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Title: The Morning of Spiritual Youth Improved - in the prospect of Old Age and its Infirmities
Author: Church, John
Language: English
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Transcribed from the [1814] R. Thomas edition by David Price, email
ccx074@pglaf.org
[Picture: Public domain book cover]
THE
_MORNING_
OF
SPIRITUAL YOUTH
IMPROVED,
IN THE PROSPECT OF
Old Age and its Infirmities;
BEING A
LITERAL AND SPIRITUAL PARAPHRASE
_On the Twelfth Chapter of Ecclesiastes_.
In a Series of Letters.
* * * * *
By J. CHURCH, V. D. M.
* * * * *
“Rejoice, O young Man, in thy Youth.”—_Solomon_.
“The prudent Man foreseeth the Evil, and hideth himself.”
“—and add to your Faith Virtue.”—_Peter_.
* * * * *
LONDON:
PRINTED BY R. THOMAS, RED LION STREET, BOROUGH.
* * * * *
_PREFACE_.
_CHRISTIAN READER_,
_I need make no apology far publishing the following Letters_, _as the
Subject was first delivered in several Discourses_, _and is now by the
particular desire of many friends_, _published to the Church in the form
of familiar Letters—appearing in the homely dress of plain speech_, _they
will_, _doubtless_, _meet the censure of the carnal critic_, _but my mind
is fully made up on that point—that which is highly esteemed amongst such
men_, _is abominable in the sight of God_.
_Being favored with much of the presence of God in preaching the
Sermons_, _and since then in writing some of these Letters_, _I trust
every wise_, _spiritual_, _and humble Christian_, _into whose hands this
Work may fall_, _will be edified_, _reproved_, _comforted_, _and built up
on their most holy Faith_.—
_So prays thy witting Servant_
_in Christ Jesus_,
[Picture: Signature of J. Church]
_LETTER I_.
TO AMICUS.
_Lambeth_, 1814.
DEAR FRIEND,
HAVING waded through many deep waters of late, and, I hope, learned many
interesting lessons in the School of the Cross, I cannot forbear dropping
you a few thoughts on the great things of God. It is my mercy and yours,
that our salvation is the joint work of the adorable Trinity in Unity,
originating in eternal love, planned in infinite wisdom, and executed by
almighty power. This salvation I have been led to prise, of late, more
than ever I did; and to bless a covenant God that I ever heard its joyful
sound; that I was ever convinced of my need of its blessings; that I ever
was enabled to receive it as my own: which glorious salvation consists in
the pardon of sin—the acceptation of the Saviour’s obedience—the clear
witness of God’s Spirit—and the happy heart-felt communion with God.
This is the salvation of the Gospel I have been made acquainted with in
some degree, and trust I shall yet more abundantly, even in this present
life, and beyond the grave be favored with it in body and soul for ever.
This is what I have in humble hope and expedition, and God declares it
shall not be cut off. The Spirit of God is given us as an earnest of
this, and faith is the evidence of it—and though I am not yet in the
enjoyment of it, the promise still stands firm, _Thine eyes shall see the
king in his beauty—they shall behold the land that is far off_. _Thine_
eyes: are you inclined to ask, Whose eyes?—the answer is ready—those who
are in possession of a good work of grace—hence, _having begun the good
work_, _he will perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ_.—Sometimes you
hope, you believe, you trust, nay you are sure this work is begun; then I
am sure it will be carried on, and must be completed; for the Man will
not be in rest till the great work is done, and he presents us to himself
a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, nor any such thing. May
you and I live in the pleasing prospect of this, and finally, die to
enjoy it—no doubt it will be an heaven worth dying for—when I contemplate
this glory, I forget the trials of the way.
But, perhaps, my dear friend, while reading this, is particularly tried
_in_ the way; _for as vinegar upon nitre_, _so is he that singeth songs
to an heavy heart_. Well, then, I must pay you a visit in Achor’s vale,
where I know you are truly safe, though miserable; reflecting on the days
that are past, and contrasting them with what you now feel and fear—once
feeling light, joy, peace, comfort, love, zeal, activity, and diligence;
but now you feel darkness, insensibility, lowness the workings of inbred
sin, and too often have to lament the out-breakings of them. This may be
succeeded by legal bondage, unbelief, fretfulness, enmity, and a sad
distance between God and the soul; and instead of activity and diligence,
a general stupor; calling all in question, because you cannot act as you
have formerly done—quite forgetting him that has said, and who is now
making good his promise, _Even the youths shall faint and be weary_, _and
the young men shall utterly fail_, _but those who wait on the Lord shall
renew their strength_.
Permit me, my brother, just to intimate, that there is nothing singular
in your trials; it appears to be the very path the Redeemer went, and the
very footsteps of the flock. Hence we read, directly after the Baptism
of our dear Lord, when his soul was filled with all the fulness of God;
when the Father, with an audible voice, proclaimed from above, _This is
my beloved Son_!—and the Holy Spirit was seen hovering over his head, in
a body of light, just like a Dove in its descent—the Redeemer rising from
the watery tomb, and the gazing spectators astonished at the solemn
scene—immediately after this transaction we find him led into the
Wilderness to be tempted of the Devil; and he was with the wild beasts,
and evil angels came to him; and upon the back of this, Satan, the head,
the chief Devil, most daringly tempted him to presumption, to doubt his
Sonship, and to commit suicide!—and can my brother wonder that he is a
subject of temptation—_that_ he has forty days of mourning, without a
spiritual entertainment, or the manifestative presence of Christ—_that_
he is among the wild beasts of his inbred sins—that evil thoughts stirred
up by evil angels, should ever trouble or visit him? And can you wonder
that you should be tempted to doubt your sonship—tempted to presume—that
is, forbear to use the scripture means in time of trouble, or even
tempted to suicide? You think some strange thing has happened to you,
but this is the path the Redeemer trod, in his measure—and, recollect,
the servant is not greater than his Lord—it is enough to be as he was,
that we may be as he _is_. This part of your experience was strikingly
exhibited in the case of the Israelites, who came through the Red Sea
with joy and praise—shouted victory, through the mercy of Jehovah—and
felt happy that they were delivered. But their felicity was soon abated,
for they were ordered to encamp at Marah, in the Wilderness. So you find
it: you have been convinced of your lost state; you have felt the slavery
of sin and the Devil; you have felt the bondage of the Law; you have seen
the Redeemer making an atonement for sinners: your faith has received
this; your hope has enjoyed this; your love has been led out to him in
sweet return; and though you still felt yourself a sinner, yet your mind
was happy in Jesus, his glorious Person, and his great Work. Here you
sung with Moses and Miriam, with gospel ministers and people, _The Lord
is my strength and my song_, _he also is become my salvation_, _and I
will exalt him_. But your note was soon changed, for you presently found
yourself in the wilderness of fears, lest you had been deluded, and lest
you had presumed—lest your grief had been like Esau’s, and your joys the
raptures of a way-side hearer; quite forgetting that that religion which
comes from God, always leads to God, as our salvation and our eternal
all. This was certainly your experience; then why doubt the reality of
it? The commandment has gone forth, that you, for wise and
God-glorifying purposes, should pitch your tent at Marah; here you must
taste of the bitter cup of sorrow. This will only endear the Tree of
Life to you, who was cut down, and cast into deeper waters than you can
possibly go into; and will lead your faith to apprehend, that though your
waters are deep and bitter, yet faith tastes them sweet, by virtue of
Christ’s removing the curse—
Thus believing we rejoice,
To see the curse removed.
Your path may indeed be hard and thorny, but, bless God, there is no
curse in it; let this console your mind, I am sure it will, if the Holy
Spirit gives you power to believe it. Your present experience of
darkness, guilt, deadness, bondage, contraction of spirit, and great
stupor, are the days of evil that Solomon speaks of, which are many, but
must at last issue in an exceeding and an eternal weight of glory. But
seeing such are the days that must come on the followers of the dear
Saviour, how truly important, and how highly interesting that exhortation
in the twelfth of Ecclesiastes, _Remember now thy Creator_, _in the days
of thy youth_, _while the evil days come not_, _and the years draw nigh_,
_wherein thou shalt say I have no pleasure in them_. Solomon could well
talk of these things, for he had a wonderful share of them, and wrote the
whole Book of Ecclesiastes upon the subject. The word is said by some,
to mean the Preacher, but others think it signifies Restoration to the
Church. It was also written by him in his old age, after his recovery
from backsliding; as such it must be a precious treasure in the hands of
a poor sinner, who knows the plague of his heart, the weakness of human
nature, the inconstancy and mutability of all transitory things, of all
terrestial objects.
This book shews the vanity of all things out of Christ; that they are
fleeting, insubstantial, and disappointing; that they elude the grasp of
their followers, and leave the soul in darkness, misery, and woe. Having
learnt so much by deep heart-felt experience, of the power of grace and
the power of sin, and having been deeply taught by the Holy Ghost, he
advises as a father to his children, how to act, before the sad days of
tribulation come on; and this is agreeable to his own declaration, _The
prudent man foreseeth the evil_ (i.e.) _day and hideth himself_, _but the
simple pass on and are punished_. Thus in this chapter he exhorts,
which, through God’s assistance, I shall consider in an experimental
manner; and shew, I hope, the mind of the Spirit upon this important
theme.
I have often been grieved when this precious text has been taken by mere
Moralists, who knew nothing of the Spirit’s work upon the heart, as the
testifier of Jesus; and applied to youth, literally, who are destitute of
the grace of God—and by a mere moral harangue, they have set youth to
perform a task they themselves never did. Hence, in general, Sermons are
preached to young people from this passage, when the very passage shews
they are characters that have been taught of God; else why exhort to a
remembrance of that glorious object, Thy Creator? it must imply some
knowledge of him; and this great Creator can only be known by his own
Word and Spirit; only seen in his own light, _for the world by wisdom
knows not God_, nor can all the works of God lead us to God, as some
dream; there is no coming to a knowledge of trusting in, or loving, or
obeying God, but by the glorious Mediator, and the impulse of the Holy
Ghost. I consider it necessary then, my dear Brother, to shew you,
_First_, The Characters addressed in this important exhortation—the
_Youth_. _Secondly_, the grand object recommended to their attention,
_Thy Creators_. _Thirdly_, What is implied in the idea of _remembering
him_. _Fourthly_, The _Arguments_ the wise man makes use of to urge this
important act, viz. _The approach of evil days and years_—which I shall
endeavor to explain in a scriptural and experimental way, to comfort some
poor mourner; to show the value of a precious Saviour; and endear
salvation, by free grace alone.
On the first head of this subject, I would just observe, the blessedness
of being early called by the grace of God, can never be fully appreciated
in this world. We read of some who were called at a very early period:
Jeremiah was really sanctified from the womb: John the Baptist was filled
with the Holy Ghost in the womb; which shews the possibility of a work of
grace in the souls of those who die in infancy, as they are in general,
if not _all_, influenced by the Holy Spirit before their departure, and
are passively the subjects of Regeneration. What a consolation for a
parent bereaved of a _lovely babe_!—It appears Joseph was early taught of
God; perhaps the first martyr, Abel, was—it is very clear Obadiah,
Josiah, David, and Solomon, were early converted. Samuel and Timothy
knew the Saviour at a very early period—the Lord was their guide from
their youth. This saves a person from many a bitter pang,—many a sigh,
many a tear, many a deep, black, sad reflection of parents, broken
hearts, violated sabbaths, a despised gospel, a ruined pocket, and
constitution. To be sure grace shines very bright in the calling of
such; but you and I must say, we are greater debtors to preserving grace.
I rejoice your mind was so early imprest with the power of godliness, and
that you was directed under a sound ministry, which clearly pointed out
the way of salvation, by free grace alone; for the labour of some foolish
preachers wearieth every one, because they know not how to go to the
city. But this is not the youth in the text, they are the seed which the
Lord hath blessed—the seed of God; the seed that was to serve the Lord,
called the seed of Jacob; for these the Redeemer entered into a covenant
with his Father—for these he travailed in spirit, groaned, cried, obeyed,
bled, and died. Hence the promise, _He shall see of the travail of his
soul and be satisfied_. This is begun in our conversion, and will be
accomplished in our final glorification. Hence the Psalmist says, _As
arrows in the hand of the mighty so are the children of thy youth_. And
the matter of the covenant between the Father and the Son, is thus
exhibited—_Thy people shall be willing __in the day of thy power_, _in
the beauties of holiness_. _From the womb of the morning thou hast the
dew of thy youth_—which beautiful passage Mr. Hervey translates, and
paraphrases thus: “As the morning is the mother of dews; produces them,
as it were, from a prolific womb; and scatters them with the most lavish
abundance, over all the surface of the earth: _So shall thy seed be_, O
thou everlasting Father! By the preaching of thy word, shall such an
innumerable race of regenerate children be born to thee, and fill all
lands. Millions, millions of willing converts, shall _croud_ into thy
family, and _replenish_ thy church; till they become like the stars of
Heaven, or the sands of the sea, for multitude; or even as _numberless_,
as these fine _spangles_, which now cover the face of nature.”
Of the same opinion was the late Mr. Huntington; see his “Light shining
in Darkness;” on the 110th _Psalm_. “The youth which is to spring from
the womb and is to be numerous as the drops of the dew, seem to _be_ a
time yet to come; when the knowledge of the Lord shall cover the
earth—when a nation shall be born at once—when a little one shall become
a thousand—and when the Lord’s family will consist of strong men in the
faith; who are called youth; instead of thy fathers, shall be thy
children, whom thou mayest make Princes in the earth;” this must be when
the greatest kingdom under the whole heavens shall be given to the saints
of the most high, and they shall take it, and possess it, for
Jesus shall reign where’er the Sun
Does his successive journies run.
The truly excellent Dr. Hawker reads this passage in reference to the
heavenly extraction of the Lord’s people, to shew, That sovereign grace
will give to Christ an abundance of souls, like the dew drops; so
numerous as to be perfectly incalculable: “And they shall come of
heavenly extraction, as the dew from God, _being born not of the will of
the flesh_, _but of God_; and unperceived, unnoticed, and unknown, as the
silent drops of the morn; _for the kingdom of God cometh not by
observation_: and as they are begotten like the dew, without the aid of
man, so also shall they be preserved by the same predisposing cause,
without man’s descent.—_Not by might or by power_, _but by my spirit_,
_saith the Lord of Hosts_.” Thus the youth to whom Solomon writes are
the spiritual seed of God, and not to mere carnal worldly youth, who are
destitute of the knowledge of God. Dear _Amicus_, adieu—Grace and peace
be with you.
I remain, your’s in the Sinner’s friend,
[Picture: Signature: J. C.]
_LETTER II_.
TO AMICUS.
_Lambeth_, 1814.
BELOVED FRIEND,
AMIDST a vast multitude of thoughts which occurred to my mind this
morning, one more than all the rest, seemed longest to abide, namely,
that as the Lord’s people are called Servants as well as Sons, it appears
to me that the services of none are accepted of God, but only the
services of those who are Sons by adoption and graces and by the
testimony of the Holy Spirit in the heart. Such Sons are also called his
Servants, who shall serve him: they were by nature the servants of the
Devil, wore his livery, and did his will; but Almighty grace having
wrought a glorious change in the heart, there is a change of the service;
and this service is not in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness
of the spirit; then it must be with a new heart, a new spirit; with new
views, aims, pursuits and ends. Into this service we are first
pressed—then we become volunteers, and though we meet with many
discouragements by the way, yet we are not tired of our Master, nor he of
us; nor do we serve in heart, in affection, in word and deed, as we wish
we could, yet he kindly accepts the will for the deed, and says, _If
there be a willing mind_, _it is accepted according to what a man hath_,
_and not according to what he hath not_. In the service of so divine a
Lord, our chariot wheels would fain run swift along. My dear Brother can
recollect when his feet run cheerfully in the way—_ye did run well_, _who
did hinder you_? and you had a divine command for it—_Rejoice_, _O young
man_, _in thy youth_, _and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy
youth_. Walk in the way of thy new heart, and in the light of truth that
you are favored with; but it is added, that all this work must be tried,
judged, and proved, that it may appear to be genuine, that what belongs
to God may go to God, and what belongs to nature you may discover, and
lament; for this is the design of the furnace, the design of the fire of
tribulation—therefore do not be alarmed, as though some unaccountable
thing had happened. In the days of prosperity you did right to be
joyful; in those days of adversity you must now consider, the Lord
approved of the days of your youth, and even promises a renewal of them;
and David declared he experienced it: this you may see in the following
texts—_I remember thee_, _and the kindness of thy youth_, _and the love
of thy __espousals_, _when thou wentest after me in a land that was not
sown_.—_He shall return to the days of his youth_. _Thy youth is renewed
as the Eagle’s_. This is experienced after a season of backsliding and
darkness, deadness, and misery. In these youthful days it is necessary
to be diligent, as dark days may come. Hence the exhortation, _Remember
thy Creator in the days of thy youth_. These youthful days do not so
much regard the time of life as the time of the light, love, and liberty
of the children of God; these are our first, best, and sweetest days.
Hence it is said, _it is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his
youth_: whatever may be the sense of this text, it is a point beyond all
controversy, that it is a mercy to be taught out of the Law, in our first
setting out, to bear the yoke of our transgressions, and receive
deliverance from them by the precious blood and righteousness of Christ.
It is likewise a mercy to be in the service of Christ, in health and
strength of body and mind; the service of Christ is easy and his burden
light; so he told his disciples, _Take my yoke upon you_. The word
youth, does not always signify the term of years; this is evident from
Job’s pathetic moan—_O that it was with me as in the days of my youth_,
when I was blest with health of body, peace of mind, cheerful days,
plenty of ordinances, and means to get the knowledge Jesus; and an
inclination thereto, while the Spirit taught me to say, _My Father_,
_thou art the guide of my youth_. And hence the apostate and backslider
is said, to forsake the guide of her youth. Thus it appears the time to
remember our creators is the days when first imprest with the good things
of God; when powerfully drawn on by the cords of love; when we feel
strong, lively, warm, and affectionate; when peace, comfort, and joy, are
felt; when the mind is free from care, vexation, temptation, and misery;
when God blesses us with health and strength, with ministers and books,
with ordinances, and the company of saints. These are our most happy but
not most god-glorifying times; yet, while they last, Solomon advises a
careful attention to great truths, as we may meet with many crafty,
cruel, malicious enemies to God, enemies to the doctrines of the Trinity
in Unity; enemies to the Covenant of Redemption; enemies to free Grace,
to the Work of the Holy Ghost; to the Divinity and work of the adorable
Immanuel; and in fact, to every revealed truth. So Paul advises, _Put on
the whole armour of God_, _that ye may stand in the evil day_. Every
part of this armour will be needed, for it is provided for poor
believers, who have to wrestle hard with sins, and doubts, and fears,
nothing short of an experimental knowledge of the truth will abide the
furnace, will stand in the days of evil, which are coming on, and which
all the Lord’s children, either in a greater or less degree, must endure
for it is plain those who fall away had only the form of godliness,
without the power: there may be a form of sound words, a form of
knowledge; a form of faith, of hope of love, of humility—this is but
superficial; my dear Brother, I hope, has been convinced of the danger of
this, and that nothing short of the gracious teachings of the Holy Ghost
can satisfy his mind. This leads me to consider the second particular I
promised to attend to in my first letter—The glorious object—_Thy
Creators_.
