And He likewise told them, He was come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly. And yet they would not come unto Him for it, they would not look unto the Father in Him: they would not accept the invitation, and therefore they missed of that great salvation, and have not attained it unto this day, because they "will not come unto Him that they might have life," but are banished from the Land of Promise," and trodden under foot of all nations.

It is now several ages since our progenitors had the Holy Scriptures of both Testaments translated into our own language, strictly and exactly enough, with respect to all points necessary to salvation; and they had, and we still have, the free use of them; a great blessing, of which some of our neighbouring nations are hitherto deprived. Have we read them with diligence and attention? Have we duly considered them, and made a right use of them? What advantage have we reaped thereby? Are we come unto God, whose invitation is recorded therein, and unto Christ, of whom they abundantly testify in every dispensation? What end have we had in reading the Scriptures? Hath it been only to furnish ourselves with certain texts thereof whereby to fight one against another, to aggravate one another, and exercise our passions upon one another, (g) and to support this, that, and the other notion and opinion, true or false; and never regard the moral precepts, holy examples, or great and necessary gospel truth and doctrines they contain, so as to bring them into practice? This would be an ill and perverse use, or rather abuse of them, and a great neglect.

* John x, 10.

(g) It is the letter that kills. It is the letter that divides in Christendom. This is plain to every rational mind. It is as clear as the sun at noonday. It has divided into hundreds of sects, all fixing their foundation upon this literal book, as though it were a sufficient rule. And so long as it is considered so, there may be hundreds and thousands; for every one can put on a new construction, and give it a different interpretation. There never was any thing made more a nose of wax of than the Bible, and it is the most mischievous thing, when held up above what it is. (Sermon X11, Trenton, p. 316.)

And, as we all grant that God is invisible in himself to all corporeal eyes, the next way whereby we may look unto Him with further admiration is, in the constant course of his Providence, whereby He upholds and continues all his works in succession from generation to generation, and provides for them all, from the highest to the lowest, from the greatest to the least, without losing or neglecting any one species or particular which He hath made; by which we may learn his endless goodness, and that He still regards them all, and ever will.

And we, and all the ends of the earth, have yet still a more excellent way to look unto God for the glorious end of that gracious invitation, the eternal salvation of our souls; that is, by the divine light of his Son, (c) the Spirit of Christ, who is before all works and worlds, and was with God when He laid the foundations thereof, under the character of Wisdom, and is so declared to be in the Holy Scriptures, where Wisdom saith "The Lord possessed me in the begin"ning of his way, before his works of old; I was set ແ up from everlasting, from the beginning, or ever the "earth was. When there were no depths, I was "brought forth; when there were no fountains aboundແ ing with water. Before the mountains were settled, "before the hills was I brought forth; while as yet "He had not made the earth, nor the fields, nor the highest part of the dust of the world. When He "prepared the heavens, I was there; when He set a

compass upon the face of the depth; when He esta"blished the clouds above; when He strengthened the "fountains of the deep; when He gave to the sea his

decree, that the waters should not pass his com

"mandment; when He appointed the foundations of

(c) We may all partake of the life that was in Jesus Christ, for in him was "life, and the life was the light of men." Therefore, it is testified by these words, that the true light is dispensed to every rational creature, in proportion to what the Almighty requires him to do. He had it in the fulness-all that was necessary for him to complete the work he had to do. But he could have nothing superfluous: for it cannot be supposed that the Almighty Jehovah deals in superfluities to any of his rational creatures. (Sermon III, Western Meeting, 52.)

The animal body of Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, and therefore must be nothing, as to the visible part, but flesh and blood; as nothing else could emanate from her, but what was of her. So here now this outward body, this flesh and blood, was born of a woman.-Here now we learn, as rational beings, by his own testimony, what it is that makes a Son of God. We see that this flesh and blood never could have been, in a strict sense, the Son of God; but a creature created by God-by his power; because spirit and matter cannot be united together, and make a being. (Sermon IX, Middletown, 251-2.)

"the earth; then I was by Him, as One brought up "with Him. And I was daily his delight, rejoicing always before Him, rejoicing in the habitable part "of his earth, and my delights were with the sons of

Again, "Wisdom, which is the worker of all things, "taught me; for in her is an understanding Spirit, "holy, one only, manifold, subtile, lively, clear, undefiled, plain, not subject to hurt, loving the thing "that is good, quick, which cannot be letted, ready to "do good, kind to man, steadfast, sure, free from care, "having all power, overseeing all things, and going through all understanding, pure, and most subtile spirits. For Wisdom is more moving than any motion, she passeth and goeth through all things, by reason of her pureness; for she is the breath of the power

of God, and a pure influence flowing from the glory "of the Almighty; therefore can no defiled thing fall "into her, for she is the brightness of the everlasting "Light, the unspotted mirror of the power of God, "and the image of his goodness. And being but one, "she can do all things; and remaining in herself, she "maketh all things new; and in all ages, entering into “ 'holy souls, she maketh them friends of God and 'prophets; for God loveth none, but him that dwelleth "with wisdom; for she is more beautiful than the sun, "and above all the order of stars: being compared "with the light, she is found before it."†

This is thus written of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God, the eternal, essential Light, the covenant of God with the Gentiles, the Word of God, and true Light, that lighteth every man that cometh into the world. (d)

* Prov. viii, 22, 31. t Book of Wisdom, vii, 22, 29.