covenant; and by the witness of adoption we come to the cry of Abba, Father: this, my beloved, is the life and soul of our profession, and this profession will never cast its leaves, nor cease from yielding fruit; for they are grafted, bound up, joined to, and made one spirit, with the Lord our God, and in God is all our fruit found. And by virtue of our union with him fresh life and heat, support and power, are communicated to us; hence it is that the heart is led to trust in him. for, and hope to expect, all promised help in time of need. The life he gives animates us, encourages us in the fight, strengthens us, and promotes appetite; and as we feed we are more and more satisfied that we shall not perish; and sometimes more than satisfied on this head, and then we are said to be full and abound.

Yours in him,

W. H.

LETTER LXXXI.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS.

To my dearly beloved fellow-soldier and fellow-servant, true yokefellow and companion in tribulation.

THOU art now a living witness that God's fire is in Zion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. God's

eternal choice of us is to be made manifest in the furnace; here God brings us to teach us the use of the sword, the shield, the helmet, and the bow. But the whole armour of God is put on us, and the incorruptible seed is put into us, before we go into this fiery trial. "Every man's work shall be made manifest; for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's work of what sort it is." But of this be assured, that unhallowed fires do not work but under the management of the spirit of judgement, and the spirit of burning; nor yet without the fire of divine love: these latter are both with us in the furnace, or else the vessels must be either wood or earth; and both these would consume in a moment. Nothing but the immortal Spirit, and his incorruptible seed of grace, can stand this furnace. Gold and silver abide the fire, but not wood; and both these take possession of us before the fire is kindled. But the most blessed Comforter, with his innocent dove-like nature, works so calmly as not to be perceptible but by his fruits and effects. He is unmoved, undisturbed, calm, serene, and unconcerned, at all the opposition made against him, having nothing to fear from Satan, nor from all the army of inbred corruption. He keeps his throne in the heart, protects his own temple, and supports and strengthens his own empire, in the midst of all this hurry, bustle, and confusion. And under all this violent oppression of the enemy and the avenger, righte

ousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit, keep working at the bottom; and though at first they are unperceived or invisible to us, yet the holy empire rises up through all this confused chaos, and at last appears in all its lustre, glory, power, and majesty. "Every battle of the warrior is with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood; but this shall be with burning and fuel of fire; for unto us a child is born." When the Holy Ghost enters and conquers the will, the mind, the affections, and the conscience, and bends them to himself, then the war begins; the devil sets all the briers and thorns against him in battle, and he goes through them, and burns them altogether, when grace rises, and reigns triumphant through Jesus Christ unto eternal life. This is the way that the King of Zion obtains his spoils; "I will divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death; and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors;" and all the many whose sins he bore, and for whom he made intercession, he will have; they are his Father's choice in him, and the Father's gift to him, and are the purchase of his own blood, and must be the trophies of his victory. And although they are all fallen off from him, and are fallen under the treble dominion of Satan, sin, and death, yet the prey must be taken from the mighty, the lawful captives must be delivered.

The Saviour mounts the triumphal chariot of his willing people, girds his sword upon his thigh as the most mighty, and goes forth as a mighty man, stirring up jealousy like a man of war, and rides prosperously, dispensing the word of truth, the grace of meekness and righteousness, and discharging his arrows in all directions; which, piercing the hearts of sinners, they fall under him, submit, and yield, to his irresistible artillery, Psal. xlv. 3-5. This wounds the infernal head over divers countries; and as numbers of sinners enlist under Satan's banner against him, he fills the places with the dead bodies of these, by making his word the savour of death unto death; while such as feel the contents of his quiver, yield obedience to him; and obtaining the blessed Spirit of truth, meekness, and righteousness, the council of deep waters rise in their hearts, and words of wisdom, like a flowing brook, issue from their mouths: these libations of praise are poured forth to honour their lawful sovereign and irresistible conqueror; he drinks of this brook in the way, well pleased with the willing captives; and then up his head, and pursues his victories. This, my well-beloved, is the way that this holy and heavenly warfare is carried on. It is on our side faith fights; faith wields her shield, and handles her sword; for even the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, is put into the hand of faith, and we overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony. The Captain of our sal

lifts

vation is always at the head of his forces; he is both a commander and a leader of the people. He leads us forth, and brings us off; he gives strength equal to the day, inspires with fresh courage, animates to fresh vigour, gives hope of better success, makes us renew the attack; he displays the ensign staff, waves the banner of love, and makes us fight or die, resist or give way; and sets both the prize and the blank before us; glory and a crown if we fight, hell and eternal disgrace if we flinch and both these spur us on. God bless thee!

The COALHEAVER.

YOURS

LETTER LXXXIII.

To the Rev. J. JENKINS.

OURS came to hand last night, and I like it well; and doubt not but, through undeserved mercy and the merits of Christ, we shall prevail. Remember what I wrote to you in the winter, when I begged of the Almighty to remove my cough; what energy I found in prayer, and what bondage and misery followed. By terrible things in righteousness will God answer us. This is the dark side; the sun breaks out when this blows over: even to this day, and this morning, I found great liberty for my dearly beloved brother: the