I need not tell you I am no scholar, I wish I was; but the passage must
be read in the plural, according to the testimony of most Hebrew
scholars—_Remember now thy_ CREATORS. There are other texts which must
be read in the same way: _Where is God thy_ MAKERS, _who giveth songs in
the night_? _Let Israel rejoice in_ THEM _that made him_. _Thy_ MAKERS
_is thy husband_; _the Lord of Hosts is his name_. We live in an awful
day, wherein the most crying sin of our nation is the dreadful opposition
to the doctrine of the most adorable Trinity in Unity, though it is a
truth so clearly revealed—the foundation of the Church and the
christian’s highest glory. Alas! how awfully opposed! Many great and
learned, experimental christians have employed their pens in proving from
sacred scripture, this most glorious point of Doctrine, the foundation of
all the rest. The adversaries of this truth pretend to hold the Unity of
the Godhead—so do we. They say there is but one God—so do we; but can
they prove that the Godhead does not, cannot admit of _three_ distinct
Persons in that Essence?—No! We, then, who are Trinitarians, can prove
that there is but one simple, undivided Essence; and, that, if there is
any truth in the Bible, there are _distinct subsistences_ in that one
Godhead—that these three are equal in power, majesty, dignity, and glory;
co-equal, co-essential, and co-eternal. There are not three Gods, but
_three Persons_ in the Godhead. That there are three distinct
Subsistences, which, for want of better words, we call _Persons_, is
evident from a vast many passages of scripture—distinct from each other,
in Person, Name, and Office; for, to what beside the term Person, can we
with any propriety apply the distinct acts of speaking, working, and
commanding? And the Persons in the Trinity are clearly set forth by
their personal characters, such as _I_, _me_, _him_, _thou_, _his_, _he_.
The scriptures plainly declare that _there are three that bear record in
heaven_, _the Father_, _the Word_, _and the Holy Ghost—and these three
are one_—one in the divine Essence, undivided, which Essence is peculiar
to the three; yet these have different modes of subsisting in this
Essence, which we must call Persons—and they must be Persons, to be
Testifiers—testifying is a personal act; if the Father is one testifier,
the Son another, and the Holy Ghost a third, they must be three
_Persons_, not three Gods; only one in the divine Essence, but three
distinct in Personality, Name, and Office. The Unity of the Godhead is
exprest in this text, _Hear O Israel_, _the Lord our God is one Lord_.
But the Plurality of Persons in the Godhead is exprest as before—_There
are three which bear record_, _the Father_, _the Word_, _and the Holy
Ghost_. There is one God; this is not said to the exclusion of the Son
and the Spirit, for the Word is applied to both as well as to the Father,
and in the same senses.
This doctrine will still appear more plain, to my dear brother, by the
_plural_ names of God. In the first verse of the Bible it is evident—_In
the beginning God created the heaven and the earth_. That this name is
_plural_, is plain by the work of the distinct Persons. _And the spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters_. And the third person is
spoken of as the WORD, who said _Let there be light_. Thus the _three in
one_ were concerned in creation. In Ephesians iii, 9, God is said to
create all things by Jesus Christ—this is one Person—Christ is said to be
creator too—_by the word of the Lord was the heavens made_, _and all the
host of them by the breath of his mouth_. Here is the Word that was with
God, and was God; and the spirit of God moved upon the face of the
waters. _By his spirit he garnished the heavens_, _and his hand framed
the crooked Serpent_. This is the Holy Trinity in Unity—the Persons who
said, _Let_ US _make man in_ OUR _image_, _after_ OUR _likeness_.
_Behold the man is become at one of_ US. _Go to_, _let_ US _go
down_.—_Whom shall I send_, _and who will go for_ US? These words
clearly prove a plurality of Persons. _If any man love me_, _my Father
will love him_, _and_ WE _will come unto him_, _and make_ OUR _abode with
him_.
In the Epistle of John we read of Communion with the Father, and the Son;
and Paul speaks of Communion with the Holy Ghost. The glorious Covenant
of Grace shews a Plurality of Persons. Divine worship is to be given to
the three Persons. Baptism is in their Names: sometimes one Person is
mentioned before the other; _the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ_, _the
love of God_, _and the communion of the Holy Ghost_; here Christ is first
mentioned. _The Lord direct your hearts into the love of God_, _and into
a patient waiting for Christ_. _The acknowledgement of God_, _and of the
Father_, _and of Christ_—thus we see the Spirit is mentioned first. In
the first chapter of Ephesians the Father is first introduced—Paul prays
that the _Father of our Lord Jesus Christ would grant the spirit of
wisdom in the knowledge of Christ_. These, and many other passages
evidently prove that there are _Three_ in _One_ and _One_ in _Three_, God
blessed for evermore; so the Scripture teaches, and so must we believe;
to err in this subject is fatal. But the Spirit has engaged to lead us
into all truth, nor can one humble follower of Jesus go down to the
shades of death, opposing this glorious doctrine. How these are _one_,
and how each Person subsists in the one Divine Essence, is not for us to
know, nor is it of any importance, it is enough for me to know, that the
terms of Father, Son, and Spirit, are not given to shew what the Trinity
is in the divine Essence, as God; but what they are to the church in an
everlasting Covenant; and this is life eternal to know the Father, that
adopted me as his own—to know the Lord Jesus, in the greatness of his
salvation, by the teaching and leading of the Holy Ghost. This is the
harmonious witness in the word, and I bless God for the same in the
heart. There are three which bear witness; and he that believeth on the
Son hath the witness in himself; and this is the witness, the Father
says, _Yea I have loved thee_; the Redeemer says, _I have redeemed thee_;
and the voice of the Spirit is known, _I have called thee_. This is the
point I want you, my brother, to apprehend, to feel, and enjoy. This is
a religion that will stand the test, will bear the furnace, and all
religion, besides what comes from, and leads to the adorable Trinity, is
madness, delusion and daring presumption! This is the _maker_ or
MAKERS—CREATORS, _father_, _husband_, _friend_, and _God_.
The wise man not only points out the glorious Object, but the Work in
which they are engaged, even the Work of Creation. These glorious
Persons having formed the grand plan of salvation, which was the first
great act of Jehovah, in Council and Covenant, now brings forth the grand
theatre of the Universe, whereon to display the glories of rich, free,
restoring grace; and this act of power, love, wisdom, and goodness, is
the joint Work of the _three Persons_; as the word _God_ is a plural
term, _Elohim_, or as some term it _Alehim_—the Persons engaged, the
Covenanters. This is a point that has been long proved by good and great
men—the several acts of Creation—God created the heaven and earth, formed
both; then the Spirit’s, act—_and the Spirit of God_, the Lord and giver
of life, _moved upon the face of the waters_, to separate the parts which
were mixed together, and to give them a quickening virtue, to produce
living creatures in them. Then the Saviour is represented as saying,
_Let there be light_, _and there was light_. This came from himself, who
is called the Light of the World. _And God said_ (this is repeated nine
times over; and as the term God is plural, and includes the Three, there
is great propriety and beauty in the expression) _Let_ US _make man in_
OUR _image_, _after_ OUR _likeness_. This consultation is designed to
point out that honor and dignity that was to be conferred on Man, the
noblest work of all his creatures—_in his image_, as God’s vicegerent;
having dominion over the creatures; erect in his body; with every
excellent endowment of his mind; in purity, holiness, and righteousness;
in wisdom and beauty—thus man was made in his image. But though this is
a great truth, yet I humbly conceive this is not all; from all eternity
God had a favour towards man; and having exalted the dear Saviour to be
the great Head of the Church, he set him up in the nature of his people,
so that Adam was formed in the nature, in the very image which God had
designed to honour Christ in; that image made he man: this was agreeable
to divine consultation. In this image our dear Lord four thousand years
afterwards made his appearance; and this was the joint work of the Holy
Trinity—_a body hast thou prepared me_. He took part of the children’s
flesh and blood—_The power of the Holy Ghost shall come on thee_, _and
that which shall be born unto thee shall be called the Child of the Most
High_.
Thus the formation of our nature is the joint work of the Trinity, in the
first and second Adam; but this point will appear of equal importance if
we contemplate our New Creation, as the work of the same divine Persons.
Our Regeneration is called a Creation, but more of this in my next. The
best of blessings attend you.
So prays your willing servant to command
in all Godliness,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER III_.
TO AMICUS.
DEAR FRIEND,
GRACE and peace be with you. I thought it needful to drop you another
Letter on a subject of infinite importance to you, to myself and to the
whole church of God. The Saviour, in a conversation with a learned and
polite Doctor of Divinity, positively declared the necessity of another,
a New, a second _Birth_. Blessed be God, the salvation of the children
of God is completed without this, but we must be born again to know this
salvation is ours; and to pretend to lay claim to such Salvation, without
being born again, is most daring presumption! This _new Birth_ is a
change of heart and life; the formation of a new man; an infusion of holy
principles—all new—every thing; that is, every principle which the Holy
Spirit inspires is new; new views, new sensations, new ideas, new
pursuits; and new trials; all is become new. _If any man be in Christ
Jesus he is become new_. This birth goes by various names in
scripture—it is stiled _a Calling_; _The master is come and calleth for
thee_. It is represented as an _implanting_ or _engrafting—Cut off from
the old stock_: Our souls cleave to Jesus as our all in all. It is a
_Conquest_; by the power of the Holy Spirit our enmity is slain, our
wills subdued, and our affections set on heavenly objects. It is called
an _heavenly Birth_—Of the seed of God’s word we are said to be begotten
to a lively hope. A new man is formed; for this the Redeemer travailed
in spirit; for this ministers labour and toil; and to enjoy God in Christ
Jesus, no small portion of spiritual labour falls to the share of the
happy possessor. The Saviour enters the soul; this must create a stir
there. He comes into, and by the door of the heart; all that come in any
other way, as sin and Satan did, are thieves and robbers. Upon his
entrance we, by his light, see our lost state—feel our guilt—conscience
is quickened, as well as the mind enlightened; and here, my brother, you
may discover the vast disparity between the Possessor and the mere
nominal Professor; it is not to be seen either in their light, or
conduct, for a man destitute of the grace of God, may be clear in his
head, and upright in his moral deportment. This is the snare that is
come upon the Churches: these are the false evidences by which thousands
are deceived—it is not enough, the main spring is wanting, which is LIFE.
This is the genuine work of God: this proves our union with the Living
Vine. By this life I feel myself condemned by the Law. I feel a spirit
of bondage to fear. I feel the sting of death. I feel the workings of
corruption, which I knew nothing of before. I feel dreadful
apprehensions of God’s wrath; and while my conscience feels these things,
I see, in the light of the word, and by the Spirit, the exact
suitableness of the dear Saviour. I am enabled by the same Spirit to
believe he lived, obeyed, suffered, died, and is risen again, and
receives poor sinners—the lost, the helpless, the guilty, and the vile.
This begets a hope in my mind that he will save me. The Promises
encourage me—the freeness of grace—the Lord delighting in mercy, through
the satisfaction of Jesus—the scriptural account of poor sinners as vile
as me being saved. These things encourage me to hope; while my faith,
small as it is, argues at times, as Manoah’s wife did, If the Lord had
meant to have destroyed me, would he have shewed me what I see?—or told
me what he has? No, no!
But while I thank God, and am taking courage, perhaps sin again overcomes
me—the Law still works wrath; Satan then takes the advantage, and down I
sink again, and must there lay till the dear Father of Mercies draw me to
Christ again. Thus the spiritual life, at this time, hangs in doubt, and
there is no assurance of life, either spiritual or eternal. This is
travailing in spirit, coming to the birth, and no strength to bring
forth. This is tarrying long in the place of the breaking forth of
children; panting, breathing, looking, thirsting, longing for the
knowledge of the pardon of sin, the clear witness of the Spirit, and the
sweet, smiting, kind, loving approbation of God. Such souls are already
pronounced blessed, and what God has promised he will surely perform.
Such long to come forth; are afraid of peace and comfort, ease and
quietness, lest it should not be God’s work; and such would rather be
always in bondage than in carnal ease, or false peace or confidence.
Beautiful that Promise, _Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after
righteousness_, _for they shall be filled_. Such are represented as
waiting upon God. Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their
strength—and they shall not be ashamed that wait for me. At the Pool of
Bethesda they lay till Jesus appears—at the posts of God’s Doors they
wait till favour is shewed them—they are admitted to the Inner Court,
till faith gathers strength enough to believe in the love of God towards
them; and till they can receive into their souls the Atonement this gives
peace to the conscience, and joy in God, and this honor have all the
saints. This is the New Birth, which you, I trust, know something of
experimentally; but darkness will sometimes hide it from you. I must
recommend you a sweet text in Job. _Thine age shall be clearer than the
noon day—thou shalt shine forth_, _thou shall be clear as the morning_.
But this new-making second Birth, and new Creation, is the joint work of
the adorable Trinity, and is, of course, property ascribed to each
Person, _Remember therefore thy new Creators_. Let Israel rejoice in
_them_ that made him. God the Father is called the Father of Christ, the
Father of Lights. Of his own will begat he us, with the Word of Truth.
He sheds the dew of the Spirit upon us abundantly, through Jesus Christ
our Lord. This Work is also attributed to Jesus; he is the Resurrection
and the Life—he raiseth up and quickeneth whom he will; and it is by
virtue of his Resurrection from the dead that we are begotten again to a
lively hope.
The blessed and eternal Spirit, the Lord and giver of Life, is also the
Author of this New Creation—_Except a man be born of water and the Spirit
he cannot enter into the kingdom of heaven_. It is the Spirit that
quickens; he it is prepares the mind for Christ, then testifies of Christ
to the soul. May you, my dear Friend, enjoy much of his testimony, and
set to your seal, that _God is true_—and, if I have not tired your
patience, let me remind you of another great act of your CREATORS, the
completing the Work in a manifestative way, in the glorious Resurrection
of the Body, to enjoy endless felicity with the soul. This is what we
have in lively hope and earnest expectation; for this we groan—this is
the redemption of the purchased Possession. God our covenant Father
loved our bodies as well as our souls—the dear Redeemer bought the one as
well as the other—he suffered in the body for sins done by the body. The
Holy Spirit graciously takes up his abode in the soul, as the earnest of
the future inheritance.
This Doctrine has been denied by many—this has been ridiculed as contrary
to sense and reason; but why should it be thought a thing incredible
_that God should raise the Dead_? it can easily be accomplished by the
infinite power and wisdom of God, as well as the first formation of it;
the one will be as easy to him as the other—the sacred scriptures assure
us of it, our faith gives credit to it; and this faith is not in vain,
the Redeemer would lose a part of his purchase if the dead rise not;
besides, he has redeemed them to God, and from the grave; and the general
judgment requires that those who sleep in the dust should come forth.
There is a necessity of the body rising, else we should lose part of our
bliss; for we shall want some of our members in heaven, as the eye, to
see Christ in the flesh, and one another; and the ear, to hear the
everlasting songs of praise; and the tongue, to sing them.—Nor is this
contrary to reason; hence the dear Redeemer, and his servant Paul, has
set it forth by the figure of a corn of wheat, which, being sown, alters,
corrupts, and then springs up a very different figure, yet it is the same
corn of wheat that was sown, though now it appears with a stalk, a blade,
and an ear: so our bodies will be sown; and spring up again with
additional circumstances. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first Resurrection. What heart can conceive the joyful meeting of soul
and body again? This is most affectingly described by Blair:
—Nor shall the conscious soul
Mistake its partner, but amidst the crowd,
Singling its other half, into its arms
Shall rush, with all the impatience of a man
That’s new come home, and having long been absent,
With haste runs over every different room,
In pain to see the whole. Thrice happy meeting!
Nor time, nor death shall ever part them more.
This Resurrection to eternal life, is the joint work of our glorious
_Makers_.—_Knowing that he which raised up Jesus from the dead_, _shall
raise us up also by him_, _and shall present us with you_. So this great
act is ascribed to the dear Saviour; he shall change our vile bodies.
The Holy Spirit will have an hand in this momentous affair, he shall also
quicken our mortal bodies. And it is a charming thought, my Brother,
that as sure as we have been quickened in the soul we shall be in the
body—certain as we hear the voice of Jesus in the Gospel, we shall hear
it in the Resurrection, calling us forth to eternal life. And as sure as
the Gospel trumpet proclaims liberty to our souls, the last trumpets
sound shall bring liberty to our bodies. Let this thought comfort you,
nor shall you be ashamed of your hope, for the mouth of the Lord hath
spoken it.
It is time I proceed to speak of the third particular, the Wise Man’s
exhortation—_Remember_.—We meet with many such fatherly admonitions in
scripture, and in fact, God promises we shall remember. _Thou shalt
remember all the way the Lord thy God hath led thee in the
Wilderness_.—And one of the blessed Offices of the Holy Ghost is that of
a Remembrancer. This influence over the mind we often need in our state
of pilgrimage: we have, naturally, bad memories—besides, Satan is a
thief, and he is secretly watching to steal all the good he can from us,
and to leave us all the dregs. Our inbred sins, and many outward foes,
also hurt our memories—they are Foxes that spoil the Vines, that have
tender grapes. It is an unspeakable mercy that our Salvation does not
depend upon our memories, but in God’s remembering of us. Hence he has
said, _If I forget thee_, _O Jerusalem_, _let my tongue cleave to the
roof of my mouth_. He remembered his Covenant, he remembered his mercy.
_I will remember my Covenant with thee_. Then he appeals to parental
affections, and asks, _Can a woman forget her sucking child_? _Yea_,
_she may forget_, (perhaps, my Brother, I am an instance of it) _yet will
I not forget thee_. _My kindness shall not depart from thee_, _nor the
Covenant of my peace be removed_, _saith the Lord_, _that hath mercy on_
THEE, _O thou afflicted_, _tossed with tempest_, _and not
comforted_.—Here is our security, though we are so forgetful, so
ungrateful—forever we dwell in his heart, forever in his mind; and he has
graciously intimated there are some things which he can never do,
consistently with his Nature, his Perfections, and Covenant. It was
impossible for God to lie: he cannot forget his people, he will not
remember their sins; he will never leave nor forsake those he once has
loved.
But we are exhorted to _Remember him_. This act, in scripture, signifies
to keep in mind somewhat future and important, that we may notice it when
it comes again. _Remember thou keep holy the Sabbath day_: it signifies
to think of, and deeply consider. _When I remember thee on my bed and
meditate on thee in the night watches_: it signifies to love and esteem.
