if thou doest itwillingly, delighting to lift up the name of God among men; if thoudoest it with love, and longing after the salvation of sinners:otherwise thou wilt have only thy labor for thy pains, and no more. If I do this willingly, I have a reward; but if against my will, adispensation of the gospel is committed to my charge. 

But if thou do it graciously, then a reward followeth; "for what isour hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye, " saysPaul, "in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? Forye are our glory and joy. "

Let him therefore that Christ has put into his harvest, take comfortin the midst of all his sorrows; and know that God acknowledges thathe that converteth a sinner from the error of his way, doth evensave that soul from death, and covereth a multitude of sins. Wherefore, labor to convert, labor to water, labor to build up andto feed the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversightthereof not by constraint, but willingly; not for filthy lucre, butof a ready mind; and when the chief Shepherd shall appear, ye shallreceive a crown of glory that fadeth not away. 

2. And as the ministers of Christ's gospel shall at this day berecompensed, so shall also those more private saints be with tenderaffections and love looked on and rewarded for all their work andlabor of love which they have showed to the name of Christ, inministering to his saints and suffering for his sake. "Whatsoevergood thing any man doeth, the same shall he receive of the Lord, whether he be bond or free. "

Ah, little do the people of God think how largely and thoroughly Godwill at that day own and recompense all the good and holy acts ofhis people. Every bit, every drop, every rag, and every night'sharbor though but in a wisp of straw, shall be rewarded in that daybefore men and angels: "Whosoever shall give to drink to one ofthese little ones, a cup of cold water only, in the name of adisciple, verily I say unto you, " saith Christ, "he shall in no wiselose his reward. " "Therefore, when thou makest a feast, " saith he, "call the poor, the maimed, the lame, and the blind, and thou shaltbe blessed; for they cannot recompense thee; for thou shalt berecompensed at the resurrection of the just. "

If there be any repentance among the godly at that day, it will bebecause the Lord Jesus, in his person, members, and word, was nomore owned, honored, entertained, and provided for by them, whenthey were in this world; for it will be ravishing to all to see whatnotice the Lord Jesus will then take of every widow's mite. He willcall to mind even all those acts of mercy and kindness which thouhast showed to him when thou wast among men. He will remember, cryup, and proclaim before angels and saints those very acts of thinewhich thou hast either forgotten or through bashfulness wilt not atthat day count worth the owning. He will reckon them up so fast andso fully that thou wilt cry, "Lord, when did I do this, and when didI do the other? When saw we thee hungry and fed thee. Or athirst andgave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger and took thee in, ornaked and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick or in a prison, andcame unto thee?" And the King shall answer and say unto them, "Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye did it unto one of the leastof these my brethren, ye did it unto me. The good works of some aremanifest beforehand, and they that are otherwise cannot be hid. Whatever thou hast done to one of the least of these my brethren, thou hast done it unto me. I felt the nourishment of thy food andthe warmth of thy fleece; I remember thy loving and holy visits, when my poor members were sick and in prison and the like. When theywere strangers and wanderers in the world, thou tookest them in. Well done, thou good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joyof thy Lord. "

3. Here also will be a reward for all that hardness and Christianenduring of affliction that thou hast met with for thy Lord, whilethou wast in the world. Here now will Christ begin from the greatestsuffering even unto the least, and bestow a reward on them all, fromthe blood of the suffering saint to the loss of a hair. 

4. There is also a reward at this day for all the more, secret andmore retired works of Christianity. 1. There is not now one act offaith in thy soul, either upon Christ or against the devil andantichrist, but it shall in this day be found out, and praised, honored, and glorified in the face of heaven. 2. There is not onegroan to God in secret against thy own lusts, and for more grace, light, Spirit, sanctification, and strength to go through this worldlike a Christian, but it shall even at the coming of Christ herewarded openly. 3. There has not one tear dropped from thy tendereye against thy lusts, the love of the world, or for more communionwith Jesus Christ, but as it is now in the bottle of God, so then itshall bring forth such plenty of reward, that it shall return uponthee with abundance of increase. "Blessed are ye that weep now, forye shall laugh. " "Thou tellest my wanderings and puttest my tears inthy bottle; are they not in thy book?" "They that sow in tears shallreap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves withhim. "

If thou indeed and in truth close in with Jesus, thou shalt belovingly received and tenderly embraced of Christ at that day, whenhe hath thousands of noble saints, as Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with all the prophets, apostles, and martyrs, attending on him; and many thousands of glittering angelsministering before him. When the ungodly shall appear there, withtheir pale faces, with their guilty consciences and tremblingsouls--who would then give thousands of worlds, if they had so many, if they could enjoy but one loving look from Christ--then shalt thouhave the hand of Christ reached to receive thee, saying, Come, thoublessed, step up hither; thou wast willing to leave all for me, andnow I will give all to thee. Here is a throne, a crown, a kingdom;take them. Thou wast not ashamed of me when thou wast in the worldamong my enemies, and now will not I be ashamed of thee before thineenemies, but will, in the view of all these devils and damnedreprobates, promote thee to honor and dignity. Come, ye blessed ofmy Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundationof the world. Thou shalt see that those who have served me in truthshall lose nothing, but they shall be as pillars in my temple andinheritors of my glory, and shall have place to walk in among mysaints and angels. Oh, who would not be in this condition? who wouldnot be in this glory?

At the day of judgment, Israel will be sufficiently weary of thisworld; they will even as it were inexpressibly groan to be taken upfrom hence: wherefore the Lord will come, as making use of theweariness and groaning of his people, and will take them up into hischambers of rest, and will wipe away all tears from their eyes. 

That we are justified in the sight of the divine Majesty by freegrace, through that one offering of the body of Jesus Christ oncefor all, I bless God I believe it; and that we shall be brought toglory by the same grace, through the same most blessed Jesus, Ithank God I believe that also Again, that the glory to which weshall be brought by free grace through the only merits of Jesus, isunspeakably glorious and complete, I question no more than Iquestion the blessed truths but now confessed. 

But notwithstanding all this, there is a reward for the righteous, areward for their works of faith and love, whether in a doing or in asuffering way, and that not principally to be enjoyed here, buthereafter: "Great is your reward in heaven. "

Paul was as great a maintainer of the doctrine of God's free grace, and of justification from sin by the righteousness of Christ imputedby grace, as any one that ever lived in Christ's service from theworld's beginning till now; and yet he was for this doctrine: heexpected himself, and encouraged others also to look for such areward for doing and suffering for Christ, which he calls "a farmore exceeding and eternal weight of glory. " Surely, as Christ saysin a case not distant from this in hand, "If it were not so, hewould have told us. "

Wherefore a reward I find, and that laid up in heaven; but what itis I know not, neither is it possible for any here to know it anyfurther than by certain general words of God, such as these:"Praise, honor, glory, a crown of righteousness, a crown of glory, thrones, judging of angels, a kingdom, with a far more exceeding andeternal weight of glory. "

Wherefore, though in the day of judgment thou shouldst there slightall thou didst on earth for thy Lord, saying, "When, Lord, when didwe do it?" he will answer, "Then, even then when ye did it to theleast of these my brethren, ye did it unto me. "

SINNERS JUDGED. 

"There shall be a resurrection of the dead, both of the just andunjust. " For as the just go before the unjust in name and dignityand honor, so they shall, in the last day, go before them in theresurrection. 

Now then, when the saints have risen out of their graves, given uptheir accounts, received their glory, and are set upon theirthrones--when they are all of them in their royal apparel, withcrowns of glory, every one presenting the person of a king, thencome the unjust out of their graves, to receive their judgment forwhat they have done in the body. "We must all appear before thejudgment-seat of Christ, that every one, " both saints and sinners, "may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hathdone, whether it be good or bad. "

"And the windows, " or floodgates, "of heaven were opened. " Thisopening of the floodgates of heaven was a type of the way that shallbe made for the justice of God upon ungodly men, when Christ haslaid aside his mediatorship; for he indeed is the sluice that stopsthis justice of God from its dealing according to its infinite powerand severity with men. He stands like Moses, and as it were holdeththe hands of God. Oh, but when he shall be taken away, when he shallhave finished his mediatorial work, then will the floodgates ofheaven be opened, and then will the justice and holiness of God dealwith men without stint or diminution, even till it has filled thevessels of wrath with vengeance till they run over. "It is a fearfulthing to fall into the hands of the living God, "

The Judge is the almighty and eternal God: the law broken is theholy and perfect rule of God, in itself a consuming fire: sin is soodious, and a thing so abominable, that it is enough to make all theangels blush to hear it but so much as once mentioned in so holy aplace as that is, where the great God doth sit to judge. This sinnow hangs about the neck of him that has committed it, yea, itcovers him as doth a mantle. 

