_Discovering the true way of turning to |God|, and of finding the kingdom of heaven, the riches of eternity, in our souls._
*ALL our salvation consists in the _manifestation of the nature, life, and Spirit of Jesus Christ in us_. Enter with all thy heart into this truth, let thy eye be always upon it, do every thing in view of it, try every thing by the truth of it, love nothing but for the sake of it. Wherever thou goest, whatever thou dost at home or abroad, in the field or at church, do all in a desire of union with Christ, in imitation of his tempers and inclinations, and look upon all as nothing, but that which exercises, and increases the Spirit and life of Christ in thy soul. From morning to night keep Jesus in thy heart, long for nothing, desire nothing, hope for nothing, but to have all that is within thee, changed into the spirit and temper of the holy Jesus. Let this be thy Christianity, thy church, and thy religion. For this new birth in Christ thus firmly believed, and continually desired, will do every thing that thou wantest to have done in thee, it will dry up all the springs of vice, stop all the workings of evil in thy nature, it will bring all that is good into thee, it will open all the gospel within thee, and thou wilt know what it is to be taught of God. This longing desire of thy heart to be one with Christ will soon put a stop to all the vanity of thy life, and nothing will be admitted to enter into thy heart, or proceed from it, but what comes from God and returns to God: thou wilt soon be, as it were, tied and bound in the chains of all holy affections, thy _mouth_ will have a _watch_ set upon it, thy _ears_ would willingly hear nothing that does not tend to God, nor thy eyes be open, but to see and find occasions of doing good. In a word, when this faith has got both thy head and thy _heart_, it will then be with thee, as it was with the _merchant_ who found a _pearl of great price_, it will make thee glad to _sell all that thou hast, and buy it_. For all that had seized and possessed the heart of any man, whatever the _merchant_ of this world had got together, whether of riches, power, honour, learning, or reputation, loses all its value, is counted but as _dung_, and willingly parted with, as soon as this glorious pearl, the new birth in Christ Jesus, is discovered and found by him. This therefore may serve as a touchstone, whereby every one may try the truth of his state; if the old man is still a _merchant_ within thee, trading in worldly honour, power, or learning, if the wisdom of this world is not foolishness to thee, if earthly interests and sensual pleasures are still the desire of thy heart, and only covered under a form of godliness, a cloke of creeds, observances and institutions of religion, thou mayest be assured that the pearl of great price is not yet found by thee. For where Christ is in the soul, there all carnal wisdom, arts of advancement, with every pride and glory of this life, are as so many _Heathen idols_ willingly renounced, and the man is not only content, but rejoices to say, that _his kingdom is not of this world_.
But thou wilt perhaps say, How shall this great work, the knowledge of Christ, be effected in me? It might rather be said, since Christ has an infinite power, and also an infinite desire to save mankind, how can any one miss of this salvation, but through his _own unwillingness_ to be saved by him? Consider how was it, that the lame and blind, the lunatic and leper, the publican and sinner, found Christ to be their Saviour, and to do all that for them, which they wanted to be done to them? It was because they had a _real desire_ of having _that_, which they asked for, and therefore in true _faith_ and _prayer_, applied to Christ, that his Spirit and power might enter into them, and heal that which they wanted, and desired to have healed in them. Every one of these said in _faith and desire, Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me whole_. And the answer was always this, _According to thy faith, so be it done unto thee_. This is Christ’s answer now, and thus it is done to every one of us at this day, as _our faith is, so is it done unto us_. And here lies the whole reason of our falling short of the salvation of Christ, it is because we have no will to it.