joyn in confort with all thefe, in thofe feraphick praises which are harmoniously founded forth continually, through all the intellectual world, in the greateft fervours of perfect Love, and the conftant raptures of perfect Joy, in the fulleft intuition of the glory of the Eternal God, and the glorified humanity of your Redeemer, and the glory of the celeftial world and fociety, and under the ftreams of Infinite Life, and Light, and Love, poured forth upon you to feed all this, to all Eternity: And all this in fo near and fweet an union with the glorified ones, who are the body and Spouse of Chrift, that it fhall be all as one Praife, one Love, one Joy in all. O for a more lively and quick-fighted faith, to foresee this day in fome measure as affectingly, as we fhall then fee it! Alas, my Lord, is this dark profpect all that I muft here hope for? Is this dull, and dreaming, and amazing apprehenfion, all that I fhall reach to here? Is this fenflefs heart, this defpondent mind, thefe drowfie defires, the beft that I muft here employ in the contemplation of fo high a glory? Muft "I come in fuch a fleepy ftate to God? and go as in a dream to the beatifical vifion? I am afhamed and confounded to "find my foul, alas, fo dark, fo dead, fo low, fo unfuitable to 'fuch a day and ftate, even whileft I am daily looking towards it, and whileft I am daily talking of it, and perfwad'ing others to higher apprehenfions than I can reach my felf; and even whileft I am writing of it, and attempting to draw 'a Map of Heaven, for the confolation of my felf, and fellow'believers. Thou haft convinced my Reafon of the truth of thy predictions, and of the certain futurity of that glorious 'day: And yet how little do my affections ftir? and how unanswerable are my joyes, and my defires, to thofe conviAtions when the light of my understanding fhould cure the deadnefs of my heart, alas, this deadness rather extinguisheth that light, and cherisheth temptations to unbelief; and my faith, and reafon, and knowledge, are as it were afleep, and ufclefs, for want of that Life which should awaken them 'unto exercise and ufc. Awakened Reafon ferveth Faith,and is alwaies on thy fide: But fleepy Reafon in the gleams of profperity, is ready to give place to flesh and fancy, and . hath hath a thousand diftra&ted,incoherent dreams. O now reve.1 'thy Power, thy Truth, thy Love and Goodness effectually 'to my foul, and then I fhall wait with love and longing, for "the revelation of thy Glory: Thy inward, heavenly, powerful Light, is kin to the glorious brightness of thy coming, and will fhew me that which books and talk only, without thy Spirit, cannot fhew. Thy Kingdom in me, and 'my daily faithful fubjection to thy Government there, muft 'prepare me for the glorious endless Kingdom: If now thou wouldeft pour out thy Love upon my foul, it would flame ' up towards thee, and long to meet thee, and think with daily pleasure on that day: And my perfe& Love would caft out that fear, which maketh the thoughts of thy com'ing to be a torment: O meet me now when my foul doth feck thee, and fecretly cry after thee; that I may know 'thou wilt meet me with love and pitty at the laft. O turn 'not now thine ears from my requests: For if thou receive 'me not now as thy humble fupplicant, how fhall I hope that 'thou wilt receive me then? And if thou wilt not hear me "in the day of grace and vifitation, and in this time when 'thou mayeft be found, how can I hope that thou wilt hear me then, when the door is fhut, and the fecking and finding time is paft? If thou caft me out of thy prefence now, and turn away thy face from my foul and my fupplication, as a loathed thing, how can I then exped thy fmiles, or the vital embracements of thy glorifying Love? or to be owned by thee before all the world, with that cor"dial and confolatory Juftification, which may keep my confcience from becoming my Hell. If thou permit my flesh and fenfe to conquer my faith, and to turn away my love and defire from thee how fhall I then expect that Joy, that 'Heaven, which confifteth in thy Love: And if thou fuffer this unftedfaft heart to depart from thee now, will it not be the forerunner of that dreadful doom, Depart from me ye workers of iniquity, I know you not : And if for the love of tranfitory vanity, I now deny thee, what can I then expe 'but to be finally denyed by thee? Come Lord and dwell by 'thy Spirit in my foul, that I may have fomething in me to Gggg 2 'take take my part, and may know that I fhall dwell with thee 'for ever: If now thou wilt make me thy temple and ha'bitation, and wilt dwell by faith and love within me ; I shall know thee by more than the hearing of the car, and thy laft appearing will be lefs terrible to my thoughts: Thou wilt 'be health to my foul, when my body lyeth languishing in 'pain: And when flesh and heart fail, my failing heart will find reviving ftrength in thee: And when the portion of "worldlings is spent, and at an end, I fhall find thee a neverending portion. Why would eft thou come down from Heaven to Earth in the daics of thy voluntary humiliation, but to bring down grace to dwell where God himself hath dwelt? If the Eternal Word will dwell in flesh, the Eter"nal Spirit will not disdsin it, whofe dwelling is not by fo 'close an union, but by sweet unexpreffible inoperations: This world hath had the pledge of thy bodily prefence, ' when thou broughteft life and immortality to light: O let my dark and fearful foul, have the pledge of thy illuminating, quickening, comforting Spirit, that life and immortality may be begun within me! Thy word of promise is cer'tain in it felf; but knowing our weakness, thou wilt give us more: Thy feal, thy pledge, thy carneft, will not on. 