_No man remembered that same poor man_: to praise or mention the great
acts of covenant love, in a way of gratitude. _Remember his marvellous
works which he hath done_: it signifies to call to mind. _Remember that
ye were Gentiles in the flesh_: so that we remember God, when we think
of, believe in, and depend on him for help and strength. _Some put their
trust in horses_, _some in chariots_, _but we will remember the Lord our
God_. To remember, in scripture, also signifies to make a collection.
Hence the Apostle speaking of christian alms giving, says, _That we
should remember the poor_; _the same which I was always forward to do_.
Here, then, clearly appears our privilege, to think deeply of the great
things of God—often to call them to mind; his everlasting love, its
freeness and power; his everlasting covenant, that cannot be broken—his
everlasting purposes to save the ruined, the helpless, and the vile. The
everlasting righteousness of the dear God Man Mediator—the everlasting
salvation with which all the elect shall be saved—the value, the
efficacy, and unspeakable worth of the Atonement—the preciousness of the
offices, glory, titles, and characters of the adorable Trinity in Unity.
These things must be deeply learnt and kept in mind—the knowledge of them
will surely do us good in the days of evil. To make a collection of the
good things the Spirit has shewn to us—every token for good, every sermon
he has blest with power, every sweet view of Jesus, every precious
promise that has been applied, every ray of comfort, every season of
access and nearness to God, every good word and kind hint he has given
us, every deliverance he has wrought for us, every clear answer to
prayer, whether of things temporal or spiritual. These we ought to
notice, keep in mind, and often think over, with humility, with
gratitude, with joy, with wonder; and ask, with the humble Ruth, _Why
have I found grace in thy sight_, _that thou shouldest take knowledge of
me_, _seeing I am but a stranger_?
Remember, with _diligence_; for as we abound in faith the Apostle says,
We are to abound in all diligence. The pious Psalmist declares, His
heart and spirit made a diligent search. The woman who had lost her
piece of silver, is said, To sweep the house, and search diligently till
she found it—and the Lord is sure to bless the diligent remembrance of
himself; take the following texts: _The hand of the diligent maketh
rich_. _The hand of the diligent shall bear rule_. _The substance of
the diligent man is precious_. _The soul of the diligent shall be made
fat_. _The thought of the diligent tends only to plenty_. _He that
diligently seeketh good procureth favour_.—Thus we see what God has
promised to the _diligent_. Say not this is _legal_, No!—I am exhorting
a believer, a quickened soul, one that has light, life, and love. All
spiritual actions, acceptable to God, must spring from this quarter. Do
you attend while you can to these important things, nor shall you fail of
your reward. Be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatever a man
soweth that shall he also reap; and sure I am, every man shall find this
text true in his experience, 2 Cor. ix, 6, _He that soweth sparingly
shall reap sparingly_: _He which soweth bountifully shall reap
bountifully_. So the scriptures affirm: I have found it and so shall
you.
Thus while you are in health of body, peace of mind, furnished with the
Spirit’s influence as a Remembrancer—do call to mind, collect together
and highly esteem these things, in meditation and prayer, and bless him
for what he has done for you and in you. Turn down those pages in your
Bible which you have found precious. Tell the dear people of God what
Christ has done for you, that they may help you to praise him; for it is
written, _They shall come and declare the Work of God in Zion_.—Nor would
you lose any thing by it, should you keep a Diary of the Lord’s dealings
with you; it would be blessed to read it over another day, especially in
the days of evil. Hence the exhortation, _Set thee up way marks_: _set
thee up high heaps_—for, being like poor Jacob, we want reminding of our
vows, and of God’s goodness. Hence the command, _Arise_, _go to Bethel_,
_where thou anointedst the Pillar_, _and make thee an altar to God_, _who
appeared for thee when thou fleddest from the face of Esau_. It is well
to remember what God has done for us, it encourages us in prayer and
sweet confidence another day, as may be seen in this good man’s History,
Genesis xxxii, when pleading with God for his safety. He acknowledges
past mercies, when he only possessed a staff twenty years before, and
with it came over that very place where he then stood with two hands! He
confesses his utter unworthiness, and pleads with God upon the ground of
his promises he had applied to him in times pest. Presents his prayer,
mixed with thanksgiving, and obtains an answer. To feel gratitude is a
mercy for it well becomes the just to be thankful.
I’ll speak the honors of thy name,
With my last lab’ring breath;
And, speechless, clasp thee in my arms,
My joy in life and death.
This leads me to notice the reasons Why Solomon urges this point;
_because the evil days and years are coming on_, _in which you will truly
say_, _I have no pleasure in them_. And as you have a little pleasure at
times, and have had a good deal of pleasure in the Bible, in the House of
God, at the Table of the Lord, in company with the saints, in private
retirement, in doing good to some, in pitying and in praying for others,
and could understand something of this text, _They meetest him that
rejoicest in thee—those that remember thee in thy ways_. In which things
you have had pleasure, and could rejoice in these youthful days. But as
some of these days are gone, and the rest may fly, let me advise you
against such seasons as you will say, You have no pleasure in. But may
the Lord water you every moment, and keep you night and day, to final
salvation—maintain his own work, and bear testimony to your spirit, what
is his work, and what is not. This you have prayed for many a time, and
by terrible things in righteousness God is pleased often to answer us.
I remain your’s,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER IV_.
TO AMICUS.
DEAR FRIEND,
I HAVE been a little concerned of late about the term _Prophet_. You
guess what is the cause: many eminent professors, who are better
acquainted with the News-paper than the Bible, have been lately venting
out a good deal of spite against the memory of a late Minister, in
consequence of what they call his ambitious and strongly-conceited
_Epitaph_—“A Prophet hath been among them.” Quite forgetting that _all_
real, faithful ministers, are entitled to the same name. The passage is,
in part, quoted from Ezekiel ii, 5. _And they_, _whether they will
hear_, _or whether they well forbear_, _for they are a rebellious house_,
_yet shall know that a Prophet hath been among them_. I believe this
name is applied to gospel ministers, nearly twenty times in the New
Testament. Many things of eternal importance do they prophecy; and one
branch of their prophecy I am sure you will find true, _viz._ That
through much tribulation, they must enter the kingdom.—Jacob called his
sons together and said, _I will tell you that which shall befal you in
the latter days_. And Solomon, the type of our most blessed Immanuel,
acting in this character, gives intimation, of what _we_ must experience,
that are created anew in Christ Jesus, and predestinated to the
possession and enjoyment of the good work of Jesus—the good work of the
eternal Spirit, and the good work and enjoyment of the blessed in Heaven.
These God has ordained we should walk in—these are the evidences of union
to Jesus; and as these are our privileges, so we must indeed drink of the
same Cup Jesus did, and be immersed in the same Baptism. This was what
the Holy Spirit witnessed to Paul, that in every city where he came bonds
and affliction should await him, and he must go through them. No doubt
these will have a glorious tendency, for our Covenant God does nothing in
vain. You have hitherto been much indulged; I have really envied you,
but the change you now experience is only to shew you what need you have
of the _whole_ armour of God. You are but just come into the field of
action, to combat with sin, Satan, errors, hypocrites, and erroneous
men—to combat with many outward and inward foes, who now appear to your
view.
But the dear Saviour will also appear very precious now, in other forms,
to what you have ever felt of seen him. The Spirit will take every
opportunity to reveal him just as you really need him. You will so learn
Christ that you will be able to stand in these days of evil, which must
come on the followers of the dear Saviour, and in which they must say
they feel no pleasure. These evil days are set forth by Solomon under
the following metaphors: The darkness of the sun, the moon, and stars,
with a long, heavy, lowering sky. These things will be understood by the
tried family of God; so that while you have the season of getting, or
doing good, you must use that period for that use—hence such seasons are
called an _Hour_—very short, but precisely fixed and determined by our
covenant God. This season is called a _Day_ that will soon go away, and
the _Night_ commence. This day is far spent with you, and a night is
come on, in which you cannot work, but must wait—in which you cannot run,
but must stand still, till the Lord sends you bright clouds, and a clear
shining after rain. This season, in your experience, is called a
_Morning_. How lovely and pleasant, while through the falling dew of
God’s favor, your graces budded, and the softly-pleasing southern gales
caused your spikenard to send forth a delightful perfume. But evil days
must come; not such evil days as must befal those as have no interest in,
or love to the Saviour, and which may never come on in _this_ world.
Hence they are said to receive their good things in this life, but the
righteous evil things. What a mercy, my brother! in all that befals you
there is no curse, no hatred in God to you, no unatoned guilt, no danger
of hell, or of coming short of the desired haven; nor perhaps _many_
fears or dread of _these_ things: I hope they are gone out of your
conscience long ago: not but you may be tempted about them for a time,
but these shall be gone. Hence God promises, that on all hills which
shall be digged with a mattock there shall not come thither the fears of
briars and thorns; the real cause of these fears never shall come on you
again. But the design of this Letter is simply to point out some of the
evil days. Literally, Solomon refers to old age, with all the infinities
that attend it. And this may be applied to the weakness of the human
frame, the trouble, as well as to longevity of life; and hence the 71st
Psalm, composed by David, and indited by the Spirit, which belongs to
Christ. He, the adorable Messiah, prays, _Cast me not off in the time of
old age_, which is explained in the next clause, _when my strength
faileth me_; and is doubtless the meaning of the 18th verse. This may be
seen in his agony in the garden, when he cried out, _O my Father_! _if it
be possible let this cup pass from me_. Now likewise his prayer was
answered, for there appeared an angel from heaven to him to strengthen
him. Thus age is not always applied to length of years; a person through
affliction of body, many cares, crosses and losses, may be old; that is,
as weak in constitution as the most aged and infirm character. No doubt
many bear up amazingly well under the infirmities of age; but it must be
allowed these are evil days: _that_ alone which can sweeten them, is a
good hope through grace, the clear witness of the Spirit of God to the
conscience, a lively precious faith in an everlasting covenant, in the
blood of the Lamb, and in the faithfulness of that God who has graciously
said, _and even to old age and hoary hairs will I be with you_.
Justified in the Redeemer’s obedience, and kept firm in the truth.
Solomon says, _The hoary head is a crown of glory if it be found in the
way of righteousness_. Happy, thrice happy old man! just upon the
threshold of that joy that awaits thee. Soon thy spiritual Joseph will
send the waggons of his holy angels to conduct thee to himself, to behold
all his glory.
Yet a season and you know,
Happy entrance shall be given—
All your sorrows left below,
And earth exchang’d for heaven.
What a prospect! what a scene! what a joy! nor shall you be disappointed
of your hope, seeing Christ is commissioned to keep what you have long
committed to his dear divine hands, your body and soul, the one for
almost immediate glory, the other for a joyful resurrection.
Thus having viewed the passage in this literal form, let me return to
point out some of the days of evil of which the Bible speaks, and you may
meet with, that when they come you may remember I told you of them. When
God is pleased to shew us our sinful hearts in that degree we are able to
bear it. When conscience reproaches us for sins of omission and
commission; sins long practised and long pursued by us. Satan taking the
advantage of these convictions, and throwing in his fiery darts. These
are called the days of evil. _Wherefore should I fear in the days of
evil_, _when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about_. This is a
time you will surely meet with, as Job and others have, who have said
before you, _Thou makest me to possess the iniquities of my youth_.
_Thou hast set my secret sins before me_. _Remember not the sins of my
youth_. Such days as these, when guilt lies heavy on the conscience, you
will feel no pleasure, till faith embraces the atonement, and banishes
fear. Another evil day you will have is the day of temptation, when
Satan is apparently let loose upon you, as he was upon poor Job, and
Paul, and Jeremiah. When you will want your head covered in the day of
battle, and feel your need of the shield of faith and the helmet of hope,
the one to cover your head, the other to repel these fiery darts of the
Devil, which he will shoot at you—fiery shot, from the burning malice of
Hell, such as strong temptation to excite burning lusts, blasphemous
thoughts of God, horrid suggestions, debasing thoughts of Christ, with
all the Atheism, Deism, Arianism, Socinianism, Arminianism, and
Antinomianism of the human heart, stirred up by the Devil, to foster
despair, enmity, and hatred of God. Thus tried you must watch the
motions of the Spirit, leading you to the death of the Saviour, and with
your Spirit exclaiming, Thou, O Lord, art my hope in the day of evil.
I must notice another day: _Public troubles on the Church_, which I
believe will come yet; I humbly conceive the man of sin will die hard; he
seems to be hearing some of his dying groans at present, but it will have
its last convulsive struggle; the hour of temptation must come on—the
Church seems in her Laodicean state, and it may be really in that state
for all I know, though many great men suppose the Church in her Sardian
state; be that as it may, have we not cause to lament the general
drowsiness of the Church, the very few names that have not defiled their
garments—the cloudy state of Professor and Possessor—the state the
Prophet alluded to, when he said, _It shall come to pass that the light
shall not be clear nor dark_. Is it not true of that light which is in
the Church? the people not wholly in the dark about the Doctrines of the
Gospel, yet they are not clear; and perhaps, never was a time in the
Church when God’s real people were so cloudy, generally, about their
interest in the Saviour, so that we may look for the sieve—a sifting time
will come, for the Church and the World seem too much allied, at present,
in principle and practice. The Saviour says, _Be ye seperate_—and if
this small, still voice is not obeyed, you may depend upon it he will
bring his rod, _for his fan is in his hand_, _and he will thoroughly
purge his floor_. Hence his own declaration, _And I will bring upon thee
a day of evil_. This you may feel personally. Also, after having been a
little at ease, and careless of God’s glory, his cause, and his ways, he
may permit you to fall; or by associating with carnal Professors, or the
World too much, God may bring on you a rod to drive you from them—and if
you should chance to fall, and they know it, though God in mercy, gives
you repentance to life, they will be the first to stone you, and like the
Priest and Levite, take care to avoid you; and if after this, you
maintain the sentiment of human weakness, and insist upon it man is
nothing, but as he is made and kept by the grace of God, these stout men,
these whole-hearted professors, will hate you and your Doctrines; so Job
found, when he said, _He that is ready to slip with his feet_, _is as a
lamp despised in the thought of him that is at ease_. But God may bring
on you such an evil day.
Another day of evil is, _Suffering persecution from the world for the
truth’s sake_; or from those who profess a part of the truth. Such may
hate you, nay the Saviour says they _shall_ hate you, and say all manner
of evil against you—_all manner_, not a few hard and ill-natured things,
but any thing disrespectful, spiteful, and disgraceful. This may be the
lot of my Brother—this you will find very hard, seeing you have been kind
to all, and acted as upright before men as you could, never deserving
this from man,—yet meeting with it. Defamation of character,
endeavouring to injure you in your situation, trying to prejudice all
your friends against you, and to stir up your own household to oppose
you. But these things _will_ they do to you, because, says the Saviour,
_They have not known the Father nor me_. However, you will not be wholly
destitute of some who will be raised up for your good. Hence the promise
to the persecuted saint, _And I will cause you to be well entreated in
the day of evil_. This was God’s promise to poor Jeremiah; and the
Saviour gives the command, _Let my out-casts dwell with thee_, _Moab_,
_be thou a covert to him_, _from the face of the spoiler_.
Thus the Lord will take care of you in time of persecution, national
troubles, which the children of God must feel in their degree, through
the loss of trade, bankruptcies, a long war, the high price of
provisions, and the scarcity of every national blessing; yet, depend upon
it, the Lord will find bread for you. So David encourages the people of
God, _I have been young and now am old_, _yet I never saw __the righteous
forsaken nor his seed begging of bread_. Or, as the learned say, it
should be rendered, _though_ begging of bread, _yet_ not forsaken. Bread
and water the Lord has promised you, and remembering that you are one of
his prisoners, that he is bound to maintain _you_, Friends will be raised
up, a supply will be sent in from the most unlikely quarters. _And the
earth helped the woman.—I have commanded the Ravens to feed thee there_.
Thus you shall not want in the day of evil. You may meet with many
family troubles as Jacob did, and say with that dear Patriarch, at the
close of your life, _Few and evil have the days of my life been_. Many
evils have I met with from my children and relations, enough to break a
heart of stone. My relations were envious, oppressive, cruel, and
ungrateful. My children’s conduct often pierced my heart.—I have been in
many wants and dangers, but the Lord that redeemed me from all evil, has
thus far led me on, and I am now going home, for I have waited for thy
salvation, O Lord.
Thus my dear Brother, you may have some days of evil, from family
troubles, losses, crosses, and cares. You may have no small opposition
from men of corrupt minds, that lay in wait to deceive. Hence the
Apostle recommends a clear experimental knowledge of the truth—Christ the
essential truth, and the word of God as the revealed truth. A few head
notions though very clear, are not able to withstand the artifices of
hell, for if a man is argued into a set of notions, he is liable to be
argued out of them. When a man of ability, reason, sense, and a vast
string of arguments, against the previous truths of the gospel, attacks
such as have no grace in the heart, they are soon moved from the truth;
but when those are attacked that have felt the precious truths of the
gospel in the heart, though the poor believer is not able to answer him
one question out of an hundred, he can prove the reality of those truths
he holds, because they have done so much for him. The truth has brought
him from darkness to light, from sin to holiness, from the service of the
devil to the Service of God. Thus He can prove the reality of Bible
truth, by his own present experience; and thus he is able to stand in the
evil day, the day of rebuke and blasphemy. I can prove the Divinity of
God my Saviour; by the answers he has given me to prayer, by the words he
has sent to my heart, with power, and by the virtue of his sacrifice,
which has lifted up my mind, so as no human power or object could have
done, I can likewise prove the Doctrine of the Trinity, by the operation
of the Father’s love, the manifestation of the Atonement of the Son, and
by the regenerating influences of the Spirit. So we can experimentally
prove the truth of every doctrine and divine ordinance. But then, when
all my former experience is hid from me; what am I to do, when attacked
by my foes in this evil day, and I am as a dumb man, in whose mouth are
no reproofs? How shall I act? methinks you are ready to say. To which I
must reply, that there is a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
but if shut up in heart and lip, then stand still, and hence the watch
word, _Stand_! _stand_! _shall they cry_, _but none shall look back—still
abide by the stuff_, _if you are not able to go out to battle_, _you
shall share alike with those that do_. _Having done all to stand_,
_stand in the evil day_. Still go on hearing, praying, reading, hoping,
and waiting, and whatever errors are thrown into your mind, and have
brought it into bondage, you may depend upon it the Lord will deliver you
from them; and here you will see sovereign grace, yourself delivered, and
the wise and prudent given up to believe a lie. This made the redeemer
glad; he rejoiced in spirit and said, _I thank thee_, _Father_, _Lord of
heaven and earth_, _that thou hast_ HID _these things from the wise and
prudent_, _and hast revealed them unto babes—even so Father_, _for so it
seemeth good in thy sight_.—Thus may you stand in the days of evil.
