Jesus your Friend

 

Very Dear Sir,

I am glad that you still rejoice in your sweet Jesus, though you have no other that you can call a friend. It is enough, beloved of the Lord, that Christ is your Friend, though all others should fail you, and no man care for your soul. There is such an infinite fullness, such an unsearchable depth of love and grace, of wisdom and knowledge, of tender care and loving faithfulness in your own Lord Jesus, that you need not go to the creature for compassion in misery, for ease in trouble, or for solace in sorrow. The Lord, your Friend, knows all your griefs, and by love-sympathy makes them His own. Lay your weary head in Christ's bosom, and pour out your troubled heart before Him. His kind hand will wipe away all your tears, and His precious lips will drop sweet-smelling myrrh for your soul's refreshment. And as Jesus your Friend will be with you in trouble, so, well will He bring you out of it. The wisdom and kindness, the power and faithfulness of the Lord your Friend, will overrule the lack of friendship in creatures, and all unkindnesses and disappointments you meet with from them.

For myself, I must say, the Lord is still infinitely kind, merciful, and gracious to vile, sinful, unworthy me. It has been His dear pleasure to try me greatly by permitting the ship in which my dear husband sailed for England to founder at sea, to the loss of his life. But most surely the Son of God has been with me in this burning fiery furnace, and His sweet presence, at times, loosed my bands, and caused me to walk at liberty. Heavy was the stroke to my weak nature, but glorious has been the display of divine power in supporting me under it. I long to love, honor, and adore my chiding, smiting, loving God. I believe He does all things well, and what I know not now, I shall know hereafter. I wait for the light of glory to open the mysteries of this dark providence, and rejoice in hope of it. Oh, how fast does our dear Lord gather His lilies! We had need work while it is day—the night comes, in which we can do no more for Christ in this world.

Into the arms of Jesus—our love, our life, our all, I commit you. His grace be with your spirit.

This frowning, emptying providence

 

Dear Madam,

I am at this time sorrowful, on account of a letter I have received, "That the ship in which my dear husband sailed for England has, in all probability, foundered at sea." This stroke, Madam, is so great that it was almost ready to overcome my weak nature. But, glory to my dear Lord, His strength has been, and is, made perfect in my weakness. Precious cordials have been given me when ready to faint, and mighty supports when ready to sink. My weak, willing spirit longs to glorify God my Father, and the Lord my Redeemer, under this sharp trial, by humble submission, patient endurance, and joyful, thankful acquiescence. Most surely the Lord, my own God, has done all things (and this) well—well for His own glory, and for my advantage—so well that it could not have been better than it is. And shall I not receive evil at the hand of the Lord, as well as good? Yes, by His grace assisting, I do and I will receive the evil of this affliction meekly and thankfully. Evil, indeed it is, as it is very grieving and trying in itself and its circumstances; but good it is for me to be thus grieved and tried, as this affliction flows from, is managed by, and shall end in the display of infinite goodness to me. 

This very providence, the Lord tells me, is towards me goodness; and what I know not now, I shall know hereafter. I shall shortly see, with the veil cast off, all the mysteries of providence, opened in all its windings and turnings and cross-appearances, in a consistent light and glory with the exceeding great and precious promises, as having been all subservient to their fulfillment in my salvation and bliss, even when they seemed to thwart their accomplishment, and crossed my expectation and desire. And until sight comes, it is good to live by faith. I dread casting such a dishonor upon the Son of God, by over-much heaviness for the loss of a creature, as if He, the Creator, who is God, blessed forever, and mine in the nearest relation and in an indissoluble union, was not in Himself an object sufficient to satisfy and solace me through all times, and unto all eternity. Emptied I am, indeed, of a creature-comfort, of a near relative that was dear, and a blessing to me, but God has given me Christ, in whom all fullness dwells, never to take Him from me. I am in widowhood, yet, glory unto God in the highest, I am not a widow. 

