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I know my everlasting state so much depends messenger of my joy. Let not my soul be on the improvement of this life. Nor would ejected by violence, and dispossessed of its habiI stay when my work is done; and remain tation against its will; but draw it to thyself by here sinning, while my brethren are triumphing. the secret power of thy love, as the sunshine in Thy footsteps bruise this worm, while those stars the spring draws forth the creatures from their shine in the firmament of glory. Yet I am thy winter cells; meet it half way, and entice it to child as well as they; Christ is my Head as well thee, as the loadstone doth the iron, and as the as theirs: why is there then so great a distance! greater flame attracts the less! Dispel, therefore, But I acknowledge the equity of thy ways: the clouds that hide thy love from me; or rethough we are all children, yet I am the prodi- move the scales that hinder mine eyes from begal, and therefore more fit in this remote coun- holding thee; for the beams that stream from try to feed on husks, while they are always with thy face, and the foretastes of thy great salvathee, and possess thy glory. They were once tion, and nothing else can make a soul unfeignthemselves in my condition, and I will shortly edly say, "Now let thy servant depart in peace!" be in theirs. They were of the lowest form, be- But it is not thy ordinary discoveries that will fore they came to the highest; they suffered, be- here suffice: as the work is greater, so must thy fore they reigned; they came out of great tribu- help be. O turn these fears into strong desires, lation, who are now before thy throne; and shall and this lothness to die into longings after thee! not I be content to come to the crown as they While I must be absent from thee, let my soul did; and to drink of their cup, before I sit with as heartily groan, as my body doth under its them in the kingdom? Lord, I am content to want of health! If I have any more time to stay thy time, and go thy way, so thou wilt ex- spend on earth, let me live as without the world alt me also in thy season, and take me into thy in thee, as I have sometimes lived as without barn, when thou seest me ripe. In the mean thee in the world. While I have a thought to time I may desire, though I am not to repine; I think, let me not forget thee; or a tongue to may believe and wish, though not make any sin- move, let me mention thee with delight; or a ful haste; I am willing to wait for thee, but not breath to breathe, let it be after thee, and for to loose thee; and when thou seest me too con- thee; or a knee to bend, let it daily bow tented with thine absence, then quicken my lan- at thy footstool; and when by sickness thou guid desires, and blow up the dying spark of love; confinest me, do thou "make my bed, numand leave me not till I am able unfeignedly to ber my pains, and put all my tears into thy cry out, "As the hart panteth after the water-bottle!" brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? My conversation is in heaven, from whence I look for a Saviour. My affections are set on things above, where Christ sitteth, and my life is hid. I walk by faith, and not by sight; willing rather to be absent from the body, and present with the Lord."

26. What interest hath this empty world in me; and what is there in it that may seem so lovely as to entice my desires from my God, or make me loth to come away? Methinks, when I look upon it with a deliberate eye, it is a howling wilderness, and too many of its inhabitants are untamed monsters. I can view all its beauty as deformity; and drown all its pleasures in a few penitent tears; or the wind of a sigh will scatter them away. O let not this flesh so seduce my soul, as to make me prefer this weary life before the joys that are about thy throne! And though death itself be unwelcome to nature, yet let thy grace make thy glory appear to me so desirable, that the king of terrors may be the

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27. As my flesh desired what my spirit abhorred, so now let my spirit desire that day which my flesh abhorreth; that my friends may not with so much sorrow wait for the departure of my soul, as my soul with joy shall wait for its own departure! Then let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his ;" even a removal to that glory which shall never end! Then let thy convoy of angels bring my departing soul among the perfected spirits of the just, and let me follow my dear friends that have died in Christ before me; and while my sorrowing friends are weeping over my grave, let my spirit be reposed with thee in rest: and while my corpse shall lie rotting in the dark, let my soul be in the inheritance of the saints in light." O thou that numberest the very hairs of my head, number all the days that my body lies in the dust; and thou that "writest all my members in thy book," keep an account of my scattered bones! O my Saviour, hasten the time of thy return: send forth thy angels, and let that dreadful, joyful trumpet sound! Delay not, lest the living give up their hopes;

delay not, lest earth should grow like hell, and | looks down on the world as if it were quite bethy church, by division, be all crumbled to dust; delay not, lest thy enemies get advantage of thy flock, and lest pride, hypocrisy, sensuality, and unbelief prevail against thy little remnant, and share among them thy whole inheritance, and when thou comest thou find not faith on the earth; delay not, lest the grave should boast of victory, and having learned rebellion of its guest, should refuse to deliver thee up thy due! O hasten that great resurrection-day, when thy command shall go forth, and none shall disobey; when "the sea and the earth shall yield up their hostages, and all that sleep in the grave shall awake, and the dead in Christ shall rise first;" when the seed which thou sowest corruptible, shall come forth incorruptible; and graves that received rottenness and dust, shall return thee glorious stars and suns! Therefore dare I lay down my carcass in the dust, intrusting it, not to a grave, but to thee; and therefore my flesh shall rest in hope, till thou shalt raise it to the possession of everlasting rest. "Return, O Lord; how long? O let thy kingdom come!" Thy desolate bride saith, Come! for thy Spirit within her saith, Come; and teacheth her thus to "pray with groanings which cannot be uttered;" yea, the whole creation saith, Come, waiting to be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. Thou thyself hast said, "Surely I come quickly." Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!'

