A Word of Advice to my own Heart and thine; thou professeth Baptism, Church-fellowship; thou dost well, they are glorious Ordinances: But if thou hast not the Blood of Christ at the Root of thy Profession, it will wither and prove but painted Pegeantry to go to Hell in.

If thou retain Guilt, Self-righteousness under it, those Vipers will eat out all the Vitals of it at length. Try and examine with greatest strictness every day, what bottom thy Profession and Hope of Glory is build upon, whether it was laid by the Hand of Christ; if not, it will never be able to endure the storm that must come against it. Satan will throw it all down, & great shall be the Fall thereof, Mat. 7.27.

Glorious Professor, thou shalt be winnowed: Every Vein of thy Profession will be tried to pur­pose: Terrible to have it all come tumbling down, and to find nothing but it to bottom upon.

Soaring Professor, see to thy waxen Wings be­times, which will melt with the heat of Tempta­tions. What a Misery to trade much and break at length, and have no Stock, no Foundation laid for Eternity, in thy Soul?

Gifted Professor, look there be not a Worm at the Root that will spoil all thy fine Goard, & make it die about thee in a day of scorchings. Look over thy soul daily, and ask, where is the Blood of Christ to be seen upon my soul? What righteousness is it [Page 4] that I stand upon to be saved by? Have I got off all my self-righteousness? Many eminent Professors have come at length to cry out, in the sights of the ru­in of all their duties, Undone, undone to all Eternity.

The greatest sins may be hid under the greatest duties, and the greatest terrors: see the Wound that sin hath made in thy soul, be perfectly cured by the Blood of Christ, not skinned over with duties, hum­blings, enlargements, &c. Apply what thou wilt besides the Blood of Christ it will poison the sore. Thou wilt find that sin was never mortified truly; that thou hast not seen Christ bearing it for thee upon the cross: nothing can kill it but the be­holdings of Christ's Righteousness.

Nature can afford no balsam fit for soul-cure. Healing from duty, and not from Christ, is the most desperate disease. Poor ragged nature, with all its highest improvements, can never spin a garment fine enough (without spot) large enough (without patches) to cover the soul's nakedness. Nothing can fit the soul for that use but Christ's perfect righ­teousness. Whatever is of nature's spinning must be all unravelled before the righteousness of Christ can be put on. Whatsoever is of nature's putting on, Satan will come and plunder every rag away and leave the soul naked and open to the Wrath of God. All that nature can do will never make up the least dram of grace that can mortify sin, or look Christ in the face one day.

Thou art a professor, art baptized, goes on hear­ing, & praying, and receiving, yet miserable mayst thou be. Look about thee, didst thou ever yet see Christ to this day in distinction from all other excel­lencies [Page 5] & righteousness in the World, & all of them falling before his Majesty and Grace, Isaiah 2.17.

If thou hast seen Christ truly, thou hast seen pure grace, pure righteousness in him, every way infinite, far exceeding all sin and misery. If thou hast seen Christ thou canst trample upon all the righteousness of men & angels, so as to bring thee into acceptati­on with God. If thou hast seen Christ, thou wouldst not do a duty without him for ten thousand Worlds, 1 Cor. 2.2. If ever thou didst see Christ, thou didst see him a Rock higher than self-righteousness, satan, sin, Ps. 61.2. & that Rock doth follow thee, 1 Cor. 10.4. And there will be continual drops of honey and grace out of that Rock to satisfy thee, Ps. 81.16. Examine if ever thou beheld Christ as the only be­gotten of the Father, full of grace & truth, Joh. 1.14, 16, 17. Be sure thou art come to Christ, that thou stand upon the Rock of Ages, hast answered his call to thy soul, hast closed with him for Justification.