My Maker is my Husband and my Redeemer, the Lord of Hosts is His name. Creatures die, but Jesus lives—lives as my Husband, in all the kindness and care, the tenderness and faithfulness, of that near and dear relation, and will show the same in a superlative and transcendent manner, far above the utmost that can be expected or found in the best of creatures. Yes, Jesus lives, as my life, in soul, in body, in grace, in glory, through time and to eternity. I have lost the shadow, but I have the substance—the stream, but I have the fountain, the immense ocean of all my bliss. And oh! for grace to behave under this frowning, emptying providence, as a soul thus satisfied with favor, and full with the blessing of the Lord.

You see, Madam, how precarious and uncertain all things here are! Live beside the creatures while you have them—let Christ be the all of your enjoyment in them—and then, when they fail, and your own heart and flesh too, Christ will be your all in Himself—the strength of your heart, and your portion forever—an all of bliss and glory, ineffable and eternal. Value your own Lord Jesus. Let His price (His worth in your esteem) be far above rubies, and all creatures and things, desirable and desired. The all-beauteous Godhead is in Him. He is the mighty God, as well as the Man Jesus, for you. Emanuel is His wonderful, glorious name. His personal and relative glories are, and shall be, the wonder and praise of men and angels unto ages without end. Look upon His lovely face—there is not another such a beauty in both worlds! See, Madam, this is your Beloved, and this is your Friend. 

This is He who has loved you, and given Himself for you; that laid aside His glory and joy, who was the adoration of angels, and the darling of the Father's bosom, to clothe Himself, His matchless Self, with your sin, shame, and sorrow, that He might raise you from the ash-heap of sinful nature to inherit with Him the joys and glories of the upper world; yes, to set you with Him upon His own throne! Oh, dear Madam, you are the Lamb's bride, even you, who come unto God, as the God of peace, only by and through the sacrificed Lamb. Admire the Lamb's love—the Lamb who was slain for you, that has wooed and won and betrothed you to Himself forever. Live upon Him, live to Him, and long to live with Him.

That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him, is my hearty desire.

The valley of the shadow of death

 

Dear Brother and Sister,

As to my health, blessed be God, I am no worse. I dwell in a fragile body, which I think sometimes is near its dissolution. But I rejoice in that house, that building of God, eternal in the heavens, which I know, through grace, is prepared for me. I in this tabernacle groan, being burdened by reason of that sinfulness and weakness which attends and renders me incapable either to know or serve the Lord as I would, and as perfect spirits do; and this makes me long for the time when mortality shall be swallowed up of life. We have no reason to be afraid of a separate state, for "Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord." Nor yet should the saints be afraid to die, as if they should be forsaken and left to go through the last trial alone. No, our God will be with us when we come to the river Death; He will divide the water before us, and so marvelously appear in carrying us through it that we shall take thence a memorial of His infinite grace and faithfulness, as the children of Israel did when they passed through the literal Jordan (Josh. 4:7).

We should come up from the wilderness, even to the last step of it, leaning upon our Beloved, who has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Heb. 13:5). These words, "never leave you," reach through our whole lives, even unto death, yes, into death, through death, above and beyond death, even to an endless eternity. And unless everlasting arms could become weary, unchangeable love alter, and infinite faithfulness fail, we have no reason to be afraid. No, not in "the valley of the shadow of death". Our God will be "our refuge and strength, a very present help in that time of trouble". And as He will be the strength of our heart when heart and flesh fail us, so our portion forever, or our eternal lot.

And oh! who can count up a thousandth part of those vast treasures of glory we have in His immense Being, as He has made over His great Self to us in Christ! Why should we, then, who are the King's sons, be lean from day to day? The Lord grant us true greatness of mind, that with a princely spirit we may behave as heirs of glory under all our present trials!

Wishing all prosperity, and begging a share in your prayers, I commit you to Israel's Keeper.

The Palm Tree (afflictions)

 

Dear Madam,

I bless the Lord I am better. Before the affliction came on, the Lord gave me that word, "Do not be afraid, for I have ransomed you. I have called you by name; you are mine. When you go through deep waters and great trouble, I will be with you. When you go through rivers of difficulty, you will not drown! When you walk through the fire of oppression, you will not be burned up; the flames will not consume you. For I am the Lord, your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior," which made me think an affliction was at hand; and indeed the Lord has been with me greatly in this affliction; has given me many precious words for my support and comfort; has exercised my various graces thereby, and given me sweet resignation to, and acquiescence with, His good pleasure; and caused me to have no will but His.

