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BV 4501 .S42 1860
Seeker, William, d. 1681?
A string of pearls from an
old casket

3TKING OP PEARLS,

AN OLD CASKET;

WITH AN IITTRODUCTION BY

EEV. EICHARD NEWTON, D.D.,

AUTHOR OP "rills FROM THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE,"

"the best THINGS," "THE KING'S HIGH-
WAY,"— "the giants and how to

FIGHT THEM," ETC.

Kt\:. W(M.,6Q(iK(^r

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL BOOK SOCIETY,

IN

PHILADELPHIA.

1224 Chestnut Street.

Eutered accordiug to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by the

PROTESTANT EPISCOPAL BOOK SOCIETY IN

PHILADELPHIA,

in the Clerk's Office of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

S. D. Wyeth, Stereotyper.

Collins, Printbr.

CONTENTS.

Page

Introduction, - - - - v

Christian Characteristics, - - 11

Sin, 34

Liberality, - - - - - 37

Humility, - - - - - 41

Hypocrisy, - - - - - 47

Forgiveness, - - - - - 49

Reproof, - - - - - 50

Duties, - - - - - - 51

Prosperity, - - - - 56

Contentment, - - - - - 58

Self knowledge, - .. - . 59

Youthful Piety, - . - . 62

Perseverance, - - - - 64

The Christian's present possession and fu-
ture expectations, - - - - 67

God's cognizance of men. - - 69

Heart service, - - - - 75

The fruits of sin, - - - 79

iii

IV CONTENTS.

Page
Creature vaiiity, - - - - 81

Good works, - - - . . 84

Sin when hateful not hurtful, - - 90

Watchfulness, - - - _ . 93

The right use of mercies, - - - 97

The design of affliction, _ - _ loo

No arguing a man's spiritual state from his

temporal experience, - - 103

Prayer, - - - - - . 107

Love, - - - - - - 109

Miscellaneous, - - - - 112

INTEODUCTION.

The Author, from whose writings these
extracts are made, is the Eev. Wm.
Seeker. The only work of his which
it has been my privilege to meet with,
is a volume of Sermons, on the words —
"What do ye more than others?" This
volume was first published in London,
in the year 1660. In accordance with
the fondness for quaint titles, then pre-
vailing, it was called "The Non-Such
Professor in his meridian splendor ; or,
The Singular actions of Sanctified Chris-
tians laid open." I have been unable
to find any definite, or satisfactory in-
formation respecting the author in ques-
tion. Nothing more than his name
occurs in any of the biographical dic-
tionaries that I have been able to con-
sult. ■ I suppose him to have been a
Non- Conformist, or Independent mini-

VI INTRODUCTION.

ster, living and laboring about the
middle of the seventeenth century. He
is spoken of as a preacher of the gospel
at Tewksbury, Gloucestershire. But
though so little known to fame he was
evidently " a workman that needed not
to be ashamed; — a good steward of
the manifold grace of God,— bringing
forth out of his treasures things new and
old."

In his own Preface to his work, he
says : "The design of this piece is not
the ostentation of the author, but the
edification of the reader. In this sub-
ject you have a breviary of religion ;
the works enjoined in it are weighty,
and the blessings annexed to it are
many. Christianity is here dressed in
the white linen of purity. As grace
begins in God's love to us, so it ends in
our love to Him. It makes our com-
forts greater and our crowns brighter.
Those children who are found moving

INTBODUCTION". Vll

in tlie orbits of obedience, sball enjoy
the clearest sunshine of their Father's
countenance."

''Remember, reader, that we can call
no time our own, but the present. How
carefully should we shoot, who have but
one arrow to direct at the mark ! The
enjoyment of the world is neither an
evidence of the divine favor, nor anger.
Judge not yourselves therefore, by the
gold in your bags, but by the grace of God
in your heart ; not by your wealth, but
by your works. If religion be your
vineyard to labor in, eternity shall be
your bed to rest upon. Every grace
that is exercised here, shall be glorified
there."

Here we have a fair specimen of the
author's style, both of thought and ex-
pression. This is such as to justify the
criticism of one who characterized his
volume as — " A beautiful little work,
W(5tth its weight in gold."

Vlll INTRODUCTION.

There are two things which specially
characterize these extracts, viz.; eminent
spirituality; and great concentration of
thought.

They are eminently spiritual. They
contain the very, marrow of the
gospel. The circle in which they move
lies directly round the cross. They
pertain altogether to "the things which
accompany salvation." Christ in his
fulness ; his grace in its preciousness ;
and christian experience in the diversi-
fied forms of its developments are the
topics here referred to. The views of
gospel truth presented, are peculiarly
clear, and discriminating. The author
of these sweet sayings, was " a master in
Israel;" at whose feet all may sit with
profit, and receive instruction.

His thoughts are as remarkable for
their concentration, as for their spirit-
uality. He throws out the pure gold
of gospel truth in great ingots. His

INTRODUCTION". IX

sentences are often like compressed
volumes. You may digest one of them ;
and then, like Elijah, when he had
eaten of the food which the angel
brought, you will feel as if you could
''go in the strength of it many days."

May it please God to bless this
^'' String of Pearls,''^ to the enriching of
the souls of all who possess themselves
of it, for Christ's sake !

Richard Newton.

Philadelphia, October, 1860.

NOTE.

This little book of Extracts was prepared for
publication a year ago. The Publishers in New
York, to whom it was entrusted, were unable,
from a pressure of business, to take it in hand
till last spring. Then, just as they were about
commencing it, an edition of the work from which
the extracts are made, was brought out by
Sheldon & Co., of N. Y., with a preface by the Rev.
Dr. Krauth of this city. This led to the abandon-
ment of the publication of these extracts, at that
time. But now, after a fair opportunity has been
allowed to the publishers of the volume in ques-
tion to circulate their work ; and knowing that
many persons, though possessed of the "Old
Casket," from which these Pearls have been se-
lected, may prefer to have them ready strung for
use, as more convenient, than having to search
through the Casket for them, I have concluded
to send out "The String of Pearls " for the use
of such.

"The Non-Such Professor in his Meridian
Splendor ; ' ' can now be had at any of the reli-
gious book stores. R. N.

CHRISTIAN CHARACTERISTICS.

Believers are among others, as
Saul was among tlie Israelites, the tallest
by the head and shoulders. Their birth
is truly low, who are not born from
above. What are such earthly shrubs
compared with heavenly cedars; or
such thorns of the world's brake, to the
willows of God's brook ? These trees,
which have their top branches of hope
in heaven, will have their lower boughs
of activity on earth. Those who look
for a heaven, made ready, will live as
though they were already in heaven.

The juice, which distils into a rose,
is returned into a SAveet perfimie, but
that which drops upon a nettle is re-
turned in an ill savor. If the mercies
of God be not load- stones to draw us to

12

heaven, they will be mill-stones to sink
us to perdition. The blessings we enjoy
are not the fruit of our merit, but the
fruit of God's mercy.

What are carnal men to Christian
men ? The power of God appears in
ihQ formation of one, but the stupendous
grace of God shines, illustriously in the
transformation of the other. In creation,
God has given the productions of the
earth, for our bodies ; but in redemption,
he has given himself for our souls.
Thus it appears to be a greater favor to
be converted, than to be created ; yea, it
were better for us to have no being, than
not to have a new being.

Though there be many professors,
who are not true believers, yet there are
no true believers, but what are profes-
sors. As trees are known by its fruits,
so believers are known by their works.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 13

Such as have received Christ's boTinty,
are unwilling to fight under Satan^s
banner.

Ah ! how intolerable will the punish-
ment of those professors be, who have
appeared as burnished gold to men, and
are found only base metal in the sight
of God ! What will it profit, to put
off the old manners, and not put off the
old man ? A snake may change its
skin, and yet preserve its sting. The
gospel professed, may lift a man unto
heaven, but it is only the gospel pos-
sessed, that brings a man into heaven.
To possess piety, and yet practice im-
piety, will be so far from advancing a
man's commendation, that it will as-
suredly heighten his condemnation.

A holy calling will be attended with
a holy carriage. Many may be found
who can talk of grace; but very few can

14 A STRING OF PEARLS,

be found who taste of grace. It is not
every one, who looks like a Christian,
that lives like a Christian.

It is unnatural for a Christian's tongue
to be larsfer than his hand. It is
lamentable for him to hold a lamp for
others, and yet to walk in darkness
himself. He that gives proper precepts,
and then sets improper examples, re-
sembles that foolish person, who labors
hard to kindle a fire, and when he has
done it, throws cold water upon it, to
quench it. Though such a physician
may administer the reviving cordial to
some fainting disciple, yet he is in danger
himself of dying in a swoon.

Many people are offended with the
profession of religion, because all are
not religious who make a profession. A
little consideration will correct this
error. Does the sheep despise its fleece;

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 15

because the wolf lias worn it ? Who
blames a crystal river because some
melancholy men have drowned them-
selves in its streams? The best drugs
have their adulterates. And will you
refuse an opiate, because some have wan-
tonly poisoned themselves with it.
Though you have been cozened with
false colours, yet you should not dis-
esteem that which is dyed in grain. He
is a bad economist who, having a spot
in his garments, cuts off" the cloth, in-
stead of rubbing off the dirt. God
rejects all religion but his own.

As Jesus Christ is the fountain of
excellency, to which all must come ; so
he is the pattern of excellency, to which
all must conform. As he is the root
on which a saint grows, so he is the rule
by which a saint walks. God has made
one Son in the image of us all that he
might make all his sons, in the image

16 A STRING OF PEARLS,

of that one. Jesus Christ lived to teach,
us how to live, and died to teach ns how
to die. Ah! reader, if the life of Christ
be not your pattern, the death of Christ
"wtlII never be your pardon. Though
the Lord Jesus was a man of many sor-
rows, yet he was not a man of the least
sin. No man can equal him in holiness ;
yet every man ought to imitate him in
holiness.

A truly religious life is a crystal
glass wherein Christ sees his own like-
ness. In our sacramental participations
we show forth the death of Christ ; but
in our evangelical conversation, we show
forth the life of Christ. An excellent
Christ calls for excellent Christians.
As he was never unemployed, so he
was never ill employed; for "he went
about doing good." As our happiness
lay near his heart, so his honor should
lie near our hearts.

FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 17

All tliose who are conformed to the
image of the Eedeemer, are as willing
to be ruled bj Christ, as they are to be
esteemed by H;m. He that deems his
yoke heavy, will not find his crown
easy.

How blessed would it be for us, to
have that blessed Scripture fulfilled in
us; — "As he was, so are we, in this
world." Now, if we are, in this world,
as he was, we shall be in heaven, as he
is. If there be no likeness between
Christ and you, on earth, there can be
no friendship between Christ and you
in heaven.

If the sun be eclipsed but one day,
it attracts more spectators than if it
shone a whole year. So, if you commit
one sin it will cause you many sor-
rows, and the world many triumphs.
Dr. Whitaker, on reading the 5th of
2

18 A STRING OF PEARLS,

Matthew, brake out saying, ''Either
this is not the Gospel, or we are not of
the Gospel." The cruelty of the
Spaniards to the IndiaQS, made them
refuse Christian baptism. " For," said
they, "he must be a wicked God, who
has such wicked servants." Oh! that
God's jewels did but sparkle more, in
this benighted world.

As there is no man so vicious, but
some relative good may be performed
by him to man, so there is no one so
religious, but some evil may be com-
mitted by him against God. As one
swallow does not prove the approach of
summer, neither does one good action,
prove a man, a believer. There is, in
every being, a natural tendency to some
centre. God is the centre of the saints,
and glory is the centre of grace. Now,
where we do not discover that bias, we
may deny the being.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 19

There is no ascertaining tlie quality
of a tree, but by its fruits. When the
wheels of a clock move within, the hand
on the dial will move without. When
the heart of a man, is sound in conver-
sion, then the life will be fair in profes-
sion. When the conduit is walled in,
how shall we judge of the spring, but
by the waters, which run through the
pipes.

As a sinner will discover the good
he wants, so a saint will show the good
he enjoj^s. When the sun dawns upon
the earth, it is presently known, and
v/hen the Sun of Kighteousness arises
upon the heart, it cannot be hid. It is
said of the Saviour that ''he could not
be hid." As it is with the head, so it
is with the members. ''Ye are the
light of the world." Let your light, so
shine, among men that they may see
your good works.

20 A STRING OF PEA ELS,

Were the sun to give no more light
than a star, you could not believe he
was the regent of the day ; were he to
transmit no more heat than a glow-
worm, 3^ou would question his being the
source of elementary heat. Were God
to do no more than a creature, where
would his Godhead be? Were man to
do no more than a brute, where would
his manhood be ? Were not the saint
to excel the sinner, where would his
sanctity be ?

If men debase themselves as beasts,
the Lord will nominate them, beasts ;
and if Christians walk as men, God will
call them men. There is no passing for
current coin in heaven, without the
stamp and signature of heaven.

" Hear, oh heavens, and be astonished
oh earth." Why, ^hat is the matter ?
''The ox knoweth its owner, and the

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 21

ass his master's crib; but Israel doth
not know, my people dotli not consider."
God dotli not call in a jury of angels to
condemn tliem; but lie empanels a jury
of oxen, and asses, to pass sentence upon
them. Alas ! that oxen, and asses, should
be more religious than men, who profess
religion! In their kind, they are more
kind. If their owners feed them, they
readily own their owners.

Men commonly season the vessel with
water, before they trust it with costly
wine. Thus God will season the vessel
of your heart with his grace, before he
pours into it the wine of his glory. It
is hard to say whether God discovers
more love in preparing heavenly man-
sions for the soul, than in preparing the
soul for heavenly mansions.

