any qualification? He loves to give, and without money or money's worth. He thinks himself honoured by the pensioners of his grace, who bring nothing to recommend themselves, but their sins and miseries, and yet trust in his promised relief. Herein he glories. When they come to him believing, he bestows his royal gifts upon every one of them: and so far as they believe, he withholds nothing that is needful for their holy walk in the way of duty.

These are the principles, which thou art to bring into practice. Carry them, O my soul, into every act of obedience. Go to prayer and every duty with this faith, that thou art in Christ, and in him a partaker of his finished salvation. Then the Father's love to thee will be manifest, and thou wilt have sweet fellowship with him in all thine approaches to the throne-Whatever thou undertakest, forget not this leading truth. If thou lose sight of it, thou wilt get into darkness: If thou art not influenced by it, thou wilt be brought into bondage. Upon this absolutely perfect salvation thou art to live by faith upon earth, and thou wilt have nothing else to live upon by sense in heaven. Trusting to the complete work of Jesus thou art to walk with thy God in time, as thou wilt follow the Lamb in eternity, receiving all out of his fulness. O view him in this light, and it will have the happiest effects upon thy daily walk. While thou art receiving from him grace for grace, thou wilt live with him in sweet friendship, duty will be the way and means of enjoying the love of thy divine friend, and the more thou art in his company the more delightful will be the way of his commandments. These are the privileges. Read the promises concerning them. Call to mind what thy Father in Jesus has engaged to give his children. Has he not provided grace sufficient for them? And is it not for his honour, as well as thy profit, that he should give both the will and the power to walk humbly with him? O plead his promises. Bind him with his faithfulness.

Be importunate with him, and pray without ceasing. Let this be thy daily plea.

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O my God, order my walk according to thy holy word. It is thy mind and will, that I should love thee with all my heart, and soul, and mind, and strength, and my neighbour as myself: but I am not sufficient for these things. There is no pure love in my soul by nature. Every affection in me is turned from the Creator to the creature. I am in bondage, a slave to lust, sold under sin. I cannot love thee, infinitely lovely as thou art, until thou break my bonds asunder, and set my soul at liberty. But being now redeemed from guilt and fear, I am become thy freeman; and for the unspeakable redemption that is in Jesus, thou wouldst have me to serve thee. Blessed be thy holy name for requiring mine obedience upon this sweet motive,—“ I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the "land of Egypt and out of the house of bondage." On this account obey me: because I am the Lord your God, and I stand related to you, as your Redeemer from slavery. O my gracious God and Father, I desire upon this motive to keep thy commandments. I believe thou art my God in Jesus, and through him I have redemption from bondage to my sins and enemies. With this free spirit would I always go to duty: but I cannot walk in this liberty, any more than I could at first attain it, without thy grace. O my God, let the spirit of adoption abide with me, that he may draw me nearer to thee in thy ways and ordinances, and I may in them enjoy more of thy presence, and of the light of thy countenance. Thee I seek in them. Thou art the end of all ways and means: and if they lead me not to thee, I go empty away. Gracious God, make thy commandments the joy of my heart, and let them be the means of keeping up holy intercourse and happy fellowship with thee. This my heart pants after. Duty without this is nothing worth. I wait in thine appointed ways for the visits of thy grace, hoping to grow in knowledge and faith, in hope and love. The commu

nion, which I have enjoyed, has increased my longing. My soul is athirst for God, praying to be more with thee, and more like thee. And is not this what thou requirest, and what thou hast promised to do for me? Grant me then, my gracious God, the prayer of my heart. In all my duties let me enjoy thy presence, and communications of thy love. Let me do them in faith, and with a single eye to thy glory. Let me be thus spiritual and heavenly minded in them, that I may grow up into Christ Jesus in all things.

