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mate and unchangeable. But if I be truly awakened to these, if I forethink this approaching entrance into an untried state of consciousness, which must be either holy or depraved, which must excite unmeasured joy or unutterable disappointment,-can I, under such expectations, remain indifferent to the message of salvation, to the deeds and words of an Almighty Redeemer? Thus, then, let me seek to arouse the dormant perception of spiritual realities, commencing the survey at home, contemplating the mysterious immortal inmate of my bosom. Hence let me ascend towards the throne of Him who is hid from mortal sight; hence fly to the cross of Him who stooped to mortal sorrows. But, oh, Thou Spirit of Holiness, who succourest mortal weakness, do Thou communicate to my soul the vividness of solemn thought, the depth of grateful sentiment, and cause me by thy power, which is alone sufficient, to" abound in hope."

XV.

ON THE ENCOURAGEMENT WHICH THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST AFFORDS TO PRAYER.

WHEN I consider how defective, how mean, and how defiled are the most solemn of my devotional services, I might well despond of their being any way acceptable to the Deity, or procuring for me any communication of his mercy and favour, were it not for the peculiar way of access and acceptance revealed. Not only my previous character of an offender, but the offences contained in acts of worship, might suffice to defeat my hopes. If a petitioner were to approach the most exalted, benevolent, and venerable of men, without manifesting any due impression of his dignity and excellence; if he were visibly and audibly to manifest the contrary, by unseemly gestures, and by

wandering, incoherent, and even disgraceful expressions, mingling in every part of his professed supplication; if that supplication, though not a precomposed form, were evidently, in many of its parts, mechanical; a sort of half-conscious exercise of memory, combined with vague desire; while the mind was chiefly occupied with the irrelevant and often base imaginations, which seemed interposed as insults to the majesty and patience of the hearer ;—what should we augur of the reception and success of such a suppliant? Would not the servants or friends of the personage addressed, be ready to remove the intruder, unanswered except by reproof?-But my addresses, to One who is ineffably more august and venerable than any created being, have often corresponded to this description, and have always, more or less, partaken of this character. For thoughts and feelings, not vocally expressed, are quite as substantial and apparent before the Omniscient God, as those which are uttered; they form, undeniably, as real a part of the action of the mind, during any act of worship, as the confessions, petitions, or adorations, verbally pronounced. What then would be the texture and series of my prayers, if all the ideas and emotions which arise during their continuance, could be submitted to the view

of others, and my own, as they unquestionably are to the view of Him "that searcheth the hearts ?" Would not the irreverent confusion and impious intermixture, of things sacred and profane, solemn and trivial, spiritual and carnal, be enough to mortify the pride of a Stoic, and confound the self-righteousness of a Pharisee? If such a copy of the acts of my soul, during secret devotion, could be faithfully noted down, and set before me, it would certainly confirm, in a most humbling manner, my conviction of spiritual weakness and depravity, and might justly induce despair of such services being well-pleasing to God; were it not for the consoling and cheering assurance that Jesus "ever liveth to make intercession for us:" that "we have not an High Priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, though without sin." It is in this belief alone, that I can, or ought to, "come boldly unto the throne of grace:" but with this belief, notwithstanding the experience and the foresight of exceeding imperfection and unworthiness in my offerings, I may "have access with confidence." How should it endear this great High Priest and Advocate, to think of Him as pleading for the gracious acceptance of my praises, which, when compared with

the claims of the divine grace and majesty, have been so negligent and formal; of my thanksgivings, which have been so heartless; of my confessions, which have been so seldom prompted by a deep and tender contrition; of my entreaties, whose fervency has borne no proportion to the magnitude of the good besought, or of the evils deprecated; of my whole worship, which, as before described, has been often a shameful intermingling of incongruous and degrading thoughts with those of piety? Is it presumptuous to hope and believe that the Divine Mediator intercedes for those who are conscious of defects so vital, and offences so flagrant, in their approaches to Him who "knoweth the secrets of the heart?" I trust not; because many of the most devoted worshippers have confessed and deplored similar defects and offences in their attempts to wait on God; and though I cannot suppose, that in these eminent Christians they have been nearly so habitual or so great, I am not warranted in desponding of my prayers as insincere and ineffectual, on account of the deeper degrees of evil which I may believe to pervade them. The compassionate aid and intercession of Christ, when on earth, were not withdrawn from those disciples with whom he had frequent reason to expostulate on account of the

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