The soul of man is the Lord's Casket,
and grace the jewel ; now, wherever the

22 A stri:n'g of pearls,

jewel is not found, tlie casket will be
thrown away. Though the wheat be
for the garner, yet the chaff is for the fire.
The Scripture presents you, not only,
with an account of what God will do
for a christian, but also what achristia-n
will do for Grod.

Some people say much, and do nothing;
but christians do much, and say nothing.
To deserve praise, where none is ob-
tained, is better than to obtain it where
none is deserved. The old maxim is
worthy to be revived — he that desires
honor is not worthy of honor.

A saint may be seen doing more works
than any, and yet he does not desire to
do any of his works, to be seen. An
alms, which is seen, is by no means un-
pleasant to God, provided it be not given
with a design to have it seen. Though
good ends make not bad actions lawful,

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 23

yet, bad ends make good actions sinful.
The harp sounds sweetly, yet it hears
not its own melody. Moses had more
glory by his veil, than by his face. It
is truly pleasant to behold those living
in the dust of humility, who have raised
others, from the dust by their liberality.

It is both meat and drink to a form-
alist to fast, if others do but see it. It
is reported that the nightingale never
sings so sweetly, as when others stand
by to hear its melody. " Come see my
zeal for the Lord of Hosts," when there
was no zeal for the Lord of Hosts to be
seen. Jehu only made religion a stir-
rup, to mount upon the saddle of popu-
larity. Sounding souls are seldom souls
that are sound. The vote of a Jehu is
always linked to the heart of a Judas.
Some persons are like hens, which no
sooner drop their eggs than they begin
to chatter. If such bestow a little money

24

on a cburcli's repairs, it must be recorded
upon glazed windows. Where self is
the end of our actions, Satan is the re-
warder of them.

Where the river is the deepest, the
water glides the smoothest. Empty
casks sound most ; whereas the well-
fraught vessel silences its own sound.
As the shadow of the sun is largest
when his beams are lowest, so we are
always least, when we make ourselves
the greatest.

He that trafl&cs in God's service, to
fraught himself with man's praises,
suffers shipwreck in the haven, and
loses his wages, when he comes to re-
ceive pay for his works. It is storied
of Alexander's footman, that he ran so
swift upon the sand, that the print of
his footsteps were not seen. Thus
should it be with Christians ; nothing

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 25

is more pleasing unto God, tlian a hand
that is largely opened, and a mouth that
is straightly closed.

Saints should resemble a spire steeple,
which is smallest where it is highest ;
or those orient stars, which the higher
they are seated, the less they are viewed.
Usually, the greatest boasters are the
smallest workers.

"Without grace there may be seeming
knowledge; but, without grace there
can be no saving knowledge. Satan
may as well put out our eyes, that we
should not see the truth ; as cut off our
feet, that we should not walk in the
truth. Naked knowledge may make
the head giddy ; but it will never make
the heart holy.

How many professors are there who
have light enough to know what should

26 A STRING OF PEAELS,

be done, but have not love enough to
do, what they know ! Such people have
no advantage from carrjnng a bright
candle in a dark lantern. Give me the
professor, who perfectly sees tlie way
he should go, and readily goes the way
he sees. That sinner's darkness will be
the greatest in hell, whose light was the
clearest on earth.

I have read of a painter, who, being
warmly reprehended, by a cardinal, for
putting too much red into the faces of
St. Paul and St. Peter, answered ; — ^'It is
to show, how much they blush at the
conduct of many who style themselves
their successors." Were Abraham, the
father of the faithful, now on earth, how
would he disclaim all relation to many
who call themselves his offspring!
Though there was less grace discovered
to the saints of old, yet there was more
grace discovered in them. They knew

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 27

little, and did much ; we know much, and
do little.

'^My righteousness I hold fast, and
will not let it go." Poor Job could
hold nothing fast, but his integrity;
grace kept his heart, when he could not
keep his gold. Uprightness is of so
fair a complexion as not to be subject to
any alteration, from the scorching beams
of persecution. The laurel preserves
its verdure, amidst the severest blasts
of winter. Times of trouble have often
been times of triumph to a believer.
Suffering seasons have, generally, been
sifting seasons, in which the Christian
has lost his chaflP, and the hypocrite his

"Wicked men stumble at every straw,
in the way to heaven, but they climb
over hills, in the way to destruction.
Hang heavy weights on rotten boughs

28 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

and they will suddenly break. If sin-
ners take up religion, in a fair day, they
will eagerly, lay it down in a foul one.
The language of such is, " Lord, we are
willing to serve thee, but unwilling to
suffer for thee. We will go to sea, with
thee, but on condition, we have no
storms. We have no objection to enter
into the war, but upon this promise,
that we have no blows." Such would
fain be wafted to the port of felicity, in
such vessels as would not be tossed in
the sea of calamity. They think too
much of wearing a thorn, though it be
borrowed from Christ's crown.

A true Christian will lay down his
lusts, at the command of Christ, and his
life, for the cause of Christ. The more
a tree of righteousness is shaken by the
wind, the more it is rooted in the ground.
What, art thou a member of Christ, and
afraid to be a martyr for Christ? If

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 29

those be blessed, wlio die in Christ;
what must they be who die /or Christ.

"Should such a man as I flee?"
saith Nehemiah ; a man so much owned
and honored of God ! It is better to die
a conquerer in religion, than to live a
coward in reliofion. Those who are

o

willing to be combatants for God, shall
also, be more than conquerors through
God. None are so truly courageous; as
those who are truly religious.

If a righteous cause bring you into
sufferings, a righteous God will bring
you out of sufferings. A Christian is
as much indebted to his enemies, as to
friends. The malicious crucifixion of
Christ wrought out the glorious exalta-
tion of Christ. The worst that men can
do against believers, is the best that they
can do for believers. The worst they
can do to them, is to send them out of

30 A STRING OF PEARLS,

the eartli; and the best they can do /or
them is to send them into heaven. That
was a Christian expression, of one of the
martyrs to his persecutors ; — ''You take
a life from me, that I cannot keep, and
bestow a life upon me that I cannot
lose ; which is as if you should rob me
of counters, and furnish me with gold."
He that is assured of a life, that has no
end, need not care how soon this life
shall end.

"Seekest thou great things for thyself ?
seek them not." For saints to set their
hearts upon that, whereon beasts set
their feet, is as if a king should abdicate
his throne, to follow the plough ; or, as
if a man should desert a golden mine,
to dig in a pit of gravel. Where we
search ourselves it denotes that we are
virtuous; but when we seek ourselves it
denotes that we are covetous.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 31

There is a proverb, but none of Solo-
mon's ; — " Every man for himself, and
God for ns all." But where every man
is for himself the devil will have all.
Whosoever is a seeker of himself is not
found of God. Though he may find
himself in this life, he will lose himself
in death.

Though the eagle be the queen of
birds, as the lion is the king of beasts,
yet she was not offered up, in sacrifice,
because she lived upon the spoils of
others. Grace teaches a Christian not
only to act like a man to God, but also
like a God to man.

Our Lord Jesas Christ pleased not
himself, that thereby he might eternally
profit us. '' For ye know the grace of
our Lord Jesus Christ ; that though he
was rich, yet for our sakes, he became
poor; that ye through his poverty might

32

become rich." A drop of his blood, is
worth more than a sea of ours ; and yet
he died our death that we might live his
life ; and suffered our hell, to bring us
to his heaven. He lay in the feeble
arms of his mother, that we might lie
in the tender bosom of his Father. His
love began in his eternal purpose of
grace, and ends in our eternal possession
of glory.

Every gracious spirit is public ; but
every public spirit is not gracious. God
may use the midwifery of the Egyptians
to bring forth the children of Israel.
An iron key may open a golden trea-
sury ; and leaden pipes convey pleasant
waters. Though earthly blessings may
be communicated to a spiritual man, yet
spiritual blessings will not be commu
nicated to a carnal man

Such was the public spirit of Moses,

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 33

that wTien tlie Lord proposed to him to
destroy Israel, and to make a great na-
tion of him, he became intercessor for
them ; yea, even when they were ready
to stone him. His affection as a ruler
was stronger, than his affection as a
father. Thus Joshua, his honorable
successor, so far imitated him that he
first divided Canaan, into several allot-
ments and portions, for the tribes of
Israel, before he made any provision for
his own family. Give me such carvers,
as lay not all the meat upon their own
dishes.

A religious man, in the company of
wicked men, is like a green branch,
among dry and burning brands; they can
sooner kindle him, than he can quench
them.

34 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

SIN.

Above every evil, we sliould consider
iin as the greatest evil. Sin is the only
butt, at which all the arrows of divine
vengeance are shot. Sinners are those
spiders, which weave their own webs,
and are, afterwards, entangled in them.
Our own destruction is but the fruit of
our own trangression.

To see a saint and sinner maintain-
ing familiar intercourse with each other,
is to behold the living and the dead
keeping house together. The godly are
more frequently corrupted by the evil
deportment of the worldling, than the
worldling is refined by the chaste con-
versation of the godly. You may ob-
serve that in the oven, the fine bread
frequently hangs upon the coarse, but
the coarse very seldom adheres to the
fine. If you mix an equal proportion

FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 35

of sour vinegar, and sweet wine to-
gether, you will find that the vinegar
will sooner sour the wine, than the wine
sweeten the vinegar. The Lord's peo-
ple, by keeping evil company, are like
persons, who are much exposed to the
sun, insensibly tanned.

The wicked prefer the greatest sins,
to the least suffering. This is to leap
out of the burning pan, into the con-
suming flame. By seeking to shun an
external calamity, they rush into eter-
nal misery. This is, as if a man should
lose his head, to preserve his hat; or, as
if the mariner should sink the. sailing
vessel, to avoid the rising storm.

Sin has every evil subjoined to it.
When man have no evil ivithia him,
he had no evil vpon him. He began to
be sorrowful when he began to be sin-
ful. When the soul shall be fully re-

36 A STRING OF PEARLS,

leased from the guilt of iniquity, the
body shall be wholly delivered from the
burden of infirmity. Sorrow shall never
be a visitant, where sin is not an inhabi-
tant. The former would be a foreigner,
if the latter was not a sojourner.

God is as far from beating his chil-
dren/or nothing, as he is from beating
them to nothing, A hole in the ship
will sink it to the bottom. A small
bite from a serpent, will affect the whole
body. If the root be killed, the branches
will soon be withered. If the spring be
diminished, there is no doubt, but the
streams will soon fail. Where the fuel
of corruption is removed, there the fire
of affliction is extinguished.

The water without the ship may toss
it, but it is the water within the ship,
which sinks it.

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 37

A certain person, on seeing a Chris-
tian woman go clieerfiilly to prison,
said to her, "Ah you have not yet
tasted of the bitterness of death." She
cheerfully answered, "N'o, nor ever
shall ; for Christ hath promised that
those who keep his sayings, shall never
see death." A believer may feel the
stroke of death, but he shall never feel
the sting of death.

LIBERALITY.

The rich man's superfluity was or-
dained, to relieve the poor man's neces-
sity. A lady on giving sixpence to a
beggar, accosted him thus; — "I have
now given you more than ever God
gave me." To whom he replied, " No
madam, God hath given you, all your
abundance." "That is your mistake,"
said she, " for he hath but lent it to me,
that I might bestow it on such as you."

38 A STRING OF PEAELS,

He is not a covetous man, avIio lays
up sometliing providentiallj^, but he is a
covetous man, wlio gives out notliing
willingly. He is as prudent a man who
sometimes distributes discreetly, as he
who accumulates hastily. Men, fre-
quently, discover more wisdom in laying
07//j than in laying ^ip.

Seneca, the heathen, inculcates a prin-
ciple worthy of the credence of every
christian: "I believe I truly enjoy no
more of the world's affluence than what
I willingly distribute to the necessitous."

Some observe that the most barren
grounds, are nearest to the richest mines.
It is too often true, in a spiritual sense,
that those whom God hath made the
most fruitful in estates, are most barren
in good works. It is too generally true,
that the rich spend their substance wan-
tonly, while the poor give theix alms

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 39

willingly. A penny comes with moj-e
difficulty out of a bag that is pressing
full, tlian a shilling out of a purse that
is half empty. Wherefore doth the
Lord make your cup run over, but that
other men's lips might taste the liquor ?
The showers that fall upon the highest
mountains should glide in the lowest
valleys. "Give, and it shall be given,
you," is a maxim little believed.

God, who might have made all men
wealthy, has made most men poor, that
the poor might have Christ for an ex-
ample of patience, and the rich for an
example of goodness. Cruelty is one
of the highest scandals to I3iety. God
looks, not so much on the merits of the
beggar, as upon the mercy of the giver.

It is reported of one of the dukes of
Savoy, that being asked by certain am-
bassadors at his court, what hounds he

40 A STKING OF PEARLS,

kept, be conducted them into a large
room, where there were a number of
poor people sitting at table. " These,"
said he, ''are all the hounds I have upon
earth, and with whom I am in pursuit
of the kingdom of heaven." It is counted
an honor to live like princes, but it is a
greater honor to give like princes.

I know no better way to preserve
your meal, than by parting with your
cake. Large springs should send forth
their waters without pumping. Your
benevolence should seek the poor, before
the poor seek your benevolence. " Put
on therefore, (as the elect of God,) bowels
of mercy." He that hath put off the
bowels of compassion, hath put off the
badge of election. Many can love at
their tongue's end, but the godly love
at their finger's ends. If a man be
naked, it is easy for the miser to bid him
to be clothed ; or if he be empty he can

FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 41

easily bid liim be filled ; as if poor Chris-
tians, were like cliameleoHs, able to live
upon tlie air. Liberality does not con-
sist in good wishes, but in good works.
The doubtful are to be relieved by our
counsel, but the necessitous are to be
relieved by our morsels. '^ HosiDitality
is seed, and the husbandman does not
become wealthy by saving, but by sow-
ing of his seed."

HUMILITY.

