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And great was the goodness and mercy of God, oftentimes towards the Jewish Church; this Church of people, at one time was a peculiar people, beloved of God, but they greatly fell away to pride, wicked lust, and idolatry, which I fear is oftentimes the ruin of many souls: see my Book, called Whoredom. But many a time, the Lord was so kind, and so good-being full of compassion, forgave them their iniquity, and destroyed them not; yea, many a time turned he his anger away, and did not stir up all his wrath. (Psalm lxxviii. 38.) And by the word of the Lord, Jeremiah exhorts them to repent: Now saith he, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. (Jeremiah. xxvi. 13.) And so we see the goodness of God towards them, but they would not obey; for they rejected the goodness of the Lord until they were brought into trouble and carried away captive into a strange land for the space of seventy years. (2 Chron. xxxvi. 21-Jer. xxv. 11, 12-Ezra i. 1.) And about that time the Lord had pity on them, and brought them again into their own land; but after a time, they did not follow after the Lord, but they grieved the spirit of the holy one, and caused their Redeemer to weep; for in the days of Christ, when he was come near, he beheld the city and wept over it, saying, If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day, the things which belong to thy peace! but now they are hid from thine eyes. (Luke. xix. 41.)

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (Matt. xxiii. 37.) But because our forefathers have sinned, is there no mercy for us? Yes there is, and this you may plainly see in the 18th chapter of Ezekiel. Behold all souls are mine, saith the Lord, as the soul of the Father, so also the soul of the Son is mine; the soul that sinneth, it shall die. The Son shall not bear the iniquity of the Father, neither shall the Father bear the iniquity of the Son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him: but if the wicked, will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right he shall surely live, he shall not die'; all his transgressions that he hath com

mitted, they shall not be mentioned unto him; in his righteousness that he hath done, he shall live; have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God, and not that he should return from his w ys and live? Cast away from you all your transgression whereby ye have transgressed, and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God; wherefore, turn yourselves, and live ye, for the Lord will not cast off for ever; but though he caused grief, yet will he have compassion according to the multitu e of his mercies, for he doth not afflict willingly, nor grieve the children of men, for the Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him. (Lam. iii.) And again the prophet M cah saith, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgressions of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger, for because he delighteth in mercy. (Micah vii. 18.) Turn unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of hosts. (Zech. i. 3.) Come unto me, saith our blessed Lord, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. (Matt. xxviii.) And again he saith, If a man have an hundred sheep, and one of them be gone astray, doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and goeth into the mountains and seekest that which is gone astray, and if so be that he find it, verily I say unto you, he rejoiceth more of that sheep than of the ninety and nine, which went not astray, even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish. (Matt. xviii. 12.) And again it is said concerning the repenting sinner, that when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kis ed him. (Luke xv. 20.) And in the same manner the Lord hath compassion upon all true repenting sinners, and in that case concerning the adulterous woman we may see the tender mercy of our Lord; he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers, hath no man condemed thee? She said, No man Lord; and Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee, go and sin no more. (John. vii. 10.) For him, hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. (Acts. v. 31.) The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, but is long-suffering to us-ward, not

willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repen ance. (2 Peter iii. 9.)

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Behold, I stand at the door, and knock. If any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. (Rev. iii. 20.) O that there were such an heart in them that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them and with their children for ever! (Deut. v. 29.) Know therefore that the Lord thy God, he is God, the faithful God, which keepeth covenant and mercy with them that love him, and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. (chap. vii. 9.) Therefore, seeing and knowing that these s are so, my friends, it is good for us to wait upon the Lord, with much patience, and resignation to his will, for beh 1, we count them happy which endure to the end, ye have heard of the patience of Job, and have seen the end of the Lord; that the Lord is very pitiful and of tender mercy. (James v. 11.) For the eyes of the Lord are over the righ teous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. (1 Peter iii. 12.) But, because thy loving kindness is better to me than life! my lips shall praise thee. (Psalm lxiii. 3.) Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul Blessed be God which hath not turned away my prayer, nor his mercy from me. (Psalm lxvi. 16, 20.) Unless the Lord had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence. When I said, my foot slippeth; thy mercy, O Lord, held me up. And in the multitude of my thoughts within me, thy comforts delight my soul. (Psalm XCIV. 17, 18, 19.) For thou hast said, Fear thou not; for I am with thee, be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee: yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. (Isaiah xli. 10.) For I love them that love me, and those that seek me early, shall find me. (Prov. viii. 17.) And again, hehold what manner of love the Lord hath towards us. Can a woman forget her sucking child, saith the Lord, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. And again, he saith, O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. (saiah xlviii. 18.) And now my friends, we must confess that we are all sinners, both Jews and Gentiles

but, behold the goodness and love of God through Christ towards us. And here is his perfect love, for God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his son into the world, to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. (John iii. 16.)

O Lord, what is man that thou art so mindful of him, and that thou settest thy heart so much upon him, surely it is not because he is holy, but it is because thou lovest him. O Lord, I am astonished with wonder and admiration to see thy goodness and loving kindness in the land of the living, and especially in the gift of thy well beloved Son. O, that we may all rightly consider upon these things, and turn unto the Lord and be truly thankful. And may it please thee, O Lord, to wean us from our sins, so that we may be wedded to the lamb, and enter into the marriage feast and drink of the paps of his love in everlasting glory.

And now my readers, if you consider aright, then you must and will acknowledge that God is love. And now by God's help let me entreat you to embrace the day of his grace and his heavenly calling, so that you may repent and forsake your sins, and so fall in with the offers of his mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord, and then you will find these sweet words which I have penned down, a comfort to your souls in the days of your troubles, and may God Almighty add his blessing to his word and to your souls through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

END OF THE TENTH BOOK,

BY EDWARD CROOK.

BOOK THE ELEVENTH.

An Exhortation to Turn to God, without respect to Persons.

This sweet little Book gives us an exortation to turn to God without respect to Persons. Collected from the word of God, and composed together by chapter and verse, and it also contains one of the Author's Divine Songs of grace and love, and ends with a short Prayer.

And now my fellow sinners, as you have seen the goodness of God, in reality and truth, be ye not therefore stiff necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves unto the Lord, and enter into his sanctuary, which he hath sanctified for ever, and serve the Lord your God, that the fierceness of his wrath may turn away from you; for the Lord your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn his face from you, if ye return unto him.

Now these were the words which Hezekiah the King, spoke unto the children of Israel; and the Lord hearkened to Hezekiah, and healed the people. (2 Chron. xxx. 8, 9, 20.) Therefore now, amend your ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your God, and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he hath pronounced against you. (Jer. xxvi. 13.) For the Lord is gracious and full of compassion, slow to anger and of great mercy, the Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works. (Psalm cxlv. 8, 9.) And Isaiah lifteth up his voice and saith; Look unto me and be ye saved all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is none else. (Isaiah. xlv. 22.) And again he saith, let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. For my thoughts are not your thoughts.

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