Eighteen Sermons, Sermon 17
SERMON XVII.
Jacob's Ladder.
A FAREWEL SERMON.
GENESIS xxviii. ver. 12, &c.
And he dreamed, and behold, a ladder ſet upon the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven: and behold, the angels of God aſcending and deſcending on it. And behold, the Lord ſtood above it, and ſaid, I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Iſaac: the land whereon thou lieſt, to thee will I give it, and to thy ſeed. And thy ſeed ſhall be as the duſt of the earth; and thou ſhalt ſpread abroad to the weſt, and to the eaſt, and to the north, and to the ſouth: and in thee, and in thy ſeed ſhall all the families of the earth be bleſſed. And behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places, whither thou goeſt, and will bring thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee, until I have done that which I have ſpoken to thee of.
THE wiſe man obſerves, that in the multitude of dreams there is many vanities, being often the effects of a peculiar diſorder of body, or owing to ſome diſturbance of the mind. They whoſe nervous ſyſtem has been long relaxed, who have had ſevere domeſtic trials, or have been greatly affected by extraordinary occurrences, know this to be true by their own experience; but however this may be, there have been, and poſſibly may be ſtill, dreams that have no manner of dependance on the indiſpoſition of the body, or other natural cauſe, but ſeem to bring a divine ſanction with them, and make peculiar impreſſions on the party, though this was more frequent before the canon of ſcripture was cloſed, than now. God ſpoke to his people in a dream, in a viſion of the night; witneſs, the ſubject of our preſent meditation, a dream of the patriarch Jacob's, when going forth as a poor pilgrim with a ſtaff in his hand, from his father's houſe, deprived of his mother's company and inſtruction, perſecuted by an elder brother, without attendants or neceſſaries, only leaning on an inviſible power. I need not inform you in how extraordinary a way he got the bleſſing, which provoked his brother to ſuch a degree, as determined him to be the death of Jacob, as ſoon as ever his aged father dropp'd: to what a height did this wicked man's envy riſe when he ſaid, the days of mourning for my father will ſoon come, and what then? why, though I have ſome compaſſion for the old man, and therefore will not lay violent hands upon my brother while my father is alive, yet I am reſolved to kill him before my father is cold in his grave. This is the very ſpirit of Cain, who talked to his brother, and then ſlew him: this coming to the ears of his mother, ſhe tells the good old patriarch her huſband, who loving peace and quietneſs, takes the good advice of the weaker veſſel, and orders Jacob to go to his mother's brother, Laban, and ſtay a little while out of Eſau's ſight, (perhaps out of ſight out of mind) and by and by probably, ſaid he, thou mayſt come to thy father and mother again in peace and ſafety. Jacob, though ſure of the bleſſing in the end, by his father's confirmation of it, yet prudently makes uſe of proper means; therefore he obeyed his parents: and wo, wo be to thoſe who think a parent's bleſſing not worth their aſking for! Having had his mother's bleſſing, as well as his father's, without ſaying, I will try it out with my brother, I will let him know that I am not afraid of him, he views it as the call of God, and like an honeſt, ſimple pilgrim, went out from Beerſheba towards Haran. Was it not a little unkind in his parents not to furniſh him with ſome neceſſaries and conveniences? When the ſervant was ſent to fetch a wife for Iſaac, he had a great deal of attendance, why ſhould not Jacob have it now; his father might have ſent him away with great parade: but I am apt to believe this did not ſuit Jacob's real, pilgrim ſpirit; he was a plain man, and dwelt in tents, when, perhaps, he might have dwelt under cedar roofs; he choſe a pilgrim's life, and prudence directed him to go thus in a private manner, to prevent increaſing Eſau's envy, and giving the fatal blow.
Methinks, I ſee the young pilgrim weeping when he took his leave of his father and mother; he went on foot, and they that are acquainted with the geography of the place, ſay that the firſt day of his journey he walked not leſs than forty Engliſh miles; what exerciſe muſt he have had all that way; no wonder, therefore, that by the time the ſun was going down, poor Jacob felt himſelf very weary, for we are told, ver. 11, that he lighted on a certain place, and tarried there all night, becauſe the ſun was ſet. There is a particular emphaſis to be put upon this term, a certain place; he ſaw the ſun going down, he was a ſtranger in a ſtrange land. (You that are born in England can have very little idea of it, but perſons that travel in the American woods can form a more proper idea, for you may there travel a hundred and a thouſand miles, and go through one continued tract of tall green trees, like the tall cedars of Lebanon; and the gentlemen of America, from one end to the other, are of ſuch an hoſpitable temper, as I have not only been told, but have found among them upwards of thirty years, that they would not let public houſes be licenſed, that they may have an opportunity of entertaining Engliſh friends: may God, of his infinite mercy, grant this union may never be diſſolved.)
