to save to the uttermost all that come to God by him." Let us then draw near unto him, desiring to be saved; and when we are brought through repentance to lay aside those dead works, which laid the foundation for the necessity of repentance, let us beware how we lay the foundation again, and more especially in doctrine, lest we hereby break our solemn covenant, which we made when the Lord's power brought us down at his footstool, and caused us to pray unto him, and loathe ourselves in our own sight. I am well assured, that all sinners who are brought to a feeling sense of their sin, would shudder, when under. the dispensation of repentance, at the thought of returning to it again.

It appears to me to be a great aggravation of crime, as well as the highest pitch of inconsideration and ingratitude, after we have partaken of pardon for the sins which we have felt to be such a heavy burden to our consciences, and have also beheld with the eye of faith, the price that redemption cost, and felt that without it we must have perished for ever, if, on being thus set free, we forget what manner of men we were, and slight the unmerited mercy and love, which first ravished the heart of the penitent sinner. And I am fully convinced that this redeeming love, if man, who is favoured with the free bounty thereof, were not wilfully to turn his mind away from it, ought to be, ' and would become in him, a well

f

of living water, springing up unto everlasting life. I conceive that when a sinner is brought to Christ, and through faith receives remission of sins, he, on receiving it, stands justified at that time; but his seeking to be justified in future, by that past act of faith, will not keep him in a state of justification; his faith must remain lively, and fixed on him who procured his remission, and sealed it on his mind, by the Holy Spirit of promise; and whilst he thus remains, he is under the government of Immanuel, equipped with his armour, and thereby enabled, " to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked," or the wicked one.

But, if we trust to past experience, and grow cold in present vigilance, through inattention to the faith of the operation of God on our minds, our adversary the devil, finding us without our armour, will come upon us, and devour our life of past experience in which we trusted, and plunge us into a sea of troubles, and rob us of our crown of glory, and lay us under the necessity of repentance again from the dead works of sin, by thus being inattentive to our inward monitor, "and grieving the Holy Spirit of God, whereby we had been sealed, in the day of our espousals, when we first entered into covenant with him, who first loved us, and attracted our hearts to love him again. And here I have seen with sorrow, that many who have been brought into the covenant

Eph. vi. 16.

h

Ibid. iv. 30.

Sol, Song iii. 11.

of grace, have been too much elevated with the marriage feast, and have imagined they could live on the thoughts of it; without attending to the power which alone can give strength and ability to fulfil the marriage covenants. And, forgetting that the wife is equally bound with the husband, they go on, glorying that they have such a faithful husband, and dream of his love to an unfaithful wife, building on his promise, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee," and flattering themselves they may forsake him.

1

My dear fellow mortals, awake! Awake oh arm of the Lord, and shew thy unfaithful wife thy mighty power, wherewith thou didst cut Rahab, and wound the dragon, and wound him still deeper, that his power may be weakened, that he may not continue to prevail in deceiving thy people, who are called by thy name; that their eyes may be opened, to see thy loving-kindness, and that thy faithfulness may attract their hearts unto thee, to return thee love and faithfulness, through the power of thy love in them. Let them not sit down at ease, in remembrance of their past love to thee, and plead that they have not power to avoid doing that which is hateful to thee, while yet they call themselves thine by a perpetual covenant. Thou art faithful and true; all power is thine; teach, I pray thee, thy people who thus speak so freely of thy attributes and faithfulness,

to know thy great power, and to rely thereon. Produce faithfulness in them, to thy holy will, that by the manifestation thereof, they may, like thy servant Job, cease from man, whose breath is in his nostrils, and no longer be contented with hearing with the ear, man's jarring words concerning thee, but under a sense of thy own omnipotent and omnipresent power, be brought to a sense of thy majesty, and bow down in awful reverence at thy footstool, and no more doubt of thy power and willingness, not only to forgive, but to save from present sin. Shew forth thy power and glory through thy redeemed ones, by perfecting thine own praise, for thine own glorious work. Amen.

My dear fellow Christians, let us all be desirous "to walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called; let us leave off disputing, and draw near to our dear Lord and Saviour, believing that he is the head of all principality and power, and at his holy name all things must bow. Be assured, that if we cleave fast to him, he will bruise Satan under our feet, will deprive him of his power over us, and keep us from joining with his wicked temptations; he will lead us in the way everlasting, and accomplish in us, and for us, the work which constitutes true regeneration, the being born of God. At this happy state, let us long to arrive; whenever it is fully perfected, there is an end of all sin, according to the testi

"Whosoever is born

mony of the apostle John, "n

of God, sinneth not, for his seed remaineth in him, and he cannot sin, because he is born of God."

Hereby we may see what a great work it is to be born of God; and I am well assured, that every one who loves the Lord Jesus in sincerity, will feel a living desire to be made partakers thereof. I think it enough to believe, that if, through inattention to my guide, I turn aside and sin, I have an advocate with the Father, to intercede for the forgiveness of the sin: but this belief does not instruct me to be presumptuous, and rebel against the light, or to say within myself, that it was not sufficient to teach and preserve me from committing the sin. No, I find myself reproved for turning from my guide; I feel the reproof, and whilst under the sense of it, experience a desire to be more watchful in future; and according as I abide in this watchfulness, I find the truth of that Scripture verified in me, "The reproof of instruction is the way to life." This I conceive is the right way to apply scripture passages; to bring home to our minds, not only the great and precious promises, but also what constitutes the life of believers, to whom the promises belong. These things must go hand in hand, if I read the Scriptures aright; and no man hath authority to make a full claim to the promises,