Doubtless before the flood had carried off the ark, others besideswould with gladness have had there a lodgingroom though no betterthan a dog-kennel; but now it was too late, "The Lord had shut thedoor. "

As the just shall rise in power, so the wicked and unjust inweakness and astonishment. Sin and guilt bring weakness andfaintness in this life; how much more when both, with all theirforce and power, like a giant fasten on them? As God saith, "Can thyhands be strong, and can thy heart endure in the day that I shalldeal with thee?" Now will the ghastly jaws of despair gape uponthee, and now will condemnings of conscience, like thunderclaps, continually batter against thy weary spirit. It is the godly thathave boldness in the day of judgment; but the wicked will be likethe chaff which the wind driveth away. 

Now when the wicked are thus raised out of their graves, 'they shall, together with all the angels of darkness, their fellow-prisoners, bebrought up, being shackled in their sins, to the place of judgment;where there shall sit upon them Jesus Christ, the King of kings andLord of lords, the Lord Chief-judge of things in heaven, and earth, and things under the earth. On whose right hand and left shall sitall the princes and heavenly nobles, the saints and prophets, theapostles and witnesses of Jesus; every one in his kingly attire uponthe throne of his glory. Then shall be fulfilled that which iswritten, "But those my enemies, which would not that I should reignover them, bring hither and slay them before me. "

When every one is thus set in his proper place, the Judge on histhrone with his attendants, and the prisoners coming up to judgment, forthwith there shall issue forth a mighty fire and tempest frombefore the throne, which shall compass it round about. Which fireshall be as bars and bounds to the wicked, to keep them at a certaindistance from the heavenly Majesty. "Our God will come and not keepsilence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be verytempestuous round about him. " "His throne was like the fiery flame, and his wheels like burning fire. A fiery stream issued, and cameforth from before him. "

This preparation being made--to wit, the Judge with his attendantson the throne, the bar for the prisoners, and the rebels allstanding with ghastly faces to look for what comes after--presentlythe books are brought forth, the books both of death and life, andevery one of them opened before the sinners now to be judged andcondemned; for after that he had said, "A fiery stream issued, andcame forth from before him, " he adds, "Thousands, thousandsministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood beforehim. The judgment was set, and the book was opened. " And again, "Isaw a great white throne and him that sat upon it, from whose facethe earth and the heaven fled away, and there was found no moreplace for them', and I saw the dead, small and great, stand beforeGod; and the books were opened; and another book was opened, whichis the book of life. And the dead were judged out of the things thatwere written in the books, according to their works. "

"For many will seek to enter in, and shall not be able. " They willput on all the confidence they can; they will trick and trim uptheir profession, and adorn it with what bravery they can. Thus thefoolish virgins sought to enter in; they did trim up their lamps, and made themselves as fine as they could. They made shift to maketheir lamps to shine a while; but the Son of God discoveringhimself, their confidence failed, their lamps went out, the door wasshut upon them, and they were kept out. 

They will make a stop at this gate, this beautiful gate of heaven;they will begin to stand without at the gate, as being loath to goany further. Never did malefactor so unwillingly turn off the ladderwhen the rope was about his neck, as these will turn away in thatday from the gates of heaven to hell. 

It may be that when thou hearest that the dust of the street, thatcleaveth to a minister of the gospel while thou rejectest his wordof salvation, shall be a witness against thee at the day ofjudgment, thou wilt be apt to laugh, and say, The dust a witness!witnesses will be scarce when dust is forced to come in to pleadagainst a man. 

Well, sinner, mock not; God doth use to confound the great andmighty by things that are not, and that are despised. 

When once the master of the house is risen up, that is, when Christhath laid aside his mediation for sinners, and hath taken upon himonly to judge and condemn, then will the wicked begin to standwithout, and to knock and contend for a portion among them that areblessed. Ah, how will their hearts twitter while they look upon thekingdom of glory! And how will they ache and throb at every view ofhell, their proper place; still crying, O that we might inheritlife, and O that we might escape eternal death!

Thus you see how loath the sinner is now to take a hay of lifeeverlasting. He that once would not be persuaded to close with theLord Jesus, though one should have persuaded him with tears ofblood, behold how fast he now hangs about the Lord: what argumentshe frames with mournful groans; how with shifts and words he seeksto gain time, and to defer the execution. "Lord, open unto us! Lord, Lord, open unto us! Lord, thou hast taught in our streets, and wehave both taught in thy name, and in thy name have we cast outdevils. We have eat and drank in thy presence. And when did we seethee hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or inprison, and did not minister to thee?" O, poor hearts; how loath, how unwillingly do they turn away from Christ; how loath are they topartake of their ungodly doings! Christ must say, "Depart, " once, and "Depart, " twice, before they will depart. When he hath shut thedoor upon them, yet they knock, and cry, "Lord, open unto us:" whenhe hath given them their answer, that he knows them not, yet theyplead and mourn. Wherefore, he is fain to answer again, "I tell you, I know you not whence you are; depart. "

O this word, depart, how dreadful is it; with what weight will itfall on the head of every condemned sinner! For you must note, thatwhile the ungodly stand thus before the Judge, they cannot choosebut have a most distinct view both of the kingdom of heaven, and ofthe damned spirits in hell. Now they see the God of glory, the Kingof glory, the saints of glory, and the angels of glory; and thekingdom in which they have their eternal abode. Now they also beginto see the worth of Christ and what it is to be smiled upon by him, from all which they must depart; and as I say they shall have theview of this, so they will most clearly behold the pit, thebottomless pit, the fire, the brimstone, and the flaming beds thatjustice hath prepared for them of old. 

At the day of judgment, will be tried whether thou art within thatpart of the book of life wherein all the elect are recorded; for allthe elect are written here, as Christ saith, "Rejoice that yournames are written in heaven. "

Now then, if thy name be not found either among the prophets orapostles or the rest of saints, thou must be put by as one that iscast away, as one polluted, and as an abominable branch. Thy name iswanting in the genealogies and rolls of heaven; thou art not markedfor everlasting life; therefore thou must not be delivered from thatsoul-amazing misery: for there are no souls can, though they wouldgive a thousand worlds, be delivered at the day of God, but suchthat are found written in this book. Every one of those that arewritten, though never a one of those that are not written, shall inthat day be delivered from the wrath to come. 

But O methinks, with what careful hearts will the damned now beginto look for their names in this book. Those that, when once thelong-suffering of God waited on them, made light of all admonition, and slighted the counsel of making their calling and election sure, would now give thousands of treasures, that they could but spy theirnames, though last and least among the sons of God. But, I say, howwill they fail; how will they faint; how will they die and languishin their souls, when they shall still, as they look, see their nameswanting! What a pinch will it be to Cain, to see his brother thererecorded, and he himself left out. Absalom will now swoon and be asone that giveth up the ghost, when he shall see David his father, and Solomon his brother written here, while he withal is written inthe earth, among the damned. Thus, I say, will sadness be added tosadness in the soul of the perishing world, when they fail offinding their names in this part of the book of life of the Lambslain from the foundation of the world. 

SINNERS WITHOUT EXCUSE AT THE JUDGMENT. 