Well, Jacob got to a certain place, and perhaps he ſaw a good tree that would ſerve him for a canopy; however, this we are told, he tarried there all night becauſe the ſun was ſet, and he took of the ſtones of that place and put them for his pillow, and laid down in that place to ſleep; hard lodgings for him who was uſed to lie otherwiſe at home: I don't hear him ſay, I wiſh I was got back to my mother again, I wiſh I had not ſet out; but upon the hard ground and hard pillow he lies down; I believe never poor man ſlept ſweeter in his life, for it is certainly ſweet ſleep when God is near us; he did not know but his brother might follow and kill him while he was aſleep, or that the wild beaſts might devour him; (in America, when they ſleep in the woods, and I expect to have ſome ſuch ſleeping-times in them before a twelvemonth is over, we are obliged to make a fire to keep the beaſts from us: I have often ſaid then, and I hope I ſhall never forget it, when I riſe in the morning, this fire in the woods that keeps the wild beaſts from hurting us, is like the fire of God's love that keeps the devil from hurting us:) thus weary and ſolitary he falls aſleep, and ſweetly dreams, and behold; I don't remember many paſſages of ſcripture where the word behold is repeated ſo many times in ſo ſhort a ſpace as in the paſſage before us, doubtleſs, the Lord would have us particularly take notice of it, even us upon whom the ends of the world are come: Behold, hold, a ladder ſet upon the earth, and the top reached to heaven; and behold, the angels of God aſcending and deſcending upon it; and behold, the Lord ſtood above it; ſo here are three beholds in a very few lines. Was there any thing very extraordinary in that? perhaps the Deiſts would ſay, your patriarch was tired, and dreamed among other things of a ladder; yes, he did, but this dream was of God, and how kind was he to meet him at the end of the firſt day's journey, to ſtrengthen and animate him to go forward in this loneſome pilgrimage!
This ladder is reckoned by ſome to denote the providence of God: it was let down as it were from heaven, particularly at this time to poor Jacob, that he might know that however he was become a pilgrim, and left his all, all for God's glory, that God would take care for his comfort, and give his angels charge over him to keep him in all his ways, which was denoted by the angels aſcending and deſcending upon the ladder. Some think that particular ſaints and countries have particular guardian angels, and therefore that the angels that aſcended were thoſe that had the particular charge of that place, ſo far as Jacob had come; that the angels that deſcended were another ſet of angels, ſent down from heaven to guard him in his future journey; perhaps, this is more a fancy than the word of God. However, I very much like the obſervation of good Mr. Burket, Why ſhould we diſpute whether every individual believer has got a particular angel, when there is not one believer but has got guards of angels to attend him, which are a great deal better than a great many ſervants, that prove our plagues, and inſtead of waiting upon us make us wait upon them.
But, my dear hearers, I don't know one ſpiritual commentator, but agrees that this ladder was a type of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt; and that as Jacob was now baniſhed from his father's houſe, and while ſleeping upon a hard, cold ſtone, God was pleaſed not only to give him an aſſurance that he would be with him in the way, but gave him a bleſſed ſight of Jeſus Chriſt, in whom Jacob believed.
