seems to have special need of them, to bring him to a sense of his pardon in the blood of Christ, to help him in distress, deliver him out of trouble, or to prepare him for the hour of trial, &c.

Moreover the Holy Ghost bears testimony at seasons to the soul's interest in the favour of the Lord, by means of the sense that he gives it of its own sin, meanness, wretchedness, guilt, and the like things. Many declarations, promises, and invitations are on record in God's word, suitable for effecting this; such as, "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly.-The Lord is the lifter up of such as be bowed down. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.-I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance." In opening these portions of the scriptures to the mind, the blessed Spirit both lets in upon the heart a sense of the things contained in them, and likewise enables the person to apprehend that he is the character to whom the Lord here speaks; by which he discerns more or less of the loving, gracious, merciful, and compassionate voice of Christ, or of the Father in him; whence the will and affections are drawn out after the Lord, and the heart inspired at least with a sweet hope of interest in him. "My sheep hear my voice, and follow me. It is often very refreshing to the poor seeking soul, to find himself brought, when things seem to proceed but little further at present, within the limits of the kingdom of grace, as it relates to the experimental administration of the same, as it respects Christ speaking words of gracious encouragement to such like as himself in the scriptures of truth.

Furthermore, the Lord the Spirit makes use of his graces, which he creates in the soul in union with Jesus the living vine, in bearing testimony to the believer's saving interest in Christ. The word of God informs us, that they are blessed who mourn; for they shall be comforted: which mourning is for sin, sensible distance from God, hardness of heart, unbelief, dishonouring and displeasing the Lord, and the like. Also, that "we know we are passed from death to life, because we love the brethren :" because we love the children of God with a brotherly affection, as belonging to the Lord, and as being the subjects of his grace. He that receiveth a righteous man, in the name of a righteous man, shall receive a righteous man's reward." Likewise that "If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and cleanse us from all unrighteousness:" this confession of sin must be from the heart, and accompanied with a design to forsake it, as an offence both to the Lord and to our own souls: He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy;" and it will not be fully effected without some sense of mercy and kindness let into the heart.

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A spirit of grace and supplication is likewise a certain evidence of interest in the new covenant in Christ Jesus: it is promised in the Old Testament as a special fruit of it; and it is also said, Whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved." And when the Lord would afford to Annanias a proof of the saving change that had taken place in the apostle Paul, he says, 'Behold he prayeth." But a mere saying of prayers, though done ever so devoutly and constantly, as was seen in the case of many of the Pharisees of old, and which doubtless may be seen in the case of numbers since their day, must not be mistaken for this spirit of prayer. It is not a mere form, though it be often accompanied by a very needful one; it has its seat in the heart, and is drawn forth in sighs, groans, longings, breathings, and desires after the Lord, and wrestlings of spirit with him, under a view and feeling of the soul's necessities, weaknesses, exposedness to temptation, and the exercise of spiritual affections; and a faith's discovery of the suitable supplies of grace, strength, protection, and divine beauty that is in and with the Lord. The believer finds himself entirely dependant on the Holy Ghost for this spirit of grace and true supplication; he perceives he cannot have that sense of his sins, guilt, and wants, nor of the rich mercy and all-sufficient help that is with a covenant God, by which it is brought into exercise when left to himself. The weakness, insensibility, confusion of thoughts, wanderings of mind, unbelief, darkness of apprehension in divine things, which prevail against him in this case, abundantly evince to him, that the preparation of the heart in man, as well as the answer of the tongue, is of the Lord alone, Rom. viii. 26. Sometimes this spirit of prayer is scarcely discernible through the smallness of the influence enjoyed, or from the opposing deadness, coldness, prevailing corruption, or soul-contracting fear which is experienced; at other seasons, it is very sweetly and sensibly perceived, and occasionally the heart is filled with unspeakable longings under its blessed operation.

A true and filial fear of the Lord, is doubtless an evidence of interest in Christ. The fear of the Lord is said to be the beginning of wisdom; to be the Lord's treasure; and the man is declared happy, who feareth always. It was affirmed of Jesus, "he shall be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord." This blessed fear includeth a spiritual knowledge of the greatness, holiness, and goodness of God; it induceth the person in whom it prevails to depart from all known sin, both inward and outward and it is not like a slavish fear, irksome and tormenting to the mind, but very pleasant and desirable. Where it prevails most, there its nature and grounds are the most likely to be clearly seen.

And in addition to the preceding, to mention no more evidences at present, hope is set forth as a fruit of saving grace. VOL. XIII.-No. 163.]

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"Now abideth (says the apostle Paul) faith, hope, charity." Hope has a covenant God for its object. Peter referring to Christ observes, " Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory, that your faith and hope might be in God." We are said to be begotten unto it; therefore it is altogether of divine operation. It is of a purifying nature; the heart, so far as under its holy influence, aims to cast out all sin as offensive, or at least feels itself deadened or weakened to its bewitchery. "He that hath this hope in him purifieth himself as he (i. e. Christ) is pure." True hope is declared to be both an helmet of salvation, and an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast; and which enters to that within the vail, whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec." It is greatly instrumental of keeping the soul steady, raising it above desponding cogitations, and preserving it from drifting away from its hold of divine truth, in the midst of storms and tempests. In this respect, it frequently brings the mind to a sweet and heavenly calm, and an holy expectation of good things to come. "Why art thou cast down, O my soul; why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God; for I shall yet praise him; who is the health of my countenance, and my God." We hear also of the full assurance of hope; which is to have, in my opinion, a full and most unclouded spiritual certainty of the existence of the things hoped in and for, and of the soul's final enjoyment of them; and this is indeed to have an hope full of life and immortality yet we are told on the other hand, that hope deferred maketh the heart sick. The believer has been perhaps brought to expect sweet deliverances, and other great and blessed things, through the enlightening operations of the Holy Ghost, giving him precious access to God in prayer, affording him special faith in the promises, &c. But behold, instead of what he looked for, and probably looked for almost immediately, he meets with darkness, desertion, galling temptations, a disheartening prevalence of sin, with other perplexing and sometimes apparently strange and mysterious things; and these greatly prevail, perhaps for a long time, excepting at some short intervals of relief, by which his courage fails, his heart sinks, and his hope seems ready to give up the ghost. By this means the christian experiences the truth of the text, "Hope deferred maketh the heart sick."