Observe, that among all the objections and cavils that are made andwill be made by the ungodly in the day of the Lord Jesus, they havenot one about election, and reprobation: they murmur not at all thatthey were not predestinated to eternal life; and the reason is, because then they shall see, though now they are blind, that Godcould in his prerogative royal, without prejudice to them that aredamned, choose and refuse at pleasure; and besides, they at this dayshall be convinced that there was so much reality, and downrightwillingness in God, in every tender of grace and mercy to the worstof men, and also so much goodness, justness, and reasonableness inevery command of the gospel of grace, which they were so oftenentreated and beseeched to embrace, that they will be drowned in theconviction of this, that they did refuse love, grace, andreason--love, I say, for hatred, grace for sin, and thingsreasonable for things unreasonable and vain. Now they shall see theyleft glory for shame, God for the devil, heaven for hell, light fordarkness. Now they shall see, that though they made themselvesbeasts, yet God made them reasonable creatures; and that he did withreason expect that they should have adhered to, and have delightedin, things that are good and according to God. Yea, now they shallsee and be convinced, that though God did not determine to bringthem to heaven against their hearts and wills, and the love thatthey had to their sins, yet that God was far from infusing any thinginto their souls, that should in the least hinder, weaken, obstruct, or let them in seeking the welfare of their souls. Now, men willtattle and prattle at a mad rate about election and reprobation, andconclude that because all are not elected, therefore God is to blamethat any are damned. But then they will see that they are not damnedbecause they were not elected, but because they sinned; and also, that they sinned, not because God put any weakness into their souls, but because they gave way, and that wilfully, knowingly, anddesperately, to Satan and his suggestions; and so turned away fromthe holy commandment delivered unto them. Yea, then they will see, that though God at some times did fasten his cords about their headsand heels and hands, both by godly education and smartingconvictions, yet they rushed away with violence from all, saying, "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their cords fromus. " God will be justified in his sayings, and clear when hejudgeth; though men's proud ignorance thinks to have and to multjplycavils against him. 

Now shall be brought before thee and all men, how many strugglingsGod had with thy heart, on the sick-bed, to do thee good; yea, andat such times, how many vows, promises, engagements, and resolutionsthou madest before God to turn, if he would release thee from thyaffliction and turn off his rod from thy back; and yet how thoudidst, like the man possessed, break and snap in twain all thesechains of iron with which thou hadst bound thy soul; and that for avery lust or sin. Here also will be opened before thee how oftenthou hast sinned against thy light and knowledge; how often thouhast laid violent hands on thy own conscience; how often thou hastlabored to put out that light that hath stood in thy way to hinderthee from sinning against thy soul. Ah, Lord, what a condition willthe Christless soul be in at that day; how will every one of thesethings afflict the damned soul they will pierce like arrows, andbite like serpents, and sting like an adder. With what shame willthat man stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, who must have allthings he hath done against God to provoke the eyes of his glory tojealousy, laid open before the whole host of the heavenly train. Itwould make a man blush to have his pockets searched for things thatare stolen, in the midst of a market, especially if he stand uponhis reputation and honor. But thou must have thy heart searched, thebottom of thy heart searched; and that, I say, before thy neighborwhom thou hast wronged, and before the devils whom thou hast served;yea, before God whom thou hast despised, and before the angels, those holy and delicate creatures, whose holy and chaste faces willscarce forbear blushing. 

"IGNORANCE" CONDEMNED AT THE JUDGMENT. 

While I was gazing at all these things, I turned my head to lookback, and saw Ignorance come up to the riverside; but he soon gotover, and that without half the difficulty which the other two menmet with. For it happened that there was then in that place oneVain-hope, a ferryman, that with his boat helped him over. So he, asthe others I saw, did ascend the hill to come up to the gate; onlyhe came alone, neither did meet with any the least encouragement. When he was come up to the gate, he looked up to the writing thatwas above, and then began to knock, supposing that entrance shouldhave been quickly administered to him; but he was asked by the menthat looked over the top of the gate, "Whence come you? and whatwould you have?" He answered, "I have eat and drank in the presenceof the King, and he has taught in our streets. " Then they asked himfor his certificate, that they might go in and show it to the King. So he fumbled in his bosom for one, and found none. Then said they, "Have you none?" But the man answered never a word. So they told theking; but he would not come down to see him, but commanded the twoshining ones that conducted Christian and Hopeful to the city, to goout and take Ignorance, and bind him hand and foot, and have himaway. Then they took him up and carried him through the air to thedoor that I saw in the side of the hill, and put him in there. ThenI saw that there was a way to hell even from the gates of heaven, aswell as from the city of Destruction. 

XXVII. HEAVEN. 

HAPPINESS AND GLORY OF HEAVEN. 

HEAVEN! It is called the paradise of God--a paradise, to show howquiet, harmless, sweet, and beautiful heaven shall be to them thatpossess it. 

"The street of the city was pure gold. " All the visions were rich, but this the richest, that the floor of the house should be coveredwith gold. The floor and street are walking-places, and how richwill our steps be then! Alas, here we sometimes step into the mire, and then again stumble upon blocks and stones. Here we sometimesfall into the holes, and have our heel often catched in a snare; butthere will be none of these. Gold! gold! all will be gold, andgolden perfections, when we come into the holy place. 

If a sight of sin and the love of God will make such work in thatsoul where yet there is unbelief, blindness, mistrust, andforgetfulness; what will a sight of sin do in that soul which isswallowed up of love, which is sinless and temptationless, whichhath all faculties of soul and body strained by love and grace tothe highest pin of perfection that is possible to be in gloryenjoyed and possessed?

O the wisdom and goodness of God, that he at the day of judgmentshould so cast about the worst of our things, even those thatnaturally tend to sink us and damn us, for our great advantage. Allthings shall work together for good, indeed, to them that love God. Those sins that brought a curse upon the whole world, that spilt theheart-blood of our dearest Saviour, and that laid his tender soulunder the flaming wrath of God, shall, by his wisdom and love, tendto the exaltation of his grace, and the inflaming of our affectionsto him for ever and ever. 

These visions, that the saved in heaven shall have of the love ofChrist, will far transcend our utmost knowledge here; even as far asthe light of the sun at noon goes beyond the light of a blinkingcandle at midnight. 

As there are great saints and small ones in the church on earth, sothere are angels of divers degrees in heaven; some greater thansome; but the smallest saint, when he gets to heaven, shall have anangel's dignity, an angel's place. 

 What goodly mansions He for them provides, Though here they meet rough winds and swelling tides; How brave a calm they will enjoy at last, Who to the Lord and to his ways hold fast. 

EMPLOYMENTS OF HEAVEN. 

This love of Christ, if I may so say, will keep the saints in anemploy, even when they are in heaven; though not an employ, that islaborsome, tiresome, burdensome, yet an employ that is dutiful, delightful, and profitable; for although the work and worship ofsaints in heaven is not particularly revealed as yet, and so it dothnot yet appear what we shall be, yet in the general we may say, there will be that for them to do that has not yet by them beendone; and by that work which they shall do there, their delight willbe unto them. Nor will this at all derogate from their glory. Theangels now wait upon God, and serve him; the Son of God is now aminister, and waiteth upon his service in heaven. Some saints havebeen employed about service for God after they have been in heaven;and why we should be idle spectators when we come thither, I see notreason to believe. It may be said, They there rest from theirlabors. True, but not from their delights. All things then that oncewere burdensome, whether in suffering or service, shall be doneaway, and that which is delightful and pleasurable shall remain. 

Now, just as the gates were opened to let in the men, I looked inafter them, and behold, the city shone like the sun; the streetsalso were paved with gold, and in them walked many men with crownson their heads, palms in their hands, and golden harps to singpraises withal. There were also of them that had wings; and theyanswered one another without intermission, saying, "Holy, holy, holyis the Lord. " And after that they shut up the gates; which when Ihad seen, I wished myself among them. 

"Strive to enter in. " "Enter in"--into heaven, that is the meaning, where the saved are and shall be--into heaven, that place, thatglorious place where God and Christ and angels are, and the souls ofjust men made perfect. "Enter in:" that thing included though notexpressed in the words, is called in another place the "mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the general assembly and church of thefirst-born which are written in heaven. " And therefore the wordssignify unto us that there is a state most glorious, and that whenthis world is ended; and that this place and state is likewise to beenjoyed by a generation of men forever. Besides, this word "enterin" signifies that salvation to the full is to be enjoyed onlythere, and that there only is eternal safety; all other places andconditions are hazardous, full of snares, imperfections, temptations, and afflictions. But there all is well; there is nodevil to tempt, no desperately wicked heart to deliver us up, nodeceitful lust to entangle, nor any enchanting world to bewitch us;there all shall be well to all eternity. Further, all the parts ofand circumstances that attend salvation, are only there to beenjoyed: there only is immortality and eternal life; there is theglory and fulness of joy and the everlasting pleasures; there is Godand Christ to be enjoyed by open vision; and more, there are theangels and the saints; there is no death nor sickness, no sorrow norsighing for ever; there is no pain, nor persecution, nor darkness toeclipse our glory. O this mount Zion! O this heavenly Jerusalem!

SOUL AND BODY GLORIFIED IN HEAVEN. 