A ladder you know is ſomething by which we climb from one place to another; hence, in condeſcenſion to our weak capacities, God ordered a ladder to be let down, to ſhew us that Chriſt is the way to heaven: I am the way, the truth, and the life: I am the door, ſays he; neither is there ſalvation in any other, for there is no other name given under heaven whereby we muſt be ſaved. The Deiſts, who own a God but deny his Son, dare go to a God out of Chriſt; but Jacob is here taught better: how ſoon does God reveal the goſpel unto him; here is a ladder, by which God preaches to us; if you have a mind to climb from earth to heaven, you muſt get up by the Son of God; no one ever pointed out a proper way to heaven for us but himſelf. When Adam and Eve fell from God, a flaming ſword turned every way to keep them from the tree of life; but Jeſus alone is a new and living way, not only to the Holy of Holies below, but into the immediate preſence of God; and that we might know that he was a proper Saviour, the top of it reached to heaven; if it had ſtopped ſhort Jacob might have ſaid, ah! the ladder is within a little way of heaven, but does not quite reach it; if I climb up to the top I ſhall not get there after all; but the top reached to heaven, to point out the divinity and exaltation of the Son of God; ſuch a Saviour became us who was God, God over all, bleſſed for evermore: and therefore the Arian ſcheme is moſt uncomfortable and deſtructive; to talk of Chriſt as a Saviour that is not God, is no Chriſt at all. I would turn Deiſt to-morrow if I did not know that Chriſt was God; but curſed is the man that build, his faith upon an arm of fleſh. If Chriſt is God, the Arians and Socinians, by their own principles, are undone for ever; but Jeſus Chriſt is very God, and very man, begotten (and not made) of the Father: God, of his infinite mercy, write his divinity deep in our hearts!
The bottom of the ladder reached to the earth; this points out to us the humiliation of the bleſſed Lord: for us men he came down from heaven; we pray to and for a deſcending God. All the ſufferings which our Lord voluntarily expoſed himſelf to, were that he might become a ladder for you and I to climb up to heaven by. Come down from the croſs, ſay they, and we will believe thee; if he had, what would have become of us? did they believe on him when he was dead, buried, and riſen again? no. Some people ſay, if Chriſt was here, O dear we ſhould love him; juſt as much as they did when he came down before. If he had come down from the croſs, they would have hung him up again: O that you and I might make his croſs a ſtep to glory!
As the top of the ladder pointed out his exaltation, the bottom his humiliation, the two ſides of the ladder being joined together, point out the union of the Deity and manhood in the perſon of Chriſt; and that as this ladder had ſteps to it, ſo bleſſed be God, Jeſus Chriſt has found out a way whereby we may go, ſtep after ſtep, to glory. The firſt ſtep is the righteouſneſs of Chriſt, the active and paſſive obedience of the Redeemer; no ſetting one foot upon this ladder without coming out of ourſelves, and relying wholly upon a better righteouſneſs than our own. Again, all the other ſteps are the graces of the bleſſed Spirit; therefore, you need not be afraid of our deſtroying inward holineſs, by preaching the doctrine of the imputation of Chriſt's righteouſneſs, that one is the foundation, the other the ſuperſtructure; to talk of my having the righteouſneſs of Chriſt imputed to my ſoul, without my having the holineſs of Chriſt imparted to it, and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit as an evidence of it, is only deceiving ourſelves. I would never preach upon imputed righteouſneſs, without ſpeaking of inward holineſs, for if you don't take a great deal of care, you will unawares, under a pretence of exalting Chriſt, run into Antinomianiſm, depths that Calvin never went into; probably, you will imbitter others Spirits that don't agree with you, and at the ſame time hurt the fruits of the Spirit: may God give you clear heads, and at the ſame time warm hearts.
On the ladder Jacob ſaw the angels of God aſcending and deſcending; what is that for? to ſhow that they are miniſtring ſpirits, ſent forth to miniſter to them that ſhall be heirs of ſalvation; therefore we find them attending upon Chriſt. We do not hear much of them after the canon of ſcripture was cloſed, but as ſoon as ever Chriſt was born, the angels ſang, till then we never hear of their ſinging below, as far as I can judge, ſince the creation; then the ſons of God ſhouted for joy; but when Eve reached out her hand to pluck the fatal apple, and gave to Adam, earth groaned, and the angels hung, as it were, their harps upon the willows; but when Chriſt, the ſecond Adam, was born, the angels ſang at midnight, Glory to God in the higheſt. I pray to God we may all die ſinging that anthem, and ſing it to all eternity. After his temptations, they came and miniſtred to him, as ſome think, food for his body, and wiſhed him joy and comfort in his ſoul; and in his agonies in the garden, an angel ſtrengthned him. After his reſurrection two appeared again, one at the head and another at the foot of his ſepulchre, to let thoſe that looked into the ſepulchre know, that they would not only wait upon the head but the foot; and the angels are glad to wait upon the meaneſt of the children of God. When our Lord departed, a cloud received him out of their ſight, which probably was a cloud of angels: having led his diſciples out of the city, he bleſſed them, and then away he went to heaven: may that bleſſing reſt upon you and your children! This intimates that God makes uſe of angels to attend his people, eſpecially when they are departing into eternity: perhaps, part of our entertainment in heaven will be, to hear the angels declare how many millions of times they have aſſiſted and helped us. Our Lord ſays, angels do there behold the face of the Father of his little ones; and therefore I love to talk to the lambs of the flock, and why ſhould I not talk to them whom angels think it their honor to guard; and if it was not for this, how would any children eſcape the dangers they are expoſed to in their tender age? it is owing to the particular providence of God, that any one child is brought to manhood; therefore I can't help admiring that part of the Litany, in which we pray, that God would take care not only of the grown people, but of children alſo: God take care of yours both in body and ſoul.
