Through the law I am dead to the law, that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me. GAL. ii. 19, 20.

CHRI

HRIST being our Head, in whom all fulness dwells, he will certainly fill all his members with life and strength, according to his promise, John xiv. 19, "I live, and ye shall live also ;" and chap. xvii. 3, "This is eternal life, that they may know thee, the only true GoD, and JESUS CHRIST whom thou hast sent." To know CHRIST, and GOD in CHRIST, as love, is true light and life; he that has this has enough. O the excellency of the knowledge of CHRIST! O LORD, teach me to know thee as the Bridegroom of my soul, that the Law may not rush into my conscience, now thy bride-chamber, and condemn me any more! I desire to be devoted to thee alone. Rom. vii. 4. Grant, therefore, that my whole heart and life, all my words and actions, may be governed only by a living faith on thee, who hast loved and given thyself for me.

Come, dearest LORD, descend and dwell,
By faith and love in every breast;
Then shall we know, and taste, and feel,
The joys that cannot be express'd.

Come fill our hearts with inward strength,
Make our enlarged souls possess,

And learn the height, and breadth, and length
Of thine unmeasureable grace.

Now to the GOD whose power can do

More than our thoughts or wishes know,

Be everlasting honours done,

By all the Church, through CHRIST his Son!

David's Confession.—I am poor and needy, and my heart is wounded within me. PSALM cix. 22. Divine Answer.-I know thy poverty, but thou art rich. REV. ii. 9. For, blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. MATT. v. 3. The meek shall eat and be satisfied: they shall praise the Lord that seek him: your hearts shall live for ever. Ps. xxii. 26. The Lord healeth the broken in heart, the Lord lifteth up the meek. Ps. cxlvii. 3, 6. A bruised reed shall he not break, and smoking flax shall he not quench, till he send forth judgment unto victory. MATT. xii. 20.

UCH are the tender mercies of CHRIST toSUCH wards the weakest of his people, that he supplies them from time to time with all proportionable strength, till at last they are able to gain a complete victory. As soon, therefore, as we are sensible of our poverty, or miserable condition, and are desirous of grace and strength to overcome sin, and evidence that desire to be sincere by constant prayer, we have actually some grace and spiritual life, and are delivered already from the jaws of hell; for there is no such feeling in dead souls; and in hell there is only a desire to be delivered from the punishment of sin, but not from sin itself.

Blessed are the humble souls that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are given,
And crowns of joy laid up in heaven.

Blessed are the men with broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of CHRIST divinely flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.

I am the light of the world; he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life. JOHN viii. 12. Therefore, walk while ye have the light, lest darkness come upon you; for he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth. Chap. xii. 35.

E that is faithful, keeping ever close to CHRIST and his light, strictly watching and obeying the motions of his Spirit, will be evermore tender in conscience, and receive so much more light: consequently, he will be from time to time more deeply rooted in repentance, faith and assurance, so as either to be preserved from many combats and disorders, or at least be carried sooner through the same. He may meet with dark valleys in his pilgrimage, for nature is covered with darkness, and grace sometimes only glimmers like a spark; yet by degrees it will blaze, and at last break through and enlighten all our darkness. The glory of the LORD is often seen beaming in the cloud.

Is he a star? he breaks the night,
Piercing the shades with dawning light:
I know his glories from afar,

I know the bright, the morning star.
Is he a sun? his beams are grace;
His course is joy and righteousness;
Nations rejoice when he appears,

To chase their clouds and dry their tears.
Nor earth, nor seas, nor sun, nor stars,
Nor heaven his full resemblance bears.
His beauties we can never trace,
Till we behold him face to face.

O let me climb these higher skies,
Where storms and darkness never rise:
There he displays his powers abroad,
And shines and reigns th' incarnate GOD.

I am the Lord God, which teacheth thee to profit, which leadeth thee by the way that thou shouldst go. O that thou hadst hearkened to my commandments! then had thy peace been as a river, and thy righteousness as the waves of the sea. ISA. xlviii. 17, 18. Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me. REV. iii. 20.

[OW often and how variously does the LORD

knock at the door of our hearts, by the voice of his word, the voice of his Spirit, or the voice of conscience! But how seldom are we inclined to give him the hearing! We are often so distracted with business or pleasure, that we can hardly observe his voice through the hurry and noise of worldly things, and we are not at home when he knocks, and seeks to take up his abode with us. Well, even now he is knocking by this paper. Hearken to his voice and open the door for him directly, since he desires nothing from us that might be grievous; but intends to make our heart a glorious residence and banqueting-room of love, to fill it with heavenly treasure, and give us everything along with himself.

I'll bring him to my mother's home;
Nor does my LORD refuse to come
To Zion's sacred chambers, where
My soul first drew the vital air.

He gives me there his bleeding heart,
Pierced for my sake with deadly smart;
I give my soul to him, and there
Our loves their mutual tokens share.

I charge you all, ye earthly toys,
Approach not to disturb my joys;
Nor sin, nor hell, come near my heart,
Nor cause my Saviour to depart!

I am the true Vine, and my Father is the husbandman; every branch in me that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. Abide in me and I in you; he that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. JOHN xv. 1-5.

LORD, I trust that this word will have its

:

accomplishment in me also, though as yet I have great reason to be humbled on account of my barrenness. Grant, therefore, that I always may abide in thee faithfully and quietly since there is everything in thy power, and nothing can be done by our own strength; but as it is thy will, and it tends both to the glory of thy Father and thine own, I depend upon being replenished in due season with fruits of righteousness. O suffer nothing in me which may dishonour thy name, and which would prove hurtful to myself and offensive to others. But whatever thou thinkest as yet fit for me to suffer, let it work for my real good.

How can I sufficiently adore the patience of the LORD, my gracious Husband-man, who still bears with me, the weakest of all his branches. He has not cut me off yet, but still dresses me to bring forth more fruit, though, like a degenerate plant, I have yielded little else but wild grapes. Why then shouldst thou grumble, O my heart, at the application of his pruning-knife? It is really for thy good. He is angry only with the degenerate unfruitful branches. The more these are purged, the more fruit thou shalt bring forth. Is CHRIST a vine? his heavenly root

Supplies the boughs with life and fruit,
O let a lasting union join

My soul to Him the Living Vine.