we may attain to the possession of that peace which passeth all understanding, and which is the everlasting portion of thy redeemed people. Thus may we be rooted and grounded in love, and through thy grace, keep ourselves in the love of God, abounding in all the fruits of righte ousness, which are by Jesus Christ to thy praise and glory. Our Father, &c. MEDITATION For Thursday Morning. THE CHRISTIAN CONQUEROR. "And this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the son of God." 1 John v. 4, 5. The real Christian is the true conqueror of the world. It is the world that obstructs our way to heaven, and is the great impediment to our entrance there. But he that believes that Jesus is the Son of God, believes that he gave himself for us that he might deliver us from this present evil world, and powerfully to conduct us through it to heaven, and to God, who is fully to He be enjoyed there and he that so believes, by this faith overcomes the world. feels that this world is an enemy to his soul, to his holiness, to his salvation, and to his blessedness. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. He sees it must be a great part of the Saviour's work, and of his own salvation, to be redeemed and rescued from the pollution that is in the world through lust. He sees in the life and conduct of the Lord Jesus on earth, that this world is to be renounced and overcome. He perceives that the Lord Jesus conquered the world, not for himself only, but also for his followers and that they must study to be partakers of his victory. "Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." By the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus he is mortified and crucified to the world: "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified to me, and I unto the world." By the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, he is begotten to a lively hope of blessed world above. He knows that the Saviour is gone to heaven, to prepare a place for all true believers. He knows a that from thence his Saviour will come again to put an end to this world, to judge the inhabitants of it, and to receive his believers to his presence and glory. He is possessed with a spirit and disposition that cannot be satisfied with this world, that looks beyond it, and is still tending, striving, and pressing towards the world in heaven. It is in the Gospel that we see the occasion and ground of the quarrel between the holy God and this rebellious world. It is there we meet with that sacred doctrine both spiritual and practical, which is altogether opposed to the tenour, the temper, and tendency of this world. It is by that doctrine that a spirit is communicated and diffused, which is superior and adverse to the spirit of the world. It is there we see that the Saviour himself is not of this world, that his kingdom was not, and is not so; that it must be separated from the world, and gathered out of it for heaven and for Him. There we see that the Saviour designed not this world for the inheritance and portion of his redeemed people. As he is gone to heaven himself, so he assures them that he will prepare a place for their residence there, designing that they shall always dwell with him and allowing them to believe that if in this life, : 1 and this world only, they had hope in him, they should indeed be miserable. It is there that the eternally blessed world is most clearly revealed and proposed to our affections and pursuits. It is there that we are furnished with the best arms and artillery against the assaults and attempts of the world. It is there we are taught how its artillery may be turned against itself; and its oppositions, encounters, and persecutions be made serviceable to our conquest of the world, and to our motion and ascent heavenwards. And there we are encouraged by a whole army and cloud of #faithful soldiers, who have in their several generations, and the posts and stations appointed them, overcome the world, and won the crown. It is only the Christian who is the true hero that vanquishes the world, rejoices in a universal victory, takes the kingdom of heaven by violence, and lays hold on eternal life. Who but the believer on & Jesus Christ can thus overcome the world? HYMN For Thursday Morning. Awake, my zeal! awake, my love! Awake, my charity! to feed The hungry soul, to clothe the poor; In heaven there are no sons of need, There all these duties are no more. The land of triumph is on high; The land where foes no more shall rage; Lord, may I conquer till I die, And all the Christian warfare wage. Subdue thy passions, O my soul ! Daily thy rising sins control, And be thy victories ever new. Let ev'ry passing hour confess, |