into his own body, and what remains for you is but a healthful potion, which, I will promise you, shall work for your good. Be not afraid to drink, nor desire the cup should pass from you; I bless the cup before I give it unto you;k drink you all of it, and be thankful; you shall find my blessing at the bottom of the cup to sweeten the sharpest afflictions to you. I will stand by you in all conditions, and be a fast friend to you in every change:" In the wilderness, I will speak comfortably to you; and in the fire and in the water, I will be with you. I will be a strength to the poor, and a strength to the needy in his distress; a refuge from the storm, and a shadow from the heat, P when the blast of the terrible ones is as a storm against the wall. Your sufferings shall not be a cup of wrath, but a grace-cup; not a curse, but a cure; not a cup of trembling, but a cup of blessing to you;-they shall not hurt you, but heal you. My blessing condition. I say, in every you not only blessed shall you be in your basket and blessed in your store, but blessed shall you be in your poverty,t t and blessed shall you be in your straits. Not only blessed shall you be in your cities and bless

shall attend

j Rom. viii. 28. k Job v. 17. 1 Mat. xxvi. 26, 27. m Jam. i. 12. v. 11. Psalm xciv. 12. u Isa. xliii. 2. o Hos. ii. 14. plsa. xxv. 4. 9 Heb. xii. 6, 7, 8. rPsalm cxix. 67. s Gen. xxvi. 3. Gen. xxviii. 15.

ed shall you be in your fields, but blessed shall you be in your bonds, and blessed shall you be in your banishment;" blessed shall you be when you are persecuted, and when you are reviled, and your name is cast out as evil; yea, then, doubly blessed. My choicest blessings, greatest good, and richest sweets, will I put into your evil things." These happy IMMUNITIES, these glorious LIBERTIES of the sons of God, by this immutable charter I do for ever settle upon you; and do, whilst you maintain that blessed relation unalterably, irrevocably, ever'lastingly, convey unto you, and confirm

upon you.

W

SECTION II.

The PRIVILEGES and PREROGATIVES of the

covenant.

Yea, I will not only free you from your miseries, but will confer upon you royal privileges and prerogatives, and instate you into higher and greater happiness than ever you have fallen from. Lo, I give myself to you, and all things with myself.

Behold, O ye sons of men! Behold, and wonder! Be astonished, O heavens! Be moved, ye strong foundations of the earth! For you shall be my witnesses. This day

u Mat. xix. 29, 30. 1 Pet. iii. 14. v Mat. v. 10, 11, 12. w 1 Pet. iv. 13, 14. Luke vi. 20, 21. 22.

do I, by covenant, bestow myself upon my

servants.

He gives himself to us: 1. For our God.

I will be your God for ever and ever, your own God; nothing in the world is so much your own as I. The houses that you have built, that you have bought, are not so much yours as I am. Here you are tenants at will; but I am your eternal inheritance: these are loans for a season, but I am your dwelling-place in all generations. You have no where so great a propriety, so sure and unalterable a claim, as you have here. What

do you count your own? Do you count your bodies your own, your souls your own; Nay, these are not your own, they are bought with a price. But you may boldly make your claim to me; you may freely challenge an interest in me.d

To be to us, instead of relations, 2. Our friend.

Come near, and fear not; where should you be free, if not with your own? Where should you be bold, if not at home? You were never, in all the world, so much at home, as when you are with me. You may freely make use

x Gen. xvii. 7. y Psalm xlviii. 14. Jer. xxxii. 38. Rev. xxi. 3. z Psalm lxvii. 6. a Psalm xvi. 5. lxxiii. 20. b Psalm xc. 6. c1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. dJer. iii. 19. Isa. lxiii. 16.

of me, or any of my attributes, whenever you have need; I will be all to you that you can wish; I will be a friend to you. My secrets shall be with you, and you shall have all freedom and access to me, and liberty to pour out all your hearts into my bosom. h

3. Our physician.

I will be a physician to you. I will heal your backslidings, and cure all your diseases. Fear not; never did soul miscarry, that left itself in my hands, and would but follow my prescriptions.

4. Our shepherd.

I will be a shepherd to you. Be not afraid of evil tidings, for I am with you; my rod and my staff shall comfort you. You shall not want, for I will feed you; you shall not wander (to be lost,) for I will restore you. I will cause you to lie down in green pastures, and lead you beside the still waters. I will gather you with mine arm, and carry you in my bosom; and will lead on softly, as the flock and the children be able to endure. If officers be careless, I will

e Psalm 1. 15. Jer. xlix. 11. Psalm cxlv. 18. f Isa. xli. 8. James ii. 23. Psalm xxv. 14. John xv. 15. h Eph. iii. 12. Heb. iv. 16. Hos. xiv. 4. Psalm ciii.3. Psalm xxiii. 1. lxxx. 1. k Psalm xx. Isa. xl. 11. Gen. xxxiii. 13, 14.

a

do the work myself. I will judge between cattle and cattle. I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away; and bind up that which was broken, and strengthen that which was sick: but I will destroy the fat and the strong, and will feed them with judgment. I will watch over my flock by night. Behold, I have appointed my ministers as your watchmen, and overseers that watch for your souls. Yea, mine angels shall be your watchers, and shall keep a constant guard upon my flock. And if, peradventure, the servants should sleep. mine own eyes shall keep a perpetual watch over you, by night and by day. The keeper of Israel neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, nor withdraweth his eyes from the righteous. I will guide you with mine eye, I will never trust you out of mine own sight.i

5. Our sovereign.

I will be a sovereign to you. The Lord is your judge, the Lord is your lawgiver, the Lord is your king. Fear not the unrighteousness of men; I will judge your

a Ezek. xxxiv. 2, 3, 4, 16, 17. b Isa. xxvii. 3. c Heb. xiii. 17. Acts xx. 28. d Daniel iii. 28. vi. 22. e Psalm xxxiv. 7 Mat xiii. 25, 27. f Psalm xxxv 15 xxxiii. 18 2 Chron xvi. 9 g Psalm cxxii. 3, 4. b Job xxxvi. 7. i Psalm xxxii. 8. j Isa. xxxii. 22.