Men talk bravely of believing (whilst whole and sound) few know it. Christ is the mystery of the scripture; grace the mystery of Christ. Believing is the most wonderful thing in the world. Put any thing of thine own to it, & thou spoilest it; Christ will not so much as look at it for believing. When thou believest, and comes to Christ, thou must leave behind thee thy own righteousness, bring nothing but thy sin. O that is hard, leave behind all thy ho­liness, sanctifications, duties, humblings, &c. & bring nothing but thy wants and miseries, else Christ is not for thee, nor thou for Christ. Christ will be a pure Redeemer & Mediator, and thou must be a pure sin­ner, or Christ & thou wilt never agree: It's the har­dest [Page 6] thing in the world to take Christ alone for righte­ousness; that is, to acknowlege him Christ: Join a­ny thing to him of thy own & thou Un-christ's him.

Whatever comes in when thou goest to God for acceptation, (besides Christ) call it Antichrist, bid it be gone; make only Christ's righteousness trium­phant; all besides that is Babylon, which must fall, if Christ stand, and thou shalt rejoice in the fall thereof, Is. 1.10—12. Christ alone did tread the wine-press, and there was none with him, Is. 63.3. If thou join to any thing but Christ, Christ will trample upon it in fury and anger, & stain his raiment with the blood thereof. Thou think'st it easy to believe; was ever thy faith tried with an hour of Temptations, and a thorow sight of sin? was it ever put to grap­ple with satan, and the wrath of God lying upon the Conscience: When thou wast in the mouth of hell and the grave, then did God shew thee Christ a ransom, a righteousness, &c. Then couldst thou say, O I see grace enough in Christ; thou may'st say that which is the biggest word in the world: Thou believest. Untried faith is uncertain faith.

To believing there must be a clear conviction of sin, and of the merits of the blood of Christ, and of Christ's willingness to save upon this consideration meerly, that thou art a sinner; things all harder than to make a world. All the power in nature cannot get up so high in a storm of sin and guilt as really to believe there is any grace, any willingness in Christ to save. When satan chargeth sin upon the conscience, then the soul to charge it upon Christ, that is gospel-like, that is to make him Christ, he serves for that use. To accept Christ's [Page 7] righteousness alone, his blood alone for salvation. That is the sum of the gospel, when the soul in all duties can say, nothing but Christ, Christ alone for righteousness, justification, sanctification, re­demption, 1 Cor. 1.30. Not humblings, not du­ties, not graces, &c. That soul hath got above the reach of the billows.

For all temptations, satan's advantages, our com­plainings are laid in self-righteousness, & self-excel­lency, God pursueth these, by setting satan upon thee, as Laban did Jacob for his Images which Rachel hid, Gen. 31. These must be torn from thee, be as willing as thou wilt, these hinder Christ from coming in, and till Christ come in, guilt will not go out, and where guilt is, there is hardness of heart, and there­fore much guilt argues little, if any thing of Christ's blood, that will tend to hardening. Make Christ thy Peace, Eph. 2.14. not thy duties, thy tears, &c. Christ thy righteousness, not thy graces, &c. Thou mayst destroy Christ by duties, as well as by sins. Look at Christ, and do as much as thou wilt. Stand with all thy weight upon Christ's righ­teousness; take heed of having one foot on thy own righteousness, another on Christ's. 'Till Christ come and sit on high upon a throne of grace, in the conscience, there is nothing but guilt, terrors, secret suspicions, the soul hanging between hope and fear, which is an un-gospel like state.

He that fears to see sin's utmost vileness, the ut­most hell of his own heart, he suspects the merits of Christ. Be thou never so great a sinner, 1 Joh. 2.1. try Christ to make him thy advocate, and thou shalt find him Jesus Christ the righteous. In all doubt­ings, [Page 8] fears, storms of conscience, look at Christ con­tinually. Do not argue it with satan, (he desires no better) bid him go to Christ, and he will answer him, it is his office as he is our advocate, 1 Joh. 2.1. His office to answer the law as our surety, Heb. 7.22. His office to answer justice, as our mediator, Gal. 3.20. 1 Tim. 2.5. and he is sworn to that office, Heb. 7.20. Put Christ upon it; if thou wilt do any thing thy self, as to satisfaction for sin, thou renounceth Christ the righteous, who was made sin for thee, 2 Cor. 2.21.