And as I was particularly drawn out in faith and confidence in God that He would help and deliver me in His own time and way, that word was brought, "O woman, great is your faith, be it unto you even as you will." Upon which my heart replied, "Lord, Your will be mine. Save and deliver me as to manner and time which shall be most for Your glory; and give me grace to endure affliction, while that is Your pleasure, unto Your honor."

Though I had not been without temptations from the enemy to think, when in extremity, my Lord took no notice of me; but blessed be God they did not get hold on me. I was enabled to resist Satan, steadfast in the faith of God's love in the stroke, and that He would do me good by it; and in His wisdom as to the time of deliverance from it, and meanwhile was helped to bless His name for it; so that the flame did not kindle upon me in walking through the fires, which made me think of the burning bush, unscorched. You will help me to praise the Lord, and to pray that henceforth I may be holiness to Himself more than ever.

Remember, dear Madam, that the promise is, "The righteous shall flourish as the palm-tree"; and naturalists observe that the palm-tree flourishes most when most oppressed. And this is certainly the case with the righteous. For what are trying providences but given opportunities for the exercise of our graces? Without them many of our graces would have little room for exercise. "They are not at present joyous (but grievous to our weak flesh); but to those who are exercised thereby they afterwards yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness." We are like heirs under age, put to the 'school of affliction' to be trained up and fitted there for the honor of a high throne.

The sweet clusters of Canaan's grapes

 

My very Dear Sister in Christ,

The sweet clusters of Canaan's grapes brought to us in this wilderness, whet our appetite after the heavenly country, that exceeding good land where we, at home with Christ, shall feast upon Him, the Tree of Life, in the variety and perpetuity of His ever-new and abundant fruits, unto growing joys and endless days. Then, oh, then, "God shall wipe away all tears from our eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain (inward or outward); for the former things shall be passed away." No wonder that such a soul desires to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better!

Let us, then, as heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, rejoice now in hope of approaching glory which awaits us. Our Lord's joy will not be full, until He sees all His children brought in, converted by grace and raised unto glory. When He thus sees us, the whole election of grace and all our ineffable bliss, as the fruit of the travail of His soul, He shall be satisfied, His heart contented, and delighted forever!

Such is the boundless grace of our altogether lovely and infinitely loving Lord! And as for us, the beloved of the Lord, appointed to salvation by Jesus Christ, when we are presented faultless before the presence of His glory, it will be with exceeding joy—a joy far exceeding all our present conception and expression. So great is the hope laid up for us in heaven! And how great, then, should be our present joy in hope of future glory!

But let us wait with patience our appointed time here on earth. Shall not we, so highly favored to know that for us there remains an eternal rest, be free to endure all the troubles appointed for us in this present time, since the glory of God and our good are jointly concerned under these light and momentary afflictions? Not a trouble passes over us but we are called thereby to glorify God, in doing and suffering His will.

Shall we desire to shun any cross which is to prepare us for and to advance our crown? No! rather let us ask wisdom of God wisely to improve our every day's affliction, for His glory. Thus, rejoicing in, waiting for, and hastening unto, the coming of the day of God, let us spend the little time that remains unto us, and soon our race will be run, the prize won, and we shall enter into the joy of our Lord, to live with Him, and reign in life by Him, to a never-ending eternity!

Head or heart?

 

For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. 2 Cor. 4:6

There is a vast difference between a conviction of the doctrines of grace in the head, and an adoring the grace of those doctrines in the heart.

A speculative knowledge of gospel truth, that goes no further than a mere outward notion of it, may be found in a natural man. This knowledge of truth is a cold, unaffecting, and unattracting knowledge, that leaves the will and affections just where it found them. A natural man, indeed, may have some natural pleasure in getting some new notions of truth, but he experiences no soul-attraction to the things known.

