little faith, a little love, a little hope. I was raised up, so that I believed the Lord would appear in his own time, and that I should be delivered from bondage and thraldom. This I believed through the operation of the Spirit on my soul. I was holpen with a little help, and was led to believe that in his own good time he would appear for my deliverance. Thus the Lord will give grace, convincing grace, praying grace.

Again, the poor soul is brought away from all his false hopes, and now has a little hope in God's mercy. Then, if he has a little hope in God's mercy, he surely comes under that promise, "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Now mark you the verse before: "He delighteth not in the strength of the horse; he taketh not pleasure in the legs of a man ;" but, "the Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy." Look, poor soul, where art thou? Art thou hoping in his mercy? Thou art not hoping on the ground of merit, no, thou art brought away from that, knowing and believing that salvation is all of grace. Nothing is required of creature performances, therefore says the soul, Who can tell but that the Lord will appear? Faith begins to spring up, believing the truth of God's word. Hope goes out, giving some little encouragement. Now the poor soul begins to present continually his petitions to the Lord; he cries out, "Say to my soul, I am thy salvation;" he is now brought to feel and to know that the Lord gives grace as far as this goes; he cannot read his Bible to profit, or claim a promise as his own, but as the Lord has raised him to a hope in his mercy, he entreats of him again and again," Say to my soul, I am thy salvation," give me to know that I am one of thy children. Probably many of God's children are much

tried about prayer, that they are so unable to and suitable words to express their wants, that they cannot pray like some; I have thought so ere this, and I was willing to do or be anything, if I did but know I was one of his redeemed. I have felt these out-goings, say you: if so, if these have been the real desires of your soul, the spiritual longings, though not expressed in so many words, the Lord will hear it in his own time, he will answer thee to the joy of thy soul. There is a real simplicity in prayer, it is like that poor woman who had her faith commended. Some make a great mistake about faith: they think it is a thing without existence, yet there is real joy, real confidence in faith; that poor woman that followed the Saviour, beseeching him to have mercy upon her daughter, she met with a rebuff, she was told that the Lord was sent to the lost sheep of the house of Israel; the woman was a Gentile, but would not be discouraged for all that, she still followed, crying after him," Lord, help me." He did not turn her away, but answered, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and give it to the dogs; truth, Lord, but the dogs eat of the crumbs that fall from their master's table;" the Lord then turned and said to the woman, "O woman, great is thy faith;" the greatness of her faith was seen in this, that it would take no rebuff; it would not turn back, but followed on, crying, "Lord, help me!" she still followed on, notwithstanding the rebuffs given to her. Again, that poor sinner, (oh I have frequently thought on his case), who when he was going to Jesus, the devil threw him down, and tare him. Yes, this is the case when any poor sinner goes to Jesus, the devil will try to throw him down, and tear him, if he is permitted; he will not spare, but tear his feelings, will tear his mind, bring one accusation after

another; if he attempts to pray, Satan will tell him his prayers are not right, that his faith is not true faith, his hope is the hope of the hypocrite, that when he is under any particular feeling of contrition, endeavouring to pour out his soul to the Lord, Satan will be there, suggesting sinful thoughts, working all manner of abominations within him, suggesting that the people of God do not feel like this, this is not the spirit with which the people of God are blessed, God's people are a holy people, a pure, upright people; this poor creature feels such workings of sin within, that he thinks he cannot be one of the Lord's people; but notwithstanding all this the devil cannot stop the poor soul's mouth, he still keeps on crying, "Lord, help me!" Lord, appear for me, Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation;" then the answer is, "Great is thy faith;" the greatness of it is, that it takes no rebnff. Thus the Lord will give grace; he will give relying grace, so that the poor sinner will rely on none but him,—

"While such as trust their native strength, Shall melt away, and droop, and die."

The poor soul is kept on, when when every thing seems against him; here the Lord leads on, he has promised to give grace, he gives now and then a crumb. I have gone to hear a preacher, and now and then picked up in the sermon a little which has just given me fresh strength, when down I have sunk again, then had another help from a word or line of a hymn; some way or other I have been helped in this way; for about five years I was following after the Lord, crying "Lord, help me!" After this I had a little help; then I seemed to sink deeper in despair and despondency; then before I was aware of it, the Lord would come in. At other times I have been fearful that my trouble would go off the wrong way, not having

the blood of sprinkling applied; but bless the Lord, he has promised to give grace and glory, and he has helped me hitherto, he has now and then given me a crumb, a drop, a sip by the way. "Blessed is the man whose strength is in thee, in whose heart are the ways of them; who passing through the valley of Baca make it a well, the rain also filleth the pools."