But finally; sickness, age, death, and judgment, are days of evil; not
that there can be any curse in these things, to one of God’s elect, but
they will be found such to those who know not God.—These are days in
which none but the favourites of Christ can lift up their heads: _the
prudent man foreseeth the evil_, _and hideth himself_, _but the simple
__pass on and are punished_. But in times of sickness and age, the
brightest saint may suffer much in body, and be afflicted in mind: God
may hide his face, Satan may plague, conscience may be uneasy; pain may
be great, the spirits may droop; but there is no curse in all these
things: one smile from the Saviour will clear all up, and make the soul
happy in a sickly body. Hence the promise, _blessed is he that
considereth the poor and needy_; even a precious Jesus in his personal or
mystical suffering, the Lord will make his bed in his sickness. This my
dear brother is acting the part of a kind nurse, he will strengthen you
upon the bed of languishing: thus shall my subject be felt in times of
sickness and age, even the peculiar blessedness of considering, of
remembering our Creator in the days of youth. Death and judgment will be
evil times to many of our fallen race, but they must be the crowning days
of all who love _his_ appearing. But I must not enlarge, I think I shall
tire your patience in this long letter; the sheep are gathering together,
I must ran with some food for them—’tis past seven o’Clock; God bless
thee.
Ever your’s in him who is our hiding place, and our shield,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER V_.
TO THEOPHILUS.
DEAR FRIEND,
I well remember some conversation which we once had upon the subject of
the creation, and feeling my mind particularly imprest with that subject,
I venture only to drop a word or two upon it, ’tis a mercy to be
satisfied with what God has said; but some are daringly presumptuous, so
that they can treat both the Deity and his revelation with contempt. I
am glad you are delivered from that snare. The Mosaic account of the
Creation has always been supposed to be too weak, simple, and incorrect
for a philosophic mind; they vainly suppose the mind ought to have been
led through the whole Planetary System, instead of being led to the
glorious Work of Redemption, which reflects his highest honour and
beauty; for here, and here alone, his brightest form of glory shines.
The six days work of Creation was to open to the eye of faith his works
very gradually, that like the stars of a night, they might be seen one by
one. The six days work, and the seventh day of rest, was no doubt
designed to shadow forth the Seven Millenniums, which would include all
time between the two eternities. The first day, from Adam to Enoch, had
in it a revelation of the true light—the second, from Enoch to Abraham,
including the division of the waters—the third day, from Abraham to
David, including the separation of the nations of the world—the fourth
day, represented the Thousand Years from Solomon to Christ, the time when
the Shekinah appeared in the Temple: the Church, fair as the Moon, and
the Prophets, the Stars, shone bright in the firmament. At the close of
this, Christ the true Sun appeared. The fifth day was to point out the
state of the church and the world, from Christ to the Reformation, when
the great Whales of Anti-christian powers, troubled the seas. This
lasted till the glorious Reformation, the beginning of the Sixth Day, in
which we now are, and longing for the Seventh, the rest of Jesus and his
Bride, in the den of Eden, the glorious Millennium. But infidels object
to the Mosaic account of light, the finest emblem of Jesus—there is
nothing in the account contrary either to reason or philosophy. I
acknowledge the question which philosophers have asked, cannot be solved,
the Bible has not engaged to satisfy vain curiosity, viz. _What was that
light that made its appearance before the Sun_? A very learned man
supposes it to have been an emanation of the same Sun that enlightens us,
and which was created though it had not yet appeared in his glory, yet it
shed sufficient light to make the Globe visible.—This is not a bad idea
for a half-hearted Christian Philosopher.—Milton seems to lean this way
when speaking of light—
To journey through the aerial gloom began,
Sphered in a radient cloud, for yet the Sun
Was not, she in a cloudy tabernacle
Sojourn’d the while.
This is a very pretty idea, nor is it at all contrary to reason any more
than the cloud that followed the Israelites which contained a shade, a
fire, darkness, and light at the same time. Yet the word of God is true,
and to that we must adhere. As light without the sun was first formed,
so it appears the great Creator collected these particles of light into
one body, the Sun. The language of scripture often expresses the
appearance of things to us, such as the Sun rising and setting, which at
the same time, perfectly in the main point, agreeing with the Newtonian
System of Philosophy. Did light appear first? was it not to notice the
dispensation for the four first thousand years, till on the fourth day
the Sun of Righteousness should appear? Was it not an emblem of all the
light the Church of God has now, till the second appearance of the Son of
God in our nature, and of that light which we have till the Saviour
shines upon the soul, with healing in his beams? We have light to see
ourselves and his glory, but we want him to shine with power, then we
shall _be light in the Lord_, till then, light and darkness must struggle
together; and God divided them, to shew the difference between the Law
and the Gospel—between the Flesh and the Spirit, between the Church and
the World—between the Elect and the Reprobate—Christ and Anti-christ.
See the light and darkness struggling; see it soon begins in Cain and
Abel, and to this day it continues, and will for ever. The Elect and
Reprobate are divided in election, in redemption, in calling, in
principles, in practices, in death, judgment, and eternity. May this
subject lead you and me to the Saviour, who is the light, the beauty,
purity, loveliness, and glory of the Church. O may we see him, love him,
adore him, and enjoy him, till we behold him in Heaven.
Permit me to notice further, that the Holy Ghost is pleased to represent
various characters and things by these same terms, Sun, Moon, Light, and
Stars,—which is really worthy our attention. He sets forth the Lord
Jesus by that well known emblem, the Sun, and I think it is the finest
figure in nature; and hence that very precious promise to those who are
the called according to his purpose, _Unto you that fear my name shall
the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his beams_. Eternal sun,
whose morning measures all our days, who hast gradually risen on my dear
friend’s heart, shine brighter to perfect day, even to that blessed
meridian when in our flesh we shall see God.
Sometimes the moon, in scripture, signifies the Church of God as inferior
to Christ, the glorious sun, from whom they borrow all their light and
truth; their frames and feelings inconstant, spotted in their hearts and
lives, which is the cause of much grief to their souls, yet they are the
light of this lower world, and their influence is great on the sea of
this troubled state.
Light is sometimes used as an emblem of God’s word, as pure, glorious,
pleasant, and comfortable, penetrating and purifying. While favored with
this light, may we walk in it, lest darkness overtake us, as it is
written, _Give glory to the Lord your God_, _before he cause
darkness_.—By Stars, in scripture, sometimes the Spirit condescends to
point out the Ministers of the Gospel, with all the Ordinances, which are
designed, like the Star in the East, to lead to the grand end, the Babe
of Bethlehem. These are fixed in the firmament of the Church, for
adorning it, and for guiding the spiritual mariner to endless glory,
amidst the nights of trouble and woe. These are held in the hands of
Christ, kept, supported, and blest by him; and though constantly opposed
and troubled, yet shine on, and shine forth. This is the mystery of the
Seven Stars. But these are likewise used to point out other things in
sacred writ. When God foretold the exaltation of Joseph, in a dream, he
shewed him, in a second revelation, the sun, moon, and eleven stars,
bowing down to him; which was afterwards explained by the venerable
Patriarch finding an asylum with his son Joseph, and his brethren doing
him homage in his state of exaltation.—And was it not a striking type of
our truly-exalted spiritual Joseph? honored by the most dignified
characters in our world, for kings shall submit themselves to him, and
the whole Church of Jesus, the moon, with all the stars, ministers of the
Gospel, that should bow before him, and Crown him Lord of all.
I remark again, that when the Saviour predicted the overthrow of
Jerusalem, he foretold that the sun should be darkened, that is, that the
Lord, who was the light of the Jewish Church, should withdraw his light,
justly leave them in judicial blindness, in which they remain to this
day—that the moon should be turned into blood, that is, their Synagogue,
their Church, which was put to the sword, (at least the greatest part of
them)—that the stars should fall—their doctors, rulers over the church
and state—which they did. But Solomon, in his 12th of Ecclesiastes,
verse 2, seems to borrow these metaphors of sun, moon, light, and stars,
and applies them to the human frame, when sickness or old age has
impaired it. Good Mr. Henry remarks on this passage—the decays and
infirmities of old age are here elegantly set forth in figurative
expressions, which have some difficulty in them to us now, who are not
acquainted with the phrases and metaphors used in Solomon’s age and
language. But the general scope is plain, to shew how uncomfortable,
generally, the days of old age are. Then he proceeds, and says, that the
sun, moon, stars, and light will be dim to old people, through the decay
of their sight; their countenance is decayed, and the beauty and lustre
of it is eclipsed—their intellectual powers and faculties, which are as
light in the soul, are weakened—their understanding and memory fail them,
and their apprehension is not so quick, nor their fancy so lively as it
has been.—Light is often put for joy and prosperity—the days of their
mirth are over, and they have not the pleasure either of the converse by
day, or the repose of night, for both the sun and moon was darkened to
them; then the clouds return after the rain, as when the weather is
disposed to wet, no sooner is one shower blown over but another succeeds
it, when one pain is a little abated another comes on—the gout, the
rheumatism; and so these afflictions being common to aged persons, they
are continually grieved.
That famous commentator, Patrick, observes on this verse, that the words
intimate the universal decay of the whole frame of nature, and a failing
of the mind in all its faculties and powers—that something particular is
signified by every word; that by the sun is meant the soul itself; by the
light the understanding, by the moon his will, by the stars all the
motion of the mind and memory, with all the affections and powers in the
will. So the sense of the wise man is thus—the mind of man grows feeble
in all its powers, the understanding dim-sighted, the memory forgetful,
the reason weak and childish, giving even a feeble light, that can
neither direct ourselves or others. The will listless in all its
desires, dull about our greatest concerns, wavering and inconstant in all
resolutions, and so on. But the interpretation first mentioned seems
most consistent.
Surely then, my Brother, these are some of the evil days which are
hastening on us, and though we may not live to see old age, yet, through
affliction we may have all our faculties as much impaired as the most
ancient person in the world; this has been very often seen.—What a mercy
I do consider it, that _he_ who hath begun the good work in my heart, can
carry it on without my aid, or the concurrence of my powers or faculties
working with him. Say not it is my duty to do so and so, in and with the
work of the Spirit: _Thou_, _Lord_, says the Church, _shall work all our
works __in us_, _and ordain peace for us_. But while we would look
forward to the evil days which must come on the body, may we not notice
some evil days that our souls may meet with, when the all-healing,
comfortable, soul-reviving, soul-cheering, heart-warming beams of Christ,
the glorious Sun of Righteousness shall be with-held, and coldness,
deadness, sickness, darkness, legality, and distance is felt; and such
seasons have befel the brightest saints. Hence the mournful cry, _Why
hidest thou thy face_, _O Lord_? _thou hidest thy face and we are
troubled_, about our state, our feelings, our wants, our prospects, our
way, our end. We always know when we feel him shine and when we do not,
though, as it respects himself, he is just the same in his shining, but
we are not sensible of it by reason of the cloud that cometh betwixt.
When we feel this wretched state we are always ready to fly to means,
though we ought never to neglect them; yet there is a proneness in us to
cleave to something short of the main subject. But, alas, we find the
moon of Ordinances is just as dark! We move backwards and forwards, like
the door on its hinges, yet get neither dew nor rain, light, life,
comfort, nor joy. At the table of the Lord we neither feel love nor pity
for our dear Saviour. In singing his praises we have no heart, in
associating with his people we get nothing from them; if they talk of
joys, we have none! if of a broken-heart, we feel nothing but hardness—if
of light or comfort, we feel destitute of both—thus the moon gives no
light. As to ministers, they don’t seem to touch our case, nor is their
word cloathed with any power. We fancy they are very much altered in
their preaching—we change them: the passions are stirred up for a little
while, but we find we are in just the same state. Hence the spouse is
represented as having lost her lover—she rises, runs, seeks, mourns, and
is still disappointed. _I sought him but I found him not_. Then she
went into the broad places of public worship, then into the streets,
among the inhabitants; after this to ministers, to enquire, _how_? _why_?
and _wherefore_? But, for a season, all was still dark, yes, very dark
indeed: these stars seem to give but little light during such painful
seasons: the scriptures of light shut up in their beautiful histories,
promises, types, parables, and doctrines, where we could see Christ once
in every part, and enjoy him; now, alas, it is not so, but it is as a
spring shut up, and sealed from us. While this is attended with a
lowering sky, and a continual dropping of rain; no bright clouds now
return as they used to do, and how it is with us we cannot tell. Once if
we felt a little dark or uncomfortable, it was soon gone, smiling hope
used to spring up, or a promise sent home with power. The company of
God’s people cheered us up, or a little access to God’s throne revived
us. Seldom heard a sermon but we got something by it—and if a few storms
of persecution, temptation or corruption, or family trials befel us, the
Lord made a bright cloud after it; but, alas, it is not thus with us now,
these clouds don’t return after the rain—thus
Afflictions like vapours may rise,
Light, love, and delight may be gone;
The sun may be dark in the skies,
And hell with its legions come on!
Ah, my dear Brother, these are dark days truly, but it shall not be
always thus; _to the upright there arises light in darkness_—this light
is sown for us, and shall spring up again.
But may I not here enquire, as on another occasion, the Prophet did,
_Shall there be an evil in the City and the Lord hath not done it_? _Is
there not a cause_? _Why doth a living man_ (a quickened man)
_complain_? Let us enquire the cause: Have you not been making too much
of your comforts? Have you not been looking at them instead of the
Saviour, living on them instead of his fulness?—and were you not too
prone to slight those who had not attained the same consolation? And, if
so, Can you wonder that God should permit a partial death to overtake
you?—Or, perhaps, there may be other causes—a sad neglect of those means
which are appointed for the spiritual health of the soul: as abstinence,
or neglect of food, will soon bring the body into a pining, languishing
condition, so, if the means of the knowledge of grace be not diligently
attended to and implored, our souls must get into a starving state. The
indulgence of sensual pleasures may bring on deadness, darkness, and
distance. See this in Sampson, while sleeping in the lap of Delilah, he
was shorn of his strength; and he arose to shake himself as at other
times, but he wist not that the Lord had departed from him. But perhaps
the Lord has done this to shew his adorable sovereignty, as in the case
of Job: hence his complaint, _He hath fenced up my way that I cannot
pass_, _and he hath set darkness in my path_. And so complains Jeremiah,
_He hath led me_, _and brought me into darkness_, _and not into light_.
Sometimes this is done to humble us, lest we should be exalted above
measure. But, above all, the Spirit leads into these deep and painful
feelings, to make us prize our adorable Redeemer, and see our continual
need of being supplied from his fulness. He lets our cisterns run dry,
that we may come and lay our vessels under the flowings of the blessed
fountain of life, that from him we might receive grace for grace.
May great grace rest on you. I remain
Your willing Servant in Christ,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER VI_.
TO THEOPHILUS.
_DEAR BROTHER_,
I OWE you a long epistle, for the many kind letters I have received from
you. This acknowledgment of my debt is a part of payment. Being a
little confined through indisposition of body, I thought I would pen a
few thoughts to my dear friend, trusting they will be acceptable at this
time.
I am more than ever delighted with the pleasing theme the Gospel exhibits
of our most adorable Lord, of whom it is written, _that in all our
afflictions he was afflicted_; _that he was the subject of all sinless
infirmities_; _that he was a man like ourselves_, _sin only excepted_.
This is a sweet thought to me, under every pressure; and surely it proves
our union with him, and a participation of his Spirit, of course of the
same covenant privileges. What a Christ have we got! God with God, Man
with Man, very God and very Man; a kind brother, to feel with and for me,
under all my trials, and a God able to supply my every need; and what
adds a glory to this point is, that as God-Man he is the glorious
Mediator, commissioned to give all I need; for this purpose he hath
ascended upon high and received gifts for the rebellions! This is a most
charming consideration, it is the joy of my heart; I feel it so—and such
an High Priest became us: O! for an heart to bless him, to praise him as
I ought, as I wish to do! I long to be disembodied for this purpose. O
could my soul leap out of her dull clay, scarce should a harp above aim
at a sweeter, nobler song, _Unto him that hath loved me_. My dear
brother, I feel mortality, I am at times very glad of it: I have had much
sickness of late, it is a signal, it is a knock, it is a servant sent
with a message. Mark the command, _Look_, _as when the messenger
cometh_, _and shut to the door_: _is not the sound of his master’s feet
behind him_? I keep the messenger; I retire; I read the note, Thus saith
my Master, _Behold I come quickly_; I can send no answer back but
thus—_Even so come_, _Lord Jesus_. May I therefore esteem every pain,
every felt weakness, and every beating pulse, but as so many messengers
sent in covenant love, to remind me of my mortality—that this is not my
rest, that my whole bodily frame is but as a Shepherd’s tent, as Hezekiah
calls it, soon unpinned, easily taken down, and removed, as the Arabian
Shepherd’s tents were.—Hence the scriptures in a variety of places shew
that the body is but earth, dust and ashes, formed of it, lives on it,
and must soon return to it. The apostle calls the body an outward man,
which must decay, while the inward man, the hidden man of the heart, is
renewed day by day, by the secret influences of the Spirit. This work is
carried on by a continual application of Gospel promises, and tokens of
love: this inward man gets renewed day by day, till we arrive to perfect
day. This is going from strength to strength, and being changed from
glory to glory. This body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, the object of
God’s Love, and the purchase of the precious blood of Jesus. This frame
is called by Solomon, an house, built up in infinite wisdom, supported by
Almighty power, and is the noblest workmanship of Jehovah. Compared to
an house, the understanding faculty is the windows, the receptive
capacity is the door; and as the soul is converted to God, the will and
the affections is the throne, the principal seat of Jesus; the graces of
the Spirit is the furniture, and Father, Son, and Spirit, are the
glorious and ever blessed inhabitants thereof, where they will dwell for
ever. The Body, only, I am about to notice.
I acknowledge I am not much skilled in Anatomy, it is a science I never
learned, though I believe the best Anatomist is a person who can dissect
the human heart. Yet the body being the great work of God, I would view
it with wonder, with admiration, and praise. I dare say you are
sometimes amazed at this wonderful, curious-wrought frame; this wonderful
display of divine skill. Permit me just to notice only a very few
things, though you are so well acquainted with anatomy. I trust you will
correct me where I err, in considering this earthly house of our
tabernacle. I must refer you to the excellent Hervey’s description of
the human frame, in his 12th Dialogue of Theron and Aspasio, which I beg
you to read: that excellent author observes, first, the _Bones_, cast
into a variety of moulds, enlarged or contracted into a variety of sizes,
all strong, that they may bear up the fleshy machine, yet light, that
they may not depress the animal with an encumbering load. Insensible
themselves, they are covered with a membrane of exquisite sensibility.