"When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and thismortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to passthat saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. "

So when this comes to pass, then we shall be saved, then willsalvation in all the parts of it meet together in our glory, then weshall be every way saved: saved in God's decree, saved in Christ'sundertakings, saved by faith, saved in perseverance, saved in soul, and in body and soul together, in the heavens; saved perfectly, everlastingly, gloriously. 

I would discourse a little of the state of our body and soul inheaven, when we shall enjoy this blessed state of salvation. 

1. Of the soul. It will then be filled in all the faculties of itwith as much his and glory as ever it can hold. 

The understanding will then be perfect in knowledge. "Now we know inpart"--we know God, Chrit, heaven, and glory, but in part; "butswhenthat which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall bedone away. " Then shall we have perfect and everlasting visions ofGod, and that blessed One his Son Jesus Christ; a good thought ofwhom doth sometimes so fill us, while in this world, that it causethjoy unspeakable and full of glory. 

Then shall our will and affections be ever in a burning flame oflove to God and his Son Jesus Christ. Our love here hath ups anddowns; but there it shall be always perfect with that perfectionwhich is not possible in this world to be enjoyed. 

Then will, our conscience have that peace and joy, that neithertongue or pen of men or angels can express. 

Then will our memory be so enlarged as to retain all things thathappened to us in this world; so that with unspeakable aptness weshall call to mind all God's providences, all Satan's malice, allour weaknesses, all the rage of men, and how God made all worktogether for his glory and our good, to the everlasting ravishing ofour hearts. 

2. For our body, it shall be raised in power, in incorruption, aspiritual body and glorious. 

It is compared to the brightness of the firmament, and to theshining of the stars for ever and ever. It is compared to theshining of the sun. It is said that then our vile body shall be likethe glorious body of Jesus Christ. Their state is then to be equallyglorious with angels. 

And now when body and soul are thus united, who can imagine whatglory they both possess? They will now be both in capacity withoutjarring to serve the Lord; with shouting, thanksgivings, and with acrown of everlasting joy upon their head. 

In this world there cannot he the harmony and oneness of body andsoul that there will he in heaven. Here the body sometimes sinsagainst the soul, and the soul again vexes and perplexes the bodywith dreadful apprehensions of the wrath and judgment of God. Whilewe are in this world, the body oft hangs this way, and the soulquite the contrary; but there in heaven they shall have such perfectunion as never to jar more. The glory of the body shall so suit withthe glory of the soul, and both so perfectly suit with the heavenlystate, that it passeth words and thoughts. 

Oh sinner, what sayest thou? How dost thou like being saved? Dothnot thy mouth water? Doth not thy heart twitter at being saved? Why, come then. "The Spirit and the bride say, Come; and let him thatheareth say, Come; and let him that is athirst come; and whosoeverwill, let him take the water of life freely. "

CHRIST THE GLORY OF HEAVEN. 

"For the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the lightthereof. " Mark, though now there shall be no need of temple, sun, ormoon, yet Christ the Lamb, or the man who was offered in sacrificefor our redemption, shall be of use and benefit; "for the glory ofGod did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. " Wherefore, all that we who are the saved shall enjoy of glory and sweetness inanother world, though we shall not enjoy it from God through Christby and in the ordinances, yet we shall enjoy it through Christ theLamb without them; for "the Lamb is the light of it. "

By this word Lamb he would have us understand, that when we are inglory, the blood, death, and bloody conquest that the man Christ didget over our infernal enemies, will be of eternal use to us; becausethat benefit of Christ shall not only for ever be the foundation ofour eternal felicity, but the burden of our song of glory in all ourraptures among the angels. It will he the blood, the blood, theredeeming blood of the Lamb. "Blessing, and honor, and glory, andpower be unto him that sits upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, forever and ever. " It is he in whom will be found the seven eyes, theseven Spirits of God; in whose light we shall see the heights anddepths of those springs and everlasting fountains and depths ofglory for ever. And indeed the conceit of the contrary is foolish. Is not Christ the head, and we the members? And do not the membersreceive their whole light, guidance, and wisdom from it? Is not healso the price, the ground, and bottom of our happiness, both inthis world and that which is to come? And is it possible it shouldbe forgotten, or that by it our joy, light, and heaven should not bemade the sweeter to all eternity? Our soul is now bound up in him asin a bundle of life; and when we come thither he is still theChrist, our life; and it is by our being where he is that we shallbehold his glory and our glory, because he is glorified: "For theglory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof. " Ashe said, "Ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice and your joy no man taketh from you. "

THE GLORY OF SALVATION. 

What a surprise will it be to them that now have come to God byChrist, to see themselves in heaven indeed, saved indeed, andpossessed of everlasting life indeed. For alas, what is faith topossession?--faith that is mixed with many tears, that is opposedwith many assaults, and that seems sometimes to be quiteextinguished--I say, what is that to a seeing myself in heaven?Hence it is said that "he shall then come to be admired in them thatnow believe;" then they shall admire that it was their lot tobelieve when they were in the world. They shall also admire tothink, to see, and behold what believing has brought them to; whilethe rest, for refusing to come to God by Christ, drink their tearsmixed with burning brimstone. 

What a joy will it be to the truly godly to think now that they arecome to God by Christ. It was their mercy to begin to come; it wastheir happiness that they continued coming; but it is their glorythat they are come, that they are come to God by Christ. 

To God! why, he is all in all; all that is good, essentially good, and eternally good. To God, the infinite ocean of good. Oh that Icould imagine, Oh that I could think, that I might write moreeffectually to thee of the happy estate of them that come to God byChrist. 

HEAVEN. 

 What gladness shall possess our heart, When we shall see these things; What light and life in every part Rise like eternal springs! O, blessed face; O, holy grace, When shall we see this day? Lord, fetch us to this goodly place, We humbly to thee pray. 

 Thus when in heavenly harmony These blessed saints appear, Adorned with grace and majesty, What gladness will be there! Thus shall we see, thus shall we be, O, would the day were come: Lord Jesus, take us up to thee, To this desired home. 

 Angels we also shall behold, When we on high ascend, Each shining like to men of gold, And on the Lord attend. These goodly creatures, full of grace, Shall stand about the throne, Each one with lightning in his face, And shall to us be known. 

 There cherubim, with one accord, Continually do cry, "Ah, holy, holy, holy Lord, And heavenly majesty!" These will us in their arms embrace, And welcome us to rest, And joy to see us clad with grace And of the heavens possest. 

XXVIII. HELL. 

HELL is a place and state utterly unknown to any in this visibleworld, excepting the souls of men; nor shall any for ever be capableof understanding the miseries thereof, save souls and fallen angels. 

Now I think as the joys of heaven stand not only in speculation orin beholding of glory, but in a sensible enjoyment and unspeakablepleasure which these glories will yield to the soul; so the tormentsof hell will not stand in the present lashes and strokes which bythe flames of eternal fire God will scourge the ungodly with; butthe torments of hell stand much, if not in the greatest part ofthem, in those deep thoughts and apprehensions which souls in thenext world will have of the nature and occasion of sin, of God, andof separation from him--of the eternity of those miseries, and ofthe utter impossibility of their help, ease, or deliverance forever. Oh, damned souls will have thoughts that will clash withglory, clash with justice, clash with law, clash with themselves, clash with hell, and with the everlastingness of misery. 

Miseries as well as mercies sharpen and make quick the apprehensionsof the soul. Behold Spira in his book, Cain in his guilt, and Saulwith the witch of Endor, and you shall see men ripened, men enlargedand greatened in their fancies, imaginations, and apprehensions, though not about God and heaven and glory, yet about their loss, their misery, their woe, and their hell. 

A man may endure to touch the fire with a short touch, and away; butto dwell with everlasting burnings, that is fearful. Oh then, whatis dwelling with them and in them for ever and ever? We use to say, "Light burdens carried far are heavy:" what then will it be to bearthat burden, that guilt, that the law and the justice and the wrathof God will lay upon the lost soul for ever? Now tell the stars, nowtell the drops of the sea, and now tell the blades of grass that arespread upon the face of all the earth, if thou canst; and yet soonermayest thou do this than count the thousands of millions ofthousands of years that a damned soul shall lie in hell! Supposeevery star that is now in the firmament was to burn by himself oneby one, a thousand years apiece, would it not be a long while beforethe last of them was burnt out? and yet sooner might that be donethan the damned soul be at the end of punishment. 