But what gave the greateſt comfort to Jacob was, that the Lord was on the top of the ladder, which I do not know whether it would have been ſo, if Jacob had not ſeen God there. It comforts me, I aſſure you, to think, that whenever God ſhall call for me, I ſhall be carried by angels into Abraham's boſom; and I have often thought that whenever that time comes, that bleſſed, long longed-for moment comes, as ſoon as ever they have called upon me, my firſt queſtion will be to them, where is my dear maſter? where is Jeſus? where is that dear Emanuel, who has loved me with an everlaſting love, and has called me by his grace, and have ſent you to fetch me home to ſee his face? but I believe you and I ſhall have no occaſion to aſk where he is, for he will come to meet us, he will ſtand at the top of his ladder to take his pilgrims in; ſo God was at the top of the ladder, pray mind that. He appears not ſitting, as he is often repreſented in heaven, but ſtanding; as much as to ſay, here, here, Jacob, thy brother wants to kill thee; here thou art come out without a ſervant, art lying upon a hard bed, but here I am ready in order to preſerve thee; I ſtand above, and I ſee thy wearineſs, I ſee the fatigue and hardſhips thou haſt yet to undergo, though thou doſt not ſee it thyſelf; thou haſt thrown thyſelf upon my providence and protection, and I will give thee the word of a God that I will ſtand by thee; the Lord ſtood above: if he had ſaid nothing, that would have been enough to have ſhewn his readineſs to help.
But God ſpeaks, behold: well might this be uſhered in with the word behold; a ladder ſet on the earth, and behold the angels of God aſcending and deſcending on it; and, above all, behold God ſpeaking from it! what doth he ſay? I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father. Oh! happy they that can ſay, the Lord God of my father; happy you that have got fathers and mothers in heaven. I remember, about twenty-five years ago as I was travelling from Briſtol, I met with a man on the road, and being deſirous to know whether he was ſerious or not, I began to put in a word for Chriſt, (and God forbid I ſhould travel with any body a quarter of an hour without ſpeaking of Chriſt to them) he told me what a wicked creature he had been; but, ſir, ſays he, in the midſt of my wickedneſs people uſed to tell me, you have got a good many prayers upon the file for you, your godly father and mother have prayed very often for you; and it was the pleaſure of God he was wrought upon, and brought to Chriſt. Lay in a good ſtock for your children, get a good many prayers in for them, they may be anſwered when you are dead and gone. I am the God of Abraham thy father, not thy grandfather; to put him in mind what an honor God would put upon him, to make him as it were the father of the church. Though you have many inſtructors, ſays Paul, you have but one Father: and the God of Iſaac, the land whereon thou lieſt, to thee will I give it, and to thy ſeed. Amazing! amazing! you know very well when perſons buy or come to an eſtate, they uſually take poſſeſſion of it by ſome ceremony, ſuch as receiving or taking up a piece of dirt, or twig, in their hand, as a ſign of their title. Now, ſays God, poor Jacob, thou doſt little think that this very ſpot of ground that thou lieſt on to-night, cold and ſtiff, I intend to give to thee, and thy poſterity, for an inheritance. O my brethren, live all to God, and God will give all to you: who would have thought of this, probably Jacob did not: it is as if God took a pleaſure in ſeeing his dear children lie on ſuch hard ground; if he had been on a feather-bed, he might not have had ſuch a viſit: thou ſhalt have now a God to lean upon, to thee will I give it, and to thy ſeed, which ſhall be as the duſt of the earth, and thou ſhalt ſpread abroad to the weſt, and to the eaſt, and to the north, and to the ſouth: and in thee, and in thy ſeed, ſhall all the families of the earth be bleſſed. Thus did heaven balance the loſs of the comforts of his father's houſe, by the diſcovery of his and his offspring's proſperity, by an intereſt in the promiſed ſeed.
