Page images
PDF
EPUB

He comes and goes, none can him trace s ;
Yet never could he change his place t.
But though he's good u, and ev'ry where,
No good's in hell, yet he is there v.

I by him w, in him x chofen was y,
Yet of the choice he's not the cause z:
For fov'reign mercy ne'er was bought a,
Yet through his blood a vent it fought b.

Matth. i. 23. See letter o Chap xxviii. 20. Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.

s John iii 8. The wind bloweth where it lifteth, and thou heareft the found thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth fo is every one that is born of the Spirit. t Ifa. lxvi. I. Thus faith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my reft?

:

u Pfalm c. 5. The Lord is good, his mercy is everlasting. v Pfalm cxxxix. 8. If I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.

w As God.

y Eph i. 4

* As Mediator.

According as he hath chofen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy, and without blame before him in love.

z But himself the Father's first elect. Ifa xlii. 1. Behold my fervant whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my foul delighteth.-Matth. xii. 8. Benold my fervant, whom I have chofen, my beloved, in whom my foul is well pleased.

a John iii. 16 God fo loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, &c Rom ix 11. For the children be ing not yet born, neither having done any good or evil, that the purpofe of God according to election might stand, not of works, but of him that calleth. 13 It is written, Jacob have I loved, but Efau have I hated. v. 1. God faith to Mofes, I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compaffion on whom I will have compaffion.

6 Rom. iii. 24, 25. Being juftified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jefus Chrift: whom God hath fet forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteoufnefs for the remiffion of fins, &c. Chap. v. 9. Being juftified by his blood, we fhall be faved from

In him concenter'd at his death

His Father's love e, his Father's wrath d;
Ev'n he whom paffion never feiz'd e,
Was then moft angry, when moft pleas'd f
Juftice requir'd that he should die g,
Who yet was flain unrighteously b.
And dy'd in mercy and in wrath,
A lawful and a lawless death i.
With him I neither liv'd nor dy'd,
And yet with him was crucify'd k.

wrath through him. v. 21. That as fin hath reigned unto death, even fo might grace reign through righteousness unto eternal life, by Jefus Chrift our Lord.

c John x. 17. Therefore doth my Father love me, becaufe I lay down my life, that I may take it again.

d Ifa. lii. to. Yet it pleafed the Lord to bruise him, he hath put him to grief.

e Ifa. xxvii. 4. Fury is not in me.

f Rom. viii. 23. He fpared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all. Eph v. 2 Chrift hath given himself for us, an offering and a facrifice to God for a fweet smelling favour.

g Heb. vii. 22 By fo much was Jefus made a furety of a better teftament Chap. ix 16. For where a testament is, there muft alfo of neceffity be the death of the teftator. v. 22, 23. And almost all things are by the law purged with blood; and without fhedding of blood is no remiffion It was there. fore neceffary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with thefe; but the heavenly things themselves with better facrifices than thefe.

h Matth. xxvii. 4. 1 [Judas] have finned, in that I have betrayed the innocent blood. v. 23. And the governor faid, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, faying, Let him be crucified.

acts ii. 23 Jefus of Nazareth, being delivered by the determinate counfel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and flain. Chap. iv. 27. For of a truth against thy holy child Jefus, whom thou haft anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Ifrael were gathered together, &c.

Gal. ii, 20, I am crucified with Christ.

Law-curfes ftopt his breath, that he
Might ftop its mouth from curfing me 1.

'Tis now a thousand years and moe
Since heav'n receiv'd him; yet I know,
When he afcended up on high

To mount the throne, ev'n fo did I m.
Hence though earth's dunghill I embrace,
I fit with him in heav'nly place n,.
In divers diftant orbs I move,
Inthrall d below, inthron'd above..

SECT. II.

The mystery of the Saint's life, ftate, and frame

Y life's a pleasure a and a pain b ;;
A real lofs, a real gain c;

MY

A glorious paradife of joys d,

A grievous prifon of annoys e..

/ Gal. iii. 3. Chrift hath redeemed us from the curfe of the law, being made a curfe for us: for it is written, Curfed is every one that hangeth on a tree.

m Col. iii. 1. If ye then be rifen with Chrift, &c., Heb. vi. 20 Whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jefus, &c.

n Eph. ii. 5, 6. Even when we were dead in fins, hath. quickened us together with Chrift, and bath raised us up together, and made us fit together in heavenly places in Chrift Jefus.

a Prov. iii. 17. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.

