* See my treatise on this text, [' Crown and Glory of Christ,'] Vol. IV. — G.
448 THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY.
wished that both Agrippa and all that heard him were altogether such as he was, except his bonds,' Acts xxvi. 29. As soon as Matthew had tasted that the Lord was good, Luke v. 29, he called together a huge multitude of publicans and others to meet at his house. As soon as Philip had tasted of the sweetness of communion with Christ, he runs to Nathanael to invite him to Christ, saying, ' Come and see,' John i. 45, 46. No sooner had the woman of Samaria tasted of Christ's living waters, but she lcav(\s her water-pot, and posts into the city to call out her friends and neighbours to see and taste how good dear Jesus was, John iv. 28. So those young converts, Zech. viii. 21, ' And the inhabitants of one city shall go to another, saying. Let us go speedily to pray before the Lord, and to seek tlie Lord of hosts ; I will go also : i Micali iv. 2, ' And many nations shall come, and say. Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob ; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths : for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.' Those blessed converts would not come alone, but draw others along in company with them to worship the Lord, which is lively expressed in a mimesis or imitation of the encouragements and invitations they should use one to another, ' I will go also.' Every one was as forward for himself, as zealous for another. Oh blessed frame of spirit ! 0 my friends, it is the nature of true grace to be diffusive and communicative. Grace caimot be concealed. They that have tasted of divine sweetness cannot choose but speak of it to others; their hearts, like bottles of new wine, would be ready to burst if they had not vent. Grace is like fire in the bones. They that have it cannot hide it. All the faculties of the soul, and all the members of the body will still be a-telling of others that there is a treasure of grace in the soul. The blind men that were cured were charged to be silent, but they could not hold their peace. So here, Lilmor belammed, we therefore learn that we may teach, is a proverb among the Rabbins : and I do therefore lay in and lay up, saith the heathen, that I may draw forth again and lay out for the good of many. And shall not grace do as much as nature? shall not grace do more than nature? Well, friends, this I shall only say, that the frecpient counsels that your glorified mother has given you to taste of divine goodness, and the experiences that she has communicated to you of her taste of divine goodness, both in her health and sickness, both in her living and dying, will certainly either be for you, or else be a dreadful witness against you in the great day of our Lord Jesus. Oh remember not only those experiences of hers that are now presented to your eyes, but those other experiences of hers as to her inward man that has often sounded in your ears. But,
12. Lastly, Labour to imitate her in her comfortable passage out of this ivorld. Those words were more worth tlian a world which she uttered a little before she fell asleep in the Lord, viz., 'Lord, take my aching head, and lay it in thy bosom.' How often did she express her longings to be with Christ, that she might sin nor sorrow no more ! Her outward man was full of pain, weakness, and trouble; yet how was
' \'i(lr PoiTilile, in loc.
THE EPISTLE DEDICATORY. 449
her inward man refreshed and quieted in a way of believing, accord- ing to that blessed word, Isa. xxvi. 3, ' Thou wilt keep him in per- fect peace ; ' — the Hebrew runs, 0^b^, whv, shalom, shalom, peace, peace : — ' whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee,' Never did the es})oused maid long more for the marriage-day, nor the apprentice for his freedom, nor the captive for his ransom, nor the condemned man for his pardon, nor the traveller for liis inn, nor the mariner for his haven, nor the sick man for his health, nor the wounded man for his cure, nor the hungry man for his bread, nor the naked for clothes, than she did long to die, and to be with Christ, which for her was best of all, Phil. i. 2.3. How often were those words in her mouth, Kev. xxii. 20, ' Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ! '" "^ The face of none is so comely to the saint's eye, the voice of none so lovely to his ears, the taste of none so pleasant in his mouth, as Jesus Christ. The name of Jesus hath a thousand treasures of joy and comfort in it, saith Chrysostom; and is therefore used by Paul five hundred times, as some have reckoned. The name of a Saviour, saith one, [Bernard,] is honey in the mouth, music in the ear, and a jubilee in the heart. And how often was that blessed word in her mouth, ' Kemember, 0 Lord,
1 beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart ; and have done that which is good in thy sight,' Isa. xxxviii. 3. A serious sense of her uprightness in the main, of her walking with God, did yield her more than a little sweetness and com- fort when she was upon her bed of pain. One of the last speeches of a dying upright Christian was this, ' Satan may as well pluck God out of heaven, as pluck my soul out of his keeping,' John x. 28-30 ;
2 Tim. ii. 12. She ' knew him in whom she had believed, and was persuaded that he was able to keep that soul she had committed to him against that day.' A child that hath any precious jewel given liim cannot better secure it than by putting it into his father's hands to keep ; so neither can we better provide for our souls' safety than by committing them to God. ' Keep that which 1 have committed ;' that is, either my precious soul, which I have committed to his care and custody, to bring it forth glorious at that day of his appearing ; or my eternal life, happiness, and crown of glory, which I have, as it were, deposited with him by faith and hope. And thus it was with her. The apostle saith he committed to God's custody a pawn or pledge; but about this pawn or pledge interpreters differ. One saith it is his soul ; another saith it is himself ; and a third saith it is his works ; and a fourth saith it is his sufferings ; and a fifth saith it is his salvation. In short, he committed to God his soul, himself, his doings, his suffer- ings, to be rewarded with life and salvation ; and so did she who is now at rest in the Lord. Lord, saith Austin, I will die that I may enjoy thee ; I will not live, but I will die ; I desire to die that I may see Christ, and refuse to live, that I may live with Christ. The broken rings, contracts, and espousals contents not the true lover, but he longs for the marriage-day ; and so did she who has now exchanged a sick- bed for a royal throne, and the company of poor mortals for the pre- sence of God, Christ, angels, and the ' spirits of just men made perfect.'