CONCLUSION.

28. Thus, Reader, I have given thee my best advice for maintaining a heavenly conversation. If thou canst not thus meditate methodically and fully, yet do it as thou canst; only be sure to do it seriously and frequently. Be acquainted with this heavenly work, and thou wilt, in some degree, be acquainted with God; thy joys will be spiritual, prevalent, and lasting, according to the nature of their blessed object; thou wilt have comfort in life and death. When thou hast neither wealth, nor health, nor the pleasures of this world, yet wilt thou have comfort. Without the presence, or help of any friend, without a minister, without a book, when all means are denied thee, or taken from thee, yet mayest thou nave vigorous, real comfort. Thy graces will be mighty, active, and victorious; and the daily joy, which is thus fetched from heaven, will be thy strength. Thou wilt be as one that stands on the top of an exceeding high mountain; he

low him; fields and woods, cities and towns, seem to him but little spots. Thus despicably wilt thou look on all things here below. The greatest princes will seem but as grasshoppers; the busy, contentious, covetous world, but as a heap of ants. Men's threatenings will be no terror to thee; nor the honours of this world any strong enticement; temptations will be more harmless, as having lost their strength; and afflictions less grievous, as having lost their sting; and every mercy will be better known and relished. It is now, under God, in thy own choice, whether thou wilt live this blessed life or not; and whether all this pains I have taken for thee shall prosper or be lost. If it be lost through thy laziness, thou thyself wilt prove the greatest loser. O man! what hast thou to mind but God and heaven? Art thou not almost out of this world already? Dost thou not look every day, when one disease or other will let out thy soul? Does not the grave wait to be thine house; and worms to feed upon thy face and heart? What if thy pulse must beat a few strokes more? What if thou hast a little longer to breathe, before thou breathest out thy last; a few more nights to sleep, before thou sleepest in the dust? Alas! what will this be, when it is gone? And is it not almost gone already? Very shortly thou wilt see thy glass run out, and say to thyself, My life is done! My time is gone! It is past recalling! There is nothing now but heaven or hell before me!' Where then should thy heart be now, but in heaven? Didst thou know what a dreadful thing it is, to have a doubt of heaven when a man is dying, it would rouse thee up. And what else but doubt can that man then do that never seriously thought of heaven before?

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29. Some there be that say, 'It is not worth so much time and trouble, to think of the greatness of the joys above; so that we can make sure they are ours, we know they are great.' But as these men obey not the command of God, which requires them to have their 'conversation in heaven, and to set their affections on things above; so they wilfully make their own lives miserable, by refusing the delights which God hath set before them. And if this were all, it were a small matter; but see what abundance of other mischiefs follow the neglect of these heavenly delights. This neglect will damp, if not destroy their love to God,-will make it unpleasant to them to think or speak of God, or engage in his service, it tends to pervert their judgments concerning the ways and ordinances of God,-it makes them sensual and

voluptuous, it leaves them under the power | Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, who of every affliction and temptation, and is a pre- was, and is, and is to come! Thou art worthy, parative to total apostacy, it will also make O Lord, to receive glory and honour, and them fearful and unwilling to die. For who power!" When he looks on the glorified Sawould go to a God or a place he hath no de- viour, he is ready to say, Amen, to that new light in? Who would leave his pleasure here, song, 'Blessing, and honour, and glory, and if he had not better to go to? Had I only power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne, proposed a course of melancholy, and fear, and and unto the Lamb, for ever and ever. For sorrow, you might reasonably have objected. thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by But you must have heavenly delights, or none thy blood, out of every kindred, and tongue, that are lasting. God is willing you should and people, and nation; and hast made us, unto daily walk with him, and fetch in consolations our God, kings and priests!' When he looks from the everlasting fountain: if you are unwill-back on the wilderness of this world, he blesses ing, even bear the loss; and, when you are the believing, patient, despised saints; he pities dying, seek for comfort where you can get it, the ignorant, obstinate, miserable world; and and see whether fleshly delights will remain for himself, he says, as Peter, It is good to with you; then conscience will remember, in be here; or as Asaph, 'It is good for me to spite of you, that you was once persuaded to a draw near to God; for lo, they that are far from way for more excellent pleasures,-pleasures thee shall perish.' Thus, as Daniel, in his that would have followed you through death, captivity, daily opened his window towards Jeand have lasted to eternity. rusalem, though far out of sight, when he went 30. As for you, whose hearts God hath weaned to God in his devotions; so may the believing from all things here below, I hope you will soul, in this captivity of the flesh, look towards value this heavenly life, and take one walk Jerusalem, which is above.' And as Paul every day in the New Jerusalem. God is your was to the Colossians, so may the believer love and your desire; you would fain be more be with the glorified spirits, though absent in acquainted with your Saviour; and I know the flesh, yet with them in the spirit, joying

it is your grief, that your hearts are not nearer to him, and that they do not more feelingly love him, and delight in him. O try this life of meditation on your heavenly rest! Here is the mount, on which the fluctuating ark of vour souls may rest. Let the world see, by your heavenly lives, that religion is something more than opinions and disputes, or a talk of outward duties. If ever a Christian is like himself, and answerable to his principles and profession, it is when he is most serious and lively in this duty. As Moses, before he died, went up into mount Nebo, to take a survey of the land of Canaan; so the Christian ascends the mount of contemplation, and by faith surveys

his rest.