A spiritual discernment of gospel truths is very different from a bare speculative knowledge of them; in that the glory of truth shines into the mind, which produces a sweet and strict adherence thereto, by all the inward powers of the soul. The understanding discerns the truth in its beauty, glory, and excellency; the judgment approves it; and the will and affections embrace and clasp about it. In a word, the whole soul unites with the truth, and is changed into the image of it.

Oh! when the least beam of Gospel truth shines in upon the mind with such a ravishing beauty and majestic glory as draws the heart to love it, and makes the soul bow down before it, this is a saving illumination, set up in the soul of a vessel of mercy, which is the very beginning of its future glory. It is God's shining into our hearts by a new creating efficacy to give the light, not only of the knowledge of God, but of the glory of God, in the face of Jesus Christ; which word imports the ravishing beauty and all-attracting efficacy of gospel grace darting in upon the mind as a supernatural revelation, which unites the soul to the things beheld, to the objects revealed.

From this saving illumination the soul feels a sweet and strong attraction, by which, being drawn with cords of love, it comes unto Christ in its desires after Him, as beheld, altogether lovely.

Wherever the truths of the gospel are known, and so known in their beauty and excellency as to knit and unite the heart to them, or to draw out the soul into desires after and adoration of the glories beheld—that man is a regenerate man.

My Dear Brother in our Precious Lord,

 

My Dear Brother in our Precious Lord,

Oh, I am confounded at my own vileness while He thus displays the riches of His abundant goodness; and my heart breaks within me that God should love me so much and I love Him so little! Wonder at His grace! Praise Him for His infinite, free, distinguishing grace to such an unworthy, ungrateful, hell-deserving sinner. And you, my lethargic soul, afresh touched with divine kindness, join the praise with your feeble hallelujahs until sin and time are gone; and then with louder voice, in higher notes, you shall shout the praises of Jehovah's grace in His kindness towards you through Christ Jesus unto ages without end!

Oh, infinite condescension! That the Lord of all should speak thus to such a vile, worthless, nothing worm! Oh, free love! oh, behold, wonder and praise, the Prince of Love has said unto me, even to me, the least and last of all, 'How fair is your love, my sister, my spouse!' And this astonishing language of His grace at once humbles and exalts me, fills me with heart-melting wonder and joy in Christ, and with the deepest, sweetest mourning and self-loathing; makes me forget the things which are behind, and press forward with an eager desire. Oh, for a soul, all-enkindled and inflamed with love, to my lovely loving Jesus!

It is a great thing to know ourselves in our nothingness and vileness; and to know Christ as ours in His all-sufficient fullness!

Really a work of grace or not?

 

My Dear Brother in the Lord,

The account you gave me of the Lord's work upon your soul refreshes my spirit, and that He was pleased to make my printed account of His gracious dealings with me a comfort unto you, as you found so great a part of it to answer to your own experience, for which I rejoice, and bless the Lord. And in answer to your request, "to give you my thoughts if the work of God upon your soul be really a work of grace or not?" I can with gladness assure you that I am fully satisfied that it is, and it appears clear to me from the following particulars, in that—

1. The Lord has hedged up your way with thorns, and weaned you from all sinful delights.

2. In that you have been convinced of your lost and perishing condition as a sinner, both by nature and practice.

3. Of the spirituality of the law as in force against you, and that flaming justice barred up mercy from you that way.

4. In that you have been brought off from dependence upon the perishing sands of your own duties.

5. In that God has revealed His Son in you, as your only and all-sufficient help—in the glory of His perfect righteousness and all-atoning blood, and in the glory of His infinite fullness—to save you to the uttermost, and to satisfy all your desires through time and to eternity.

6. In that hence, seeing Jesus to be such a suitable Savior to your case as a lost sinner, you have embraced Him as your Savior, and fled unto Him for refuge as the only, the glorious hope set before you in the gospel. Wherever these things are experienced, my brother, the work of God on that soul is saving—a special work of supernatural grace—by which the man is brought out of darkness into God's marvelous light, or made a new creature in Christ Jesus. As a believer in the Son of God, that soul is passed from death unto life, and shall not come into condemnation.