He that has lost his soul has lost himself. He is, as I may say, nowout of his own hands; he has lost himself, his soul self, his ownself, his whole self, by sin and wrath; and hell hath found him. Heis now no more at his own dispose, but at the dispose of justice, ofwrath and hell. He is committed to prison, to hell prison, there toabide, not at pleasure, not as long and as little time as he will, but the term appointed by his Judge; nor may he there choose his ownaffliction, neither for manner, measure, or continuance. It is Godthat will spread the fire and brimstone under him, and it is Godhimself that will blow the fire. Isa. 30:33. 

There will be no such grace as patience in hell with him who haslost himself: here will also be wanting a bottom for patience, towit, the providence of God; for a providence of God, though never sodismal, is a bottom for patience to the afflicted; but men go not tohell by providence, but by sin. 

"Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for thedevil and his angels. " This curse is the chief and highest of allkinds of curses. It lieth in a deprivation of all good, and in abeing swallowed up of all the most fearful miseries, that a holy andjust and eternal God can righteously inflict, or lay upon the soulof a sinful man. 

Now let reason here come in and exercise itself in the mostexquisite manner, yea, let it now count up all and all manner ofcurses and torments that a reasonable and immortal soul is or can bemade capable of, and able to suffer under; and when it has done, itshall come infinitely short of this great anathema, thismaster-curse, which God has reserved amongst his treasures, andintends to bring out in that day of battle and war which hepurposeth to make upon damned souls in that day. 

"The sting of death is sin. " Sin in the general of it is the stingof hell, for there would be no such thing as torment even there, were it not that sin is there with sinners; for the fire of hell, the indignation and wrath of God can fasten and kindle upon nothingbut for or because of sin. Sin then, as sin, is the sting and thehell of hells, of the lowest and upmost hells--sin, I say, in thenature of it, simply as it is concluded both by God and the damnedto be a breach of his holy law, so it is the sting of the seconddeath, which is the worm of hell. 

But then, as sin is such a sting in itself, so it is heightened, sharpened, made more keen and sharp, by those circumstances thatattend it in every act; for there is not a sin at any time committedby man, but there is some circumstance or other attends it thatmakes it, when charged home by God's law, bigger and sharper andmore venomous and poisonous to the soul, than if it could becommitted without them; and this is the sting of the hornet, thegreat sting. I sinned without a cause, to please a base lust, togratify the devil: here is the sting. Again, I preferred sin beforeholiness, death before life, hell before heaven, the devil beforeGod, and damnation before a Saviour: here is the sting. Again, Ipreferred moments before everlastings, temporals before eternals, tobe racked and always slaying before the life that is blessed andendless: here is the sting. Also, this I did against light, againstconvictions, against conscience, against persuasions of friends andministers, and the godly lives which I beheld in others: here is thesting. Also, this I did against warnings; yea, though I saw othersfall before my face by the mighty hand of God for committing thesame: here is the sting. 

Sinners, would I could persuade you to hear me out: a man cannotcommit a sin, but by the commission of it he doth by somecircumstance or other sharpen the sting of hell, and that to piercehimself through and through and through with many sorrows. 

Also, the sting of hell to some will be, that the damnation ofothers stands upon their score; for that by imitating them, by beingdeluded by them, persuaded by them, drawn in by them, others perishin hell for ever. 

Ah, this will be the sting of those that are principal, chief, andas I may call them, the captain and ringleading sinners. Vipers willcome out of other men's fire and flames, and settle upon, seizeupon, and for ever abide upon their consciences; and this will bethe sting of hell, the great sting of hell to them. 

I will yet add to this, how will the fairness of some for heaven, even the thoughts of that, sting them when they come to hell. Itwill not be so much their fall into the pit, as from whence theyfell into it, that will be to them the buzzing noise and sharpenedsting of the great and terrible hornet. "How art thou fallen fromheaven, O Lucifer!"--there is the sting. Thou that art exalted up toheaven, shalt be thrust down to hell; though thou hast made thy nestamong the stars, from thence will I fetch thee down: there is asting. To be pulled, for and through love to some vain lust, fromthe everlasting gates of glory, and caused to be swallowed up for itin the belly of hell, and made to lodge for ever in the darksomechambers of death: there is the piercing sting. 

But again, as there is the sting of hell, so there is the strengthof that sting; for a sting, though never so sharp or venomous, yetif it wanteth strength to force it to the designed execution, itdoth but little hurt. But this sting hath strength to cause it topierce into the soul: "The sting of death is sin, and the strengthof sin is the law. " I Cor. 15:56; Rom. 7:8; 4:15. 

Here then is the strength of the sting of hell: it is the law in theperfect penalty of it; for without the law, sin is dead; yea, whereno law is, there is no transgression. The law then followeth, in theexecutive part of it, the soul into hell; and there strengthenedsin, that sting in hell, to pierce the soul for ever and ever by itsunutterable charging of sin on the conscience. Nor can the souljustly murmur or repine at God or his law; for that then the sharplyapprehensive soul will well discern the justness, righteousness, reasonableness, and goodness of the law, and that nothing is done bythe law unto it, but that which is just and equal. 

This, therefore, will put great strength and force into sin to stingthe soul, and to strike it with the lashes of a scorpion. 

And besides these, the abiding life of God, the Judge and God ofthis law, will never die. When princes die, the law may be alteredby which at present transgressors are bound in chains; but Oh, hereis also that which will make this sting so sharp and keen: the Godthat executes it will never die. "It is a fearful thing to fall intothe hands of the living God. " Heb. 10: 30, 31. 

"This shall they have of my hand, they shall lie down in sorrow;"they shall lie down in it, they shall make their bed there, therethey shall lie. And this is the bitter pill that they must swallowdown at last; for after all their tears, their sorrows, theirrepentings, their wishings and wouldings, and all their inventingsand desires to change their state for a better, they must lie downin sorrow. 

The poor condemned man that is upon the ladder or scaffold, has, ifone knew them, many a long wish and long desire that he might comedown again alive, or that his condition was as one of thespectators, that are not condemned and brought thither to beexecuted as he. How carefully also does he look with his failingeyes, to see if some one comes not from the king with a pardon forhim, all the while endeavoring to fumble away, as well as he can, and to prolong the minute of his execution. But at last, when he haslooked, when he has wished, when he has desired and done whatever hecan, the blow with the axe, or the turn with the ladder, is his lot:so he goes off the scaffold; so he goes from among men. 

And thus will it be with those we have under consideration: when allcomes to all, and they have said and wished and done what theycould, the judgment must not be reversed; they must lie down insorrow. 

XXIX. MISCELLANEOUS. 

THE SABBATH. 

THIS day is called the Lord's day, the day in which he rose from thedead. The Lord's day: every day, say some, is the Lord's day. Indeedthis, for discourse' sake, may he granted; but strictly, no day canso properly be called the Lord's day, as this first day of the week;for that no day of the week, or of the year, has those hadges of theLord's glory upon it, nor such divine grace put upon it, as hisfirst day of the week. 

There is nothing, as I know of, that bears this title but the Lord'ssupper, and this day. And since Christians count it an abuse toallegorize the first, let them also be ashamed to fantasticalize thelast. 

The Lord's day is doubtless the day in which he rose from the dead. To be sure, it is not the old seventh day; for from the day that hearose, to the end of the Bible, we find not that he did hang so muchas one twist of glory upon that; but this day is beautified withglory upon glory, and that both by the Father and the Son, by theprophets, and those that were raised from the dead thereon:therefore this day must be more than the rest. 

As for the seventh day, that is gone to its grave with the signs andshadows of the Old Testament. Yea, and has such a dash left upon itby apostolical authority, that is is enough to make a Christian flyfrom it for ever. 2 Cor. 3. 

God the Father leaves such a stamp of divine note and honor uponthis day, as he never before did leave upon any, where he saith toour Lord, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee;" stillhaving respect to the first day of the week, for that and no otheris the day here intended by the apostle: THIS DAY, saith God, is theday. "And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now nomore to return to corruption, he saith on this wise, I will givethee the sure mercies of David;" wherefore he saith in anotherpsalm, "Thou wilt not suffer thy Holy One to see corruption. "

Now shall not Christians, when they read that God saith, THIS DAY, and that too with reference to a work done on it by him so full ofdelight to him, and so full of life and heaven to them, set also amark upon it? "This was the day of God's pleasure, " for that his Sondid rise thereon; "and shall it not be the day of my delight inhim?"

