kept up a rare thirst through his goodness after him and a delight in the ways of his communications But I would not it is not for me to speak these things you should be vain in your own conceit But go on I see the Foundation laid he will never leave you be at rest And now study the great mystery of the Gospel of which you have a large notion but I would have you turn every notion into a practical work a practical acting into a practical use I would have you turn it all and labour to do it every day that what you believe may be so to you as substance and not Air and the Lord will visit you and help you Your Nature is timorous and fearful but God coming in to fill your Soul with Faith and fill Faith with powerful workings you will have a great Friend at every turn to be for you to be with you for you will be able to trust God when you see not why nor wherefore to trust to his promise c. His Speech and Charge to his only Child was as followeth MARY I and you must part I and you must part I leave you behind me in the World and my Prayer to God is to keep my child to teach my child to keep you and to make your heart to be full of love to spiritual things that you may not be befooled of your Soul that you may not be befooled of Heaven that you may not perish like a Fool. And I charge you I charge you I charge you in the name of God who is your Judge that you hearken attentively to all the Counsel of your Dear Mother and do not play it away bable and trifle it away see you do it for your everlasting good and concernment and be obedient to her and do not only be fondling but hearken seriously to her Counsel and take it in MARY come to me that I may give you one Kiss I am about to kiss you and this Kiss must be a witness of my true desire of your good I Kiss you in love and my very Kiss will be a witness against my Child if you do not tread in the steps of your PARENTS such as you have observed to be good O my dear Child be not careless therein I leave you now to the conduct of him who is my conducter To a Christian Friend who said we must be willing to part with you you have a Pisga-sight of Canaan he replied I think I am at the very end and yet I do not go out all the day long I am thirsting O blessed be my God I am perswaded he will perform all that concerneth me To another Christian Friend at his taking leave of him he said thus I expect again to see you and an innumerable company more of Saints c. He further spake with respect to his languishing Body If I could have something or other to refresh my Body if the Lord saw it fit but the whole Earth I think is insufficient for it April 25. This day being Wednesday which proved the day of his Death in the Morning he spake to a dear Friend a Minister saying The blessing of the everlasting Gospel be upon you the Lord be with you And about Eleven of the Clock he began to Change having several Agonies and between them he desired to be prayed for saying Lift up a Prayer for me and speak that I may hear you For whatsoever ye shall ask on Earth shall be granted in Heaven let then the Earth be full of Prayer And coming out of another fit said Hitherto hath the Lord helped me I am in the hand of God I am in his hand and under his promise the end of this affliction is in the hand of my God the Lord enable me to abide his Will And the 5th Fit or Agony which was ' twixt four and five of the Clock in the Afternoon he in that Breathed out his Soul into the Arms and Embraces of his dear Lord and Redeemer retaining his senses to the last for even a little before his Decease his Wife asking him how he did he answered with great composure I am almost Dead and desired to be lifted up a little higher which were the last words he spake and a few moments preceding his Departure he opened wide his Eyes and immediately closed them again and so Expired FINIS ERRATA PAge 7. line 16. read see for let p. 10. l. 26. dele and p. 29. l. 32. r. person for perso p. 35. l. 8. del word of the p. 61. l. 8. r. Vail for Vale p. 62. l. 9. r. therein for thereon p. 63. l. 15. r. very for ve p. 70. l. 3. r. converse for dally p. 100. l. 5. r. expatiating for expiating p. 104. l. 34. del he p. 124. l. 28. add him p. 143. l. 15. r. hast for has p. 160. l. 18. add he p. 188. l. 1. r. means for mens p. 203. l. 19. r. floweth for followeth p. 213. l. 14. r. clouds for glouds p. 306. l. 11. r. heart for heat p. 313. l. 5. r. omnipotent for omnipent p. 328. l. 23. r. the for lhe p. 327. l. 3. add not And for any other literal Errors or false Pointings which are very few and inconsiderable the Reader is desired to Correct
then I must stop that I may adventure to cast my self before him who has the Golden Scepter in his hand before I go any further who knows but that he will reach it forth and I shall find favour in his sight I come to thee O Lord. 3. This Union it self which I 'T is only and wholly of God's Free Grace would come at and actually live in is beyond and indeed another thing than the Notion of it 'T is the voluntary and delightful Captivity of my Will and Affections through the Knowledge of him who has called me to this Glory and Vertue it is my true Dwelling-place the very Foundation of my Rest and Repose the Palace of my Triumph the very Spring and Rise of Self-abhorring which makes Self-loathing metalsom and vigorous by issuing it self into the Soul's Participation of the Purity Light and Strength of the Divine Nature and into a sincere open-hearted Resignation thereunto It is begun and carried on wholly by the Free Grace of God it sprang from his electing and predestinating Favour who worketh it according to the Counsel of his own Will Ephes 1. 4 10 11. Rom. 8. 29. 'T is the scope of his free and gracious Covenant I will be your God and you shall be my people The actual In-stating of my Soul into it ariseth from the free Call of God 1 Cor. 1. 9. The overcoming and destroying all difficulties that may obstruct it is throughly managed in the Person of Christ who has made both one and died to bring me to God As for the Application and Enjoyment of this Union-state his Prayer Joh 17. 21. and Promise Joh. 14. 20. do stand in force day and night without ceasing to obtain it for me and effect it in me His Blood has confirmed the Covenant for it and has put into it the vertue and force of a Will and Testament which cannot be disannulled Joh. 17. Luk. 22. 20. compared with 1 Pet. 3. 18. and Heb. 9. 17. and the Manifestation of this is only by his Word and Spirit proclaiming and testifying this good Will of God to Men 1 Joh. 3. 24. whereby he doth effectually bring in this Reconciliation 2 Cor. 5. 8 9. and effecteth Union thereupon 1 Cor. 6. 20. Yea are bought with a price therefore glorifie God in your body and in your spirit which are Gods So that I am wholly God's Workmanship who has ordained this Union and created me in Christ for it I believe Lord help my Unbelief How little do I see How little do I taste and applyingly possess this bottomless Privilege which the glorious Angels desire to look into 4. Having considered the Purity Improve then by Meditation of this Union and the Inconsistency that is betwixt this Union and Guilt and unmortified sinful Pollutions as to the comfortable Application of it and also the divine Spring the free Grace and Bounty of God in creating and carrying it on into which thoughts and considerations the God of all Grace is only able to put seasoning and heart-framing force to make way for the Application of it Now O my Soul compel thy self to the serious Meditation of it 1. The Reallity of this Vnion be persuaded the matter is real It is invisible but real wondrous incomprehensible but real and true God has made thy sins thy burthen his Holiness and his new Stamp thy greatest and most deliberate desire Whence comes this but from the Spirit of Christ in whom the perfection of Enmity against Sin lies and in whom all the Treasures of Grace are laid How comes his Spirit to work an influence of the same nature in thee but as thou art taken into Union with him as a Member of his Body partaking of the vital Influences of the Head And seeing the Fulness of the Godhead dwells in him whose Spirit dwells in thee Col. 2. 9 10. and the Divine Nature of the Father Son and Spirit one and the same 1 Joh. 5. 7. thou becomest in a way of Adoption and according to the created Capacity thou art in really at present an Heir together with Christ of the Glory of God and shall rightfully through free Grace fully possess that Inheritance These are mine saith the Lord Mal. 3. 17. I am thy God in me thou shalt be saved Isa 45. 7. Thy Maker is thy Husband Isa 54. 