LETTER XLIV.

May 11. My dear friend's is juft come: he is in the balance of the fanctuary; in which all ranks of men are a lie, and lighter than vanity. God puts us all into the fcales, and weighs us, as Job fays, in an even balance. In which there are two things God aims at, man's fpirit, and man's actions. Every way of a man is clean in his own eyes, but God weigheth the fpirits. Secondly, God weighs actions, or works; God is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed. God's balances of juftice are his laws. Love to God, to Chrift, to truth, and to the faints, is ftanding weight by the ftandard of Jerufalem, according to the law of Mofes, which requires a juft weight and a juft balance.

Faith in Chrift, and in God through Chrift, in the righteousness of Chrift, in the word of God, and in the promises of the gofpel; this, this is a juft weight in the balance of the fanctuary; for if the juft are to live by faith, then the believer is juft and righteous in his furety, according to the law of faith, and the proclamation of the gospel, which afferts the believer to be complete in him; and if fo, then of full weight.

I have long feen my friend in this balance, afcending and defcending, as I once was for a long space of time myself; but at a long run, I faw even then (blind as I was) that my scale gained, and its oppofite mounted. And I as clearly see the scale of fin rise higher and higher, and will in time kick the beam; when my friend in hope, and in Christ the substance of that hope, will come down into the hand of juftice full weight. Every conflict adds to the weight of thy scale, but thou wilt find the anchor of hope to hold faft, and abide firm, in all the poffeffion fhe gains; and when this is the cafe, Satan's darts will be like straws, his accufations without ground, and his charges without foundation, and then he will incur another damnation for condemning the juft, and moving God against him without cause. Mr. Hart in mentioning three fteps of faith. calls the first, believing the RECORD God gives of his Son; this is divine revelation believed in. Secondly, as Chrift is the fum and fubftance of the gospel, he speaks of believing on the Son, as the only object fet forth in the gospel record. And, thirdly, he treats of believing In the Son, by which he means a fenfible in-being, or indwelling, in Chrift, fo as to fee one's interest clear in him. The curious diftinction of being safe, and not found, I must leave. I know of no safety but in Chrift; and if in him, we must be found in the faith, and perfect too; for Paul

says we are complete in him, and Christ says without spot. God bless you! So prays the

Coalheaver.

W. H.

LETTER XLV.

I AM ftill permitted to remember my friend before God with confidence, freedom, and boldness. I evidently see in your's the struggles, the vigor, and the life of HOPE. This anchor may lay dormant, and be covered with hurry, buftle, and confufion, but the principle, the habit, cannot be loft, being a grace or fruit of the Spirit, and coupled with everlasting confolation, which is the attendant on a good hope through grace. This hope is the fmoking flax that shall not be quenched, because it pants, longs, looks out, and expects the love of God to caft out fear; love being the fire, and hope the fmoke, that keeps afcending and afpiring after it. The bruifed reed is the frail man, wounded in spirit. The flax is the faculties of the foul, chafed, tried, wounded, and fore broken, ready every moment to take fire, and often fearing the fire of hell. Love divine is what the foul longs for;

and hope, attended with intense defires after that which we hope for, is the fmoke that keeps afcending after it; and this love being in hope, though not in the enjoyment of it, is that little heat which feeds the fmoke and keeps it afcending. This is the fmoke by day, as love is the flaming fire by night, Ifaiah iv. 5. Moreover, hope gets more firm, and gains a stronger hold by trials; it is an anchor of the foul, which the floods of temptation, and the overwhelming billows of corruption, cannot break. Keep your cye upon hope, watch it, obferve the workings of it, and the ftrength of it, the firmness of it, and its vigorous efforts; and depend upon this, that God is in it; he is the God of hope. It is experience that worketh hope; but then mind what that experience is that produceth hope. It is the experience of comfort that works hope. Whatfoever was written aforetime was written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the fcriptures, might have hope. And I know that you have experienced comfort enough to produce hope. Faith fprings from power, hope from comfort, and love from itfelf; we love, because we are loved. I thank you for the tidings of those two perfons you mentioned; the account furnished me for a thank offering to God, who regards the prayer of the deftitute, and does not defpife their prayer. And let my dear friend acknowledge

every refpite, revival, refreshing, and renewing, and not be unmindful of his benefit: thousands in this world would give a thoufand worlds for the hope that he has.

Farewell,

W. H.

LETTER XLVI.

I AM more and more convinced of the faithfulness of God to the word of his

grace, and efpecially this promife, which more immediately respects myself at this time, and is defcriptive. of my prefent engagements: " They shall not labour in vain, nor bring forth for trouble; for they are the feed of the bleffed of the Lord, and their offspring with them," Ifaiah lxv. 23. The whole crop of incorruptible feed comes into the heart at once; the Holy Spirit defcends as the fpirit of all grace and of fupplication, and quickens the foul at once. This makes our feelings keen, the foul conceives life and immortality at once, and this brings on the labour, and others are set to travail for fuch fouls. Soon after this operation, however imperceptible to us, grace appears; God, and the things of God, engage the mind,