My particular circumſtances call me to obſerve, and I believe God has done it on purpoſe, to encourage me, that faith, reſting on the promiſe, is eaſily reſigned to the loſs of preſent good, whereas worldly hearts conſider proſperity as a portion, they don't care if the devil takes them hereafter, ſo they have it now; and that makes carnal people wonder how we can give up things in this world, for the ſake of thoſe not yet born; but it is to glorify God, and lay a foundation for others happineſs. Here God gives Jacob to know, that hereafter his ſeed ſhould ſpread on the eaſt, weſt, north, and ſouth, his branches ſhould multiply, and at laſt from his loins ſhould Jeſus Chriſt come; what for? in whom all the families of the earth ſhould be bleſſed: God Almighty grant we may be bleſſed in him.
Then if Jacob ſhould ſay in his heart, haſt thou no promiſe for me? here is another behold comes in; Behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither thou goeſt. What a word is this! thou haſt nobody with thee, nothing but a ſtaff, (he could not carry much upon his back, like a poor ſoldier with a napſack behind, and a little bread in his pocket) well, ſaith God, I do not deſpiſe thee becauſe thou art deſtitute, but I love thee the better for it; thy brother Eſau longs to kill thee, but if Eſau ſtabs thee he ſhall ſtab thy God firſt; I will not only be with thee now, but I will watch every ſtep thou takeſt, I will be with thee in all places whither thou goeſt: as much as to ſay, Jacob, thou art a pilgrim, thy life is to be a moving life, I don't intend thou ſhalt ſettle and keep in one place; thy life is to be a life of changes, thou art to move from place to place, but I will be with thee in all places whither thou goeſt, and thereby it ſhall be known that I am Jacob's God, and alſo by my bringing thee again into this land. He not only aſſures him of a ſucceſsful journey, whither he was now going, but promiſes to bring him back once more to ſee his dear father and mother, and relations again; I will bring thee back to this land; and to confirm his faith and hope, the great God adds, I will not leave thee till I have done that I have ſpoken to thee of; that is, all the good he had juſt now promiſed. Some people promiſe, but they cannot do it to-day, and they will not do it to-morrow. I have known the world, and have rung the changes of it ever ſince I have been here; but, bleſſed be God, an unchangeable Chriſt having loved his own, he loved them to the end; I will not leave you till I have performed all things I have promiſed you: may this promiſe come upon you and your children, and all that God ſhall call.
Thus ſpake the great Jehovah to poor Jacob, juſt ſetting out to a ſtrange land, knowing not whither he went; but now God ſpeaks not only to Jacob, but he ſpeaks to you; and, bleſſed be the living God, he ſpeaks to me alſo, leſs than the leaſt of all; and as my deſign is (though I cannot tell but this may be the laſt opportunity) to ſpeak ſomething to you about my deparure; yet, brethren, my grand deſign in preaching to you is, to recommend the Lord Jeſus Chriſt to your ſouls; and, before I go, to make a particular, perſonal application. Give me leave, therefore, to aſk you, it may be the laſt time I may aſk many of you, whether you have ever ſet your foot upon this bleſſed ladder, the ſon of God? I aſk you in the name of the Lord Jeſus Chriſt, in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghoſt, did you ever ſet your foot, I ſay, upon this ladder? that is, did you ever yet believe on Jeſus Chriſt, and come to him as poor loſt ſinners, relying upon no other righteouſneſs than that of the Son of God? perhaps, if you was to ſpeak, ſome of you would ſay, away with your ladder; and what will you do then? why, ſay you, I will climb to heaven without it; what ladder will you climb upon? O, think to go to heaven becauſe I have been baptized, that ladder will brake under you; what, a ladder made of water, what are you dreaming of? no; O, I think I ſhall go to heaven becauſe I have done nobody any harm; what, a ladder made of negative goodneſs, no; I think to go, you'll ſay, by good works; a ladder made of good works, that has not Chriſt for its bottom, what is that? I think, ſay you, to go to heaven by my prayers and faſtings; all theſe are good in their place: but, my brethren, don't think to climb to heaven by theſe ropes of ſand. If you never before ſet your foot on Chriſt, this bleſſed ladder, God grant this may be the happy time.
