IT is an afflicting Providence from God, and just Cause of Shame to me (for I cannot clear my self from a great deal of just Blame) that I have not done, nor can now do any Thing for you in Regard of those Writings you desired of me: I have, and am continually pressed with Variety of urgent Occasions, and much Time ( in the Way I am in) is daily taken up from my personal Studies, besides many incident Avoca­tions. And alas! I can do little, and make but slow Progress in the long Race of Learning I have to run! And it is my miserable Guise, either by Wickedness or Weakness, to fall short of that Good I should either get or do; and if it be so in this Case towards you, it is no Wonder, tho' it should be my deep Sorrow! But yet consider­ing some Passages in your last and former Letters concerning your spiritual Condition, and know­ing by Experience in my self, the Reality of such Complaints; I would not be so graceless as to neglect you wholly therein. And tho' I can say or do very little, yet a Word or two might be of some Use; nor do I know what Guilt might lie upon me, if I should be silent or slight in this Case! And therefore ( Dear —) if my barren Heart would suffer me, I would present you with a few Words, as if you and I were alone in a Corner, in the Presence of God!

[Page 3]The Condition you express, is the common ( but fearful) Epidemical Calamity of those Times and Places where the Gospel is preached, and among such as outwardly carry fair: Convinced, but not humbled; some Apprehensions of Mi­sery and Affections now and then, but not deep effectual Mournings; something burdened with Sin and Misery, and Wrath of God; but yet able to bear it, and contented to live, without being delivered from it: Knowing every Thing and feeling nothing; or rather knowing every Thing, and yet indeed knowing nothing; in seeing not, &c. For my own Part, it is that which hath been the baneful Misery of my Soul ( even that very Thing which you say and mean) ever since I knew any Thing; and the Lord knows how little I am delivered from it, and how much of my Work in this Point ( upon which the very Hinges of our Salvation turn) is yet to do to this Day! Oh (my —) if my Heart were not Adamant, I should weep with and for you: And truly when I am most near God, I have no greater Request than this for my self and you, that God would use any Means to make us see Things really as they are, and pound our Hearts all to Pieces, and make indeed Sin most bitter, and Christ most sweet, that we might be both humbled, and comforted to Purpose! An im­perfect Work of the Law, and then an imper­fect Work of the Gospel is the Bane and Ruin of us in these Days! Some Fears and Affecti­ons, and then some Hopes of Mercy (without finding full Rest and Satisfaction in Christ only) [Page 4] Men rest in, and here perish! But hence is the Ground of that you speak of▪ An Heart that doth not, cannot feel Sin, ( and consequently, no other Thing that God's Word speaks of) and the Wrath of God for it, to purpose; cannot be sensible of Sin or Misery in an effectual Manner! Now a Word or two of Counsel to you in this Case!