Satan may alledge and corrupt scripture, but he cannot answer scripture. It's Christ's word of migh­ty authority, Christ foyled satan with it, Mat. 4. In all the scripture there is not an ill word against a poor sinner stript of self-righteousness; nay, it plentifully points out this man to be the subject of the grace of the gospel, and none else. Believe but Christ's wil­lingness, and that will make thee willing. If thou findest thou canst not believe, remember it's Christ's work to make thee believe; put him upon it, he works to will and to do of his good pleasure, Phil. 2.13. Mourn for thy unbelief, which is a setting up guilt in the conscience above Christ, and underva­luing the merits of Christ, accounting his blood an unholy, a common, and unsatisfying thing.

Thou complainest much of thy self; doth thy sin make thee look more at Christ, less at self? That's right, else complaining is but hypocrisy. To be looking at duties, graces, enlargements, when thou shouldst be looking at Christ; that's pitiful: Looking at them will but make thee proud, looking at Christ's grace will make thee humble. By grace you are [...]d, Eph. v. 5. In all thy temptations be not dis­couraged, [Page 9] Jam. 1.2. those surges may not be to break thee, but to heave thee off thy self on the Rock Christ

Thou mayst be bro't low, even to the brink of hell, ready to tumble in; thou can'st not he bro't lower than to the belly of hell, many saints have been there, even dowced in hell, yet there may'st thou cry, there may'st thou look toward the holy temple, Jonah 2.4. Into that temple none might enter but purified ones, and with an offering too, Acts 21.26. But now Christ is our temple & sacri­fice, altar, high-priest, to whom none must come but sinners, and that without any offering, but his own blood once offered, Heb. 7.27. Remember all the patterns of grace that are in heaven. Thou thinkest, O what a monument of grace wouldst thou be: there are many thousands as rich monu­ments as thou be. The greatest sinner did never oppose the grace of Christ, do not despair: Hope still, when the cloud's at blackest, even then look towards Christ, the standing pillar or the Father's love and grace, set up in heaven, for all sinners to gaze upon continually. Whatsoever satan or con­science says, do not conclude against thy self. Christ shall have the last word, he is the judge of quick and dead, and must pronounce the final sentence, his blood speaks reconciliation. Col. 1.20. cleans­ing, 1 John 1.7. purchase, Acts 20.28. redemp­tion, 1 Pet. 1.19. purging, Heb. 9.13, 14. remis­sion, v. 20. liberty, Heb. 10.10. justification, Rom. 5.9. highness to God. Eph. 2.13. Not a drop of this blood shall be lost. Stand and hearken what God will say; for he will speak peace to his peo­ple, that they return no more to folly, Psal. 85.8. [Page 10] He speaks grace, mercy and peace, 2 Tim. 1.2. That's the language of the Father and of Christ. Wait for Christ's appearing, as the morning-star, Rev. 22.19. He shall come as certainly as the morning, as refreshingly as the rain, Hos. 6.3.

The sun may as well be hindered from rising as Christ the sun of righteousness, Mal. 4.2. Look not a moment off Christ. Look not upon sin; but look upon Christ first: When thou mournest for sin, if thou dost not see Christ, away with it, Zech. 12.10. In every duty, look at Christ before duty, to pardon. In duty, to assist. After duty, to ac­cept; without this, it is but carnal careless duty. Do not legalize the Gospel, as if part did remain to thee to do, and suffer, and Christ were but an half Mediator; and thou must bear part of thy own sin; make part satisfaction. Let sin break thy heart, but not hope in the gospel.

