O proud worms!

 

Honored Sir,

It is well the Lord loves you, for His love is unchangeable and infinite, and in it you have Himself, who has all things, yes, is all things, abundantly and eternally! Ten thousand changes may pass over you with respect to yourself, and the people and things you are concerned with. And how miserable would you be if your happiness lay in these changing, failing, dying things? But blessed with the Lord Jehovah for your portion, your bliss in Him is full, unchanging, and everlasting. Rejoice, brother, in your wondrous lot! Oh, how goodly is your heritage! It is enough that the Lord is your portion! What can you more desire? Can you desire any good that is not to be found in God? Can you desire any joy that He, even Himself alone, cannot afford you? Let your soul from henceforth embosom itself in infinite fullness. Say to creature-vanities and vexations, "Get away! Do not disturb my repose in God. I have a sweet, soft, full bosom to rest in, from which I will not be enticed, nor driven by you."

Oh, how blessed would we be amid all changes, if we always delighted ourselves in our unchangeable God! It is our going out of the eternal I AM that occasions all our fears and griefs and heart-faintings. Our wretched hearts, deceived by the serpent, desire something else besides God to make up a 'fancied happiness' for them. And thence, after this and that creature and thing they go. And when 'catching at shadows' we find them no substance, and that pursuing them they flee from us—this gives us disquietude. And oh, how well is it for us that every creature and thing concerning soul-rest says, "It is not in me!"

This, as being fore-appointed by the Lord our Lover, is by Him sanctified—to teach our silly hearts at times a little wisdom—to turn the mouth of faith to the 'breasts of divine consolations'—to God in Christ, the full fountain, the inexhaustible ocean of solid, endless bliss of all our life and joy!

And as our full and unchangeable God, in his great and glorious self, is our exceeding joy—and by 'creature-emptiness' and 'changes' is pleased at times to bring us to his blissful bosom, so this also may be the matter of our rejoicing—that all our time-changes respecting creatures and things are overruled by our eternal and unchangeable God, for his own endless praise, and for our everlasting salvation.

And if these great ends are, and shall be, the effects of all the changes which pass over us, why need we be much distressed by the most grieving changes? Yes, why should we not rejoice in tribulation, amid a thousand losses and crosses, griefs and disappointments, which attend us in this valley of tears? What ails our silly hearts to be so displeased or distressed, when things go not to our wish? What would we have? "Oh," we say, "the Lord's glory, and our advantage in this and that." If this is our desire, this we have always, even by the greatest crosses and disappointments we meet with. "Aye," replies our silly mind, "but I wanted the Lord's glory in this or that which I desired."

And must not God, then, glorify Himself in that way which He likes best? O proud worms! Can we teach the only wise God wisdom? Shall 'creature-darkness and ignorance' dictate to, dispute with, or reprove infinite understanding? Be astonished, O Heavens, at this! What—can we, foolish, blind, weak creatures—govern the world, or anything in it, better than the almighty, all-wise Creator, preserver, and disposer of all things? Shall we, who will not allow God His sovereign right of ruling His earth, and all the creatures and things of His forming and appointing, without a rebellious sigh when our desires are crossed—be thought capable of wielding the scepter of the world? Was ever such pride, such rebellion, as that is found in us, when we will not allow our Savior to glorify Himself, and save us by such ways and things that He, in His infinite wisdom, sees best?

Adoring, let us bow down; and loving, let us bless the Lord for everything He gives, or withholds, or takes from us, if we would behave as obedient children to the Lord our Father, as the God of love and peace, who, according to the exceeding riches of His grace, has abounded towards us in all things in all wisdom and prudence. To whom be dominion and glory forever. Amen.

There is a snake in the grass

 

Honored Sir,

The little things which we are apt to desire and to lay out for ourselves as a path to heaven in, let us refer them wholly to the will and wisdom of our heavenly Father. It is our privilege that, as His children, we may lay them before Him and pray Him to bestow them if for His glory and our good; but in nowise let us choose for ourselves, but continually give up ourselves and all things which concern us into the hands of the Lord, and say, "Choose our inheritance for us."

Alas! we would make a foolish choice if left to our own will, our own wisdom! We would soon be undone if left to our own conduct. Let us not attempt it. There is a snake in the grass of those pleasing things which we desire to lie down in, which the Lord denies us of, that we do not see, which would soon destroy the health and comfort of our souls.

We naturally love smooth things, but alas, we have so much roughness in us that we must have rough things to smooth us. It is well we have a Father that loves us infinitely—who is infinitely wise and well knows how to make us as glorious as He designs us—who will not spare for our crying, but will pare off our knots and blemishes, and hew and carve us into gracious pieces of His workmanship—whatever labor it costs Him—whatever sharp things are needful to be used on us—or whatever blows are requisite to be given us.

