of God, as barrenness, to be barren of good feelings, and have plenty of unbelief, but no faith in exercise to contend with it; plenty of flesh riding about you, but none of the Spirit, working, fighting and struggling with it. We cannot say as the Shulamite, there is the company of two armies; cannot say we really feel the Spirit stirring in us, wrestlnig, struggling and fighting against the works of the flesh. This is barrenness; you are in such a state you cannot feel some of you know experimentally what I mean. You cannot cry to God. Say you, I feel all like waste places. But the Lord says, "6 He shall comfort Zion; he will comfort all her waste places: and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of the Lord." That as this ground is not ploughed up, not sown, not harrowed not watered, nothing done to make it fruitful, left in a barren state, left in an unfinished state, there is no verdure appears; not one thing in it that he is a child of God. soul is in a barren state, feels it is a waste place; the Lord does not notice him, to plough him up with fresh convictions. Here is the state of a backslider. The Lord does not notice him to harrow him to pieces, bringing down his heart with hard labour. God does not scatter in the seed of the word, the word does not soften him, he seems left of God, left to all manner of false workings in his mind, he feels a false peace, he has neither wind, dew nor rain. He being in this state, he cannot say he has wrestled with the Lord and prevailed. He is in that state, he cannot feel that he gets any thing he wants or craves after; he wishes he could pray, but seems shut up. After the Spirit breaks his heart, he says, Quicken thou me, and I will call upon thy name." Lord, says the poor soul, bring me up from this bar

ren state.

The

"That callest for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the

face of the earth." The waters of the sea, may set forth the depth of the fulness, that spiritual fulness that is in the Lord Jesus Christ. "It pleased the Father, that in him should all fulness dwell." Now the Lord calleth for the waters of the sea, literally, when at his command the vapours arise, and gather into a cloud, and the Lord causeth it to dissolve, fall and water the earth, on what part he pleaseth, so that the ground where it falls should be watered by it and benefitted; so from the fulness of the Lord Jesus Christ is the child of God blessed; a passage of Scripture comes like a cloud, filled with unctuous savour, and distills as the dew, often dropping into the heart some spiritual blessing. The letter of Scripture, without the Lord dropping into the soul, is like a cloud without water. David got the word in his mind, like a cloud hanging over a dry parchedup ground, so that he said, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.' He wanted the cloud to burst, and then the waters would break forth and drop into his soul: "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation.' He calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face of the earth; the Lord is his name." Sometimes he calls for the waters the blessed fulness in Jesus gathers into a cloud in some portion of his word, and drops sweetness, distils heavenly dew, softening and fructifying the soul. Sometimes a servant of his is sent to preach the gospel, he fills him with some spiritual feeling, the same spiritual views of truth as it is in Jesus, opens his mouth, and makes his tongue to sing as he says, He maketh the wilderness a fruitful field;" and whilst his servant declares his truth, he makes it as the garden of the Lord, and waters the souls of his people with his truth, so that they flourish like a tree planted by the rivers.

He calls for the waters of the Any man God has appointed to preach, the Lord doth at times so

order it, that the man's soul shall be blessed with what he preaches. He calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out on the face of the earth; the Lord is his name." The Lord is pleased in his mercy, the Lord who is the grand source of all blessings, is pleased to dispense blessings to those who stand in need, and they are all treasured up in Jesus Christ, and come to our hearts through the means of his own appointment, the means of his own precious word. They who go and listen to those who are sent to preach the gospel, and go with a right feeling, the preacher is like a cloud hanging over a garden, for the people are gathered together with a hungering, longing desire, and the Lord is pleased often to grant their desires, and the waters in the cloud, the fulness that is treasured up in him, descend to refresh their dry, parched souls.

He calleth for the waters of the sea, he poureth them out." The minister, the Scriptures pour out what God tells them. The letter of the Scriptures is poured out into the heart of his servant, and what God has filled him with, the servant of Christ pours out; and what is dealt to him, and the Lord pours out into the hearts of his people, that he intends to make a blessing to their souls.

"He calleth for the waters of the sea, he poureth them out on the face of the earth; the Lord is his name."

