CXX.

Aug. 25, 1806.

DEAR SARAH,

I WAS glad to hear from thee, and bless my God for his goodness to thee. The communion of saints is an article of faith, and where there is communion there must be union. Love, Sarah, is the bond of all perfectness; and this cord comes forth from God the Father, and with the love of Christ becomes a twofold cord; the sovereign love of the Father, and the dying love of Christ. But, in the application of love by the Spirit, it becomes a threefold cord, and when bound to the heart it is not quickly broken. This bond, Sarah, is the cementing tie, the compacting brace of the whole fabric. Charity edifies, or raises up the, whole building of mercy. Love purges us from all our idols, and dethrones the old man; whose soul, life, and limbs, are unbelief, enmity, and ignorance; which are the chief of the devil's image; but enmity is the worst: hence the worst threatening in the law is levelled at them that hate me, says God, while I shew mercy to thousands of them that love me. Love is the soul of the new man, which turns Hagar and Ishmael both out of doors; and with them wrath, strife, and debate cease. Nothing but anger, jealousy, rage, evil surmisings, and a savour of the things of the flesh, prevail where this Egyptian bondmaid and wild man dwell.

God will be better to thee, Sarah, than thou expectest. When once the caul of the heart and the vail upon the mind are rent, and when once truth enters, the Lord often puts in his finger by that hole, and makes the bowels move, while the myrrh hangs upon the lock of unbelief, and makes it give way.

God bless thee.

W. H. S.S.

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