lxviii APPENDIX TO MEMOIR.
by and stand by this in the great day of account. Do not make any authority that stands in opposition to the authority of Christ a rule to walk by, for who dare Btand by this before Jesus Christ? Ah ! sirs, walk by no rule but what you dare die by, and stand by at the great day.
Leg. 27. And lastly, sit down and rejoice with fear: Ps. ii., 'Let the righteous njoicr, hut let them rejoice with fear.' Rejoice, that God hath done your souis good by the everlasting gospel ; that he did not leave you till he brought you to an acceptance of, to a closing with, and a resignation of, your souls to Christ, and the clearing up of your interest in him. Rejoice, that you have had the everlasting gospel in so much light, purity, power, and glory, as you have had for many years together. Rejoice in the riches of grace that hath carried it in such a way towards you. And weep, that you have provoked God to take away the gospel, that you have no more improved it; that you have so neglected the seasons and opportunities of enriching your souls. When you should have come to church-fellowship, anything would turn you out of the way. Oh ! sit down and tremble under your barrenness, under all your leanness. Notwithstanding all the cost and charge that God hath been at, that you have grown no more into communion with God, and conformity to God, and into the lively hope of the everlasting fruition of God. Here are your legacies, and the Lord make them to work in your souls, and then they will be of singular use to you, to preserve you so that you may give up your account before the great and glorious God with joy. Labour to make conscience of putting these legacies into practice, of sucking at these breasts, which will be of use to us, till we shall be gathered up into the fruition of God, where we shall need no more ordi- nances, no more preaching or praying.
C. — Introductory ' Epistles.' See ante page xxxiii.
I. ' The Gospel Treasury Opened, or the holiest of all unveiling ; discover- ing yet more the riches of grace and glory to the vessels of mercy. Unto whom only it is given to know the mysteries of that kingdom and the excellency of Spirit, Power, Truth, above Letters, Forms, Shadows. In several Sermons, preached at Kensington and elsewhere,' by John Everard, D.D., deceased. 1679. (2d edition, ' very much enlarged'). 12mo. The following Epistle, en- titled ' An Approbation,' is by Brooks, though good Matthew Barker adds his name also.
' The Publisher of this book is desirous that it might pass with some testi- monial into the world ; but it needs not testimony from man ; for I find it impressed with such a divine image, and bearing such clear lineaments of heaven-born truths as testify it to be of God ; and therefore strongly bespeaks us to receive it, as into our houses, so chiefly into our hearts. I dare assure thee, Reader, if thou hast received a spiritual relish, thou shalt taste much sweetness in it; and if thou canst rejoice to be "laid low," and made nothing, that God may be exalted and made " all in all," then shalt thou find here that which will help thy joy. And let me entreat thee, that as thou readest the book, to read also thine own heart ; and by this thou mayest come to find thine heart in the book, and the book in thine heart, and [this] will make thee fall upon thy face with that idiot, and worship God and report, " God is in this word of a truth," 1 Cor. xiv. 25. Some are casting off the letter of
APPENDIX TO MEMOIR. lxix
the Scriptures, others resting in it ; some are despising ordinances, others are overvaluing them. I find the author walking warily betwixt both ; giving due honour to the letter and to the form, while he is exalting the power and the Spirit incomparably above both ; and thou shalt find him laying the axe of truth and the edge of the Spirit close to that cursed root of self-approbation in man, which is daily bringing forth such bitter fruits in his heart, in his life, and in the world ; and yet remains unseen and untouched in the hearts of many that would be thought to be arrived at the brink of perfection, while they scarce understand wherein the great imperfection of the natural man doth lie.
Some expressions in thy reading may seem harsh or obscure to thee, as they did to me ; but read it over and over with prayer, strongly desirous to be taught of God; and in reading be not weary, but blow and take breath, and at it again : and thou, comparing one place with another, wilt clearly see what the author means, and shalt find his whole discourse to have a sacred tendency to lay man low, and so to put him into a rich capacity of coming in to the nearest fellowship with God. So that while some seek to build up themselves upon the deceitful foundation of corrupted nature, and struggle, though in vain, in the light and power of it, to advance towards perfection ; he is planting his spiritual artillery against it, to throw it into the dust, so that man may come to be surely rooted and bottomed upon the righteousness, power, and wisdom of Jesus Christ ; which is the only foundation that God hath laid, and the gospel revealed.
And in some things thou must give him a latitude to his judgment, as thou desirest by thine own in others. If thou findest some truths delivered and enforced with re-iterated expressions; consider they were delivered for the most part in several congregations ; so that in some particulars the same things may be reinforced, but yet with more lustre, to make truth more clear. Thou hast them as they were preached and pressed in sermons to the capacity and con- science of his auditors, and taken from his mouth by a Notary ; yet afterwards owned and approved by himself, he desiring to peruse them, they lying with him three or four months, and compared with his own notes. Read, consider, and try « and hold fast that which is good.' Tho. Brooks.
March 26, 1653. M. Barker.
II. ' Altum Silentium, or Silence the Duty of Saints. By John Durant, 12mo. 1659.
To the Reader. — Christian Friend, — The book of Job (saith Augustine) is the afflicted man's Scripture ; and I may say this little book is the afflicted man's duty. A little pearl may be of great price ; and such is this little treatise that now is put into thy hand.