34 Gold sion. me from the leafs to thegreatefl ; you little ones and young ones, if God pleafe ro bring you to Chrift, and pardon your fin, a glorious light (hall come into your fouls: God will Phew himfelf irk a glorious manner to you, there fhall be another manner of light íhine intoyour hearts than ever before ; the myfi:eries of God will be opened to you , and you fhall underftand more than many of your fathers, who have not had this mercy to be rightly acquainted with the Juftification ofa (inner ; and there- fore you young ones,that much deftre knowledge, the main thing to be acquainted with,' is this great Doftrine ofJuftification and pardon of fin ; as Luther faid,Thres things, Prayer, Meditation andTemptationsmalq a Divine ; fo I fay, the right knowledge. of Juftificationmakes a Chriftian, and they that have not aclear knowledge in this point, do but bungle and are extream weak in all o + her points ofReligion ; but when once the foul comes to be juftified,what a glorious light is let into the foul, as you all know, that have been made partakers of this grace ? And you young ones,you may come tohave finpardoned as well as others,. and to have the knowledge of the myfteries of God revealed un- to you, i oh.2. i2.compared with the i 3. I write unto you little Children,becaufe your fias are forgivenfor his Namefake; even little children, I write to you, your fins are forgiven : oh it is a happy thing for young children to have faith wrought in them, and to have their fins forgiven them betimes! and then in ver. i 3. I write unto you little Children, becaufe you have known the Father; Oh what an admirable light fprings up in the fouls of little Children when their fins.are pardoned ! they come to the knowledge of the Father : and this is the reafon .why many great and learned men , that are men of excel- lent underftanding in the knowledge of natural things, are not acquainted with the myfteries of godlinefs, and think but meanly of them ; 'marvel not at it , for the know- ledge of the myfteries of godlinefs , comes in by pardon of fin ; when God pardons fin and ;unifies a foul by faith in Chrift , then God opens the Covenant , and all the glori- ous myfteries of it to fuch a foul : A Prince reveals not the fecrets of State to a Traytor that lyes tinder bolts and chains ; but if a Prince pleafe to pardon him, and knock off his
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