We have treated of the seeker, what it is to seek, to whom he seeks, and how the Lord deals with many of those seekers; he deals with them all in one way to a certain extent, he leads his people off from their own performances, empties them of self, strips them from creature work, makes them feel more and more that it is not in man to direct his steps, for that no man can keep alive his own soul, that without Christ he can do nothing, but that they can do all things through Christ that strengthens them. And he calls them to pass through

many winters, through the shadow of death, through many seasons of darkness and sorrow, many ups and downs, many scenes of iniquity; and after these wretched seasons of iniquity subside, grace reigns, through righte ousness, unto eternal life; our hope becomes strong and vigorous, and faith again attains the ascendancy, whilst with joy we say, "Though thou wast angry with me, thine anger is turned away, and thou comfortedst me." The good Lord leads many of his people through these things, while in leading them through all these chan ges, he keeps in view the humbling, emptying, bringing down and strip. ping the sinner, and laying him low in the dust, he leads him about in the wilderness and instructs him, to humble him, to prove him, and to know what is in his heart; then exalting the Lord Jesus in the sinner's affections and desires, he brings him to feel that all is nothing without Christ but that having Christ all things are his, life and death, things present and things to come, all are his, and he is Christ's, and Christ is God's.

66

But I will speak a word or two on the next verse: That strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress." Thus it is often literally, for the Lord's people are a poor and spoiled people, spoiled of their own wisdom and strength by the Spirit's teaching, and often spoiled in their own feelings by the workings of sin and the temptations of the devil; and they have strong foes to meet, for the king of terrors is strong, but the spoiled shall come against the fortress. The poor spoiled sinner is subject frequently to fits of bondage through the fear of this strong king of terrors, that they dread coming against the fortress, they fear engag

ing in the great battle and that sore conflict, for all must bow to the king of terrors, all surrender up their souls, all submit to the separation God has appointed between soul and body.

:

'He strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress." He will fulfil that passage to his people "As thy day, so shall thy strength be." While you feel you are a lost, ruined sinner, that you find no rest but in Christ, if you have been brought to Christ, and received the knowledge of salvation by him, through the remission of sins, your own experience strikes at self, strikes at the doings of the creature, and exalts the Saviour in your esteem. Such characters as you he will strengthen, you shall have strength to engage in the last conflict, you shall have strength equal to your day. If he does not grant unto you triumphs, if he does not grant you extacies, he will grant at last peace: mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, the end of that man is peace; you come against the fortress at the last moment, though you may not be able to convey what you feel, you shall just enter into what Paul speaks of, "O death, where is thy sting." Though you may go and feel at the last moment the attack of death, without the enjoyment of bis mercy, love, and favour, in a manifested way, yet you shall feel that language as yours, as you actually pass through, as you actually come against the fortress, you shall feel what that contains is your's: death, where is thy sting; O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin, the strength of sin is the law, but thanks be to God who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now I desire to be really faithful to you in God's presence; I believe many thousands are brought to attend the means; many are such characters as they believe every doctrine in their judg

ment, attend to the ordinances of the Lord's house, yet have a delusive kind of experience: some have all joy and happy kind of experience ; others, like the Lord's people, appear to have doubts, fears, and are tried; but here is the difference, the Lord's people never rest satisfied until they have Christ manifested to their souls; depend upon it, if your religion is of that kind that it leaves you content in your guilt, without the pardoning mercy of God; if it leaves you content with what you think a knowledge of yourself, without having Christ in your heart the hope of glory, it will not do for a dying hour, depend upon it, it will not do for a dying hour; there is no knowing Christ until we know ourselves, there is no knowing ourselves except we are longing after the atonement of Jesus for ourselves; do not set down any of your feelings to be spiritual if they do not terminate in debasing yourselves, making you feel you are lost without Jesus; longing after the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, hanging on him, waiting upon him for his mercy; depend upon it, we shall have it before we go out of this world. If death comes and finds any of us without having experienced our conscience being purged from guilt, we shall die in our sins, where the Lord is we cannot come; if death finds any of us without having experienced the love of God shed abroad in the heart, without being made perfect in love, perfect love casting out fear that hath torment; if God never manifested himself in this life, he will never in the life to come; if Jesus' blood never cleanses us in this life, it never will in the life to come; if we never have our conscience cleansed here, we shall not be without fault before the throne to serve him in his temple. The Lord search your hearts, and lead you to examine your own souls, lead you to know whether you have been stripped, whe

ther he has emptied and filled you, whether he has made you

"A beggar poor At mercy's door,"

66

fulfilled that promise, "I have set before you an open door, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you." Those of you who know in your conscience you have not experienced his love, an application of the blood of Christ to your conscience, if you know you have not experienced this, depend upon it you are not in a right position, unless you have felt your need of him, seeking him. No persons ever experience that justification, only those who are longing after and seek ing him who maketh the seven stars and Orion, who turneth the shadow of death into morning, who maketh the day dark with night, who calleth for the waters of the sea, poureth them out upon the face of the earth; the Lord is his name; who strengtheneth the spoiled against the strong, so that the spoiled shall come against the fortress." What a mercy to those of you who have ever felt yourselves poor, wretched, ruined, miserable, blind creatures; who have ever had your heart drawn out to Jesus, brought to experience healing, cleansing, and pardon through his precious blood; whatever foes molest your soul, whatever snares beset your path, whatever storms overtake your souls, safe you shall get at last; Jesus hath sail it, Jesus is true, It shall go well with the righteous;

"Well with them while life endure, And well when called to die."