Come, my brother, let us give up ourselves into our all-wise, all-gracious, and almighty Father's hands! He will work us into the image, the glorious image, of Jesus! And what does it matter which way He does it? If this blessed work is done we shall rejoice and praise Him forever; aye, and let me say, we shall admire and praise all the ways that He took to do it in, when we see, with the veil cast off, all those exceeding riches of His infinite grace, wisdom, and prudence, which have been expended and laid out upon us therein. Oh, we shall admire and adore all the Lord's ways with us, which are mercy and truth. We shall see and say, they were like God—worthy of God—of His great Being—of His glorious art!

Until then, let us live by faith, and in the obedience thereof shroud ourselves under the shadow of Jehovah's wings, and cry unto Him continually, under a deep sense of our utter insufficiency—and of His all-sufficiency to guide us by a right way all through this valley of misery, until He has brought us unto Himself in glory!

Who makes you differ from thousands?

 

Dear Madam,

Permit me to ask, my dear sister—who told you that you were miserable, wretched, blind, and naked, sin-ruined, and law-condemned, and must perish forever without a saving interest in precious Jesus? Who showed you the worth of your immortal soul, that if your soul was safe for eternity, it did not much matter how things were as to your body, during this momentary state of your little inch of time? Who gave you such a high esteem of Christ, the Friend of sinners?

Have you always had such a living sensation of these things? If not, how did you come by this? Who gave it to you? Who makes you differ from thousands, on your right hand and on your left, who, insensible of their own misery as sinners, and of the excellency of Christ as the Savior, seek no higher happiness than the empty enjoyments of this perishing life?

Oh, dear Madam, have not you cause to adore the rich, free, distinguishing grace of God to you—which opened your eyes, while numbers round about you are blinded by sin and Satan? You have seen your unspeakable misery without Christ, and His immense and eternal excellency to make you incomparably happy unto endless glory!

You have been drawn by His all-conquering love, and changed in some measure into His image, and have given yourself up to Him, to be entirely and forever His. The altogether lovely Jesus is your beloved, and He is your friend—and in Him you have, and shall have, a well of life, and ocean of inexhaustible and eternal bliss!

A cup of bitters?

 

My Dear Sister in our precious Lord,

I sympathize with you in your trials. Do not think them strange. Your kind Father well prepared you for these exercises by that abundant love which He long manifested towards you. He let you rest long in His bosom; will you not be willing to work for Him now—yes, to suffer whatever He shall call you to? Oh, remember what obligation His boundless love lays you under to be entirely His! Remember but His love, in which He has given you Himself, and you will freely give up yourself to His whole will, and count nothing too much, either to do or suffer, that so you may glorify Him.

Has your kind Father given you a cup of bitters? Drink it freely! It is well sweetened with His love! The curse is taken out of it by Christ being made a curse for you; and lo! It is no other but a cup of blessing! Infinite love ordained it and infinite wisdom prepared it, and infinite power will work with and by it unto your present and eternal advantage. All your graces are to be tried, and by the trial of them to be increased here, and found unto praise and honor and glory at Christ's appearing.

You will not think any of the labors and sorrows of the wilderness too much when once you reach Canaan's land. You will bless God when you get to heaven for every step of the way He led you, and see it was all right. And will you not begin the work of heaven now, and go, not only patiently and cheerfully, but thankfully also, through all the trials of the wilderness into your everlasting rest?

Your tender, faithful Shepherd, who gave His life for you, will not allow you to lack any good thing. Into His arms I commit you; His grace be with your spirit.

The love of Christ to you

 

My Beloved Brother in the Lord,

I am a partaker of your joy in those rich love-feasts in our Lord's banqueting-house with which you have been favored. O happy soul, how does Jesus love you! And yet I must tell you He has but begun to love you. The love of Christ to you will pass on in brighter displays from glory to glory, glancing upon you through time as it passes by in its own everlasting round, in the state, in the majesty of a God, of the Lord Jehovah. O, my brother, I would be undone if the love of Christ were not just as it is, an infinite, strong, free, all-surpassing, unchangeable, and eternal love; if it were not the love of the Lord to an adulteress-bride, who by heart-idolatry looks to other gods, and loves sacred raisin cakes. But O, amazing wonder, our Lord's love-language is, "The Lord said to me, "Go, show your love to your wife again, though she is loved by another and is an adulteress. Love her as the Lord loves the Israelites, though they turn to other gods and love the sacred raisin cakes!" Hosea 3:1

The love of Christ being the love of the Lord, that has all the immense fullness, glories, and perfections of the Godhead in it, will always have a "yet" for us—a yet of continuance of infinite favor, a yet of increasing display—notwithstanding all our unworthiness and provocations. And O, surpassing wonder! Our Lord will say of us, as washed in His blood, clothed with His righteousness, anointed with His Spirit, and adorned with His graces, "How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves!" What, say of an adulteress-bride, who looks to other gods, even after redeemed by and acquainted with the love of the Lord-Redeemer, "You have dove's eyes!" Oh, none could say this but He who is the Lord, the God of love! It is His language whose love has in it heights and depths, breadths and lengths, which are infinite, passing knowledge.