Look more at justification than sanctification. In the highest commands consider Christ, not as an exacter to require, but a debter, an undertaker, to work. If thou hast looked at workings, duties, qualifications, and such like, more than at the me­rits of Christ, it will cost thee dear; no wonder thou goest complaining. Graces may be evidences, the merits of Christ (only without them) must be the foundation of thy hope to bottom on. Christ only can be the hope of glory, Col. 1.27.

When we come to God, we must bring nothing but Christ with us. Any ingredients of our own qua­lifications, will poison and corrupt faith; he that builds upon duties, graces, and the like, knows not the merits of Christ. This makes believing so hard, [Page 11] so far above nature; if thou believest thou must re­nounce (as dung and dross, Phil. 3.7.8.) thy Privi­leges, thy obedience, thy baptism, thy sanctificati­on, thy duties, thy graces, thy tears, meltings, thy humblings, and nothing but Christ must be held up: Every day thy workings, thy self-sufficiency, must be destroyed. Thou must take all out of God's hand, Christ he is the gift of God, Joh. 4.10. Faith the gift of God, Ephes. 3.8. Pardon a free gift, Rom. 5.16. Ah how nature storms, frets, rageth at this, that all is of gift and it can purchase nothing with its actings and tears, and duties, that all its workings are excluded, and of no value in heaven.