Our first fall was by rising against
God, but our best rise, is by falling
down before him. The acknowledg-
ment of our own impotence is the only
stock upon which the Lord ingrafts
divine assistance. He is the most lovely
professor, who is the most lowly profes-
sor. As incense smells the sweetest,
when it is beaten smallest, so saints look
fairest, when they lie lowest. Arro-

42 A STRING OF PEARLS,

gance in the soul resembles the spleen
in the body, which grows most while
other parts are decaying. God will not
suffer such a weed to grow in his garden,
without taking some course to root it
up. A believer ""is like a vessel cast
into the sea, the more it fills, the more
it sinks. '^ Pride goeth before destruc-
tion, and a haughty spirit, before a fall."
The flowing river quickly turns to an
ebbing water. It is not all the world
that can pull an humble man down, be-
cause God will exalt him ; nor is it all
the world that can keep a proud man
up, because God will debase him.

The first Adam was for self-advance-
ment, but the second Adam is for self-
abasement ; the former was for having
self deified, the latter is for having self
crucified.

God resisteth the proud, but giveth

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 43

grace -unto the humble. Give me the
homely vessel of humility, which God
shall preserve and fill with the wine of
his grace, rather than the varnished cup
of pride, which he will dash in pieces
like a potter's vessel. Where humility
is the corner-stone, there glory shall be
the top-stone.

Though repentance be the act of man,
yet it is the gift of God ; it requires the
same power to melt the heart as to make
it. Though repentance be not a par-
don's obtainer, yet it is a pardon's fore-
runner. There is no coming to the fair
haven of glory, without sailing through
the narrow straits of repentance. Christ
Jesus rejoiceth over those as blessed,
who mourn over themselves as cursed.
" Blessed are they that mourn, for they
shall be comforted." Out of the saltest
water, God can brew the sweetest li-
quor. The skilful bee gathers the best

44 A STEING

honey, from the bitterest herbs. When
the cloud has been dissolved into a
shower, there presently follows a glori-
ous sunshine. .The more a stone is
wounded by the hand of the engraver,
the greater beauty is superinduced there-
on. By groans unutterable, the Lord
ushers in, joys unspeakable.

There are two things in our sins, the
devilishness of them, and the dangerous-
ness of them, Now take a saint and a
sinner ; the first says, — " What have I
done?" the last says, — ^' What must I
suffer?" One morns for the active evil,
the other for the passive evil. The
former grieves because his soul is de-
filed; the latter because his soul is con-
demned. Water may gush from a rock,
when it is smitten with a rod, but all
such streams are lost, for they neither
quench the flames of hell, nor fill God's
bottles in heaven.

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 45

Sinful arrogance usually attends crea-
ture confidence. Worldly wealtbiness
is a quill to swell tlie bladder of liigh-
mindedness; for when men's estates
are lifted up, it is but too common for
men's hearts to be puffed up. Ah ! liow
fond is thin dust of thick clay. Pride
breeds in o-reat estates, as worms do in
in sweet fruits.

Remember Christian, if you be poor
in world, you should be rich in faith ;
and if you be rich in this world, you
should be poor in spirit. The way
to ascend is to descend; the deeper a
tree roots, the wider do its branches
spread. The sun of prosperity shines
the clearest in the sphere of humility.
The true nobility of the mind consists
in the humbleness of the mind. Con-
sider that as none have so little, but
they have great cause to bless God, so

46 A STRING OF TEARLS,

none have so mucTi, as to have the least
cause to boast before God.

Shall the theatrical vagrant be proud
of his borrowed robes^ or the mud wall
swell because the beams of a beautiful
sun shine upon it ? Gold in your bags,
may make you great, but it is grace in
your hearts, which makes you good.
Goodness without greatness, shall be
esteemed, when greatness without good-
ness, shall be confounded. Proud sin-
ners are the fittest companions for proud
devils. The more prosperity man en-
joys, the more humility God enjoiDs.
Nature teaches us that those trees bend
the most freely, which bear the most
fully. As a proud heart loves none
but itself, so it is beloved by none but
itself.

It is a difficult matter to be grand in
the estimation of others, and base in our

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 47

own. The face of no mere man ever
shone so illustriously, as that of the an-
cient Jewish lawgiver's, and, yet it is
affirmed that no man's heart was ever
so meek ; but most men resemble chame-
leons, which no sooner take in the air,
than they begin to swell.

Under the Levitical law, the lamb
and dove were offered in sacrifice, when
the lion and the eagle were rejected.

A proud person thinks every thing
too much, that is done hy him, and
every thing too little, that is done for
him. God is as far from pleasing him
with his gifts, as he is from pleasing-
God with his works. I will not say a
good man is never proud, but I will
say, a proud man is never good.

HYPOCRISY

A hyprocrite may be both the fairest
and the foulest creature in the world ;

48 A STRING OF PEARLS,

he may be fairest, outwardly, in the
sight of men, and foulest, inwardly, in
the sight of God. The dial of our faces,
does not infallibly show the time of day
in our hearts. Unclean spirits may in-
habit the chamber, when they look not
out of the window. Hypocrites resemble
looking-glasses, Avhich present the faces,
that are not in them. None are so
black in the eyes of the Deity, as those
who paint for spiritual beauty.

Some persons are better in show than
in substance, but not so with true Chris-
tians ; they are not like painted tombs
which enclose decayed bones. " The
king's daughter is all glorious within."
She is all glorious within, though with-
in is not all her glory.

A false friend is worse than an open
enemy. A painted harlot is less dan-
gerous, than a painted hypocrite. A
treacherous Judas, is more abhorred of

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 49

(rod than a bloody Pilate. The blazing
lamps of foolish virgins may light them
to the bridegroom's gate, but not into his
chamber. Either get the nature of
Christ within you^ or take not the
honours of Christians upon you.

FOKGIVENE SS.

" Let not the sun go down upon your
wrath, neither give place to the devil."
He that carries passions to bed with
him, will find the devil creep between
the sheets; and why should we give
place to him, who crowds in, so fast
himself.

How many are there, who profess to
forgive, but cannot forget an injury !
Such are like persons who sweep the
chamber, but leave the dust behind the
door. Whenever we grant our offend-
ing brethren a discharge, our hearts

4

60 A STRING OF PEARLS,

also should set their hands to the ac-
quittance. We should not only break
the teeth of malice by forgiveness, but
pluck out its sting by forgetfulness.
To store our memories with a sense of
injuries, is to fill that chest with rusty
iron, which was made for refined gold.

To do evil for good, is human cor-
ruption; to do good for good, is civil
retribution ; but to do good for evil, is
Christian perfection. Though this be
not the grace of nature, yet it is the na-
ture of grace.

REPROOF.

There is much discretion to be ob-
served in reprehension ; a word will do
more with some, than a blow with others.
A Venice glass is not to be rubbed so
hard as a brazen kettle. Dashing
storms do but destroy the seed, while
gentle showers nourish it. In repre-

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 51

hension we should always beware of
carrying our teeth in our tongues, and
of biting while we are speaking. We
should do with others' sins as we do
with our own sores; which if a gentle
scar will produce a sufficient discharge,
we avoid cutlery and slashing. If
ravenous birds can be frayed away by
a look, we need not expend powder and
shot.

Flatterers may be termed the devil's
upholsterers, who no sooner see men
troubled at their lusts, than they are for
laying pillows under their elbows ; but
let such know, that their want of the
fire of zeal, will be punished with the
fire of hell.

DUTIES.

When the purest duties have been
performed, the purest mercies should

52 A STEIXG OF PEARLS,

be implored. Many have passed tlie
rocks of gross sins, wlio have suficred
shipwreck upon the sands of self-righte-
ousness. Some people live more upon
their customs, than they do upon Christ;
more upon the prayers they make to
God, than upon the God to whom they
make their prayers. This is for the
redeemed captive to reverence the sword
instead of the hand, which wrought his
rescue.

Duties are like dry pits, though never
so curiously wrought, till Christ fill
them. If you be found in your own
righteousness, you will be lost by your
own righteousness. The garment, which
was worn to shreds on AdamrCs hack
loill never make a complete covering for
mine.

Duties may be good crutches to go
upon, but they are bad Christ s to lean

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 53

upon. It is tlie greatest disparagement
that Christians can offer to Christ to
put their services in equipage with his
sufferings. The beggarly rags of the
first Adam must never be put on with
the princely robe of the second Adam.

To undertake every duty, and yet to
overlook every duty^ is a lesson none
can learn but Christ's scholars. Our
obedience at best, is like good wine
which relishes of a bad cask. The law
of God will not take ninety-nine for a
hundred. It will not accept the coin of
our obedience, either short in quantity,
or bas3 in quality. The duty it exacts
is as impossible to be performed in this,
our fallen state, as the penalty it in-
flicts, is intolerable to be endured in
our eternal state.

"We do not sail to glory in the salt
sea of our own tears, but in the red sea

54 A STRING OF PEAELS,

of a Redeemer's blood. The cross of
Christ is the key of Paradise. We owe
the life of our souls, to the death of our
Saviour. It was his going into the fur-
nace, which keeps us from the flames.
Man lives by death ; his natural life
is preserved, by the death of the crea-
ture, his spiritual life by the death of
the Redeemer.

As God has none the less, for the
mercy he gives, so he has none the
more, for the duty he receives. Man is
such a debtor to God that he can never
pay his due to God ; yea, the more we
pay him, the more we owe him, for our
payments. It is Christ only, who is the
righteousness of God to man, and man
to God. We are so far from paying the
utmost farthing, that at the utmost we
have not a farthing to pay. That man
will be a miserable spectacle of vanity,

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 55

who stands upon the lame feet of his
own ability.

As many do the things which God
dislikes, so they dislike the things which
God does. If the children of Israel ob-
tain no meat for their lusts, then they
are weary of their lives. They are de-
lighted with thei^ burning corruptions,
but are enraged with their trying con-
ditions ; which is nothing less than to
be in love with their malady, and out
of love with their remedy. They studied
more how to gratify their humours, than
to satisfy their hunger. They com-
plained of the shoe, but the disease lay
in the foot.

It is hard to carry a full cup without
shedding, or to stand under a heavy load
without bowing. It is dif&cult to walk
in the clear day of prosperity without
wandering, or in the dark night of ad-

56 A STEING OF PEARLS,

versity, Avithout stumbling; but, from
whatsoever point the wind blows, the
skilful mariner knows how to meet it
with his sails.

PROSPERITY.

Outward prosperity cannot create in-
ward tranquillity. Hearts-ease is a
flower that never grew in the world's
garden. The ground of a wicked man's
trouble is not because he has not enough
of the creature, but because he cannot
find enough in the creature. Some are
satisfied under the hand of God, because
they are not sensible of the hand of
God. They never fret^ because they
never /ee?.

Believers should be like sheep, which
change their pastures at the will of the
shepherd; or like vessels in a house,
which stand to be filled or emptied, at

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 57

the pleasure of tlie owner. He that
sails upon the sea of this world, on his
own bottom, will sink at last into a bot-
tomless ocean. Never were any their
own carvers, but they were sure to cut
their own fingers.

A covetous man is fretful, because he
has not so much as he desires, — but a
gracious man is thankful, because he has
more than he deserves. It is true, I
have not the sauce, but then I merit not
the meat. I have not the lace^ but then
I deserve not the coat. I want that
which may support my dignity, but I
have that which supplies my necessity.

There is no gathering a rose without
a thorn, till we come to Immanuel's
land. If there was nothing but showers,
we should conclude the world would be
drowned ; if nothing but sunshine, we
should fear the earth would be burned.

58 A STKING OF PEAELS,

Our worldly comforts would be a sea to
drown us, if our crosses were not a
plank to save us.

CONTENTMENT.

A contented heart is an even sea in
the midst of all storms. It is like a
tree in autumn, which secures its life
when it has lost its leaves. Content-
ment is the best food to preserve a sound
man, and the best medicine to restore a
sick man. He is not a poor man that
hath but little, but he is a poor man
that wants much. In this sense, the
poorest are often the richest, and the
richest the poorest. Though every
godly man may not always be contented,
yet every truly contented man is godly.

As Seneca said to Polybius; — "Never
complain of thy hard fortune, so long as
Caesar is thy friend," so say I to thee.

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 59

" Never complain of thy hard fortune,
Christian, so long as Jesus is thy friend.
Let your condition be never so flour-
ishing, it is a hell without him ; let it
be never so fluctuating, it is a heaven
with him. Can that man want any
thing who enjoys Christ ? or can he be
said to enjoy any thing who is without
Christ? AYhy should Hagar lament
the loss of the water in her bottle, while
there is a well so near?"

SELF-KKOWLEDGE.

" Censorious men commonly take up
magnifying glasses to look at other peo-
ple's imperfections, and diminishing
glasses to look at their own enormities."
" They are fittest to find fault, in whom
there is no fault to be found. There is
no removing blots from the paper, by
laying upon them a blurred finger.
" Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam

60 A STRI^^G OF PEARLS,

out of thine own eye, and then -shalt
thou see clearly to cast out the mote out
of thy brother's eye." Eeader, what do
you get by throwing stones at your
enemies' windows, while your own chil-
dren look out at the casements ? He
that blows into a heap of dust, is in
danger of putting out his own eyes.

Reader, are there not the same lusts
lodging in your heart, that are reigning
in other men's lives ? The reason why
there is so little self-condemnation, is
because there is so little self-examina-
tion. For want of this, many persons
are like travellers, skilled in other coun-
tries, but ignorant of their own. As it
is an evidence, that those tradesmen are
embarrassed in their estates, who are
afraid to look into their books, so it is
plain that there is something wrong
within, among all those who are afraid
to look within. The trial of ourselves,

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 61

is the ready road to the knowledge of
ourselves. He that buys a jewel in a
case, deserves to be cozened with a
Bristol stone."