I have been praying before moſt of you were up I believe, that God would give me a parting bleſſing. I remember, ſoon after I left England laſt, that a dear Chriſtian friend told me, that there was one woman, who came only out of curioſity, that dated her converſion from hearing my laſt ſermon; and, I bleſs God, I never once left England, but ſome poor ſoul has dated their converſion from my laſt ſermon. When I put on my ſurplice, to come out to read the ſecond ſervice, I thought it was juſt like a perſon's being decently dreſſed to go out to be executed; I would rather, was it the will of God, it ſhould be ſo, than to feel what I do in parting from you, then death would put an end to all; but I am to be executed again and again, and nothing will ſupport me under the torture, but the conſideration of God's bleſſing me to ſome poor ſouls. Do pray for me, ye children of God, that God would give us a parting bleſſing. God help you, young people, to put your foot on this ladder; don't climb wrong: the devil has got a ladder, but it reaches down to hell; all the devil's children go down, not up; the bottom of the devil's ladder reaches to the depths of the damned, the top of it reaches to the earth: and when death comes, then up comes the devil's ladder to let you down; for God's ſake come away from the devil's ladder; climb, climb, dear youg men. O it delighted me on Friday night at the Tabernacle, when we had a melting parting ſacrament; and it delighted me this morning to ſee ſo many young men at the table; God add to the bleſſed number! Young women, put your feet upon this ladder; God lets one ladder down from heaven, and the devil brings another up from hell. O, ſay you, I would climb up God's ladder, I think it is right, but I ſhall be laughed at; do you think to go to heaven without being laughed at? the Lord Jeſus Chriſt help you to climb to heaven; come, climb till you get out of the hearing of their laughter. O truſt not to your own righteouſneſs, your vows, and good reſolutions.
Some of you, bleſſed be God, have climbed up this ladder, at leaſt are climbing; well, I wiſh you joy, God be praiſed for ſetting your feet on this ladder, God be praiſed for letting down this ladder: I have only one word to ſay to you, for Jeſus Chriſt's ſake, and your own too, climb a little faſter; take care the world does not get hold of your heels. It is a ſhame the children of God don't climb faſter; you may talk what you pleaſe, but God's people's lukewarmneſs is more provoking to him than all the ſins of the nation. We cry out againſt the ſins of the land, would to God we did cry out more of the ſins of the ſaints; I will ſpew you out of my mouth, becauſe you are lukewarm, ſays Chriſt; and if any of you ſay you cannot climb becauſe you are lame-footed, look to Jeſus Chriſt, my dear friends, and your afflictions ſhall make you climb; and if any of you are coming down the ladder again, the Lord Jeſus Chriſt bleſs the fooliſhneſs of preaching to help you up again. O, ſay you, I am giddy, I ſhall fall; here, I will give you a rope, ſo God lets down a promiſe: climb, climb then, till you have got higher into a better climate, and God ſhall put his hand out by and by when you get to the top of the ladder to receive you to himſelf. Bleſſed be the living God, I hope and believe I ſhall meet many of you by and by.
And now, my brethren, it is time for me to preach my own funeral ſermon; and I would humbly hope that, as a poor ſinner, I may put in my claim for what God promiſed Jacob; and I do put in, with full aſſurance of faith that God will be with me. I am now going, for the thirteenth time, to croſs the Atlantic: when I came from America laſt, I took my leave of all the continent; from the one end of the provinces to the other, except ſome places which we had not then taken; I took my leave for life, without the leaſt deſign of returning there again, my health was ſo bad; and the proſpect of getting the orphan-houſe into other hands made me ſay when I firſt came over, I have no other river to go over than the river Jordan. I thought then of retiring, for I did not chuſe to appear when my nerves were ſo relaxed that I could not ſerve God as I could wiſh to do; but as it hath pleaſed God to reſtore my health much, and has ſo ordered it by his providence, that I intend to give up the orphan-houſe, and all the land adjoining, for a public college. I wiſhed to have had a public ſanction, but his grace the late archibiſhop of Canterbury put a ſtop to it; they would give me a charter, which was all I deſired, but they inſiſted upon, at leaſt his grace and another did, that I ſhould confine it totally to the church of England, and that no extempore prayer ſhould be uſed in a public way in that houſe, though Diſſenters, and all ſorts of people, had contributed to it: I would ſooner cut my head off than betray my truſt, by confining it to a narrow bottom; I always meant it ſhould be kept upon a broad bottom, for