her feathers with yellow gold;" yea, we will make you borders of gold, with studs of silver. Come to me, laying stress upon my righteousness, my work of doing and suffering as Mediator, seeing you inay be sure the work was wrought to purpose, and wrought to the Father's pleasure; for, I was not alone therein, because the Father was with me. Come, however guilty you are; for, my righteous Father is with me to justify you by my blood. Come, however filthy you are'; for, my holy Father is with me to sanctify you by his grace. O hear him speaking to you, and saying, Come to me, however poor and needy you are, for my Father's fulness is with me! and my God and Father will supply all your wants, according to his riches in glory by me. Come, however woful and wretched your case is; for, my Father's mercy and faithfulness are with me; and mercy and truth hath met together, and kissed each other in me. Come, however lifeless, graceless, and spiritles you are in yourself, for my Father's Spirit is with me to bestow upon you: from him I have received gifts for men, and graces for men, and for you among the rest. Come, come, for my Father that is with me is saying, that he will not want you; and hath sent me to compel you to come in. O come to me however witless and weak you are in yourself! for my Father's wisdom is with me to guide you; and my Father's power is with me to draw you: with me is the wisdom of God, and the power of God."

"You need not say you cannot, you have not power and ability to come; for, "Once have you heard, yea, twice, that power belongeth only unto God." And if, by a day of power, I have made you but willing, this is my errand on which I am sent to-day, even to reveal my Father's flaming love for firing your frozen hearts : and I want no more, but that your hearts open to let me in, in my own name, as the King of glory; and in my Father's name, the God of glory. "Behold, I stand at the door and knock!" Surely my Spirit, by his motion, is knocking; and I am not alone waiting for you but my loving Father is waiting with me, and waiting to be gracious to you.-Open, open then, ye everlasting

doors, if not for my sake, and your own, yet for my Father's sake that is with me, that the Father may be glorified in the Son; and glorified for ever in

nal salvation by me.'

your eterO let men and angels wonder at the glorious court of attendants waiting on you this day! Is there any here but may blush and be ashamed to slight and neglect such a courtship? What say you then? "Will you go with this man," and get his Father's blessing? He hath said, "No man can come to me, except the Father which hath sent me draw him :" and therefore, that you may be drawn effectually, he that is in the Father's bosom is come to declare the Father, and to touch your iron heart with the drawing load-stone of the Father's infinite and eternal love, saying, "I have loved thee with an everlasting love; and therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee:" there is my Father's strong cord let down to draw you to me; for, "Whosoever hath heard and learned of the Father, cometh to the Son."

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Here then, might he say, further to move you to come to me, My Father, that is with me, is stretching out his loving hands to draw you, and opening his everlasting arms to embrace you; and now, if your heart be drawn toward me, from the view of my Father's love to me, and presence with me, take this for an everlasting cordial to you, that as I am not alone, because the Father is with me; so, in a way of coming to me, and abiding with me, you shall never be alone, but always have the Father with you: "He will never leave you, nor forsake you." Though all the world should turn their backs upon you, and leave you alone, yet you shall not be alone, in any duty you go about, nor in any distress you come under: you shall not be alone at a communion table, my Father will be with. you; you shall not be alone in the hour of temptation, or tribulation, and extremity, my Father will be with you; if not by his comforting presence, yet always by his supporting presence, even as he was with me to the last moment of my sufferings: "He and I both will come to you, and make our abode with you" and, by

the blessed Comforter, whom I will send from the Father, I will put my very words into your heart and mouth: for, seeing I and my Father will never part with one another, nor ever part with you; therefore you shall always have ground to say with me, "I am not alone, because the Father is with me."

A

PART OF THE

DISCOURSE

BEFORE

SERVING THE FIRST TABLE.

