delight in him, what will? Put then this to the venture; exercise your thoughts upon this very thing, the eternal, free, and fruitful love of the Father, and fee if your hearts be not wrought upon to delight in him. I dare boldly fay, believers will find it as thriving a course, as ever they pitched on in their lives. Sit down a little at the Fountain, and you will quickly have a farther difcovery of the fweetness of the ftreams. You who have run from him, will not be able after a while, to keep at a distance for a moment.

But fome may fay!

Alas how fhall I hold communion with the Father in love? I know not at all whether he loves me or no; and all I venture to caft myself upon it? How if I fhould not be accepted? fhould I not rather perifh for my prefumption, than find fweet- nefs in his bofom? God feems to me, only as a confuming fire, and everlasting burnings, fo that I dread to look up unto him.

I know not what may be understood by knowing of the love of God; though it be carried on by spiritual fenfe, and experience, yet it is received purely by believing. Our knowing of it, is our believing of it, as revealed. We have known and believed the love that God hath to us, God is love, 1 John iv. 16. This is the affurance which at the very entrance of walking with God thou mayeft have of this love, he who is truth hath faid it; and what-ever thy heart fays, or Satan fays, unless thou wilt take it up on this account, thou doft thy endeavour to make him a lyar, who hath spoken it, 1 John v. 10.

I can believe that God is love to others, for he hath faid he is Love; but that he will be fo to me, I fee no ground of perfuafion; there is no caufe, no rea

fon

fon in the world, why he should turn one thought of love and kindness towards me: and therefore I dare not cast myself upon it, to hold communion with him in his special love.

He hath spoken it as particularly to thee, as to any one in the world. And for caufe of love, he hath as much, to fix it on thee, as on any of the children of men; that is none at all without himself. So that I fhall make speedy work with this objection. Never any one from the foundation of the world, who believed fuch love in the Father, and made returns of love to him again, was deceived, neither shall ever any to the worlds end be fo, in so doing. Thou art then in this upon a most sure bottom; if thou believeft and receiveft the Father as love, he will infallibly be so to thee, though others may fall under his feverity. But,

I cannot find my heart making returns of love unto God. Could I find my foul fet upon him, I could then believe his foul delighted in me.

This is the most prepofterous courfe, that poffibly thy thoughts can pitch upon, a most ready way to rob God of his glory. Herein is love, faith the Holy Ghoft, not that we loved God, but that he loved us first, 1 John iv. 10, 11. Now, thou wouldest invert this order, and fay, herein is love, not that God loved me, but that I love him first. This is to take the glory of God from him, that whereas he loves us without a caufe, that is in ourfelves, and we have all caufe in the world to love him, thou wouldest have the contrary, viz. that fomething fhould be in thee, for which God fhould love thee, even thy love to him; and that thou shouldeft love God, before thou knoweft any thing lovely in him, viz. whether he love thee or no. This is a courf

course of fleshes finding out, that will never bring glory to God, nor peace to thy own foul. Lay down then thy reasonings; take up the love of the Father upon a pure act of believing, and that will open thy foul to let it out unto the Lord in the communion of love.

To make yet fome farther improvement of this truth, fo opened, and exhorted unto as before; it will discover unto us, the eminency and privilege of the faints of God. What low thoughts foever the fons of men may have of them, it will appear that they have meat to eat that the world knows not of; they have clofe communion and fellowship with the Father, they deal with him in the interchange of love? Men are generally efteemed according to the company they keep. It is an honour to ftand in the prefence of princes, though but as servants. What honour then have all the faints, to ftand with boldnefs in the prefence of the Father, and there to enjoy his bofom love. What a bleffing did the queen of Sheba pronounce on the fervants of Solomon, who stood before him, and heard his wisdom. How much more bleffed then are they, who stand continually before the God of Solomon, hearing his wifdom, enjoying his love? Whilst o-thers have their fellowship with Satan, and their own lufts, making provifion for them, an receiving; perishing refreshments from them, whofe end is deftruction, whofe God is their belly, and whofe glory is in their fhame who mind earthly things;. they have this fweet communion with the Father.

Moreover; what a fafe and sweet retreat is here for the faints in all the fcorns, reproaches, fcandals, mifrepresentations which they undergo in the world. When a child is abused abroad in the

ftreets

streets by ftrangers, he runs with speed to the bofom of his Father; there he makes his complaint, and is comforted. In all the hard cenfures, and tongue-perfecutions which the faints meets withal in the streets of the world, they may run with their moanings unto their Father, and be comforted. As one whom his mother comforteth, fo will I comfort you, faith the Lord, Ifa. lxvi. 13. So that the foul may fay, if I have hatred in the world, I will go where I am fure of love: though all others are hard to me, yet my Father is tender, and full of compaffion: I will go to him, and fatisfy myself in him: here I am accounted vile, frowned on, and rejected, but I have honour and love with him, whose kindness is better than life itself. There I fhall have all things in the fountain, which others have but in the drops: there is in my Father's love, every thing defireable: there is the fweetness of all mercies in the abstract itself, and that fully, and durably.

Evidently then, the faints are the most mistaken men in the world. If they fay, come and have fellowship with us; are not men ready to fay; why, what are you? a forry company of feditious factious perfons: be it known unto you, that we defpife your fellowship; when we intend to leave fellowfhip with all honest men, and men of worth, then will we come to you. But alas! how are men miftaken? truly, their fellowship is with the Father: let men think of it as they please, they have close, fpiritual, heavenly refreshings in the mutual communication of love with the Father himfelf; how they are generally misconceived, the apostle de clares, 2 Cor. vi. 8, 9, 10. As deceivers, and ye true, as unknown, yet well known, as dying an

behol

for

behold we live, as chaftened, and not killed, as rowful, yet always rejoicing, as poor, yet making many rich, as having nothing, yet poffeffing all things. And as it is thus in general, fo in no one thing more than this, that they are looked on as poor, low, defpicable perfons, when indeed they are the only great and noble perfonages in the world. Confider the company they keep, it is with the Father, who fo glorious? the merchandise they trade in, it is love, what fo precious? doubtlefs they are the excellent on the earth, Pfal. xvi. 3.

Further; this will difcover a main difference between the faints and empty profeffors, as to the performance of duties, and fo the enjoyment of outward privileges, fruitless profeffors, often walk hand in hand with them: but now come to their fecret retirements, and what a difference is there? there the faints hold communion with God; hypocrites for the most part, with the world and their own lufts, with them they converse, and communicate; they hearken what they will fay to them, and make provifion for them: when the faints are fweetly wrapt up in the bofom of their Father's love. It is oftentimes even almost impoffible that believers fhould in outward appearance go beyond them who have very rotten hearts: but this meat they have which others know not of, this refreshment in the banqueting houfe wherein others have no fhare; in the multitude of their thoughts, the comforts of God their Father refresh their fouls.

Now then (to draw towards a clofe of this difcourfe) if these things be fo, what manner of men ought we to be, in all manner of holy converfation? even our God is a confuming fire. What communion is there between light and darkness? Shall