den of God; trusting in
him by faith implants a soul in him,--roots a soul in him, by virtue of
which union, it springs up and grows into a living branch; by staying and
depending upon him, we live by him, and hence springs this blessed and
sweet fruit of peace of soul and conscience, which grows upon the
confidence of the soul placed in God, as the stalk by which it is united
to the tree. Trusting and staying upon God is the soul's casting its
anchor upon him in the midst of the waves and storms of sin, wrath, and
trouble. The poor beaten sinner casts an anchor within the vail, on that
sure ground of immutable promises in Jesus Christ; and then it rests and
quiets itself at that anchor, enjoys peace in the midst of the
storm,--there is a great calm, it is not moved, or not greatly moved, as if
it were a fair day. David flieth unto God as his refuge, anchors upon the
name of the Lord, Psal. lxii. 1, 2; and so he enjoys a perfect calm and
tranquillity. "I shall not be moved," because he is united to the rock, he
is tied to the firm foundation, Jesus Christ, and no storm can dissolve
this union, not because of the strength of that rope of faith, it is but a
weak cord, if omnipotency did not compass it about also, and so we "are
kept by the power of God, through faith unto salvation." The poor wearied
traveller, the pilgrim, sits down under the shadow of a rock, and this
peace is his rest under it. Faith lays him down, and peace is his rest and
sleep. Faith in Jesus Christ is a motion towards him, as the soul's proper
place and centre, and therefore it is called a coming to him,--flying to
him as the city of refuge. It is the soul's flight out of itself, and
misery and sin within, to apprehend mercy and grace, and happiness in
Christ. Now, hope is the conjunction or union of the soul with him,--the
soul then staying and resting on him, as in its proper place, and so it
enjoys perfect peace and rest in its place, so that if ye remove it
thence, then ye offer violence to it.

These two things are of greatest importance to you to know, what this
perfect peace is, and what is the way to attain it. The one is the
privilege and dignity, the other is the duty of a Christian, and these two
make him up what he is.

I would think that man perfectly blessed, who is at peace with two
things,--God and himself. If a man be at peace with creatures without him,
and be at peace with himself, but have war within his own mind, that man's
pe