ambassador of the King of kings! called and commissioned, owned and honoured, by him; and to be in a pardoned and justified state; in union, in fellowship, and in peace with him: and therefore ambassadors of peace, bearers of good tidings, publishers of salvation, and that say unto Zion, "Thy God reigneth!" Such are the chariots of the Lord of hosts, in which he rides, and by which he bears his name among the Gentiles; out of which he shines, and from whom he sends out his line into all the earth, and his words to the end of the world, Infinite condescension is this. And when we consider what we were; how mean! how low! how poor! how despicable! But he hath chosen the poor, the weak, the foolish, and the base, that he may stain the pride of human glory, and bring into contempt the honourable of the earth, "Now he which establisheth us with you in Christ, and hath anointed us, is God; who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts," 2 Cor. i. 21, 22. Upon this delightful subject I shall yet proceed.

11. The Holy Spirit is to aid and assist the true worshippers of God in every branch of religious worship; and the saints must serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter. God requires worship suitable to his nature; "God is a spirit, and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth; for God seeketh such to worship him."

Worship in the

spirit is opposed to all carnal worship with a dead form, in which the body only is engaged; and therefore called bodily exercise, which profiteth little. Worshipping God in truth is opposed to all false, deceitful, and hypocritical worship, when the heart and soul are altogether disengaged: "They draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but their heart is far from me; therefore in vain they worship me." In order to this true worship we must be purged and purified, justified and sanctified, and influenced with the Holy Spirit of God. God requires a pure offering, and an offering in righteousness, or offerings offered up by persons in a justified state. "And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Then shall the offering of Judah and Jerusalem be plea sant unto the Lord, as in the days of old, and as in former years," Mal. iii. 3, 4. The days of old, nd the ancient times spoken of, are the days of Abel, Seth, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Melchizedek, Isaac, and Jacob, &c. of whom, and of whose worship, we have no fault; but they obtained a good report through faith. Now God promises that, under the gospel, the same acceptable worship shall be performed; and therefore he promises to influence and guide us in every branch of it; "For I the Lord love udgment, I hate robbery for burnt offering; and I will direct their

work in truth, and I will make an everlasting covenant with them," Isaiah lxi. 8. And the Lord directs us in all our works by his Holy Spirit, and especially in prayer: "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities; for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. And he that searcheth the heart knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God," Rom. viii. 26, 27. The apostle here tells us that we know not what we should pray for as we ought, unless the Spirit helps us. And there are prayers that have been put up by good men that have not been answered: "Elijah requested for himself that he might die, and said, It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers," 1 Kings xix. 4. Zebedee's wife's request for her two sons, to sit, one at the right hand of Christ, and the other at the left, meets with no better answer than this, "Ye know not what ye ask," Matt. xx. 22. Which shews us the need of a Spirit of grace and supplication. The Holy Spirit enlightens us to see our wants, and quickens us to feel them, and creates a hunger and a thirst after the provision of God's house; and then leads our minds into the word, and shews us what is held forth, 'promised, and freely given to us; "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we

might know the things that are freely given to us of God," 1 Cor. ii. 12. The Holy Spirit, which searcheth the deep things of God, knows what is in reserve for us, and the time appointed for us to receive that which God hath laid up for us; and he sets us to praying for them when that time arrives. Thus, when the time of Israel's deliverance from Egyptian bondage drew near, the spirit of supplication was poured out, and the cries of the children of Israel went up. "And God heard their groaning; and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. And God looked upon the children of Israel, and God had respect unto them." So, in Daniel, just as the time was approaching for them to return to their own land, Daniel understands, by the prophecies of Jeremiah, that God would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem; then Daniel sets his face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes, Dan. ix. 3. So, also, there is a set time to favour Zion, and every one that is ordained to be of her community; a set time for every purpose; and, when that time is up, which the Holy Spirit is perfectly acquainted with, then he makes intercession with such energy, that the kingdom of heaven, which suffereth violence, is taken by force. The Holy Spirit furnishes the soul with suitable promises to plead, with invitations and encouraging passages of scripture: these he brings to the mind and puts

into the mouth, enabling the soul to use all sorts of arguments, pleadings, intercessions, supplications, confessions, and reasonings: and, at the same time, helps the poor creature against his unbelief, misgivings of heart, desponding thoughts, shame, fear, and confusion of face. He draws forth faith into lively exercise, and raises up hopes and expectations of being heard and answered. He emboldens the poor sinner, and fortifies his mind; he strengthens his heart, silences his accusers, and clothes his words with power; enabling him to pour out his very soul before God with earnest cries and tears, till his cares and concerns, his burdens, his griefs, his distresses and sorrows, his doubts and fears, all flow out with his words; and he goes from Shiloh with his countenance no more sad. How did he help Manasseh, who was an idolater and a wizard, who made Judah and Jerusalem do worse than the heathen, and who was deaf to all warning and admonition, till God brought an host against him, who took him and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon? "And when he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him; and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God," 2 Chron. xxxiii. 12, 13. How did the Holy Spirit furnish the poor Syrophenician woman with her great faith and treble