Eeader^ wliy will you search another
man's wound, while your own is bleed-
ing ? Take heed that your own vesture
be not full of dust, when you are brush-
ing your neighbours. Complain not of
dirty streets, when heaps lie at your
own doors. Many peoj)le are no longer
well, than while they are holding their
fingers, upon another person's sores ;
such are no better in their conduct, than
crows which prey only upon carrion.
" But let every man prove his own work
and then he shall have rejoicing in
himself alone, and not in another." For
want of self-examination, men have their
accounts to cast tip, when they should
have them to deliver up. They have
their evidences of grace to seek, when

62 A STRING OF PEARLS,

they should have them to show. They
lie down, with such hopes, in their beds
of rest, with which they dare not lie
down in their beds of dust. If you
must needs be a judge, then pray sit
upon your own bench. I shall ever
esteem such to be but religious lepers,
who care not for Scripture looking
glasses. Self-examination is the beaten
path to perfection ; it is like fire, which
not only trie^ the gold, but^9//r?^es it
also. The sight of yourself in grace,
will bring you to the sight of God in
glory. The plague of the body is not
every man's plague, but the plague of
the soul is.

YOUTHFTTL PIETY.

In the distillation of strong waters,
the first drawn is fullest of spirits. ' ' The
first, of the first fruits of thy land thou
shalt bring into the house of the Lord

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 63

thy God." God prizes a Christian in
the bud, and delights in the blossoms of
youth, above the sheddings of old age.
Naturalists inform us that the most
orient pearls are generated of the morn-
ino: dew.

To discover grace in an old sinner is
well, but to view it in vigorous youth,
is better. All the beasts of sacrifice
were offered to God in their prime.
Jesus was carried in triumph upon a
colt, the foal of an ass. When the
snow drops of youth appear in the gar-
den of the church, it evinces that there
is a glorious summer approaching.

If youth be sich of the ivill-nots^ old
age is in danger of dying of the shall-
nots. It is hard to cast off the devil's
yoke, when we have worn it long upon
our necks. " Can a man be born again
when he is old ?" Grace seldom grafts

64 A STKIXG OF PEARLS,

upon siicli withered stocks. An old
sinner is nearer to tlie second death,
than he is to the second birth. If God's
to-day be too soon for thy repentance,
thy to-morrow may be too late for his
acceptance. Mercy's clock does not al-
ways strike at our back.

PERSEVERANCE.

I am Alpha and Omega, the begin-
ning and the ending ; the first and the
last. He that is the first and the last,
should be served, from the first to the
last. For what is setting out, without
holding out. Mutability is, at best, but
the badge of infirmity. God hath a
crown for the runner, but a curse for the
runaway. God accounts not himself
served at all, if he be not always served.

The devil would soon put out our can-
dles, if Christ did not carry them in his

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 65

lantern. ''Be not weary in well doing,
for in due time, we sliall reap, if we
faint not." To see a ship sink in tlie
liarbour of profession, is more grievous,
than if it had perished in the open sea
of profaneness.

Some have beat Jehu's march ; they
have driven furiously in religion, but
within a few years they have knocked
off their chariot wheels. After they
have lifted up their hands to God, they
have lifted up their heels against him.
That man's beginning was in hypocrisy,
whose ending is in apostasy. Eeader,
you look for happiness, so long as God
hath a being in heaven ; and God looks
for holiness so long as you have a being
on earth. He that draius hack from his
])rofession in earth, shall be kept hack
from his possession in heaven.

When once that fire which is laid on

6

QQ A STEING OF PEARLS,

God's altar is kindled, it shall no more
be quenched. Grace may be shaken in
the soul, but it cannot be shaken out of
the soul. It may be a bruised reed,
but it shall never be a broken reed.

Jesus Christ is never a father to abor-
tive children. Where he gives strength
to conceive, he gives strength to bring
forth. He turns the bruised reed into
a brazen pillar, and the smoking flax
into a prevailing flame.

The enemies of the church may toss
her as waves ; but they shall not split
her as rocks. She may be dipped in
water as a feather ; but shall not sink
therein as lead. He that is a well of
water within her, to keep her from
fainting, will, also, prove a wall of lire
about her, to preserve her from falling.
Tried she may be, but destroyed she can-
not be. Her foundation is the rock of

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 67

ages, and lier defence the everlasting
arms.

It is dangerous to smite tliose with
our tongues, whom God has smitten with,
his hand. His right to correct is not
ours.

THE christian's PRESENT
POSSESSION AND FUTURE
EXPECTATION.

Some say that a bird in the hand, is
worth two in the bush ; but surely such
a bird in the bush, is worth two in the
hand. If others dote upon the streams^
let us admire the fountain.

When the Gauls had tasted the wino
of Italy, they asked where the grapes
grew ; and would not be satisfied till
they came there. Thus may you cry^
''Ah that I had the wings of a dove,
that I might fly away and be at rest.''

68 A STRING OF PEARLS,

A believer is willing to lose the luorld,
for the enjoyment of grace; and \iq is
willing to leave the world for the frui-
tion of glory.

That which makes hell so full of hor-
ror, is that it is below all hopes ; that
which makes heaven so full of splendour,
is that it is above all fears. The one is
a night without the return of day, the
other is a day free from the approach
of nipcht.

If there be so much delight in heliev-
ing, ah, how much more is there in be-
holding! What is wooing day to the
wedding day! What is the sealing of
the conveyance, to the enjoyment of the
inheritance, or the foretastes of glory to
the fulfilment of glory! The good
things of that life, are so great as not to
be measured ; so many as not to be enu-
merated ; and so precious as not to be

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 69

estimated. If the picture of holiness be
so comely in its rough drcfft, how lovely
a piece will it be in all its perfections.
Every grace, which is here seen in its
minority, shall be seen there in its ma-
turity.

god's cognizance of men.

A man may hide God from himself,
and yet he cannot hide himself from
God. When a man wishes God to be
like himself, it argues that he is vicious ;
but when he desires to be like God, it
indicates that he is virtuous.

"We cannot always see God's will in
his works, but he can always discover
our works in our will. To him, the
most hidden roots are as visible as the
uppermost branches. Though the place
where we sin, be to men as dark as
Egypt, yet to God it is as light as Goshen.

70 A STRING OF PEARLS,

The Lord sees faults, where men see
none. Atoms which are invisible in the
candle light of reason, are all made to
dance naked, in the sunshine of om-
niscience. Cato was so grave and so
good a man, that none would behave
unseemly in his presence; whence it
grew to be a proverbial caveat; — "Take
heed what you do, for Cato sees you."
How reproachful is it to us, that the
eyes of a man should have more effect
upon our manners, than the penetrating
eyes of God.

God hath a glazed window in the
darkest houses of clay ; He sees what is
done in them when none other can. To
God's omnipotence there is nothing im-
possible ; and to God's omniscience there
is nothino^ invisible.

Because sin hath put out out eyes, we
vainly imagine that it hath put out

FEOM AN" OLD CASKET. 71

God's. Because we beliolcl not what lie
does in lieaven for us, we think that he
sees not, what we do on earth against
him.

Thus the rich man dealt with his
steward ; " Give an account of thy
stewardship, for thou mayest be no
longer steward." Man's enjoyment of
outward blessings, is not a lordship, but a
stewardship. God communicates those
good things of life to men, not that they
should lay them up for their own vanity,
but that they should lay them out for
his glory.

This is the day of GocVs long suffer-
ings ; but the judgment day, will be the
day of the sinner'' s long-suffering. Here
the cords of patience do, as it were, tie
the hands of vengeance ; but our Samson
may at last be roused, and break all
these cords, and then woe be to all the

72

Philistines. Sinners nicay have sparing
patience exercised toward them, and
yet not have converting grace revealed
in them.

In the awful storm of death, if out
vessel be wrecked there will be no plank
to swim to shore upon. All they who
refuse and reject Christ as a refining
fire, must be obliged to meet and feel
him as a consuming fire. How can they
endure the wrath of the Lamb, who have
uniformly disregarded the death of the
Lamb ? If the night of death find them
graceless^ the day of judgment will find
them speechless.

By the words thou shalt be justified,
and by thy words thou shalt be con-
demned." Though the arrows of idle
words may be shot out of sight for a
season, yet they will certainly hereafter
fall down upon the heads of those who

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 73

discliar2:ed tliem, "Out of the same
moutli proceedetli blessing and cursing."
Than a good tongue there is nothing
better ; than an evil tongue there is
nothing worse. Jesus Christ will in
the great day, pass sentence upon every
sentence that has passed. There is in
the same rose honey for the bee, and
poison for the spider.

The same person who shall say " Come
ye blessed," will also say^ ''Gro ye
cursed." As blessing and cursing pro-
ceed out of the mouth of the same man,
so they will out of the mouth of Christ.
Man's is a curse of wicked execration,
Christ's is a curse of righteous execu-
tion. As the same wind may send one
vessel into the haven, and sink another
in the ocean, so shall the same voice of
Christ doom the sinner to eternal death,
and welcome the saint to eternal life.
That gate which is opened for a citizen

74 A STRING OF PEABLS,

to go abroad for recreation, may also be
opened for a malefactor to go out to
execution.

On the stage of eternity the rich
man's bags will be emptied to see how
the poor man's box has been filled.
Then the charge of the pilgrim's journey
will be examined in the steward's ac-
counts. There will not be a sinner in
heaven to interrupt the joys of saints,
nor a saint in hell to soften or soothe
the anguish of sinners. Those who have
the ear-mark of election, and those who
have the hand-mark of transgression
shall be put into separate folds. The
black hand must then part with its white
glove. That solemn day will be too
critical for the hypocritical. All those
who now colour for show, will then be
shown in their own colours.

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 75

HEART-S ERVICE.

The God of lieaven and earth sues
from heaven to earth. He who is all in
all, to ns, calls for that which is all in
all, in us. We may commit onr estates
into the hands of men, but we must not
commit our hearts into the hands of any
but God. There are none of our spirits
so good but he deserves them, or so bad
but he can refine them.

Ah, how unwilling is man to give,
what he has no right to keep! As God
prefers the heart to every thing, such is
the wickedness of man that he will give
God any thing but the heart. He that
regards the heart without any thing, he
also will not regard any thing without
the heart.

Ymn thoughts defile the heart as well
as vih thoughts. Snails leave their

76 A STRING OF PEARLS,

slime behind them as well as serpents.
If the leprosy take hold of a single
thread, it will soon spread over the
whole piece. Though sinful thoughts
will rise, yet they should not reign.
Though these birds may hover over the
Christian's heart, yet he cannot wish
them to build their nests in it.

A heart that is sanctified, is better
than a tongue that is silvered. He that
gives only the skin of worship to God,
receives only the shell of comfort from
God. If God's mercies do not eat out
the heart of our sins, our sins will soon
eat out the heart of our duties. A work
that is heartless, is a work that is fruit-
less. God cares not for the crazy cabinet,
but for the precious jewel.

It is said of Hannibal, the great Car-
thaginian commander, that he was the
first that went into the field of battle,

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 77

and the last who came out of it. Thus
should it be in all the operations of a
Christian ; the heart should be the first
that comes into the house of God^ and
the last that goes out of it.

It is observed of the spider, that in
the morning before she seeks her prey,
she mends her broken web, and in doing
this, she always begins in the middle.
And shall those who call themselves
Christians, rise and pursue the callings
and profits of the world, and yet be un-
concerned about the broken webs of
their lives, and especially of their hearts.

Those who would have the rocks run
with wholesome water, should look well
to the springs that supply them. The
heart is the presence chamber, where
the King of glory takes up his residence.
That which is the most worthy in us,

78 A STRING OF PEARLS,

should be resigned to him who is most
worthy of us.

It is said of the Lacedemonians, who
were a poor and homely people, that
they offered lean sacrifices to their gods,
and that the Athenians, who were a
wise and wealthy people, offered fat and
costly sacrifices, and yet in their wars,
the former had always the mastery of
the latter. Whereupon they went to
the oracle, to know the reason, why
those should speed worst, who gave
most. The oracle returned this answer
to them ; — " That the Lacedaemonians
were a people who gave their hearts to
their gods ; but that the Athenians only
gave their gifts to their gods. Thus a
heart without a gift, is better than a gift
without a heart."

FBOM AN OLD CASKET. 79

THE FKUIT OF SIN.

Satan's apples may have a fair skin,
yet they certainly have a bitter core.

Sinner, that which is now like a rose
flourishing in your bosom, will in ^ very
little time be like a poisoned dagger at
your breast. Poor soul, beware of those
embraces which are but signals of de-
struction. While such a Judas kisses,
he kills. While the ivy twines round
the oak it eats out its sap.

A saint cannot sin so as to destroy
his grace, but he may so sin as to dis-
turb his peace. The spider cannot de-
stroy the bee-hive, but it may get in and
spoil the honey.

The pleasures of sin are but for a sea-
son, but the torments of unpardoned sin,
are of an eternal duration. Our first

80 A STRING OF PEARLS,

parents soon ate of the forbidden fruit,
but the world to this day feels that it is
not freed from the miserable consequence
of that sudden banquet.

Death will tarn all the waters of
pleasure into blood. The serpent of sen-
sual delight always carries a deadly
stino' in his tail.

There are many who vainly suppose
that the fountain of their sin is quite
dried up, when alas, the streams are
only turned into another channel. A
hand taken off from sinful practices,
without a heart taken off from sinful
principles, is only like a field, which
having, for a time, lain fallow, after-
wards springs up with greater increase.
Or it is like a stream which having been
damned for a while, at last runs with
greater violence, when the sluices are
opened.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 81

CREATURE VANITY.