And of His bride, black as she is in herself, by the workings of sin in her corrupt nature, this Bridegroom will say,"How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful my love!" My love! Oh, there it is! She is the object of Emanuel's love—of His heart-love, of His dying, living love, of His time-love, of His eternal love—His soul is fixed upon her; He loves her from Himself, He loves her in His own beauties cast upon her; He loves her as Himself—as His own flesh—as nearly, as inseparably related to Him. He will love her into love, into a full and glorious conformity to His own bright image. He had the pattern of all her glory given Him of old by His Father, when she was presented to Him in the mirror of decree. She ravished His heart then; He took her in the everlasting covenant, to love her ever; yes, though He must die for her, to bring her up to her decreed life of glory. He has wrought her up unto all her perfect beauty, her designed brightness in Himself. He is now working her up by His Spirit in herself to that pattern-glory. Her future brightness is present in His eye; and in all respects, from an infinity of grace and love, of flowing delights, this Bridegroom says to His bride, "How beautiful you are, my beloved, how beautiful! Your eyes behind your veil are like doves!" which shows how fitly the eyes of Christ are set to look with delight upon His own dove.

O! His eyes are as the eyes of doves (pure, piercing, mild, loving), by the rivers of water (by the flows of infinite grace), washed with milk (bathed in those milky streams), and fitly set to look upon His spouse, His love, His dove, under all her miseries and mournings, with boundless compassion, ardent desires, infinite delights, and almighty influence, to look her into communion unto her full salvation by and eternal glory with Him. Happy, thrice happy then, is that soul who can say of Christ, that fairer than the sons of men, that altogether lovely Bridegroom, who can love a black bride in and into His own beauty and brightness—this is my beloved, and this is my friend!

Such a sweet visit my Lord lately made me, such a glance, such a taste, such a shine of His love He favored me with that broke, melted, and overcame my heart; that made me long to serve Him here, yes, to be with Him, to behold, to enjoy, to adore Him in the glory of His love, which, with an heart-ravishing majesty, a soul-overcoming glory, so brightly beamed upon me in this land of distance. And before that time, my Lord has frequently of late applied many of His precious promises to my heart, which foretell great things that He will yet do, in His infinite grace, for His most unworthy worm. Praise Him for His amazing kindness to me, and pray that His love may change me into its own image.

Then farewell forever!

 

My very Dear Sister in our precious Lord,

I rejoice to hear of your soul's prosperity under those afflictions which have attended your body. I have again been visited with illness, and am weak. The hand—the heart of our own God—our God of love—is in everything to us. In all, let us love, bless, and adore His name, for honorable and glorious are all His works, and most worthy is He of praise from us in all. Under the sweet, enlarging influence of God's free love, we love Him and as much when He frowns as when He smiles.

A believing, loving, adoring spirit, under divine chastisement, is an excellent spirit—a God-glorifying frame of soul. Our afflictions, light as they are, as being laid upon us and we supported under them by the Lord's all-gracious and almighty hand, are made blessings to us. They may well be borne by us, not only as they are designed for, and shall end in, our soul's present and eternal advantage, but also, and chiefly, in that our God is and will be glorified thereby His displaying the glory of His infinite love, grace, mercy, wisdom, power, faithfulness, and fatherly goodness towards us in them—and by our ascribing all honor in filial duty unto Him.

Our God is infinitely concerned for our good in every affliction. So let us be earnestly, yes only, concerned about His glory as to our duty therein, casting all our care upon Him who cares for us.

We shall bless God, when we come to heaven, for every kind and degree of affliction that we passed through on earth—for every trial, and for every circumstance attending it, wherein we are enabled to glorify God.

After this heavenly temper, and an increase therein, let us labor while pilgrims on this earth. A submissive, patient, cheerful, thankful frame of spirit, under the afflicting hand of God, is that honor, that reverence which we owe to Him as a Father—and ineffably sweet, and exceedingly profitable is this unto us as His children. In a little, little while, sin and sorrow shall be no more. A fullness, an eternity of joy and glory in the immediate presence of God and the Lamb awaits us.

Our afflictions are given to us as a fruit of the Father's grace, of the Son's purchase and intercession, and as a season of the Spirit's preparing us below for that glory which is prepared for us above. Oh, my dear sister, all things are ours, whether life, or death, or things present, or things to come. Time with all its changes, its comforts and crosses, and eternity with all its great and unchangeable glories, are ours! Christ is ours, and all things in and with Him, and we are His, and shall shortly be with Him where He is, to behold His glory! We shall be like Him, perfectly so—for we shall see Him as He is! We shall not be long absent from, but shall shortly be forever with the Lord—to see, to love, to praise Him perfectly and eternally. Oh, blessed day! It hastens upon us. A day without clouds, without decline, without end! A magnificent, bright day, that will spread its glories over all, when the Lord will be our everlasting light, and our God our glory!