The blessed Spirit of all truth, in testifying of the love of Christ towards us, and of our saving interest in his whole work, by means of our graces, draws them forth into present active exercise, and sheds a divine light upon them; or does the same by what we have formerly experienced. Hence we hear our loving and gracious Lord's voice, and rejoice in him and his finished salvation, by means of his work wrought within us;

just as we do the same at other seasons, by the declaration of his works, which he hath accomplished on our behalf without us: in both cases the great object, yea, and the only real object of glorying is the Lord. As the heart, in the one case, does not stay upon the mere letter of truth; so likewise in the other, it does not rest in its graces. In each case, Christ is as the bed on which the believer finds refreshment, or the feast with which he is entertained or fed, &c. And the truth written in God's book, and the same truth written on the fleshly tables of his child's heart, are only the mere instrumental doors by which he enters to the enjoyment of the same. If a man should enter a chamber for the purpose of resting himself on the bed within, or enter a room with a design of partaking of the provisions of a full spread table; and should turn himself round in either case, and spend all his time in viewing the door by which he entered, he would remain without any real benefit either by the bed or the provision yet this would by no means prove the doors to be useless things; they still must be held to be beneficial as means of entrance, though not of rest and satisfying of hunger. So likewise, if the christian should spend all his time in looking at the letter of the word alone, he would realize no real benefit: or should he turn his eye within, and keep it there, not having the Holy Ghost's clearing light, by which a sense of interest in the Lord is discerned, and the mind raised up to a direct rejoicing in him, he would perceive confusion, rather than clearness; misery, rather than consolation; and bondage, rather than liberty: still this would neither prove the letter of truth, nor the evidences of grace in the heart, to be without their proper use in realizing to the believer a sense of interest in Christ, and leading him to the enjoyment of peace and consolation in him. It is one thing to make my experience the great ground of my confidence before God, to look for graces in my heart, that I may go with them as a price in my hand to the Lord; not being willing to fall into his hand as naked for clothing, guilty for pardon, filthy for cleansing, unbelieving for faith, dark for light, hard-hearted for softening, &c. and to examine into my experience, almost to the exclusion of looking to a full Christ in the word; but it is a thing of quite another description, for the Holy Ghost to speak a sense of God's love to my soul, by means of what I experience; for me to find an experimental use of graces, to realize a sense of interest in Christ, in subordination to the great and glorious work of the Mediator, and only to make use of experience at proper periods and in its right place.

The bible abundantly evinces that it is right for a person to examine into the state of his experience, and that for the purpose of ascertaining whether he be a true believer: hence the apostolic injunction, Examine yourselves whether you be in the faith, &c. And that this is one way of knowing our interest is

evident, from what John declares in many places in his epistle; one example of which is as follows, "We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren." And Paul declares, "If ye are led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law." And if it be inquired, how may we know when we are led of him ?—he affords a sufficient answer, by immediately subjoining nine particular fruits of the Spirit; and concludes by affirming afresh, that "against such there is no law." But I may be blamed for dwelling so long on a subject of such great clearness; and to speak the truth, it is almost like taking pains to prove that the sun shines in a clear summer's day therefore it is the more surprising, that any should seem to stumble at such an evident and conspicuous truth.

(To be concluded in our next.)

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THE SIN OF THE ELECT SPOUSE ONLY PUNISHED ON HER BRIDEGROOM;

AND ALL HER AFFLICTIONS AND TRIBULATIONS CONSIDERED AS APPOINTMENTS OF COVENANT LOVE.

"Am I therefore become your enemy, because I have told you the truth ?”Gal, iv. 16.

(Concluded from page 187.)

III. Atonement received, the spring of consolation, and of purity of conduct.-A view of the great atonement made by the Son of God, in theory, is no demonstration of a man being a new creature; but the atonement received by faith, under the powerful operations of the Holy Comforter, makes a man a witness of that momentous and important truth. Every man who hath a knowledge of his regeneration, by his conversion unto the Lord, lives a spiritual life, from a spiritual nature, which is inseparably united to Christ; in which nature, the fruits of the Spirit are implanted, consequently righteous principles, which lead the recipients of grace to righteousness; so that, as new creatures in Christ Jesus, they deny and withstand all the ungodly motions of their sinful Adam nature; and, as new men, live and walk in the purity of truth, from the purity of indissolvable union with the Lord Jesus Christ. The humble followers of the Lamb, follow him from a principle of unfeigned love, having received him into their hearts as the hope of glory, and as God's precious salvation. Vessels of mercy are "light in the Lord," and walk as children of light," Eph. v. 8. For the fruit of the Spirit is in them in all goodness, and righteousness, and truth," ver. 9. Proving what is acceptable unto the Lord," ver. 10.

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