The _Feet_ compose the firmest and neatest pedestal, capable of altering
its form and extending its size, containing a set of the nicest springs,
which help to place the body in a variety of graceful attitudes; the
_Legs_ and _Thighs_ are like substantial and stately columns, forced in
such a manner as is quite commodious to the acts of either walking or
sitting. The _Ribs_ turned into a regular arch, are gently moveable for
the act of respiration; they form a secure lodgment for the lungs and the
heart, and fortify them. The back bone is intended, not only to
strengthen the body, and sustain its most capacious store rooms, but also
to bring down that communication of the Brain, which is usually termed
the Spinal Marrow, and guards the silver cord. The _Arms_ are exactly
proportioned to each other; these being the guards which defend, and the
ministers which serve the whole body, are fitted for the most extensive
operations, firm with bone, yet not weighty with flesh; they bend inwards
or turn outwards, they rise upwards or stoop downwards, and they throw
themselves into whatever direction we please. To these are annexed the
_Hands_, and all terminated by the _Fingers_, which give a most graceful
appearance, yet destined to almost incessant employ; though the
extremities or the fingers are an assemblage of the finest fibres, most
acutely sensible; for this reason our Almighty Maker has overlaid them
with an horny substance called _Nails_, to preserve the tender part from
dangerous impressions. Above all, is _the Head_, a majestic dome,
designed for the residence of the Brain; ample to receive it, strong to
uphold it, and firm to defend it. This stately Capital, is screened from
heat, defended from cold, and at the same time much beautified by a
copious growth of Hair, which no ways encumbers the wearer. This is the
_outward_ Man, the noble work of the great God our Saviour, who became
man for our sakes.
It is equally as wonderful to notice the _Inside_ of this house; with the
amazing arrangement of Fibres that unite the several Limbs of the Body,
tough and strong. The small _Membranes_ appointed, enwrap the fleshy
parts, to part some, and form a connection with the others. _Arteries_,
some of which ascend to the Head, others spread themselves over the
shoulders; some extend to the Arms, and others descend to the Feet.
_Veins_, these are appointed to receive the blood from the arteries, and
reconvey it to the heart. _Glands_, whose office it is to filtrate the
passing fluid; an assemblage of _vessels_, complicated and intervolved
with seeming confusion, but with perfect regularity. _Muscles_, wove in
natures finest loom, seem composed of the slenderest fibres, yet indeed
with incredible strength; these, with their tendons, constitute the
instruments of motion; not like a sluggish beast, but quick as lightning.
_Nerves_, surprisingly minute tubes, derived from the Brain, which
gliding into the Muscles, set them on work, depress the power of
sensation through the body, or returning upon any impression from
without, give all needful intelligence to the soul. The _Skin_, like a
curious surtout, exactly fitted, is superadded over the whole, formed of
the most delicate net work. The _Pores_ are minute, and nervous fibres
are multiplied even to a progeny.—The Veins beautifying the human
structure, especially the most conspicuous parts of it; the pliant wrist
and the taper arm, are adorned with them, they spread vermillion over the
lips, and plant roses on the cheeks; while the eye, tinged with glossy
jet, or sparkling with the blue of Heaven, is fixed in an orb of polished
chrystal.
The grand means of keeping up this wonderful frame, is a point worthy our
attention; for this purpose it is furnished with the powers of nutrition.
_Teeth_, the foremost thin and sharp, fit to bite asunder, or cut off
such a portion as the mouth can conveniently manage: those which are
broad and strong are qualified to grind in pieces whatever is transmitted
to their operation. The _Throat_, the _Stomach_, with its various
operations and appendages, which are so admirably constructed, I leave
you to muse upon. There are but two things more I have time to notice.
High in the Head, and conspicuous, as a star in the evening, is placed
the _Eye_. This is one of the greatest works of our blessed Creator,
consisting only of simple fluids, inclosed in thin tunicles: it conveys
to our apprehension all the graces of blooming nature, and all the
glories of the visible heavens. The _Eye_ so particularly tender, that a
slight accident, scarce perceivable by any other part of the body, would
be very injurious to its delicate frame. It is intrenched deep in the
Head, and barricadoed on every side with a strong fortification of bones,
defended by two substantial curtains, hung on a slender rod, which
secures it from every troublesome annoyance. The _Ear_. The structure
of this organ is so wonderful that God claims it as his own work, _He
that planted the Ear_. Amazing nice and exact must be the formation and
the tension of the auditory nerve, since they correspond with the
smallest tremors of the atmosphere: these living chords, tuned by an
Almighty hand, receive the impressions of sound, and propagate them to
the Brain. These give existence to the charms of music, and the
entertainment of discourse. I must not enlarge—read the whole of that
Chapter, and no doubt you will be well entertained.
But while I would admire this noble work of God, I rejoice that Jesus has
taken my nature, and lives in it for ever; and that he will raise my
frame from the disgrace of corruption, earth, and worms, to glory,
happiness, and God. I am at the same time deeply affected with the
miseries of my fallen nature, in consequence of sin; this has injured all
its fine powers, damaged every room in this wonderful house, so that in
consequence of the bad tenants which occupy it, the Almighty landlord has
ordered us to quit it. We have received by many a pain, a writ of
ejectment, but being unwilling to leave this clay frame, though in such a
damaged state, the owner and builder of this house takes it down by
degrees, which, Solomon mentions in the following four verses. Ah! my
brother, what has sin done! the pains, miseries, strife, and agonies
introduced into our poor bodies, and distress into our souls. Permit me
here to mention that affecting description which the Angel gave to Adam,
soon after his fall, as represented by Milton.—
—Immediately a place
Before his eyes appear’d, sad, noisome, and dark;
A lazar house it seem’d, wherein were laid
Numbers of all diseas’d; all maladies,
Of ghastly spasm, or racking torture, qualms
Of heart-sick agony, all feverous kinds,
Convulsions, epilepsies, fierce catarrhs,
Intestine stone and ulcer, colic-pangs,
Demoniac phrensy, moping melancholy,
And moon-struck madness, pining atrophy,
Marasmus, and wide-wasting pestilence,
Dropsies, and asthmas, and joint-racking rheums.
Dire was the tossing, deep the groans; despair
Tended the sick, busiest from couch to couch;
And over them triumphant death his dart
Shook, but delay’d to strike, though oft invok’d
With vows, as their chief good, and final hope.
Sight so deform’d what heart of rock could long
Dry-ey’d behold? Adam could not, but wept,
Though not of woman born; compassion-quell’d
His best of man, and gave him up to tears.
From this sight let us turn, likewise, and consider the infinite love and
condescension of God our dear Saviour, who took all our infirmities, bore
our sickness, and knows how to sympathize with our poor natures in all
their sorrows; and such an High Priest became us; such a Saviour is
exactly adapted for all our miseries; and hence he is called a Physician
of value, he healeth all our diseases, and surely the mind is awfully
diseased with sin, nothing but his skill can penetrate into the depth of
the diseases of the mind; whatever may be the ailments of the body, they
are but emblems of the diseases of the soul; the blindness of ignorance,
the deafness of spiritual unconcern, the fever of concupiscence, the
jaundice of malice, the swelling tympany of pride, the vertigo of
inconstancy, the quinsey of cursing and blasphemy, the dropsy of
covetousness, the palsey of stupidity, the pleurisy of envy, the
rheumatism of discontent, the delirium of constant levity, the
moon-struck madness of passion and rage, with unbelief, hardness of
heart, temptations of Satan, and the stings of conscience, of whatever
disease we may feel we have got; these the adorable Physician heals. Let
us carry all our hard cases to him—_See Brown’s Tropology_. We are
always welcome to him, and though he may not seem to notice our case for
a season, yet he will in his own appointed time. This text has often
been very precious to my soul, _Therefore will the Lord wait that he may
be gracious to you—and therefore will he be exalted that he may have
mercy upon you_.
Finally, The earthly house of our tabernacle shall soon be dissolved, it
has got the plague in it, the plague of leprosy, and the house is
condemned to come down. Leviticus xiv. _He shall break down the house_,
_the stones of it_, _and the timber of it_, _and all the mortar of the
house_, _and he shall carry them forth out of the city into an unclean
place_, even to the grave, till the last trumpet shall sound, and the
tabernacle be raised again, beautiful and glorious, like the human nature
of our most glorious Covenant Head; and this will be thy lot, O
Theophilus, as sure as the trumpet of the Gospel ever quickened your
soul.
I shall add no more, but my prayers for you, as I trust I have your’s for
me.
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER VII_.
TO MRS. D—.
_Peckham_, _July_ 11, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND_.
MAY the Father of Mercies and God of all consolation be with you, as your
all in all, the foundation of your soul, the shield of your faith, the
helmet of your hope, the length of your days, the joy of your mind, the
strength of your heart, and your portion for ever.
I think, a few months ago you requested, and I promised you, a few
remarks on the 12th of Ecclesiastes. Having repeated it in the Pulpit in
a Sermon, I will how endeavour to give you my opinion in the most literal
and spiritual manner I can, with all due deference to superior judgments;
and humbly submit my sentiments to the whole Church of Christ, which is
the pillar and the ground of the truth.
It has been asserted that Solomon was the wisest of all men; here I beg
leave to differ, I humbly conceive he was not so wise as Adam, before the
fell; nor perhaps so wise as the Apostle Paul: but when it is said he was
the wisest of men, it must be considered merely in a political point of
view; as God blest him with much natural wisdom, so that he was able to
manage the affairs of the Nation without a Parliament, and to try all
causes without a Bench of Judges; this was indeed a great work, and the
Lord fitted him for it, by a spirit of wisdom and understanding, which he
requested of the Lord. He was the wisest man, therefore, in natural
things, that perhaps ever lived since the fall.—He collected and framed
three thousand Proverbs, and a thousand and five spiritual Songs. He was
well versed in, and well explained the nature of Herbs and Animals of
every kind. Solomon had several books to study, the Book of the
Ceremonial Law, which is often alluded to in the Proverbs, the Book of
the Moral Law, out of which he was taught his need of a Mediator, and a
better righteousness than his own, to justify him before God, the Book of
all the scriptures that were then extant. Into these he was deeply led.
He had the book of nature, and appeared to be a Master of all the
Sciences of natural and spiritual Philosophy. He was well skilled in
Astronomy, in Botany, and Anatomy; the last he shews his skill in, as
this last chapter of the Preacher shews. This book was probably written
in his old age, after his recovery from his fall, and God had healed his
broken bones. Age and sorrow coming on him, he felt the decline of
mortality, urges the necessity of spiritual knowledge and practice, while
health lasts and God furnishes a man with opportunities, knowing that the
mental faculties would soon decay, however bright they might have been.
These are set forth in three verses. He then notices the decay of the
human frame—its weakness, and how every limb and joint, every power and
passion, every member and faculty is affected, either by age, sickness,
or trouble. The Lord, indeed, sometimes sends for his dear people,
suddenly. He snatches them away from the power of enemies, and the evil
to come; but others are gently gathered, not hastily plucked. God takes
down our tabernacle a pin at a time, and loosens the cords just as we are
able to bear it; gives kind warnings, and then appears like a cloud of
the latter rain. This gradual decay Solomon pays a particular attention
to, he had noticed it in others, perhaps began to feel it himself; and
having called the Body an House, he describes its timbers, its strong
beams, its supporters; _in the day when the keepers of the house shall
tremble __and the strong men bow themselves_. The almost universally
received opinion of these _Strong men_, _the keepers of the house_, is,
that they signify the _Hands_ and _Feet_, which include the _Shoulders_,
the _Arms_, and _Hands_, the _Thighs_, the _Legs_, and the _Feet_.—These
Hands and Arms are the keepers of the house, for when the scripture
speaks of preserving, defence, and deliverance, the Hands and Arms are
generally mentioned, besides, they keep the house by providing for it,
getting maintenance for the whole body. _These Hands_, says Paul, _have
ministered to my necessities_: these protect the house, and also keep off
an adversary; these tremble through age or infirmities, as experience
shews; and this includes all weakness and inactivity of those parts in
this condition, whether they are outward, as stiffness and contraction,
or inward, as aches, pains, numbness, palsies, cramps, and tremblings.
Thus the Keepers tremble. The wise Man then descends to notice the
inferior, the _Feet_, containing these parts in connection, the Thighs,
Legs, Ancles, and Feet. These are the strong men; sometimes they are
called the Strength of a man; and the Spouse is setting forth the majesty
and glory of her beloved, in his strength, by this text, _His legs are as
pillars of marble_; and because the great strength of a Man lays in these
parts, therefore in his infirm and weak condition, these parts must
become more eminently weak. As the diseases which affect the superior
part, also affect the inferior, as the rheumatism, gout, and such like,
the keepers and the strong men are subject to a similarity of diseases;
and the learned say they are in the original exprest nearly alike—_The
keepers of the house tremble_, _and the strong men shall nod_, _or
shake_.
The next part of this shakey house the Wise Man observes, is the
_Grinders_; these cease, because they are few. Grinding, all men know to
be performed by two hard bodies, the one immovable, on which the Grinding
is made, the other movable; which by strong compression against the
former, and by its motion, makes the grinding. The upper and the nether
millstone, as the scripture calls them, the firm stander, and the strong
mover. Now, similar unto these in a mill, there are for that grinding
which is performed in the mouth, two jaw-bones, the upper and lower; the
upper admits no movement at all, the lower is movable, and so both
perform that act called mastication, or chewing. Out of these jaw-bones
proceed a certain number of small bones, we call _Teeth_—these are the
proper _strict_ instruments of grinding. By the ceasing of the Teeth, we
must understand all those infirmities that are incident to them by reason
of age, whether looseness, hollowness, rottenness, brokenness, blackness,
or whatever else may be an impediment to them in their use; for as age
comes on, the natural moisture at the root of the teeth is consumed, and
a preternatural is distilled in its room: thus as the teeth drop out, and
very few are left in it, the chewing in the mouth ceaseth, more so than
when there is none at all, for then the gums might act one against
another. But when the grinders are few, they hinder those from working,
and having no antagonists they are not able to work themselves, and so
the whole grinding ceaseth, which is a great symptom of the decay of
life, at least of a state of weakness.
The next great object which we are called to observe, is, the _Decay_ of
_Sight—Those that look out of the windows_, _are darkened_. I believe
none has ever questioned but this means the eyes, and the infirmities of
them in old age. One may be said to look out of a window, when he looks
through the glass of the window, or when he looks through the open
casement. Now a man could not look through a window, if it was not made
of glass, or something of the kind, neither could he perceive any thing
with his eye were not the parts thereof which the passage is made of, the
very same substance. The parts of the eye through whose bodies the
visible _species_ must pass, that they may be discerned, are either the
humours, or the tunicles; the humours are three, the watery, the
chrystalline, and glossy humour, so Anatomists call them; and however
they differ, yet they are all instrumental to vision. The tunicles or
coats, through which the sight is made, are only two, though there are
others which conduce to the sight, yet there are but two through which
the beams of light pass; the first is as fine and curious as a Spider’s
web, and being derived from the Brain and optic Nerve, it becomes a
vestment for the humors, and is pellucid and transparent. The other is
an hard and horny membrane, and encompasseth the whole body of the eye,
without perforation, and on the back part, behind the sight of the eye is
more obscure and dark, but on the fore part is far more plain and clear.
Solomon observes these _lookers out of the windows to become dark_, that
is, as age enfeebleth the eye the form and figure becomes more plane and
depressed than it was before, and the chrystalline humor, which had a
power of reducing itself, now becomes dry and altogether unfit for such
an end, which must breed a confusion in the sight. As age comes on, and
increaseth, it is well known the sight goeth away, the lookers out of the
windows must be darkened. We have scarce any description in scripture of
an old man and his infirmities, but the decrease of sight is mentioned,
their eyes were dim, and they could not see.
I hope you will pardon this very short description of the eye, as it is a
very large subject, and a vast deal may be said open it, which I
reluctantly omit, lest I should swell this letter to a volume.—Thus my
dear friend, our poor bodies in sickness and age, are compared to an old
house, with its teams, pillars, and windows, terribly shattered;
condemned by the Parish to come down. But I cannot let this letter pass
without the promise of another. May your confidence increase, and abound
more and more in this blessed truth, _If this earthly house of our
tabernacle is dissolved_, _we have a building of God_, _an house not made
with hands_, _eternal in the heavens_—there may we meet.—Amen.
I remain ever yours in Jesus,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER VIII_.
TO MRS. D—.
_Peckham_, _July_ 21, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND_,
What an unspeakable blessing it is for you, that the Holy Ghost has
enabled you to rejoice in hope of eternal glory, and put that expression
in your mouth, as well as the hope and confidence in your heart, _I know
that if this earthly house of my tabernacle were dissolved_, _I have a
building __above_, _an house not made with hands_, _eternal in the
heavens_—this is in your hope, and a God of truth has declared your
expectation shall not be cut off. The blessed Spirit is promised to all
the Elect seed, as the earnest of that promised rest. While the glorious
operations of that self-same Spirit, are designed to prepare us for that
glorious inheritance. My dear Sister has, I trust, been long taught the
sad state of man by nature, that though he was originally built for God
to dwell in, and his image did reside in man a little while, yet an enemy
came against this little City, besieged it, and raised awful bulwarks
against it, gained the possession of the capital, and keeps it in peace,
till the stronger than he, even the eternal Spirit comes on him, spoils
him of his armour, makes him quit his territory, and gets full possession
of his heart. Solomon well instructed in the operations of the Spirit,
under the emblems of old age and its infirmities, points out this work in
striking, figurative language. _In the days when the keepers of the
house shall tremble_, _and the strong men shall bow themselves_. We are
not at a loss to conjecture who those keepers are in the worst of senses,
Satan having blinded the eyes of man, it is his work, to study how to
keep them blind, keep them enemies, keep them in prejudice, keep them
proud, and keep them in awful rebellion. This is the work of the devil,
nor is he at a loss for means to carry on this work. Religious systems,
and erroneous preachers, are the Devil’s under-strappers, by whom he
carries on his infernal work. Hence the out-cry made against the truth,
whenever and wherever it is preached; the endeavours to stop the progress
of truth in the world, lest the light of the glorious Gospel should shine
into the heart, and poor sinners be saved. These strong keepers of the
house tremble at the approach of the light of the Gospel, and as soon as
it comes in power they must submit, bow themselves, relinquish their
claim, and turn out, knowing they come in by art, and with a view to
deceive the house, that it might share the same fate as devils do. But
viewing this subject experimentally, the Spirit coming to convince of
sin, to apply the law to the conscience, and to shew us the works of the
devil, at his coming these keepers tremble, but we do not find them gone,
till the power of the Gospel is felt. Many have trembled at the curse of
the Law; at the preaching of the Law as Felix did, when Paul reasoned of
judgment, temperance, and righteousness. It is one thing for a criminal
to tremble in his chains, and another for Satan to be overthrown. Satan
will maintain his seat in the heart as long as he can, but God says, _I
will overturn_, _overturn_, _overturn it_, _until he comes_, _whose right
it is_; _and I will give it him_.—There is nothing Satan hates so much as
light, when this comes into the mind he is discovered, his works hated,
and the poor sinner votes against both him and his works, cries unto the
Lord because of these oppressors, while his hope springs up in the Gospel
news, that the Son of God was manifested in the flesh, that he might
destroy the works of the devil, as the power of the word is felt, as
grace reigns, so these keepers and strong ones bow, and like the soldiers
at the sepulchre, the keepers thereof became as dead men. When the Angel
of the covenant descends to open the prison doors, the poor prisoner
comes forth as Peter did, from his prison, though the keepers stand at
the door they are not able to retain the captive; hence the question,
_Shall not the prey be taken from the mighty_? _Shall not the lawful
captive be delivered_? Yes, blessed be God it is the mighty work of God
the Spirit to cast down the strong holds of the devil, carnal enmity,
pride, prejudice, and self-righteousness; when these are demolished,
Satan has no hope of the damnation of such a soul; though the poor sinner
himself cannot perhaps see his own part and lot in the salvation of the
Gospel; he may still remain in bondage to the fears of death, the dread
of hell; unbelief still prevails, doubts, fears, and sad despondency may
still operate to keep the soul in misery, till the Holy Ghost favours it
with an increase of faith, gives it strength enough to believe in his
love, in his Person and in his glorious Work; then we enter into rest.