Then farewell forever! Farewell trials! Farewell sin! Farewell sorrow! Farewell death! Farewell darkness! Farewell pain! Farewell weakness! Mortality shall be swallowed in life! And in the meantime, my dear sister, let us go on in faith and hope of that eternal life which God, who cannot lie, has promised; and loving and adoring the Lord in all things, let us follow the Lamb, even wherever He goes, until we reach immortal glory with Him. And now, my dear child, unto the tender care of your everlasting Father I commit you. May His presence be with you, and His blessing be upon you continually.

Worth infinitely more than millions of worlds!

 

My Dear Sister in Christ,

Your Beloved is yours and you are His, and what can you want or desire more? Your one Lord Jesus is worth infinitely more than millions of worlds, were there so many! Oh, what little, uncertain, dying things, are all creature-enjoyments! Not a drop of refreshment can we find in them, unless the Creator fills them, and communicates of His own fullness through those pipes of conveyance; and yet, how prone are we to seek after creatures as if our happiness were in them! Ah, foolish we, to "forsake the fountain of living waters, and hew out to ourselves cisterns—broken cisterns—that can hold no water!" Were every pipe broken and every cistern dry, the Lord—the full fountain, the overflowing ocean of our life and bliss—would never fail. There is a river of love, life, and glory in God, the streams whereof, through Christ, by the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, shall make glad the hearts of the citizens of Zion.

My dear sister, God, our kind Father, takes away the creatures from us that we may learn to live upon Himself as our present and eternal All; and not a soul that has Him for a well, while passing through the valley of Baca, of tears, shall ever lack supply of life and joy. A believer can never lack anything, languish and die in his spirit for lack of any good thing, unless he goes out of the bosom of Christ, where he has all things—to hunt for supplies among the creatures where there is nothing. Blessed is that soul that seeks God in the creatures it desires, that lives upon God in the creatures it enjoys, and that makes life a peaceful, joyous, glorious life out of God—or rather, that lives peacefully, joyfully, gloriously in Him when the creatures fail—for surpassingly excellent, sweet and soul-satisfying is God in all—is God in Himself.

O for more faith to live upon Him, and to Him, in all things that He gives us, and in what He withholds or takes from us; for our God will supply all our needs, according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.

Don't you see, then, my dear sister, how well you are provided for? Oh, live joyfully, as a child of God—and heir of God—for no good thing will He allow you to lack—and soon He will bring you to His great, His glorious, His eternal Self! Your God, your all-supplying God, will be with you in every strait, to the last moment of your stay on earth, and then He will bring you home, to be forever with Him in heaven, where, in His immediate presence, and seated at His right hand, He will bless you with fullness of joy, and make you drink of the river of His pleasures for evermore!

Indwelling Sin

 

Dear Madam,

It is indeed a very great privilege to be favored with a religious parentage and education, but if this were our greatest felicity, we would sink, nevertheless, into eternal misery! But the vessels of mercy– of God's free, rich, sovereign mercy– in order to their time-preparation for eternal glory, are blessed by Him, with His Holy Spirit sent down into their hearts, as the spirit of regeneration, conviction, and conversion.

And this blessed spirit, in His saving work on the heart, when He first begins it, finds the sinner dead in sin, and under total darkness, as to spiritual things, in his understanding– in an entire alienation from them, and aversion to them, in his will and affections; and so, afar off from God in Christ, without any apparent right to the covenant of promise, and without any good hope through grace. And at such a time as this, He is pleased, by His almighty and all-gracious energy, to produce a new and holy principle of spiritual life in that soul which lay under the power of spiritual death entirely.

This principle, which is instantaneously given, and as to the exact moment of it to us unknown, contains in it all graces, which are afterwards drawn out into their various exercises, under the Spirit's influence, unto the regenerate soul's various privileges. And this gracious work of the Holy Spirit of the heart discovers itself to the soul that is the subject of it, and to others, so far as it is related, by a supernatural light set up in the understanding, whence the soul sees itself to be utterly lost and undone by sin, by heart and life-sin, under the curse of God's law, and in danger of the wrath which is to come– that it neither has, nor can, by self-power, attain a perfect righteousness of its own for justification.

And also, in the soul's discerning, upon the Spirit's revealing, the infinite glory and transcendent excellency of Christ as the great Savior, in His Person and offices, blood and righteousness, and in all the fullness of His grace– as God's great provision for the salvation of the chief of sinners– and as in the gospel held forth to be received of them by faith.

And further, the Spirit's saving work, on the will and affections, discovers itself by that soul's approbation of the Savior beheld, its desires after Him, its approaches to Him, its laying hold of Him, and casting itself, under the Spirit's sweet and strong attraction, with the whole weight of its everlasting salvation upon Christ alone for all holiness and all happiness, to the present and eternal praise of the God of all grace, and to the soul's present and eternal bliss; upon which, that soul becomes declaratively and apparently a child and heir of God, through Christ, as the God of grace and glory– and is more or less sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise.

