was freely and fully provided, given by the Father to the Son, in whose fulness they were all laid up for the use of his body the church, and communicated to every member of it through the influence of the Holy Spirit. Thus he is taught that all is of grace from first to last. Whatever good a sinner receives on earth, or enjoys in heaven, is so given as to exclude all boasting, and to lay every proud and self righteous principle in the dust, that grace alone may wear the crown and may have all the glory.

Here then, O my soul, is matter, of close examination. Dost thou know thyself, thy state and condition, and hast thou fled from the wrath to come? Has the light of God's word shone into thy understanding, and made thee to see that thou art indeed set out in the way to heaven? How was this discovered to thee? Did the Holy Spirit ever convince thee of sin, and that thou hast lost the image and forfeited the favour of God? Did thou ever see thyself fallen in Adam, in him a child of wrath, a ruined miserable sinner? Hast thou felt how utterly unable thou art to atone for thy sins, or to make thyself holy? And wast thou brought to this after many legal trials and self-righteous efforts? At last forced to give up all hope in thyself, and to look to the Lord who made heaven and earth, from whom alone thy help could come?

And hast thou been taught the true knowledge of the unity of the Godhead, and of the persons in it, Father, Son, and Spirit, the covenant of the ever-blessed Three, and the absolute security of all covenant mercies, promised by the Father, and engaged to be given to the Son as the head of his body, the church, who is now actually as God-man in possession of them, and by his Spirit he freely and fully bestows them upon his members? for they will never cease to be receiving out of his fulness grace for grace, until they receive out of the same fulness glory for glory.

O my soul examine closely, and prove thyself by the standard of the divine word. Search and try, what the

conviction of thy lost estate has been. Was it deep and practical? Is it an abiding truth with thee, that there is no help, or hope in thyself? And hast thou fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before thee in the Lord Jesus? Is thy knowledge of the Godhead mere theory, or is it brought into practice? Dost thou enjoy the Father's love, through faith in the finished salvation of the Son, by the influence of the Holy Spirit? This is the saving knowledge of the Godhead. And is this thine? Dost thou honour the divine persons by acknowledging their immutable counsel, and immutable oath entered into for the security of the heirs of promise, that they might trust, and not be afraid? Dost thou see with any clearness the absolute safety of relying upon the promises of God, and dost thou expect to draw from hence comfort to thy conscience, and joy to thy heart.

If thou art indeed set out in the way to heaven, art thou settled in the knowledge of thy fallen state? Hast thou found thyself unable to do any thing, but to hasten on thy ruin? and from the sight and sense of this, hast thou been led to see all undertaken for thee, and secured to thee for time and eternity, in the covenant of the ever-blessed Trinity. These truths lie at the very foundation of all comfortable walking with God. See that thou be well grounded in them. The knowledge of thyself is to bring thee to God: the knowledge of God is to lead thee to walk with him. The one is to teach thee to renounce all trust in thyself. The other is to show thee, that thou mayest safely place the confidence of thy heart on thy reconciled Father, thy Saviour, and thy guide. Look up to him, then O my soul, and be often praying to him and saying,

O Lord God, that which I see not, teach thou me. Keep me an humble disciple in the school of Christ. Let me be daily learning there, what I am in myself a fallen sinful creature, justly deserving everlasting destruction from thy presence. O let me never lose sight of my want of a Saviour, nor ever be without the sense of what is said" Without me ye can do nothing."

Teach me this thou eternal Spirit. Open thou mine understanding to understand the scriptures. What thou hast revealed in them concerning the Godhead, and concerning the counsels and works of the ever-blessed Trinity, that reveal to my soul. Thou hast declared, that no man can say Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost: O shine then into my dark mind, and lead me into the saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Make me acquainted with his covenant undertaken, and his perfect fulfilling of them, that by resting on his finished salvation, I may find the Father's love in the Son, his Father, my Father, and may be brought, through thy blessed influence, to have fellowship with the Father and the Son. O lead me into all truth, thou Spirit of wisdom and revelation, that I may know the things which belong to my peace, and may through thee be made wise unto salvation. Amen.

CHAP. II.

The believer is reconciled to God, and has the peace of God ruling in his conscience, and they two walk together; because they are now agreed.

Ir is written in the prophets-" They shall be all "taught of God"-every one of his children shall be brought to the knowledge of the truth, and what they have been taught in the understanding shall be made practical, that it may have its proper effect upon the conscience. And this is answered, when it comes under the authority and power of the word of God, and faithfully accuses or condemns according to that unerring rule.

Conscience supposes the knowledge of some rule, and it consists in comparing a man's state or actions with that rule in order to discover whether they agree with it, or not.

The rule is the scripture, the whole revealed will of

God, which is the unerring, and the only standard of right and wrong; for all scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, to teach the man of God what is truth, and to make him wise in it unto salvation. Fallen man has no means of discovering the will of God, but as it is revealed to him. He has no innate knowledge. He has no implanted principles. He is born as ignorant of God, and of the things of God, as a wild ass's colt. His understanding is darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in him, because of the blindness of his heart. And he has no means in his own power of attaining any divine knowledge: for he cannot by searching find out God. The world by its wisdom never did find him out. The Hottentots know as much of him as the Greeks and Romans did: indeed the natural man, let him be ever so wise, knoweth not the things of the Spirit of God; neither can he know them; because they are spiritually discerned.

The scripture then is the only rule of right and wrong. Conscience has no direction but this rule. Neither ethics nor metaphysics, no fancied light of dark nature, no lawless law of rebel nature, no human science, whether pretended to be implanted, or by the use of reason to be acquired, have any right to guide the conscience. These are blind leaders of the blind. They undertake, what they are not only unfit, but what they have no warrant for. A parcel of felons in jail may think what they will of their state. They may take it upon them to form a mock court, and to try one another. They may ac quit or condemn, as they please; but the judge and the jury will pay no regard to their foolish proceedings. There is a word which is to try us at the last day, and by that we should try ourselves at present. It was revealed for this purpose. And when the revealed truth is clearly understood, then conscience is acting aright, if it finds a true verdict for God, either accusing, or

else excusing, according to the direction of his unerring word.

And this is the work of the Holy Spirit. He enlightened the judgment with the knowledge of the truth, in order to make it practical; which he effects by bringing the conscience to submit to the sovereignty of God in the law, and to submit to the righteousness of God in the gospel. Herein he displays the omnipotent power of his grace, according to the promise, John xvi. 8. He carries with demonstration the conviction of guilt, and the conviction of righteousness, to the conscience. By the former he gives the sinner a real heartfelt sense of his sin and misery, and he acknowledges himself a convict of the law, justly deserving all its penalties in time and in eternity. By the latter he sets open a door of hope, showing him the perfect righte ousness of the God-man wrought out for such guilty creatures as he is: he enables him to plead it before the throne, and to trust in it for his acceptance; by which means he finds relief in his conscience, and comfort in his heart. Being justified by faith he has peace with God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

What the Holy Spirit teaches has life, as well as light in it. He accompanies his doctrine with the power of God. What he has revealed concerning the state of mankind under the fall, he applies with divine evidence to the conscience. Under his influence the sinner reads those scriptures, and feels the truth of them. "As by one man sin entered into the world and "death by sin, so that death passed upon all men, for "that all have sinned: through the offence of one, "judgment came upon all men to condemnation ; "for it is written, there is none righteous, no not one, "there is none that understandeth, there is none that "seeketh after God: they are all gone out of the way, "they are together become unprofitable, there is none "that doeth good, no not one. Now we know that "what things soever the law saith, it commands them "who are under the law, that every mouth may be