6 Pfalm cxx. 7. Wo is me that I fojourn in Mesech, that I dwell in the tents of Kedar.

c Phil. iii. 7. But what things were gain to me, those I counted lofs for Chrift, Chap. i. 2 (-24. For to me to live is. Christ, and to die is gain. But if I live in the flesh, this is the fruit of my labour: yet what I fhall choose I wot not, for I am in a frait betwixt two, having a defire to depart, and to be with Chrift, which is far better: nevertheless, to abide in the flesh is more needful for you.

I daily joy, and daily mourn f,
Yet daily wait the tide's return g:
Then forrow deep my spirit chears,
I'm joyful in a flood of tears b.

d

1 Pet. i. 8. Whom having not feen, ye love; in whom tho' now ye fee him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unfpeakable, and full of glory.

[ocr errors]

e Pfalm exlii. 7. Bring my foul out of the prifon, that I may praise thy name.

fi Pet. i. 6. Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a feason (if need be) ye are in heavinefs, thro' manifold temptations. 2 Cor. i. 4. Who comforteth us in all our tribula. tion, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God. Job xxx. 28. I went mourning without the fun, &c. g Ifa. viii. 17. And I will wait upon the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and I will look for him. h Zech. xii. 1o. And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerufalem, the fpirit of grace and of fupplications, and they fhall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they fhall mourn for him, as one that mourneth for his only fon, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first born. Ezek. xxxvi. 31, 32. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and fhall lothe yourselves in your own fight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your fakes do I this, faith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Ifrael. Hof. xii. 3, 4. He [Jacob] took his brother by the heel in the womb, and by his ftrength he had power with God yea, he had power over the Angel, and prevailed: he wept and made fupplication unto him: he found him in Bethel, and there he fpake with us. Luke vii. 58. And [a woman which was a finner] ftood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. John xx. 15, 16. Jefus faith unto her, Woman, why weepeft thou? whom feekeft thou? fhe fuppofing him to be the gardener, faith unto him, Sir, if thou have borne him hence, tell me where thou haft laid him, and I will take him away. Jefus faith unto her

Good caufe I have ftill to be fad i,
Good reafon always to be glad k.
Hence ftill my joys with forrows meet 1,
And ftill my tears are bitter fweet m.
I'm crofs'd, and yet have all my will n;
I'm always empty, always fullo.
I hunger now, and thirst no more p,
Yet do more eager than before q

Mary, She turned herself, and faith unto him, Rabboni, which is to fay Mafter. v. 20. Then were the difciples glad when they faw the Lord.

Rom. vii. 24. O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?"

k 2 Cor. ii. 14. Thanks be unto God, which always cauf eth us to triumph in Chrift.

/ 2 Cor. vi. 28.—as forrowful yet always rejoicing.

m Zech. xii. 10. See letter h. Pfalm cxxvi. They that fow in tears, fhall reap in joy. Ifa. Ixi. 2, 3. The Lord hath fent me to comfort all that mourn to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for afhes, the oil of: joy for mourning, the garment of praife, for the Spirit of hea vinefs, &c. Matth. v. 4. Bleffed are they that mourn: they fhall be comforted.

for

remove this

n Luke xxii. 42. Father, if thou be willing, cup from me: nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done, Acts xxi. 14. And when he [Paul] would not be perfuaded, we ceased, saying, The will of the Lord be done.

• 2 Cor. vi. 10. As having nothing, and yet poffeffing all things.

John vi. 35. And Jesus faid unto them, I am the bread of life, he that cometh to me fhall never hunger; and he that believeth on me, shall never thirst.

q. Pfalm xlii. 1, 2. As the hart panteth after the waterbrooks, fo panteth my foul after thee, O God. My foul thirfteth for God, for the living God: when thall I come and ap pear before God? and Ixiii. 1. O God, thou art my God, early will I feek thee: my foul thirfteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirfty land, where no water is. And lxxiii. 25. Whom have I in the heaven but thee? and there is none upon the earth that I defire befides thee. Ifa:

« PreviousContinue »