It is to be feared there is little intercession among Christians now. The high priest carried the names of the children of Israel upon his shoulders and breast when he drew near to God-a picture of what Christ now does, and all Christians should do. God and your conscience are witnesses how little you intercede for your children, your servants, your neighbors, the Church of your fathers, and the wicked on every side of you. How little you pray for ministers, for the gift of the Spirit, for the conversion of the world. How selfish you are even in your prayers.

London's Lamentation. -Though God had burnt them up on every-hand, yet they took no notice of it, they regarded it not, they were-not at all affected with the fiery dispensations of God. Oh the-dulness, the insensibleness, the sottishness of the Jews under the most awakening and amazing judgments of God - '

Published in 1667- Now the cloud is very black, and the storm comes down upon us very sharp. Now Death rides triumphantly on his pale horse through our streets- and breaks into almost every house, where any inhabitants are to be found. Now people fall as thick as leaves from the trees in autumn, when they are shaken by a mighty wind. Now there is a dismal solitude inLondon's streets. Now shops are shut in- very few people walk about.

Why is there so much fear around us when the situation facing us is not at all unique- Answered. The Christian must trust God even when He appears to hide from him, Isa. 50- 10. Let him that walks in darkness, and sees no light, trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God. This requires a holy boldness of faith indeed, to venture into God's presence, as Esther into Ahasuerus', when no smile is to be seen on his face, no golden scepter of the promise perceived by the soul, as held forth to embolden it to come near, then to press in with this noble resolution, 'If I perish, I perish,' Est. 4- 16. William Gurnall Note- the book quoted here, God's Terrible Voice in the City, 1666 is by Thomas Vincent not Thomas Boston

-In what age, by what sect, where, when, by whom, has religious truth been excluded from the education of youth- Nowhere. Never- Everywhere, and at all times, it has been regarded as essential. It is of the essence, the vitality of useful instruction.-

Desertion is a poisoned arrow which shoots to the heart. -For the Almighty has struck me down with his arrows. He has sent his poisoned arrows deep within my spirit. All God's terrors are arrayed against me-- Job 6-4. God is called a fire and a light- the deserted soul feels the fire-but does not see the light- it cries out, as Asaph, -Has the Lord rejected me forever- Will he never again show me favor- Is his unfailing love gone forever- Have his promises permanently failed- Has God forgotten to be kind- Has he slammed the door on his compassion-- Psalms 77-7-9. When the soul is in this state, and ready to faint away in despair, God shines upon it, and gives it some apprehension of his favor. He turns the shadow of death into the light of the morning. God keeps his medicines for a time of weakness. Joy after a time of desertion, feels like a resurrection from the dead.

Why would you wilfully deceive yourselves, or build your hopes upon the sand- I know that he may find hard work that goes to pluck away your hopes. It cannot but be ungrateful to you, and truly it is not pleasing to me. I set about it as a surgeon when about to cut off a mortified limb from his well-beloved friend, which of necessity he must do, though with an aching heart. But understand me, beloved, I am only taking down the ruinous house, which will otherwise speedily fall of itself and bury you in the ruins. Narrated by Thomas Sullivan February 9th 2020

The sin against the Holy Spirit is not to be regarded simply as an isolated act, but as the external symptom of a heart so radically and finally set against God that no power which God can consistently use will ever save it. This sin, therefore, can be only the culmination of a long course of self- hardening and self-depraving. He who has committed it must be either profoundly indifferent to his own condition, or actively and bitterly hostile to God so that anxiety or fear on account of one's condition is evidence that it has not been committed. A H Strong, also an in depth historical study of the Man in the Iron Cage.

Parable of the Sower - Luke