Shall kings and princes and great men set a mark upon the day oftheir birth and coronation, and expect that both subjects andservants should do them high honor on that day; and shall the day inwhich Christ was both begotten and born be a day contemned byChristians?

If God remembers it, well may I. If God says, and that with allgladness of heart, "Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee;"may not, ought not I also to set this day apart to sing the songs ofmy redemption in?

This day my redemption was finished. 

This day my dear Jesus revived. 

This day he was declared to be the Son of God with power. 

Yea, this is the day in which the Lord Jesus finished a greater workthan ever yet was done in the world; yea, a work in which the Fatherhimself was more delighted than he was in making heaven and earth;and shall darkness and the shadow of death stain this day? Or shalla cloud dwell on this day? Shall God regard this day from above, andshall not his light shine upon this day? What shall be done to themthat curse this day, and would not that the stars should give theirlight thereon? THIS DAY! after this day was come, God never, that weread of, made mention with delight of the old seventh-day Sabbathmore. 

"The woman which thou gavest to be with me, she gave me of thetree. " Gen. 3. The woman was given for a help, not a hinderance; butSatan often maketh that to become our snare which God hath given usas a blessing. 

"And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this that thou hastdone?" Gen. 3. What is this? God seems to speak as if he wereastonished at the inundation of evil which the woman by her sin hadoverflowed the world withal. What is this that thou hast done? Thouhast undone thyself, thou hast undone thy husband, thou hast undoneall the world; yea, thou hast brought a curse upon the wholecreation, with an overplus of evils, plagues, and distresses. 

What is this that thou hast done? Thou hast defiled thy body andsoul, thou hast disabled the whole world from serving God; yea, moreover, thou hast let in the devil at the door of thy heart, andhast also made him the prince of the world. What is this that thouhast done? Ah, little, little do sinners know what they have done, when they have transgressed the law of the Lord. 

As death and the curse came into the world by a woman, so also didlife and health: "God sent forth his Son, made of a woman. " Yea, toshow how much those that came after did abhor the act of the mother, this sex, in the Old Testament, coveted children, if happily this orthat woman might be the mother of the Saviour of the world. I willsay again, that when the Saviour was come, woman rejoiced in him, before either man or angel. I read not that ever man did give untoChrist so much as one groat; but the women followed him andministered unto him of their substance. It was a woman that washedhis feet with tears, and a woman that anointed his body to theburial. They were women that wept when he was going to the cross;and women that followed him from the cross, and that sat by hissepulchre when he was buried. They were women that were first withhim at his resurrection-morn, and women that brought tidings firstto the disciples that he was risen from the dead. Women thereforeare highly favored, and show by these things that they are sharerswith us in the grace of life. 

All the glory of this world, had not Adam had a wife, could not havecompleted this man's blessedness. He would yet have been wanting. 

THE FAMILY. 

A master of a family and a mistress of the same are those that areentrusted of God with those under their tuition and care to bebrought up for him, be they children or servants. 

Look to it and consider with thyself whether thou hast done suchduty and service for God in this matter, that, setting commonfacilities aside, thou canst with good conscience lift up thy faceunto God; the which to be sure thou canst by no means do, ifiniquity to the utmost be not banished out of thy house. 

And will it not be a sad complaint that thy servant shall take upagainst thee before the Judge, at the last day, that he learnt theway to destruction in thy house, who art a professor? Servants, though themselves be carnal, expect, when they come into the houseof professors, that there they shall see religion in spanglingcolors; but behold, when he enters thy door, he finds sin andwickedness there. There is pride instead of humility, and height ofraillery instead of meekness and holiness of mind. He looked for ahouse full of virtue, and behold nothing but spider-webs; fair andplausible abroad, but like the sow in the mire at home. 

"Bless me, " saith such a servant, "are these the religious people?are these the servants of God, where iniquity is made so much of andis so highly entertained?"

And now is his heart filled with prejudice against all religion, orelse he turns hypocrite like his master and mistress, wearing, asthey, a cloak of religion to cover all abroad, while all is nakedand shameful at home. 

But perhaps thy heart is so hard and thy mind so united to thepleasing of thy vile affections, that thou wilt say, "What care Ifor my servant? I took him to do my work, not to train him up inreligion. " Well, suppose the soul of thy servant be thus littleworth in thine eyes; yet what wilt thou say for thy children, whobehold all thy ways, and are as capable of drinking up the poison ofthy footsteps, as the swine is of drinking up swill: I say, whatwilt thou do for them? Children will learn to be wicked ofparents--of professing parents soonest of all; they will be temptedto think all that they do is right. I say, what wilt thou say tothis? Or art thou like the ostrich whom God hath deprived of wisdom, and hath hardened her heart against her young? Will it please thee, when thou shalt see that thou hast brought forth children to themurderer? or when thou shalt hear them cry, I learnt to go on in thepaths of sin by the carriage of professing parents? If it wascounted of old a sad thing for a man to bring forth children to thesword, as Ephraim did; what will it be for a man to bring upchildren for hell? Hos. 9:13. 

"And Jared lived after he begat Enoch eight hundred years, and begatsons and daughters. " He lived therefore to see the fruit of his goodrule and government in the church, even to see his teachable anddedicated son caught up to God and to his throne. 

A good encouragement to all rulers in the house of God, and also toall godly parents, to teach and rule in the fear of God; for that isthe way to part with church-members and children with comfort; yea, that is the way, if we shall outlive them, to send them to heavenand to God before us. 

If parents carry it lovingly towards their children, mixing theirmercies with loving rebukes, and their loving rebukes with fatherlyand motherly compassions, they are more likely to save theirchildren than by being churlish and severe towards them. But if theydo not save them, if their mercy do them no good, yet it willgreatly ease them at the day of death to consider, I have done bylove as much as I could to save and deliver my child from hell. 

Let them that name the name of Christ depart from family-iniquity. There is a house-iniquity--an iniquity that loves not to walkabroad, but to harbor within doors. This the holy man David wasaware of; therefore he said that he would behave himself wisely, ina perfect way; yea, saith he, "I will walk within my house with aperfect heart. "

Many that show like saints abroad, yet act the part of devils whenthey are at home by giving way to this house-iniquity. This iniquitymeeteth the man and his wife at the very threshold of the door, andwill not suffer them to enter, no, not with one foot into the house, in peace: but how far this is from walking together as heirs of thegrace of life, is easy to be determined. Men should carry it in loveto their wives, as Christ doth to his church; and wives should carryit to their husbands, as the church ought to carry it to herSaviour, Eph. 5: 21-28; 1 Pet. 3: 7; and until each relation bemanaged with respect to these things, this house-iniquity will becherished there. Oh, God sees within doors as well as without, andwill judge too for the iniquity of the house as well as for thatmore open. 

A man's house and his conduct there do more bespeak the nature andtemper of his mind than all public profession. If I were to judge ofa man for my life, I would not judge of him by his open profession, but by his domestic behaviors. 

Open profession is like a man's best cloak, which is worn by himwhen he walks abroad, and with many is made but little use of athome. But now what a man is at home, that he is indeed. There isabroad, my house, my closet, my heart; and my house, my closet, showmost what I am: though not to the world, yet to my family and toangels. 

To make religion and the power of godliness the chief of my designsat home, before those among whom God by a special hand has placedme, is that which is pleasing to God, and which obtaineth a goodreport of him. Genesis 18:17-19. 

CHARACTER OF TALKATIVE. He talketh of prayer, of repentance, offaith, and of the new birth; but he knows but only to talk of them. I have been in his family, and have observed him both at home andabroad. His house is as empty of religion as the white of an egg isof savor. There is there neither prayer nor sign of repentance forsin; yea, the brute in his kind serves God far better than he. He isthe very stain, reproach, and shame of religion to all that knowhim: it can hardly have a good word in all that end of the townwhere he dwells, through him. Thus say the common people, that knowhim, "A saint abroad and a devil at home. " His poor family find itso: he is such a churl, such a railer at, and so unreasonable withhis servants, that they neither know how to do for or speak to him. 

Domestic iniquity stands also in the disorders of children andservants. Children's unlawful carriage to their parents is a greathouse-iniquity, yea, and a common one too. 2 Tim. 3:2, 3. 