And now, dear Madam, if you are blessed with a precious experience of this happy work on your heart, you are most certainly a new creature in Christ, and a true believer in Him, and "shall be saved in the Lord, with an everlasting salvation," notwithstanding the greatest inward or outward opposition. You are forever safe in the hands of Jesus, and none of the powers of darkness, with all their subtlety and force, shall ever be able to pluck you thence. "Your refuge is the eternal God, and underneath, for your support, are the everlasting arms!" And as an inhabitant of the Rock– the Rock of Ages, who is your strong defense– you may sing and shout salvation from the top of the mountains!

But you complain, dear Madam, "that notwithstanding your approach by faith unto Christ, to touch the hem of His garment, and to lay hold of His royal robe of righteousness, the root of sin is not dried up within you– the plague of your heart is not healed– but that your heart is like a painted sepulcher, full of rottenness and putrefaction; yes, that your heart grows worse and worse." To these things I answer:

The root of sin in your heart may be considered in a twofold respect, as (1), In its principle; and (2), In its act; or, your misery may be distinguished into 'heart' and 'life-defiling' iniquity; and this, again, into the guilt and filth of both. With respect to the guilt of both, your root of sin was fully dried up and gone, upon your first act of faith on Christ's blood and righteousness, for your justification. As God, then, by the gracious declarations of His unchanging word, did not impute unto you your sin, but the perfect righteousness of His own Son, whose nature, being without a spot of sin, His heart, lip, and life-obedience, even unto death, was without blemish, so from thenceforth, you were, are, and ever shall be, in God's sight, as you appear before Him in His son– perfectly clean from the guilt of all sin, and righteous before Him as to your state of justification.

And as to the filth of your heart and life-sin, that also is dried up and gone as you appear before God for His acceptance and complacency, in His Holy Son, who has for you who stand in Christ, as perfectly holy heart, to remove out of the Father's sight all your unholiness. You are now presented before God, by Christ, "holy and unblameable, and unreproveable in His sight," though you still have the running outcome of sin– so much unholiness– in yourself. And in this respect, you are called to wash daily, by faith, in that fountain set open for sin, both in its guilt and filth.

"The plague of your heart," you say, Madam, "is not healed." but you ought to distinguish between your heart and your heart, or between your heart, as renewed by grace, in which dwells a principle of holiness, and from whence proceeds internal and external acts of holiness; and your heart as unrenewed, or the unrenewed part of your heart, in which dwells a whole body of sin and death, with all its members, and from whence flows internal and external acts of wickedness. For though the Holy Spirit's work on the heart is perfect, as to kind, and in respect of parts, as it extends to all the parts, powers, and faculties of the soul, so that there is no power or faculty in it but what is sanctified; yet this– His sanctifying work, is still imperfect in degree, and is to be increased by His almighty influence, unto a perfection of holiness; and having experienced the Spirit's sanctifying work on your heart as a begun-work in it, the plague of your heart, so far as it is renewed, is healed.

And if the plague of your heart were not, in this respect, healed, you would not, you could not, desire so earnestly a clean heart universally, for like loves its like. It is from holiness in your heart begun, that you long after perfection, and until that time comes, there remains in your corrupt heart all sin, which is as contrary to holiness as darkness is to light. And this is your great grief and burden and matter of your complaint, "that the plague of your heart is not healed." And indeed it is not, in the unregenerate part of it, but it is in the regenerate part of it.

When I speak of the heart, understand it as of all the powers of your soul, each of which is in part renewed and in part unrenewed; but that same almighty power which begun in you this holy work, in conformity to Christ, the Father's first-born Son, will carry it on unto absolute perfection, and then you will feel no more of heart, lip and life-abominations; but shall shout the triumphs of that mighty grace, to its endless praise, which has wrought your deliverance from all misery, and brought you up unto perfect purity, fullness of joy, and eternal glory.

But you tell me, Madam, "that your heart grows worse and worse." To this I reply: The unrenewed part of your heart, in which resides the principle of sin, has in it such a fullness of evil, such heights and depths of wickedness, such putrefaction and rottenness, that it cannot admit of greater degree. "It is deceitful above all things, and so desperately wicked" that none but the Lord Himself can find it out, or search the amazing depths of this bottomless gulf! But though sin as a principle, in the unregenerate part of your heart, cannot grow worse– the ebullitions, or boilings up of corruptions, may be more or less, as they have more or less advantage to show their rage against the God of grace and holiness, and against us as bearing His image. The workings of corruptions have less advantage when we are under present divine influence; but when this is in measure withdrawn from us, they instantly boil over with rage against the principle of grace, and by their subtlety and force, under Satan's influence– entice or hurry us away with rapidity into sinful acts, to God's dishonor and our soul's distress.

But all the rage of hell and sin within and without us, with all those hellish waters which they cast forth as a flood to swallow us up, shall never quench that spark of heavenly fire, that little grace which is wrought in our hearts by the hand of Omnipotence! No! this, by the same almighty power which enkindled it, shall be maintained and increased amid and by the greatest opposition, until it is raised into a full and eternal flame! The triumphant Captain of our salvation has vanquished all the powers of hell and sin. He has led captivity captive, and dragged all the legions of devils at His chariot wheels, when He went up to glory with a shout– with the sound of a trumpet, amid thousands and tens of thousands of His holy angels, who saw His triumphs and sung His victories.