5. What is this but Union with him Now O my Soul meditate again Am I indeed brought in by Christ to Union with God Are we no longer two but one Spirit Can such a thing be I do not doubt it but admire it What! He that made Heaven and Earth and all Men upon Earth he who is the very Life of the whole Creation he to whom Abraham Moses and David and all the Worthies of old prayed whom they served and adored who carried them through all Trials to whose Truth Wisdom Love and glorious Power they did bear witness and do still testifie it to all Ages Is he my own God Is this God really mine Is it the Word of his own Mouth I am thy God How unsearchable is this Union is he whom Simeon embraced in his Arms and said My eyes have seen thy Salvation is he mine He who wrought all those Miracles who healed Diseases cast out Devils forgave Sins on Earth is he mine He who had compassion on the Leper and healed him He who had compassion on the Multitude and fed them who spied out Nathaniel visited Zacheus raised the Dead is he mine He who preached the Gospel from Heaven who did bear my Sins in the Garden upon the Cross in his own Body who did sweat Blood and was pierced through for Sins for Sinners is he mine His Satisfaction mine His Compassion mine Those tender Bowels mine Was I then comprized in his Prayer And is this Joseph yet alive and his Nature not changed but glorified to the perfection of Power and Sympathy Is he mine and am I indeed his He who comforted his Disciples buried their Sins and Miscarriages and blessed them immediately at his Ascention and in the full warmth of his Love ascended and sate at the Right Hand of the Majesty on high where Love never ceaseth Is this and none but this the Judge whom I expect even my Lord and my God he whom Paul saw whom all the Apostles did preach who converted the Gentiles has kept alive the efficacy of his Word to this day he who is the faithful Witness is he my own He who is exalted to give Repentance and Remission of Sins is he mine to teach purge justifie and quicken me As near as the Head to the Body the Root to the Tree and Branches as near and dear as the Husband to the Wife doth he call me his own Flesh and Bones Doth he live and breath in me and I in him Oh for more Faith Reverence Thanksgiving with all manner of becoming Thoughts Words and Deeds concerning him and concerning the reality of such a Privilege Oh when
of Body or Mind as are suitable to such work 3. Let not the Thoughts be inrodinately devoured in it and to that end 4. Force the heart to read and meditate the Scriptures with more seriousness and labour for an inward value thereof above any other labour or study 5. Judge not any useful Labour Work or Study to be materially evil because your inordinate Affection about it is sinful but rather regulate your desires to Moderation and a right end in what you do 6. Be contented in the measure of your Attainment 7. View the excellency of God in Christ appearing in all created Skill Excellency and Worth Strive to wind up your heart by Creature-Excellencies instantly to a more actual Enjoyment of them as his Gift only and so to himself as the Fountain of Perfection Thus have I been wrestling with a Monster bred in my own Bowels but O Captain of my Salvation breath Truth Faith Vertue and Blessing upon these Meditations or else all my labour is lost and my enquiry into my disease spent in vain Every good and perfect Gift comes down from above and therefore my eyes are to the Hills from whence comes my help Let not the Poor return ashamed of his Hope I leave my Success upon thy hands who hast redeemed me O Lord God of Truth And seeing a gracious God hath favoured me thus far to drill me along sometimes wooing sometimes reproving sometimes comforting and confirming me in the various roulings of my heart in these Meditations from time to time I would now lean upon him to make good all the movings of his Spirit in my heart and issue forth from himself through Christ by his Spirit a suitable Supply according as my daily need and proneness to decay doth require that it may be evidenced to my Soul that these Meditations how much frailty soever I have been laden with under them were not meer Humane Labour and Invention but that the Breath of the Holy Spirit hath been in some true measure present And therefore O thou who art the God of all my Hope be pleased to cause all that love to and desire after pure Union and Fellowship with thee in Christ which hath been at any time working towards thee in any of these Meditations and at any other time to be purged from my personal Guilt that cleaves to the best thing which I do And vouchsafe a Return of my desires from the Throne of Grace as far as any exercise of Spirit in me hath been acceptable in thy sight through my dear Redeemer That whether I sleep or wake the groanings of thy Spirit may be acceptable before thee day and night and though my heart be vile yet let it still be as a Garden watered by thy hand a Soul which the Lord careth for Bring me through the great Waters that one day I may be utterly and eternally delivered from every evil work inward and outward and purely serve love and glorifie thee being presented spotless through Christ among that glorious Host of the Spirits of just Men made perfect LETTERS 1638. To D. B. N o 1. YOur Letter I very gladly received and 't is no small delight to me to see that your eyes are towards Heaven and your desires to the fear of your Maker Before I was hopeful but now I am confident And being the beautiful Light of the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ hath enlightned your Soul and purified your Conscience from dead works to serve the living God seeing 't is thus fear not only be strong Be thrifty of your time exact in your course spiritual in your aim bearing about an undaunted Triumph in believing One thing among the rest not unneedful I must advise you that you set your self to pluck up your Spirits and be of a lively heart getting what necessary insight into the World you can that you may the better get within the humours of all people to understand the better how to carry your self in what condition of life soever you shall be in to your own comfort and the shunning of unnecessary Reproach or Contempt but contrarily Credit and Esteem of all even of them that are without The Exercise of Worldly Wisdom Policy Skill and utmost Endeavour must be used albeit not depended on nor the Corruptions of the World practised Something I do the rather write this way as conceiving some other Course of Life will befall you ere long than at present you are in yet still keep close to Almighty God and whereas others in their Course on Earth and creditable Conversation here do sacrifice to their Wits Boldness Contrivance and the like do you endeavour and pray that you may sacrifice to the Will Wisdom and Assistance of God in Heaven made over to you in the Merits of Christ undoubtedly The Lord be with us and grant us unearthly Hearts and Conversations whatever may hereafter betide us There is no Rock like our Rock no God like our God to him I commit my self and you for an everlasting Support 1639. To D. B. N o 2. HAving such an opportunity I could not but write you a few Lines and all that I have to say is Cast your self upon God in Jesus Christ Eat his Flesh and drink his Bloud Be with him upon the Cross be with him ascended into Heaven by the one to be discharged from the Clamours of the Law and the Guiltiness of Conscience by the other to triumph in Assurance of Victory over Sin and Sorrow This Implanting into the Son is by Faith this Life of Faith is fed by Meditation of the Mystery with Prayer and attentive Reading and Hearing with good Conference with experienced Believers and Use of the Sacraments These things I believe your heart doth ponder but we are bound to put one another in mind And next seek and strive in your Service to be laborious faithful discreet separate not the Service of Christ from the Service of your Master serve one in the other strive mightily to temper them well one with the other and then what you put your hand unto do it with all your might c. 1646. To B. J. D N o 3. I Know you are under great Suffering and what word of Comfort or Counsel to write to you I know not only this that it is of the Lord as Jonah was not to be angry you are not to be tortured with Grief That one that two Gourds are withered together Morality and Reason do plead for Patience and Content but your interest in the Maker and Heir of all things may truly argue it much more He that gave you them at first has now called them away The Giver lives though the Gift be withdrawn The Comforter is the same and the substance though the Comfort be removed and the Leaves fallen Haply your thoughts are Where are they Whither gone At rest or not Consider whose eye saw them before they were formed in the Womb the everlasting Decree had disposed of them
