Page images
PDF
EPUB

away his fin. Faith gets a fresh difcovery of the atonement of Chrift, and a fresh application of ic by the Spirit. If this is not the case, we come out like a fool brayed in a mortar. It is not a deliverance from the furnace, but is intended to confound us, and to keep us in fear and fufpenfe; doubting whether the furnace is not going to be heated hotter. When God takes us in hand, and judges and chaftens us, we are fure of this furnace.-I will bring them through the fire, and will purify them as filver is purified, and try them as gold is tried; and make a man more precious than the golden wedge of Opbir. But my dear brother will fay, "If all our drofs and tin are to be taken away, how comes it to pass that fo much ftill remain? When I would do good, evil is always prefent with me. No furnace that I have yet been in has ever removed the inbeing of it from me." No; if the veffels of mercy were ever thus effectually and perfectly purged, there could be no more confcience of indwelling fin. But, the root that bears gall and wormwood still remaining, the furnace remains. I can find that the furnace purges me from my evil frames; but not from the inbeing of fin, which betrays me into these evil frames. Self is daily to be denied; the war between the law of the mind and that of the members remains, and is fure to be, more or lefs, directly or indirectly, the daily cross that a child of God has to take up. On account of these things the fpirit of judgment: remains in Zion. To fubdue fin, and to keep

grace

grace in the throne, is the cause of this fire and this furnace in Jerufalem. Self-examination is to the believer the bufinefs of every day; and every bill that confcience files against us is intended to bring us to the bar; and, upon trial, that which is dif allowed, difapproved, bewailed, lamented over, and which is a caufe of grief, and which makes us groan for deliverance, is no more we-It is not I that do it, but fin that dwelleth in me. We are complete in him; without fault before the throne; and clean every whit, notwithstanding thefe things. And now, my dear brother, in obferving these things-Whatfoever things are true, whatsoever things are juft, whatfoever things are pure, whatfoever things are honeft, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. And the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jefus, that great Shepberd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work, to do bis will, working in you that which is well pleafing in bis fight, through Jefus Chrift; to whom be glory for and ever, amen. So fays yours, in the unity of the faith, and in the bond of love,

ever

W. HUNTINGTON, S S.

1

LETTER XVI.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS, Lewes, Sussex.

To the Son of my Vows.

BELOVED! the bleffings of thy father have prevailed above the bleffings of my progenitors, even to the utmost bounds of the everlasting bills; and they shall rest upon the head of my fon, and upon the crown of the head of him that is feparated from bis brethren. But fay you, Who shall afcend into this bill of the Lord? and who shall stand in his boly place? Even be that hath clean bands and a pure heart; who hath not lift up his foul unto vanity, nor fworn deceitfully; he, in whofe eyes a vile. perfon is-contemned, but be honoureth them that fear the Lord.

A pure heart, is a heart purified by faith; for it is with the heart that man believes unto righteoufnefs. Clean hands, are hands clean from bribes, and from difhoneft gain, and from holding lies; and hands that are liberal to the poor of the flockGive alms of fuch things as ye have, and behold all things are clean unto you. Such defpife the heretic and hypocrite, but they will honour the faithful of

the Lord's household.

But

But the utmost bounds of thefe everlasting hills are hard to defcribe; for who can defcribe the bounds or borders of the heavenly country! However, fouls that have hope in their end shall come to the borders of it. This the fcriptures witnefsThus faith the Lord, A voice was beard in Ramah, lamentation and bitter weeping; Rachel, weeping for her children, refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not. Thus faith the Lord, Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine eyes from tears: for thy work fhall be rewarded, faith the Lord; and they shall come again from the land of the enemy (the laft enemy is death). And there is hope in thine end, faith the Lord, that thy children fhall come again to their own border. Jer. xxxi. 15-17. But I must pull in, or else I fhall be carried I know not where.

now

I fhall

15. Treat of mortification of fin by the Spirit. For, if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but, if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye fhall live. Rom, viii. 13. There is a great deal of mortification among the fuperftitious papifts, pharifees, and legal workmongers; but it all stands for nothing, because it is not done through the Spirit; and, if any man have not the Spirit of Chrift, he is none of his. Befides, whipping, thumping the breast, walking bare-footed, fafting in Lent, abstaining from animal food, and confining themselves to fifh, are human inventions; for that which goes into a man defiles him not. And fafting is left to our own op

tion; the Son of man came eating and drinking. It is not the lawful ufe, but the abufe, of temporal mercies, which the fcriptures condemn. Befides, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abftain from meats, are exprefsly called doctrines of devils. 1 Tim. iv. 1-3.

This work of mortifying the deeds of the body is called by different names in fcripture. Our Lord calls it felf-denial-He that cometh after me let him deny himself, and take up his crofs daily,

me.

and follow

It is called putting off-Put off, concerning the former converfation, the old man.

It is called a crucifying-They that are Chrift's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lufts.

And it is likewife called mortifying the fleshMortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth; fornication, uncleanness, inordinate affection, evil concupifcence, and covetousness, which is idolatry. Put off anger, wrath, malice, blafphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth, and lie not one against another; feeing ye have put off the old man with his deeds. Col. iii. Here we have a description of the old man, and of the limbs or members of him; and a moft formidable monfter he is. Now there can be no putting this old man off, but by putting the new man on. Without the law of God in the mind there can be no war against the law in the members, and of course no daily crofs. Where there is a renewed felf that follows Chrift in the regeneration,

[blocks in formation]
« PreviousContinue »