September 1

He which testifieth these things, saith, Surely, I come quickly. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus.—Revelation 22:20.

O ALL you that are true believers, lift up your heads with hope and joy, for your final deliverance draweth nigh. Death is coming, and quickly after, Christ is coming: one will begin, and the other perfect, your full deliverance, and put an end to these complaints.

And remember, that though death hath somewhat in it, which to nature is terrible, yet what is there in the second coming of Christ, that should seem unwelcome to you? You shall not meet an enemy, but a friend; your surest and your greatest friend; one that hath done more for you than all the world hath done; and one that is ready now to do much more, and show his love and friendship to the height. One that will be then your surest friend, when all the world shall cast you off. You go not to be condemned, but to be openly justified, yea, honored before all the world, and sentenced to endless glory. You go not to be numbered with the enemies of holiness, or with the slothful and unprofitable servants; but to be perfectly incorporated into the heavenly society, and to see the glorified faces of Enoch, Moses, and Elias; of Peter, and John, and Paul, and Timothy, and all the saints, that ever you knew, or whose writings you have ever read, or whose names you ever heard of, and millions more. You go to be better acquainted with those angels that rejoiced at your repentance, and that ministered for your good, and that bore you in their hands, and were your continual guard both night and day. You go to join in concert with all these, in those seraphic praises which are sounded forth continually through all the intellectual world, in the greatest fervors of perfect love, and the constant raptures of perfect joy, in the fullest intuition of the glory of the Eternal God and the glorified humanity of your Redeemer, and the glory of the celestial world and society, and under the streams of infinite life, and light, and love, poured forth upon you to feed all this, to all eternity. And all this in so near and sweet a union with the glorified ones, who are the body and spouse of Christ, that it shall be all as one praise, one love, one joy in all.

O for a more lively and quick-sighted faith, to foresee this day in some measure as affectingly as we shall then see it! Alas! my Lord, is this dark prospect all that I must here hope for? Is this dull, and dreaming, and amazing apprehension, all that I shall reach to here? Is this senseless, this despondent mind, these drowsy desires, the best that I must here employ in the contemplation of so high a glory? Must I come in such a sleepy state to God, and go as in a dream to the beatifical vision? I am ashamed and confounded to find my soul, alas, so dark, so dead, so low, so unsuitable to such a day and state, even whilst I am daily looking towards it, and whilst I am daily talking of it, and persuading others to higher apprehensions than I can reach myself; and even whilst I am writing of it, and attempting to draw a map of heaven, for the consolation of my self and fellow-believers. Thou hast convinced my reason of the truth of the predictions, and of the certain futurity of that glorious day: and yet, how little do my affections stir! and how unanswerable are my joys, and my desires, to those convictions! When the light of my understanding should cure the deadness of my heart, alas, this deadness rather extinguisheth that light, and cherisheth temptations to unbelief; and my faith, and reason, and knowledge, are as it were asleep, and useless, for want of that life which should awaken them unto exercise and use. Awakened reason serveth faith, and is always on thy side: but sleepy reason in the gleams of prosperity, is ready to give place to flesh and fancy, and hath a thousand distracted, incoherent dreams. O now reveal thy power, thy truth, thy love, and goodness effectually to my soul, and then I shall wait with love and longing for the revelation of thy glory. Thy inward, heavenly, powerful light, is kin to the glorious brightness of thy coming; and will show me that which books and talk only, without thy Spirit, can not show. Thy kingdom in me, and my daily faithful subjection to thy government here, must prepare me for the glorious, endless kingdom. If now thou wouldst pour out thy love upon my soul, it would flame up towards thee, and think with daily pleasure on that day: and my perfect love would cast out that fear, which maketh the thoughts of thy coming to be a torment. O meet me now when my soul doth seek thee, and secretly cry after thee; that I may know thou wilt meet me with love and pity at the last. O turn not now thine ears from my requests; for if thou receive me not now as thy humble suppliant, how shall I hope that thou wilt receive me then, when the door is shut, and the seeking and finding time is past? If thou cast me out of thy presence now, and turn away thy face from my soul and my supplication, as a loathed thing, how can I expect thy smiles, or the vital embracements of thy glorifying love? or to be owned by thee before all the world, with that cordial and consolatory justification, which may keep my conscience from becoming my hell? If thou permit my flesh and sense to conquer my faith, and to turn away my love and desire from thee; how shall I then expect that joy, that heaven, which consisteth in thy love: and if thou suffer this unsteadfast heart to depart from thee now, will it not be the forerunner of that dreadful doom, "Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity, I know you not:" and if for the love of transitory vanity, I now deny thee, what can I then expect but to be finally denied by thee? Come, Lord, and dwell by thy Spirit in my soul, that I may have something in me to take my part, and may know that I shall dwell with thee for ever: if now thou wilt make me thy temple and habitation, and wilt dwell by faith and love within me; I shall know thee by more than the hearing of the ear, and thy last appearing will be less terrible to my thoughts. Thou wilt be health to my soul, when my body lieth languishing in pain: and when flesh and heart fail, my failing heart will find reviving strength in thee: and when the portion of worldlings is spent, I shall find thee a never-ending portion. Why shouldst thou come down from heaven to earth in the days of thy voluntary humiliation, but to bring down grace to dwell where God himself hath dwelt? If the Eternal Word will dwell in flesh, the Eternal Spirit will not disdain it, whose dwelling is not by so close a union, but by sweet, inexpressible inoperations: this world hath had the pledge of thy bodily presence, when thou broughtest life and immortality to light; O let my dark and fearful soul have the pledge of thy illuminating, quickening, comforting Spirit, that life and immortality may be begun within me! Thy word of promise is certain in itself; but knowing our weakness, thou wilt give us more: thy seal, thy pledge, thy earnest, will not only confirm my faith, as settling my doubting mind; but it will also draw up my love and desire, as suited to my intellectual appetite; and will be a true foretaste of heaven. How oft have I gazed in the glass, and yet overlooked, or not been taken with, the beauty of thy face! But one drop of thy love, if it fall into my soul, will fill it with the most fragrant and delectable odor, and will be its life, and joy, and vigor. I shall never know effectually what heaven is, till I know what it is to love thee, and to be beloved by thee, for what but love will tell me what a life of love is? If I could love thee more ardently, more absolutely, more operatively, I should quickly know and feel thy love. And O, when I shall know that prosperous life, and live in the delicious entertainments of thy love, and in the sweet and vigorous exercise of mine, then shall I know the nature of heaven, the wisdom of believers, and the happiness of enjoyers! And then foretaste will do more than foresight alone, and will make me love the day of thy appearing, and long to see thy glorious love. Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly. Amen.