You are a Traveller and shall pass from strength to strength till you appear before God in Sion I perceive you have thoughts about some alteration of your Condition and Oh that the same Guide which directed Abraham's Servant in the behalf of Isaac may go before you I should rejoyce more that you were yoaked with a gracious Mate than with the richest Estate in Britain where the Pearl of Grace is wanting I desire to remember you before the Lord. Be much in Prayer as I doubt not but you are and live above your self and above the World in that Transaction Grace and Wisdom and a Religious Stock are excellent Jewels though cloathed in a mean Dress Prov. 31. I say no more but the Lord who is your Refuge be your Counsellor And as you mind me of our spiritual Bond so I desire still to be mindful of it and that we both may incessantly pray for each other Remember me to Brother Daniel in the Bowels of Jesus Christ Let him and you comfort and strengthen one another in the Lord to whom I commend you remaining yours on the best account c. 1657. To D. H. N o 30. COuld I be more in the Spirit I could then write with more freedom but this I know that if I and you have our faces towarn Sion we shall be brought thither at length Our great work is to cease from our selves that the Spirit of Jesus Christ our Lord might have liberty to work in us and for us I know no such Door to the Mediator as to be resigned over to him and to be yielded up to the Salvation and Power of Free Grace 't is the only wholsome Food and Physick of a Sinner When the Soul is widened by Resignation to him and Self-abhorrency then his naked Redemption is sweet welcome and a Soul-satisfying Remedy I oft see a glimmering of this but my eye is weak yet such glimmerings tell me that there and there only lies the First-fruits and hope of Glory I had rather see God do a little in me and for me than do much my self for God's Little is infinite and my Much is nothing in his sight for me to be accepted thereby Therefore is Faith the only Key of all spiritual Treasure which is hid in Christ and in him only And by this going out of our selves to him we are made his and himself and his Treasures of Pardon Righteousness Wisdom and Perfection is made ours Venture your Prayers upon him though they seem to be cast away after many days they will return You can hardly find that ever Christ reproved his Disciples for any thing but Unbelief or little Faith or for not suffering Infants or others to come to him Let all these things teach you and I what is our chief Duty I leave you to the Lord remaining yours in truth and love c. 1658. To B. D. N o 31. YOur two last Letters have much refreshed me because I perceive it is not the Complement of Invention but the heart-raising Spirit of God has been favourable to you Be craving still be thankful still believe through the Clouds God has thus appeared that he may teach you how to live on him when he appears less to Sense you are Heir always to the same Joy and infinitely more when under the saddest hours Expect Trials for every Grace especially for Faith Winter follows Summer but the end will be Victory and Peace of which you have had I perceive a Taste Covet Christ's Image insatiably and to be at his dispose universally and let us bless his Name night and day I want a heart to bless God enough for his goodness to us the day hastens in which it will be done perfectly I am in health of Body labouring under the shameful load of an evil heart yet in hope of Victory through him who liveth for ever to make Intercession for them who desire to come to God through him only Amongst all business publick or private it is good for you and I to be watchful to keep a constant motion upwards constant Tenderness is a rich Treasury Grace is that incomparable Endowment enough to put a lustre upon every other Requisite What Alliance is greater than to be allied in the Communion of the Spirit I perceive God hath favoured you with an Affliction I hope you shall not go without the Blessing of it Be more importunate for a Blessing than anxious about the Loss or troubling your thoughts about Persons or Instruments or about future Events but commit your self and Estate Body and Soul to God as unto a faithful Creator and rejoyce in the hope of a better Resurrection and groan for nothing but the Body of Sin till it is groaned out of doors 1658. To S. D. H. N o 32. I Am glad to see you strive to get up the Hill and do take the right way Go on and prosper he is near who justifieth you Though he stands as it were behind the Wall he hears your Request and all your desire is before him he himself has undertook the whole Light is sown for you the Harvest is coming Lift up your Head your Redemption is sure and your Waters shall not fail You can never lay too much burthen on Christ he bears up the Pillars of the Earth and has already born your burthen the work is over with him and shall be over with you too shortly Yet a little while and he that shall come will come and will not tarry You are not your own Workmanship but his he has lifted up his hand to Heaven and sworn that Blessing he will bless you and shortly tread Satan and every Corruption under your feet Cling about him he will not shake you off your Prayers are heard your Person is accepted Be not weary everlasting Arms are under you the Battel you are in will prosper The greatness of his Power is not to amaze you but to support you his Righteousness is to justifie you that you may not fear your Judge but reverence and love him who has washed you in his own blood and the business is done already and now there is no revoking of it The more difficulties do appear the more you are to triumph in him who overcame by the Blood of his Cross and will not leave you shelterless he can teach you better than I I leave you to him I perceive by your Letter that my dear friend R. M. is dead or rather now I confidently believe perfectly alive beyond Sin and Toil. I know you are not wanting towards that poor Child take her to Heaven as much as you can along with you Let us pray one for another and we shall not seek that blessed face of his in vain I might write much of mine own leanness and unworthiness and I would I could be more sensible of it so as to lay my starved Limbs on that free heart-reviving heart-renewing Covenant of Grace confirmed in the Person of a crucified and risen
is most wise creep into him as near as you can and be assured the nearer you creep thither the better welcome and the more will your heart be composed The good hand of the Lord be with you c. 1667. To B. D. N o 86. I Do begin to long after a Line or two more from you how it stands as to your inward Man for that part is oft on my heart concerning you The Lord is favourable to me I have both the visitation of his favourable Frowns and Smiles and his Frowns are very wholsome for he never leaves me nor breaks so much as one Clause of his Covenant for his mercy endureth for ever I and my Family are in health I may say The Lord is my Shephard I shall not want any good thing Our God is a sweet Portion and Heaven a perfect Rest let us spring upwards and all will be well Your condition is often and sometimes solemnly presented by us before the Lord Who is a God hearing Prayer 'T is a comfort to me to think you are in his hands and that he will assuredly guide you by his Counsel until he has brought you to Glory I commend you to his care and kindness c. 1667. To J. A. N o 87. I Always perceive your friendly respect to me for which I return you many thanks As for the former part of your Letter there remaineth nothing on my thoughts that needeth any Apology from you for I never found your Lines any other than the meer proceed of Integrity and entire Affection towards me and therefore always very acceptable and the rather because they do not only leave Conviction upon me being privy to the burthen of mine own evil heart I groan under but are also by way of spur a good and weighty motive to stir up my Soul to pursue the harder after that Mark which I should and do daily long to attain unto Poor Worms as we are may hear and behold one another sometimes with some moral and affectionate Impressions but Oh what an influential Object is Jesus Christ who when yearningly beheld transforms the Soul into the same likeness and indeed the Graces of his Spirit in his People also improved