until it comes to thy knees; then thou wilt not stagger at the promise through unbelief; for it strengthens the weak hands, and confirms the feeble knees. It will spring up to thy loins: when the loins of our mind are strengthened by the Spirit's might, and we are renewed in the spirit of our minds by him, then Christ becomes our meditation day and night; our minds are in heaven, and we are strengthened to bear the cross: and it will spring up into eternity, and carry us into the fountain of living waters from whence it came; and there we may swim in the river of pleasure; but eternity is a river that we can never swim over, Ezek. xlvii. 1-6. And thus the Holy Ghost is called water, because he purifies and refreshes; oil, because he supples, heals, and burns; may God wash and anoint my son more and more, Ezek. xvi. 9.

If this water be in thee, then men of understanding will draw it out, Prov. xviii. 4. If thy heart be established with grace, thou wilt be a good steward of the manifold grace of God, 1 Pet. iv. 10. If this anointing be upon thee, thou wilt anoint others in the name of the Lord, James v. 14. If the quickening word and Spirit rest on thy soul, thou wilt hold forth to others the word of life, Phil. ii. 16. If thou art satisfied with the breasts of consolation, thou wilt be a son of consolation, and comfort others with that comfort with which thou art comforted of God, 2 Cor. i. 4. If the Holy Ghost hath made thee free, thou mayest

preach liberty to others without being a servant of corruption, 2 Peter ii. 19. A man must be born again, before he can be a minister of the Spirit ; he must have the hidden treasure in his earthen vessel, before he can bring good treasure out of the heart; he must feel the motions of the Spirit, before he can be said to speak as he is moved by the Holy Ghost, 2 Peter i. 21; he must be a partaker of the fruits, before he can be a keeper of the vineyard, 2 Tim. ii. 6: “Consider what I say, and the Lord give thee understanding in all things."

Pardon my honest dealing with thee; it is an awful thing to be an instrument without spiritual life, giving uncertain sound. A lamp without oil is the law of Moses; and this, attended with a blind zeal and pharisaic pride, makes a false preacher like him who is transformed into an angel of light. A false dauber, without establishing, cementing grace, will sink the deepest under the greatest of ruins, Luke vi. 49. A mystical cloud, without rain, only obscures the Sun of Righteousness. A well without water only aggravates the soul's thirst. Believe me, there is a false zeal, Rom. x. 2; a false gift, Prov. xxv. 14; a false light, Luke xi. 35; a false spirit, Micah ii. 11; a false minister, 2 Cor. xi. 13; a false flock of professors, 2 Cor. xi. 26; a false Christ, Matt. xxiv. 24; and a false God, 2 Thess. ii. 4. Let not what I have said discourage my son: no; I have complied with thy request as far as I have gone; I have written it just as it came

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flowing on my mind; it may shake thy confidence, but thou wilt only root the deeper: I know Christ will heal thine ear again, if I have cut it. The sword of the Spirit never gives a mortal or a deadly wound to a living soul.

Thou mayest perhaps see in these letters, as in glass, many false preachers, when I am dead and gone; but I am persuaded better things of you, though I thus write; and things that accompany salvation. I have never been permitted from the first to entertain a single doubt of thy interest in Christ Jesus; I am exceeding glad to think God has given me a hope of seeing two of my own sons in the faith appearing in the vineyard of Christ, before I go hence and be no more seen. O! tread in the steps of thy father, my son; go forth in a plain unaffected way. It has vexed my very soul when I have seen poor men, of low rank, in powdered hair, silk breeches, popish robes, long bands, cramp words, affected actions, wanton eyes, and borrowed matter: attended by a company of light, frothy, dressy professors, as void of humbling grace as the devil is of hope. It is such who creep into houses, and lead captive silly women; "led away with divers lusts; ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth."

I desire thee to go once a week to those poor souls at G. and I will pay thee for thy time when I come down; deny not this my request, and look for no instruction to be effectual but the teaching of the Holy Ghost, 1 Cor. ii. 13. Gospel ministers,

poor

fitted by carnal inventions, are just as useful as the prophets' sons we read of, 2 Kings ii. 16; fifty of whom had got strength enough at the schools to catch the prophet Elijah, if the Holy Ghost should let him slip, or the flaming equipage break down on the airy road. Surely a chariot paved with everlasting love, covered with atoning blood, axletreed with Omnipotence, and conveyed on the wheels of eternal election, is strong enough to carry a soul to Abraham's bosom, without the pliable spring of an arm of flesh. Elisha the ploughman, who was but a few days old in grace, blushed at their carnal offer; and if he were here, we should make him blush again, for we have many strong men. Some are for steadying the ark with pharisaical conformity, lest the rough paths of tribulation shake it too much; and others are holding out the arm of free-will, as if it were omnipotent, to catch at those, who by riding too high in the chariot of unconditional and eternal salvation, are in danger of getting overthrown: how beit, no such passengers have ever yet been beholden to any of these proud helpers; and I am sure they never will.

And now may the ever-blessed Spirit of all holy unity unite our souls to Christ, and to each other; that he may be to us as the precious ointment on the head, even Aaron's head, which ran down to his beard, and went even to the skirts of his clothing, as the blessed dew of Hermon, which fell on the chosen mountain of Zion; where God

commanded the best of blessings, even the Spirit of life for evermore, Psalm cxxxii. Amen, and amen, says thy affectionate father in the unalterable bond of everlasting love,

LETTER VII.

W. H.

Winchester Row.

Dear Brother in Christ,

YOURS

OURS I received, and am glad the fan has been among you; the floor is now purged, and the hypocrites are gone. Let them go; he that has the most chaff, has got the worst heap. That man who sweeps God's house, and runs away with the uncircumcised and the unclean, gives great room to suspect that he is a minister after the order of Satan; because God uses him as a fan, and his errors as a wind, to purge his floor, and blow away the chaff. If God is with thee, they that are of God will hear thee; but they that are of the world, will hear no doctrines but the commandments of men. If your flock is pure, they will know the shepherd's voice; and the purer the doctrine is, the better they will feed upon it. There is no such thing as keeping a herd of hypocrites together, without dealing deceitfully in God's covenant; they must have smooth things