WE now go on to the great work of the day, the commemorating the death and sufferings of our glorious Redeemer; in which work he was not alone, because the Father was with him therein; and therefore, the work we are about concerns not only our salvation, but also the glory of God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. Now, these that have no acquaintance with Christ and his Father, can have no right to that communion-table to which Christ welcomes only his friends and acquaintances. Therefore a rail must be put about the table of the Lord, that enemies and strangers to Christ may not adventure to profane that holy ordinance. We therefore debar, exclude, and excommunicate from it, in the Lord's name, all the impenitent breakers of the moral law; and more particularly, &c.*

On the other hand, I do, in the name of the Lord, invite, to the Lord's table, all the friends of Christ, and his spiritual acquaintances. Who are these, say you? Even all true believers, that have the faith of God's presence with Christ in his work and the experience of God's presence with themselves.

* A list of those who stand debarred from the Lord's table is con descended upon in Vol. I.

1. All that have the faith of the Father's being pre sent with Christ in his doing and dying. Have you got ever such a faith of the Son of God as to see and believe that in his redeeming-work he was not alone, but that the Father was with him.

QUEST. How shall I know if I have the true faith of this?

We answer, If you have got the faith of this, it will make the work of redemption, by Christ, to be very great and glorious in your esteem; and make you see, that every thing that Christ did and suffered, had a stamp of God upon it, and something of the glory of God shining in it. The faith of this will be the eye whereby you see the love of God to be the very root of redemption: you will be sometimes admiring the wonderful love of God: that not only sent him on that saving errand, but also came along with him: who therefore says, "He that sent me is with me." The faith of this will make Christ very precious to you: why? Because the Father was always with him. You will see a dignity unspeakable flowing from this, that God was with him, and God was in him; and God is to be found nowhere, in mercy, but with him. The faith of this will make you see that men may be happy, though left alone and deserted of all the world, as long as God is with them; and happy though saints and disciples should leave them alone, because happiness lies not in man's company, but in God's. You will reckon them happy that have God with them, whoever be against them, or away from them: and will reckon yourself at no loss, though you wanted the presence of friends and brethren. If you have God's presence; at least, if want of that sort be bitter, here is what you are sure can sweeten it to you.

2. Christ's friends are these that have experience of his presence with themselves.

QUEST. How shall one know that he hath God's presence, seeing many think they have God with them, when yet they are in a delusion?

I cannot stand, just now, to offer many remarks. Only, with reference to the subject I was treating, inquire

if ever you could say, for your own part, from experience, "I am not alone, for the Father is with me." When father and mother, friends and familiars in a world failed you, was you made to run away to God, and take him for your only true friend, and to take rest to your soul in him; and particularly, to solace yourself in him as a Father, by crying, ABBA, Father; viewing him as the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ as a heavenly Father in Christ; as a holy Father; as a righteous Father; and as a merciful Father in him? Can you tell to your experience, that when your mother's children were angry at you, and perhaps smote you, and wounded you, and the watchmen that went about the city, took away your vail from you; or when with Jacob, you was obliged to leave your kindred, to forget your father's house, and the people that were yours when friends and familiars became your enemies, and former comforts became but heavy crosses to you: when these, or trials of that kind befel you, so as you was, in a manner, left alone, and deserted on all hands, then you have been made to run away to God, and you met with him in Bethel, and there he spoke with you, and you with him: you mind the time and place where he visited you, and made you pour out your heart before him, and run into his bosom for relief; and you found you was not alone, because the Father was with you; and found his company infinitely better than all the friends and familiars in the world; you got such a whaff of his glorious goodness, as made you forget your affliction, and remember your misery no more: and though you have not always the same comfortable presence of God, yet you have this sign of his real presence, that you have ay a kindly remembrance of the Bethel-visit he gave, and a kindly wish, at the bottom of your heart, that he would renew the visit, and see you again, that your heart may rejoice!

O thou child of God! come and share of the children's bread. Hast thou win to lisp after the language of Jesus, and to call God your Father? Is that language become somewhat familiar to you, Father, Father? At least you are helped to it sometimes; as "No man can