through the Communication of the head have great force through that Communication to quicken one another All this tends to exalt that Fountain of Life and Grace in Christ that feeds all the Streams with its own vertue And blessed be for ever the God of all Grace that has called you and I into that glorious Fellowship and Communion To him we may complain and be pitied in him we may boast and can never exceed there Affection may be inflamed without danger for he infinitely surmounts all our love and all our praises into whose gracious Arms my dar Friend I commend you c. 1668. To B. D. N o 88. WE see how uncertain things below are but our Interest in the unchangeable Covenant of Grace will never fail nor deceive us that still you may say the Lord is good and every thing will work together for good if we let not go our Confidence The good and gracious God spread his Wing over you and direct and manage your Concernments for you You are much upon my heart praying that you may have the presence of God preserving and supporting your heart and ordering your Affairs I can commend you to him as one whom he is pleased through Christ to own within the rich sweet and precious Covenant of his Grace and whom he will care for and never leave till you are fully freed from every heart-oppressing care Therefore in the midst of all Cloudy Dispensations rouse up Faith and so pass through till you arrive at the Port of true Rest where the Fore-runner is entred for you There is a Rock which is not capable of Concussion A believing heart well digesting the 46th Psalm may behold Terrour without dismaying dread An unchangeable God is still the same Refuge in the midst of all other Changes To that Rock I commend you 1668. To C. E. D. N o 89. I Apprehend it a providential favour of God to me who gave me an opportunity of seeing my dear Cousin your Husband before the Lord removed him hence that I might have some fresh taste of the frame of his Soul when he stood upon the brink of Eternity ready to lanch forth I know it is an afflicting Providence to you to be deprived of the Society of so dear a Relation after you had so long enjoyed the Endearment of each others Affections and had passed through many afflicting Dispensations together in this Vale of trouble and had also I doubt not many joynt Applications to God praying together and according to the ability which God gave endeavouring to promote each others spiritual and everlasting Welfare But herein there is matter of Consolation and thankfulness to God not only that he lent you this choice Comfort through so many years of your Pilgrimage but that he caused you to see his faithfulness and goodness in carrying this your dear Husband through to the end of his spiritual Warfare and that God preserved him from staining his Profession in the eyes of the World and has rendred the remembrance of him precious amongst his People and fulfilled his Word touching him Mark the righteous Man and behold the upright c. And what though he be taken out of our sight for a little time there is no reason to repine that the Lord hath seen it good to take him into the Vision and perfect Fruition of himself among the Blessed as he hath given us ground to be fully persuaded and has now put an end to his troubles and disquiets has healed his aches cured his diseases and removed his pains of Body translated him from this World where he is yet pleased to leave you for a further exercise of your faith and patience And now what remains but that you gird up the Loyns of your Mind to run the remainder of your own Race And while you are here in time breath after the same eternal Rest rejoycing amidst all Trials and believing that our faithful and gracious God who has begun his good Work in your heart will never cease till he hath carried you through and landed you safe beyond all temptation sin and sorrow Into the hands of this gracious God I commend you c. 1668. To M. S. N o 90. I Am loath to omit the giving you a Line or two by my dear Sister who is this Morning turning over one Leaf more of her wandring Pilgrimage God is pleased so to order it that methinks I can hear little from any of my dear Friends but stories of worldly perplexity and who are they who are one way or other without their share therein This Life is like a troublesome Dream but blessed are they who when once the Dream is out and when once they come to awake shall be satisfied with realities of true
terrible to me nor to any of the Race thou hast redeemed from Death Let the Agonies of Death be pleasing to me in Christ Oh the Dolour the unspeakable Anger of God we have not drank of it O the intollerable Wrath of God born by that Man meaning Jesus Christ O the woful Travel of Christ we have took up but a little of it and that hath made Repentance slight and holy Care trivial And now O Lord thou reckonest with me for undervaluing of that bloody Agony Lord forgive me my Guilt in this thing I have not been a Christian in earnest as I ought Oh he that made himself the bottom of all sorrow he suffered infinitely Oh such a Redeemer Oh such a Redeemer alas how unsuitable have I been to him Lord pardon my unsuitableness I have been as a Beast before thee I have not come up to answer the Call of that unutterable Grace And now O Lord I cannot stand in the Battel I cannot now the Arrows of Death stick in my Flesh and I cannot bear it without great Concussions of Soul within me But O! O! O thou who art the God of all Grace who art got upon the Kingdom of Grace and art the Head of that Kingdom wilt thou now shew thy Glory Make Death sweet make the Tendencies to Death sweet make every step to Deliverance a pleasing step O my God Save thy Worm save thy Worm O my God according to thy Promises made to Jacob I hearken what the Lord will say he will speak Peace in the Blood of Jesus Sustain me O Lord sustain me Thou art my Friend as thou spakest to Abraham thou art my Friend Dost thou love me Dost thou at this time love me with thy whole heart and with thy whole Soul Dost thou love me more than my nearest and dearest Friends Than those intimate Relations here that continue with me in my Tribulation With a more inward intense Love with an Infiniteness beyond all these Lord let me know that thou lovest me in very Deed let me know that thou knowest me by Name let me know that thou hast an eye upon me more than Doctors and Friends let me know that every Act of thine towards me is the effect of thy Love Love me Oh now with thy whole heart Oh make me to believe it Help me to apprehend that thou dost take notice of me and art with me every Moment with me as to my present Case and Concernment 'T is dead Friendship when Friends cannot hear nor see one another but sure there is another Friendship between thee and thine and thou standest in Relations to them Art not thou my Father Hath not the Church said so Lord thou art our Father Thou art my Husband my Brother my Friend and art not ashamed to be called my Brother Oh wonderful Thou begattest me I am born of thee Lord what shall I do with the great things of the Gospel if thou dost not give forth the Spirit of Faith O Lord wilt thou who art Truth who art Life who art certain wilt thou take the great work of my practical Religion upon thee Thou canst make it to be in Power and Truth unto me as may answer the very design thou aimest at I have been praying through the days of thy drawing me after thee O Lord I would come to that kind of praying while I am here in the World as might be a lovely Copy of that praying of that Converse that will be with thee in Heaven Will Prayer altogether cease in Heaven No surely Lord glorifie thy self glorifie thy self glorified be God Oh Oh that the very Life and Soul of that state then may now be begun Oh that I might hasten to that state Thou detainest me here in thy Wisdom I would go unto thee and into that Life which will most glorifie thee eternally I would go where Life is and no Death I would go where the fullest expressions of the power of Grace overcoming Sinners may be patent and manifest in me even in me who am a poor Mortal There be many things that I have found here that are Likenesses to pure Likeness to thee and here I have lost wofully my way Lord open it The heart is deceitful above all things and it will have its working one way or other but Lord I would go where there is Purity I would go where there is Purity without Impurity I would be with thee Lord for then I can speak to thee in thine own Language better At about Two of the Clock that day in the Afternoon he further extended his Speech as followeth The old World will be the old World still it will