heart, sighing for deliverance, will turn towards "the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world," John i. 29, who pardons, absolves, justifies, and saves the ungodly that believe in him, Rom. iv. 5. Then the Gospel of grace and reconciliation will be preached efficaciously to you, and you will taste and experience its divine and consoling virtue.

Disciple. I begin to see that I have been deceived in the good opinion I have entertained of myself.

Pastor. In truth, up to the present moment, you have thought yourself capable of some good; you have esteemed yourself to be wise and clear-sighted: therein you have "deceived yourself," 1 Cor. iii. 18, and because you say "you see, therefore your sin remaineth," John ix. 41. In order to draw you out of this delusion, it is necessary that the Saviour should confound your pre-. tended wisdom, and convince you that your knowledge, capacity, and talents, are only folly and weakness, 1 Cor. i. 27, 28. This, without doubt, will appear to you harsh and incomprehensible, but such is the good will of our God, and such are his gracious dealings; for what is that wisdom and knowledge, which does not proceed from sovereign eternal wisdom, and is not the production of the spirit of Jesus? It is only a mass of confused

ideas, vague opinions, and false decisions-the offspring of human reason that reason which, when we have most cultivated, and carried it to its highest perfection, still remains an enemy to Jesus, and inspires us with nothing but feelings of aversion to and rebellion against him. You see, in yourself, that your opinions and reasonings have only produced in your heart, objections favourable to its natural opposition to the work of grace, Eph. ii. 3. To conclude, in a word, "God," says the blessed Luther," has never made a saint, whom he had not before rendered a miserable sinner."

Disciple. Yes, I see it; I must implore the grace of God.

Pastor. You begin to follow the right way; but the first grace you should pray for, in your present situation, is the experimental knowledge of your misery. The good you have forced yourself, hitherto, to practise, instead of advancing you in the ways of salvation, has only served to estrange you more and more from them. In wrapping yourself up in your own righteousness, you have lost sight of your great corruption, and you have not perceived the necessity of fleeing to Jesus, that you might be washed in his blood, clothed with his merits, and transformed into a new creature. In fact, what are the works of

righteousness, the deeds of charity, with which you would cover your nakedness, before God and his children? Poor party-coloured rags, badly put together, which cannot hide your misery and corruption, and in the day of judgment will be consumed in the fire of divine justice.

Disciple..-I hope, however, that God, who is the Father of mercies, will have pity on me.

Pastor. Without doubt, he will have pity on you: : but the first act of his merey towards you, will be to let you feel how miserable a sinner your are. If you do not resist this first act of grace, he will bestow upon you a second, which will be to give you faith to believe that you are redeemed by Jesus Christ, that he is your ransom, and that you belong to him, and are his property, to the exclusion of every other master. When you are enlightened, you will perceive how great your blindness has been; which will be discovered to you the moment you sincerely desire, and earnestly implore it. The Father of mercies will teach you by his Spirit, what you are, and at the same time manifest to you, by faith, his divine Son Jesus, with all the treasures procured and intended for you, in him. Then you will be able to say, with truth, that you are a partaker of the

This is scriptural language.-See Acts vii. 51, and 1 Thess. v. 19.

light and grace of your God; for the work of his grace in us is to make us hate sin, and love our Saviour.

Soon as known, we to ourselves are vile,

Abhor sin's very name,

Adore the Saviour, court his smile,

To ease us of our pain.

Disciple.-How can I obtain a knowledge of my misery?

Pastor." The Lord opens the eyes of the blind;" pray him to "anoint thine eyes with eyesalve," Rev. iii. 18, that is, to give you to see, clearly, how great your corruption is. Set apart a portion of time every day, to examine yourself, and pour out your soul in his presence. Dissipation and continued worldly occupation, are great obstacles to our salvation, because in such engagements, the soul is captive to, and engrossed by material objects. The continual noise of visible things impose silence upon the conscience; its motions, its admonitions, its remorse, are not attended to. While this turmoil continues, the attractions of preventing grace have no hold upon the heart: the work of the Holy Spirit meets only with resistance; the good seed of the word of life is stifled; we forget God, and lose sight of the salvation of our souls. This sort of trance,

* See Matt. xiii. 7.

accompanied by insensibility, is the cause of the profound security, in which so many poor creatures live, and is called in Scripture spiritual death.

You can contribute nothing towards the work of your conversion and salvation, but it depends upon yourself to use the assistance and means the Lord provides. Read and listen attentively to the word of God, and such books as are founded upon it. Attend to meditation and prayer; above all to the prayer of the heart, without considering a form of expression, and without attaching yourself to the words of others: adore God in Jesus Christ, and make known to him, with simplicity, your misery and the extreme need you have of his grace. If you sincerely enter upon this salutary career, the Saviour, who calls you to it, will soot meet you in it, and send into your heart the Spirit of truth to enlighten and conduct you. When he is come, " he will convince you of sin," for that is his first operation, 1 John xvi. 8. By his light you will see yourself, in the glass of God's law, such as you are; you will discover yourself to be a dissembler, and guilty in every respect. You will say, You will say, I am an Atheist; I have lived without God and without hope in the

world. I am an Idolater, in giving to the crea