And I desire, Holy Father, to grow in love to thee, that I may manifest the fruits of it by my love to mankind. Pardon every selfish temper, which is opposite to the love of the brethren: and teach me to love them, as thou hast loved me. Whatever thou hast promised, fulfil in me. Make me, O thou spirit of love, like the loving Jesus. Give me his benevolent tempers, and help me to imitate his beneficent actions. Let his love to me be the pattern of my love to them. Since thou hast in much mercy made me a child of light, O let me shine before men, that they may see and feel my good works, and may glorify thee for them. And the more thou doest in me, and by me, humble me still more, O my God. Keep me meek and lowly, always ready to give the glory of all my mercies to the Three in Jehovah, Father, Son, and Spirit, to whom be equal honour and praise for ever and ever. Amen.

CHAP. VII.

The believer goes on his way rejoicing to God.

HAPPY is the man, to whom it is given on the behalf of Christ to believe. He has the blessing of peace. He is reconciled to God through faith in the blood of Jesus: And he is freely justified through faith in the righte

ousness of Jesus. The Father has accepted him in his beloved Son, and it is the joy of his soul to know it; therefore he loves God, because God first loved him. In the enjoyment of this love he finds his heaven begun. By the same Spirit, who manifested it and shed it abroad in his heart, he is kept seeking for more discoveries of it. In every appointed means he waits. As the hart panted after the water-brooks, so panteth his soul after more of the presence of God, and of the light of his loving countenance. Having a command-Seek ye my face he obeys it from his heart: but his chief view in obedience is to behold the face of the Lord turned to him in love. He wants fellowship with God in duty, which highly ennobles and also endears it to him. He performs it in faith, and in a free spirit. He goes to it, as a beloved child to a most loving parent: and his heavenly Father meets him in it, receives him graciously, speaks to his heart, and makes him sensible that he can deny him no manner of thing, which is good. Hence the ways of duty become ways of pleasantness. The farther he advances in them, and the more spiritual he grows in the performance of them, he finds clear communications of his Father's grace and love, which still increase his joy, and afford him surer earnests, and happier foretastes of joy unspeakable and full of glory.

As for the ungodly it is not so with them. They are always seeking after joy. They are busy, and weary themselves in the pursuit of it, but they cannot find it. While they are turned in heart from the Lord, they look downwards for it; where it is not. They expect it will spring out of the ground: and if they cannot discover it upon the surface, they will dig into the bowels of the earth for treasures of hidden joy. But they disquiet themselves in vain. It is the sovereign decree of the almighty, that nothing can make a sinner truly happy but God in Christ: this they will not believe; and therefore they go from creature to creature, from object to object, enquiring, Where is the best joy to be found? Each promises them-it is in me. But each disappoints

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them. And yet they go on, seeking it to-day in that very thing which deluded them yesterday. Yea, their foolish hearts are willingly deluded. They love to be pursuing what it is impossible they should attain. If after many trials they find the emptiness of one creature comfort, then they turn to another. And they will try the whole compass of beings and things, and will at last die in the trial, rather than seek for joy, where it is holy, perfect, and everlasting.

The believer is saved from this vain pursuit. He has been convinced of the insufficiency of the creature to make him happy. He has seen an end of all perfection in it. He can say with the royal preacher, "Vanity "of vanities, all is vanity"-all is changeable and imperfect under the sun; for the whole world lieth in wickedness and under the curse. Deeply sensible of his error in having sought for joy in the way of destruction, he now seeks it in the living God. Here he comes to the supreme good, the spring head of true joy: and the streams which he receives from thence are al ways in proportion to his faith. If this be strong, there is great joy in the soul. If this be weak, joy is at a low ebb. The effect is according to the cause which produces it. Joy in God is the effect of faith: according to the apostle's prayer, "Now the God of hope fill <6 you with all joy in believing." There is a present fulness of joy which we have by believing, as there is a future fulness of joy, which we shall have by sense. So that joy rises as believing does-fulness of believing brings in ALL joy-present enjoyment increasing as the title to future is clear. The present is the divine pledge of the future, and is therefore given us, that by believing we may now rejoice in the Lord, and be glad in the God of our salvation.

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From hence it it is to the beappears, how liever's walking in joy, that his understanding should be clearly enlightened with the knowledge of the doctrines of grace, and that his heart should be established in the belief of them. Thou canst not, O my soul, re