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"The Lord will give grace." pardoning grace; "for this shall every one that is godly pray unto thee in a time when thou mayest be found." You may not find the Lord the first time you pray, but observe the promise is, "In a time when thou mayest be found." The poor soul will be kept on praying, petitioning the Lord, for he has the breath of prayer within him. And the Lord appeared for me at a time most unthought of, and at a most unlikely time.

I went to hear a good man preach I had no hope when the man read his text that the Lord

would appear; his text was, "It is

1

I, be not afraid" when he came to the subject to point out the characters to whom these words were spoken, he said, they were disciples; when he came to point out who these disciples were, I was enabled to go along with the man, that when he had done I found I was a disciple; it was brought home with power; brought into my soul with the sealing testimony of the Spirit; it was proved to me that I was a disciple; I never heard a sermon brought home in that way before; when the good man had finished his discourse I found I was a disciple. Thus the Lord gave me pardoning grace; he manifested his love and mercy to my poor soul; it was a sweet communication of his love, pardoning mercy, and confidence that my soul had given to it; it was a blessing to me coming in this way; all my doubts and fears were dissolved. By and by after this, the

enemy again assaulted my soul, casting his wicked suggestions into my mind, endeavouring to make it appear that one thing was wrong, then another, till by and by, if he had been permitted, he would so have clipped it that he would make it appear all was wrong. But when the Lord came again in the communications of his grace, he put all to rights, according to his word: "I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain." Thus the Lord comes and puts all straight; he gives pardoning grace. What does the apostle say? "And all things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: to wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them." How then was it done? We hear, "God was in Christ, not imputing their trespasses unto them;" then they were imputed to him, and he manifested his grace to their soul; his righteousness is made over to thee, and thy sins are imputed to him ; his righteousness being made over to us, we can now come in with the church in her feelings, when she said, "Look not upon me because I am black." She had not lost a sense of her blackness, "Because the sun hath looked upon me." Wherever the sun looks upon thee, thou wilt lose thy blackness, and say with the church, "I am black, but comely, O ye daughters of Jerusalem, as the tents of Kedar, as the curtains of Solomon:" though not lose a sense of thy blackness. I once heard a good man say, and the friends will pardon me for mentioning it now, I have never forgotten it, though at the time it sounded strange to me, and I concluded the minister could

not be in his senses, That though the poor sinner was all over black, yet at the same time he was perfectly white. This seemed a paradox, a contradiction, yet, my friends, it was truth; here it is, the doctrine of imputation: the man through the fall, his lost state and condition is vile and black as the tents of Kedar, but having the righteousness of Christ imputed to him, he is all fair, he is made to shine in the righteousness of another, yet it is his own when given to him; though black as the tents of Kedar in himself, he is fair as the curtains of Solomon in the Lord Jesus: thus the Lord gives pardoning grace. This, say you, is what I have been longing after, and am fearful I shall never obtain it; there is a thus saith the Lord that you shall certainly have it; the longing soul shall be satisfied; "he will fulfil the desire of them that fear him: he also will hear their cry, and will save them;" he always hears the cry of the groaning soul,. then it is good to pray, as will also hear their cry" it is an encouragement to thee, poor soul, to still keep on; "he will hear their cry, and," he says, also, "will save them." Hart says:

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"Some long repent, and late believe,

But when their sin's forgiven, A clearer passport they receive, And walk with joy to heaven.

Their pardon some receive at first,

And then compell'd to fight; They feel their latter stages worst, And travel much by night.

But be our conflict short or long,
This commonly is true,
That, wheresoever faith is strong,
Repentance is so too."

"he

'Dear friends, we have many helps in the way; sometimes we are cast down as we travel on; though this is the case, the Lord gives us many precious testimonies. I once visited a dear friend now departed, who was in great horror and darkness of