Disobedience to parents is one of the sins of the last days. O it ishorrible to behold how irreverently, how saucily, and malpertly, children, yea, professing children, at this day carry it to theirparents; snapping and checking, curbing and rebuking them, as ifthey had never received their being by them, or had never beenbeholden to them for bringing them up; yea, as if the relation waslost, or as if they had received a dispensation from God to dishonorand disobey parents. 

I will add, that this sin reigns in little and great; for not onlythe small and young, but men are disobedient to their parents; andindeed this is the sin with a shame, that men shall be "disobedientto parents. " Where nowadays shall we see children that are come tomen and women's estate, carry it as by the word they are bound, totheir aged and worn-out parents? I say, where is the honor theyshould put upon them? Who speak to their aged parents with that dueregard to that relation, to their age, to their worn-out condition, that becomes them? Is it not common nowadays for parents to bebrought into bondage and servitude by their children; for parents tobe under, and children above; for parents to be debased, andchildren to lord it over them?

This sin is, I fear, grown to such a height in some, as to make themweary of their parents, and of doing their duty to them. Yea, I wishthat some be not murderers of fathers and mothers by their thoughts, while they secretly long after and desire their death, that theinheritance may be theirs, and that they may be delivered fromobedience to their parents. 1 Tim. 1:9. This is a sin in the house, in the family; a sin that is kept close; but God sees it, and hasdeclared his dislike against it, by an implicit threatening to cutthem off that are guilty of it. Eph. 5:1-3. 

Many that have had very hopeful beginnings for heaven, have, byvirtue of the mischiefs that have attended unlawful marriages, Deut. 7:4, 5; 2 Cor. 6:14, miserably and fearfully miscarried. Soon aftersuch marriages, conviction, the first step towards heaven, hathceased; prayers, the next step towards heaven, have ceased;hungerings and thirstings after salvation, another step towards thekingdom of heaven, have ceased. In a word, such marriages haveestranged them from the word, from their godly and faithful friends, and have brought them again into carnal company, among carnalfriends, and also into carnal delights; where and with whom theyhave, in conclusion, both sinfully abode and miserably perished. 

Servants are goers as well as comers: take heed that thou give themno occasion to scandal the gospel when they are gone, for what theyobserved thee unrighteously to do when they were with thee. 

Though thy parents be never so low, and thou thyself never so high, yet he is thy father, and she thy mother, and they must be in thineeyes in great esteem. 

BUNYAN'S DOMESTIC CHARACTER. 

But notwithstanding these helps from God, I found myself a manencompassed with infirmities; the parting with my wife and poorchildren, [Footnote: Bunyan had four children, all by his firstmarriage. About 1658, some three years after his baptism, he marriedhis second wife, the heroic Elizabeth. In 1660 he was firstimprisoned. ] hath often been to me in this place as the pulling theflesh from the bones; and that not only because I am somewhat toofond of these great mercies, but also because I should have oftenbrought to my mind the many hardships, miseries, and wants that mypoor family was like to meet with, should I be taken from them;especially my poor blind child, who lay nearer my heart than allbeside. Oh, the thoughts of the hardships which my poor blind onemight undergo, would seem to break my heart in pieces. Poor child, thought I, what sorrow art thou like to have for thy portion in thisworld! thou must he beaten, must beg, suffer hunger, cold, nakedness, and a thousand calamities, though I cannot now endure thewind should blow upon thee. But yet, recalling myself, thought I, Imust venture you all with God, though it goeth to the quick to leaveyou. Oh, I saw in this condition I was as a man who was pulling downhis house upon the heads of his wife and children; yet, thought I, Imust do it, I must do it: and now I thought on those two milch kinethat were to carry the ark of God into another country, and to leavetheir calves behind them. 1 Sam 6:10. 

DR. OWEN. 

What if, as you suggest, the sober Dr. Owen, though he told me andothers, at first, he would write an epistle to my book, ("PeaceablePrinciples and True, ") yet waved it afterwards; this was also to myadvantage; because it was the earnest solicitations of several ofyou that at that time stopped his hand: and perhaps it was more forthe glory of God that truth should, go naked into the world, than asseconded by so mighty an armor-bearer as he. 

TRUTH. 

The truth is of that nature, that the more it is opposed, the moreglory it appears in; and the more the adversary objects against it, the more it will clear itself. 

There belongs to every true notion of truth, a power; the notion isthe shell, the power the kernel and life. 

It is impossible that a carnal heart should conceive of the weightthat truth lays upon the conscience of a believer. They see nothing, alas, nothing at all but a truth; and, say they, Are you such foolsas to stand groaning to bear up that, or what is contained therein?They see not the weight, the glory, the weight of glory, that is ina truth of God; and therefore they laugh at them that will count itworth the while to endure so much to support it from falling to theground. 

Truths are often delivered to us, like wheat in full ears, to theend we should rub them out before we eat them, and take pains aboutthem, before we have the comfort of them. 

STYLE. 

 I could, were I so pleased, use higher-strains, And for applause on tenters stretch my brains; But what needs that? The arrow out of sight Does not the sleeper nor the watchman fright: To shoot too high doth make but children gaze, 'Tis that which hits the man doth him amaze. 

 Should all be forced their brains to lay aside, That cannot regulate the flowing tide By this or that man's fancy, we should have The wise unto the fool become a slave. 

Words easy to be understood do often hit the mark, when high andlearned ones do only pierce the air. He also that speaks to theweakest, may make the learned understand him; when he that strivethto be high, is not only for the most part understood but of a sort, but also many times is neither understood by them nor by himself. 

THE OLD AND NEW DISPENSATIONS. 

There is as great a difference between their dispensation and oursfor comfort, as there is between the making of a bond with a promiseto seal it, and the actual sealing. It was made indeed in theirtime, but it was not sealed until the blood was shed on Calvary. 

THE PILGRIM IN NEW ENGLAND. 

 My Pilgrim's book has travelled sea and land; Yet could I never come to understand That it was slighted, or turned out of door By any kingdom, were they rich or poor. In France, and Flanders, where men kill each other My Pilgrim is esteemed a friend, a brother. In Holland too, 'tis said, as I am told, My Pilgrim is with some worth more than gold; Highlanders and wild Irish can agree My Pilgrim should familiar with them be. 'Tis in New England under such advance, Receives there so much loving countenance, As to be trimmed, new clothed, and decked with gems, That it may show its features and its limbs. Yet more, so public doth my Pilgrim walk, That of him thousands daily sing and talk. 

NOTICES OF BUNYAN. 

THIS wonderful book, [the Pilgrim's Progress, ] while it obtainsadmiration from the most fastidious critics, is loved by those whoare too simple to admire it. Dr. Johnson, all whose studies weredesultory, and who hated, as he said, to read books through, made anexception in favor of the Pilgrim's Progress. That work, he said, was one of the two or three which he wished longer. In every nurserythe Pilgrim's Progress is a greater favorite than Jack theGiant-killer. Every reader knows the strait and narrow path as wellas he knows a road in which he has gone backward and forward ahundred times. This is the highest miracle of genius--that thingswhich are not should be as though they were, that the imaginationsof one mind should become the personal recollections of another. Cowper said, forty or fifty years ago, that he dared not name JohnBunyan in his verse, for fear of moving a sneer. We live in bettertimes; and we are not afraid to say, that though there were manyclever men in England during the latter half of the seventeenthcentury, there were only two great creative minds. One of thoseminds produced the Paradise Lost, the other the PILGRIM'S PROGRESS. 

The style of Bunyan is delightful to every reader, and invaluable asa study to every person who wishes to obtain a wide command over theEnglish language. The vocabulary is the vocabulary of the commonpeople. There is not an expression, if we except a few technicalterms of theology, which would puzzle the rudest peasant. We haveobserved several pages which do not contain a single word of morethan two syllables. Yet no writer has said more exactly what hemeant to say. For magnificence, for pathos, for vehementexhortation, for subtle disquisition, for every purpose of the poet, the orator, and the divine, this homely dialect, the dialect ofplain working-men, was sufficient. There is no book in ourliterature on which we could so readily stake the fame of the oldunpolluted English language--no book which shows so well how richthat language is in its own proper wealth, and how little it hasbeen improved by all that it has borrowed. T. B. Macaulay--Essays. 