First. Consider the End and Things you are to strive after. Secondly, The Way and Manner how: Your Business is never to rest till you come to feel Sin as an insupportable Burden, and then to find Rest and everlasting Satisfaction in Christ, imbracing him as your own! To go on humbling to be humbled, and to see such intolerable Evil in Sin; and to be so burdened with the Wrath of God lying upon you for it, as it may make Sin everlastingly odious to you, and force you to fly for Refuge to lay hold of the Hope set before you; and to have strong Consolation there! This is a great Thing, not easily and quickly gotten: But sit not down at Quiet, till you come to this! This is the Way to make all sure. But you will say I know not whether I ever had any true Hu­miliation; whether there is any Thing in me that will stand by me, when an Hour of Temptation comes! Therefore now resolve, I will padle and dally with God and my own Soul no longer, I will never give God rest till he shew me Things really, and till I have attained that Sense of Sin, and Faith in Christ Jesus, which is real and effec­tual! This is the Work of our Lives, Joh. 6.29. Let me never rest till it be put out of all Doubt, [Page 5] that God in Christ is mine own, and hath made an everlasting Covenant with me! This I will have, or I will be in Bitterness before the Lord while I have any Being; and for the Residue of my Days, I will dwell with them that lie down in Sorrow, I will have my Society with such forsaken Souls; who being desolate and deserted, are free among the Dead: If the blessed God shall excom­municate this wretched Soul from his gracious Presence, (which yet is but an Act of his most holy and just Severity.) O! let me find this Favour in his Sight, that I may also excommunicate my self from the Pleasures and Enjoyments of this present World! And resolve this, If God will not me see the Good of his Chosen, ( and I have nothing to say why he should.) I will mourn, I will mourn; let me live & dye in the House of Mour­ning! If God will not Comfort me, nothing else shall; if I may not have Peace and Rest in God. I'll have none at all; if God will take no Plea­sure in me; I'll take no Pleasure in myself: Let my Tears be my Meat continually; let me go mourning up and down the World while I [...] a Day to live: If God cast me off, let this be my Condition! Nay, ( come to this Pass) I [...] not live, unless God be reconciled to me: My Spirit fails, if the Lord redeem not presently. There is no Being, no Biding for me, unless he speak a Word of Peace to me. ( Psal. 69.2, 3, 17, 18. and 143.4, 7.) And in a Time of Need God will help; when you are lost, God will find you, when you are sick to Death, he will heal you, Isa. 57.16, 28, 29. His Bowels will yearn [Page 6] towards you! Never fear want of Consolation, if your Humiliation be not ineffectual! And here let me warn you of a Thing or two!

Take heed lest some lesser Sorrows and Affec­tions heal and ease you, and so you be kept from great and effectual Sorrows and from Comfort by Christ only! Many a one sees himself in a mise­rable Condition; hereupon he goes alone, he prays ( and weeps too it may be) very affectionately for Mercy: Upon this he grows well and whole again! His good Affections please him, and heal him; tho' he be indeed still as far from Christ and grounded Comfort as ever! Take Heed of this: As also secondly, Of resting in some Hopes of Mercy, or in some Tastes of Mercy! Many Things give a Man a good Hope that God may save him, and the Words of Comfort are some­times sweet and refreshing to his Heart; this quiets him: He hath enough now, he runs away with this, when as Christ himself is not yet his; nor is he satisfied with him only! Many perish here; not but that these Affections and Hopes are very good, and they may be true, (and be sure to be exceeding thankful for any such Thing; that you have any Desire to seek God, any Tears at any Time before him, and Hope toward him; it's more than Thousands have) and very good Encourage­ment to seek after Christ more; but not to be rested in without Christ. It's a Sign a Man's Heart is false when a little of any thing will serve him! Use those Sorrows, Heart-breakings and Hopes, as blessed Encouragements and Engage­ments to follow on still, and get nearer to Christ, [Page 7] and to gain in upon him; but rest not till you be sure you have Christ; and fully rest in him, and your Heart live upon him only, alone, wholly and always! Now for the Way you are to take in the Case, owned and expressed by yourself, I would add a little as the Lord shall help.

