Changes of time.

be an outcast from all the world. Thou canst talk with me by thy works, by thy providences, and chiefly by thy Spirit and word. O what delight have I felt in the testimonies of thy faithfulness and truth, of thy mercy and grace, of thy presence and love, of thy glory and power! Surely, surely, when I have enjoyed these in their genuine sweetness, retired from every eye but thine; it hath seemed hard to go forth again into the world, or even into the converse of those, whom thy own providence and grace have endeared to me. And if this be so divinely delightful, in a mortal body and a miserable world, Ŏ what shall my felicity be, when I become a pure exalted spirit, with vivid ecstatic life, in the calm and unspotted regions of glory!-When I think of these unutterable mercies, how can I but long and pant, how can I but hunger and thirst for God, the living God, my God, my own God, and my own for

ever!

CHAP. XVII.

ON THE CHANGES OF TIME.

How do the things of this world pass away! One generation followeth another, and another after that, and so on from age to age, filling up the long rolls of time in melancholy array. They appear long to me, because my rule of comparison is taken from the shortness of human life; but to eternity, to the everlasting existence and infinitude of my God, these ages are almost a nothing. Into this eternity all that can be called time is continually passing, as into a gulf which hath neither

Past history.

bottom nor bound. Thus time is full of changes and vicissitudes; while eternity is not only a perpetual now, but also a constant and perpetual same.

When I look into the histories of ancient days, and review the confusions and violences that have passed (for the history of the world is little more than a record of its sins); I ask my heart, to what purpose have all these things been, and where is now the profit to those evil men, who promoted them? Their works are in the dust, or at best upon paper; so that, excepting perhaps for punishment, they have neither remained here, nor followed their authors. All their hopes, and cares, and commotions; their own restlessness, and their inquietudes to others; are buried all in everlasting gloom. The pleasant remembrance of their gayest hours is either extinguished, or swallowed up in bitter sorrow for their sin; and the prospect for ever and for ever beyond-O what can this be, but a complication of all that is dreadful, unavoidable, and eternal!

This cool and serious review of worldly things and affairs passes so often upon my heart, and seems so necessary in reminding me how much [ am but a stranger and sojourner here, that, if I have dwelt a little the more upon the vain wickedness of earth and of time, the reader will know the reason in me, if he feel no occasion to apply it to himself.

One cannot take up an annual kalendar of names, published only twenty or thirty years ago, without almost considering one's-self among the tombs. The gay courtier and the plotting statesman, who once figured away within the senate or about the throne, now lie in undistinguished ruin with the beggar and the clown; not less vile than

Religion permanent.

these, and perhaps not less regarded or forgotten than the lowest of the low.

And what shall preserve, from the like disaster, all the present system of cares and pleasures? If, indeed, that can be called a system, which begins in evil, is carried on with disorder, and ends in folly or nothing.

O! but (says one) I have much goods laid up for many years; and I will say to my soul; soul, take thine ease, eat, drink, and be merry. One of this sort, not worthy to be named, is put down in God's record for an everlasting fool. In the same night, his soul was required of him, and had something else to think of than to attend the absurd business, which only the body could do, of eating, drinking, and being merry, in the abuse of temporal good.

In the midst of all this perishing and disordered state, there is one rich blessing, which never can fail. The mercy of Jehovah in Christ Jesus, endureth, yea, endureth for ever. This is often repeated by the Lord himself, that it might be constantly and cheerfully believed and kept in

mind.

O my soul! thy time faileth, thy body is decaying, the world is daily changing, and nothing about thee continueth in one stay. Blessed be God, to thee likewise a change shall soon come, and come for the better in the midst of it all! Whatever alterations appear, thou hast an unalterable God, and an unperishable home before thee. If the earth fall into destruction, as soon it will, thy estate cannot be lost; for thou art only a pilgrim and traveller here, and thy inheritance is above, far out of the reach of ruin. Thy interest being safe in Christ, all is safe that

Holy wonder.

is worth saving, with respect to thee. Thou canst only pass from death into life, from sin to holiness, from pain to peace, from earth to heaven, from mortals to God.

O how then should I rejoice in thee, my Saviour and my Lord! In thee, who makest all things mine; all, either as good, or to lead me to good. I adore thee that thou thus disposest the world, life, death, things present, or things to come, in my behalf; calling them mine, making them really mine, because they contribute to my welfare. Above all, I bless thee for the end. I am lost in love and admiration, when thou tellest me, that I am thine, O my Redeemer; even as thou art God's.

What manner of love is this; that I, a mutable worm, should become an immutable spirit; that I, who live in a tottering house of clay amidst a people of unclean lips, should be raised to a mansion of glory among the innumerable company of saints and angels; that I, a dull inhabitant of a miserable world, ruined and ravaged by sin and time, should be translated to a joyful rest, unchanging as eternity; that I, who was once a slave to Satan, and deserve only to live with him, should be made and kept a child of God, yea, an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ Jesus of a kingdom which cannot be shaken! O what manner of love is this indeed!

Enduring of wrongs.

CHAP. XVIII.

ON THE PATIENT ENDURING OF WRONGS.

LIKE the blessed Psalmist, I have sometimes been rewarded evil for good, to the great discomfort of my soul. It seems trying to flesh and blood, that is, to my animal and corrupt passions, to bear all and to say nothing: But yet this is generally my wisdom and my duty.

It is my wisdom, because then I do not stir up further evil of strife in my own bosom, or in that of others; and I moreover engage my gracious Master to undertake for me, by committing all in silent patience to him, who hath engaged to make every thing, and such things as these most certainly among the rest, work together for my good. Thus that, which appears to be only a natural evil, will, by his superior management and control, be turned into a spiritual blessing.

It is also my duty to suffer patiently, considering him who endured the most severe contradiction of sinners against himself; because thereby I prove that I belong to him; for which purpose, perhaps, trials of this kind may have been permitted to fall upon me. If I have right and truth on my side, it is not only faithless but also unreasonable to be impatient. I ought rather to be thankful in that behalf, and to ask mercy and grace for those, who slander me against all equity and without a cause. It is indeed unpleasant to have the treatment, which he experienced who said, I became a reproach among all my neigh bours; and they of mine acquaintance were afraid of