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He looks upon the glorious mansions, and says Glorious things are' deservedly 'spoken of thee, thou city of God!' He hears, as were, the melody of the heavenly choir, and says, Happy is the people that are in such a case; yea, happy is that people, whose God is the Lord!' He looks upon the glorified inhabitants, and says, 'Happy art thou, O Israel; who is like unto thee, O people, saved by the Lord, the shield of thy help, and who is the sword of thine excellency!' When he looks upon the Lord himself, who is their glory, he is ready, with the rest, to fall down and worship him that liveth for ever and ever, and say,

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And as

and beholding their heavenly order.
the lark sweetly sings while she soars on high,
but is suddenly silenced when she falls to the
earth; so is the frame of the soul most delight-
ful and divine, while it keeps in the views of
God by contemplation. Alas! we make there
too short a stay; fall down again, and lay by
our music!

31. But, O thou, the merciful Father of spirits, the attractive of love, and ocean of delights, draw up these drossy hearts unto thyself, and keep them there till they are spiritualized and refined; and second thy servant's weak endeavours, and persuade those that read these lines to the practice of this delightful, heavenly work! O suffer not the soul of thy most unworthy servant to be a stranger to those joys which he describes to others; but keep me, while I remain on earth, in daily breathings after thee, and in a believing, affectionate walking with thee! And when thou comest, let me be found so doing; not serving my flesh, nor asleep with my lamp unfurnished; but waiting and longing for my Lord's return! Let those who shall read these heavenly di rections, nor merely read the fruit of my studies, but the breathing of my active hope and love: that, if my heart were open to their view, they might there read the same most deeply 7 D

engraven with a beam from the face of the Son | heart of the reader, and so be the savour of life of God; and not find vanity, or lust, or pride to both! Amen.' within, when the words of life appear without; that so these lines may not witness against me; but, proceeding from the heart of the writer, may be effectual, through thy grace, upon the

Glory be to God in the highest; on earth peace; good-will towards men.'

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THE DIVINE LIFE.

PART I.

OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF GOD.

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent."-JOHN xvii. 3.

INTRODUCTORY REMARKS.

our ultimate end as is also our greatest mercy and felicity. Therefore doth the Lord Jesus here in the text describe that life eternal which he was to give to those whom the Father had given him, to consist in knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he had sent.' My purpose is in this treatise to speak only of the first part of the text, the knowledge of God,' and first I shall very briefly explain the text.

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'This,' that is, this which I am describing. GOD is the principal efficient, the supreme di- 'Life;' life is taken sometimes for the soul's rective, and the ultimate final cause of man: for abode in the body, which is the natural life of of him, and through him, and to him, are all man; or the soul's continuation in its separated things, and to him shall be glory for ever. The state, which is the natural life of the soul and new life or nature in the saints, is his image. sometimes for the perfections of natural life: The principle of it is called the divine nature. and that either its natural perfection, that is, it The exercise of that principle, including the health and vivacity; or its moral perfection or principle itself, is called the life of God, from rectitude; and that is either in the cause, and which the Gentiles are said to be alienated by so God is our life, Christ is our life, the Holy their ignorance. Therefore it is called holiness, Spirit is our life: or in itself, and so holiness which is a separation to God from common use is our life in the principle, seed or habit. Someand God's dwelling in us,' and 'ours in him,' of times life is taken for the work, employment and whom we are said to be born and regenerated,' exercise of life; and so a holy conversation is and our perfection in glory, is our living with our moral, spiritual, or holy life. Sometimes God, and enjoying him for ever. Godliness it is taken for the felicity of the living and then is the comprehensive name of all true reli- so it contains all the former in their highest gion. Jesus Christ himself came but to restore perfection, that is, both natural life and moral, corrupted man to the love, obedience, and frui- spiritual life, and the holy exercise thereof, totion of his Creator, and at last will give up the gether with the full attainment and fruition of kingdom to his Father, that God may be all and God in glory, the end of all. in all: and the Son himself shall be subject to 'Eternal,' that is, simply eternal, objectively, this end. The end of Christ's sacrifice and in- as to God the principal object and eternal, tercession is to reconcile God and man: the end subjectively, that is, everlasting.

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of his doctrine is to teach us to know God: the This is life eternal,' not natural life in itself end of his government is to reduce us to the per-considered, as the devils and wicked men shall fect obedience of our Maker. It is therefore the have it; but, 1. It is the same moral, spiritual greatest duty of a Christian to know God as re-life, which shall have no end, but to endure to vealed by his Son; and it is such a duty about eternity: it is a living to God in love; but only

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