people of all denominations, that their children might be brought up in the fear of God; by this means the orphan-houſe reverted into my hands; I have once more, as my health was reſtored, determined to purſue the plan I had fixed on; and through the tender mercies of God, Georgia, (which about thirty-two years ago was a total deſolate place; and when the land, as it was given me by the Houſe of Commons, would have been totally deſerted, and the colony have quite ceaſed, had it not been for the money I have laid out for the orphan-houſe, to keep the poor people together) that colony is ariſing to an amazing height, by the ſchemes now going on, public buildings are erecting. I had news laſt week of the great proſperity of the negroes; and I hope by the twenty-fifth of March, which is the day, the aniverſary day, I laid the firſt brick, in the year 1739; I ſay, I hope by that time all things will be finiſhed, and a bleſſed proviſion will be made for orphans and poor ſtudents that will be brought up there; it will be a bleſſed ſource of proviſion for the children of God in another part of the world. This is the grand deſign I am going upon; this is my viſible cauſe; but I never yet went to them, but God has been pleaſed to bleſs my miniſtration among them; and therefore after I have finiſhed the orphan-houſe affair, I intend to go all along the continent by land, (which will keep me all the winter and ſpring) and when I come to the end of it, which will be Canada and New-England, then I hope to return again to this place; for let people ſay what they will, I have not ſo much as a ſingle thought of ſettling abroad on this ſide eternity; and I am going in no public capacity, I ſhall ſet out like a poor pilgrim, at my own expence, truſting upon God to take care of me, and to bear my charges; and I call God to witneſs, and I muſt be a curſed devil and hypocrite, to ſtand here in the pulpit and provoke God to ſtrike me dead for lying, I never had the love of the world, nor never felt it one quarter of an hour in my heart, ſince I was twenty years old. I might have been rich: but though the Chapel is built, and I have a comfortable room to lie in, I aſſure you I built it at my own expence, it coſt nobody but myſelf any thing. I have a watchcoat made me, and in that I ſhall lie every night on the ground, and may Jacob's God bleſs me. I will not ſay much of myſelf, but when I have been preaching, I have read and thought of thoſe words with pleaſure, Surely this is the houſe of God. And I will bring thee again to this land. Whether that will be my experience or not, bleſſed be God, I have a better land in view; and, my dear brethren, I do not look upon myſelf at home till I land in my Father's kingdom; and if I am to die in the way, if I am to die in the ſhip, it comforts me that I know I am as clear as the ſun, that I go by the will of God; and though people may ſay, will you leave the world? will you leave the Chapel? O, I am aſtoniſhed that we cannot leave every thing for Chriſt; my greateſt trial is, to part with thoſe who are as dear to me as my own ſoul; and however others may forget me, as thouſands have, and do forget me, yet I cannot forget them: and now may Jacob's God be with you; O keep cloſe to God, my dear London friends; I do not bid you keep cloſe to Chapel, you have done ſo always: I ſhall endeavour to keep up the word of God among you in my abſence; I ſhall have the ſame perſons that managed for me when I was out laſt, and they ſent me word again and again, by letter, that it was remarkable, that the Tottenham-court people were always preſent when ordinances were there.
You ſee I went upon a fair bottom; I might have had a thouſand a year out of this place if I had choſe it; when I am gone to heaven you will ſee what I have got on earth*The greateſt part of the ſubſtance this man of God left behind him, which was not much, was bequeathed to him by deceaſed friends.; I do not like to ſpeak now, becauſe it may be thought boaſting; but I am ſure there are numbers of people here, if they knew what I have, would love me as much as they now hate me. When we come before the great Judge of quick and dead, while I ſtand before him, God grant you may not part with me then, it will be a dreadful parting then, it will be worſe then to go into the fire, to be among the devil and his angels; God forbid it! God forbid it! God forbid it! O remember that my laſt words were, come, come to Chriſt; the Lord help you to come to Chriſt; come to Chriſt, come to Jacob's God; God give you faith like Jacob's faith.
You that have been kind to me, that have helped me when I was ſick, ſome of whom are here that have been very kind to me; may God reward you, my friends, and God forgive my enemies; God, of his infinite mercy, bleſs you all; you will be amply provided for, I believe, here: may God ſpread the goſpel every where; and may God never leave you, nor forſake you. Even ſo, Lord Jeſus. Amen and Amen.