As to what you further mention, of your being drawn of late closer unto blessed Jesus than ever; that He is now become your spiritual rock, whence all your consolation flows; that as you said (which was sweet to me), "Take away Christ, and you take away all the comfort of my soul"; that if you had all the treasures that this world can afford, you would count all but loss and rubbish for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, your Lord; that you desire so to be with Christ, which is far better, that if you had heaven for your portion, and all the joy and happiness it could afford, yet, if you had not the presence of precious Jesus there the desires of your soul would never be satisfied; that your desire not to be saved, not just barely for happiness' sake, but that God and the Lamb might be thereby glorified; and that now, all the delight you have on earth is in the delightful service of blessed Jesus, so that it would be a hell to you to go back to your natural state, and your desire is to praise free grace, victorious grace, in life and death, and to reign in its triumphant praises to all eternity. These things, my brother, are further evidences that the work of God upon your soul is saving. But I take these to belong rather to some good degree of growth in grace than to the truth, or first being of it in your heart.

I would next attempt a short answer to those objections which arise in your mind and make you fear that the Lord's work on your soul is not saving, or whether it be any more than the fruit of a religious education.

But before I consider your objections in particular, let me say, a religious education is a great privilege, as a means to restrain from vice and immorality, and to train up youth in a doctrinal knowledge of the truths of the gospel; and is often blessed for conviction, and may be for conversion. But the most religious education that ever any person was favored with, as in and of itself, never did nor can give such a spiritual conviction of sin, of heart-sin, as to make the soul cry out in the views of the uncleanness of its nature, in the light of the law's spirituality, and of its own inability to help or save itself, Woe is me, for I am undone! Nor yet did the most religious education, as in and of itself, ever make Christ precious as the only and all-sufficient Savior unto any one soul.

No! these are, as I may say, the two main hinges upon which the soul turns from a state of nature to a state of grace. They are the two great characters whereby a new creature, a man that is in Christ, may be known, and the undeniable evidences of a real spiritual gracious change upon the heart, or of the soul's being brought out of nature's darkness into God's marvelous light. Such a man is new-made, has true, precious faith, the faith of God's elect, wrought in his heart, unto which the everlasting salvation of the soul is annexed. And the power that produced it was not the natural force of a religious education, but the supernatural power and almighty energy of the Holy Spirit in regeneration.

The most religious education is a tree of too low a nature to bear such high and precious fruits as a sight of a sin-ruined, law-pursuing, and perishing state, and a flight unto Christ for refuge, as beheld Mighty to save and altogether lovely. It is impossible it should be found on any soul before it is engrafted into Christ and partakes of the spirit of grace from Him, or of His fullness as the root of grace and fatness, as the glorious olive-tree to His Church.

But I must come to your objections. And you fear the work of God upon your soul is not saving, and say:

Objection 1. Because I have not felt those terrors of conscience for sin that others have.

Answer. The same degree of terror is not necessary to be felt by every soul that is truly convinced of sin; nor is it usual for those who have had a pious education, and been restrained from outward immoralities, to feel the same degree of terror as those who have run great lengths in wicked courses. If a moralized person, who has been religiously educated, has had so much terror for sin, for his heart and life-sin, that he dare not trust in himself or in his own doings for life, but being warned of God by His holy law of the wrath which is to come, and by His gospel of fleeing unto Christ as the only hiding place from it, and being moved with fear (of being found out of Christ) runs unto Him for safety—it is sufficient to prove a saving conviction of sin. And as great a display of the power of the Holy Spirit in His work of convincing of sin is this, where the soul has less terror, as where the same work in other souls, that have been openly immoral, is attended with great terrors. I humbly think that the display of power in the former is the greatest. But, however, the glories of Omnipotence in various rays shine in both. The soul that has passed under the greatest terrors, which have been over-ruled to bring him to Christ, has cause to bless God forever for His kind dealings with him, in that, though He led him by a rough way, He brought him to such a glorious place of rest and safety. And the soul that has had less terror, that is not left to rest short of Christ, is equally safe with the other, and has reason in a particular manner to bless God that He gave him such an easy passage from his soul-pursuers into Christ, the city of refuge, and brought him through the straits of the new-birth without those pangs and throes which some souls feel. Which way however the Lord deals with us in conviction of sin, He leads us by a right way, that is and shall be most for His glory and our joy if we are brought thereby unto Christ, that city of habitation. But again, you fear the reality of the work, and say,

Objection 2. Because I have not experienced those overflowing joys in believing which other saints have.