"

mind, who was led to dispute every state, and every thing; the dear soul lived two or three miles from me; when I paid the visit, the poor soul broke out, 'Oh, William, all is wrong, every thing from the beginning.' The poor creature groaned and continued in that state till a little before death, when this passage was very precious, "Fear not, for I have redeemed thee; I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee." Here was the poor soul that had been for three months saying, all was wrong before death came, now said, all was right, that the Lord had given pardoning grace; the prophet says, "whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered." The poor dear soul lived for some time after this, but not a wave of trouble seemed to roll across her peaceful breast; she is gone to be with Jesus; with a smile she passed out of time into eternity; those who stood near scarcely knowing she was gone. Amazing it is to think how the Lord appeared for the dear soul. What an encouragement these things are for those of us who are following after the Lord. To those it is said, "The Lord will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." He will not only give pardoning grace, but also restoring grace; as the Lord's people are led in the wilderness; they are not always walking under the sweet comforts of it, or the sweet feeling of the light of his countenance; fre quently they have to walk in the dark, are destitute of those comforts; the sweet feeling declines; when night comes, then is the time for the beasts of the forest to creep forth. Thus grace is tried again and again, and sharply too; the poor soul is brought into a land of doubts. Some tell us not to doubt; they would not

doubt. But what is the poor soul to do, when doubts come on him? it is hard work to maintain his confidence. The apostle says, "Cast not away your confidence, which hath great recompense of reward." If we could cast away all our doubts when we choose, there would be no need of this exhortation. It is all very well to tell a poor sinner, "The Lord will give grace, "the Lord will give grace;" when the poor soul gets into the dark, he wants something more than the mere words; he must have it come with power. Now Job for one cried out, "Oh, that I were as in months past, as in the days when God preserved me; when his candle shined upon my head, and when by his light I walked through darkness; as I was in the days of my youth, when the secret of God was upon my tabernacle; when I washed my steps with butter, and the rock poured me out rivers of oil; my root was spread out by the waters, and the dew lay all night on my branch ;" says the good man, "oh, that it were with me now, as it was then;" he also said, his hope was removed like a tree, and who could see it? "as for my hope, who can see it?" Can we expect there will be no doubting and fearing when the poor soul is brought in this way.

But the Lord not only gives pardoning grace, but he gives restoring grace. For this very thing the Psalmist David prayed, when he said, "Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation." He had lost the joy of this salvation; and when you once get this salvation you will never lose it, though you may the joy of it. His honour is bound up in the salvation of all those dear souls to whom he gives grace; they may lose the joy of it, but never the salvation. Then we follow in the

ame track as the

Psalmist, crying, "restore unto me the joy of thy salvation.' The Lord then gives restoring grace. The good man, in another place, under a

sweet frame of mind, says, "The Lord is my Shepherd." "He restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness, for his name sake." "He restoreth my soul." He has restored my soul again and again. I have thought of that text before now, "I am the door: by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture." If any man enter in, it must be by Jesus, who is the door. If you are really entered in by him, as the door, you are brought out of bondage; brought to receive Jesus Christ in all his love, mercy and saving benefits. This is entering in, and being saved; you "go in and out, and find pasture;" you go in to feed, and out to get hungry. In this way, it may be said, the poor soul goes in, has sweet communications of the grace of God to his soul, feels his presence with him, has a sweet view of Christ by faith. When he goes out he has this feeling withdrawn, and in its place a sad feeling, the working up, the bubbling up of sin within him. I used to think, when in years that are past among the brethren, they were all holy, that they were living above the world, cutting off the old man, above the evil feeling and workings of sin, and all these kind of things; but when I attended a prayer-meeting, and heard a poor soul pour out his prayer to God, I found by his prayer, that he was troubled, as I was, with an old man of sin. Sometimes when in prayer, I have felt the workings of the old man within, the desires of the flesh running here and there, in such a variety of ways. I have a place now in my eye. While in this very feeling, that word dropped on my mind, So, then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." So there are two different principles in a good man, two principles working in him, as Luther says, faith and unbelief, they both live in the February, 1852.]

same house. This has brought many of the Lord's people to a stand: it seemed as if they loved sin. The apostle Paul says, "If ye live by the Spirit ye shall not fulfil the desires of the flesh." This proves the flesh has got desires. The Lord's people feel desires, anxious desires, a desire after forbidden objects; such has been their state, that it has brought the poor creature to cry out, "Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death? I thank God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. So, then, with the mind I myself serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin." He begins the next chapter, with, no condemnation to those in Christ Jesus, notwithstanding all their complaints: "There is, therefore, now, no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit: for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death."

The man is brought into that case, that what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God, sending his own Son, in the likeness of sinful flesh, and, for sin, condemned sin in the flesh." How sweet it is to get into a little of this feeling, to get a little of this grace.

"The Lord will give grace and glory." Here they sweetly act together. He will not only give pardoning grace, but restoring grace. The Lord will give grace, " and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly." Being brought into that place where the Lord will give grace, it will be sure to end in glory, after this tribulation. state is over. "Blessed are they that hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." The blessing is to the hungering soul. He cannot do without the bread of life. The poor soul cannot do without the bread that perisheth

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