depends not upon any thing outward, but is an inward principle: The Holy Spirit, witnessing with our spirit that we are the children of God. And every man that hath this assurance hath the witness in himself. And what a rapturous thing it is for a believing soul, through the Spirit's teaching and witnessing, to be able to make application of Jesus and all his precious offices, to his own heart; and to echo back the language of the Scriptures, and say, for me a child was born; for me a son was given! Christ died for my sins, and rose again for my justification; and is now the Lamb standing in the midst of the throne, bearing in his glorified body the marks of my redemption, and there pleading the merits of his death for me and my salvation! I know that what Christ was on earth in his Divine offices, and what he is now in glory in redemption-work, he was, and is, for me. He who knew no sin, became sin for me, that I might be made the righteousness of God in him. I have a personal interest in all his gracious offices, and he is made of God to me, wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption!

Parishioner. Such an attainment, sir, is the most desirable upon earth, and I am impatient until you tell me how I may be the happy object of such mercy.

Minister. The possession of such an assurance, depends, as I have before informed you, upon the good pleasure and gift of God. But the bountiful goodness of our covenanting God in Christ, hath afforded means and opportunities of attainment. And as God by his Holy Spirit hath taught you the two first great lessons of the gospel, your corruption by nature, and the rich salvation which is by grace; this third principle, which VOL. III. * 29

results from an hearty conviction of the other two, (and I speak upon the presumption that you have fully learnt the two first) must of consequence follow. The promises of God are engaged to this end; and his assurances are like so many bonds given to his believing people' to be fulfilled. And when the Lord hath so graciously wrought in your heart these works as to lead you to see your misery, and the Redeemer's fulness; and when all the promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea and amen: doth not the Lord in effect say, believest thou that I am able to do this? And when you cry out in answer, Lord I believe, help thou mine unbelief! do you not hear the same gracious voice reply: according to thy faith so be it done unto thee? When therefore the prom ises and assurances of the Lord Jesus Christ, hang in the thickest clusters, like so much ripe fruit on the tree of faith, and the highest limb is bending down inviting you, as it were, to gather and eat, what should prevent your putting forth an hand, to take, and eat, and glorify the almighty Savior?

Parishioner. Oh! sir, when a poor, helpless, self condemned sinner such I am, lifts an eye to the throne of God, though I see Jesus, as the advocate of sinners standing in the midst of the throne, yet conscious of so much sin, unbelief creeps in, chills my faith, and I dare not sometimes hope.

Minister. Yes! But though you dare not hope, you dare to disbelieve: and which sin think you to be the greatest of the two? the one which at the worst, is but the humble presumption of a sinner: or the other, which by doubting Divine mercy, and questioning God's promises, makes him a liar?

Parishioner. But can it be possible, that a sinner of my description, whose offences have been so many, and so aggravated, can presume to take to himself the rich promises of the Gospel?

Minister. Certainly; because it is for characters of this very description, the Gospel is intended. I came not (says Jesus) to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. I came to seek and save the lost. And if your heart subscribes to this description, that must be me, for in myself I am lost; do you not see that you are the very character Jesus points at? Nay, though you were the chief of sinners, the encouragement is not lessened, but increased; for Paul the apostle, who considered himself under the same description, tells us, that it was for this cause, he obtained mercy, that in him Jesus Christ might shew forth all long suffering for a pattern to them that should hereafter believe on him unto everlasting life. And the earnest invitations of Jesus, seconded by his gracious promises, and followed up as they are, in the illustrious examples of some of the vilest, and most worthless of men, who have been gathered from the very refuse of the earth, and washed in the blood of the Lamb: all these are so many proofs to testify by plain matter of fact, that the Redeemer stands with open arms, to receive all that come to him; and all that do come, he will in no wise cast out. So that are you weary and heavy laden with the burden of sin? Come unto me,

(says Christ) and I will give you rest.

Are you hun

gering and thirsting after righteousness of the Savior? Jesus says, all that hunger and thirst shall be filled. Ho! every one that thirsteth is a call; come ye to the waters and drink: and he that hath no money, no merit,

nothing to recommend, come buy wine and milk without money and without price. But you say, I tremble at the presumption. Hear the word of the Lord, (saith God by the prophet) ye that tremble at his word. Let the Lord be glorified, and he shall appear to your joy. To this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word, Isa. Ixvi. 2. But you add; how shall I know that this speaks to me? To you, (says the apostle) is the word of this salvation sent. And to whom did he speak this? To men, brethren, and fathers; children of the stock of Abraham and whosoever among them feared God. Whosoever among them feared God, must include sinners of all sizes, and descriptions. And the apostle follows it up in the same chapter, in assuring them that, all that believe by Christ Jesus are justified from all things, Acts xiii. 26, 39. Observe the expression, it is all that believe; the weakest, the humblest, the poorest believer, as well as the highest and the best. I know full well that unbelief, arising from the corruptions of the heart, and the temptations of the enemy, will be suggesting a thousand things, to prevent these comfortable assurances, from having their effect, and will cloud the mind from enjoying a full uninterrupted persuasion at all times of a personal interest in the Redeemer's merits. But if by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, we seek aid from above, and make our request known unto God, it is a precious promise of Scripture, never to be forgotten, that the peace of God which passeth all understanding shall keep the heart and mind through Christ Jesus. And if to the aids of prayer; we add the close examination of the cause, from whence our imperfection in faith

arises, and trace it to its source, the mind will be relieved also under this consideration. You complain of the great evil of sin in your nature. But doth not the very complaint prove, that it is your greatest grief and burden? You go sorrowing all the day in a sense of transgression, and doth not sorrow manifest that the Lord hath given you repentance unto eternal life, in sorrowing after a godly sort? Ask your own heart, is not sin your greatest burthen, and would not a freedom from it, be your greatest happiness? You delight in the law of God after the inward man, though you see another law in your members warring against the law of your mind, and bringing you into captivity unto the law of sin, which is in your members. And under the heavy load of it you frequently cry out, O wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? And was not this the experience of the apostle? And are not these the very proofs of the flesh lusting against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh, by which he declared arose the evidences of the renewed life, and in which was known, that believers were born of the Spirit? But remember that while the apostle groaned under this burden, crying out, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? he could, and did, thank God, for the certainty of deliverance through Jesus Christ our Lord. And why not you.

Parishioner. I am comforted by what you say, and begin to hope, that, as I really feel those evidences of the renewed. life, I shall at length attain through Divine mercy in the diligent use of the several means of grace afforded, to a full assurance, that Christ is my Savior.