Do not say there is no Hope, and so give over striving! Give not Way to a sullen Desperate­ness and Deadness of Heart; to a dulled, sunk, discouraged Spirit, as if it were in vain to stir, and will never be better with you! Do not say, Thus it hath been, and thus it is, and you cannot help it, and there leave it! No, no, Arise and be doing, and God will be with you; is an old Rule! Whatever your Case be, never be discou­raged: Be humble and afflicted under Sin and Misery, ( the more the better) but never be discou­raged! Resolve, I will yet follow God for all this, come on me what will! See 1 Sam. 12.20. Know that God is God, and not Man, he can help, nay he will! He is willing to help you, if you be not unwilling to have it: See Isa. 55.8. Jer. 33.3. Hos. 13.9. Joh. 4.10. and 6.36. He hath after Mercies for them that have abused former Mercies, Ezek. 39.26. Jer. 3.1, 22. If it were but a may be, Amos 5.15. Zeph. 2.3. A who can tell? Jon. 3.9. Joel 2.14. A Lord, if thou wilt, Mat. 8.2. It's enough to make us follow after God to the last Gasp! Secondly, Look up to the infinite God to help you for his Name sake, and for the Lord Jesus sake. You know you are miserable, and have unspeakable Need of his Help; tho' you do not feel it, and [Page 8] be not affected with it. Upon this Ground (and this is Ground enough) go to God and tell him, that the less Sense you have, the greater is your Misery, and the more Need you have of his Help: None but God can pull you out of this Pit, can inlighten this Darkness, and break this Adamant; to him therefore you come according to his own Counsel, Rev. 3.18. Tell him, He knows you and sees you, tho' you do not know or see him, no, nor your self neither: He can take hold of you, tho' you cannot take hold of him, Joh. 15.16. Bring such an Heart as you have (longing that it were better) to him, that he would mend it: Bewail this impenitent Heart, cry out of this secure sottish Heart, as the greatest Evil that could befal you; beseech him to use any Means to break it and change it: Fill your Mouth with Arguments before him; tell him of his free, ( Oh hang there upon free Mercy) his tender, his preventing, his manifold rich Mercy: Say you are resolved never to leave him till he give you this Grace effectually, and all the Grace you want, everlasting Mercy: Cry to him out of the thick Darkness, and out of the low Dun­geon, Lam. 3.55. When you have no Mind to pray, when Devil and World, when Heart and the Gates of Hell are against you: Yet then, even then, pray in Spite of all your spiritual Ad­versaries: Offer Violence to the Kingdom of Heaven, stir up your self to take hold on God; lay hold on Eternal Life, when nothing but Dark­ness and Death is about you; when God stops his Ear against you, and shuts up his Heart too; [Page 9] yet then fall down before him, put your Mouth in the Dust; judge and loath your self, hate your Sin, that brought you to this Pass: Look again toward him, (as Jon. 2.4, 7.) close with him at and upon the Sword's Point, ( tho' he kill me, yet will I trust in him.) Bless his Name and say as Lam. 3.21. Chatter before him; leave your self to his Mercy, to his absolute, sovereign, meer Mercy, renouncing all other Props & Comforts: See Isa. 50.10. Tell him as Dan. 9.9. resolve to follow him, tho' blindfold, and see Rom. 11.32, 33. Gal. 3.22. When you are shut up under Sin and Unbelief, then look to him who is able to save to the utmost them that come to God by him: You know not how to look to him, nor what it is to believe, nor how to go about such a Thing; therefore tell God that you come to him for Faith, as well as other Things. You want every Thing, & you come for every Thing: ( the poorest Creature that lives) and know that the blessed God would have you come to him in Christ for every Thing: Christ hath all Power in his Hands to help you, Joh. 17.2. and see Joh. 6.37. Thirdly, continue in seeking God till you find him: Follow on to know the Lord; and then be your Case what it will, you shall know him, Hos. 6.2. Col. 4.2. Luk. 18.1. Many are very serious and earnest for a Fit; but they give over before the Lord come, and will rather patch up their Comfort and Salvation of any Fashion, than take the Pains to hold out in seeking God with all their Might: Multitudes perish here. Oh! look to this; for do not think ( espe­cially [Page 10] in the Case you are in) to get Grace & Christ ( in the Sense before spoken of) presently! No, no, God may make you seek and wait many a Day; but you shall reap in due Time if you faint not, Gal. 6.9. Diligently therefore and constantly attend and improve all the Ordinances and Op­portunites that God gives: In special, let me speak a Word or two for your better Help in them, (being more private and personal) viz.