remain to Eternity it will be only translated from hence where it received its Curse to Hell to be in Chains of Darkness for ever but all the redeemed number shall be instated in their Palaces of Glory I am in the very Period of Wonders I am in the very Period of viewing Death and Life I am under some Sufferings and they shall be sweet And speaking to himself said Thou shalt lie down in thy Bed And then speaking to God Thou wilt not throw me into the Grave in Anger thou wilt put me into the Grave Thou wilt not say Sleep there in Death thou wilt say Sleep there a little till the Indignation be over-past till that is inflicted on thee for Sin which was pronounced and that that passed away from Christ shall pass from me Lord thou wilt not be unfaithful to thy Word God cannot lie God cannot forget to be gracious he cannot forget his own Work This is that God I desire to believe in and resolve eternally to cling upon with the Truth of my whole heart I have sinned and thou hast pardoned me and saved me with a high hand Help me in this hour take away my fears The last stroak that will be given will be by the Devil himself because it is his last Battel and thou wilt permit him but thou wilt bind him and when thou hast unclinch'd his hands he shall never clinch again He is that last Enemy from Conversion to Salvation Lord wilt thou who hast been destroying this Enmity all along now cause his Enmity to appear to be destroyed and turned into Powder and Rottenness O Have at it have at it I pray thee The strength the might the power of the Life of Sin and Darkness Lord thou didst promise to plague Antichrist for all the Plagues that he hath plagued thine O Lord do thou pour out thy Plagues upon him whilst thou dost sustain him to be fighting his last Battel Let him fight his Battel but let him O God drink of the Rivers of thy Wrath along with it Let the Weak overcome the Strong let thy People be Lyons but let the Devil be an enfeebled Enemy Serve thy self of all thy Instruments whatever they are Lord let them do thee the utmost Service of their Capacity Thy proper Instruments Oh make them glorious make them
perish eternally for want of Seriousness and that Isaiah herein was a great President for our Imitation And in company of some Friends he spake to this purpose We even very we must appear before the Judge of Heaven and Earth that judgeth the Quick and the Dead and the Enquiry will not be then How rich or how poor we have been But how did we thrive in the ways of Holiness What Work of Faith Labour of Love Patience of Hope What Exercise of Grace What Zeal for God How did we make the Glory of God shine forth in our Lives Therefore let our main Care be that we do not miss of Heaven at last for 't is possible after a glorious Profession the Soul may miscarry for all that And I do not speak this to put a damp upon you but to quicken and caution you His Zeal against all Sin was apparent His Zeal against Sin in his general Course He shunned all Appearances of Evil hating even the Garment spotted by the Flesh Whence he gave this Counsel Go not within the Clutches of a Temptation to see what it is before you resist 't is easier to pass by a Temptation than to come out of it When the Knot is knit and the Door barred 't is harder to get Freedom than before And also he was observed to say That the least Evil admitted hath a Tendency in it toward the utmost Link of Distance from God and the least Sin indulged is like unto a Cockatrice indulged which turns into a Fiery Flying Serpent Isa 14. 29. His Zeal and Activity for God His Zeal and Activity for God throughout his Christian Race did eminently shew it self by improving all opportunities to advance his Glory in doing good to Souls especially amongst his Relations and intimate Acquaintance where the Lord was pleased greatly to succeed his faithful and sincere Endeavours and the more in that there was such a Grateful Majesty in his Carriage and in those pathetical Expressions uttered by him That it may be truly said of him in his private Capacity That his Lips fed many and his Mouth was a Well of Life And he used to pray for his Relations in such words as these That the Lord would deal with Relations in a way of saving powerful Conviction and spiritual Operation And that such in whom is the Seed of God sown might grow up to be Plants of Righteousness in whom he might be glorified and have the Seal of his Grace and Favour put upon them and be numbred amongst those that are cared for by the Lord and housed in him And for such Relations as were at a distance from him he also frequently visited with Letters and would be sometimes sending them Books using variety of Means for their spiritual Welfare Likewise he would be writing them in Verse and instead of many Instances it may not be improper to insert these two of plain Verse which accompanied two Bibles he transmitted viz. To Jane Daunsy Jun. Sept. 1671. If Life Eternal doth surpass A Span of Time compar'd to Grass Neglect no time until aright Enform'd you are by Scripture-Light Deceipts of Sin how to eschew And then of Christ to take a view Vntil your heart be drawn to come Near unto him as to your Home So shall your tender Years be blest Your Soul obtain Eternal Rest And for this end this Book I send Accept the same and Lines above Coming from your Kinsman's Love Jane Daunsy Anagram AND IS VAIN The Scripture is the Rule of Truth The chiefest Guide for Age and Youth It truly shews the way to Bliss Even how Souls may be born again Then let Jane Daunsy study this AND say All other Skill IS VAIN To my honoured Unkle and Aunt Trevis Sept. 22. 1672. What Study can adorn gray Hairs More than true Wisdom Studies which Best Crown Old Age when Earths Affairs Shall cease and die must Poor and Rich. A Draught of that true Wisdom lies Within this Book which I present Oh let your Hearts and aged Eyes Therein be earnestly intent That while you do sill up your days A Heavenly Mind Earths Thoughts may quell And that on Earth you may always Spring to Eternal Life Farewel In all his Actions it did appear His eying the Glory of God that his Aim was to do the Will of his Father which is in Heaven and would oft say Whatever we do we should go up and down doing God's Work not our own and that would be a means to keep our Spirits even and the heart tender and calm His constant Converse holy His constant Converse with God Familiarity and nearness to God signally shewed it self in his Looks Speech and Behaviour As Moses when he had been with God in the Mount his Face shone And Peter and John's Courage before the Rulers and Elders of the Jews did evidence that they had been with Jesus And as hath been already suggested he had such a holy Intimacy with God that he would speak to him in Prayer as if one Friend were speaking to another yet with great Reverence Humility and Self-abasement And he would be frequently urging it upon his Friends that they should not rest till they had attained a more inward Acquaintance with God And that we should labour after a greater Intimacy with God than with any Person in the World and when we are alone we should have still retired Communion with God And that we get nothing by a cold Acquaintance but all things by a warm Acquaintance with him And speaking of his own experience said he It is my great disquiet that Christ hath so little of my company though I may not say I have not his And this was likewise manifest in those words he used in Prayer to this effect That the Lord would cause us to ripen into a greater Knowledge of him and into a greater Intimacy with him And that we may have more warm Communion with his Spirit in Faith and Love which is in Christ Jesus And that he would act towards us according to that Vndertaking of his with the Father on our behalf before we had a Being And that our hearts be actually springing towards him and be acquainted with the Mystery of God in Christ and be brought into the nearest Intimacy and Fellowship with himself attainable in this Life That it might be an Earnest and Pledge of our everlasting Fruition and Enjoyment of him in the other World His living in dependence on His living in dependence on God God was his constant Trade which also the following Expressions do evidence The Lord make us sensible of our weakness and inability to help our selves That he would preserve the Soul in a holy Fear in its ordinary Walk lest it grieve that Spirit by whose power alone it acts and cause the Soul to step forth into the Life of Believing prostrating it self at the foot of God and to say Lord I can have no Relief but from thee and