And as for sin, our worst enemy– the old man– the whole body of sin– it was crucified with Him, and thence, by omnipotent grace– by sin-pardoning and sin-subduing grace– it shall be shortly, totally, and finally destroyed in us! And therefore, by faith in Jehovah's almighty and covenant-engaged power, let us stand to our arms as good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and wax valiant in fight against all His and our enemies; for out of weakness we shall be made strong, and brought from the field victorious through His love and blood as more than conquerors. And meanwhile, as our begun holiness increases, we shall see corruptions in their horrid ebullitions, under advancing displays of reigning grace, which gives them greater aggravations– to be worse and worse– and our new hearts shall be to all sin more and more averse– until a complete victory is won, and we are blessed with an immortal crown.

You well say, dear Madam, that "unbelief in the promises and faithfulness of God is the productive root of numerous evils," and therefore we should not indulge it, but fight against it in Jehovah's might, while we stand fast by faith in that full, glorious, and eternal liberty with which Christ, by and irreversible promise-grant, upon our first act of faith, has made us free. By standing fast by faith in that glorious liberty in which upon our first believing we were instated, I intend those after-acts of faith which respect persuasion of that saving interest in Christ and all His benefits which was then given us by promise, and so to hold fast our confidence, or persuasion of salvation, in the face of all inward or outward opposition made against it; for this is not only for God's praise, in His infinite grace and faithfulness to His promise, but will be also of great advantage for the mortification of sin in us.

As our faith in our saving interest rises, our love and gratitude to God increases; but faith of our saving interest is depressed, love and gratitude sink with it; we depart from God, the Fountain of all good, the whole of our life, as if for us in Him there were no help, and are carried away by deceitful evil– by numerous evils– as by a mighty torrent, into comfort's death. Let us beware, therefore, of an evil heart of unbelief, for faith in God, as the God of love unto us in Christ, will yield us a sweet relief, under Satan's temptations and the strong workings of inward corruptions, and edge our spirits keenly against all the Lord's and our enemies.

As to our heart-idolatry, it is a very great iniquity of which the Lord's own people are deeply guilty. But since this is the promise of His rich, free grace, "Ephraim shall say, What have I to do any more with idols?" let us plead it before His throne, and bring our every idol unto Him to be entirely slain, so shall our hearts be disjointed from them, and our admiration of, and sinful affection to, all 'glittering glow-worm glories' sink and die before the rising attracting display of His all-transcendent and infinite excellences.

And permit me, Madam, to give you a caution– Not to keep company, familiarly, with any but those whom you judge to be truly godly; for the ungodly, by their carnality, will bring you into great danger, and impair in your own spirituality. And if your intimate acquaintances are truly gracious and richly blessed with an inward experience, continue your intimacy, and labor to improve it to a mutual increase of your soul's joint-felicity, your growth in grace and furtherance in the knowledge of God in Christ.

All company has in it either the nature of fire or of air– it either heats or cools– it either excites our love of God, or upon that holy fervor casts the benumbing cold of a dreadful winter. Therefore it is a piece of spiritual wisdom, in spiritual people, to choose such alone for their intimate companions. And if your intimates, dear Madam, excel in spiritual gifts, admire not them– but admire God in them, so shall you be conducted by the brightness of a 'beam' to the all-comprehending and all-reflecting glories of Him who is the infinite and eternal Sun.

Be assured, dear Madam, that that work of God upon the heart which brings the soul to an entire dependence on Christ– a whole Christ, is no illusion, but shall end in a full and eternal salvation. And as to the 'hope of the hypocrite', which shall perish, that is always founded upon self-worthiness; but that hope which has for its foundation God's free grace, in and through what Christ has done and suffered for us, and is made of God unto us, is good hope that shall not make ashamed, but shall be, in its glorious fruits, to the righteous, gladness unto endless ages.

As to those precious promises (Ezekiel 36:25), etc., which you so earnestly desire to experience, they are fulfilled in you already, partially and initially, and shall be, shortly, completely and eternally!

I wish you a rich increase of all grace unto all joy, peace, and holiness, and a massive crown of immortal bliss!

Our Captain-Leader, the Lord our Lover

 

 

Dear Sir,

There may be obstacles and hindrances in the building and beauty of the spiritual temple, in the edification and glory of the gospel church. But the work is of God, and it shall prosper in the hands of our Zerubbabel. His hands, which have laid the foundation—even His hands shall finish it—and He shall bring forth the top-stone thereof with shouting, crying, "Grace, grace unto it." Nor shall any impediments ever stand in the way of the Savior's rising interest, but what shall serve as a foil to illustrate the brightness of that omnipotent power, infinite grace, truth, and faithfulness, which soon, very soon, will redound to His and the Church's glory, in spite of all opposition from the powers of darkness.

