Ch. 16. • thou knowest that I would love thee. I am angry with my Heart, that it doth not love thee; I chide it, yet it doth not mend; I reafon with it, and would fain perfuade it, yet I do not perceive it ftir; I rub and chafe it in the Ufe of thy Ordinances, and yet I feel it not warm within me. Unworthy Soul! Is not thine Eye now upon the only lovely Object? Art thou not beholding the ravishing < Glory of the Saints? And doft thou not love? Art thou not a rational Soul, and fhould not Reason tell thee, that Earth is a Dungeon to the celestial Glory? Art thou not thyfelf a Spirit, and shouldst thou not love God, who is a Spirit, and the Father of Spirits? Why doft thou love fo much thy perifhing Clay, and love no more the heavenly Glory? Shalt thou love when thou comeft there; when the Lord fhall take thy Carcafe from the Grave, and make thee fhine as the Sun in Glory for ever and ever; fhalt thou then love, or shalt thou not? Is not the Place a Meeting of Lovers? Is not the Life a State of Love? Is it not the great Marriage Day of the Lamb? Is not the Employment there the Work of Love, where the Souls with Chrift take their Fill? O then, my Soul, begin it here! Be fick of Love now, that thou mayst be well with Love there. Keep tbyfelf now in the Love of God; and let neither Life, nor Death, nor any Thing feparate thee from it; and thou shalt be kept in the Fulncfs of Love for ever, and nothing fhall imbitter or abate thy Pleafure; for the Lord hath prepared a City of Love, a Place for communicating Love to his chofen, and they that love His • Name fhall dwell therein.'

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14. AWAKE then, O my drowsy Soul! To fleep under the Light of Grace is unreasonable, ⚫ much more in the Approach of the Light of Glory. < Come

Come forth, my dull congealed Spirit, thy Lord hids thee rejoice, and again rejoice. Thou haft lain long enough in thy Prifon of Flefh, where Satan hath been thy Jailor, Cares have been thy Irons, Fears thy Scourges, and thy Food the Bread and Water of Affliction; where Sorrows have been thy Lodging, and thy Sins and Foes have made the Bed, and an unbelieving Heart hath been the Gates and Bars that have kept thee in: The Angel of the Covenant now calls thee, and flrikes thee, and bids thee, arife and follow him. Up, O my Soul! and chearfully obey, and thy Bolts and Bars fhall all fly open; follow the Lamb whitherfoever He gocth. Shouldft thou fear to follow fuch a Guide? • Can the Sun lead thee to a State of Darkness? Will He lead thee to Death, who died to fave thee from it? Follow Him, and He will fhew thee the Paradife of God; He will give thee a Sight of the new Jerufalem, and a Tafte of the Tree of Life. Come forth, my drooping Soul, and lay afide thy WinterDrefs; let it be feen by thy Garments of Joy and Praife, that the Spring is come; and as thou now feeft thy Comforts green, thou fhalt shortly fee them white and ripe for Harvest, and then thou fhalt be called to reap, and gather, and take Pof• feffion. Should I fufpend and delay my Joys till then? Should not the Joys of the Spring go before the Joys of Harveft? Is Title nothing before Poffeffion? Is the Heir in no better a State than a Slave? My Lord hath taught me to rejoice in Hope of His Glory; and how to fee it through the Bars of

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Prifon; for when I am perfecuted for Righteousness Sake, He commands me to rejoice, and be exceeding glad, because my Reward in Heaven is great. I know He would have my Joys exceed my Sorrows; and as much as He delights in the Humble and Cin• trite,

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Ch. 16. trite, He yet more delights in the Soul that delights in Him. Hath my Lord fpread me a Table in this, Wildernefs, and furnished it with the Promifes of everlasting Glory, and fet before me Angels Food? Doth He frequently and importunately invite me to fit down, and feed, and spare not? Hath He, to that End, furnished me with Reafon, and Faith, and a joyful Difpofition; and is it poffible that He fhould be unwilling to have me rejoice? Is it not His Command, to delight thyfelf in the Lord; and, His Promife, to give thee the Defires of thine Heart? Art thou not charged, to rejoice evermore; yea, to fing aloud, and fhout, for Joy? Why should I then be difcouraged? My God is willing, if I were but willing He is delighted in my Delights. He would have it my conftant Frame, and daily Bufinefs, to be near Him in my believing Meditations, and to live in the fweeteft Thoughts of his Goodnefs. O bleffed Employment, fit for the Sons of God! But thy Feaft, my Lord, is nothing to me without an Appetite: Thou hast fet the Dainties of Heaven before me; but, alas! I am blind, and cannot fee them; am fick, and cannot relish them; I am fa benumbed, that I cannot put forth a Hand to take them. I therefore humbly. beg this Grace, that as thou haft opened Heaven to me in thy Word, fo thou wouldst open mine Eyes to fee it, and my Heart to delight in it; elfe Heaven will be no Heaven to me. O thou Spirit of Life, breath upon thy Graces in me; take me by the Hand, and lift me from Earth, that I may fee what Glory thou hast prepared for them that lade • thee!'