made ours Ah there is very little Christianity in the World I would be for God while I live and for Heaven when I die Mine own strength never did me good Faith abhors all manner of Aid that Flesh and Blood can give It undoes a poor Creature in a saving manner There is a holy venturing on God Little do we think how kindly God takes it when we throw our selves upon him such a venturous Soul is always acceptable to him Oh for some awakening Visit from Heaven that may alarm us out of our selves into the City of Refuge before we are benighted He also prayed That the Lord would come into us with Triumph and trample down whatever is opposite to the Purity of his Nature in our Souls And in regard all our mischief ariseth from the unmortifiedness of our Wills and our Sores and Wounds and the grieving of God's Spirit is caused by a sinful Indulgence towards them and the exercise of our faith love and all other Graces is suspended when we are lead Captive by them that therefore the Lord would save us from a selfish fleshly Will and divorce us wholly from it and then when we come to die the separation of the Soul from the Body will be but a small thing to us His Thankfulness to and Blessing His Thankfulness to God with Praise and Blessing of God was observed to be his continual Exercise He was not known at any time to murmur under the sharpest Trials but would evermorre be justifying God praising and speaking well of his Name and persuading others to do the like And he greatly delighted to praise God in singing of Psalms especially on the Lord's Day and he much bewailed and blamed the great neglect of it in this present Age. He had a great Esteem and Veneration His Reverence towards Superiors for Authority and Government as being a Divine Ordinance and did highly disapprove and condemn those who did manifest the least Contempt thereof And would pray for the Supream Powers according to Scripture-Rule His Thoughts and Meditations His Meditations on Death were much on his last Change And thereupon he would frequently take occasion to speak something concerning Death to awaken both himself and others to a due and serious Preparation for it in such Sayings as these That we are shortly to remove hence take our flight when the Volume of the Book will be closed up and the Ministration of Grace will be at an end There must now be through work in giving away our selves to God else 't will be a dismal day when we come to die Death will make us to have other manner of thoughts of things than we have now Death will represent things in other Colours 't will stretch every Vein assuredly We should live always as those that have hope towards God when they die and that are ready every day to step out of one World into another That such a flying to Christ as is accompanied with a Resignation of our Wills to his Will is the best Preparative for our Change When I am going to leave the Body if I have not an Ark to fly unto I must perish in the Water We are going to live with Spirits where will be no body at all to converse with and what a Life is that Let us then always follow the Leading and Conduct of the Spirit here We should by Sympathy as much as we may die with every one that dies and that would make us serious Christians We must shortly leave this World and because we are not willing to part with it God tears it off that himself may be all in all We are lanching out of the World apace and our last Change is near only I would not have it come as an unexpected Surprize God did not deliver the Martyrs of old but by Death and so he may do by us And what a wretched frame of heart have we that we are so easily satisfied to leave some things relating to our greatest Concern always undone Some little something as we account it still to do But when we come to die and to leave the World how will that swell at such an hour I know no Terror greater than for a Man to go out of the World out of God and out of Christ and yet the most do so And when at that time he was answered by a Person present Your Case is not so he replied It is an amazing Mercy I am wonderfully saved And he further said Time of Health is the Opportunity The great things of the Souls Interest in Sickness or on a dying Bed is a bad time to manage He lived much in an Exercise His Prospect of Glory of Faith upon the Glory of the future State which was a wonderful Support and Comfort to his Spirit and he did continually take in large Views and Prospects of it Whence he was observed to say before his last Sickness That he had such an IDEA of the Glory of Heaven that he thought he could furnish a Book with fit Matter on that Glorious Subject And as he lived in all manner His exemplary Carriage at his death of Conversation holily so he finished his Course and died triumphantly Which fully appears in his last Speeches and Prayers Continuing in a lively and vigorous Exercise of Spiritual and Heavenly Graces especially Faith Hope Patience Self-Resignation full Assurance and Longing to be with the Lord to the last period of his Life when Grace issued in Glory and an abundant Entrance was ministred to him into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ A PRACTICAL DISCOURSE OF THE Nature Means and Method OF SALVATION Isaiah 45. 17. But Israel shall be saved in the Lord. THE poor Dove being sent abroad and gliding over the great Flood at last found an Olive Branch and returned to the Ark. In like manner my confused thoughts have soared hither and thither over the face of that great deep which the first Apostacy drowned Mankind in and having turned over the Scriptures hoping thence to receive some news after such a dreadful Shipwrack this Scripture comes flying with an Olive Branch in its mouth Saved in the Lord the first word keeps from fainting till the next word comes in and shews the nature of the deliverance the certainty and the manner of it the first word like Ahimaaz says 2 Sam. 18. 28. All is well but Cushi declares the matter and how 't is accomplished Salvation plainly asserted is gladsome news but lest so weighty a business should be mistaken and that the understanding might the more be convinced the means by which 't is obtained and the hand from whence 't is procured is drawn forth In the Lord as delightful a sentence to a sinner as that which Belshazzar saw was terrible to him that made his Joynts to tremble but this makes the lame to leap as an Hart this makes the Wilderness to blossom as a Rose Saved The
that state in all times and Ages and stands answerable to the nature of all future cases and experiences of the Saints which makes the whole Scriptures which were written aforetime to be of a perpetual present use from the beginning to the end of that Volumne so said Moses of old Deut. 4. 2. and so said John many hundred years after Rev. 22. 18 19. So that all Scripture is given for a perpetual profit by Doctrine Reproof Exhortation and Instruction in Righteousness in order to the perfecting of the Saints 2 Tim. 3. 16 17. And this brings in again the Consideration of the wonderful Condescention of God who though he be invisible yet he doth in a sort become visible in the Word there the Life of God is manifested even that hidden Life which enlivens the new Man it exposeth it self to be seen heard and handled by the thoughts of Worm-like Man 1 Joh. 1. 1 2 3. God who was pleased to manifest himself in the Flesh has carried on a correspondent method in a way suitable to Humanity ever since the Restoration was promised to the Seed of the Woman The Spirit brings forth all its special Operations in the exercise of Man's Nature Reason Understanding Will Affections and Passions The Scriptures seem to bespeak nothing oft-times but meer Man whereas that Humane way was only fitted as a Sheath for the Sword of the Spirit to be carried in through all several cases that could fall out in Man's condition God who brought forth all things out of himself doth still manage them and uphold them for he is the Life As his Purpose and Power created the Being of all things so his Providence and Wisdom doth create the continual disposing and ordering of all things I create Jerusalem a rejoycing saith the Lord Isa 65. 18. And therefore having created a new thing in the Earth that a Woman should compass a Man Jer. 31. 