assurance of union with Christ, without which it will not be given us. Neither indeed will desire after this privilege be properly possessed until the Holy Ghost, in his preparatory operation, has produced in us supreme love of the object with whom we desire the union. We have therefore to enquire whether our heart is thus captivated, whether the disposition towards union is sincerely wrought in us by the surrender of our affections, so that we can truly say, "My heart is fixed, O God, my heart is fixed," Psalm lvii. 7. The work of the Holy Ghost will be discoverable by this result. There will be the revelation of Jesus Christ to the soul in such power, as will act like the shining forth of a hot sunbeam upon the internal region of the heart, consuming all baser fires, and destroying the corrupt flame which burns upon the altar of a natural heart; so that whilst relative affection to creatures is strong and pure, it is subordinate, and exists not in its native character of rivalry with Christ. The fervent solicitude of the mind is now bent upon the attainment of Christ's love; and human solicitudes sink into comparative nothingness. There lives within the breast this continual sentiment, "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with thee," Psalm lxxiii. 25. Yea, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus," Phil. iii. 8. These affections are also attended

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In such a frame willing humbly to that the Lord may and with confidence

with humility. There is no merit attached to them, no expectations derived from them, but the habitual and abiding consciousness of unworthiness; so that the spirit waits for demonstrations of the Lord's readiness to enter into the compact, with tenderness and self-abasement, and a sense of the condescension which must be in action if this grace be given. of mind the believer will be give the heart just as it is, make it meet to be his own; that, if accepted, he can and will produce in it every thing needful for the preservation of the bond. These are peculiar feelings wrought by the Spirit; we should seek for them as produced within our own heart, examining our state upon the several dispositions described. Have I this supreme love of the object of faith, so that he lives with unrivalled dominion in my heart? Have I a willingness to sacrifice all other affections when they rise up as obstacles to my supreme devotion to the Lord? Am I in the spirit of humility and proffering my heart with a due sense of my own unworthiness? Have I loving confidence in the power of the Lord to make me all that I ought to be? And can I trust him to look upon and maintain his own work of grace within me?

If we answer with satisfaction to these enquiries, we have reason to rejoice, and to lay hold of the consolatory evidence of having been con

112 THE HEART'S DEVOTION TO THE LORD.

ducted thus far by the heavenly Guide. We should give him praise for the dispensation, cheerfully raise our song of gratitude, and patiently, though fervently, wait for further manifestations. If unable to satisfy our own minds upon these points, we ought to be distressed, and awakened to more energy in our Christian course. To be destitute of these affections, evidences that we are either in our native death and distance from God, or that we are grieving the Spirit by allowing something in our course which impedes

our way. In either case we are guilty, and lie exposed to punishment. Let us not then madly yield to this spiritual apathy, for our destitution is complete if we have not Christ, and our profession is barren if we are not in conscious union with him.

LONGING OF HEART FOR

CONSCIOUS UNION.

CANTICLES vii. 10, 11.

It must be our object on the present occasion, to consider the result of that anxious expression of love on the part of the believer, which we last examined. We beheld him in the experience of fervent desires after union with Christ, arising from an absorption of his affections, and admiration of the Lord as the chiefest among ten thousand; and as led to exclaim with unfeigned surrender of his heart, "I am my beloved's." We must now ascertain, if he be privileged to say, "And his desire is toward me," or, "My beloved is mine."

In answer to this interesting and important enquiry, we must in the first place realize some of the important doctrines which stand prominently before us in the sacred Scriptures. It is necessary in a question such as this that the judgment be persuaded. The mere excitement of passion or movement of feeling will not satisfy a soul sincerely anxious to determine the degree of his liberty to appropriate Christ; these may be delusive; and nothing short of solid ground for assurance will suffice to settle the question in peace to the soul. Let us then bear in mind that Jesus

has said, "No man can come unto me except the Father draw him." Let us remember that the Bible testimony is, "We love him because he first loved us." If therefore we are come to Christ according to the statement in our last subject, or have the consciousness that we do indeed love him, we possess a sure witness of the divine operation in the heart, and a pledge of the free love of a covenant God. It is also expressly affirmed that he who cometh unto Christ he "will in no wise cast out;" and that they who bring their sacrifices before the Lord shall find them accepted by him; and that the proffered surrender of body, soul, and spirit, which it is the anxious desire of the believer that the Lord will receive, is not only a reasonable but an acceptable service: see John vi. 37. 1 John iv. 19. Isa. lvi. 7, 8. Rom. xii. 1. Here we have sure ground on which to establish the expectation of faith; proving, that if we answer to this description of character, we cannot either reasonably or scripturally doubt the success of our desires. To think otherwise would be to dispute the truth and faithfulness of the Lord; and would also involve a denial of those essential doctrines which reveal to us that man is by nature a fallen creature, that he inherits an awful apostacy from his descent, as the offspring of an alienated parent; that in this apostacy there is resolute enmity against his Maker, and also an entire impotency in every thing which belongs to spiritual things; so that even were he rendered willing to return,