This is done by believing the report of the Gospel, by believing such
precious truths as these: _He shall finish transgression—he shall make an
end of sin_. _He shall magnify the law_. _Blotting out the handwriting
contained in Ordinances_, _that was against __us_. _Ye are complete in
him_, _having forgiven us all our trespasses_. _I have loved thee_, _I
have redeemed thee_. _I have blotted out as a cloud thy transgression_,
_and as a thick cloud thy sins_. _He hath made to meet on him the
iniquities of us all_. _The Lord is well pleased with his righteousness
sake_.
Now, my dear friend, I can assure you that I always feel peace and joy in
believing these precious truths for myself; they are for such poor
sinners as I have described; but faith to receive these precious things
is the gift of God. And this work of God carries us above our strong
fears and doubts, which are as much the corruptions of the human heart as
our sins. This glorious conquest of the keepers and strong men is
sometimes achieved by sensible tokens, clear deliverances, and open
manifestations; it was not so with me, but it has been the happy
experience of many who have had much legal bondage; not favored with a
clear ministry of the word, and when God intends them either for much
suffering or for public usefulness. I have often wished it my case, but
I should be sorry to endure what many have, nor would I murmur that my
heavenly Father has not drove me into such awful deeps.—This portion of
scripture I get into very well; _to you which believe he is precious_;
yea, he is preciousness itself: This I find true in my experience, and it
is enough to convince me that the good work is begun, that the work is of
God, and must terminate in an exceeding and eternal weight of glory.
Thus we see, feel, and admire the conquests of sovereign Grace; this
brings us to God, this endears the Saviour, this inspires us with a
lively hope, this turns our feet to God’s testimonies, opens the eyes to
see the beauty of God’s word; the glories of the Saviour, and imbitters,
yea, darkens all terrestial objects. The eyes by nature are full of
evil, they are fixed on sinful objects, they are full of sin.—Hence we
read of _eyes full of adultery_. We read of lofty eyes, and of an evil
eye, the one signifies pride of self-righteousness, the other of a
churlish, envious disposition. These eyes must become dark, dim, and
least exercised as grace reigns. The lust of the eye is, and must be the
grief of all who feel it; with this temptation Satan beset poor Eve; she
saw the tree was good; she soon fell after this. Satan plied this to the
Saviour, but in vain. He shewed him all the kingdoms of the world, and
the glory of them, in a moment of time. The eye is the inlet of sin;
hence Job says, _I have made a covenant with my eyes_; _why then should I
think on a maid_. Job xxxi, verse 1. The power of almighty grace most
effectually _at times_, affects the very sight of the believer, and makes
him delight in looking into the Word of God, and employing even his very
eyes as well as every other faculty, in the good ways of God; and as
these are open to every thing that is good, they must be darkened to what
is evil, neither the heart nor the eyes of a believer, _as converted_,
are designedly set to evil; but when the one wanders and the other slides
back from God, it is then the soul mourns,
Prone to wander, Lord I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love!
This Subject may lead us to further experimental remarks, I do not
decidedly pretend to fix the mind of the Holy Ghost on this passage, but
while I contemplate the keepers of the house, in the worst sense, may we
not look at them in a better point of view; as faith, hope, fear, and
love, the christian’s keepers; the believer’s strong men, who have done
much for the Church. Paul has given us a whole chapter on what faith has
done, 11th of Hebrews. Hope keeps us at an anchor, firm in our
confidence, though it may be small in enjoyment. Fear will never let us
wholly depart from God, while love bears us up, and carries us through
difficulties, duties, and dangers, and abides with us for ever. These
graces are not self-active, they cannot act but as the Spirit keeps them
up; they are always in us as spiritual principles, but they are set
always active, though perhaps all the ways in which they operate are not
known to us. These are very strong in time of tribulation; at least in
most cases. Faith is tried deeply when guilt is felt on the conscience,
when Satan roars, when the mind is distressed, when outward circumstances
run crooked; then faith often leans towards the Atonement; trusts in an
unseen, though not an unknown God; waits on God till light springs up,
and is looking for suitable promises to support the soul, to plead with
God, and to animate the mind at a future day. Thus faith keeps us from
sinking. _I had fainted unless I had believed to see the goodness of the
Lord in the land of the living_.
But Solomon found some days in his experience when these keepers were not
so strong; when these strong men bowed through weakness, and when his
sight was not so well occupied, nor his mind quite so clear. He found
something, as Sampson did, which weakened his strength, which might have
made him question the reality of his faith, the sincerity of his love,
and the foundation of his hope, when he found the hedge of Godly fear
broken down, and himself at a sad distance from God, befooled in his old
age, and led into awful idolatry. When conscience was awakened, and the
hand of God was upon him, he then found the keepers were weak indeed;
Love had been out of exercise, and the inordinate love of women came in;
fear was out of exercise, and idolatry was soon practised, a sin God
detests more than any other. Faith was inactive, and hope at a low ebb,
so that Satan stept in when these keepers were weak. And is not this, at
times, the painful experience of God’s Elect, in their degree? Do we not
find every sin indulged weakens the graces of the Spirit, beclouds our
evidences, and brings us low; so that as soon as trouble comes on, we
find neither faith nor hope, nor love, nor fear, nor zeal, nor
spirituality. A worldly spirit, levity, evil tempers, giving way to our
most easy besetment; hearkening to Satan, conforming to the world, or
medling with erroneous sentiments. These things will weaken, and make
the strong men tremble. Guilt felt, sin creeping in between conscience
and God, and faith not strong enough to make use of the Atonement; this
makes us tremble indeed, while the eyes of an illuminated understanding
become very dim—this darkness we feel when we can neither see the way
behind nor before with pleasure. Ah! how painful, how truly wretched is
this for God’s children—_but the backslider in heart shall be filled with
his own ways_. What a painful subject is this I am writing to you; but
yet it is necessary to know these things; such knowledge is painful, but
it is good to write thus to warn, having tasted this bitter cup myself.
Here we see the necessity of abiding continually in Jesus, keeping near
him, that we may have peace maintained in the conscience; be kept from
sin, and led on in the ways of God, strong in faith, cheerful in hope,
fervent in love, and tender in conscience. May that be your felicity and
mine, dear Sister in Jesus, is the earnest prayer of ever yours in Jesus.
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER IX_.
TO MRS. D—.
_Peckham_, _August_ 4, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND_,
GRACE and peace be yours. I am come to visit you once more with pen and
ink, though I am not able to come in person to see you. This is a means
of conversation the Almighty has afforded us, nor can we be too thankful
for it, as we may write to each other on those momentous subjects which
concern our never dying souls; nor can the pen be better employed than in
stirring up each other’s mind, by way of remembrance. Time with us both
is short; you are farther advanced in years than I am, but both are going
to our Father’s house; let us therefore follow that advice of the Wise
Man’s while we can, _Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do_, _do it with all
thy might_, _for there is no work_, _nor device_, _nor knowledge_, _nor
wisdom_, _in the grave whither thou goest_.
It is the work of faith to lay hold of eternal life. The knowledge of
faith gives present peace; the wisdom of faith is to cleave to God, and
the art or device of faith is to endeavour to gain all it can, to be
useful to others. This faith leads us to think God’s thoughts, and
approve of them; to do what Jesus has commanded—to carry our cases to
God; to search diligently into his word, and to open the mouth for God
when we have an opportunity.—Faith opens the mouth to God in prayer and
praise, and for God’s glory, in a firm, warm, decided attachment to his
cause, his people, his ways, his truth; and while we are favoured with
health and means, let us improve them. The faculty of speech, the
opening of the lips, and the exercise of the lungs, should be all
employed in his service and to his glory, who died, the just for the
unjust, to bring us to God. Age, infirmities, trials, and death itself,
will soon put an end to these; let us therefore employ them while we can,
and in the lively hope of glory, may we sing, with the excellent
_Cowper_,
And when this lisping stammering tongue,
Lies silent in the grave,
Then in a nobler sweeter song,
I’ll sing thy power to save.
Hence Solomon exhorts to these things in your favourite chapter, which I
glanced at in my last letter. He reminds us of the solemn period to
which we are all hastening, _when the doors shall be shut in the street_;
_the sound of the grinding be low_, _and __he shall rise up at the voice
of the bird_, _and all the Daughters of Music shall be brought low_.
I believe I have already intimated that Solomon, was well versed in the
science of Anatomy; that he well understood the human frame, and perhaps
much better than any before him. He had in the former verse spoken of
the Animal System; in this fourth verse he proceeds to notice the Natural
Faculties, inward and outward. A great writer says these words form but
one sentence: _The doors shall be shut in the streets_, _when the sound
of the grinding is low_. This Grinding is supposed to relate to almost
every part in man, which is preserved, kept up, and supported by food,
and respects the alteration which that food undergoes, that it may be
really transubstantiated into our flesh. These are by Physicians called
digestion or concoction. By the _sound_ of the Grinding is meant some
natural symptoms which are expressive of digestion, and prove that all
things are right in the bodily frame, which a want of digestion would
prove to the contrary. The voice of the Grinding is the natural appetite
of the stomach to meat and drink, and is what we call hunger and thirst
after food, with the strength and power of the stomach to retain what it
receives, and nourishes the whole body. This Grinding and its voice
takes in at once all the excellencies of nature, while they are in power;
but, as age comes on, all the indicators of strength and concoction must
be depraved, diminished, and abolished. Loss of appetite, with all its
attendants, is the lowness of the voice of this Grinding; the doors of
course are shut in the streets. When this is the case with a sickly,
feeble, aged body, the mouth, the throat, in speaking, and the stomach in
receiving food; the nostrils, and the eyes, which are called doors, these
are all affected and must weaken as nature ceaseth to perform its
original offices. Thus these doors are shut in the street when the
Grinding is low. The Streets are the several passages of the body, which
the matter of nourishment passeth through, and are the roads and highways
to and from the places where the Grinding is performed. May not this
expression likewise refer to the inability of the sick, feeble, and aged,
to encounter with the noise and bustle of business; and to the doors and
shutters shut, as a signal of the departure of some of the family; and
the voice of singing, even of common cheerfulness is altered.
Solomon gives us another intimation of the weakness of the human
body—listlessness of repose, easily awakened. _He shall rise up at the
voice of the Bird_. His age, or sickness, is like the wealth of the rich
man, it will not suffer him to sleep; in the night he may have some
unquiet drowsiness, but the approach of morn, when healthy young people
sleep sound, he shall be broad awake, and at the crowing of the cock, or
the singing of a Bird, he shall be rising up from his sleepless bed.
Hence the saying, The singing of Birds and the sighing of old Men are
generally contemporaries—these are as soon weary of their lodgings,
through the pains and wakefulness in the night season, as the Birds are
for lifting up their pleasant notes.
The last remark in this verse is, _The Daughters of Music shall be
brought low_. These Daughters are considered by those skilled in
Anatomy, to be both active and passive, such as make Music and such as
receive Music; the active make a Music themselves, or bear a part in it;
the other delights in that of which they have not the least share in
making. There are three several kind of organs that do more immediately,
yet distinctly and gradually, conduce to the production of vocal Music;
the first is the Lungs, which are the proper instruments of our
breathing; the second sort of organs that conduce to music, are such as
form the Breath into the Voice, or Respiration, the Tongue, the Palate of
the Mouth, the Teeth, especially the four Front Teeth, and, lastly, the
Lips: these form the sound into a Voice; the others that modulate this
Voice into Music, are the cartilaginous parts of the Wind-Pipe; the head
of the Wind-Pipe is very small, yet it has thirteen Muscles belonging to
it, most of which are framed only for the modulation of the Voice. Some
shut the Pipe, some open it, some dilate, some contract it, so that
acting severally or jointly, according as there is occasion, they do
wonderfully conduce to the variation of sound. This also has got five
Cartilages some are moveable, some immoveable, some of one form, others
of anther, that they may better contain the air and break the Voice into
Melody. This is the Pipe to sing the high praises of God with, and which
infinitely excels all the Instruments of Music: these are the active
Daughters of Music which are brought low through age; the passive
Daughters of Music are the organs of hearing; these are inward and
outward; the outward Ear is spread abroad like a net, that it may gather
and catch the sound as it rolls about the ocean of the air; the inward
ear is a great secret, that no one can possibly understand—all have
confessed their ignorance of this great matter; the first part we meet
with is a thin strong membrane, which being placed over the Hole of the
Ear, transversely, divides between the inward and the outward Ear; within
this there are three Cavities, and three little Bones. So likewise there
is implanted in the Ear a pure, subtil, and quiet air, with the filaments
of the auditory Nerve; and then the whole Nerve itself. By the help of
those several parts our hearing is thus performed; in age the several
holes and Cavities of the Ears are stopped; the drum is unbraced; the
hammer is weakened, the anvil is worn, the stirrup is broken, and the
inward air is mixed and defiled; the filaments are dulled, the nerve
itself is obstructed, so that there cannot but follow heaviness of
hearing. Hence old _Barzillai_ complains to David, 2 Samuel, xix, 35, _I
am this day eighty years old_, _and can I discern between good and evil_?
_Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women_?
_Wherefore should thy servant be yet a burden to my lord the king_? Thus
the habit and taste for Music is brought low. This appears to be the
literal sense of this passage, and some of those unpleasant days which
many of our fallen race see with grief; all must lament it as creatures,
but yet Believers must rejoice, as new creature, that all their musical
days are not at an end—no, but that they are only beginning, as son as
they enter upon their Father’s house above, and in the resurrection morn
their harps, their powers, will be sweetly tuned to the praise of
electing grace and eternal love. Permit me here to insert those lines
from the hymn just quoted.
Lord I believe thou hast prepar’d,
Unworthy tho’ I be,
For me a Blood-bought, free reward,
A golden harp for me.
’Tis tun’d and strung for endless years,
And form’d by power divine,
To sound in God the Father’s ears,
No other name but thine.
In once more looking over this verse, my mind is impressed with other
ideas, which I must commit to paper and send to my dear friend. We read
in sacred Writ of the Door of the Heart, and of the Door of the Lips, and
of the Conscience: these Doors are all opened by the finger of God. The
conscience is quickened to feel the native guilt of our sins; the heart,
the mind, all the faculties of the soul are opened by the operations of
the eternal Spirit; the Understanding is enlightened to perceive the
glories of the Saviour; the Will is bowed down to chuse Jesus, the
Affections are set upon him, the Thoughts love to retain him; thus the
Door of the Heart is open. Hence the Spouse says, _He put in his finger
by the hole of the Door_, _and my bowels were moved for him_, _I rose up
to open to my beloved_. The Door, here, may signify Faith in her heart;
the Hole of the Door, a principle of love, though not wide open, free,
and at sweet liberty, yet, as a principle, it was there. The Lord Jesus
putting forth his powerful grace in the heart afresh, stirred her up,
opened all the faculties, and afresh quickened the Conscience, she was
led forth in soul after him. This is opening the Door. Hence he
addresses the Laodicean Church; _Behold I stand at the door and knock_;
_if any man hear my voice and open the door I will come into him_. This
text has been awfully perverted by the Arminians and Modern Calvinists of
the day: they tell us that the Deity is knocking at the door of every
man’s heart, begging to come in—waiting till the creature will open the
door, and receive salvation! Alas! what a most miserable perversion of
the text. The passage has nothing to do with the World, it is an address
to the Church in a backsliding state, as the 5 Chapter of Songs shews.
The Church knew her Beloved’s voice, which is the Gospel. Every
enlightened, quickened soul, understands the truth, whether it is drowsy
or not; the soul is again made willing to receive Jesus, to seek most
ardently the best of friends: this is opening the door, as we are made
willing in the day, the time, the moment he puts forth his power. This
is what the Church means by _the Beloved putting forth his hand by the
Hole of the Door_. The heart moved after him, the door of the lips is
opened, in prayer, in entreaty, and when admittance is gained, they are
opened in praise, and in speaking good of his name. _They shall speak of
the glory of thy kingdom_. Thus the doors are opened for the King of
Glory to come in. These are everlasting doors and will never be fully
shut against Christ, nor will his doors ever be shut against his Church.
He manifests himself to us, and we entertain him with the fruits of his
own Spirit. The Grinders cease in the best of senses. The worst
oppressors we ever meet with is a broken Law and a tempting Devil, and
accusing conscience, this is the trouble of the Spirit. Hence that fine
passage, _They shall cry to the Lord because of the oppressors_. _He
shall send them a Saviour_, _a great one_, _and he shall deliver them_.
The manifestation of pardon eases the conscience; the testimony of the
Spirit that we are complete in Christ’s righteousness, silences the Law,
and the Saviour’s great Work, pleaded by himself as an Advocate with the
Father, drives off the Devil. Thus these oppressors cease, because they
are few. A Believer can bear and endure any thing while all is right
within, between God and the soul; not that he is rid of the inbeing of
his sins, or the temptation of Satan, these will often oppress him; nor
will they fully cease till he lays down his poor body in the grave.
Another sweet priviledge, _He shall rise up at the voice of the Bird_.
This is a most blessed truth in our experience, for the gospel attended
with power stirs up all our faculties, and we follow hard after God.
This voice as used by the ministers of the word, is called _The time of
the singing of Birds_. The Gospel Dispensation is called a spring time,
and when the love of Jesus is felt casting out fear, when the storms of
sin cease, by the voice of pardoning mercy, this sweet text is well
understood: _My beloved spake_, _and said unto me_, _rise up my fair
one_, _and come away_, _for lo_, _the winter is past_, _the rain is over
and gone_; _the time of the singing of Birds is come_. The Lord Jesus,
and the blessed Spirit of all Grace, are called Birds, and their voice is
heard, known, and felt. _My Sheep hear my voice_, _and follow me_.
