d long ere this, unfit as I was for it, I should have resumed the
work, had I followed my own will; but hitherto have I considered it
most for the glory of God, quietly to refrain from outward service,
in order to glorify Him by patient submission, till my Lord shall be
pleased to condescend to call His servant forth again for active
engagements. And then, I know, He will give me grace, cheerfully to
go back to the delightful service of pointing sinners to the Lamb of
God, and of feeding the church.

3. Through this affliction I have known experimentally in a higher
degree than I knew it before, how, if obliged to refrain from active
service, one can nevertheless as really and truly help the armies of
Jesus, through secret prayer, as if one were actively engaged in the
proclamation of the truth.--This point brings to my mind a truth, of
which we all need to be reminded frequently, even this, that at all
times, and under all circumstances, we may really and truly serve the
Lord, and fight for His kingdom, by seeking to manifest His mind, and
by giving ourselves to prayer.

4. Through the instrumentality of this affliction the Lord has been
pleased to show me, how I may lay out myself more fully for His
service in the proclamation of His truth; and, by His grace, if ever
restored for active service, I purpose to practice what He has shown
me.

5. Through being deprived so much from meeting with the brethren as I
have been these thirteen weeks, I have learned somewhat more to value
this privilege than I did before. For as my head has been much
affected, even through one meeting on the Lord's day, I have seen how
highly I ought to have prized the days, when twice or thrice I could
meet with the saints, without suffering from it.--Bear with me,
brethren, when I beseech you, highly to esteem the opportunities of
assembling yourselves together. Precede them with prayer; for only in
as much as you do so, have you a right to expect a blessing from
them. Seek to treasure up, not merely in your memory, but in your
heart, the truths which you hear; for soon you may be deprived of
these privileges, and soon you may be called upon to practice what
you hear. Brethren, let us not learn the greatness of our privileges,
by being deprived of them.--

I also delight in mentioning some of the particulars in which the
Lord's kindness to me has appeared in this affliction, and whereby He
has shown, that He does not lay more on us, than i