of temptation, driven yet farther off from God, and from the hope
of obtaining of his mercy to their salvation; poor creature, I will
not now ask thee how thou camest into this condition, or how long
this has been thy state; but I will say before thee, and I prithee
hear me, O the length of the saving arm of God! As yet thou art
within the reach thereof; do not thou go about to measure arms
with God, as some good men are apt to do: I mean, do not thou
conclude, that because thou canst not reach God by thy short stump,
therefore he cannot reach thee with his long arm. Look again, "Hast
thou an arm like God" (Job 40:9), an arm like his for length and
strength? It becomes thee, when thou canst not perceive that God
is within the reach of thy arm, then to believe that thou art
within the reach of his; for it is long, and none knows how long.

Again, is there such a length? such a length in the arm of the
Lord, that he can reach those that are gone away, as far as they
could? then this should encourage us to pray, and hope for the
salvation of any one of our backslidden relations, that God would
reach out his arm after them: Saying, "Awake,--O arm of the Lord,--art
thou not it that hath cut Rahab, and wounded the dragon? Art thou
not it which hath dried the sea, the waters of the great deep,
that hath made the depths of the sea a way for the ransomed to pass
over?" (Isa 51:9,10). Awake, O arm of the Lord, and be stretched
out as far as to where my poor husband is, where my poor child,
or to where my poor backslidden wife or dear relation is, and lay
hold, fast hold; they are gone from thee, but, O thou the hope of
Israel, fetch them again, and let them stand before thee. I say,
here is in this word LENGTH matter of encouragement for us thus
to pray; for if the length of the reach of mercy is so great, and
if also this length is for the benefit of those that may be gone