These leave all when Jesus speaks by the Spirit to their souls; while
every kind promise, every sweet invitation, and every precious
declaration, form the sweet voice of Jesus, in the word and in the souls
of them that believe. The Ministers of the Gospel are called Birds, and
when they are understood and the power of their message is felt, the soul
yields the obedience of faith. Conscience, approving and taking part
with the man, as his experience is genuine, is a Bird, and is called by
Solomon, _a Bird of the air_; this accuses or approves as God the Spirit
influences it.
Thus, in the best of senses, we read this text; but, alas! we must take
another view of it, as alluding to some evil days the soul may experience
in passing through this valley of Bochim, or Weeping. We find the saints
of old at times had the Doors of their Hearts and Lips shut as well as
open.—One said, _I am shut up_, _I cannot come forth_.—Another, _I go
bound in the Spirit_: Another, _I was dumb_, _and opened not my mouth_.
Ezekiel was dumb for seven days before the people, as a Preacher, and in
the streets of Zion, that is among the inhabitants of Gospel Zion. This
has been often experienced to their grief, shut up in prayer, either
reluctantly going to the exercise, or else finding but little access
there; hurrying through the act. Hence the charge against one of old,
_Thou restrainest prayer before God_. Job did not say such did not pray,
but they were not open, free, familiar, or staid at the throne till
liberty was felt; but the act was performed merely to quiet conscience.
At times in company, dumb almost about the things; and though the voice,
the lips, the tongue, the lungs, were sweetly exercised before, _yet
these Daughters of Music are brought low_, for they neither sound with
prayer or praise, or godly conversation, or reproof, or comfort, to any
other! Thus these Doors are shut in the streets. Conscience is, however
still awake, and the poor Believer is alarmed; is startled at the voice
of that Bird, when listening to its accusation of sin committed, of duty
neglected, of a worldly spirit of levity or covetousness, or of some
corruption given way to, or permitted to lie on the conscience. Thus the
voice of the Bird is heard, and it is well to listen to it, lest another
day it should fill the soul with horror and sorrow. This is what David
felt after a long series of months, with guilt on his conscience, till
Nathan came with his Parable; but not knowing what it meant, he vows
vengeance against the man that did it, _That he should surely die_. This
was indeed true, for it was David’s wayfaring man, the man of sin, that
came to steal the ewe Lamb; but David rose up at the voice of this Bird,
and life went with the word to David’s soul, _Thou art the man_. He felt
it, conscience was afresh awakened, and it is our mercy to have the life
of God in the Conscience; for the main difference between the Christian
and the mere nominal Professor, lays in this; the one has got all his
religion in his Head, and if that was cut off, he would have none; the
others lays in his Conscience, as pardoned by blood, and quickened by the
Holy Spirit.
Another evil day we may find in this dark state, when so sadly shut up,
is the fewness of them that preach all the truth as it is in Jesus: Hence
the Church in her sad state ran to some who did not know her case; of
course we find they ceased to give advice. She ran to others; they only
rebuked her, and added affliction to her bonds, doubted her interest in
the garments of Salvation. Hence she says, _The watchmen found me_; _to
whom I said_, _Saw ye him whom my soul loveth_? Then again in the 5th
Chapter, _The watchmen met me_, _they wounded me_; _they smote me_; _they
took away my veil from me_: and sure I am that nothing can be more trying
than for a soul in such intricate paths not to be able to find one to
suit its case; and if they do, the word not being attended with power,
they get neither light nor life. These are called Teeth in scripture, as
they prepare food, break the bread of life, make all things plain, easy,
and intelligible to the people; fixed in their Covenant Head, harmonize
and agree in sentiment, at least in the main points, and engaged in the
same work. These may cease by death—_the Prophets_, _do they live for
ever_?—by removals in providence far from the abode of such a soul as I
have been describing; or they may not be blest much to tried souls. They
may be few in number, and those cease, as it respects their usefulness to
some; so that, though they were once _as a lovely song_, _and as one who
could play well on an instrument_, yet they may get dry, barren, and
lifeless; at least, apparently so for any use they may be to a soul in
the above circumstances. The make us mourn, nor can the Daughters of
Music make melody again till he shines. We are compared Instruments of
Music, set in tune by the Spirit, but can make no Music till he touches
the chords of the heart; then upon the instruments of ten strings, he
gets praise. The Doors of his Heart, his House, his Table, and his
Throne, will never shut against you, any of his children. The days of
your Mourning will soon end, the voice of Jesus will call you at the
glorious resurrection of the just, when you will rise up at that voice,
and sigh and sin no more.—_Hallelujah_.
Ever your’s,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER X_.
TO MRS. D—.
_Peckham_, _August_ 30, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND_,
I once more resume my pen to give you a few more thoughts on the 12th of
Ecclesiastes, but lament the limits, of a Letter, or even a Sermon would
be too short to do justice to that subject. The Wise Man has in the
verses we have already considered, described age to us, in the influence
it has upon all the functions and faculties of a man; and shews how they
are all weakened in his declining state. He now proceeds to notice one
sad effect of age, that is, _Fear_. Verse 5, _Also they shall be afraid
of that which is high_, _and fears shall be in the way_; _and the Almond
tree shall flourish_, _and desire shall fail_, _and the Grasshopper shall
be a burden_, _because man goeth to his long home_, _and the mourners go
about the streets_.
The first is _Fear_, either of things high or low. _He shall be afraid
of that which is high_, either in respect of place or objects; as steep,
and eminent ways, hills, mountains, steeples, and towers; some of which
formerly they could ascend without fear, in their juvenile and manly
days; but it is not so now, they are weak in mind, nervous, low, timid,
and fearful; so they are afraid of high things, as fiery meteors, strange
apparitions, thunder, lightning, and such like. So they are likewise,
probably, afraid of abstruse and mysterious points in any science, which
while strong, they durst have ventured upon, but now they are too weak in
the faculties to dive deep into them; they are always in fear lest tiles
of houses, or chimney pots, or any thing else should fall on them,
especially in windy weather. They have fears about them constantly on
all hands; they see danger, lest they should dash their foot against a
stone; lest some people in their hurry should push them down, or should
rush upon them, and injure them. Being conscious of their own impotency,
it makes them most obnoxious to this terrible passion, which is the great
change made on them in the time of age. Thus Solomon notices the change
made in the mind by sickness, trouble, and age. He then points it out
clearly upon the body in the next line, _The Almond tree shall flourish_.
The learned tell us, this tree waketh, and riseth from its winter’s
repose before any other, it flowers in the month of January, and by March
bringeth its fruit to maturity. The forwardness of this fruit-bearing
tree is intimated by the vision which Jeremiah had of the speedy
Destruction of Jerusalem; _For the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah_,
_saying_, _what seest thou_? _And he said_, _I see a rod of an Almond
tree_. _Then said the Lord_, _thou hast well seen_, _I will hasten my
word to fulfil it_. _Jeremiah_, 1 chapter, XI verse. This was to shew
the speedy fulfilling of the word of God against that City. Now there is
no change that befalleth man, that can be so lively represented by the
blooming of the Almond tree, as that whereby the hair of the head becomes
hoary and white. The grey head is similar to this tree, for its
whiteness, so in hastiness of appearance, as the Almond tree buds sooner
by two or three months than most other trees, so do these hasty buds of
age appear; these steal upon men suddenly before they are aware. Some
peoples’ hair turns grey at thirty or forty years of age, while other
symptoms of the decay of life do not appear on them till sixty or seventy
years of age. Both these attract attention. An Almond tree in full
blossom, and an almond head, especially if found in the ways of God,
these are alike in their indications, they foretel what is approaching—a
change; fruit will come after; so grey hairs prognosticate that death is
at hand; these are Church-yard flowers, which serve, like passing bells,
to give those notice that bear them, that their end is near. Two things
more the Wise Man observes; _The Grasshopper shall be a burden_, _and
desire shall fail_. The learned say the word _Grasshopper_, likewise
signifies the Locust, and will apply to both in the original language;
and they likewise suppose that Solomon here alludes to some parts of the
body, which being shrivelled and deformed, appear like the Locust and
Grasshopper. These Species are both of them hard, crusty, cragged,
crumpling creatures, differing from all others, principally in the
protuberance of the limbs, having their legs strangely crooked, and their
joints very closely inverted, and at a great distance from the trunk of
their body. This description may refer to some of the bones in the neck,
the back, the loins, the heels, and the ancles. Now when a man by reason
of age, begins to stoop, and bend forwards, and withal those fleshy parts
that cover these processes, begin to shrink and decay, he resembles these
creatures. This may also include the change upon the cartilages of the
body, the Ligaments, the Membranes, the Fibres, the Veins, the Nerves,
the Arteries, the Tendons, and the like, which all grow harder and drier
in old age, and become a burden; the skin, likewise, as man declines,
becomes crusty, dry, callous, and consequently falls into many wrinkles.
This may also include that fretfulness to which aged people are subject;
every thing is a burden, though light, weak or trifling as a Grasshopper.
Good Mr. Henry, observes, Perhaps this Grasshopper or Locust was some
light food, such as John did eat; but even this was a burden to an aged
man’s stomach; then, of course, through these things Solomon well adds,
_Desire shall fail_: Sensual and natural desire for food, pleasure, or
any sensual delight whatever. This word _Desire_, the celebrated Dr.
Smith says, should be translated _Capers_, the fruit, or rather the
flowers of the Caper Shrub, or Bush; and alludes to something calculated
to give appetite; and that as the Grasshopper did represent the Bones, or
hard parts of the Body, so these the soft, spongy, and dilated; and what
Solomon by this expression means, is the alteration of all the moist and
tender parts of the body, usually called the Sanguineous; including the
change that befals the Blood, and the natural Humours of the Body in time
of age, for they become low, and much depauperated; they are diminished
and far less in quality than they were before. The reason of this _is_,
_for man goeth to his long home_, _and the mourners go about the
streets_. The grave, said Job, is my house, and soon the funeral
proclamation must be repeated over us, _Dust thou art_, _and unto dust
shall thou return_. The grave is the home for the body, when once it
comes there, as long as there is any dust to cover it, or heavens to
surround it, Man lieth down, and riseth not till the Heavens be no more;
they shall not awake, nor be raised out of their sleep till death is
swallowed up in victory. _And the mourners go about the streets_. This
we see daily; the friends, the relations, characters of every
description. Mourning, is not because my friend is gone to glory, but on
account of the loss I sustain, that person being near and dear to me;
besides, it is a solemn call, _Be ye also ready_, _for in such an hour as
ye think not_, _the Son of Man cometh_. And oh, my dear friend, to have
the lamp of salvation from sin, its guilt, and curse, and power, and to
have my soul filled with joy in God, through Jesus—this is the oil which
will blaze when he appeareth. But if I have not much joy, I am blessed
with a good hope, through grace; a hope that maketh not ashamed, and God
declares it shall never be lost; _There is hope in thy end_, _and thy
expectation shall not be cut off_. Praise ye the Lord.
I would again glance at this Text in another sense. Having considered
the evil days coming on the body in this verse, let us once more survey
some days of evil, in which I am sure you and I can say I have no
pleasure in them. _Fear shall be in the way_, _and the Almond tree shall
flourish_; _the Grasshopper be a burden_, _and desire shall fail_, _for
man goeth to his long home_, _and the mourners go about the streets_.
Without turning, twisting, or wresting this Text, I am forcibly struck
with the following thoughts, which I must pen and send you. 1st. The
Believer’s home. 2ndly. The way to it. 3rdly. The fears which attend
him. 4thly. Their cause, which is a source of grief, and causes the
spiritual mourners to go about the streets of Zion. I know of no
dwelling or resting place, for a soul born of God, but the everlasting
love of God in Covenant; the Person and Work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
This is my habitation, my dwelling, my resting place; nor is there any
safety, happiness, felicity, or peace, any where else. All that are born
of God, naturally, in this sense, tend to this one grand object. Hence
the question of a seeking soul, Does God love me? Did Jesus die for
me?—and after the soul knows this, yet in general, there is a thirsting
after greater knowledge, and greater enjoyment of it, nor is a Believer
ever at home but when he is here. He rests not in his attainments of
this knowledge, but is anxious to go on to know the Lord, in his infinite
love; to feel more, to enjoy more, to be delighted with more of it, till
he arrives at perfect bliss, and is filled with all the fulness of God,
which is love. He tastes what the poet did, and has exprest in these two
lines:
’Tis heaven to rest in thine embrace,
And no where else but there.
This is our resting place, as Faith apprehends it in its antiquity, its
freeness, power, complacency, and beneficence: It is truly delightful to
eye the goings forth of this Love, in the ancient settlements, in the
covenant engagements of each Person in the adorable Trinity, in the gift
of Jesus to the Church, in his great work, and wonderful Person, as
God-Man Mediator, in the Gifts of the Spirit, and all his saving
operations upon the soul, testifying of Christ, as putting away sin, as
obeying the Law, as delivering us from going down into the pit, and
making intercession for us. On these topics we, who have the Life and
love of God, are quite at home; especially as the Holy Ghost realizes
them in our hearts; for this we labour in Spirit, to know and enjoy; and
this one point we wish to die to know, and to plunge in this sea of
bliss.—To view the Father’s love, the Son’s dear face, and the Holy
Spirit’s Grace, in Heaven, are objects worth dying for; this is the home,
the place, the state, the mansions of peace, rest, joy, satisfaction, and
pleasure, we hope to get to shortly. This is our long home, eternal as
the throne of God. No foe shall ever enter there. No friend shall ever
depart—they shall go no more out; so shall we be ever with the Lord.
This is our everlasting home, nor will our Lord let us rest short of
this. There may we meet soon, Amen.
But do you ask me, 2ndly. The _way_? It is clearly set forth in the
word, and I hope you have long known it, and highly approved of it, and
been led into it; nor shall you ever finally depart from it. The word of
truth says, I am _the_ way; not _a_ way, but _the_ way. Ah, my dear
Friend, how lamentable that thousands are deluding their souls with this
unscriptural notion, that all the sects, parties, and religious
denominations in the world, are only as so many different ways to one
city. Hence they suppose the Turk, the Pagan, the Papist, the Socinian,
the Arian, the Arminian, and the Antinomian, are all going right, and
some out of all these will be saved as such. Alas, what an error; there
never was but one way to God, to heaven, and to glory, and that is
Christ, as the adorable Mediator; all that reject this will find to their
grief, that _whatever_ way they went it led to the chambers of death; it
led to hell. What a mercy to be satisfied with a precious Saviour, and
to hear the voice of the Word and Spirit pointing to him, saying, _This
is the way_, _walk ye in it_. Christ is the way to the Father, to the
knowledge and enjoyment of his love. By the sacrifice he offered, by his
perfect law-fulfilling Righteousness, by the path he trod as our
fore-runner, by the Door of Hope that he opened, by the way of life he
cast up, and consecrated through the vail of his flesh, by the doctrine
he taught, by the example he set, and by the promise of life and peace.
We are brought into this way by the Holy Spirit of Promise, and kept in
it by the same, with an eye to Jesus, as the way. We walk in his
appointments, in his ordinances. We use them to gain the knowledge of
the Pearl of great price. By waiting upon him we renew our strength, and
by abiding in him we bring forth fruit. This way leads us to God, and
will bring us to glory, assure as it brings us to a sense of his love on
earth. Many have waited long, and travelled far in this way, before they
have been very fully persuaded of God’s Love to them; but all shall have
their minds satisfied about that, though not all in the same degree, as
walking in this way of truth, way of holiness, way of wisdom, way of
charity, way of life, and way of peace. We are called Strangers,
Pilgrims, Travellers, Runners in a Race, and going a Journey. Our
Pilgrim’s Coat is an imputed righteousness; our Staff is Christ; our Map
is his word; the Girdle is truth; our Shoes is peace; our Way is marked
out for us, omnipotent Power guards us, infinite Wisdom directs us, Mercy
is often shewed us, and eternal Love cheers us, while we can sing with a
Pilgrim who has reached glory before us,
How harsh soe’er the way,
Dear Saviour still lead on.
But as this is God’s way we must expect to meet with enemies, with savage
beasts of prey, with robbers, many a stormy day, and many a dismal night,
when neither moon nor stars appear to cheer the Pilgrim’s way, for it is
our lot to travel much by night; this begets fears lest we have come
wrong, lest this be not the right road. God’s dear people are
unavoidably the subject of many fears; when the eyes are first opened,
they fear the wrath of God, they fear Death, Judgment, and Eternity:
these are high things. If they hear of Christ, the Promises, and
Ordinances, they fear to come to these high things, or make use of them,
lest they should presume. Thus there are fears in the way, and many
times after God has raised the soul up to hope, they fear the work is not
genuine; they fear they shall fall into sin, and disgrace their
profession; and feeling the power of sin, and the weakness of their
souls, they fear they shall at last fall away. When they see many
apparently brighter characters than themselves go back into the world, or
sink into error, they fear it will one day be their case; and when they
see how far a person may go in a profession and yet be nothing, they
startle, they fear, lest they should. Thus we find fears in the way, and
when the mind is low, deprest, and every grace of the spirit, to all
human appearance out of exercise, they are afraid of high, great,
precious, and important Doctrines, lest they should presume in medling
with them, fearing they have no interest in them. Sometimes fears of
poverty, pain, persecution, and what we may suffer in the agonies of
death. These kind of fears may come on us, and above all, the fears that
all we have experienced may be a delusion, and that hypocrites may come
as far as we have, talk better than we do, and give a better account of
themselves than we can; this makes us fear in the way. All these fears
is for want of looking unto Jesus, and permitting Satan to get so much
ground, by listening to his suggestions. These fears, likewise, are
occasioned by other feelings, and trying parts of our experience. What
Satan principally aims at is to make us as miserable as himself, and as
rebellious against God; to this end he endeavours to get us to look
within in seasons of darkness, that we may dispute the whole of the
Spirit’s work, and consider all our sins, failings, and corruptions as
sure tokens of a speedy destruction, just as Jeremiah saw the rod of an
Almond tree speedily flourishing; so might have been our profession, but
soon gone away. So we fear may be all our religion, and then be damned
for being hypocrites. O the misery of looking within, when we should be
looking unto Jesus! What a gloomy prospect before us! what unbelieving
fears are indulged; and this must be our misery, till the Saviour shines
again. But what a mercy when we have grace enough to look from our sins,
our grace, our Religion, or any thing in us, or done by us, to God the
Father’s Christ, who lived and died for poor sinners.
