The veryj!a 1 1!es of H ell, Lord, thefury ofthy jufl. wrath,theForchingt ofmy own canfciente; have fo wafted andp~rched mine heart, rhm '"Y th.rft IS m{aaablc, my bowels are hot wtth– in me, my drjire l'j'ter ']rjiu Chrift, pardonandgrau, 1-1 greedy as the_ gra-ve; the coaLs thereofarc co.1ls offire, 1vhich have a moft vehement flame: And, Lord, m thy blef!ed Book_ 1(•. . sS. I. tboucalleH and cncft, Ho, every one that thirfteth, come ye to the waters, In that great J 1 day of the fer<ft, thou ftoodcffand cricdft with thine own mouth; If any man thirft,_let him 010 7 • 31· c:ome ltnto me and drin~; and thefe are thme awn words, Thofe who hunger and rh~rfl after MattH. s~ 6. rightcoufnefle ]hall be filled. . l challenge thee, Lord, in this my cxtrcameft th<rft after · · thine own blcjjed[elf, andfpmtltalltfe 111 thee,_by that Word, and by that Prormfi: 1vhzcb thou haft made, """ thou perf orm, andlnakstt good to me, that lugrovellmg m the_ dltft; and mmblir1g at thyfeet: uh! open now that promifedlVtll of life, for 1muft drmk_or e!Je I die. The means to obtain this defire, are thefe three: r. Be acquain;c<;l throughly with thine own neccffities and wants,with that nothing-' nelfcand emptindfe that is in thy felf;a groundlelfc prefumption makes a man carelelfe; fee into thine own ne cffitics, confelfe the want ofthis defire after the Lord ]efus Chrill. 2 . Labour to fpread forth the excellency of all the beauty and furpaffing glory, that is in the PromiLs of God : Couldll thou but view them in their proper colours, they would even ravi!h thee, and quicken thy deftres. 3· After all this, know it is not in thy power to bring thy heart to deftre Chrilt; thou can![ not hammer out a deftre upon thine own Anvil, dig thy own pit, and hew thy own rock as long as thou wilt ; nay, let all the Angels i!) Hea.ven, and all the Mini!1:ers on Earth provoke thee, yet if the hand of the Lord be wanting, thou !halt not lift up thine heart, nor 11cp one ftep towards Heaven; theri go to him who is able to work this defire in thy foul. It is the complaint of a Chriftian, 0 they are troubled, becaufe they cannot fetch a good dej~re from rheir own fouls, and one falls, another finks, a third fhakcs, and they are overwhelmed with difcouragement: What a wretched heart have I ? (faith one) I grace I No, no, theworld I can defire; the life ofmy childc I longfor; and IJay n-t. .!J Rachcl, L~t me havehon~ur or elfe I die: bJtt I cannot longfor the ltficoncei– vableri'h Icf :he L<rlj,fus ChriH; andwillthe Lordjlwwany mercy upon we? Is it thus? remember now, dejires grow not in thy garden, they fpring not from the root of thy abilities : 0 f_,_k nntoGod, and confelfe, In truth, Lord, it is thoufrom whom come aiL our de fires, it is thott .uttft wor/z.them in u;,M thon haff fromifed them to us; ~Znd therefore, Lord, quickfn thou thisf oul, a;1d inlarge this heart ofmine,for thou onely art the God of this de fire. Th,Js hale down a defire from th<; Lord, and from the Promife, for there Mattfi, u;:o'. onely mull thou have it: The fmoakjng jl~tx God will not quench: flax will not fmoak but a fpark mull come into it, and that will make it catch fire and fmoak; thus lay you: hearts before the Lord, and fay, Good Lord, here is onelyflax, here;s onely a i'fubborn hum, bttt strtkt rhou by the Promife onejpark.from hea'!lcn, that I may have a Jmoakjng dejire afur Chrijl, and aftergrace, Sd. 5. A LDvc of ChriH. W E have run through two affecrions, Hope and Deftre, and the next is Love: Ji. poffible good llirs up Hope; a necclfary excellency in that good, fetlcth Defire; and a r~hfh m that good fetled, kindles Love. Thus is the order of Gods work: If the goodbe abfcnt, the underfl:anding faith, It is to be defired, 0 that 1had it ! then ·it fends out H ope, and that waits for that good, and llayes till it can fee it; and yet ifthat go 0 d cannot come, then Defirehath another proper work,and it goes up and down wandring, and feeketh and fueth for Chrifl: ]cfus. After this, if the Lord J efus be pleafed to come ~unfelf mto the view of the heart, which longeth thus after him, then Love leads him 111to the foul, and tells the Will of him, faying, Lo, here is J efns Chrift the Meffiah, that huth ordered thefegrtat things for his Saints and people, . The Mottve or ground of this Love, is Gods Spirit in·the Promife, lenting in {ome tntu,nattOn of Gods love into the foul; thus Pfal. 42. 8. The Lord IVill command his loving Pial. 4'· ri; kjndnef!e m theday·ttme: Thts 1s a phrafe taken from Kmgs and Princes, and great Commanders· m the field, whofe words of command /land· for Lawes .. fo the Lord· fends out hts lo~ing kjndnefs, and faith, G'o out, my ever/afling love and k]ndnefs, talzr it commijfion from me, andgo to that humble, thtrftj ~tnd hHnger·biuenjirl!1rr, andgo and K pr6jjm· i
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