Answer. The Holy Spirit, as the Comforter of believers, is a Sovereign, and divides unto every new-born soul individually as He will. The least comfort, the least beam of infinite favor, upon fleeing unto Christ for refuge, is an unspeakable blessing, a ray of light that is the dawn of eternal day. What though as to some souls who have been covered with the thick darkness of amazing terror, the light of God's salvation unto ravishing joy has arisen upon their spirits, and presently made day, yes, high noon, as it were, at once with them; perhaps they may be called hereafter to walk by faith in darkness, and as seeing no light, to trust in the name of the Lord, and to stay themselves upon their God.

And you, whose night has not been so dark, and upon whom the light has gradually arisen, may shortly have the clear shine of the Sun of righteousness, and walk in the light of God's countenance all the day long. Those earnest desires which are wrought in your soul, after the clear witness of the Spirit and the full sealing of the Holy Spirit, foretell a morning of joy unspeakable and full of glory at hand. Wait awhile, and you shall have joy enough to fill every corner of your soul to the brimful. The joy of faith, the joy of spiritual sense, the joy of the Holy Spirit in His witness to your interest in the three-one God, your exceeding joy, shall enter into you here; and hereafter you shall enter into joy, into your Master's joy, and be immersed in pleasures for evermore, while as a vessel of mercy you are cast into Him, the ocean of joy and glory, to take your fill of God in Christ unto bliss unknown, to the days of eternity. But further, you fear the work of God upon your soul is not saving, and say,

Objection 3. Because I have not those inward troubles and temptations from Satan which other Christians have.

Answer. You may have much of these hereafter; and let your present freedom be esteemed by you as your great privilege, and be the matter of your thanksgiving. It was well you said that you "have not been wholly free from inward temptations," for among the rest, I must tell you that this is an inward temptation, in that you are put upon questioning the work of grace on your soul because you have no more inward troubles. Oh, my brother, do not covet temptations, but go on to pray that you may not be led into temptation, but delivered from evil. Once more, you fear, and say,

Objection 4. Because the work of God has been so gradual upon my soul.

Answer. The gradation of the work is no argument against the truth of it, but is rather an evidence of the same. The kingdom of God, or the work of grace in the souls of His people, is progressive. The word of the gospel, as a living seed, being cast into the heart, and received by faith of the operation of God in its blessed effects upon the soul, springs up, first in a small, tender blade, then advances to the ear, and last of all, to the full ripe corn in the ear, as grace ripens for and hastens apace unto glory. This is true concerning the good work of God, begun in the souls of all the saints. But yet it must be confessed that in some the first work, as well as its after-progress, is much more speedy than in others. The Lord acts herein, as I hinted under another head, as a Sovereign; and in His various dealings with all His children abounds towards them according to the exceeding riches of His grace and the infinity of His wisdom. And as far greater display of the glory of divine grace is it to that there is such a vast variety in the particular experiences of particular souls, while the same blessed work in the general is carried on in all, than if every one in particular did particularly experience the same thing at the same time and in the same degree.

Our God is a great Being! Great in His love, grace, and mercy, great in His wisdom and power, and in all His immense perfections; and He delights to act like Himself, to cast abroad His infinite glory in a thousand various rays, in a thousand various ways of working, upon the vessels of mercy, in His time—preparing them for glory, for that glory He ordained them to and prepared for them before time began, which shall be to His exalted praise in a thousand various notes among the saved of the Lord, while they all join the song, "Salvation unto God and to the Lamb!" unto ages without end.

