And here, my dear brethren, let me beseech you to go to JESUS CHRIST; tell him, how you are assaulted by the evil one, who lies in wait for your souls; tell him, you are not able to master him, in your own strength; beg his assistance, and you shall find him ready to help you; ready to assist you, and to be your Guide, your Comforter, your Saviour, your All: He will give you strength to resist the fiery darts of the devil; and, therefore, you can no where find one so proper to relieve you, as JESUS CHRIST; he knows what it is to be tempted; he was tempted by Satan in the wilderness, and he will give you the assistance of his Spirit, to resist the evil one, and then he will fly from you. In CHRIST JESUS you shall have the strength you stand in need of, the devil shall have no power; therefore fear not, for in the name of the LORD we shall overcome all our spiritual _Amalekites_: Let the devil and his agents rage, let them breathe out threatnings, yea, let them breathe out slaughters, yet we can rejoice in this, that JESUS CHRIST hath them in his power, they shall go no farther than he permits them; they may rage, they may rage horribly, but they can go no farther, until they have got more power from on high.
If they could do us what mischief they would, very few of us should be permitted to see our habitations any more; but, blessed be GOD, we can commit ourselves to his protection; he has been our protector hitherto, he will be so still. Then earnestly intreat of the LORD to support you under those temptations, which the devil may assault you with; he is a powerful adversary, he is a cunning one too; he would be too hard for us, unless we have the strength of CHRIST to be with us. But let us be looking up unto JESUS, that he would send his Spirit into our hearts, and keep us from falling. O my dear brethren in CHRIST JESUS, how stands it now between GOD and your souls? Is JESUS altogether lovely to your souls? is he precious unto you? I am sure, if you have not gone back from CHRIST, he will not from you; he will root out the accursed things of this world, and dwell in your hearts. You are candidates for heaven; and will you mind earth? What are all the pleasures of earth, without an interest in the LORD JESUS CHRIST? And one smile from him is more to be desired than rubies, yea more than the whole world.
O you who have found JESUS CHRIST assisting you, and supporting you under all the temptations of this life, will you forsake him? have you not found him a gracious master? is he not the chiefest of ten thousand, and altogether lovely? Now you see a form and comeliness in CHRIST, which you never saw before. O! how do you and I wish we had known JESUS sooner, and that we had more of his love; it is condescending love, it is amazing, it is forgiving love, it is dying love, it is exalted and interceding love, and it is glorified love. Methinks when I am talking of the love of JESUS CHRIST, who loved me before I loved him; he saw me polluted in blood, full of sores, a slave to sin, to death and hell, running to destruction, then he passed by me, and said unto my soul, “Live;” he snatched me as a brand plucked from the burning. It was love that saved me, it was all of the free grace of GOD, and that only. The little experience I have had of this love, makes me amazed at the condescension, the love, and mercifulness of the blessed JESUS, that he should have mercy upon such a wretch. O, my brethren, the kingdom of GOD is within me, and this fills me so full of love, that I would not be in my natural state again, not for millions of millions of worlds; I long to be with JESUS, to live with the LORD that bought me, to live forever with the Lamb that was slain, and to sing _Hallelujah_’s unto him. Eternity itself will be too short to set forth the love of the LORD JESUS CHRIST. I cannot, indeed I cannot forbear speaking again, and again, and again, of the LORD JESUS.
And if there are any here who are strangers to this love of the LORD JESUS CHRIST, do not despair; come, come unto CHRIST, and he will have mercy upon you, he will pardon all your sins, he will heal all your backslidings, he will love you freely, and take you to be with himself. Come therefore, O my guilty brethren, unto JESUS, and you shall find rest for your souls. You need not fear, you need not despair, when GOD has had mercy upon such a wretch as I; and he will save you also, if you will come unto him by faith.
Why do ye delay? What! do you say, you are poor, and therefore ashamed to come? It is not your poverty that CHRIST mindeth; come in all your rags, in all your pollution, and he will save you. Do not depend upon any thing but the blood of JESUS CHRIST; do not stand out an hour longer, but give your hearts to CHRIST, give him the firstlings of the flock; come unto him now, lest he should cut you off before you are prepared, and your soul be sent to that pit from whence there is no redemption.