If nature had been to contrive the way of salvati­on, it would rather have put it into the hands of saints or angels to sell it, than of Christ (who gives freely) whom therefore it suspects; it would have set up a way to purchase by doing; therefore it obminates the merits of Christ as the most destruc­tive thing to it, would do any thing to be saved, rather than go to Christ, or close with Christ. Christ will have nothing, the soul will force some­what of his own upon Christ. Here is the great controversy. Consider, didst thou ever see the merits of Christ, and the infinite satisfaction made by his death? did thou see this in a time when the burthen of sin, and the wrath of God lay heavy upon thy conscience. That is grace. The greatness of Christ's merits is not known, but to a poor soul at the grea­test loss. Slight convictions, will but have slight low prizings of Christ's blood and merits. Despair­ing sinner; thou art looking on thy right hand, and thy left, saying, Who will shew us any good? Thou [Page 12] are tumbling over all thy duties and professions, to patch up a righteousness to save thee. Miserable comforters are all those to thee. Look at Christ now. Look to him, & be saved, all the ends of the earth, Isai. 45.22. There is none else. He is a Saviour, and there is none besides him, ver. 21. look any where else, Christ is lifted up on high (as the brasen serpent in the wilderness) that the ends of the earth, sinners at the greatest distance, may see him, and look to­wards him. The least sight of him will be saving, the least touch healing to thee, and God intends thou shouldst look on him for he hath set him upon a high throne of glory, in the open view of all poor sinners. Thou hast infinite reason to look on him, no reason at all to look off him. For he is meek and lowly of heart, Matth. 11.29. He will do that himself which he requires of his creature, bear with infirmities, Ro. 15.1. not pleasing himself, not standing upon points of low ver. 2. he will restore with the spirit of meek­ness, Gal. 6.1. And bare thy burdens, ver. 22. He will forgive, not only until seven times, but seventy times seven, Mat. 18.21, 22. It put the faith of the appostles to it, to believe this, Luke 17.4.5. Because we are hard to forgive, we think Christ is hard. We see sin great, we think Christ doth so too, and measure infinite love with our line, infinite merits with our sins, which is the greatest pride and blas­phemy, Ps. 103.11, 12. Isa. 40.15. Hear what he saith, I have found a ransom, Job 33.24. In him I am well pleased, Mat. 3.17. God will have no­thing else; nothing else will do thee good, or sa­tisfy conscience, but Christ who satisfied the Father, God doth all upon the account of Christ, thy deserts [Page 13] are hell, wrath, rejections. Christ's deserts, are life, pardon, & acceptation. He will not only shew thee the one, but he will give thee the other. It's Christ's own glory and happiness to pardon. Consider, whilst Christ was upon earth, he was more among publicans and sinners, than scribes and pharisees, his professed adversaries; for they were righteous ones. It is not so as thou imaginst, that his state in glory, makes him neglectful, scornful to poor sinners; no he hath the same heart now in heaven, he is God, and changeth not; He is the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, John 1.29. He hath gone thro' all thy temptations, dejections, sorrows, desertions, rejections, Mat. 4.3, to 12. Mark 15.14, Luke 22.44. Mat. 26.38. And hath drunk the bitterest of the cup, and left thee the sweet; the condemnation is out, Christ drunk up all the Father's wrath at one draught, & nothing but salvation is left for thee; thou sayest, thou canst not believe, thou canst not repent, fitter to repent, fitter for Christ if thou hast nothing but sin and misery, go to Christ with all thy impenitency, and unbelief, to get faith & repentance from him; that is glorious. Tell Christ, Lord, I have brought no righteousness, no grace to be accepted in, justified by; I am come for thine, and must have it. We would be bringing to Christ, and that must not be; not a penny of nature's highest improvement will pass in heaven. Grace will not stand with works Tit. 3.5, Rom. 11.6. That is a terrible point to nature; which cannot think of being stript of all, not having a rag of duty, or righteousness left to look at. Self-righteousness, self-sufficiency, are the dar­lings [Page 14] of nature, which she preserves as her life; that makes Christ such an ugly thing to nature, nature cannot desire him; he is just directly opposite to all nature's glorious interests. Let nature but make a gospel, and it would make it contrary to Christ. It would be to the just, the innocent, the holy, the righteous, &c. Christ hath made a gospel for thee, that is, to needy sinners, the ungodly, the unrighte­ous, the unjust, the accursed. Nature cannot endure to think the gospel is only for sinners, it will rather chuse to despair, than to go to Christ upon such terms. When nature is but put to it by guilt or wrath, it will to its old haunts of self-righteousness self-goodness, &c. And infinite power must cast down those strong holds. None but the self-justici­ary stands excluded out of the gospel: Christ will look at the most abominable sinner, before him, be­cause to such an one Christ cannot be made justifi­cation: He is no sinner. To say in complement, I am a sinner, is easy; but to pray with the publican indeed, Lord be merciful to me a sinner, is the har­dest prayer in the world. It is easy to say, I believe in Christ; but to see Christ full of grace and truth, of whose fulness thou mayest receive grace for grace. That is saving. It's easy to profess Christ with the mouth; but to confess him with the heart, as Peter (to be the Christ, the Son of the living God, the alone Mediator) that's above flesh and blood. Many call Christ Saviour, few know him so. To see grace and salvation in Christ, is the greatest sight in the world; none can do that, but at the same time they shall see that grace to be theirs. Sights will cause applicati­ons. I may be ashamed to think, that in the midst [Page 15] of so much profession, yet I have known little of the blood of Christ, which is the main thing of the gos­pel. A Christless, formal profession will be the blackest sight next to hell that can be. Thou may­est have many good things, and yet one thing be wanting, that may make thee go away sorrowful from Christ. Thou hast never sold all thou hast, never parted with all thine own righteousness, &c. Thou mayest be high in duty, yet a perfect enemy and advarsary to Christ in every prayer, in every ordinance. Labour after sanctification to thy ut­most, but make not a Christ of it to save thee; if so, it must come down one way or other. Christ's infinite satisfaction not thy sanctification, must be thy justification before God. When the Lord shall appear terrible out of his holy places, fre shall con­sume all that as hay and stubble.