First, Meditation (a most necessary and effectual Thing which few Practice:) Get a little Time to meditate daily, laying aside other Things, and in other Occasions too, think as much of spiritual Things as you can: We do not see nor feel be­cause we do not think of Things; think of God and of Christ, of Sin, of Heaven, of Hell, of Judgment, of Eternity, how few shall be saved, how necessary it is to take the present Time: What we come into the World for; of quick­ning Passages in Scripture, of God's Dealings with you, of your former Life and present Con­dition, &c. But you will say, my Heart is so vain and stupid, I cannot think of Things. I answer, First, Let this deeply humble you; and the Vileness of your Heart that here discovers it self will be worth the while. Secondly, beseech God to help you. Thirdly, By use of Time you will find it more easy. Fourthly, Take Advan­tage upon all the evil Frames that at present you feel, to apply and set on some soaking Expression in Scripture: As in Case of Hardness, Blindness, Vanity, see Rom. 9.18. 2 Cor. 4.4. Prov. 10.20. Yea, hence see and say, that God is true, and his [Page 11] Word is true; for the Scripture tells me of this Heart I feel; and the rest of it will be verified upon me as well as this. Fifthly, Take the Ad­vantage of special Seasons for Meditation, when your Heart is in a feeling Frame ( as after Prayer, after Sermon, if you cannot before) and lay up what you get: One Truth felt in Meditation, is worth a World, and it will make Way for more. Sixthly, Do something that is equivalent and helping to it, at least when you cannot so directly meditate: as reading of a good Book, writing of your former and present Life: ( that is a Thing of endless Use) gathering up God's Mercies, & your Sins, in writing sometimes, &c.

Secondly, Prayer, this is the blessed Means of getting a poor Soul to Heaven: And what an Happiness is it, that we may pray to God! Be­sides Family Prayer, get some Time for secret Prayer, daily less or more: Be telling God your Heart alone; I know your Occasions & Labours ( the Lord break my Heart for you) would not afford you that Liberty that I ( Wretch) have: But do what you can; love the Duty, and God will pity you, wherein you are justly and by his Providence ( not your own Negligence) hindred. And this is cer­tain, he that hath an Heart, shall never want Time nor Place to pray! Endeavour to order your Mat­ter so, as you may have Time for it: And if you could weekly have a Piece of an Afternoon ( as Saturday in the Afternoon an Hour or two or as God guides) set a part for secret & close converse with God by Meditation & Prayer, thinking, writing, reading, examining, mourning before God; and [Page 12] do this constantly, you will never repent it: The Business of Salvation is mainly carrried on in se­cret between God and a Man's own Soul: And by all Means provide, that you may have your Sabbaths as free as possible all the Day, and the Evening before and after, for spiritual Work: Ply God in such Seasons as these be, and be very thankful if you [...]et but any little Ground of your Corruptions and Miseries: Go about your law­ful Occasions, not as a Liberty to the Flesh, (as to think that now my Task of praying is over, now I may please my self & refresh my Heart in the World, &c.) but as the Service of God, and as unto him, because he bids you be thus employed; as when he bids me pray, I will pray with all my Might; so I will work too, when he bids me work; and not do it to please myself ( alas, if I consider it, what Pleasure or Comfort is there in this evil World) but to please him I will busy and employ my self in this World, ( because he bids me) but my Place and my Rest shall be only in God, or no where: As Seamen go to Sea, but build their Houses on Land; so I'll go into the World, but lay up my Heart and Comfort and my whole Support in God! I will live in the World, but not upon it; I will live only upon God, & have my Portion in him. And do not think that this Sorrow & Sense of Sin, & mourning after God, stands in a monkish drooping Sullenness and Sadness, ( tho' it's certain that by the Sadness of the Countenance the Heart is made better; and one should not give himself to unneces­sary Mirth, which is very poysonful; nor purposely choak his spiritual Sorrows with temporal Delights:) [Page 13] But when you have seriously spent your Time with God, and have left your Heart with him, and he calls you to your Occasions; go about them with Alacrity and Chearfulness, so as you may dispatch them comfortably; and carry amiably and delightfully to those about you. And let your Sorrows & Sense of your Soul's Miseries lie deep and undermost, so as you may recall them in their Season; when you come to pray, or be alone with God again! Labour to have a constant ha­bitual feeling of your self, ( and get as many good Thoughts and Affections as you can, at all Times) so as it may be livelily, actual, especially in your Seasons of attending upon God; and in them drive on the Business of your Soul, as if there were nothing else to be minded but that. And if you find your Heart gone when the Season of seeking God comes, then know that you have in some Measure backslidden and forsaken God; and never leave till you have recovered it. Re­call and review often the chief Sins of your Life that you can remember; confess and aggravate them before God in a special Manner, (but have your Times of confessing and bewailing all the Sins that ever you can remember) and think of what Sins or Course it was that caused God to leave you to this woful Impenitency of Heart, & bewail them bitterly. One thing more I must add; Do not think it much to have some special Seasons of seeking God, besides those I have named. If you had a Friend with whom you might now & then spend a little Time, in conferring together, in opening your Hearts, and presenting your unut­terable [Page 14] Groanings before God, it would be of excellent Use: Such an one would greatly strength­en, bestead, and further you in your Way to Hea­ven. Spend now and then ( as Occasions permit) an Hour ( or so) with such a Friend more than ordinary (sometimes a Piece of a Day, sometimes a whole Day of extraordinary Fast, in striving and wrestling with God for everlasting Mercy.) And be much in quickning Conference, giving and taking mutual Encouragements & Directions in the Matters of Heaven! Oh! the Life of God that falls into the Hearts of the Godly, in and by gracious heavenly Conference. Be open hearted one to another, and stand one for another against the Devil and all his Angels. Make it thus your Business in these and such like Ways, to provide for Eternity while it is called to Day; looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of your Faith. But you will say ( it may be) and I speak but what I have found in my own Heart: ( Dear — I deal plainly with you, as I know you would have me do, and therefore let me suppose it should be said) This is a tedious and hard Task, and my Heart likes not to be so yoaked and toiled in such Things? I can take no Pleasure therein; and if I force my self to it for a while, yet it would soon weary me: I have no Heart to these Things; it may be something might be done in this Way, or another might do something; but I have no Heart to it.

