I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; even the Spirit of Truth; whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you. John xiv. 16, 17.

WHEN God designed the great and glorious work of recovering fallen man, and the saving of sinners, "to the praise of the glory of his grace," he appointed, in his infinite wisdom, two great means thereof; the one was the giving of his Son for them; and the other was the giving of his Spirit unto them. And hereby was way made for the manifestation of the glory of the whole blessed Trinity, which is the utmost end of all the works of God. Hereby were the love, grace, and wisdom of the Father, in the design and contrivance of the whole, the love, grace, and condescension of the Son, in the execution, purchase, and procurement of grace and salvation for sinners; with the love, grace, and power of the Holy Spirit, in the effectual application of all unto the souls of men, made gloriously conspicuous. To these heads may all the promises of God be reduced. Happy for the church that the Spirit is to abide with it for ever; and awful to think that the unconverted world neither can receive nor know the Spirit!

Holy Spirit, heav'nly Dove,
Bringing peace, and bringing love,
Take me, and possess me whole!
Form the Saviour in my soul!

Be my true and constant Guide!
In my fainting heart abide !
All the grace of God reveal,
And each precious promise seal!

Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation, not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 2 Cor. vii. 10.

THERE is a sorrow which has the breach of GOD'S
holy law for its object, called godly, because it
is produced by the Spirit of God discovering the
evil of sin, and the plague and corruption of our
own hearts, and deeply humbling us under a
sense of sin, producing evangelical repentance,
and leading the soul to cry to the Lord Jesus
Christ for pardon and salvation; the Holy Spirit
at the same time enabling us to believe in him,
and rest upon his person, blood, and righteous-
ness, for redemption and salvation: which repen-
tance will never be repented of.
But sorrow,
arising from the love of this world, worketh
death, death eternal! Lord Jesus, grant me to
feel more of this godly sorrow for sin, and to re-
joice more in thee as my Saviour!

Father, thy long-lost child receive;
Saviour, thy purchase own;
Blest Comforter, with peace and joy,
Thy waiting creature own;

Return, my roving heart, return,

And life's vain shadows choose no more
Seek out some solitude to mourn,
And thy forsaken God implore.

O thou great God, whose piercing eye
Distinctly marks each deep retreat,
In these sequestered hours draw nigh,
And let me here thy presence meet.
'Through all the windings of my heart,
My search let heavenly wisdom guide;
And still its beams unerring dart,
Till all be known and purified.

Then let the visits of thy love,

My inmost soul be called to share,

Till every grace combine to prove,
That God has fixed his dwelling there.

Light is sown for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart. Psalm xcvii. 11. Unto the upright there ariseth light in darkness; he is gracious, full of compassion, and righteous. Psalm cxii. 4. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which has great recompense of reward; for ye have need of patience, &c., for yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Heb. x. 35, 37; Isaiah lviii. 10-12.

THIS shews that believers are subject to many changes of joy and sorrow. In a state of gladness, therefore, we have reason to fear; and in the hours of trouble and sadness, to entertain good hopes. Thus we shall always be able to keep the happy medium between the extremes of levity and despair. Before a man has a true sense of his own miseries, the complaints and infirmities of the saints are often a stumbling-block; but afterwards they will administer to him great comfort. This is the reason that God has revealed them in Scripture; for the complaints of his elect children give more comfort than all their most heroic actions. Grant, O Lord, that whether sorrowing or rejoicing, I may have the light of the Holy Spirit to direct me.

Alas it swells my sorrows high,
To see my blessed Jesus frown;
My spirits shrink, my comforts die,
And all the springs of life are down.

Yet why, my soul, why these complaints!
Still while he frowns his bowels move;

Still on his heart he bears his saints,
And feels their sorrows and his love.

I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present with me. Rom. vii. 21. For the flesh lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh, and these are contrary the one to the other; so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. Gal. v. 17.

O MY soul! thou art always striving, yet sin is always stirring: thou fearest the truth of grace, because thou findest the working of sin; but it will be always thus; thou canst not come out of Egypt, but Amalek will lay wait in the way; the flesh will be sure to trouble thee, although it be never able to conquer thee. He therefore

that sits down, and is at rest in sin, it is a sign that Satan is there, the strong man, because his kingdom is in peace; but where there is any work of CHRIST, there will be always war with sin. Sin was the womb of death, and only death must be the tomb of sin. God would have my soul humbled; therefore though he hath broken my prison, yet he hath left the chain upon my feet. God would have my graces exercised; therefore though he hath translated me into the kingdom of life, yet he hath left the Canaanite in the land. God would have my faith exercised; therefore Goliah still shews himself in the field, that so I might go out to him "in the name of the Lord." I will betake me to the strength of CHRIST; and though I cannot help the rebelling power of sin, yet through grace I will labour to prevent the ruling power of it. God grant me of that strength according to my daily need!

Though sin will in believers dwell
Till death the inmates part;
O Jesus, save me from this hell
Which lurks within my heart!

God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; for he has made Him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Cor. v. 19, 21.

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WHAT a glorious statement for the contrite sinner, "God is in Christ." And how employed? Reconciling the world unto himself." But how? By "not imputing their trespasses unto them." And how can the justice of God do this? By making "him to be sin for us who knew no sin," and all "that we might be made the righteousness of God in him." May not the Christian, then, live at perfect peace? He may. Yet it highly concerns believers, who desire to keep a constant peace in their bosoms, to be ever sensible of their spiritual poverty, and to feed and rest wholly on the all-sufficient atonement and righteousness of Jesus Christ. Disquiet of mind, and laziness of soul, often proceed from self-righteousness, and not looking to CHRIST for everything, but trusting secretly to something in our. selves.

Jesus, thou art my righteousness,
For all my sins were thine.

Thy death has bought of God my peace,
Thy life has made him mine!

For ever here my rest shall be,
Close to thy bleeding side!
'Tis all my hope, and all my plea;
For me the Saviour died!

My dying Saviour and my God,
Fountain for guilt and sin;
Sprinkle me ever with thy blood,
And cleanse and keep me clean.