'ly confirm my faith, as fettling my doubting mind; but it 'will alfo draw up my love and defire, as fuited to my ins 'tellectual appetite; and will be a true foretaste of Heaven: How oft have I gazed in the glass, and yet overlookt, or not 'been taken with the beauty of thy face? But one drop of thy Love, if it fall into my foul, will fill it with the most fragrant and dele&ab'e odour, and will be its life, and joy, and vigour. I fhall never know effectually what Heaven is, till I know what it is to love thee, and to be beloved by thee: For what but Love will tell me what a life of Love is? If I could love thee more ardently, more abfolutely, more operatively, I fhould quickly know and feel thy Love. 'And O when I fhall know that profperous life, and live in in the delicious entertainments of thy love, and in the sweet and vigorous exercise of mine, then I fhall know the nature of Heaven, the wifdom of believers, and the happiness of enjoyers! enjoyers! And then foretafte will do more than forefighs 'alone, and will make me love the day of thy appearing, and long to fee thy glorious Love! ་ But alas, this feeble fleeping Love, doth threaten, if not 'the thrufting of me out of doors (for none but friends and hearty Lovers dwell with thee) at least, that I shall be fee behind the door, and be one of the lowest in thy Kingdom, as "I was in thy Love. For if I have the least degree of Love, 'I must needs have the least degree of Glory, fecing that blef'fedness is Love it felf: And if I have the leaft in this life, how can I hope to have proportionably with others, the 'moft in that? I know that it is better to be a door keeper in thy houfe, than to reign in the Palaces of earthly fordid and 'polluting pleafutes: And that the leaft in thy Kingdom, is greater than Emperours in the Kingdoms of darkness. 'But how can I have faith indeed, and not defire intuition? or grace, and not defire glory? Or who can love thee truly, and yet be contented to love thee but a little? Or who "ever tafted truly of thy Love,that defired not the fulness of it? "If fincerity confift in the defire of Perfection; and if mutual Love be heaven it felf, I am not fincere then, if I defire "not the bigbest place in Heaven, which is fuited to the mea"fure of my natural capacity, and with the freedom and wif'dom of thy bounteous Will. Did I grudge at my natural ca'pacity, and my rank among my fellow-creatures, and aspired after the Divine Prerogatives, or a Greatness without Good nefs, or any prohibited ftation or degree, I might then ex 'pect the reward of Pride, and to fall into Satans condem'nation for falling into his fin. But when waft thou ever 'offended at the ambition of loving thee with the most perfec Love? Thou forbiddeft our carnal Pride, as our felf-abafing folly: Not thinking preferments, Lordships and domination to be things too bigh for us, but too low: Thou allow'cft and commandeft the pooreft Lazart to feck and hope' 'for things ten thousand times more bigb; in comparison with 'which these pleasures are pain, thefe Lordships are loffes; 'this wealth is dung; these Courts are dens of uncleanness, wild and ravenous beafts; and all this earthly pomp is G8883 Thime. hame. Thou forbiddeft not the pleafures and glory of the world, as too good for thy fervants, bat as too bad, and bafe, and burtful. O therefore encourage in my drooping foul, that boly ambition which thou commandeft! Difappoint not the defires which thy felf, by thy Precept and thy Spirit haft excited. 'I know thou haft promifed to fatisfic them that hunger and thirst after Righteoufnels: And (if my foul be a quainted. 'with it felf) it is Righteoufnefs which I defire. Though the 'folliciting calls of vanity have drawn me too often to look afide, it is the Knowledge and Love of my Creatour, and 'Redeemer, and Sanctifier, which I purfue, and my prayer is, that thou wilt turn away mine eyes from beholding vaBut it is the dulness of 'nity, and quicken me in thy way. 'my defires which I fear, left they are not the bungring and 'thirsting which have thy promife, and left they should prove but as the defires of the flothful which kill him, becaule his 'hands refufe to labour: But thou knoweft that I bate the fluggishness and indifferency of my foul, and the coldness and. 'interruptions of my defires: And what is there in this world. 'which I defire more, than more defires after thee; even more of that Defiring, Seeking Love, which is the way to enjoying and delighting Love. O breath upon my foul, by thy 'quickening Spirit, that it may pant, and galp, and breath after thy prefence! The moft dolorous motions of Life and Love, have more contenting fweetness in them, than my 'dead infenfibility and fleep. When I can but long to love". thee, or when I lie in tears for want of love, or when I am hating and reviling this fluggish, carnal, difaffected heart, even in my very doubts, and fears, and moans, I find my 'felf nearer to content and pleafure, than when I negle& thee with a dead and drowfie heart. If therefore my vile'nefs make me unfit to enjoy that pleature in the daily pro'fpect of thy Kingdom, which reason it self adjudgeth to a 'ferious lively faith; O yet keep up the conftant fervour of defire, that I may never grow in love with vanity and de'ceit, nor never be indifferent whether I ftay on earth, or come to thee! And that in my greatest health I may never ་ |