This will be sound religion only, to bottom all upon the everlasting mountains of God's love and grace in Christ, to live continually in the sight of Christ's infinite righteousness and merits (they are sanctifying, without them the heart is carnal) and in those sights to see the full vileness, yet littleness of sin, and to see all pardoned; in those sights, to pray, hear, be baptized, &c. Seeing thy polluted self, and all thy weak performances continually; in those sights to trample upon all thy self-glories, righteousnesses, privileges as abominable, and be found continually in the righteousness of Christ only, rejoycing in the ruins of all thy own righteousness, the spoiling of all thy own excellencies, that Christ alone, as mediator, may be exalted in his throne, mourning over all thy duties (how glorious soever) that thou hast not [Page 16] performed in the sight and sense of Christ's love. Without the blood of Christ on the Consciences all are dead services, Heb. 9.14.

That opinion of Free-will so cry'd up will be easi­ly confuted, as it is by the scripture in thy heart who hath had any spiritual dealings with Christ, as to the application of his merits, and subjection to his righ­teousness. Christ is every way too magnificent a person for poor nature to close withal or apprehend. Christ is so infinitely holy, nature durst never look at him; so infinitely good, nature can never believe him to be such, when it lies under full sights of sin. Christ is too high and glorious for nature so much as to touch. There must be a divine love first put into the soul to make it lay hold on him, he lays so in­finitely beyond the sight or reach of nature.

That Christ that natural free-will can apprehend, is but a natural Christ of man's own making, not the Father's Christ, not Jesus the Son of the living God, to whom none can come without the Father's drawing, John 6.44, 46. Finally, Search the scrip­tures daily, as mines of Gold, wherein the heart of Christ is laid. Watch against constitution sins, see them in their vileness, and they will never break out into act. Keep always an humble, empty, bro­ken frame of heart; sensible of any spiritual mis­carriage, observant of all inward workings, fit for the highest communications. Keep not guilt in the conscience, but apply the blood of Christ imme­diately. God chargeth sin and guilt upon thee to make thee look to Christ the brasen serpent.

Judge not Christ's love by evidences, but by pro­mises. Bless God for shaking off false foundations, [Page 17] for any way whereby he keeps the soul awakened, and looking after Christ: better sickness, tempta­tions, than security and slightness.

A slighty spirit will turn a prophane spirit, and will sin and pray too. Slightiness is the bane of pro­fession, if it be not rooted out of the heart, by con­stant and serious dealings with and beholding of Christ in duties, it will grow more strong and more deadly, by being under Church Ordinances. Mea­sure not thy graces by others attainments, but by Scripture-trials. Be serious, exact in duty, having the weight of it upon the Heart; but be as much afraid of taking comfort from duties, as from sins, comfort from any hand but Christ is deadly. Be much in prayer, or you will never keep up much communion with God. As you are in closet-prayer, so you will be in all other Ordinances.