Not the least breathing of your enlarged heart, not a desire of your capacious soul, nor the least attempt you ever made for the advancement of the Redeemer's interest, but is recorded by Him in the book of His remembrance, and shall be rewarded of Him at His appearance. And, lo, this Lord and King of Glory will Himself will be your exceeding great reward! And can you fathom the measure of your glory in your immeasurable Lord? No! heaven's bliss, is immense.

But think, O think with pleasure, on those sweet foretastes of God with which your happy soul has been favored in times past! What peace and rest, what refreshing joy, has been given to your spirit when Jesus drew near! Was not your bliss in those happy moments ineffable—your joy full of glory unspeakable—and your reward abundantly great and full? And yet think, O think with rising joy, that the whole of your heart-ravishing bliss, of your soul-satisfying reward hitherto, if compared with that which is to come in the immediate presence, and full eternal enjoyment of God and of the Lamb, is no more than a drop in an immense ocean! Joy enters into you now; but then, you shall enter into joy, even the joy of your Lord. God puts a glory upon you now; but then, your God will be your glory! Rejoice, therefore, as an heir of God and a joint-heir with Christ!

And until you come to your eternal inheritance, give your Father leave to choose your time-portion of trials, which are to prepare you for your eternal lot of glory. And think it not strange, if so dear a favorite of heaven should meet with a variety and perpetuity of griefs on the earth, nor yet if your greatest trials should be reserved for the last. Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil? Shall we walk joyfully in the light, and not patiently in darkness? Especially since we have so sweet a companion in tribulation as our Lord Jesus, who loves us immensely, and will speak to us comfortably. God our Father has given Christ to be our Leader—to be the Captain of our Salvation—and, as such, he is continually with us, and goes before us. Through all the wilderness-way, even to the last step of it, he will never leave nor forsake us. He will tread down the briars and thorns before us, to make the way passable for us, and easy for our tender feet.

And no grief will He ever allow to touch us but what He sees to be absolutely necessary for us, and what He Himself, by an infinite sympathy, will bear together with us. The most tender pity of the nearest and dearest relative is not worth a thought, if compared with the infinite affection of Christ, our Immanuel, our Husband, Brother, Friend, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells. In our Jehovah-Jesus there is a fullness of tender mercy, whence He can be, and is, inwardly touched with the feeling of our misery. And in Him also there is a fullness of power to relieve and deliver, which from an infinity of love, grace, and faithfulness, He does and will exert to save us to the uttermost. Our Captain-Leader, the Lord our Lover, goes before us as a mighty conqueror, to vanquish all our enemies, to make our distress subserve our bliss, to swallow up death in victory, and to raise us up with Him to reign in life and immortal glory.

Let us, then, in faith, and without having fear, commit ourselves entirely to our Lord's all-wise and all-gracious conduct, and cheerfully come up from the wilderness leaning upon our Beloved. For lo, we shall be fully persuaded "that neither life, nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Hallelujah! And again let us say, "Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigns!"

That His rich, reigning grace may be with your spirit, and upon you in your work, until you rest from your labors and are received up to glory, in my hearty desire.

That eternal feast!

 

Dear Madam,

Your most acceptable favor with your most kind present I received, and return my most humble and utmost thanks. My soul prays most heartily for your rich reward in and from the God of grace and glory, in time and to eternity. But who, or what am I, that the God of my mercy should raise up such dear friends to care for me so greatly, at such a vast distance, who never saw my face in the flesh? It is amazing kindness, and a pregnant proof of His covenant-engaged and infinite all-sufficiency. Oh, for a heart, lip, and life, to render Him adequate praise! I bewail my impotence, nothingness and vileness. I rejoice to live under the shine of infinite grace, which forgives all my sins, accepts my desires, and will call that praise, in God-like condescension, which with respect to Him is not worthy the name. I esteem it an exceeding great privilege that my low, imperfect praises, ascend for acceptance before God Most High in the perfect praises of the great Mediator, who is with His Father co-equal in glory and majesty. There the God of all grace to us finds, to His heart's complacence, His full and adequate praise; and there He accepts with infinite delight our every little mite, without debasing His infinite majesty to the brightest display of His infinite glory.

And as you, dear Madam, not only supply me freely, but esteem yourself also favored and honored of God highly in your being made an instrument in His hand of relieving the least of His people in necessity, and of sending them again with high praises to His throne; this is an evidence that you love the Lord supremely and ardently, which love to God in Christ, thus blazing in your heart and life, with your earnest desires after the total destruction of all sin, and the absolute perfection of all grace, and that in the midst of much worldly business and affluence, are such eminent instances of the Lord's special distinguishing favor towards you as are very seldom cast upon others of His own dear children in affluent circumstances. See that for these you give Him due praise. A soul kept alive in God, and for Him, amid sin's, Satan's, and the world's heart-killing influence—is a miracle of omnipotent grace; and such a soul can say, when grace is in exercise,

"Nothing but glory can suffice

The appetite of grace;

I long for Christ, with restless eyes,

I languish for His face."

