The Sixth Rule.

Labor to be skilful in the mystery of godliness, to draw strength from Jesus Christ in every thing you do. For my Brethren, Christ he is Jacob's Ladder. When Jacob lay asleep he saw a ladder on which the Angels did descend and ascend up to Heaven. Now this Jacob's Ladder is no other but Jesus Christ to Christians, and that must be set up to Hea∣ven; if you would go to Heaven, and converse with Heaven, it must be by Jesus Christ, you must be instructed in the mysterie of the Gospel in conversing with God through a Mediator; there is such an infinite distance be∣tween God and us, that except we have Christ the Media∣tor we can never come to God, nor God come to us; it is Page  255 only Christ the Mediator that is the Ladder: We need not say Who shall go up to Heaven to fetch Christ down? No, we may have Christ in our hearts, and set up him, and so we may go up to Heaven by his Mediation. When as a Christian comes to live in this manner; what I do expect from God, I expect to draw it through a Mediator, and all the services that I tender up to God I tender them up through the hand and heart of Christ: Now those that are acquainted with this have much converse with Heaven: By Jesus Christ the Mediator I may come up there and pre∣sent my self there, though no unclean thing may come there, for God looks upon the Saints through him as righ∣teous, being cloathed with his righteousness, they may come to their Father with boldnesse, having their Elder brothers garments upon them, they may come and kneel before the Throne of grace, come into Heaven as into the Presence Chamber and kneel every morning for their Fa∣thers blessing; it's by him what we have accesse unto the Father: Oh! acquaint thy self with the Mystery of god∣linesse in drawing all from Christ; and tendering all to God through Christ: By this Heaven comes down to thee, and by this thou climest up to Heaven, this is the Jacob's Ladder. But those men that only look upon God in a natural way, that's thus, Indeed all good things must come from God; and so they go to prayer, Lord we beseech thee bless us this day, for all good things come from thee. And they serve God, their consciences tell them they must worship, and serve God while they live here: but it is but in a dull natural way: let me leave it in your hearts, All good comes from God through a Mediator, through Jesus Christ the second Person in Trinity, God-Man, and all my services are tendered up to God through him; there is this Media∣tor God-Man that unites God and me together, and so by him I have acceptance both for my person and all my acti∣ons, and by him I come to have other manner of blessings than comes from God meerly as Creator, God in bounty bestows upon the creature many good things, but when Page  256 we come to deal with God in Christ we come to have Hea∣venly blessings, blessings beyond the power of nature, yea beyond all those blessings that nature can be any convey∣ance of, beyond the blessings that the conduits of the crea∣ture are able to hold forth, they have the blessing from God imediately, imediately I mean in respect of the crea∣ture, it's by the mediation of Christ, they enjoy God in Christ, and so come to enjoy God in a Heavenly, Super∣natural way: Oh this is the way to have our Conversati∣ons in Heaven; and those Christians that are much ac∣quainted with the Gospel of Christ, they come to live far more Heavenly Conversations than others that go on in a dull, heavie, and natural kind of way in serving of God: But being not acquainted with this mysterie, their hearts lie low upon the earth, and know not what it is to have their Conversations in Heaven.