Ans. 1. Wonder not at this, nor think the worse of that Course, because your Heart lusteth against it; but think the better of it. For, the better any [Page 15] Thing is, and the more instrumental for our Sal­vation, the more it is opposed by our vile Hearts, which are Enemies to God, and consequently to our own chief Good.

2. Confess to God this Naughtiness of your Heart: Beseech him to help you against▪ this Devil, to change your Nature, and let this occasion you to see, and loath the Wickedness of your Nature, and be enraged against it. The Spirit that dwel­leth in us lusteth unto Envy, but he giveth more Grace; Jam. 4.5, 6.

3. Consider what is the Reason why this Way seems so irksome and tedious, and you have no Heart to it? Is it not because of inward Blindness and Security? because you see not Things as they be, nor the Weight and Worth of them? It is an irksome Thing to a Man to rise out of his Bed in the Night, when he lies warm, & knows no Danger, nor urgent Occasion to rise; but if he awake, and see his House on Fire about his Ears, he will make no Demur about the Matter, but be glad he may rise! Verily, one real Glimpse of the Wrath of God burning about us, or of Eternity that is a coming; one real Glimpse of God's Anger ( lying upon our Souls) which is in­finitely above the most awful Apprehension of Man or Angel; Oh! this would make us skip at a Time to pray in, at an Hour to cry out to God for Mercy in, especially if we might do it with any Hope of being heard and saved, as now we may. So the Reason why I have no Heart to this Course, is not because there is Want of Reason to perswade me, but because I am blind; [Page 16] and I feel my Blindness, I know that I do not see Things as they be, and therefore I have good Reason to be deaf, to the Counsel of mine own blind ignorant Heart, and to strive by all Means to see better; and in the mean Time to believe what I do not see.