To the names of Baxter and Howe must be added the name of a man farbelow them in station and in acquired knowledge, but in virtue theirequal, and in genius their superior, John Bunyan. Bunyan had beenbred a tinker, and had served as a private soldier in theparliamentary army. Early in his life he had been fearfully torturedby remorse for his youthful sins, the worst of which seem, however, to have been such as the world thinks venial. His keen sensibilityand his powerful imagination made his internal conflicts singularlyterrible. He fancied that he was under sentence of reprobation, thathe had committed blasphemy against the Holy Ghost, that he had soldChrist, that he was actually possessed by a demon. Sometimes loudvoices from heaven cried out to warn him. Sometimes fiends whisperedimpious suggestions in his ear. He saw visions of distantmountain-tops, on which the sun shone brightly, but from which hewas separated by a waste of snow. He felt the devil behind himpulling his clothes. He thought, that the brand of Cain had been setupon him. He feared that he was about to burst asunder like Judas. His mental agony disordered his health. One day he shook like a manin the palsy. On another day he felt a fire within his breast. It isdifficult to understand how he survived sufferings so intense and solong-continued. At length the clouds broke. From the depths ofdespair the penitent passed to a state of serene felicity. Anirresistible impulse now urged him to impart to others the blessingof which he was himself possessed. He joined the Baptists, andbecame a preacher and writer. His education had been that of amechanic. He knew no language but the English, as it was spoken bythe common people. He had studied no great model of composition, with the exception--an important exception undoubtedly--of ournoble translation of the Bible. His spelling was bad. He frequentlytransgressed the rules of grammar. Yet his native force of genius, and his experimental knowledge of all the religious passions, fromdespair to ecstasy, amply supplied in him the want of learning. Hisrude oratory roused and melted hearers who listened without interestto the labored discourses of great logicians and Hebraists. Hisworks were widely circulated among the humbler classes. One of them, the Pilgrim's Progress, was in his own lifetime translated intoseveral foreign languages. It was, however, scarcely known to thelearned and polite, and had been during nearly a century the delightof pious cottagers and artisans before it was publicly commended byany man of high literary eminence. At length critics condescended toinquire where the secret of so wide and so durable a popularity lay. They were compelled to own that the ignorant multitude had judgedmore correctly than the learned, and that the despised little bookwas really a masterpiece. Bunyan is indeed as decidedly the first ofallegorists as Demosthenes is the first of orators, or Shakspearethe first of dramatists. Other allegorists have shown equalingenuity, but no other allegorist has ever been able to touch theheart, and to make abstractions objects of terror, of pity, and oflove. 

It may be doubted whether any English dissenter had suffered moreseverely under the penal laws than John Bunyan. Of the twenty-sevenyears which had elapsed since the Restoration, he had passed twelvein confinement. He still persisted in preaching; but that he mightpreach, he was under the necessity of disguising himself like acarter. He was often introduced into meetings through back doorswith a smockfrock on his back, and a whip in his hand. If he hadthought only of his own ease and safety, he would have hailed theindulgence with delight. He was now at length free to pray andexhort in open day. His congregation rapidly increased; thousandshung upon his words; and at Bedford, where he ordinarily resided, money was plentifully contributed to build a meeting-house for him. His influence among the common people was such that the governmentwould willingly have bestowed on him some municipal office; but hisvigorous understanding and his stout English heart were proofagainst all delusion and all temptation. He felt assured that theproffered toleration was merely a bait intended to lure the Puritanparty to destruction; nor would he, by accepting a place for whichhe was not legally qualified, recognize the validity of thedispensing power. One of the last acts of his virtuous life was todecline an interview to which he was invited by an agent Of thegovernment. T. B. Macaulay--History of England. 

The demeanor of Sir Matthew Hale in the case of John Bunyan, theauthor of the Pilgrim's Progress, shows him paying respect both tothe rules of law and to the dictates of humanity. This wonderfulman--who, though bred a tinker, showed a genius little inferior tothat of Dante--having been illegally convicted by the court ofQuarter-sessions, was lying in prison under his sentence in the jailof Bedford. Soon after the restoration of Charles II. , the youngenthusiast had been arrested while he was preaching at a meeting ina private house; and, refusing to enter into an engagement that hewould preach no more, had been indicted as "a person who devilishlyand perniciously abstained from coming to church to hear divineservice, and a common upholder of unlawful meetings andconventicles, to the great disturbance and distraction of the goodsubjects of this realm. "

Little do we know what is for our permanent good. Had Bunyan thenbeen discharged and allowed to enjoy liberty, he no doubt would havereturned to his trade, filling up his intervals of leisure withfield-preaching; his name would not have survived his owngeneration, and he could have done little for the religiousimprovement of mankind. The prison-doors were shut upon him fortwelve years. Being cut off from the external world, he communedwith his own soul; and inspired by Him who touched Isaiah's hallowedlips with fire, he composed the noblest of allegories, the merit ofwhich was first discovered by the lowly, but which is now lauded bythe most refined critics, and which has done more to awaken pietyand to enforce the precepts of Christian morality, than all thesermons that have been published by all the prelates of the Anglicanchurch. Lord Campbell. 

The Pilgrim's Progress is a book which makes its way through thefancy to the understanding and the heart. The child peruses it withwonder and delight; in youth we discover the genius which itdisplays; its worth is apprehended as we advance in years; and weperceive its merits feelingly in declining age. If it is not a wellof English undefiled, to which the poet as well as the philologistmust repair if they would drink of the living waters, it is a clearstream of current English, the vernacular of his age--sometimesindeed in its rusticity and coarseness, but always in its plainnessand its strength. Robert Southey. 

No man of common-sense and common integrity can deny that Bunyan, the tinker of Elstow, was a practical atheist, a worthlesscontemptible infidel, a vile rebel to God and goodness, a commonprofligate. Now be astonished, O heaven, to eternity; and wonder, Oearth and hell, while time endures. Behold this very man become amiracle of mercy, a mirror of wisdom, goodness, holiness, truth, andlove. See his polluted soul cleansed and adorned by divine grace, his guilt pardoned, the divine law inscribed upon his heart, thedivine image, or the resemblance of God's moral perfectionsimpressed upon his soul. Mr. Ryland. 

It has been the lot of John Bunyan, an unlettered artisan, to domore than one in a hundred millions of human beings, even incivilized society, is usually able to do. He has produced a work ofimagination of such decided originality as not only to havecommanded profound admiration on its first appearance, but amidstall changes of time and style and modes of thinking, to havemaintained its place in the popular literature of every succeedingage, with the probability that, so long as the language in which itis written endures, it will not cease to be read by a great numberof the youth of all future generations at that period of life whentheir minds, their imaginations, and their hearts are mostimpressible with moral excellence, splendid picture, and religioussentiment. It would be difficult to name another work of any kind inour native tongue, of which so many editions have been printed, ofwhich so many readers have lived and died, the character of whoselives and deaths must have been more or less affected by its lessonsand examples, its fictions and realities. James Montgomery. 

I know of no book, the Bible excepted as above all comparison, whichI, according to my judgment and experience, could so safelyrecommend as teaching and enforcing the whole saving truth, according to the mind that was in Christ Jesus, as the Pilgrim'sProgress. It is in my conviction the best Summa TheologiaeEvangelicae ever produced by a writer not miraculously inspired. Coleridge's Remains. 

So great was Bunyan's popularity as a preacher, that an eyewitnesssays, when he preached in London, "If there were but one day'snotice given, there would be more people come together to hear himpreach than the meeting-house would hold. I have seen, to hear himpreach, about twelve hundred at a morning lecture, by seven o'clockon a working-day, in the dark winter time. " Charles Doe. 

I hold John Bunyan to have been a man of incomparably greater geniusthan any of them, [the old English divines, ] and to have given a fartruer and more edifying picture of Christianity. His Pilgrim'sProgress seems to be a complete reflection of Scripture, with noneof the rubbish of the theologians mixed up with it. Thomas Arnold, D. D

O thou whom, borne on fancy's eager wing Back to the season oflife's happy spring, I pleased remember, and while memory yet Holdsfast her office here, can ne'er forget; Ingenious Dreamer! in whoseweil-told tale, Sweet fiction and sweet truth alike prevail; Whosehumorous vein, strong sense, and simple style, May teach the gayest, make the gravest smile; Witty, and well-employed, and like thy Lord, Speaking in parables his slighted word; I name thee not, lest sodespised a name Should move a sneer at thy deserved fame; Yet e'enin transitory life's late day, That mingles all my brown with sobergray, Revere the man, whose Pilgrim marks the road And guides theProgress of the soul to God. Cowper