Ever your’s,
Signature of J. C.
TO MRS. D—.
Peckham,August30, 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 isFear, either of things high or low.He shall be afraid of that which is high, either inrespect 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 Jeremiahhad 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,XIverse. 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 wordGrasshopper, likewise signifies the Locust, and willapply 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: Sensualand natural desire for food, pleasure, or any sensual delight whatever. This wordDesire, the celebrated Dr. Smith says, should be translatedCapers, 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 thisis,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 isa 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, myresting 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.
’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 Lifeand 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. Theway? 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 amtheway; notaway, buttheway. 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; therenever 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, thatwhateverway 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 arecalled 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.
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 theirprofession; 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, andcorruptions 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 ofFear,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 whenthesehave 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,
Signature of J. C.
TO MRS. D—.
Peckham,September30, 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, aSurety: 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 feela 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.
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 isthe 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 drawingperformed 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 doesmore 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 aGoldenBowl, not China, Earthenware, or Tin, butGold, to shew howprecious 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 andthrough 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 isbreaking 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 mustnecessarily 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 toendeavour 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 sweetlyfelt, 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,thebest 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, andGod 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 conveyspeace 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 thoseCisterns 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 bebroken, 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; forthe 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, willreturn 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,
Signature of J. C.
FINIS.