4. Offer Violence therefore to the Kingdom of Heaven, and be resolved in this Point: Let my Heart say what it will, let Hell and World be a­gainst me; my God I must have! my God I will have! I must get Sight of Sin, and Faith in Christ Jesus? I must make my Salvation sure, or else I am undone for ever; and therefore pray I will, and follow God I will, in Despite of the Devil: Unto him will I look and ( in such a Cause as this) on him will I wait, who giveth the same Spirit of Zeal, of Indignation against Sin & Self, as some­times was in holy Samuel, when he hewed Agag in Pieces before the Lord in Gilgal. Lord, thou hast commanded me to seek thy Face, and thy Face will I seek: I will not confer with Flesh and Blood; I will not consult with carnal Reason; but what God bids me do, that will I do, and do it with all my Might.

5. Know that if you conscionably attend upon God, he will by Degrees make it sweet and easy to you: He will strengthen your Heart and Hands in your Way and Work, Isa. 40.31. You will find it a sweet and blessed Thing to stand confessing your Sins before God, and emptying your Heart in his Sight, opening all your Complaints and Soul Concernments to him: You will find it an Happiness that you may pray to the God of Hea­ven, [Page 17] and have any Communion with him. Our wicked Hearts make religious Duties irksome; else they are in themselves the sweetest Things in the World: Oh! if ever we come to know God aright, we shall account it our Happiness that we may do any thing in Way of Service to him, and Communion with him.

6. Salvation is worth all our Labour, he it what it will: Is it a Trifle to be saved eternally? Do we think to get to Heaven by a good Wish? Or to go thither in a Feather-Bed? No, God will make us strive, and sweat, and wrestle for it: and be sure it will quit the Cost! It will never repent us of any Prayer we have made, or Tear we have wept, when we come there! Oh! fol­low not the Guise of this secure World, that ( in these Days) is cast into a dead Sleep: Many profess, but few know what it is to work out their own Salvation with Fear and Trembling▪ It is another Matter to be a Christian indeed than most make of it: And of those that are sincere and lively, you see but their dark Side, you know not what they are in secret: Follow not Exam­ple, but follow the Word of God.

Thus I have given you the Sum of my Tho'ts, according to my Measure and Manner. I be­seech you to make some Use of this poor Letter, and read it at such Times as may most suit you: You may have many Doubts & Difficulties that I do not here touch; but seek God, and he will guide you. As for your outward Condition, follow on in these Things, and your Trouble for Sin and Soul Misery will swallow up all other [Page 18] Troubles: and future Consolations will sweeten all; And whatsoever may happen to you here, yet hereafter it shall be well with you; and in your wearisome Pilgrimage it may be for a Con­solation to you, that you shall rejoice in Time to come.

Now the tender Mercies of God be with you ( Dear —) and the Lord lead you by the Hand to his eternal Rest, through all Sins and Sorrows, to his own Glory, and your everlasting Com­fort; so I remain,

YOurs I received, and thought on. The Question, is, How so to live in this World, as yet to live in Heaven? It is one of the common Places of my Heart that I have often Occasion to study, and therefore takes me not unprovided. It is hard to keep the Helm up a­mong so many cross Winds and Edyes, and Out-Land and boarding of Creatures, as we meet withal upon this Sea of Glass and Fire. And truly that Man knoweth not his own Heart who finds it not difficult to break through the Entan­glements of the World. Creature Smiles stop and intice away the Affections from JESUS CHRSIT: Creature Frowns encompass and tempestuate the Spirit, that it thinks it doth well to be angry: Both Ways Grace is a looser. We had all Need to watch and pray, lest we en­ter into these Temptations. The greatest of [Page 20] your Conflicts & Causes of your Complaints, seem here to have their Original. Temptations fol­low Tempers. As there are two predominant Qualities in the Temper of every Body; so there are two predominant Sins in the Temper of every Heart: And Pride is one in all Men in the World: the other is Care about Futurities.