He that knocks at the creature's door
for supplies, will find an empty house
kept there. "All the rivers run into
the sea, yet the sea is not full." Though
all the rising streams of worldly profit
may run into the hearts of men, yet
they cannot fill up the hearts of men.
Were it possible for the eye to see all
that is to be seen, yet it would not be
satisfied with seeing. If there be not
enough in the world to satisfy the senses
of men, how should there be enough in
it to satisfy the souls of men. " Those
who now rejoice in the world will, be-
fore it be long have no world wherein
to rejoice." Arise ye and depart, for
this is not your rest, because it is pol-
luted ; it shall destroy you even with a
sore destruction.

Hearts-ease is a flower that grows not
in the world's garden. The faster you

82 A STRING OF PEARLS,

grasp the world in your hands the sooner
it slides between your fingers.

Every thing below is too base for the.
soul's nobility, and too brittle for the
soul's stability. Who would set that
vessel under the droppings of a cistern,
which is able to contain all the waters
of the ocean !

The world is too frequently got with
anxious cares, kept with alarming fears,
and lost with rending groans. We see
the outside of the great estate, but not
the inside of it. We behold the field
of corn, but not the tares that are mixed
with it. We . do not always see the
worldling's cloud and dark nights,
but his clear day and sunshine. The
riches, honours, and pleasures of the
world, are like spreading but poisonous
trees, and the deviJ shows us the fair
leaves, and offers us the pleasant fruits,

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 83

but conceals from us their deadly na-
ture.

By how much higher the morning
larks are in their flight, by so much the
sweeter are their notes. The higher a
Christian is raised above the things of
the earth, the more he is ravished with
the joys of heaven. The least portion
of grace is preferable to a mountain of
gold. One ray of mercy is better than
a sun of pleasure. One whisper of love
from Christ's voice, is worth more than
all the symphony of nature. Give me
that friend who lives for ever, and that
wealth which lasts for ever. May I
make choice of those blessings which
come freely, satisfy fully, and continue
eternally.

The world is big in our hopes, but
little in our hands. It is like Sodom's
apples, beautiful to the eye at a distance,

84 A STRING OF PEARLS,

but when they are touclied, tliej crum-
ble into aslies. Pleasures are but a
shield of melting wax against a sword
of power ; they can no more keep an
evil conscience from tormenting, than a
velvet sleeve can keep a broken arm
from aching.

GOOD WORKS.

Good works may be our Jacob's staff
to walk with on earth, yet they cannot
be our Jacob's ladder to climb to heaven
with. To lay the salve of our services
upon the wound of our sins, is as if a
man who is stung by a wasp, should
wipe his face with a nettle, or as if a
person should busy himself in support-
ing a tottering fabric with a burning
fire band. In proof of sanctification,
good works cannot be sufficiently mag-
nified ; but in point of justification, good
works cannot be sufficiently nullified.

FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 8o

The lamp of duty can only sliine clearly
as it is trimmed with the oil of mercy.

It was not the tempered clay that
cured the blind man, but Christ's anoint-
ing his eyes therewith. That was more
likely without him to make a seeing
man blind, than a blind man see. Thus
though we may receive our s^Diritual
sight in the ordinances, yet it is not the
ordinances which give the sight. '^It
was not the troubling of the pool in
Bethesda that made it healing, but the
coming down of the angel into it. That
man must famish at last, who always
feeds upon the dish instead of the meat."

*' Blessed are they who do his com-
mandments, that they may have right
to the tree of life." To look upon a
promise without a precept, is the high
road to presumption; to look upon a
precept without a promise, is the high

86 A STRING OF PEARLS,

road to desperation. One is like the
cork in the net to preserve it from sink-
ing, and the other is like lead in the net
to keep it from floating.

" Israel is an empty vine, he brings
forth fruit unto himself" Empty and
yet fruitful; fruitful and yet empty.
Thus that fertility which springs up,
from the bitter roots of self, has nothing
but vanity in the sight of God.

That tradesman is poor and needy,
who must have ready money for all he
sells. In all the good a carnal man
doth for God, he seeks himself more than
God. The clock of his heart will stand
still, unless its wheels of profit be oiled.

Worldlings instead of looking upon
godliness as their greatest gain, will look
upon gain, as their greatest godliness.
They love religion, not for the beauty

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 87

existing in it, but for the dowry annexed
to it. Thej are like tlie fox, who fol-
lows the lion, for the prey that is falling
from him. If there be no honey in the
pot, such wasps will hover no longer
about it.

The less emphasis you lay upon your
own works, the more will God lay upon
them. Those who are most righteous
in themselves, are least righteous to
God. God has three sorts of servants
in the world ; some are slaves and serve
him from a principle of fear ; others are
hirelings, and serve him for the sake of
wages ; and the last are sons, and serve
him under the influence of love. Now
a hireling will be a changeling He
that will not serve God, except some-
thing be given him, would serve the
devil, if he would give him more. Any
one shall have his works, if he will but
augment his wages.

88 A STEING OF PEA ELS,

"Dotli Job; serve God for nauglit?"
Yes, for Job served God wlien he had
naught. He was as religious in his
poverty, as in his plenty. In this sense,
that man, who will not serve God for
nothing, he is nothing in his services.

"Whenever Christ takes the burden
of guilt from a sinner's shoulders, he
then lays a yoke of obedience upon his
neck. That soul was never related to
Christ, who was never devoted to Christ.

God works with, and without means;
with, that man should not be indolent,
and without, that he should not be self-
confident. Jacob makes his prayers to an
heavenly Father, and yet presents his
gifts to an angry brother. David went
out against Goliah in the name of the
God of Israel, and yet repaired to the
brook for his smooth stones. The
sword of Joshua must go with the

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 89

prayers of Moses, and the prayers of
Moses accompany tlie sword of Joshua.
Had they fought and not prayed, tbey
would have obtained no victory, because
God will not be neglected; had they
prayed and not fought, they would have
obtained no victory, because he will not
be tempted.

Wheresoever the death of Christ clears
a soul from guilt, the spirit of Christ
cleanses that soul from filth. A man
may be justified without immediate
glorification, but not without concomi-
tant sanctification. The law by which
God rules us is as dear to him as the
gospel by which he saves us. Many
would use faith as an eye to see with,
but not as a foot to walk with. They
look for a crown of victory, but are un-
willing to fight the good fight of faith.
That faith which sets men to oppose
their internal enemies, sets God also

90 A STKING OF PEARLS,

to oppose tlieir external adversaries.
Prayer is the midwife of the promises.
The promises are wells of comfort to the
church, and believing prayer is the ves-
sel to draw the water out of the wells.

SllSr WHEN HATEFUL NOT
HURTFUL.

In playing over a tune on an instru-
ment, a single string may jar and slip,
and yet the main be musical. It would
be folly indeed to think our fields had
no corn in them, because there is chaff
about the wheat, or that the ore had no
gold in it, because there is dross among
it. In heaven there is service alone,
without any sin; in hell there is sin
alone without service; but on earth
there is sin and service iu the same man
as there is light and shade in the same
picture. Christian reader to condemn
your evil is good, but to condemn your

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 91

good, is evil. . Here believers are liko
the Israelites, who in their darkest night
had a pillar of fire, and in their clearest
day a pillar of a cloud. Above iis there
is light without any darkness ; below
us there is darkness without any light,
but in this world it is neither day nor
night ; but in the evening time it shall
be light. '• Though the lowest believer
be above the power of sin; yet the
highest believer is not above the pres-
ence of sin." It is in a living Christian
that lust is to be mortified, but it is only
in a dying Christian that it is to be de-
stroyed.

Sin never ruins but where it reigns.
It is not destroying where it is disturb-
ing. The more evil it receives from us,
the less evil it does to us. It is only a
murderer where it is a governor. The
rose is a fragrant flower, though it be
surrounded with piercing thorns. The

92 A STRING OF PEARLS,

passover was a feast, tho.ugli the Israel-
ites ate it with bitter herbs.

There is always too much of the wild
olive, in those who are ingrafted into
the true olive. Our graces are our best
jewels, but they do not yield their
brightest lustre in this world. The
moon when she shines brightest has her
spots ; and the fire when it burns the
brightest, hath its smoke.

Sin is an enemy at the Christian's back,
but not a friend in his bosom. Although
believers should be mournful because
they have infirmities, yet they should
be thankful because they are but infirm-
ities. It is true they have sin m them,
and that should make them sorrowful ;
but it is true that they have a Saviour
for them, and that should make them
joyful. It is not the interposition of a

FKOM AjS" old casket. 93

cloud, but the departure of a sun wHcli
constitutes a night.

The Saviour looks over that which
is his own, and overlooks that, which
is his people's. Where there is no
sin allowed hy them, there shall be
grains of allowance to them. He will
not throw away his pearls, for every
speck of dirt which may be on them.

The conduct of a Christian may some-
times be spotted with infirmity, when
the heart is sound in the love of sanctity.
Jacob halted, and yet was blessed. As
his blessing did not take away his halt-
ing, so his halting did not keep away
his blessing^.

WATCHFULNESS.

As faith is a grace which feeds all the
rest, so fear is a grace which guards all

94 A STRING OF PEARLS,

the rest. That man who is the most
watchful, is the least sinful. He may
quickly be cast down by a sinful temp-
tation, who is already prepared for it by
a sinful occasion. Who will pity that
man whose house is blown up Av^ith
powder, if he keep the barrels in a
chimney corner.

The fowler spreads his net, but the
wings of the bird carry her into it. Do
you mu.rmur for want of liberty, yet
surrender yourself to slavery ? If you
would not gather the forbidden fruit,
then beware how you look in the tree,
where it grows.

To pray against temptations, and yet
to rush into occasions, is to thrust your
lingers into the fire, and then pray that
they might not be burnt. The fable
saith that the butterfly enquired of the
owl how she should do with the candle

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 95

wliich had singed lier wings. The owl
counselled her not so much as to behold
its smoke. If you hold the stirrup, no
wonder if Satan get into the saddle.

A careless eye is an index to a grace-
less heart. Eemember the whole world
died by a wound in the eye. The eyes
of a Christian should be like sunflowers
wliich are opened to no blaze but that
of the sun.

To keep the eyes, and not regard the
ears, is, as if a man should shut the case-
ments of his house, and leave the doors
open to the thief. The ear is an instru-
ment that the devil loves to play upon.
As your ears are joined to your head on
earth, so they should be fastened to your
head in heaven.

A soul without its watch, is like a
city without its wall, exposed to the in-

96 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

road of all its enemies. Those wlio
would not fall into tlie river, should
beware how thej approach too near its
banks. He who would not drink of the
wine of wrath, let him not touch the
cup of pleasure. A person who carries
gunpowder about him, can never stand
too far from the fire. If we accompany
sin one mile, it will compel us to go
twain. Yoa will quickly lose your
standing, if you are fearless of falling.
He that abstains from no lawful thing,
may soon be brought to commit some-
thing that is sinful. Many a man has
been thrown out of the saddle of profes-
sion by riding with too slack a rein of
circumspection. If Achan handle the
golden wedge, his next work will be to
steal it. If Ruth lie at the feet of Boaz
her next remove may be into his bed.
If you take the devil's cap into your
hand, it is to be feared that you will
quickly lift it to your head.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 97

The devil may flatter us, but he can-
not force us ; he may tempt us to sin,
but he cannot compel us to sin. He
could never come off a conqueror, were
he not joined by our forces. The fire
is his but the tinder is ours. He could
never enter our houses if we did not set
open our doors.

The body hath two eyes, but the soul
must have but one, and that so firmly
fixed upon Christ, as never once to
glance beside him. A single eye is
fittest for a single object.

THE EIGHT USE OF MERCIES.

All that a believer receives is from
the hand of divine bounty, and employed
to the end of the divine glory. Others
make an earthly use of heavenly things,
but he makes a heavenly use of earthly
things. God can put a golden bias, into
7

98

a leaden bowl that it may run true to
him who made it. The more he oils
our wheels on earth the swifter our
chariots move to heaven.

"Whatever mill a saint has going in
the world, he will spread the sails of it
for the wind of divine approbation that
it may move round for God's glory.
When God sets him above the world,
then he holds up God to the world. It
is unequal to be hot in our prayers and
cold in our praises. Many will cry
aloud, " Give us this day our daily
bread," and whisper out, "Hallowed be
thy name." This is like opening our
windows to admit the light, and then
shutting them closely to keep out the
sun.

Take a wicked man, and you will not
find him led to God by that whicli comes
from God. The more a dung-hill has the

FBOM AN OLD CASKET. \)))

sunbeams upon it, tlie more noisome is
tlie effluvia arising from it.

God tries tlie vessel with water, that
he may fill it with generous wine.
Every stream leads an observant believer
to the fountain head. The more God's
hand is enlarged in blessing him, the
more his heart is enlivened in blessing
God. Where the sun of mercy shines
hottest, there the fruits of grace grow
fastest. In the book of nature we may
read the God of nature. The creature
is like a tuned instrument, and the
Christian's hand can strike it to the
Eedeemer\s praise. Man was formed
the last of the creation, that he might
contemplate upon God through every
creature.

100 A STRING OF TEARLS,

THE DESIGN OF AFFLICTION.

That is a choice artist who can play
well upon a broken instrument. To be
impatient with our affliction, and patient
with our corruption, is to be angry with
the medicine which heals us, and in love
with the poison that kills us. Too many
think that God is cutting down the tree,
when he is only lopping off the luxuriant
branches. They imagine that he is
demolishing -the superstructure, when
he is only laying a right foundation.

It is in mercy to us that God removes
outward blessings from us. He is not
nipping the flowers, but plucking up the
weeds ; he is not laying your land fallow,
but ploughing the field ; he is not put-
ting out the light, but snufSng the
candle. Providence hath a beautiful
face under a black mask. God has the
fairest ends in the foulest ways. The

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 101

sheep may be dipped in the water to
wash it, when there is no design in the
good shepherd to drown it. God doth
but take that out of your hands, which
woukl thrust him out of your heart.

