ed to this compaffionate, dying faviour, through whose work fuch glories open to thine admiring view? Surely upon cach recollection of what thou once waft, poor, miferable, blind, naked, in the gail of bitterness and bond of iniquity; upon each contemplation of what thou now art, refcued from the fearful pit of perdition, a child of God, an heir of the kingdom; upon each anticipation of what thou wilt fhortly be, relieved from all the evils of life, and from that incomparably worft of evils a body of fpiritual death which now encompaffes thee; poffeffed of all good, led up by the agency of the fpirit, through the me diation of the fon to the moft endearing fellow fhip of the Father; upon every reflection of this nature thy heart fhould bound with new extacies of love, and thy lips with new afcriptions of praife to him who hath redeemed thee to God by his blood. What will be the exercife of all the bleffed before the throne for ever, but one unceafing hallelujah; and furely it is proper to commence in time that work which will form the delight and glory of eternity.

BE no longer flothful in bufinefs, but let thy foul and all within thee be firred up to magnify the Lord; let the members of thy body be confecrated from henceforth as inftruments of righteouf nefs to holiness. The eyes of all are upon thee," as an ingenious, excellent author remarks, "the eye of the world to cenfure thee; the eye

of Satan to distress thee; the eye of the church to be edified by thee; the eye of angels to glorify God for thee; the eye of Christ to intercede in thy behalf; and the all-feeing eye of Jehovah to whom thou crieft abba-father to bless and protect thee. Say to thyself, I am adopted into God's family, and from being an execrable flave am made his freeman, his fon, and his heir; I am entitled through my redeeming Lord to all the privileges of grace fet forth in his declared will; I have tafted fome of these privileges as an unperifhing earnest of an imperishable inheritance, and I am affured that I fhall have full poffeffion in the best time, and forevermore. What then becomes me? How ought I to live, and to fpeak and think? Lord I am afhamed of myself; I am covered with confufion, and abasement, that I, for whom thou haft done fo much, am liv. ing and doing fo little for thee; if thy mercy did not endure forever it could not have endured to put up with fuch a base worm as me, with fuch long-fuffering and grace. O pity my weaknefs which thou kneweft from my birth, and fuit all the mercies of thy holy adoption to my various occafions and thine own glory. I only know and feel that I would be thine, and none but thine forever. Caufe me therefore to live as becometh thy gofpel, my own happiness and my unchanging, everlasting relation to thee. Caufe me to live more and more as one, who hath a title and a hope to live with an innumera

ble company of holy beings, with an holy Jefus, and with thee my holy and heavenly Fa ther forever and ever. I fall down before thy throne; O make me to be, what thou wouldeft have me to be, and let me be that to all eternity. Whoever thou art that canft utter this language, take courage and peace; it is the voice of the fpirit of adoption within thee. O go on and profper; the Lord enlighten thee and give thee more peace; give thee every earnest of his bleffing, every firft fruit of his glory below, and in his own time afford thee an abundant entrance into his everlafting kingdom."*-AMEN.

HORE. SOLITARIÆ, Vol. ii. 256—7.

The Holy Ghost the great Agent in our Regeneration, and his mercy illuftriously manifefted in

that work.

EPHESIANS ii. 4, 5.

BUT GOD WHO IS RICH IN MERCY, FOR HIS GREAT LOVE WHEREWITH HE LOVED US; EVEN WHEN WE WERE DEAD IN SINS HATH QUICKENED US TOGETHER WITH CHRIST.

THE great, the uniform defign of divine revelation is to level the pride, the self-importance of man and on its ruins to establish the fovereign grace of Jehovah. In this heavenly oracle the offspring of Adam are invariably reprefented as guilty, and therefore obnoxious to the juftice of God; as defiled and therefore odious to the pure eye of his holiness; as altogether wretched, and confequently in absolute need of divine mercy; in fhort, they are uniformly reprefented as floating on a tempeftous ocean without either chart or compafs for directing to any peaceful haven, until fovereign love interpofe in their behalf. The doctrines of human wretchednefs, and of divine, victorious grace which are exhibited at large throughout the fcriptures are concisely, yet luminoully presented in the

Y

verfes which have now been read. God who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved us; even when we were dead in fins hath quick ened us together with Chrift.

THE apoftle exhibits Jehovah as not only merciful but rich in mercy; This excellence dwells partially in man; we feel occafionally the emotion of pity towards thofe that are in diftrefs and fome difpofition to relieve them, but in man it dwells as a ftream which is eafily dried up; in the Lord God it refides as in a fountain, everflowing, yet never exhaufted, never leffened. The mercy of the Lord is from cverlafting to everlafting upon them that fear him. When we melt at the miferies of others, and are difpofed to impart relief, we frequently want the neceffary means, and thus fail in our withes, but Jehovah is rich in mercy, as he is never defeated in his gracious intentions; he can cafily devife means for accomplishing the everlasting purposes of his good will.

FOR his great love wherewith he loved us. The fovereign purpose of God from eternity was the origin of all the bleffings which he communicates in time the former was the fountain, the latter are only ftreams which iffue forth from that fountain. Whom he predeftinated, them he alfo called; I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee.