be confounde?l, and never open thy mouth
j%wmm@* 1&7
his a m heart, and to suspect a @are in every stm he. tabs. The dblrlr aad h m o l a t e hours which Fie h& bought trpon hiiself in times past, make him do* prize the light of God's countenance, and teach him to dread whatever might grieve the Spirit af God, and cause him to withdraw again. m repeated "kid mdtiplied pardons whieh he has receivedl;,increase his' &irafion of a& the sense of his obligations to, the rich SOY& wign abou~dhgmercy of the covenant. Much has been forgiven @, therefore he loves mch, and therefdre he knows how ta for ive and pity others. He does not call evifgood or good evil ;but bis own experi. encw teaLch him tenderness and forbearance. He experiences a spirit of meekness tobards those who are overtaken in a fault and his attempts,W WSEWI! such, mwecurdin to the pattern b s d ~w n p *itbiimsa. In a w r d , %'S character, in F judgment, is complete, and he becomes a (T,when the habitual frame of his heart answers to that passage in the prophet Ezekiel, chap. xvi.
63. That thou mayest remember, and be confounde?l, and never open thy mouth
cc any more (to boaot complain, or censure,)
because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards, thee for all that thou bast done,
sdth the Lord God."
Z am, &c.
liS APPENDiX.
, ' C ;or, fhfdCorn in tbe Ear. NarL iv. 28.
Dear Sir, B
Y way of distinction, I assigned tb A
the characteristic of desire, to B that of conjict. I can think of no single word more descriptive of the state of C than contemplation. His eminence, in comparison of A,
does not consist in the sensible warmth and fervency in hi? affections ; in this respect many of the most exemplary believers have looked back with a kind of regret upon the time of their espousals, when, though their judgments were but imperfectly formed, and thew views of gospel truths were very indistinct they felt a fervor of spirit the remembrance of whi'ch is both humbling and refreshing ;and yet tEey cannot recall the same sensations. Nor is he properly distinguished from B by a consciousness of his acceptance in the Beloved, and an ability of calling Cad his fa-
ther ; for this I have supposed B ha's attained to. Though, as there is a growth in every, grace, C having had his views of the gospel, and of the Lord's faithfulness and mercy, confirmed by a longer experience, his assutance is of course more stable and more sippie, than when he first saw himself safe f x a all
condemnation. Neither has C, properly
APWrnI& , 2+9
%4 h IQ% teac46i 1'i& i lesson by a b r a d wriow c&p~~tiwJ"; a& thrwghg1xe he casl say, he has rzot sffired W N i hvain. His heat h deceived him sa den, that he is ROW in a good measure wPif0ed front trust-
ing to it; and therehe he does not meet with ssmany disappointhents. And having
in the va~ityof all other
U 1 to go to the Lord taPeip ip, eye$ tims c@
is not in him&, h* in Begrace that is h Chrh &M.
gut C's happiness and superiority~to B lies chiefly in this, &at+by the Lord's blessjsg on the tjlsa afmea3ls,such as prayer, readiqg a d hearing of the w ~ d , and by a sanctified improvement of what he has seen of the LOB&ancl d his own heart, in the course of his experience, he has attained clearer, deep - ex, and more oomprehensive views d ~xrgsteqof xedeomtng Eom ;of the gb&us
excellency of the Lord Jesus, in his person,
offices, grace, and faithfulness;; of the harmony afid glory of all the divine perfections manifested in and* by him to the church j of the stability, beauty, fulness, a@ certainty of the holy Scriptures, and of the heights, depths, lengths, and breadths of the IOW of God in Christ. Thus though his sensible feelings may not be so warm as when he was in the state of A, his judgment is more solid, his mind more fixed, his thoughts more habkually exerciced upon the things within the vail. His great business is to behold the glory of God in Christ ; and by beholding, he is changed into the ,same image, and brings forth in an eminent and unfonn
manner the fruits of righteousness, which are by Jesus Christ to the glory and praise of
God. His contemplations are not barren speculations, but have a real iafluence, and enable him to exemplify the Jltistian character to more advantage, and with more con-,
sistence, than can in the present state of things be expected either from A nr B. The. following particulars may illustrate meaning. . - s I. Humility. A measure of this grace is to be expected in every true christian ? but it
can only appear in proportion to the knowledge they have of Christ and of theii own hearts. It is a part of C's daily employment
_-________--- ---- ---- m
@W$liy%. 191
~ k c Was by -~&bthe , a:& w%L he %views
the% ov be *b be hmbled ;abut C ib &uly so, and lmk the Corce of &at text which I men, tioned in my last; Ezbk. .nvi. 63. Again, as he know?most of himself, so he has seen most of the Lord. The apprehension of infinite majesty combined with inkiite love makes '&m shrink into ,the dust. From the exercitit?of s s gracehe derives two others, which are exc~dingly mam&ntal, and principal braqohes of the mind which was in Christ. '
The,arre is, submission to tZle willof God. 'Lche views he has cl£ Gsmm vileness, unworthiness, and ign~ratrce,and of the divine s~vereignty, wisdom and lotre, teach him to be content in every staW3 and to bear his appointed lot of wffering with resignation, according to the language of David in time of
41 affliction. I was dumb and opened not my mouth because thou didst it."
192 dcmmn,
~he'otheris, tenderness of spirit towards his fellow Christiafih We cannot but jud e of their cmdort a ~ r d i n g to the mle of &e word. But his own W, and tha knowledge he has d the s ~ & @ of the op6rld, a d tk subtilty of Satan, teach hi to make all due allowances, and qualify him $or admonishing and restoring,& the spirit of m&kness, those who have beeh overtaken in a fault. Here ,4 is usually b+eable ; the warmth pf his zeal, not being duly corrected by a sense of his own impetfectiom, betrays him often into a censorio~spirit. bear with A likewise, becawe he ha?:%:
hindlf, and he will not expect green fruit to
be ripe.
11. .Spirituality. A spiritual taste, a5d a ' disposition to account all things mean and vain, in comparison of the knowledge and bve of God in Christ, arc essential to a true
Christian. The world can never he his prevailing choice ; 1 John ii. 1 3 . .Yet we are renewed but in part, and are prone to an un- - due attachment to worldly things. Our spirits cleave&o the dust, in defiance to the dicrates of our better judgments ;and I believe the Lord seldom gives his people a considerable victory over this evil flincipfe, until he has let them feel how deeply it is roMed in their hearts. We may often see persons en* tangled and clogged m this respect, of whose
'* -.
N~zimw& I S
W t y jn the m& .nre &$hially ups#rrre.str &m in Me, #hioh lraia t-ion they have not been aceaste@e4 t5. Pr considerable part of our n-ials hmercifully appointed to wean us from this propetlsity, and it is gradually weakened by the Lord's shewhg US at one time the M t y of the creits tute, and at another his own cxe3le~ce and ali-sufficiency. Even C is not &dkctin this respect ;but he is more sens"lble of the evil of such attachments, more humbled 'for them, morewatchful agaifist &em, and more deliveied from them. He still feels a fetter, but he loags to be free. His allowed desiws are brought to a point ; and he sees nothing worth a serious thought, but with communion with Gocl and progress in holiness. Whate-
with, *hewill in gene-
He has learned with o sufkr want, but
der lesson) how to abound. A palace would be a prison to him, without the Lord's presence, and with this a prison would be a palace. From hence arises . a peacehi reliance upon the Lord': he h:u nothing which he cannot commit into b,is hands, which he is not babituaHy aiming to resign to his disposal. Therefore he ia not p 9fraicE-o-f evil tid~ngs;but when the hearts of
others shak& like the leaves of a tree, @e is,