I will tell you familiarly what GOD hath done for my Soul, and in what Tract my Soul keeps to­wards himself. (1) I am come to a Conclusion to look for no great Matters in the World; but to know JESUS CHRIST and him crucified. I make best Way [...] low Gale. A high Spirit and a high Sail together will be dangerous: and therefore I prepare to live low. I desire not much, I pray against it. My Study is my Call­ing: so much as to attend that, without Distrac­tion, I am bound to plead for; and more I de­sire not. By my secluded Retirements, I have Advantage to observe how every Day's Occasions insensibly wear off the Heart from GOD, and bury it in it self; which they that ever live in the Noise and Lumber of the World, cannot be sensible of. (2) I have learned to see a Need of every Thing GOD gives me; and to need nothing that he denies me. There is no Dispensation, though cross and afflictive, but either in it or after it, I find I could not be without it: And nothing that I am without, whether it be taken from me, or not given to me; but sooner or later GOD quiets me in himself without me. (3) I cast all my Care on the LORD, and live se­curity on the Wisdom and Care of my heavenly [Page 21] Father. My Ways are you know, in some Sense hedged up with Thorns, and grow darker and darker daily; but yet I mistrust not my good GOD in the least; and live more quiet in the Absence of all by Faith, than I should do, I am persuaded, if I possessed them. I think the LORD deals kindly with me, to make me believe for all my Mercies, before I have them: they will then be Isaac's, Sons of Laughter. For the less Rea­son hath to Work upon, the more freely Faith casts it self on the Faithfulness of GOD. I find that while Faith is steady, nothing can disquiet me; and when Faith totters, nothing can esta­blish me. If I ramble out among Means and Creatures, I am presently lost, and can come to no End: But if I stay my self on GOD, and leave him to work in his own Way and Time, I am at rest, and can lie down and sleep in a Promise, tho' a Thousand rise up against me. Therefore my Way is not to cast before Hand, but to work with GOD by the Day. Sufficient to the Day is the Work thereof. I find so much to do con­tinually with my Calling and my Heart, that I have no Time to puzzle my self with Per-adven­tures and Futurities.

As for the State of the Times, it is very gloomy and tempestuous: But why do the Heathen Rage? Faith lies at Anchor in the midst of the Waves, and believes the Accomplishment of the Promise, thro' all these Overturnings, Confusions, and seeming Impossibilities. Upon this GOD do I live, who is our GOD for ever, and will guide us to the Death. Methinks I lie becalm'd in [Page 22] his Bosom, as Luther in such a Case, I am not much troubled; let CHRIST see to it. I know Prophecies are now dark, the Books are sealed, and Men have all been deceived, & every Vision fails: yet GOD doth continue faithful: it's he that promiseth, who will also do it. I believe these dark Times are the Womb of a bright Morning.

Many Things more I might have added; but enough. O! Brother, keep close to GOD; and then you need fear nothing. Maintain secret and intimate Acquaintance with him; and then a little of the Creature will go a great Way. Take Time for Duties in private. Croud not Religion into a Corner of the Day. There is a Dutch Proverb, No body will get by thieving, or loose by praying. Lay up all your Good in GOD; so as to over-ballance the Sweetness and Bitterness of all Creatures. Spend no Time in fore-hand Con­trivances for this World: they never succeed: God will run his Dispensations another Way. Self-Contrivances are the Effects of Unbelief: I can speak by Experience. Would Men spend those Hours they ware out in Plots & Devices, in Com­munion with God, and leave all on him by ven­turesome believing; they would have more Peace and Comfort. I leave you with your GOD and mine. The LORD JESUS be with your Spirit. Pray for your own Soul, pray for Jerusalem; and pray hard for your pour Brother.