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No finall portion of furnace-work has fallen to my fhare. And, when I faw the anguish of thy foul, I never found myself more fenfibly touched with the grief of any perfon: nor did I ever feel a fuller perfuafion in my mind of any perfon's deliverance, nor more freedom and confidence to predict it, and in the ftrongeft terms; and I plainly faw (at your departure) that neither Satan, infidelity, no, nor your carnal reason, could stand before it; fo mightily grows the word of the Lord and prevails. I must confefs that, when I heard of thy happy delivery under the miniftry of my dearly beloved and moft faithful brother in the Lord, I ftood aftonished at the goodness of God, and at the concurring providences which went before on thy behalf. One friend in our company could not fettle his bufinefs to return to London with me till Saturday morning. Saturday is a day that I am never from my study, if I can poffibly help it. One or two in company preffed me not a little to ftay; and thofe at G

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kindly invited me to come and vifit them, where it pleafed God that we were to meet with you, whom I never faw before to my knowledge. And furely God fet before us an open door. Our mouths were wonderfully opened to you; and I think your heart was, in fome measure, opened to us. And this greatly convinced me that my ftay was of God; nor could confcience contradict it; nor was my crufe empty on the Lord's day

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following on account of it. The favour that I have to crave is, how the troubles came upon thee, and how long thou waft left to occupy bufinefs in those deep waters; and whether thou waft in a profeffion previous to thofe trials or not. Now, as I am engaged in the work of the Lord, and defirous of knowing the wonders that God does in the land, that I may blefs him with thee, I hope thou wilt not take this liberty amifs, feeing thou art no more a firanger nor a foreigner, but a fellow-citizen of the faints, and of the household of God; and that thou mayeft long enjoy the pleasures, privileges, and immunities, of that city, is the earneft prayer of,

Dear fifter,

Thine affectionate brother in Chrift Jefus,

The Defert.

NOCTUA AURITA.

To NOCTUA AURITA, in the Defert.

DEAR FRIEND,

I HAVE attempted, as the Lord has enabled me, to comply with your requeft, in giving you fome particulars refpecting the good work the Lord has been pleased to work in my foul under the miniftry of his Majefty's herald now with us. I think it is more than three years ago that I first heard him preach a fermon from these words: " Verily, verily, I fay unto you, he that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up fome other way, the fame is a thief and a robber." He gave fuch a description of the way that most profeffors entered into the fold, as quite aftonifhed me. I could hardly credit it; but was not then left to contradict it; but I believed it could not touch me. I thought it did me fome good, as it led my heart out in gratitude to God that he had not left me to make fuch an entrance, for I was juft in the state of the Laodicean church, thought myfelf rich and increased with goods, and to have need of nothing; but knew not that I was poor and wretched, miferable, blind, and naked. Had he asked me, at that time, of my experience, I fhould have told

him that I had been on the mount of transfiguration with Peter, and in the third heaven with Paul.

I heard him for fome time occafionally on fabbath-day evenings. But he afferted fuch strange things refpecting the firft work of the Spirit's operation on a finner's heart, when he came to convince him of fin, as was point blank against my experience; therefore I thought I was a witness against him that he was wrong. His once afferting, that when the Spirit came to convict a finner, and to convince him of unbelief, that fuch a foul could apply none of the promises of the gospel, this quite enraged me, and I declared I would never hear him preach another fermon. I therefore left his miniftry for, I believe, two or three months; during which time I found a great deal of enmity work against him, and his miniftry too. However, confcience was not altogether filent at this time; and I fhould at times have fuch thoughts as thefe, viz. Where does all this enmity fpring from? It cannot be a fruit of the Spirit of God. However, thefe words of Paul ufed to fet matters right at times: "To him that worketh not, but believeth on him that juftifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteoufnefs.” That I had the faith which is of the operation of God's Spirit, I believed no one that knew me doubted; but feeling this enmity rife high at times made me a little uncafy, and I thought I would hear him

again, as he might be got more moderate. I had heard him but a few times before the Lord was pleased to strip me of all my fuppofed excellency. How true is that faying of the Pfalmift, "When thou with thy rebukes correcteft man for iniqui'y, thou makeft his beauty to confume like the moth." And fo I found it. And I foon found the faith that I had fo much boafted of to be nothing but bold prefumption. God fent the killing commandment home to my confcience, which stirred up all the neft of uncleannefs that lay hid in my heart before, and I could only view an angry God in a fiery law; and a dreadful fight it was to me; it made me, like Mofes, to fear and quake. Here was no accefs to God. The flaming fword seemed to turn every way, to keep the way of the tree of life. Inftead of faith, hope, joy, and peace, I felt my carnal mind was nothing but enmity against God. My heart was as hard as an adamant; my will was pregnant with nothing but flubbornness, perverseness, and rebellion; and, as to my affections, I knew not where they were; but I knew they were not fixed on God, where they ought to be. Pray I could not. I had no faith; and God's word declares that whatever is not of faith is fin; and that the prayer of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord. This made me almost diftracted. Every fermon I heard from him cut and condemned me; and the more it did fo, the more I was rivetted both to him and his preaching,

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