22. he works creatingly in the discovery and application of that Mystery and stoops down into all the Sences Passions and Affections of Humane Nature and brings forth the Mystery of the new Creation under the vail and external use of the matter of the first Creation which runs through the whole History of outward Providences and through every Branch of Moses's Law in all the Sacrifices every part of the Tabernacle and Temple and through every Dispensation and among all the Faculties of the rational Soul as the power of Life striving against Death and Light against Darkness which is the scope of what we find spoken to Man or of or by Man in the Scriptures which is spoken not to shew only what Man 's natural thoughts are but how the Spirit of God works in their thoughts words and actions or how the Spirit of Satan naturally and sinfully works in them which is delivered to us by the Spirit of God sometimes by the Rules of Doctrine and Worship sometimes by Comforts Instructions Exhortations Reproofs and Threatnings and sometimes by Examples and Experiences acted upon the persons of Good and Bad and acting in them This Operation of the Spirit of the Father and the Son begets all the Convincements Heart-searchings Prayers Groans Cries Sighs Comforts Encouragements and Conquests which we find exercised in the hearts of the people of God throughout the Scriptures as in a Glass shewing the Combat betwixt the Seed of the Serpent and the Seed of the Woman and establishing Faith and Assurance of the Victory by Jesus Christ who is the Captain of their Salvation And God has recorded these things in this manner in the Word that all the people of God may read the whole of their present State and Work acted in the Scriptures by the Inspiration of the Spirit which now breaths Workings of a like nature in their hearts The least Groan cannot be lost 't is part of the Lambs War and therefore there is a Blessing in it If the infinite Purity Power and Holiness of God did reveal it self only to the Understanding it would either distract or confound the Soul or harden it by a desperate Dispondency and therefore the infinite Excellency of God descends into the Humane Nature of Christ that it might overshadow and work in the hearts of the Saints who are his Mystical Body by the Spirit in the Scriptures in the way of an Instinct and new Principle arising from that spiritual Closure made betwixt him and them in the Gospel The rejection of the Gospel and The Glory of Christs Condescention despising the Word doth chiefly arise from an aptness to stumble at the Condescention of God he sees a necessity to bow down lower to save poor Man than the Pride of Man's heart knows how to digest and therefore the broken and contrite ones get most of his company Isa 57. 15. the Soul who loves him and believes his Condescention in the design and truth thereof can never be too low for relief The manner of Christ's coming into the Flesh and the despicableness of his Person in his Life and Death seriously considered and the Ordinances which he blest and left to us gives no encouragement to the Wisdom of the Flesh The way of carnal Wisdom is to do great things by great means but the Wisdom of God doth great things by small and despicable means 1 Sam. 16. 7. 2 King 5. 10 11. and so confoundeth the Wisdom of the Wise as the Apostle argues 1 Cor. 1. from v. 20. forwards Were the truth of this Mystery of God's Condescention truly taken up it would spoil that repining dejection which torments the Saints about their unworthiness and thankfulness would accompany all their Groans towards him he is as low as the lowest and their way cannot be hid from him though he be high and lofty and the Creator of the ends of the earth Isa 40. 27 28 29. and 57. 15. The very Kernel of the Gospels Glory lies in the extreamness of his Condescention in the way of saving Man his design is to exalt his Glory to the highest Heavens by the unspeakable lowness of his stooping throughout all the day of Grace He doth by his Spirit wait weep strive grieve sigh suffer and complain in the hearts of his people and figuratively he is said to do such things also himself on their behalf their weak Faith is mighty through him who works it and who carries his Lambs in his Arms. His infinite Greatness is not at all the cause of any estranged distance betwixt him and Mankind in this day of Grace but the carnal and unbroken Pride and fulness of a self-righteous careless ignorant unbelieving heart He setteth the Solitary in Families and stoopeth down to deliver them who are sensible of their Chains but the Rebellious dwelleth in a dry Land Psal 68. 6. Oh let this Truth visit me and save me Here is a Rest indeed O my confused heart he that heard the moan of Ephraim hears thy moan hears thy confused cries picks up all thy sighs and
not return ashamed but be kept in the more wakeful pursuits after him and while I follow him I am with him in my desire and if I desire him he desires me and there we meet Cant. 7. 10. in the Communion of desires till the shadows flee away A Sluggard indeed desireth and hath not because his hands refuse to labour Prov. 21 25. but a laborious desire after Christ enjoys him in the eye of Faith and Scripture-evidence Rev. 21. 6. and 22. 17. Joh. 7. 38. and therefore in the patience and faith of the Scriptures I have hope And what though some outward disadvantage has been occasioned which yet I know not of by this Retirement to seek him who knows my Soul loveth him will not he some way or other repay that loss and heal that breach O Lord pardon pity and care for him who in love to thy self and thy holy Will desires to seek the Kingdom of God first c. A DISCOURSE of UNION with CHRIST Joh. 17. 23. I in them and thou in me that they may be made perfect in one WHen I consider this true Loves Knot uttered by Christ himself and the wondrous Union in these three words I Thou and They declared by Christ at his passage from Earth to Heaven as the contrived Counsel of the eternal God Father Son and Spirit and when I find up and down in the Scriptures that the Elect when once they are quickned by the Spirit into the state of Regeneration are said to have their Life in God Col. 3. 3. and that God lives in them dwells in them and they in him 2 Cor. 6. 16. 1 Joh. 4. 13. that their works are wrought in God Joh. 3. 21. that God worketh in them 1 Cor. 12. 6. that God walks in them 2 Cor. 6. 16. that they walk with God and in his Name Gen. 5. 24. Mic. 4. 5. that Christ speaks in them and they in him 2 Cor. 13. 3. and 12. 19. I say when I consider such like expressions plentifully scattered by the holy Spirit in the Scriptures I conclude there is some admirable Union betwixt the Father of Glory and every one of his elect Seed in Christ which is a Mystery so spiritual a sacred Palace so secret that the most exquisite parts of Nature can never enter in to view it as it is 't is new Jerusalem under a Vail into which Flesh and Blood cannot enter But seeing Christ has said To you it is given to know the Mystery of the Kingdom of God Mark 4. 11. I would humbly wait for the power of the Spirit to transform and fit me and the manifestation of the Spirit to teach me that so enquiring I may enter and entring may possess this purchased Possession at least in the First Fruits and Earnest thereof and although methinks I shrivle up before the mysterious heat and lustre of this Gospel yet being commanded to seek the Lord and being under a Promise of help Jer. 31. 9. I wait on God for Strength and Wisdom to attempt this Enquiry methinks these steps do offer themselves The infinitely wise God decreed to make Mankind and the visible World to be his Habitation and the Creatures to serve him Man is made in a state of Righteousness and so stands upon his own legs and as it were in a moment he begins to totter and falls from that state into a state of sin and misery God so permitting it that his Justice and Mercy might the more be exalted a Remnant of undone Mankind are decreed to Salvation in a way of Mercy And that the Justice of God against Sin and Sinners may be preserved and yet the Elect Remnant saved God himself in the Person of the eternal Son assumes the Nature of Mankind into the Union of his Person and in that Nature pays to his own Justice all the Debt which this elect Remnant among the rest of fallen Mankind had involved themselves into in performing whereof he unites himself so near to them and they so near to himself that what he did for them was reckoned by Justice it self accountable to the Behoof and Concernment of each elected person as much as if every one of them had compleatly satisfied Justice in their own persons and the Union is so near betwixt him and them that whereas he is the express Image of the Father and having all power committed to him he stamps upon them the Image of God anew viz. Righteousness and true Holiness which becomes theirs only through Union with him and do only exist in their existing in him which existence is wrought by the holy Spirit forming him spiritually in their hearts as it formed him bodily in the Virgin 's Womb which Formation of Christ in their hearts becomes a mystical spiritual and true Union betwixt him and them which same Spirit works Faith in them that they may be made living Subjects and suitably capacitated for this mutual Union betwixt them also and him And thus the Lord of Life having enlivened to himself a living Spouse they enjoy each other by an unutterable nearness of spiritual In-dwelling in each other so near that the Spirit of God who manageth the Match sticks not to say that the Church and so every particular person thereof is a Member of his Body of his Flesh and of his Bones and not only that but he that is joyned to the Lord is one Spirit Ephes 5. 