$15. AWAY then, ye Soul tormenting Cares and Fears, ye Heart vexing Sorrows: At least forbear a little while; fland by; ftay here below, till I

go

The eternal Promife, His Christ, I shall Thither fhall

go up, and fee my Reft. The Way is ftrange to me, but not to Chrift. There was the eternal 'Abode of His glorious Deity; and thither hath He alfo brought His glorified Flefh. It was His Work to purchase it; it is His to prepare it, and to prepare me for it,' and bring me to it. God of Truth hath given me His Seal, and Oath,' that, believing in not perish, but have everlasting Life. my Soul be fpeedily removed, and my Body very fhortly follow. And can my Tongue fay, that I fhall fhortly and. furely live with God; and yet my Heart not leap within me? Can I fay it with Faith, and not with Joy? Ah Faith, how fenfibly do I now perceive thy Weakness! But tho' Unbelief darken my Light, and dull my Life, and fupprefs my Joys, it fhall not be able to conquer and de troy me; though it envy all my Comforts, yet fone in fpight of it I fhall even here receive; and if that did not hinder, what Abundance might, I have? The Light of Heaven would fhine into my Heart; and I might be almost as familiar there, as I am on Earth. Come away then, my Soul; ftop thine Ears to the ignorant Language of Infidelity; thou art able to answer all its Arguments; or if thou art not, yet tread them under thy Feet. Come away; ftand not looking on that Grave, nor turning those Bones, nor reading thy Leflon now in the Duft; thofe Lines will foon L wiped out. But lift up thy Head, and look to Heaven, and fee thy Name in golden Letters written before the Foun dation of the World, in the Book of Life of the Lant that was flain, What if an Angel fhould tell thee, that there is a Manfion in Heaven prepared for C thee, that it fhall certainly be thine for ever; would not fuch a Meflage make thee glad? And doft

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Ch. 16. thou make light of the infallible Word of Promife, which was delivered by the Spirit, and even by the Son Himself? Suppofe thou hadst feen a fiery Charist come for thee, and fetch thee up to Heaven, like Elijah; would not this rejoice thee? But thy Lord affures thee, that the Soul of a Lazarus hath a Convoy of Angels to carry it into Abrahani's Bofom. Shall a Drunkard be fo merry among his Cups, or the Glutton in his delicious Fare, and fhall not I rejoice who muft shortly be in Heaven? Can Meat and Drink delight me when I hunger and thirst; can I find Pleasure in Walks, and Gardens, and convenient Dwellings; can beautiful • Objects delight mine Eyes; or grateful Odours my Smell; or Melody my Ears; and fhall not the Forethought of celeftial Blifs delight me? Methinks ⚫ among my Books I could employ myself in fweet Content, and bid the World farewel, and pity the Rich and the Great that know not this Happinefs; what then will my Happinefs in Heaven be, • where my Knowledge will be perfect? If the Queen of Sheba came from the utmost Parts of the Earth to hear the Wisdom of Solomon, and fee his Glory; how 'chearfully fhould I pafs from Earth to Heaven, to fee the Glory of the eternal Majefty, and attain the Height of Wisdom; compared with which the moft Learned on Earth are but Fools and Idiots? What if God had made me Commander of the Earth; what if I could remove Mountains, heal Difeafes • with a Word or a Touch, or caft out Devils; fhould I not rejoice in fuch Privileges and Honours as thefe; and fhall I not much more rejoice that my Name is written in Heaven? I cannot here enjoy my Parents, or my near and beloved Friends, without fome Delight; efpecially when I did freely letout my Affection to my Friend, how fweet was

• that