He that mingles his passions with his
afflictions is like a foolish patient, who
chews the pills he should swallow whole.
He that carnally disturbs his soul for
the loss of his substance, casts away the
kernel because God has taken the shell.
If the tree yield us good fruit, it will be
no very great loss, though the wind
blow away the leaves. To bless God
for mercies is the way to increase them.
To bless God for miseries is the way to
remove them. No good lives so long
as that which is thankfully improved ;
no evil dies so soon as that which is
patiently sustained.

102

When Christians have their candles
put out, thej may fetch their light from
the sun ; and when they have their
streams cut off, they may drink at the
spring-head. The birds of paradise
make the swiftest flights, when they
have the smallest feathers. These
nightingales warble the most sweetly
when they set their breasts against the
thorns. The creature often interrupts
the respect whicb we owe to our Creator ;
and then no wonder if he break the
cistern to bring us unto the foTintain.
Those who are found blessing God under
all their losses, will find God blessing
them after all their losses.

FKOM AN OLD CASKET. 103

NO ARGUING A MAN'S SPI-
RITUAL STATE FROM HIS
TEMPORAL EXPERIENCE.

No man can know love or hatred by
any thing that is before him. You can-
not read the wrath of God in the black
lines of adversity, or the love of God in
the white lines of prosperity.

Riches have made many good men
worse, but they never made any bad
man better. Thus if we discern but a
spark of grace in a nobleman, we cry it
up as a blazing comet, and speak of it
in the superlative degree.

Though a Christian be made happy
171 the world, he is not made happy by
the world. Give me those judgments
which give birth to mercy, rather than
those outward mercies which give birth
to judgments.

104

God's jewels may liere be trodden
under foot, but hereafter tlicy will be
be fixed in the royal diadem. Those
stones which are designed for the build-
ing are frequently wounded by the
chisel, while those which are neglected
lie in ruinous heaps. A saint is glorious
in his misery, but a sinner is miserable
amidst all his glory. We must not,
therefore, think evil of religion, though
we should behold a Joseph in the prison,
while a Pharaoh is in a palace ; or a Job
on the ground, while a Julian is on a
throne. The most curious pearls are
often inclosed in the most rugged shells.

Luther's expression was not the less
true, because it was homely. " The
whole Turkish empire was but a crust
which God threw to the dogs." One
said, "" I would rather have Paul's coat,
with his heavenly graces, than the purple
robe of princes with all their kingdoms.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 105

Lest riches should be accounted evil in
themselves, God sometimes gives them
to the righteous, and lest they should
be considered as the chief good he fre-
queutly bestows them on the wicked.
But they are more generally the portion
of his enemies than his friends.

God and all that he has made, is not
more than God without any thing that
he has made. He can never want trea-
sure who has such a golden mine. He
is enough without the creature ; but the
creature is not any thing without him.
It is therefore better to enjoy him with-
out any thing else, than to enjoy every
thing else without him. It is better to
be a wooden vessel filled with wine,
than a golden one filled with water.

The last wine that Christ draws, is the
best wine that Christians drink. When
the waters cover the earth, whither

106 A STRING OF PEARLS,

should dove-like spirits fly, but to tLe
ark of Christ ? He who left heaven to
make them righteous, will come ft'om
heaven to make them glorious.

Christian you must never look for an
end to your sorrows till you see an end
to your sins. As the former came not
a day before the latter, so they stay not
a day behind them. ''As many as I
love I rebuke and chasten." Well may
you bear the rod, when infinite love
makes it up and lays it on. When you
lie under his afflicting hand, you then
lie near his affected heart. Rake a
dung-hill, and its effluvia will be offen-
sive, but heat perfume, and its scent will
be grateful.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 107

PRAYEE.

Our daily bread calls for our daily
prayers, because one want is created,
while another is supplied. Are we
called hy the name of Christ, and shall
we not call upon the name of Christ ?
Take away spiritual breath, and you
take away spiritual life. There never
was one yieic-hom who was s^^-'Z^-born.

Who would not stretch out a beggar's
hand to receive a jewel of infinite value?
With what boldness should those appear
at court who are sure of the king's ear.

Believing prayer is a traffic for those
commodities, which are only locked up
in heaven's store-house. Why should we
be dumb, seeing God is not deaf? By
fasting the body learns to obey the soul ;
by praying the soul learns to command
the body.

108 A STRING OF PEARLS,

No Cliristian has so little from Christ,
but there is ground for praise ; and no
Christian has so much, but he has- need
of prayer. Every day we find it is a
great work to accomplish a little work.
Every new act of obedience requires
fresh assistance.

The gift of prayer may have praise
from men, but it is the grace of prayer
which has power with God. Christians
can never want a praying time if they
possess a praying frame. In the morn-
ing this is a golden key to open the
heart for God's service, and in the eve-
ning it is an iron lock to guard the
heart a^jainst sin.

The covenant of grace without us,
turns precepts into promises, but the
spirit of grace within us, turns promises
into prayers.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 109

LOVE.

There is no sin so sweet, but the love
of Christ restrains men from it. There
is no service so great, but the love of
Christ constrains men to it. If once
this affection takes fire, tbe room be-
comes too hot for any sin to stay in.
The Christian's love advances by equal
paces with the Christian's faith, as the
heat of the day with the shining of the
sun ; faith, like Mary sits at the feet of
Christ to hear his sermons ; and love,
like Martha, compasses him about with
services. Faith is the great receiver,
and love is the great disburser.

It should be among Christians, as
among lute strings, when one is touched
the others tremble. Believers should
neither be proud flesh, nor dead flesh.
Fellow members, should ever have fel-
low-feelings. Other men's woes are

110 A STRING OF PEARLS,

our warnings ; tlieir desolation should
be our information.

He makes a good market of bad com-
moditiv^s, who, with kindnesses over-
comes injuries. For a man to conquer
another's person, and be captivated by
his own passions is but to lose the palace
of a prince, to gain the cottage of a
peasant. A spark of fire falling in the
ocean, expires immediately, but drop-
ping upon combustibles burns furiously.
God has bound every believer in gospel
cords to his good behaviour.

Love trades not for home returns ; it
amply pays itself in serving its beloved.
It is reported of one, who being asked
for whom he laboured most, he answered,
" For my Friends." And being asked,
for whom he laboured least, he answered,
" For my Friends." Love doth most,
and yet thinks least of what it does.

FROM A^ OLD CASKET. Ill

"Were it possible to put those things
asunder which God himself hath joined
together, a Christian AYould rather be
holy without any happiness, than happy
without any holiness. Luther had this
expression; — '^I had rather be in hell
with Christ; than in heaven without
Christ." Indeed hell itself would be a
heaven if God were in it, and heaven
would be a hell, if God were from it.
These are hard sayings to an uncircum-
cised ear, but the real choice of every
renewed heart. A gracious man makes
this request for his soul. "Lord let me
rather have a gracious heart than a great
estate, let me rather be pious without
prosperity, than prosperous without
piety." * Though he may love many
things beside religion, yet he would not
love any thing above religion. The
earth is our v/ork-house, but heaven is
our storehouse. This is a place to run
in, and that is a place to rest in.

112 A STRING OF PEARLS,

MISCELLANEOUS.

If we were left to ourselves but for a
moment, we should destroy ourselves in
that moment. We are like glasses with-
out a bottom, which are no sooner loosed
than they fall. '' Without me ye can
do nothing." The pen may as soon
write without the hand which holds it,
as our hearts work except the Spirit
move them. Not only the enjoyment
of our talents is from God, but the im-
provement of them is from him. " Lord
thy pound hath gained ten pounds." It
is not my pains but thy pound, which
hath done it. The children of God are
like a clock which soon stands still if it
be not wound up.

Waters may rise as high as they fall.
Whatsoever action hath God for its
aathor, hath God for its centre. A cir-
cular line makes its ending where it had

its beginning.

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 113

"Whatsoever ointment is poured out
upon Christ's head, will run down to
the skirt of his garment. What a saint
gives to Christ in copper, shall be re-
turned to him in silver. The only way
to keep our crowns on our heads is to
cast them down at his feet.

He that freely opens the upper, will
never wholly close the nether spririgs.
There will be no silver lacking in Ben-
jamin's sack, while Joseph has it to
throw in. Grace is not such a beggarly
visitant as will not pay its own way.
When the best of Beings is adored, the
best of blessings are enjoyed. ''For
the Lord is a sun and shield, and no
good thing will he withhold from them
that walk uprightly." Why needs a
saint fear darkness when he has such a
sun to guide him? or dread danger,
when he has such a shield to guard him?
Though every rich man be not truly

114 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

godly, yet every godly man is truly
ricli.

The sun can as easily difiuse its beams
over tlie whole world, as upon a single
field. What God receives from men,
makes him no richer, and what man re-
ceives from God makes him none the
poorer. His goodness may be imparted,
but cannot be impaired.

Godliness is profitable to all things,
having the promise of the life that now
is, and of that which is to come. Who
knows, how many rich productions there
are in the pleasure garden of religion.
There is mellow fruit in it for every
day in the year.

In earthly services the master enjoys
the profit, but in religious services the
servant enjoys it. ''And the ark of the
Lord continued in the house of Obed

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 115

Edom the Gittite, tliree nionths, and the
Lord blessed Obed Edom, and all his
household." The ark was not blessed
for the sake of his household, but his
household was blessed for the sake of
the ark. The ark of God always pays
for its entertainment wheresoever it
dwells.

The nearer the relation, the stronger
are the ties of obligation. In this view,
believers on earth are superior to angels
in heaven, God has made you studs for
his crown while others are stools for his
feet. A drop of praise is an unsuitable
acknowledgment for an ocean of mercy.

There are no still-born children in
the family of grace. God is the living
Father, and therefore all his children
live by him ; he is also the everlasting
Father, and therefore he will have due
honor paid him.

116 A STRING OF PEARLS,

Alexander, who is reported to be an
exceeding swift runner, was once solicited
to run in the Olympic games. He an-
swered, " I will, if Kings are mine an-
tagonists." Give me such a saint, who
will pursue nothing on earth, which may
be unsuitable to his birth from heaven.

There are many who profess to know
God, but in works deny him; "being
abominable, disobedient, and to every
good work reprobate." Man is not
what he says, but what he does. For a
man to say what he does, and not to do
what he says, is to resemble those trees,
■which are full of leaves but void of
fruit, or those barns, wherein there is
much chaff, but no grain. "What is the
chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord."

"And why call ye me. Lord, Lord,
and do not the things that I say?" As
if he had said, "Either keep my words

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 117

more, or else call me Lord no more ;
either take me into your lives or cast
me out of your lips." As princes dis-
dain to have their images on base coun-
terfeits, so the Lord Jesus cannot delight
to see his name on rotten hypocrites.
Therefore he saith, '^Let every one that
nameth the name of Christ depart from
all iniquity." If godliness be evil, why
is it so much i^ofessecU if it be good,
why is it so little practised ?

As the sun is the glory of creation,
so is Christ the glory of redemption.
The summit of moral religion consists
in imitating Grod. ' Without this your re-
ligion will be found a " Tekel-J'' when it
is weighed in the balance, it will be
wanting. It would be well, if there
were, as great a similarity between the
life of Christ and the lives of Christians,
as there is between a just copy and the
original. Wliat he was by nature, that

118 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

we should be by grace. As face an-
sweretb to face in water, so sliould life
answer to life in Scripture. He that
was a way to others, never went out of
the way himself.

Men are merciless in their censure of
Christians ; they have no sympathy for
their infirmity ; while God weighs them
in more equal scales, and says, " The
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak."
"While the saint is a dove in the eyes of
God, he is only a raven in the estima-
tion of sinners.

Consider Christian that an unholy
conversation, strips off the rich orna-
mental jewels, from the neck of the
bride, the Lamb's wife. Sin indulged,
in a believer, is like a rent in a rich em-
broidered garment, or like a crack in a
silver bell. A foul spot is soonest dis-
cerned in the fairest cloth. The world

FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 119

will sooner make an excuse for its own
enormities, tlian for your infirmities.
The malice of sinners is such, that they
will reproach the rectitude of the law,
for the obliquity of their lives, who
swerve from it. Ah, that your pure
life, did but hang a padlock upon their
impure lips.

Eeader, you must not look to toil for
the prince of darkness all the long day
of your life, and then sup with the
prince of light at the evening of death.
There is no going from Delilah's ^ap to
Abraham's bosom. There is no gaining
admittance into the King of heaven's
privy chamber of felicity, without pass-
ing through the straight gate of purity.
" Blessed are the pure in heart, for they
shall see God." A dusty glass will not
distinctly represent the face.

Holiness and happiness are so wisely

120 A STRING OF PEARLS,

joined together, tliat God will never
suffer them to be put asunder. " Follow
peace with all men, and holiness, with-
out which no man shall see the Lord."
Though holiness be that which a sinner
scorns, yet it is that which a Saviour
crowns.

If you be not fruit-bearing plants, you
must be burning brands. There is no
making out your salvation, where there
is no working out your salvation. Men
are condemned not only for their pro-
faneness, but also for their slothfulness.
Men may perish for being unprofitable
servants as well as for being abominable
sinners.

Tlie Lord hangs the bait of duty upon
the hook of mercy. He sits the promises
of the gospel in the galleries of his or-
dinances. The hardy soldier will under-
go a bloody seed time, to enjoy a happy

FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 121

harvest. He lias notliing more than
earthly mammon in his pursuit; but
the saint has nothing less than heavenly
mansions in his pursuit.

Divine knowledge is not as the light
of the moon to sleep by ; bat as the
light of the sun to work by. It is not
a loiterer in the market-place, but a
labourer in the vineyard.