Well, it is declared that eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, what God hath prepared for them that love him, through the countless ages of a never ending eternity.

Whom I love in the Lord, I desire to greet you both in the Lord; beseeching the God of all grace, that ye may be filled with all grace and spiritual understanding ; strengthened with all might according to his glorious power, unto all patience and long-suffering with joyfulness. Mr. B-- very kindly brought to me your affectionate letter, accompanied with your liberal present of the sweetmeats; and this is not the first time, that you have given to me this very nice remedy for cough and cold. But while such repeated tokens of your regard demand, and are most cheerfully returned with thanks, I beg to assure you that I needed not the bounty. Your affection is in itself enough; and the relation of your stedfastness in our most glorious Christ, is, of all other concerns, the most satisfying and refreshing. Truly I can say with St. Paul, For now I live while ye stand fast in the Lord." The subscriptions with which you have closed your letter, "Brother in Jesus," is more dignified than Emperor of the world. I can, and do enter into your feelings arising from the continuance of dear Mrs. --'s sickness; but I hope and trust, that that dear lady, as well as yourself, are always like the prophet on the watch tower, to notice the comings in of divine love, while the outward afflictions abound. Our most glorious Christ is full of sympathy; and as He not only knows our frame as God, but hath a fellow feeling as man, there is not a pain his members are appointed to endure, but what he gives with it the neces sary and proportional support. He saith it himself concerning his Zion, and which is equally said of every son and daughter of Zion; "For I, saith the Lord, will be unto her, a

wall of fire round about, and will be the glory in the midst of her." Zech. ii. 5. Doth Jesus garrison his redeemed with himself as fires encircle travellers at night, to keep them from the beasts of prey in the wilderness: and what enemy shall venture through the fire which is God himself, to take them away? Doth Jesus become their glory in their midst, and what darkness shall enter there to obscure his shining, But methinks, I would not have my friends with whom I am now corresponding to stop here in their contemplation of the love of our most glorious Christ, which in itself, hath such infinite dimensions of breadth and length, and depth and height, as pass all knowledge: I would have them go on to consider not only the safety and impregnable security of the regenerated child of God, being garrisoned with his Almighty presence; and shining with light, and life, and glory, in his indwelling abode in them; but somewhat more is intended from the gracious assurance. It is blessed, yea, very blessed to live under the everlasting sunshine of his presence, whose "favour is better than life itself:" but while the soul is basking in the full apprehension of such marked and distin

guished mercy; to observe also, what may be supposed the Lord's gracious designs in these dispensations. There is not a rod of our most glorious Lord but hath a voice; and speaks in the tenderest love, while correcting in mercy. Micah ii. 14. The Lord's people would have lost some of the sweet moments in life had not the Lord brought them into the wilderness, to speak comfortably to them. Let my dear

calculate if she be able, how many refreshments the Lord hath brought her under, sometimes in the season of chastisement; and not unfrequently after; when looking back, and tracing his divine hand guiding through

all. And had that dear friend of yours and mine, never known what restless nights, and wearisome days of languishing mean; how would she have felt the tender sympathy of the Lord Jesus sitting up by her, turning her pillow, and making all her bed in her sickness? Very sure I am that every child of God, brought under the unction of divine teaching, and made to realize the divine presence; is and must be a gainer by all he is called upon to go through. And for this plain reason; while the Lord exerciseth my faith, I prove his faithfulness, and the Lord cannot put me into the furnace, but I shall behold him sitting by, regulating and ordering all, and tempering the heart by his unerring wisdom and love as the almighty Refiner and Purifier of silver. It will be both your happiness and mine, dear friends. to have such experience of the Lord's unceasing attention. Every providence and every event is made intelligible to the spiritual and scriptural apprehension of the child of God, as he becomes more and more acquainted with the person of our most glorious Christ, and our oneness and interest in him. And depend upon it, that if the love of God, in his Trinity of Persons is made manifest to your person and my person as we are in Christ: this alone will enable us to triumph over sin, death and hell for evermore, The Lord have you both into his especial keeping.

Yours in the Lord,

ROBERT HAWKER.

LETTER II.

Dear and beloved Sir in the Lord,

I greet you in his most holy name. Your letter and the present of lozenges sent me by Mr. L, I received, and desire to thank you for in the Lord. What a wonderful love, and, as the apostle very