As to these objections, my brother, which arise in your mind, and many more of a like nature which at times perplex the hearts of God's people, there is no just ground for them, inasmuch as the things objected as lacking in some particular souls, which are to be found in others truly gracious, belong not to the essentials of a state of grace, but to the 'circumstantials' which with much difference in different persons attend gracious souls. If we would judge of our state of grace by comparing our experience with that of others whom we look upon to be truly gracious, let us do it in those generals wherein all agree, and not in particulars, in which there is so much difference. See the two I mentioned before I came particularly to answer your objections.

It appears to me, my brother, that you were a regenerate soul when what the world calls innocent diversions became so disagreeable to you, that what was your former chief delight became your greatest burden. The cause, as I conceive, was this, the new nature was wrought in your soul, a holy, spiritual appetite, that could find no delight in natural sinful pleasures, but still sought pleasures of a higher kind, of a heavenly extraction, agreeable to itself and its heavenly descent and taste, with which alone it could be satisfied. This is evidenced to me by that pleasure which you then found in heart-mourning for sin; by that fear which you then had lest convictions should wear off without any saving effect; by your desire after deeper convictions of sin; and by your earnest prayer for grace to live a holy life here, even if you might never enjoy happiness hereafter. These things, together with what you have experienced since, make the work of God upon your soul appear to me very clear and full, that it is, indeed, a real supernatural work of divine grace, which is wrought in none but those who are prepared for glory, or "made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light."

But oh, rest not in present experiences. You are to see greater things than these. Follow hard after the sealing of the Spirit. He can open such clear, satisfying, soul-ravishing views of your interest in Christ to you in a moment as will far transcend all that the creatures by discourse or argument can give you in an age. Oh, when the Holy Spirit comes in; the great power of God to seal upon your heart your eternal interest in Jesus, unbelieving fears and carnal reasonings shall fly before Him as the shades of night or glooms of day before the rising morn, the out-breaking sun, in his clear meridian-shine. And immediately, in full assurance of faith and raptures of joyful spiritual sense, you will cry out with Thomas, "My Lord, and my God."

Oh, my brother, is this the joy you long for? This is the joy that is reserved for you. This is the joy with which you shall be satisfied. Your Beloved is yours, and you are His, and you shall know it. Enfolded in His arms, and leaning on His bosom, your love-sick soul with love shall be solaced, feasted, filled. Your Beloved shall bring you into His banqueting house, and His banner over you shall be love. He will bid you eat, as His friend, that heavenly bread, that bread of life. His body broken for you, for you in particular; and call you to drink, give you to drink as His beloved of the wine of His love that flowed in His blood, shed for you, for you as distinctly as if it was poured out for never another in the world. "Drink," He will say, "O! beloved, O infinitely beloved soul! Come, open your thirsty mouth, open it wide, I will fill it—take your fill, you can never drink my love dry. Drink, yes, drink abundantly, be inebriated with my love, with all my immense glories as yours in love! View Me, handle Me, possess Me as your own, for I Myself, in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwells, and yours in love—to satisfy and solace you with bliss ineffable, with pleasures new to surround you, to ravish you through time and to eternity's abounded space."

Thus familiar, my dear brother, will your lovely, loving a Lord be with you; thus gracious will He be to you in whom His soul delights. Your Maker is your husband, and as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you in renewed displays of His old, everlasting love, that knows neither bound, change, nor end! Oh happy, thrice happy are you! Jesus is yours forever! Drawn then by His love-cords, do you likewise be His, and give up yourself to His service in love, to glorify Him both now and for evermore.

The times look dark, the heavens are black with clouds, the Church, like a ship in a tremendous sea, may be tossed with the waves; but, since our Lord is with us in the ship, we shall not sink, we shall have blessed company in trouble, safely out-ride the storm, and be brought at last to our desired haven. Jesus being at the helm, the Church need not fear; well He will steer her through danger, and bring her soon into her promised rest and glory.

Grace be with you. In the arms of Christ I leave you.