A man may be a great scholar, and
yet a great sinner. Judas the traitor,
was Judas the preacher. The toad that
has a pearl in its head, has poison in
its bowels. The tree of knowledge has
often been planted and flourished, where
the tree of life never grew. A man may
be acquainted with the grace of truth,
and yet not know the truth of grace.
Parts, and even all gifts, without grace
and holiness are but like Uriah's letters.

122 A STRING OF PEARLS,

whicli were the death-warrants of him,
who carried them.

Naked knowledge will be as unser-
viceable to the soTil in a dying day, as
a painted fire would be to the frozen
body in a cold day. As some articles
are tanned by the same sun, in which
others are whitened, so are some profes-
sors, hardened under the same gospel
by which others are softened.

As it is lost labour to smite the flint
if it propagate no sparks, so it is fruit-
less toil to furnish our heads with light
if it refine not our hearts. The sins of
ignorance are most numerous, but the
sins of knowledge are most dangerous.

There are many who set a crown of
glory upon the head of Christ, by a good
profession, and yet plat a crown of thorns
upon his head by an evil conversation.

FROM AN" OLD CASKET. 123

By tlie words of our mouth, we may
affect to adore religion, but it is by the
works of our lives that we adorn reli-
gion.

There are some who would sacrifice a
stout heart to a stubborn will, and would
rather die martyrs for sin than servants
to truth. How shall those stand for
Christ, who never stood in Christ. True
believers are more studious how to adorn
the cross, than how to avoid the cross.
They deem it better to be saved in
troubled water, than to be drowned in a
calm ocean.

God can strike straight strokes with
crooked sticks and make Satan's dross,
burnish his choice vessels. ''If Dives
be tormented because he refuse to im-
part his own, what shall their torment
be, who avidiously take that which is
another. If those fingers be cut off

124 A STRING OF PEARLS,

wMcli SO closely clasp tlieir own pro-
perty, what will become of those haads,
which are always open to grasp at other

Christ is not only the vessel in which
the waters of life are contained, but he
is also the pipes through which they are
conveyed.

A self seeker, lives nnrespected and
dies unlamented. When once a man
becomes a god to himself^ he then be-
comes a cliv '/ to others. Such an one
cares not who sinks, so he does but ar-
rive safe at the shore.

Every Christian is a light in the world,
though he be not the light of the world.
" Let your light so shine before men,
that they seeing your good works, may
glorify your Father which is in heaven."
Ah, that Christians were more like the

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 125

liglit, wliicli abides pure, tliougli the air
be corrupted, in wliicli it dwells ! Men
may defile themselves in the light, but
they cannot defile the light itself. The
sun shines throughout an impure world
yet knows no impurity. Ah ! how
many resemble swine in the fairest
meadow, which would break every
mound to find the mire ! They remind
me of impious Judas, who instead of
being a disciple among devils, was a
devil among disciples. Poor man, he
was all precept and no example. He
could attempt to reprove one who was
innocence itself, and encourage one, who
was sin itself.

Every one loves to be admired, and
is too apt to take pleasure in none but
those who take pleasure in him. It is
no honourable appearance, when we
cease to be exemplary Christians that
others may think us good companions.

126 A STKING OF PEAELS,

It is impossible to be conformed to tbe
world in our outward man, and trans-
formed to God in our inward man.
There is no sucb thing as being an out-
ward heathen and an inward Christian.

It is ill breathing an infectious air.
Satan's progeny love not to go to hell
without society. It is better to be with
a Philpot in a coal-house, than with a
Bonner in a palace. A man may pass
through Ethiopia, and yet be unchanged,
but he cannot take up his residence
there without being discoloured.

" The wages of sin is death." As the
works of sin are dishonourable, so the
wages of sin are mortal. The corrup-
tion of nature is the cause of the disso-
lution of nature. The candle of our
lives, is blown out by the wind of our
lusts. Sin is that noxious weed, which
overtops the choicest corn^ that offensive

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 127

smoke whicti depresses tlie rising flame ;
and tliat dismal cloud, wliicli over-
shadows the beaming sun. Sin Las
brought many a believer into suffering,
and suffering has instrumentally, kept
many a believer out of sin. It is better
to be preserved in brine, than to rot in
honey. The bitterest medicine is to be
preferred, by all men, before the sweetest
poison. In the same fire, wherein the dross
is consumed, the precious gold is refined.

Those who launch out into any un-
dertaking should, always, previously,
look well to their tackling lest a de-
structive storm should overtake them
in their voyage. A bad conscience im-
bitters the sweetest comforts, but a good
conscience sweetens the bitterest crosses.
How great a wound do vices make in
the conscience, yea, even in our infant
years. Though the hardened sinner be
not afraid to do evil, yet he will be afraid

128 A STEIXG OF PEARLS,

to suffer evil. What need tliose fear a
cross on the back, who feel a Christ in
their heart ?

Tliat crop, v/hich is sown in mercy
shall be reaped in glory. In heaven
there are riches enough, but no poor to
receive them. In hell there are poor
enough, but no rich to relieve them.
How many of the most wealthy are deaf
to the most importunate requests for
mercy ! They will do no good in the
world, with the goods of the world.
They, too much, resemble sponges which,
greedily, suck up the waters, but will
not yield a return of them again, till
they are well squeezed.

Mercy is so good a servant, that it
will never suffer its master to die a
beggar. Those who have drained their
own wells dry, in order to fill a poor
man's cistern, shall never perish for want

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 129

of water to quench tteir thirst. Those
who have blessed others shall be blessed
themselves. God looks not so much on
the merits of the beggar as upon the
mercy of the giver.

In the highest heavens, the beams of
majesty are displayed, but to the lowest
hearts, the bowels of mercy are dis-
covered. '' Be ye clothed with humility."
Pride is a sinner's torment, but humility
is a saint's ornament. The cloth of hu-
mility should always be worn on the
back of Christianity.

Though there may be something left
by self-denial, yet there can be nothing
lost by self-denial; nay, a man can never
enjoy himself till he be brought to deny
himself. We live, by dying to our-
selves, and die, by living to ourselves.
There is no proud man but what is
foolish, and scarcely any foolish man

9

130 A STRIXG OF PEAELS;

but what is proud. It is the night owl
of ignorance which broods and hatches
the peacock of pride.

It is impossible to have true thoughts
of ourselves, while we entertain high
thoughts of ourselves. "Though all
men forsake thee, yet will not I." Poor
Peter, he was the most impotent when
he was most arrogant. He has no doubt
of standing when others were falling ;
but it proved, at last, that he fell while
others stood. That was an excellent
saying of one : — " Where a gracious
person would sit below me, I will ac-
knowledge his dignity; but where a
proud person would move above me, I
will abhor his vanity." An humble
heart may meet with opposition from
man, but it shall meet with approbation
from God. As humility is a grace very
excellent in itself, so it is very pleasing
to God. He who is a subject of the

FROM AN old" casket. 131

former, shall hereafter be an inheritor
with the latter.

Remember that when Christ draws
the likeness of the new creature, his first
pencil is clipped in water. '' Except ye
repent, ye shall all, likewise perish."
Is it not better to repent without perish-
ing, than to perish without repenting.
Godly sorrow is such a grace, as with-
out it, not a soul shall be saved, and
with it, not a soul shall be lost. Is it
not, therefore, better to swim in the
water- works of repentance, than to burn
in the fire- works of vengeance.

A tender heart is like melting wax ;
ah, what choice impressions are made
upon such dispositions.

Sin in the soul, is like Jonah in the
ship ; it turns the smoothest water into
a troubled ocean.

132 A STRING OF PEARLS,

We must mourn for sin on earth, or
burn for sin in liell. It is the coldness
of our hearts, which kindles the fire of
God's anger. '' Thej shall look upon
him whom they have pierced and mourn
for him, as one that mourn eth for his
only son ; and shall be in bitterness for
him, as one that is in bitterness for his
first born." Christians, the nails that
pierced his hands, should now pierce
your heart ; you should now be deeply
wounded with godly sorrow, for having
so deeply wounded him, with your
deadly sins. It should grieve your
spirits to remember how much jovl have
grieved his spirit.

Man must be convinced of sin, before
he can truly repent of sin ; unbelief in
the heart, is like the worm in Jonah's
gourd an unseen adversary ; it is least
visible but most hurtful. Infidelity is
the worst of robbers ; it both plunders

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 133

and wounds tlie soul. Christ may dwell
in the heart where it lurks, but not
where it reigns. If Christ destroy its
armour, it becomes weak as other men.
Its chief strength wherein it trusteth is
ignorance.

Pharaoh more lamented the hard
strokes that were upon him, than the
hard heart which was within him.
Esau mourned, not because he sold the
birth-right, which was his sin, but be-
cause he lost the blessing which was his
punishment. This is like weeping with
an onion — the eye sheds tears because
it smarts. A mariner casts overboard,
that cargo in a tempest, which he courts
the return of when the winds are
silenced. Many complain more of the
sorrows to which they are born, than
of the sins with which they are born ;
they tremble more at the vengeance of

134 A STRING OF PEAELS,

sin, than the venom of sin ; one delights
them, the other affrights them.

Where misery passes, undiscerned,
there mercy passes, nndesired. Christ
may knock long at such doors before he
gains admittance. He only enters into
those, who enter into themselves. ''Be-
hold I stand at the door and knock."
Christ oftener comes to the door than
he enters the house. As we knock at
his door for audience so he does, at ours,
for entrance. If his person be shut out,
our prayers will be shut out. Why
should God show him mercy, who never
acknowledged himself guilty ? A saint's
tears are better than a sinner's triumphs.
Bernard saith, "The tears of penitents
are the wine of angels." When a sin-
ner repents the angels rejoice; and give
me such a mourning on earth, as creates
music in heaven. Many are battered
as lead by the hammer who are never

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 135

bettered as gold by tbe fire. Sometimes
that repentance which begins in the fears
of hell, ends in the flames of hell.

It has been observed by those who
are experienced in the sport of angling,
that the smallest fishes bite the fastest.
Ah, how few great men, do we find so
much as nibbling at the gospel hook.
The tree of life is not often planted in a
terrestrial paradise.

The shining diamond of a great estate
may frequently be found, upon an un-
sound and idolatrous heart. Prosperity
is not to be deemed the greatest security.
The lofty, unbending cedar is more ex-
posed to the injurious blast, than the
lowly shrub. The little pinnace rides
safely along the shore, while the gallant
ship advancing, is wrecked. Those
sheep which have the most wool, are,
generally, the soonest fleeced. Poverty

136 A STRING OF PEARLS,

is its own defence against robbery. A
fawning world is worse than a frowning
world. Wlio would shake those trees,
Tipon which there is no fruit ?

Ah, what vanity it is to lop off the
boughs, and leave the roots, which can
soon send forth more ; or to empty the
cistern, and leave the fountain running,
which can soon fill it again! Such may
swim in the water of the visible Church,
but w^hen the net is drawn to shore
they must be thrown away as bad fishes.
Though the tares and the wheat may
grow in the field logether, yet they will
not be housed in the granery together.

A man's conversation may be civilized,
when his heart is not evangelized. There
is as much difference between nature
restrained, and nature renewed, as be-
tween the glimmering of a glow-worm,
and the splendour of the noon-day sun.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 137

A bad man is certainly worst, when he
is, seemingly, best. We must not ac-
count every one a soldier who swaggers
with a sword. A rusty scimitar may
frequently be found in a highly trimmed
scabbard. What is it to have our hands
as white as snow, if our hearts be as
black as the bottomless pit? Such
professors resemble curious bubbles,
smooth and clear without, yet only filled
with air.

It is only such fabrics as are bottomed
upon the sand, that are overthrown by
the wind. The adversaries of God's
people will push at them, as far as their
horns will go, but when they have
scoured them by persecution, as tar-
nished vessels, then God will throw such
whisps into the fire.

He that takes up fire to throw at his
adversaries, is in great danger of burn-

138 A STEING OF PEARLS,

ing his own fingers. A gun ill charged,
instead of hitting the mark, does but re-
coil on him that discharges it. He who
glories in wounding others, will, finally,
wound himself. If injuries be oar
enemies' weapons, forgiveness should be
ours. There is a twofold frenzy ; that
of the head, which deprives men of their
prudence ; and that of the heart, which
deprives them of their patience. To
forget an injury is more than nature can
promise, but to forgive it, is what grace
can perform. Patience affords us a
shield to defend ourselves; but inno-
cence denies us a sword to offend others.
If ever you hope that your charity
should live after you then let resentment
die before you.

It was a saying of a heathen, though
no heathenish saying, that he who would
be good, must either have a faithful
friend to instruct him, or a watchful

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 139

enemy to correct him. Should we
murder a physician because he comes to
cure us, or like him worse, because he
would make us better ? Am I become
your enemy because I tell you the truth?
Truth is not always relished, where sin
is nourished. Light is pleasant, yet it
may be offensive to sore eyes. Honey
is sweet though it cause the wound to
smart ; but we must not neglect the ac-
tions of friends for fear of drawing upon
ourselves, the suspicion of being enemies.
It is better to lose the smiles of men,
than the souls of men. "Thou shalt
not hate thy brother, in thy heart, nor
suffer sin to lie upon him." He who
loves a garment, hates the moths which
fret it.

Eeproof slides from a scorner's breast,
as water from an oiled post. Instead
of loving a man amidst all his injuries,
he will hate him for all his civilities.

140 A STRIXG OF PEA ELS,

Most people are like restive horses,
wliich no sooner feel tlie rowel, than
they strike with their heels, or like bees
which no sooner are angered, than they
put out their stings.

The tender reed is more easily bowed
than the sturdy oak. Christ's warfare
requires no carnal weapons. Chariots
too furiously driven may be overturned
by their own violence. How many are
there, who check passion with passion,
and are very angry in reproving anger.
Thus to lay one devil, they raise another,
and leave more work to be undone, than
they found to be done. Such a reproof
of vice, is a vice to be reproved.