Reckon not duties by high Expression, but by low frames, and the beholdings of Christ. Tremble at duties and gifts. In was the saying of a Saint, he was more afraid of his duties, than his sins; the one often made him proud, the other always made him humble. Treasure up manifestations, they make the heart low for Christ, too high for sin. Slight not the lowest, meanest evidences of Grace. God may put thee to make use of the lowest, as thou thinkest; even that, 1 John 3.14. That may be worth a thousand worlds to thee. Be true to truth, but not turbulent and scornful. Restore such as are fallen. Help them up again with all the bowels of Christ. Set the broken dis-jointed bones with the grace of the Gospel. High Professors, dispise not weak Saints. Thou mayst come to wish to be in [Page 18] the condition of the meanest of them. Be faithful to others infirmities, but sensible of thy own. Visit sick beds, and deserted Souls much; they're ex­cellent schools of experiences. Abide in your call­ing, be dutiful to all relations, as to the Lord, be content with little of the world: little will serve. Think every little of earth much, because unwor­thy of the least. Think much of heaven too little, because Christ is so rich and free. Think every one better than thy self, and carry ever self-loath­ing about thee, as one fit to be trampled upon by all the saints. See the vanity of the world, and the consumption that is upon all things, and love no­thing but Christ. Mourn to see so little of Christ in the world, so few needing him. Trifles pleaseth them better. To a secure soul, Christ is but a fable, the Scriptures but a story. Mourn to think, how many under baptism, church-order, that are not under grace, looking much after duty, obedi­ence, little after Christ, little versed in Grace. Pre­pare for the cross, welcome it, bear it triump­hantly like Christ's cross, whether scoffs, mockings, jeers, contempts, imprisonments, &c. But see it be Christ's cross, not thine own. Sin will hinder from glorying in the cross of Christ. Omitting little truths against light may breed hell in the conscience, as well as omitting the greatest Sin against light. If thou hast been taken out of the belly of hell, into Christ's bosom, and made to sit among Princes in the houshold of God: O how shouldst thou live as a pattern of Mercy; redeemed, restored soul, what infinite sums dost thou owe Christ? with what singular frames must thou walk [Page 19] in, & do every duty? sabbaths, what praising days, singing of hallelujahs should they be to thee? church fellowship, what a Heaven, a being with Christ, and Angels, and Saints? Baptism, what a drowning the soul in eternal love, as a burial with Christ, dying to all things besides him: every time thou thinkest on Christ be astonished, and wonder; and when thou seest sin, look at Christ's Grace, that did par­don it; and when thou art proud, look at Christ's Grace, that shall humble and strike thee down in the dust. Remember Christ's time of love when thou wast naked, Ezek. 16.8, 9. and then he chose thee. Canst thou ever have a proud thought; re­member whose arms supported thee from sinking, and delivered thee from the lowest hell, (Psal. 86.13.) and shout in the ears of angels and men, Psal. 148. sing praise for every grace. Daily repent, and believe and pray; and walk in the sight of grace as one that hath the anointings of grace upon thee. Remember thy sins, Christ's pardoning; thy de­serts, his merits; thy weakness, Christ's strength, thy pride, Christ's humility; thy many infirmities, Christ's restorings; thy guilt, Christ's new ap­plications of his blood; thy failings, Christ's rais­ings up; thy slightiness, Christ's sufferings; thy want, Christ's fulness; thy temptations, Christ's tenderness; thy vileness, Christ's righteousness.

Blessed Soul! whom God shall find not having on his own righteousness, but having his robes washt and made white in the blood of the Lamb. Woful, miserable Professor! that hath not the gos­pel within, rest not in church tryal, thou mayst pass that & be a cast-away in Christ's day of trial. [Page 20] Thou mayst come to baptism, and never come to Jesus, & the blood of sprinkling. Whatever work­ings or attainments come not up to clear distinct apprehensions of Christ's blood, merits, righteous­ness, (the main object of the gospel) falls short of of the gospel, and leaves the soul in a condition of doubtings and questionings, and doubtings (if not lookt unto betimes) will turn to slightiness of spi­rit, one of the most dangerous frames. Trifle not with ordinances. Be much in meditation and prayer. Wait diligently on all hearing opportunities. We had need of doctrine, reproof, exhortation, conso­lation, as the tender herbs and the grass hath of the rain, the dew, the small rain, and the showers. Do all thou dost as soul-work, as unto Christ. As immediately dealing with Christ Jesus, as if he were looking on thee, and thou on him, & fetch all thy strength from him.

Observe what holy motions you find in your soul to duties. Prize the least motion that is from a sight of Christ, the least good thought thou hast of Christ, the least good word thou speakest of them, sincerely from the heart, is rich mercy, O bless God from it. Observe of every day you have the day-spring from on high (with his morning dews of mourning for Sin) constantly visiting, the bright morning-star (with fresh influences of grace and peace) constantly arising, and Christ sweetly gree­ting the soul in all duties. What duty makes not more spiritual, will make more carnal, what doth not quicken and humble, will deaden and harden,