A second source of fears is, Sin but little felt, so as to be lamented,
so as to break the heart, humble the spirit, and endear the Saviour. It
appears God sometimes sent the Grasshoppers to devour the fruits of the
earth, as in Amos, chapter 7, where the Prophet foresees the Destruction
of Jerusalem, by Pul, king of Assyria, bringing his vast troop to devour
that land, coming up like Grasshoppers for their number and destructive
influence. So in the Book of Judges it is said, the enemies came up
among them as Grasshoppers for multitude to destroy them. As these
represented the enemies of God’s dear people of old, do they not point
out the corruptions of the heart, inbred sin, the Old man, with its
deceitful lusts? Are they not numerous is Grasshoppers, and as
destructive to every thing that is good? Do not these destroy our peace,
our joy, our bright evidences, and cause us, sometimes, to fear we have
neither part nor lot in the matter, especially when we cannot see that
these sins are pardoned by the precious blood of Christ?—These are felt
as a burden too heavy to bear, and a burden we fear will sink us to hell,
till we believe they are all blotted out, then the inbeing of them
becomes a burden to us. But here we must admire divine mercy,
communicating to us spiritual life that we may feel these things a
burden. As this life operates the difference between a child of God and
one that is not, is clearly seen; they who are not quickened by the
Spirit do not feel these things; but, alas, my dear Friend, have not you
been left in such a strange state of mind, that you have neither felt
sin, nor grace, neither mourned at the judgments of God, the terrors of
hell, the sufferings of Christ, the afflictions of the Church, nor the
plague of the heart. O! worst of states my soul ever was in; this
deadness, carelessness, dull, stupid, heavy frame, I hate it, I lament
it. Before this came on I could sigh deeply on account of my sins, their
number, and destructive tendency, but now I have fresh fears that all is
not right, because I don’t see sin such an evil as it is. I don’t groan
beneath it; I don’t lament my vileness. Surely my soul cannot be right
with God, while this is the case; the Grasshopper is a burden, because it
is so light; I am burdened, because I don’t feel sin that heavy, hateful
burden, I have felt it, and as others do.—Thus you see, my dear sister,
what poor, foolish, fearful creatures we are, how discontented with the
cross; when we feel much sin, we fear, and when we scarcely feel it at
all, then we fear also. Alas, how much of poor Jonah’s spirit do we all
possess. Murmuring, repining, rebelling.
But I must mention a third source of _Fear_, _The failing of Desires_.
The people of God are the objects of his desire; Christ saw them in the
glass of the Father’s decrees and purposes. He desired them. Hence the
Church triumphs in the Song, _I am my Beloved’s and his desire is towards
me_. He desired the Church for himself, and gained it, every one that he
desired, in electing grace, is brought to desire Christ, by calling
grace, and one blessed effect of being truly called, is the desire of the
soul towards God, to hold communion with him, to be like him, and to be
with him. Hence that sweet Promise will one day be accomplished, _He
will fulfil the desire of them that fear him_. This will not be till we
awake up in his likeness; then, but not till then, shall we be satisfied.
These desires of the soul are highly commended by the Saviour, as they
spring from a feeling sense of need; are the pulse of the soul, which
beats for God. Many a poor Believer in seasons of darkness, has blessed
God for the feeling desire, the hunger, the thirst, the wish for what God
has promised, and what the soul feels its need of. But let me ask you
again, have you not found such days of evil, as the loss of these
desires? No life, no spirituality, no appetite, no earnestness, no
fervent desires, not a breath of the New man felt or seen; and to be left
in this state a considerable time, when all has been shut up? I have
still triumphed in my desires, but when _these_ have failed, all is dark,
gloomy, wretched, desolate. This has sent me mourning about the streets
of Zion, crying, _Saw ye him whom my soul loveth_? This is the enquiry
of souls who are afresh quickened to feel their native guilt, their
deadness, and want of the light of comfort, of joy, of peace, and the
testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Saviour was sent to comfort them that
mourn after a godly sort, sorrowing after Jesus; to gain a sense of his
love, a token for good, a fresh view of pardon, and eternal life. This
is calculated to comfort the mourner in Zion, to cheer his heart, and
enable him to look forward to death and the grave, with sweet composure,
knowing Jesus is the conqueror of death, spiritual, temporal, and
eternal. To him, I commend you, and remain
Your’s in him,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
_LETTER XI_.
TO MRS. D—.
_Peckham_, _September_ 30, 1814.
_MY DEAR FRIEND IN CHRIST JESUS_.
I have been just reflecting a little on that glorious Title and Office of
our most blessed Lord, a _Surety_: the longer I live the more I feel the
need of him as such; the bondage, sin, and misery I am daily and hourly
experiencing, except a few sweet seasons of liberty in prayer, preaching,
writing, and conversing about the precious things of God. It is well he
became one with us, in the eye of the law, that he kindly undertook for
us, and infallibly secured the payment of that obedience it demanded of
us. This whole debt he took upon himself, and crossed our name from the
bond, and addressed his divine Father for us, _Whatsoever my people owe
thee_, _put that to my account_. The Father graciously accepted this,
and has declared himself well pleased with it. Every blessed view of
this gives me hope, peace, and rest. I am truly miserable but when this
is shewed me, then I feel a sweet serenity of mind. O! precious Surety,
O! glorious Redeemer, thy Person, thy Name, and thy Work, is very dear to
my heart:
No other stay have I beside,
If these should alter I must fall.
I need this to support me now, I shall need it as much when my heart and
flesh fail. _When the Silver Cord is loosed_, _when the Golden Bowl is
broken at the Cistern_, _when the Pitcher is broken at the Fountain_,
_and the Wheel broken at the Cistern_, this glorious Saviour will then
carry my regenerated spirit to God who gave it me, and this is as sure to
my soul as that God has begun the good Work in it. He begins it with a
view to carry it on, and he will perfect that which concerneth me, for
his mercy endureth for ever.
I will now drop you a few thoughts on the sixth verse, with which I must
close these letters, which I trust you will candidly read, and where I
err, attribute that to me, but receive the truth as from that God whose I
am, and whom I serve. Here are four symptoms of approaching dissolution;
the first is _the loosing the Silver Cord_. By this is most probably
meant the Spinal Marrow, and all the Nerves arising therefrom; with all
the Filaments, Fibres, and Tendons that proceed from those Nerves; as
there can be no motion or drawing performed in all the Body without
these; and through the influence of the animal Spirits upon them; and
although these belong to the spinal Marrow, and all draw together as it
were, yet Solomon expresses it in one word, _the Silver Cord_, because
the rest are but a continuation of the same thing. This is called the
Silver Cord from its colour, for it appears to the eye a white, bright as
silver; it is seated deep in the body; it lays lower and deeper, and
safer than the Veins or Arteries, or other common conveyers in the Body,
and it is reckoned the most excellent of all, so that some Philosophers
have termed it the Foundation of Life. The loosing of this Cord, is an
undoubted sign of death; sometimes this is only affected in one part, and
is the cause of Paralytics, but when it happens to the head of the spinal
Marrow, it hinders the influence of the spirits upon the whole Silver
Cord, and consequently takes away all sense and motion from all the
subjected parts, and gives a sure prognostic of death, especially in aged
people. Thus the Silver Cord is loosed.
The next object worthy notice is, _the Golden Bowl broken_, by which some
think is meant the Scull pan; or, as the Seventy translate it, the
Repository of the Brain. The celebrated Dr. _Smith_ (to whom I am
indebted for many of his ideas on Anatomy) says, there are two Membranes
within the Skull, a thicker and harder, and a thinner and finer, which
does more immediately encompass the Brain, and by an immediate contact,
encircles the very Substance of it, which seems to me to be the Golden
Bowl, so called, by way of eminence, which is broken. This is called
Golden, for the same reason that the other is called the Silver Cord, in
its colour. The Membrane is of a flavious colour, nearer to that of
Gold; it is hidden, secret, and well defended; and requires much wisdom
and time to find our all its secret caverns and mysterious branches, and
also for its ductility; above all, it may be compared to Gold, for
excellency and use. Now as long as man remains in his strength, this
Golden Bowl is knit unto itself in all its parts, but in the event of
extreme old age, when he is just giving up the ghost, it can no longer
retain itself, by reason of its natural dryness, shrivelling into itself,
or preternatural moisture, imbibing excrementitious humours, till it is
over full, it often snaps asunder, and so recurs into itself, from whence
the Brain must naturally subside, and all the parts cease from their
several uses; upon this we perceive a change of the whole countenance;
the nose appears very sharp, the eyes sunk into the head, the temples are
pinched in, with all the other symptoms of approaching dissolution. This
brings the house down indeed, when the animal faculty is so deeply
affected. I think there is something very interesting in the idea of the
body compared to a _Golden_ Bowl, not China, Earthenware, or Tin, but
_Gold_, to shew how precious our bodies are in his sight who redeemed
them; that he will take special care of them, collect all the various
pieces together, and raise them up a glorious body by and by.
The third point worthy our consideration, is, _The Pitcher broken at the
Fountain_. This must refer to something belonging to the vital faculty;
it appears in sacred Scriptures, that the life of man consists in his
blood; _For the life of all Flesh is in the Blood thereof_; and this most
noble liquor of Life, hath a primary Seat or Fountain, where it is
principally made, and from whence it is dispensed through the whole Body,
and this Fountain is the Heart, _for out of it are the issues of life_.
This part continually issueth out abundance of Blood, wherein is the
life, to all the parts of the body.—This is a deep Fountain, it is the
Fountain of Life, the first living, and last dying Part of Man. Within
the Body of the Heart there are two firmly-divided Cavities, a right and
left, called Ventricles; from these are certain vessels. Out of the
right Ventricle, of the Heart, proceeds the great Vein, which sends forth
Branches throughout the whole, and hath, at its entrance into the Heart,
certain Portals, and also an Artery. Out of the left Ventricle proceeds
a Vein, inserted into the Lungs, and also the great Artery, which
disperseth its Branches throughout the whole Body, both whose Cavities
are defended with the like Portals. How the blood passeth in and through
these passages I have not time to describe, I wish I had. By the
Pitcher, therefore, we must understand the true and proper concepticle of
the Blood, namely, the Veins, which throughout the whole body, serve only
as vessels to contain that noble liquor, and carry it back again to the
Fountain. This is the Pitcher here intended. The Fountain is the right
Ventricle of the Heart. But neither the Fountain nor Pitcher continues
for ever; the Pitcher does not go so often to the Fountain but at last it
comes home broken. The breaking of it in old age, is the failing of the
Veins, their ceasing from their natural action and use; when they can no
longer carry back, nor conveniently pass into the Heart that liquor, the
blood they contain, it stops, it is stagnated, it dies in the Veins.
This is _breaking the Pitcher at the Fountain_.
Finally, _The Wheel broken at the Cistern_. The Cistern is the left
Ventricle of the Heart, as the Fountain is represented as the right; for
the Blood being enlivened and ennobled in the right Ventricle, it remains
only to be dispersed into these several parts it is to quicken, which it
cannot consequently do, except it be received into this Cistern. The
Wheel is that round, or circulation of the Blood which flows from the
left Ventricle of the Heart. Take this part of the symptom of Death, the
chasing of the Pulse; the instruments of pulsation decay, and can no
longer perform that work which must necessarily be continued for the
preservation of life; when that ceases to beat, the man ceaseth to live;
thus the Wheel, which till now, run its constant round, is broken at the
Cistern, heart and flesh now fail. O! that when this is your case and
mine, we may have nothing to do but to depart and be with Christ. May
our Spirits return to God who gave them, while the poor tabernacle
returns to its original dust. Solemn thought!—But the Gospel opens to my
wondering, pleasing view, the Resurrection of this Body, formed and
fashioned like the glorious Body of my Jesus, who appeared on Mount
Tabor, or Mount Lebanon, as perhaps we shall appear when he comes in
glory. May this be your felicity and mine, _Amen_.
Do accept a few thoughts more upon this verse, of the evil days which may
come on the mystical Body of Christ, which is drawn together, acts,
moves, and is kept together by the strong Silver Cord of everlasting
love. _I drew them with the Cords of Love_, _with loving kindness have I
drawn thee_.—This keeps the whole Body together; and Paul tells us to
_endeavour to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace_. Love
is the bond; _put on charity_, _which is the bond of perfectness_. This
is the Cord that draws us to heaven: this unites us in heart to Jesus.
Love as a principle, and as shed abroad in the heart, unites us to his
Truth, his Ways, his Ministers and his People. When this is sweetly
felt, and especially in that degree the Apostle speaks of, when perfect,
that is eternal love comes in, it casts out fear, which hath torment: to
live under this influence is truly blessed, but such seasons are short,
they are pleasant days truly; and in our first setting out, or some part
of our pilgrimage, we do experience them truly blessed. So did Solomon,
but he had some evil days, when his own corrupt heart overflowed with
sin, which brought on a sad distance between God and his soul. This is
also attended with a shyness to the Household of Faith, and very few
pleasant seasons in God’s House of Prayer. No love is felt to Jesus, and
scarce a desire after him; very little affection is felt to faithful
ministers, as there is but little received under their message, which
used to be so sweet to them, and their love to ministers so strong, for
the truth’s sake. Thus, by contracted guilt, the cord of love is loosed,
not in God, but in our exercise of this grace. So of those we once
viewed saints, many we have proved to be nothing but hypocrites; some
only mumping a living under the mask of religion; some lying in wait to
deceive; some watching for our halting, to find something amiss in our
conduct; and if they can catch any thing, it is marrow and fatness to
their bones. Tattling, lying, backbiting, jealousies, and evil speaking.
These things we begin to discover, and groan on account of them in
Professors, till we can hardly help exclaiming with the Prophet, _There
is none upright among men_, _the __best of them is a briar_, _the most
upright is sharper than a thorn hedge_. Very little spiritual love being
now felt, the Silver Cord, appears to be loosed, not that the principle
is lost, but God is teaching the Believer wisdom, and directing the
principle of love to the proper object, even to the Household of
Faith—not to every Professor, but only to those who stand manifest in our
consciences, that they are taught of God; yet it must be acknowledged
that while the heart is shut up from the exercise of love it is an evil,
a trying day. Sin on the conscience, backsliding, getting into a worldly
spirit, the affections being entangled with creature love—these things
bring on evil days. O! what a mercy to have the heart right with God.
When the soul is thus filled with love, it is always attended with an
illuminated mind, a mind receiving the truth. Charity rejoiceth in the
truth, believeth all things God hath said, as well as hopeth for what God
hath promised. But it is possible to stumble upon the dark mountains;
God may cause darkness to come on the mind, the judgment to be
bewildered, and errors to creep in—the Golden Bowl may be
broken.—Ephraim, says God, is oppressed and broken in judgment, either by
evil men, who lay in wait to deceive, or by a curious spirit, which a
Believer may be plagued with, till he has imbibed some error, which leads
him into darkness, bondage, and misery. A sound judgment is valuable,
like a Golden Bowl, but many of God’s children have got proud, and God
has permitted Satan to lay a snare for their feet, _a haughty Spirit
before a fall_, and into awful errors they have run, till days of trouble
have come on, and they have found out their errors. Moreover, real
contrition for sin; a heart affected with grief after the Saviour,
mourning on account of him.—Compunction and godly sorrow of heart is
precious, is valuable to God; with this sacrifice he is well pleased;
this is a Golden Bowl broken indeed, in the best of senses. _Blessed are
they that mourn_, _for they shall be comforted_. The Silver Cord of
Love, the Golden Bowl of a sound Judgment, and an heart influenced by the
Spirit of Grace, are in sweet connexion; these make a Believer shine in
the Church—such are valuable characters, but they are few. _My soul
desired the first ripe Fruit_.
_The Pitcher may be broken at the Fountain_. Our Lord Jesus is a
never-failing Fountain in his Person, in his Offices, in his Love, and in
his Work. He is the Fountain of all spiritual and eternal Life. What a
deep, never-failing, abundant source of all good he is to his Covenant
People. He is a fountain of Gardens for his Church, a Fountain of living
Waters, and a Fountain opened for Sin and Unclearness. Faith wrought in
the heart, may be compared to a Pitcher, which draws its supplies from
that inexhaustible source of all blessings. It receives the Atonement
into the conscience, it is the great Artery in the spiritual Body, which
conveys peace and joy through the whole soul, as it receives the precious
Blood from the heart of Christ, and every other blessing is in this one,
_Jesus died for me_. While Faith is thus busied, the exercises of
Religion, like a wheel, go their happy round to the Cistern of Gospel
Ordinances; for a while Faith is thus exercised on Jesus, the mind, the
soul is made willing, and rolls its happy round, like a wheel well oiled.
Faith is going to the Fountain while the Believer is willingly running
the way of God’s Commands. It is worthy our notice, that all the
treasures of blessings in Christ, are compared to a Fountain; but in
Ordinances, in Ministers, and Means, it is but a Cistern. Hence the
folly of those who seek salvation in their round of duties; they forsake
the Fountain, and cleave, in general, to those _Cisterns that can hold no
water_. Faithful Ministers and Gospel Ordinances hold the Water of Life,
and wisdom declares the man of understanding shall draw it out. This I
dare say you can prove in your own experience; if your soul is, through
faith in the Person and Work of Jesus, happy in his love—all the while
the Pitcher of Faith is bringing you such supplies, you can come as
regular to the Cistern of Gospel Ordinances, and as willing as a wheel,
well set in motion, goes its round. In such days of the Power of Faith,
we are made willing to believe, to do, to suffer, and to obey. Such days
we have had, but we have had some evil days besides, some opposite
reasons, when the Pitcher of Faith appeared to be broken, for all the
good it did for us; it ceased to act, at least in the way it had done; it
brought no grace, no love, no joy, no comfort; it was like a Broken
Pitcher; not that it can cease to exist, as a principle, but only in its
motions, ’tis weak, low, and of course the mind must be low, and the
wheel move slowly, if it moves at all, in Ordinances, in Conversation, in
Prayer, in Reading, and every other religious Exercise. Ah, my dear
friend, have you not met with such days of evil? _but all things work
together for good_, even those sins, those hindrances to our comfort,
shall terminate right; for _the elder sin shall serve the younger_. Sin
makes us pray, cry, groan, wrestle, entreat; this makes Faith grow and
increase, and what belongs to God ascends to him, gravitates to its own
centre. Faith comes from him, is busied about him, affections go to him,
hope centers in him, patience waits on him, humility is precious to him;
this is the fruit of his own Spirit, and we find by daily experience,
that the Spirit goes to God who gave it, while all that is carnal in us
will cleave to the dust, to sin, to the world, to all that is opposite to
God; like loves its like, _that which is born of the Spirit_, _is
Spirit_, and delights in spiritual objects; _that which is born of the
Flesh is Flesh_, and is desirous of sensual gratification. This is the
Believer’s affliction; but we shall soon be done with time, and commune
upon an eternal scene, when all that belongs to the earth, to the dust,
will return to it, and all of me, and belonging to me, will return to him
from whom it came. The Lord carry on his Work in your soul and mine; and
while we live, may we be enabled, through all, and by all our evil days,
to distinguish between the Dust and the Spirit, the Old-Man and the
New—to watch the operations of both; lament the one, and bless God for
the other.
Yours in him,
[Picture: Signature of J. C.]
* * * * *
_FINIS._
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