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heartedhess of Christ, the merits of his blood, the freeness of hia invitations to come in. If these be not thy meditations, thou wilt draw very heavily, if thou do not give up all for lost, and so knock off from following any farther.
DIR: VIII. Take heed of being offended at the cross, that thou must go by. If thou art in the way to the kingdom, my soul for thine, thou wilt come at the cross shortly The Lord grant thou dost not shrink at it, so as to turn thee back again. The cross stands as a way-mark to heaven, thou must go close by it; nay, thou must take it up, or else thou wilt quickly get out of the way that leads to heaven, and turn aside to some of those crooked lines, that lead down to the chambers of death.
The cross is known (1.) in the doctrine of justification. It stretches every vein in a man's heart, to be willing, in the very midst of the sense of his sins, to throw himself wholly upon the righteousness of another. (2.) In the doctrine of mortification. Is it nothing for a man to lay hands on his darling sins, that stick as close to him the flesh does to the bone? If this were an easy matter, what need of these prayers, sighs, watching? Nay, do you not see that some men, before they will set about this work, they will even venture the loss of heaven, Christ and all? I assure you to cut off right hands, and pluck out right eyes, is no pleasure to the flesh. (3.) In the doctrine of perseverance: It is no great matter to begin to look for heaven, to begin to seek the Lord, to begin to shun sin, and to hate iniquity: but it is a very great matter to continue with God's approbation. My servant Caleb,