Judas may have the Sop, the outward privilege of baptism, supper, church-fellowship, &c. But [Page 21] John lean'd on Christ's bosom. That's the gospel ordinance posture, in which we should pray, and hear, and perform all duties. Nothing but lying in that bosom, will dissolve hardness of heart, & make thee to mourn kindly for sin, and cure slightiness and ordinariness of spirit,(that gangreen in profes­sion) that will humble indeed, and make the soul cordial to Christ, & sin vile to the soul, yea, trans­form the ugliest piece of hell, into the glory of Christ. Never think thou art right as thou should be, a christian of any glorious attainment, until thou come to this, always to see and feel, thyself lying in the bosom of Christ, who is the bosom of of the Father. Come and move the Father for Sights of Christ, and you shall be sure to speed: You can come with no request that pleaseth him better. He gave him out of his own bosom for that very end, to be held up before the eyes of all sinners, as the everlasting monument of his Father's love.

Looking at the natural sun, weakeneth the eye. The more you look at Christ the sun of righteous­ness, the stronger & clearer will the eye of faith be. Look but at Christ, you will love him and live on him. Think on him continually, keep the eye constantly upon Christ's blood, or every blast of temptation will shake you. If you will see sin's sin­fulness, to have it and mourn, do not stand look­ing upon sin, but look upon Christ first, as suffering and satisfying. If you would see your Graces, your sanctifications, do not stand gazing upon them, but look at Christ's righteousness in the first place (see the Son and you see all) then look at your Gra­ces in the second.

[Page 22]When you act faith, what you first look at, that you expect settlement from, and make it the bot­tom of your Hope. Go to Christ in sights of thy sin and misery, not of thy grace & holiness. Have nothing to do with thy graces & sanctification, they will but vail Christ, till thou hast seen Christ first. He that looks upon Christ thro' his graces, is like one that sees the sun in water, which wavereth and moves as the water doth. Look upon Christ only as shining in the firmament of the Father's love and grace, you will not see him but in his own glory which is unspeakable. Pride and unbelief will put you upon seeing somewhat in your self first; but faith will have to do with none but Christ, who is unexpressibly glorious, and must swallow up thy sanctification, as well as thy sin; for God made him both for us, and we must make him both. He that sets up his sanctification to look at, to comfort him, he sets up the greatest idol which will streng­then his doubts & fears. Do but look off Christ, and presently (like Peter) you sin.

A christian never wants comfort but by break­ing the order and method of the gospel, looking on his own, and looking off Christ's perfect righ­teousness, which is to chuse to live rather by candle light, than by the light of the sun. The honey that you suck from your own righteousness, will turn in­to to perfect gall, & the light that you take from that to walk in, will turn into black night upon the soul. Satan is tempting thee by putting thee to plod about thy own graces, to get comfort from them, then the Father comes, & points thee to Christ's grace, as rich and glorious, infinitely pleasing him, & bids thee stu­dy [Page 23] Christ's righteousness (and his biddings are ena­blings) that's a blessed motion, a sweet whispering, checking thy unbelief, follow the least hint, close with much prayer, prize it as an unvaluable jewel: It's an earnest of more to come. Again, if you would pray & [...], & so are discouraged, see Christ pray­ing for you, using his interest with the Father for you. What can you want? If you be trobled, see Christ your peace, leaving you peace, when he went up to heaven, again & again charging you not to be trou­bled, no not in the least si [...]fully troubled, so as to ob­struct thy comfort, or thy believing. Her is now up­on the throne, having spoiled upon his cross, in the lowest state of his humiliation, all whatsoever can hurt or annoy thee. He hath born all thy sins, sor­rows, fears, disgraces, sicknesses, troubles, temptati­ons, & is gone to prepare mansions for thee. Thou who hast seen Christ all, & self nothing, who makes Christ thy life, & art dead to all righteousness be­sides, thou art the christian who hath found favour with God. Favorite of heaven, do Christ this fa­vour for all his love, love his saints and churches, the meanest, the weakest, notwithstanding differ­ence in judgment, they are engraven on his heart, as the names of the children of Israel, on Aaron's breast-plate. Let them be so on thine. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper that love her.