While He seems to slay you

 

Dear Sir,

Surely our good God does all well, and governs the world and all things in it aright, and for the special advantage of His own people. You know how long my trial lasted. But sweetly the Lord enabled me to bow to His dear will, to hope in His mercy, to patiently to wait for His delivering kindness, and to think the many months of my trial, but a few days, for the love I had to His glory. Nature thought the time long, but grace said it was short. I was ashamed to think the trial long, as I had brought so little glory to God under it, and nothing I desire so much as to glorify God while it lasted, for I was persuaded that His affections would soon yearn upon me and turn my night into day. The Lord enabled me, in His strength, to trust in the infinite grace of His heart and His faithfulness, when a frown was on His face, and His customary loving-kindness was veiled with the darkness of providence.

And for yourself, continue to trust in the Lord while He seems to slay you, and covet to give Him glory in dark dispensations, as you will not have an opportunity to do when He brings you forth to the light. We have but a little time allotted us to glorify God in the dark; our night of weeping will soon be turned into a joyous morning, since the anger of our heavenly Father, in the frowns of providence, endures for a moment, but in His favor is life!

We are cold and frozen

 

My Dear Sister in the Lord,

All our times of refreshing, my dear sister, come from the presence of the Lord. If God is present with our souls, by the special gracious influence of His Holy Spirit, we are refreshed; if God is absent, as to His sensible influence, we find no refreshment in reading, hearing, or praying. We are dry and barren if the Lord does not sensibly water us. We are cold and frozen if His sun-like face does not shine to thaw, warm, and comfort us. All the refreshment that new-born souls enjoy, does and must come down from heaven. Nothing that this earth affords can refresh and solace the spiritual part of a heaven-born soul. No, such a soul is prepared for a higher glory, than any that is to be seen and enjoyed among the creatures and things of this lower world. Such a soul opens its mouth wide after God, and His gracious influence, to refresh and comfort it, as the earth in a time of drought opens its mouth for the dew and rain to descend for its refreshment. "Give me Christ," says the new-born soul, "or I die. God is my life, my exceeding joy, and without His gracious, comforting presence, my spirit dies, and I sink in sorrow."

When the Sun of righteousness withdraws His glorious rays, and it is night with our souls, then, in an especial manner, the corruptions of the heart, and Satan with his temptations, like the devouring beasts of prey, creep forth from their dens, and with their hideous roars, afflict and terrify us. But our compassionate Jesus, whose eyes are as the eyes of doves—pure, piercing, mild, loving towards his own mate—clearly sees, with infinite delight, the dove-like nature of His spouse, and looks upon her with boundless compassion under her present affliction by the serpentine poison and gall of every sin which remains in her, and the cunning and power of every temptation that besets her; and from these her enemies—from these grieving thorns which scratch and tear His beloved lily—He does and will, in His own way and time, deliver her.

Again, beware of thinking—from what I have said of the nature of new-born souls to thirst after God, to see His power and His glory as they have seen Him, when He withdraws the brightness of His face—that if at such seasons you do not always find such a thirst in you, you are not therefore a regenerate person, or that you do not love the Lord above all; for when Christ withdraws from His spouse, as she loses sight of His glory, which drew her graces into exercise, these shutting up, like the flowers at the sun's withdrawal, the corruptions of her unrenewed part, excited by diverse temptations from Satan and the world, begin to exert themselves, and after foolish vanities and vile iniquities the heart for a time may run, and even the spouse of Christ may play the harlot with other, with many lovers—and, thoughtless as it were of her Beloved, lie down in sinful ease on her bed of carnal security without Him; yes, she may sink so low as to be unwilling to be raised up by repeated intimations of His mind unto her duty of seeking Him in good earnest, as (Jer. 3:1; Song 3:1, with 5:2, 3), Until her beloved puts His hand in by the hole of the door, until His power afresh touches her heart, renews her grace, and gives her a quick remembrance of His glory, and of her great misery without Him, and then straight away her affections move for Him, she arises to every duty, and inquires of His friends, "Have you seen Him whom my soul loves?" And rest she cannot until she finds Him, in whom all her joy and life is, and from whose presence all her refreshment flows.

Thus, my dear sister, when I speak of what souls are and do as creatures, it is to be understood of them as when enabled to act according to the new creature life in their hearts. That you may walk in the comforts of the Holy Spirit and be edified, is my hearty desire.