fear; and there the glories of Immanuel enlighten the unbounded extent of paradise. My dear Elisha, in a little you would not know your aged friend Elijah! Now I am wrinkled with age and sorrow, as you know I have been jealous for the honour of my God, who is now about to translate me to his ineffa'ble glory; but then a smile, known to none but the inhabitants of bliss, shall sit down on my countenance for eternity, and make my face shine as an angel of God. O the hidden treasures of eternity, that glorified saints possess! O the vastness of that glory which eye hath not seen, ear hath not heard, nor the heart of man conceived, that waits to be revealed! I stand on the borders of the heavenly Canaan, on the confines of eternity, and glance at all that glory which in a little shall be mine. With transport I shall enter his temple, where every one eternally talks of his glory. I pant for the approaching opportunity to prostrate myself before the highest throne, wholly dissolved in love. Let the hour shorten into a minute, the minute into a moment, and the moment be no more!-It is done! The heavens divide, the fiery chariot, quick as lightning, rolls:-My blessing on Israel, on Zion, on thee, my dear Elisha.-Welcome, my only Lord God:-Heaven opens round about me, glory overflows me, and the transforming beams infold and bear me hence to everlasting day.

Elisha. "My father, my father, the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof!"

MEDITATION CIV.

THE COMPANY OF THE WICKED CORRUPTS.

June 19, 1759.

UNDER the law he was polluted who did touch

any dead carcass, or even his bed who had a running sore, and was to wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the even. Now, if thus that which only represented sin defiled under the ceremonial law, how must sin itself, the source of all uncleanness, every where defile! Alas! I have reason to fear, that its pollution be more permanent than for a day. And as he who was every whit sound himself was rendered unclean, if he had but touched, though unawares, the bed whereon he who had the running issue lay; so am I defiled, not only by sin rising in mine own breast, but by hearing and seeing the sin of others. For the corruption of my nature is so great, that I am ready to catch the contagion; and if I do not detest, hate, and abhor it, as I should, then am I polluted by it.

How pernicious, then, the presence of the ungodly! How are these spiritual, these greatest fools to be avoided, whose companions are sure to be destroyed! How gloomy that company, and how disagreeable to enter into it, where God never comes, where his glory never shines! Surely grace rather needs oil to support its flame, than water to extinguish its fire; but water is all I can expect from the wicked. O! miserable man, who hast no other to walk with thee by day, no other to talk with by night, none else to deal with abroad, or to discourse with at home! Yet, out of the world we must go, unless we have inter

course with the men of the world. Let that, however, be only in the common affairs of life, let it be dispatched with little expense of precious time, and without contracting an intimate acquaintance with them, unless in view of doing good to their immortal souls; and still, may the saints, the excellent ones of the earth, be the chosen companions of my life.

Hitherto, alas! I have been ignorant of my danger; for the wicked are ever casting arrows, firebrands, and death, in their sporting with religion, and trifling with a world to come, and among such madmen must I not be wounded? Hence, let me every day, that the filth may not cleave to me, bathe myself in the righteousness of the Son of God by faith; and purge my daily walk (which, like the flesh under the law, is apt to receive the infection) by sincere repentance; that, at the evening of my life, I may not lie down polluted in the grave, and rise in the morning of eternity with the putrefaction of sin.

MEDITATION CV.

TO ESCAPE WRATH SHOULD SILENCE UNDER ALL

AFFLICTIONS.

June 20, 1759.

WHEN I revolve a thought or two in my mind, I

wonder that ever I can have a downcast countenance for all that can befal me in the world. To be delivered from wrath, and destined to glory, is a composing, a silencing thought. When I have the toothach but for one night, and keep tossing and tumbling from side to side with the excruciating pain, how

long the night appears! But what, then, must the everlasting night of wrath be, that eternity of wo? Had I a due sense of divine vengeance, I should think myself happy in the midst of my bitterest afflictions, if I might entertain the sweet hopes of being delivered from the wrath to come. Dare I, then, complain of the chastisement of a Father, who have made myself obnoxious to the irrevocable sentence of an angry Judge? Am I displeased that in providence he sits as a refiner, when in justice he might be a consuming fire to me? Can I cry out of passing through the fire and water of affliction, when he might set me up for his mark, cause his arrows to enter into my soul, and the poison thereof to drink up my spirits through eternity? Should I complain of trouble and pain, who deserve to be tormented day and night for ever and ever? Dare I be disconsolate under the loss of relations, who might have been chained through all ages with the fraternity of devils, with whom I had joined in rebellion against God? Alas! what shall I

say

y? I own that I cannot condemn myself according to my guilt. What can come upon me that I can complain of, when delivered from the wrath to come? Could I look into the burning lake, and see the tortures of the damned, how should I bless the most miserable condition of the world, and embrace the bitterest afflictions, if sweetened with the hopes of escaping that place of torment?. But, if faith, divinely bold, on solid grounds, can even refuse to quit with her claim to the heavenly inheritance, what in the world can make me miserable? To be delivered from everlasting flames, should afford me a lasting joy in the midst of every sorrow. Has Jehovah dealt so kindly with my eternal duration, and will I, dare I for very

shame, quarrel with his conduct of my few moments of time? The griefs that vex are short lived, but the anguish he has rescued me from is everlasting. Under all my temporal adversities, it should make me silent, that I shall not roar out under his avenging hand for ever. And it should turn my murmurings here into a song, that I shall not howl hereafter. He that escapes out of his house when on fire, will not much mind stumbling on a stone in his flight, so, if I escape the wrath to come, no matter though my way lie over thorns of trouble, and briers of adversity. The soul that is delivered from the pit of corruption, should with pleasure walk the rough way of affliction towards the paradise of God. Moreover, he that brings out of hell, and bears to heaven, cannot but bless by the way; he can even bless with crosses (flesh and blood cannot believe this) benefit with adversities, enrich with losses, and nourish with disappointment and pain. Therefore will I, without reserve, roll over on him the transient moments of my life, to be distributed as he pleases, since he hath rendered my eternity happy, that passeth not away.

MEDITATION CVI.

ADOPTION.

Under sail, June 23, 1759.

EVERY true Christian is a free-man; and while

the rest of the world are very slaves, the saints are kings and priests to God and the Lamb. They are all sons of the Highest, and no relation comes up to that of sonship; for though the servant may remain