the sheath; the cup which My Father hath given Me, shall I not drink it? (John xviii. 11,) to instruct us, that under severe trials and temptations, we ought not to use the sword of truth by the exercise of austere judgment, either on others, or on ourselves; but rather to submit ourselves to the Divine will and providence, by drinking deep of its dispensations, be they ever so apparently painful, distressing, and perplexing.
132. It is written concerning our Lord’s crucifixion, that in the place where He was crucified there was a garden, and in the garden a new sepulchre, wherein was never man yet laid, (John xix. 41,) to denote that the garden of heavenly intelligence and wisdom is always in the centre of a good man’s spiritual sufferings, and to denote further, that in that garden is a principle of resurrection to newness of life and blessedness; such being the spiritual idea suggested by a sepulchre. Wherein was never man yet laid, denotes that the divine truth never enters that sepulchre, to exercise its resurrection-power, but after crucifixion, or the process of severe trial and temptation.
133. How few examine, or think it necessary to examine, according to the spiritual idea, in what direction the wind blows. We set vanes, or weather-cocks, on our houses, and on the steeples of our churches; but where is the wise man to be found, who doeth the same with his spiritual house, and with the steeple of his spiritual church? Yet we must be forced to confess, that if it be of any importance for man to be