Reprehension should tread upon the
heels of transgression. The plaster
should be applied as soon as the wound
is received. It is easier to extinguish
a flaming torch, than a burning house.

FliOM AN OLD CASKET. 141

Gentle medicine will serve for a recent
distemper, but chronical diseases require
powerful receipts.

The name of God with a sling and
stone, will do more than Goliath with
all his armour. Reader, I would neither
have you be idle in the means, nor make
an idol of the means. Though it be the
mariner's duty to weigh his anchor and
spread his sails, yet he cannot make his
voyage until the winds blow. The
pipes will yield no conveyance, unless
the springs yield their concurrence.

He that has no better righteousness
than what is of his own providing shall
meet with no higher happiness, than
what is of his own deserving. If such
people rest not from duty, then they
rest in duty. They are determined to
sail in their own bottom, though they
sink in the ocean. I would that all

142 A STRING OF PEARLS,

sucli did but know, that tlioiigli good
Avorks are not destroyed by Christ, yet
they must be denied for Christ.

Thousands of professors prize the
wages of religion above its works, but
a Christian will prize its work above
its wages. Give me that singular
preacher who prefers his labour to his
lucre, and the flock he attends, to the
fleece he obtains.

''Ye seek me, not because ye saw the
miracles, but because ye did eat of the
loaves and were filled." Christ was the
object of their actions, but self was the
end of their actions. They came to
Christ to serve their own turns, and
when their turns were served, then they
turned away their service. They were
cupboard disciples ; more than men at
their meat, — but less than women at

FROM AI^ OLD CASKET. 143

tlieir work. AYhen the loaves were
gone, tlie disciples were gone.

Could many men find the mercies of
God, they would never seek the God of
mercies. Could they tell how to be well
without him, they would never desire
to come to him. God hath but little of
their society except when they can find
no other company. The want of pardon
is the only spring of a servile man's
duty ; he plies his prayers, as sailors do
their pumps, only in a storm or when
fearful of sinking.

Conversion begins in consideration.
The hasty shower falls fastest, but the
soft snow sinks the deepest. As that
mariner who is inattentive to his helm
is in danger of wrecking his vessel, so
he who knows not himself, is likely to
lose himself. " Examine yourselves
whether ye be in the fiiith." If your

144 A STEING OF PEAKLS,

heart be not the cabinet of such a jewel,
your head will never be graced with a
diadem in glory.

Though Christians be not kept al-
together from, falling, yet they are kept
from falling altogether. They may show
an indifference toward Christ for a time,
but they shall not depart from Christ
forever. The trees of righteousness
may have their autumn, but they shall,
also, have their spring. There is never
so low an ebb, but there is also, as high
a tide. Christians are like crocodiles,
which grow till they die, or like the
moon which increases in her beauty till
she is at the full.

"We can defile ourselves, but we can-
not cleanse ourselves. The sheep can
go astray alone, but can never return to
,the fold, without' the assistance of the
shepherd. Till we taste the bitterness

FKOM AN" OLD CASKET. 145

of our own misery, we shall never
relish tlie sweetness of God's mercy.
Till we see how foul our sins have made
us, we shall never pay our tribute of
praise to Christ for washing us.

As the worst on this side of eternity
compared with hell is misery, so the
best on this side of eternity, compared
with heaven is misery. There is no
more comparison to be made between
heaven and earth, than there is between
a piece of rusty iron and refined gold.

Good words without the heart, are
but flattery, and good works without the
heart, are but hypocrisy. Though God
pities stumbling Israelites, yet he pun-
ishes halting hypocrites.

Eeligion is a sacrifice, but the heart
is the altar on which it must be offered.
As the body is at the command of the

10

1-16 A STRIXG OF FEARLS,

head who rules it, so should the soul be
at the command of God, who gives it.
For a man to take his body to the ser-
vice of God and leave his soul behind
him, is as if a person should send his
garments stuffed with straw instead of
making a personal appearance.

Every being produces its own like-
ness. " Do men gather grapes of thorns
or figs of thistles?" The grapes of
tranquillity cannot grow upon the thorns
of impiety. Inward peace can only be
espoused to inward purity. A good
way to have conscience untormented, is
to have it undefiled. He who made
you clean within, will keep you calm
wdthin.

In wisdom's right hand are length of
days, and in her left hand riches and
honour. Look to which hand you will
and you will find it full.

FRO:*I AN OLD CASKET. 147

The wicked make tkeir end their God,
but we make God our end. The firma-
ment is made more glorious by one sun
than by all the stars that stud the hea-
vens. Thus Jesus Christ hath more
glory given to him from one saint than
from all the world beside. He takes
more pleasure in their prayers, and
is more honoured by their praise.

'' Whether ye eat or drink, or what-
soever ye do, do all to the glory of God."
From the lowest act of nature to the
Irighest act of grace, there is no argu-
ment for the pride of man, but every
consideration for the praise of God. If
he make our nature gracious, we should
make his name glorious. He that would
be fingering the honor of God is not
worthy to receive the honor of man.
Cyesar once said to his opponent, " Either
I will be Cassar or nobody." So the
Lord saith, Either I will be a great God

l-iS A STRING OP PEARLS,

or no God. That man disparages the
beauty of the sun who sets it upon a
level with the twinkling stars.

As there is no time in which God is
not blessing his children, there should
be no time in which his people are not
blessing him. As he designs our hap-
piness in all he does, it is but reasonable
that we should seek his honor in all we
do. We have no way to turn the streams
unto God, the ocean of all bounty, but
through the pipes of gratitude.

" Giving thanks unto the Father who
hath made us meet to be partakers of the
inheritance of the saints in light." It
is very meet that he should be magnified
by us, when he makes us meet to be
glorified with him. The whisperings
of the voice are echoed back in an exact
concave.

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 14:9

The body of a man can stoop for a
pin as well as for a pound. As the best
of means should make us fruitful^ so
the least of mercies should make us
thankful.

There is no need of blotting out the
characters of our affections, but of writ-
ing them on fairer paper. There is no
necessity for drying up these running
waters, but for diverting them into their
proper channels. Why should we wholly
destroy these valuable plants, when they
might thrive so well in a better soil ?
He who looks upon heaven with desire
will look upon earth with disdain. Our
affections were made for the things
which are ahove us, and not for the
things which are about us.

"What is an earthly manor compared
to a heavenly mansion? As carnal
things seem small to a spiritual man, so

150 A STRIXG OF PEARLS,

spiritual tbines appear small to a carnal
man. There is no moving after things
beyond the sphere of our own knowledge.
Heaven is to the worldling as a mine of
gold covered with earth and rubbish,
or as a bed of pearl inclosed in a heap
of sand. But if he had the eyes of an
eagle to see it, he would wish for the
wings of an eagle to soar unto it.

He that takes possession of us on
earth takes possession /o/- us in heaven.
As we are not long here without Him,
so he will not be lonsf there without us.

o

Here all the earth is not enough for one
carnal man, but there one heaven shall
be enough for all Christian men. In
this life there are showers of tears
from the saint's eyes, but in that life
there shall be a sunshine of glory in the
saint's heart.

Reader, you cannot set down your

FKOM a:n- old casket. 151

lusts in sucli characters but what the
eyes of God can read them. As he can
save in the greatest extremity, so he can
see in the deepest obscurity.

Plato saith of the king of Lydia that
he had a ring, with which, when he turn-
ed the head to the palm of his hand,
he could see every person, and yet he
himself remain invisible. Though we
cannot see God while we live, yet he
can see how we live,

Those who freight their minds with
carnal pleasures will one day be con-
demned for carrying contraband com-
modities. '' Rejoice, 0 young man, in
thy youth, and let thine heart cheer thee
in the days of thy youth, and walk in
the ways of thine own heart and in the
sight of thine own eyes." This were
brave, indeed, if it could but be secured
forever ; but alas, after the flash of

152 A STRING OF TEA ELS,

liglitmng tlien comes tlie dreadful clap
of thunder, "But know thou that for all
these things God will bring thee into
judgment." This is just as if Grod had
said, " Well poor sinner, run down the
hill as fast as you please ; but know
that you will be sure to break your neck
at last."

Sin is like a serpent in the bosom,
which stings you, or like a thief in your
closet, who plunders you. It resembles
poison in the stomach, or a sword in the
bowels, both of which tend to death.
Like St. John's book, it may be sweet
in your mouth, but it will be bitter in
your belly. However fair iniqailj
might appear to some, it will only be
found like a blear-eyed Leah to God.

The greatest glory of this world is
like a rotten post, which never shows
its brightness but in the dark. How

FROM AN OLD CASKET. 153

few are tliere who Lave resolved to
ascend the pinnacle of honor, but what
have left a good conscience at the bottom
of the ladder! Believers themselves
would be surfeited with the world's
sweet meat, if a gracious God were not
to call them away from the banquet.

Creature comforts are like the soft
morning dews, which while they water
the branches of the tree, leave the roots
dry. Why should the professors of
Christianity be found eagerly pursuing
those trifles which even heathens have
been found flying from ? The world
is rather a sharp brier to wound us than
a sweet flower to delight us.

The earth is big in our hopes, but
little in our hands. It is like Sodom's
apples, beautiful to the eye at a distance
but when they are touched they crumble
into ashes. " Eiches avail not in the

154 A STRING OF PEARLS,

day of wrath." Not in the day of man's
wrath to preserve him from plundering,
nor in the day of God's Avrath to keep
him from punishment.

Eeader, though good works may be
our Jacob's staff to walk with on earth,
yet they cannot be our Jacob's ladder
to climb to heaven with. To lay the
salve of our services upon the wound
of our sins, is as if a man who is stung
by a wasp should wipe his face with a
nettle ; or as if a person should busy
himself in supporting a tottering fabric
with a burning fire-brand.

It was not the tempered clay that
cured the blind man but Christ's anoin-
ting his eyes therewith. That was
more likely, without him, to make a
seeing man blind than a blind man see.
Thus though we may receive our spir-

FROM AX OLD CASKET. 155

itual sight in the ordinances, yet it is
not the ordinances which give us sight.

It was not the troubling of the pool
in Bethesda that made it healing, but
the coming down of the angel into it.
That man must famish at last who
always feeds upon the dish instead of
the meat. There is no instruction to be
got from the sun-dial of duty, except
the Sun of righteousness shine upon it.

Reader, it is dangerous for you to take
shelter in your righteousness ; for the
lightning of divine vengeance, which
flashes before you, and the curses of the
law, which thunder around you, may
suddenly shake your house about you.
As fast as you lay on your own plasters
a convinced and spiritual conscience will
rub them off again. Nothing but the
grace of the gospel can perfectly heal
the wounds which a broken law has

156 A STR^G OF PEAELS,

made. Thoiigli at the command of
Christ you may let down the net, yet it
is only by the blessing of Christ that
you can enclose a profitable draught.

He is a rotten professor who says in
his heart, '•' Why may not I be drunk
as well as Noah, and commit adultery as
well as David?" Did you ever hear of
any who put out their eyes because
others were smitten with blindness ; or
of any who cut off their legs because
others went on crutches ?

Jehu, who onl}^ served God in hypoc-
risy, had an external kingdom; and
shall those who serve him from a prin-
ciple of inward purity be put off with-
out a heavenly kingdom? If God
valued counterfeit coin so much, how
highly will he esteem the true gold ! If
he drop so much into a vessel of wrath
what will he do into a vessel of mercy !

FROM AN- OLD CASKET. 157

If lie give so miicli to a bond slave of
liell, what will he do for a free-born
child of heaven I " Have I been a
wildernesss unto Israel, a land of dark-
ness?" God was not a wilderness to
them when they were in the wilderness.
When they wanted bread, he gave them
manna ; when they wanted water, he
opened a rock ; and though they had
no new apparel yet their old garments
wore not out, but as their bodies grew,
so their souls grew. Thus they were
never better off than when they were
ready to give up all as lost.

0 how good is a believer's God, who
not only shortens his pilgrimage for him,
but also sweetens it to him I Had
Christians too much of temporal things
they might care too little for spiritual
things. Daniel appeared better with
his homely pulse than the Babylonians
with all their royal diet. Some have

158 A STRIXG OF PEA ELS,

rowed safely in a narrow river and been
drowned afterward in a large sea. A
little is sufficient to liim who witli it
enjoys God's all sufficiency.

Some are afraid of religion, because
tbey suppose they shall lose all their
earthly mammon while they are seeking
heavenly manna. They think that
piety is the greatest enemy to prosper-
ity. Could they but reap profit by
praying, they would be found more at
prayer. Ignorant worldlings look upon
gain as their greatest godliness, and not
on godliness as their greatest gain. But
a golden plaster is a poor application
for a wounded conscience. When the
worm of carnality is gnawing at the
root of religious performances, all the
formalist's blooming hopes will fade and
die away at last.

FEOM AN OLD CASKET. 159

Many will side Avitli religion while
they can live upon it, and desert it when
it must live upon them. But that say-
ing is yet true : " Godliness with con-
tentment is great gain." It is only the
Christian man who is the truly contented
man; and what are our enjoyments
without contentment ? What is a great
possession if wedded to great vexation ?
"Wicked men make this workl their
treasure, and God makes it their torment.
When they want estates they are trou-
bled for them ; when they have estates
they are troubled with them ; and when
they would drink of the river God dis-
turbs the water.

When men feel sickness arresting
them, then they fear death is approach-
ing. But we begin to die as soon as
ever we begin to live. Every man's
passing-bell hangs in his o^vn steeple.
Take him in his four elements, of earth

160 A STRI^^G OF PEARLS, ETC.

air, lire, and water. In tlie eartli lie is
as fleeting dust ; in tlie air he is as a
disappearing vapor ; in the water he is
a breaking bubble ; and in the fire he
is as consuming smoke. Many think
not of living any holier till they can
live no longer : but one to-day is worth
two to-morrow.

THE END.