Reason 6. I have many precious friends in several countries, who are not a little desirous that my pen may reach them, now my voice cannot. I have formerly been, by the help of the mighty God of Jacob, a weak instrument of good to them, and cannot but hope and believe that the Lord will also bless these labours to them ; they being, in part, the fruit of their desires and prayers, &c.
Reason 7. Lastly, Not knowing how soon my glass may be out, and how soon I may be cut off by a hand of death, from all oppor- tunities of doing further service for Christ or your souls in this woiid, I was willing to sow a little handful of spiritual seed among you ; that so, when I put off this earthly tabernacle, my love to you, and that dear remembrance of you, which I have in my soul, may strongly engage your minds and spirits to make this book your companion, and under all external or internal changes, to make use of this heavenly salve, which I hope will, by the blessing of the Lord, be as effectual for the healing of all your wounds, as their looking up to the brazen serpent was effectual to heal theirs that were bit and stung with fiery serpents. I shall leave this book with you as a legacy of my dearest love, desiring the Lord to make it a far greater and sweeter legacy than all those carnal legacies are that are left by the high and mighty ones of the earth to their nearest and dearest relations, &c.
Beloved, I would not have affection carry my pen too much beyond my intention. Therefore, only give me leave to signify my desires for you, and my desires to you, and I shall draw to a close.
My desires for you are, ' That he would grant you, according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the
1 Pirates make the strongest and the hottest opposition against those vessels that are most richly laden. So doth Satan, that arch-pirate, against those truths that have most of God, Christ, and heaven in them.
2 Brooks overlooked the remarkable ' Stratagema1 of Acontius, which, previous to 1 Precious Remedies,' had been translated by no less a man than John Goodwin into English, and by others into almost every European language G.
6 TI1E KPISTLE DEDICATORY.
inner man ; that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, that ye, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ that passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God,' Eph. iii. 1G-19; and 'That ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, being fruitful in every good work, and increased in the knowledge of God, strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long- suffering, with joyfulness,' Col. i. 10, 11 ; 'That ye do no evil,' 2 Cor. xiii. 7 ; ' That your love may abound yet more and more in know- ledge, and in all judgment ;' ' That ye may approve things that are excellent, that ye may be sincere, and without offence till the day of Christ/ Philip, i. 27, iv. 1 ; and that ' our God would count you worthy of this calling, and fulfil all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power;' ' That the name of our Lord Jesus Christ may be glorified in you, and ye in him, according to the grace of our God and the Lord Jesus Christ,' 2 Thes. i. 11, 12. And that you may be eminent in sanctity, sanctity being Zion's glory, Ps. xciii. 5 ; that your hearts may be kept upright, your judgments sound, and your lives unblameable. That as ye are now ' my joy,' so in the day of Christ you may be ' my crown ;' that I may see my labours in your lives ; that your conversation may not be earthly, wheu the things you hear are heavenly ; but that it may be ' as becomes the gospel,' Philip, i. 9, 10. That as the fishes which live in the salt sea yet are fresh, so you, though you live in an uncharitable world, may yet be charitable and loving ; That ye may, like the bee, suck honey out of every flower ; that ye may shine in a sea of troubles, as the pearl shines in the sky, though it grows in the sea ; that in all your trials you may be like the stone in Thracia, that neither burnetii in the fire nor sinketh in the water ; That ye may be like the heavens, excellent in substance and beautiful in appearance ; that so you may meet me with joy in that day wherein Christ shall say to his Father, 'Lo, here am I, and the children that thou hast given me,' Isa. viii. 18. My desires to you are, That you would make it your business to study Christ, his word, your own hearts, Satan's plots, and eternity, more than ever ; That ye would endeavour more to be inwardly sin- cere than outwardly glorious ; to live, than to have a name to live ; That ye would labour with all your might to be thankful under mer- cies, and faithful in your places, and humble under divine appear- ances, and fruitful under precious ordinances ; That as your means and mercies are greater than others', so your account before God may not prove a worse than others' ; That ye would pray for me, who am not worthy to be named among the saints, that 1 may be a precious instrument in the hand of Christ to bring in many souls unto him, and to build up those that are brought in in their most holy faith ; and '-that utterance may be given to me, that I may make known all the will of God,' Eph. vi. 19; That I may be sincere, faithful, frequent, fervent, and constant in the work of the Lord, and that my labour be not in vain in the Lord; that my labours may be accepted in the Lord and his saints, and I may daily see the travail of my soul, S:c.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 7
But, above all, pray for me, that I may more and more find the power and sweet of those things upon my own heart, that I give out to you and others ; that my soul be so visited with strength from on high, that I may live up fully and constantly to those truths that I hold forth to the world ; and that I may be both in life and doctrine ' a burning and a shining light/ that so, when the Lord Jesus shall appear, ' I may receive a crown of glory which he shall give to me in that day, and not only to me, but to all that love his appearance/ &c, John v. 35 and 2 Tim. i. 8.
For a close, remember this, that your life is short, your duties many, your assistance great, and your reward sure ; therefore faint not, hold on and hold up, in ways of well-doing, and heaven shall make amends for all.
I shall now take leave of you, when my heart hath by my hand subscribed, that I am,
Your loving pastor under Christ, according to all pastoral affections and engagements in our dearest Lord,
A WORD TO THE READER.