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upon the abolition of all other types and shadows; it is said, At that time they shall call Jerusalem [meaning the spiritual city and people of God] the throne of JEHOVAH; and all nations [Gentiles as well as Jews] shall be gathered unto it-But I said, how shall I put thee [the heathen] among the children, and give thee the land of desire, and the heritage of glory, O hosts of the nations! And he said, Thou shalt call me, MY FATHER; and thou shalt not turn away from after me.* So, in the consum-mation of all things, the temple of God will be opened in heaven, and there will be seen in his temple the ark of his testament; that is, the completion of the church of God in glory, as his own habitation through the Spirit.† The Lord raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill [and such are all his people, and such their condition, by nature] to set them among princes, and to make them inherit [to give them the right of heirship to] the throne of glory. And above the firmament, that was over their heads, was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a sapphire-stone, and upon the likeness of the throne was the likeness as the appearance of a man [Christ] above upon it.§ Thy throne, O God, [Christ] is for ever and ever: a sceptre of rectitude, or making right, is the sceptre of thy kingdom.|| What are these, who are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they? And I said unto him, my Lord, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they, who came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and

* Jer. iii. 16-19 ↑ Rev. xi. 19.
§ Ezek, i, 26.
Ps. xlv. 6,

1 Sam. ii. 8.

Heb. i. 8.

made

made them white in the blood of the Lamb. Therefore are they before the throne of God, and worship him day and night in his temple; and he, that sitteth upon the throne, shall dwell, or tabernacle, among them.* To him, that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne. And he showed me the pure river of water of life, clear as crystal [the emblem of the Holy Spirit] proceeding out of the throne of God and of the Lamb. That is; he was showed the consummation of the work and glory of the three persons in Jehovah, concerning their covenant of redemption. To this same purpose Ezekiel, chap, xlvii. The waters issued from under the door of the house, V, I. The Spirit came from Christ and by him to his people. And it shall be, that every living soul, which moveth, for every one of whom the river shall come there, shall live: and there shall be a very great multitude of fish, because these waters shall come thither ; for they shall be healed, and every one shall live whither the river cometh. The Spirit of God quickens the souls of his people, and was given for that end; and these shall be a very great multitude, according to Luke v. 6-10. And it shall be, that the fishers shall stand upon it [the ministers of the word shall stand by or in the Spirit of the word] from En-gedi even to En-eglaim [from the fountain of the kid to the fountain of the calves, i. e. from conducting sinners to the sacrifice for sin and its consequent pardon, to the sacrifice of thanksgivings and its effects in the communion of joy] there shall be a

*Rev. vii. 13.-15.

Rev. ii. 21.

Rev. xxii. 1.

spreading

spreading forth of nets [a great promulgation of the gospel] their fish shall be according to its kind, or of every kind [some of all nations] as the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the miry places thereof [the wicked, who cast out mire and dirt] and the marshy places thereof [the carnal professor, who stagnates under the living water] shall not be healed; they shall be given to salt, or the curse. And upon the river, upon the banks thereof, shall rise up hither and thither every tree for food: its leaf shall not fade, neither shall its fruit fail: it shall bring forth its first-fruits for its months [fruit shall continually be renewed for the divine praise] because its waters, even they, sprang from out of the sanctuary; and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaf for medicine.-So CHRIST himself: the GLORY, which thou gavest me, I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one. I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect, or be consummated, in one. Father, I will, that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory.*-We all (says the apostle) with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Lord the Spirit.t-To Christ coming, as unto a living stone-ye also as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house. In Christ all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; IN WHOM ye also are builded together for an HABITATION of GOD through the SPIRIT.§

* John xvii. 22, &c.

+ 2 Cor. iii. 18. † 1 Pet. ii. 4, 5. § Eph. ii, 21, 22.

My

My Christian brethren, ye see your calling, and the end of it. The calling is of God, in its design and execution; and the end of it is your happiness and complete salvation. You must have seen, that ALL IS OF GRACE to you, from its origin or beginning, flowing through every means for accomplishing the divine and benevolent purpose, to its perfect consummation in the realms of glory. Hence it is, that the names and titles, given by God himself to the heirs of promise, are almost all of a passive kind, that the activity, and consequently the boasting, of man, in the procurement of this wonderful blessing, might be wholly excluded.* The law of faith, wherever it prevails, necessarily and invariably excludes this; because faith is that grace and gift of God to the soul, which teaches and enables it to look out of itself for every good to another, even to HIM, who says to all his people; without me ye can do nothing. But if it were of works, as the Spirit of God by the apostle intimates, it would be quite otherwise; for, in that case, man would have whereof to boast, and might plead wonderful things in behalf, or as the effect, of his own activity. It is true: that a real believer is active, and privileged to be so above all other men, who talk and do not,, nor can find it in their hearts to do any thing "as God wills it to be done;" but the spirit of the activity is none of his own: it is the agency of God upon him, making him, first, willing to work, and, then, working in him to accomplish all according to his own good pleasure, and to the praise of the glory of his own grace by Christ Jesus. This is

Rom. iii, 27,

a very different mode of action, both in principle and design, and leads to very different consequences. Every experienced Christian feels the power of this truth; and none other can rightly understand it.

A worldly man, indeed, like a mole or bat, or some short-sighted animal, sees no objects or prospects of welfare, but such as apply immediately to bodily sense; but the real Christian, elevated on the sublimity of divine truth, looks by faith, as through an unerring telescope, over the low and narrow bounds of earth and time, beholds the everlasting hills of that land which is very far off, and contemplates with joy the unalienable inheritance, which is there secured to him, by the love and power of his heavenly Father.

For the edification and comfort of his redeemed brethren, and for an humble testimony from himself to the truths of God, the author, in hours of retired leisure, composed these essays, and hath ventured them into the world. He hath also endeavoured to be a faithful witness, and is so far confident of the reality of those things, which he has submitted, that, he hopes, he can say without presumption, That they are powerful principles by which he now lives in hope and peace, and joyful evidences on which, through mercy, he trusts at last to lay down his head and die. If God's word be true and there be any meaning in it, he fears no disappointment; but is firmly persuaded, that the great points of salvation, which he hath been labouring to explain and enforce upon others, shall be finally and eternally obtained by himself, though less than the least of all God's mercies, and utterly unworthy of any of them.

He

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