tion, so to speak,
that is, sunning yourselves and warming in the sun, the exposing and
opening of your hearts frequently in secret, before this sun of
Righteousness. Now this, if you were acquaint with it, would make your
light so to shine before men, as your heavenly Father may be glorified,
Matt. v. 16,--and that is the walking in that light of God. This makes a
Christian to come forth, as Moses from the Mount, with his face shining.
He comes out from the retired access to God, with a lustre upon his
carriage, that may beautify the gospel, and (as one saith well) with the
tables of the law in both his hands, written in his practice, the light of
the law shining in his life. And truly this is the Christian's diurnal
motion in his lower sphere, wherein he carries about that light that is
derived from the higher light. In all his converse with men, it shines
from him to the glorifying of him that is the Father of lights, walking
righteously and soberly, without offence, doing good to all, especially
the children of light, extending offices of love and benevolence to every
one, forbearing and forgiving offences, not partaking with other men's
sins, and, finally, declaring in word and deed, that we have communion
with the fountain of pure light, and one day expect to be translated out
of this lower orb, where we are so far distant from him, and fixed in the
highest of all, where we may have the immediate, full, uninterrupted, and
clearest aspect of his countenance, which shall then make the description
that is here given of God communicable to us, that, as he is light, and in
him is no darkness, so we, being fully and perfectly shined upon by him,
may be light likewise, without any mixture of darkness, as here it is not.

Now, my beloved in the Lord, this is that we are called unto, to walk thus
in the light, in the light of obedience and sanctification, and that is
the great thing ye would learn to aspire unto, rather than to enjoy the
light of consolation. Indeed, I conceive, that which maketh many of us
walk in darkness, as is spoken in Isa. i. 10, that is, without comfort,
peace, and joy, and without clear discerning our interest in God, is,
because we walk in another darkness, that is, of sin and distance from
God. The one darkness is introductive of the other; nay, they cannot be
long without one another. The dark cloud of bold sinning, and careless
uncircumspect walking, that cannot but eclipse the light of consolati