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foolish virgin, nor the arrogance of them that talk of liberty while they are the fervants of corruption, are hid from him-though he is faft bound in affliction and iron. He is a ftrange creature both, to himself and others. He fpeaks a language that few underftand; and it is a language that he cannot explain. He is always in action, and acts a part that aftonishes himself. He fucks his fweets from bitterness (Prov. xxvii. 7), and cleaves to the rod that beats him. By affliction he lives, and in the fhadow of death he finds the moft life. He gets health in his fickness, and healing in his wounds; fatisfaction in forrow; life in death; faith in feverity; hope in heaviness; and expectation in felf-defpair. His burden is more than he can bear, yet he dreads the thought of losing it. He is completely miferable, yet he hates ease. And, though his life hangs in doubt, he trembles at the thoughts of fecurity. And that which he is most afraid of, is that which he feeks moft after. None work fo hard as he, and none fo great an enemy to works. To fecure himself is all his concern, and yet he hates himself more than he hates the devil. Beloved, farewell; be of good comfort, follow peace, and the God of truth and peace shall be with thee. I add no more at this time, but my poor petitions, and fubfcribe myself

Yours in him,

W. HUNTINGTON.

LETTER XIII.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS, at the New Vicarage, near the Deanery, Lewes, Suffex.

To bis Excellency the Welsh Ambassador his friend fendeth greeting.

AMBASSADORS perfonate their fovereigns, and are as their mouth in foreign courts; and are, or fhould be, refpected according to their wifdom and faithfulness, and according to the greatnefs, dignity, and formidability of their royal masters. But, O, my beloved, what an honour is it to be an ambaffador of the King of kings! called and commiffioned, owned and honoured, by him; and to be in a pardoned and justified state; in union, in fellowship, and in peace with him: and therefore ambaffadors of peace, bearers of good tidings, publishers of falvation, and that fay unto Zion, Thy God reigneth! Such are the chariots of the Lord of hosts, in which he rides, and by which he bears his name among the Gentiles; out of which he fhines, and from whom he fends out his line into all the earth, and his words to the finite condefcenfion is this. what we were; how mean!

end of the world. In

And when we confider how low! how poor!

how

how defpicable!-But he hath chofen the poor, the weak, the foolish, and the base, that he may ftain the pride of human glory, and the honourable of the earth.

bring into contempt

Now he which eftaanointed us, is God:

blifheth us in Christ, and hath who hath also fealed us, and given us the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts. 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. Upon this delightful fubject I fhall yet proceed.

11. The Holy Spirit is to aid and affift the true worshippers of God in every branch of religious worship; and the faints must ferve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. God requires worship suitable to his nature-God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in Spirit and in truth; for God feeketh fuch to worship him. Worfhip in the fpirit is oppofed to all carnal worship with a dead form, in which the body only is engaged; and therefore called bodily exercise, which profiteth little. Worshipping God in truth is opposed to all falfe, deceitful, and hypocritical worship, when the heart and foul are altogether difengagedThey draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but their heart is far from me; therefore in vain they worship me. In order to this true worship we must be purged and purified, juftified and fanctified, and influenced with the Holy Spirit of God. God requires a pure offering, and an offering in righteoufnefs, or offerings offered up by perfons in a juftified ftate.-And he shall fit as a refiner and purifier of filver: and he fall purify the

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fons of Levi, and purge them as gold and filver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then fball the offering of Judah and Jerufalem be pleafant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years. Mal. iii. 3, 4. The days of old, and the ancient times spoken of, are the days of Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Ifaac, and Jacob, &c. of whom, and of whose worship, we have no fault; but they obtained a good report through faith. Now God promifes that, under the gofpel, the fame acceptable worship shall be performed; and therefore he promises to influence and guide us in every branch of it-For I the Lord love judgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their work in truth, and I will make an everlafting covenant with them. Ifaiah lxi. 8. And the Lord directs us in all our works by his Holy Spirit, and especially in prayer-Likewife the Spirit alfo belpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh interceffion for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And be that fearcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because be maketh interceffion for the faints according to the will of God. Rom. viii. 26, 27. The apostle here tells us that we know not what we should pray for as we ought, unless the Spirit help us. And there are prayers that have been put up by good men that have not been anfweredElijab requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for

I am

I am not better than my fathers. 1 Kings xix. 4. Zebedee's wife's request for her two fons, to fit, one at the right hand of Chrift, and the other at the left, meets with no better anfwer than this-Ye know not what ye afk. Matt. xx. 22. Which fhews us the need of a Spirit of grace and fupplication. The Holy Spirit enlightens us to see our wants, and quickens us to feel them, and creates a hunger and a thirst after the provifion of God's houfe; and then leads our minds into the word, and fhews us what is held forth, promised, and freely given to us-Now we have received, not the fpirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. 1 Cor. ii. 12. The Holy Spirit, which fearches the deep things of God, knows what is in reserve for us, and the time appointed for us to receive that which God hath laid up for us; and he fets us to praying for them when that time arrives. Thus, when the time of Ifrael's deliverance from Egyptian bondage drew near, the fpirit of fupplication was poured out, and the cries of the children of Ifrael went up. And God beard their groanings; and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Ijaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Ifrael, and God had refpect unto them. Exod. ii. 24, 25. So, in Daniel, just as the time was approaching for them to return to their own land, Daniel understands, by the prophecies of Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the defolations of Jerufalem; then Daniel fets his face

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