Since you long, dear Madam, that the whole of what you are and have may be holiness unto the Lord, this is an evidence that Christ, your great High Priest, presents you before His Father's face continually, with all your services, unto the highest acceptance, in His own all-perfect and flaming purity. And, here likewise, upon your desires after perfect holiness, He engraves holiness unto Jehovah. If you were not to God perfect holiness, in Christ, and your services presented to Him and by Him as such, you would not have felt that inherent holy impress on your heart. And because you are now holiness unto God in Christ, representatively and perfectly—this secures your perfect, personal holiness, in yourself shortly; for, "As we have borne the image of the earthly we shall also bear the image of the heavenly," which should excite us eagerly to press forward after increasing holiness daily until that which is in part—or the imperfection of our present personal holiness—shall be done away by the coming of that which is perfect.

It delights me much, dear Madam, to see that, under the Lord's most kind, enriching providence, He gives you to see your duty, to use your God-given abundance unto His praise and the poor saints' bliss, and that therewith he gives you a hearty compliance. It is doubtless the duty of rich brethren to serve the Lord's interest, and to minister to the necessity of their poor brethren with their riches, and to count that money best employed which is given to Christ and His people; and, therefore, the apostle exhorts thus—"Charge those who are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who gives us all things richly to enjoy; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute, willing to share." And how wondrous are the motives which he presents before them to excite them to, and enforce upon them, these duties—"laying up in store for themselves a good foundation (of reward) against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life!" Strange, that rich saints when they cast away their treasures upon Christ's needy interest and His poor children, should be herein but laying up in store for themselves, but laying a good foundation upon which, of infinite grace, the promised reward shall be raised, and that so great that while they thus, according to the promise, lay hold on or possess it, they shall inherit eternal life!

None but the infinite and eternal God could or would confer such a great and eternal reward upon His favorite servants, according to their works, their little, their very little and imperfect earthly-services. We may well warble out His praise with "Who is a God like unto You?" This I write not, dear Madam, to excite you to do more for my unworthy self. I am full, having received what you freely sent, which to the Lord and to myself is most acceptable; but my desire herein is to promote your fruitfulness to His praise and other brethrens' bliss, and that you yourself at the great rewarding day may find a rich account of your earthly-services to your ineffable joy and eternal glory.

The information you gave me, dear Madam, of the Lord's blessing my last poor letters, refreshes my heart greatly, and excites my praises to the God of all mercy, for as I seek His glory and His children's joy, when I find these, oh, how great is my soul's solace!

I am, dear Madam, a partaker of your joy in your victory over bosom idols. It is the direct way for the destruction of our sins to bring these, our Lord's foes, unto Him, to be slain before Him. Nothing separates between God and us like sin; nothing provokes the eyes of His glory like heart-idolatry—"Therefore," says He, "have I forsaken my people, because they are replenished from the East." And how pathetically does the Lord argue the case with His idolatrous people Israel, in order to their conviction and return to Him—"Has a nation changed their Gods—which yet are not Gods? But my people have changed their glory for that which does not profit." And again, "Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten Me days without number." And as soon as ever, under His almighty agency, His backsliding Ephraim is brought to repentance for his sin, and to bemoan himself for it thus before Him, "You have chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke; turn me, and I shall be turned, for You are the Lord my God"—His heart yearns towards Him, and thus breaks out upon Him, "Is Ephraim my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? For since I spoke against him, I do earnestly remember him still—therefore my heart is troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord."

And of this great grace, dear Madam, you are made a partaker of your increasing bliss, and this your felicity enhances my joy. So great is, and ought to be, our sympathy as members of Christ's body, as to interest ourselves mutually and entirely in each others' griefs and joys. How else can we love one another as our dear Lord has loved and does love us; yes, how else could we love Him in each other? And is your Lord returned, dear Madam? Now see in this, His unchanging grace, His infinite faithfulness; now learn to say, as He, that His forsakings are but for a moment; and now learn to trust in Him for time to come, for lo! His kindness towards you has upon it the date of everlasting, past and to come. And time, with all its changes, nor could, nor can, nor ever shall, make the least variation in His love—whose name is I AM!—in the love of His heart, I mean, which is one infinite, eternal flame! The manifestations of it vary; but His invariable love, according to the infinity of His wisdom, makes its displays, or eclipses its glories, just as is most for His highest praise and for our greatest happiness.

And though, dear Madam, you cannot say that you now have the enjoyment of your Beloved so fully as you could wish, remember that the present state is to be a life of faith; that eternal state to come, will be of sight—of immediate, full, and endless sight! And then we shall have as much of Christ as our souls can wish—or capacities contain, without the least fear of His withdrawing again. Meanwhile, ‘transient glances’ and ‘short foretastes’ shall whet our appetites for that eternal feast!

Great grace be with you!