30. 1 Cor. 6. 15 17. Hence it comes to pass that from the very moment that the Soul hath accepted of Jesus Christ being seized upon to that purpose by the Spirit of Regeneration proceeding from the Father through the Son and received by believing that believing person so effectually visited by the Call of the Gospel doth now and never before become a new Man and though Sins and Temptations never so many do batter and bruise yet his House cannot fall nor his State be altered because God himself has laid his Foundation on a Rock and has drawn the Soul's Consent by believing to lay it there too and this Rock is Christ in whom the Almighty God receives this believing and renewed person into that Union and true real nearness which lies shadowed forth in the Scriptures of Truth under the terms of Father and Child 2 Cor. 6. 17 18. Husband and Wife Ephes 5. 25. c. Vine and Branches yea as one Body consisting of Head and Members and many such like similitudes in the Scriptures to set forth this wonderful Nearness and Union from whence it followeth that no Action State or Condition of such a renewed Person whether it be inward or outward is so entirely his own and of private Concernment to himself alone as it was before his sins were more entirely his own damage before now they wound his Relation and grieve Christ Ephes 4. 30. he sinned before against the Law of God he now sins in all his miscarriages against Christ also 1 Cor. 8. 12. and against the Law of his
Lord's Vineyard Dear Cousin the Lord is pleased to use many ways and means to cause us to make the utmost improvement of Seasons and Opportunities of Grace and gives many Motives thereto amongst which this is one that the Prophets do not live for ever and therefore he requires us to make speed while the day of Grace and while the time of Life continues that we may not be found naked and unready when our Summons from hence by Death shall be sent us I have not arrived to the length of your days but the effects of old Age are much upon me and the shadows of the Evening have begun to appear therefore as it is always so especially it is needful for you and I that are almost at the utmost bounds of our time to look into and much to strive after the real and essential parts of Godliness which lies much in this viz. To ponder the Corruption of our own Nature and the Contradiction that it stands in against the pure Nature of God and his revealed Will till we arrive at such a Self-Abhorrence and Dispondence of any Relief which we can derive from whatever we are or whatever we can do as of our selves that we may betake our selves entirely and perfectly to the Grace revealed in Christ casting our Anchor of Hope there and there only flying to the Merits of Christ and his single Righteousness in the vertue and under the Covering whereof to appear before him when all Flesh shall stand and receive their unalterable Sentence that then we may have the comfortable Happiness of that good Word There is no Condemnation to those that are in Christ I cannot at present add more only this Let none of your past or present Troubles of what kind soever hinder your rejoycing in your gracious God and Saviour who hath fed you all your Life long and will be your God and your Guide and as I am abundantly persuaded you will find him according to all that he hath promised your exceeding great Reward when the days of Rest and endless Refreshing shall come I commit you to the gracious Guidance of God and the comfortable Fellowship and Communion of his Holy Spirit I pray for you and desire to be remembred also by you in your Prayers unto the God of all Grace even our own God and Father Under whose Wing I desire to leave you and remain c. 1681. To C. E. D. N o 129. GOd has been pleased to continue your Life unto a great length of days and though your outward Man hath been withering yet blessed be God I perceive your inward Man hath been assisted by his good Spirit hitherto to make a happy Voyage to the Haven of true Rest The Lord in Mercy accompany you through the remaining part of your Voyage till you enter safely into the Harbour and be setled in the Mansions which Christ is gone before to prepare for you I have my self much Infirmity of Body and am in daily Combat with the Corruption and Vileness of my own heart from which I hope through the Riches of free Grace to be ere long delivered and I have an abundant hope as to the same concerning your self Cast your eye upon the great Mediator roll your self upon him for he will never leave you nor forsake you One days Communion with God without all Sin in that Heavenly Country will make you full amends for all the difficulties you have passed through in your earthly Pilgrimage And though I am not like to see you in this World I hope through the Grace of the everlasting Covenant to see you where there will be neither Sin nor old Age c. to molest either you or me any more Dear Cousin the Arms of Divine Love Grace and Mercy be continually embracing you I can now add no more but do commend you into the hands of that God whose I am persuaded you are and whom you serve My affectionate Respects to your self and all your Relations and that Seed of God which he hath been pleased to plant in your Neighborhood I remain your affectionate Kinsman and Brother in Christ c. 1682. To B. D. N o 130. I Received yours from Tunbridge Wells c. and I think those who advise you to be as little thoughtful as you can while you drink the Waters do give you friendly Advice It may much concur to your health to be rather chearful than to be serious in the use of them for I know you have that matter within you through the Riches of Grace to render you chearful in the Lord. We must remember our Bodies as well as our Souls are redeemed and the very Body of a Believer is Christ's more than his own and what you do for the support of the meer Body is acceptable to God and especially under that Infirmity which you chiefly went thither for The Lord bless the Means which his Providence hath directed you to and be always with your Spirit c. Speeches and Prayers of Mr. Henry Dorney in his last Sickness from the 11th of March 1682 3. to the 25th of April following when he died being the Seventieth Year of his Age. I Am passing and I long to pass meaning through Death O Faith Faith that would bring down Heaven to Earth and carry the Soul up to Heaven I would willingly go out of Self and place the Soul wholly in God he calls me to come away saying Come up hither To a Friend asking whether Satan troubled him he answered No not at all Christ doth not suffer him so much as to peep in To the same saying What Counsel would you give us His Answer was Give up your selves to God perfectly Walk in the purest strictest closest Converse with him Be in the Life and Power of Holiness and that will Steel the Soul against all Temptations and Difficulties And let things be transacted throughly betwixt God and the Soul as if you were to appear presently at the Bar of Christ And let this be done incessantly To the same again asking Sir God seems to deny his Blessing upon the Means for your Recovery and you are not like to continue long with us He replied Blessed be the Lord Blessed be the Lord It is some Refreshment to me to think that the comfortable Minute of my sliding off is so near at hand The Saints and People of God that ever lived besides Enoch and Elijah pass'd through Death and it is needful it should be so for then all Dirt and Filth will be carried off And to one speaking to him of a good Conscience he said Ah how many are there that are now laying in Matter that will be one day wringing of hands and distress of heart unto them O my unchangeable God blessed be his Name that ever he treated with me and that he gave me time and Grace to transact things betwixt him and me and though now I can do little I am persuaded he loves me because he hath made