the dignity and majesty of thy person as the eternal Word, the everlasting Son of the Father, of equal power, glory, and eternity with the Father and the Holy Ghost.

May I behold thee with admiring love and gratitude as the Virgin's Son, laying in the manger; taking upon thee my nature; that so, being God and man in one Christ, thou mightest satisfy eternal justice, and bring in everlasting righteousness.

O! may I contemplate with mingled feelings of grief and joy, thine agony and bloody sweat, thy cross and passion, thy precious death and burial;with grief, when I reflect on sin, my own sin, which nailed thee to the accursed tree;-with joy, when I meditate on thy dying love, a love, which angels cannot fathom; a love, which fills the bright intelligences above with wonder and delight; a love which fills each humble soul on earth with gratitude and praise!

Jesus! I would-oh! that in the humble confidence of faith, I may say, I do-receive thee as my only, my beloved Saviour!

Impart into my soul this spiritual, this practical, this experimental knowledge of thyself, who art the light of the world, and the wisdom of thy people.

O! wash my guilty soul in thy cleansing blood, thou, who art the bleeding propitiatory sacrifice, the Lamb of God.

Now that thou art ascended up on high, and hast entered into the holiest of all, plead the cause of a poor wretched sinner, who looks unto thee as the Lord my righteousness-my great Melchisedec. Exert thy regal power in my soul, thou king of saints, and destroy all thine enemies and mine. Subdue every rebellious inclination of my heart, which opposes itself to thy will. Bring all my powers into subjection to thy divine authority; and sit upon the

throne of my heart, the Lord of every motion there.

O! may I delight in the contemplation of those soul-reviving characters which thou sustainest in the covenant of grace. Thou art the Redeemer, Mediator, Justifier, Surety, Advocate, and Purifier of thy people; their friend and counsellor, their shepherd and guide, their husband and guardian.

And O! how beautiful are the images which the Holy Spirit employs to shadow forth thine excellencies. Thou art "the rose of Sharon and the lily of the vallies;" 66 a plant of renown.” Thou art "the true vine,” which supplies each living branch with fruitfulness and verdure. Thou art the fountain," in which all may wash and be clean;-the rock, on which thy church is immovably fixed;the way, in which thy people journey to the heavenly Canaan ;-the door, by which they enter into the covenant of grace ;-the day-star, which illuminates their path and guides them safely to glory. Thou art the bread of life, the true manna, whose flesh is meat indeed, and whose blood is drink indeed.

O! may I daily feed upon thee by faith in my heart with thanksgiving, till I see thee in the heavenly paradise, and taste through eternal ages the sweetness of redeeming love!

O! may I prize a throne of grace,
Accessible in ev'ry place;
Where'er I lift my soul in pray'r,
On earth or sea, my God is there.

If in the hour of deep distress,
Its woes, my heart in sighs express;

A sweet return of love I find,
To soothe the sorrows of the mind.

Or when the grateful odours rise
Of praise, delightful sacrifice!

My soul expands with joys unknown
To ev'ry bosom, but its own.

Ah! whence proceeds this sacred love,
Descending gently from above?
To thee, blest Saviour, and thy blood,
I owe this precious gift of God.

O! may I daily love thee more,

Of blessings, thou, the bounteous Store;

On me let ev'ry grace descend,

Thou Source of bliss-thou Sinner's friend!

In gladsome notes of heart-felt praise,

My joyful voice to thee I'll raise ;
Till death improve the rising song,
And bear me to the angelic throng.

XLIV. ON THE CAUTIONS AND WARNINGS OF
SCRIPTURE.

THE word of God abounds with cautions as well as encouragements; with warnings as well as invitations; with threatenings as well as promises. These are necessary and important; otherwise they would not be so thickly scattered through the sacred volume.

We find the need of cautions and warnings in proportion as we are made acquainted with the subtlety of Satan, the deceitfulness of sin, and the treachery of our own heart.

We learn by a thousand painful instances, that "he who trusteth to his own heart is a fool." How short-lived are the best resolutions made in our own strength! They resemble the early dew which soon passeth away, and the grass upon the housetop which withereth afore it groweth up.

What a valuable part of the Bible are the kind

admonitions of a loving Saviour! How should we prize the salutary counsels of him who spake as never man spake; who sticketh closer than a brother! May we ever remember his gracious exhortations; for "they are spirit, and they are life."

"Without me ye can do nothing"-"“ Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation". "Take heed and beware of covetousness' "Strive to enter in at the strait gate"-" Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness"- "Continue ye in my love."

We are here taught by Infinite Wisdom, that of ourselves we can do nothing that is pleasing to God, or effectual towards our salvation; that our spiritual enemies are constantly plotting our destruction, spreading nets for our feet, and holding out their baits to draw us into sin: that the love of the world is a whirlpool down which millions are carried into perdition that carnal ease and sensual indulgence form the road to hell: that to escape this dreadful end, we must strive, yea agonize, to enter in at the strait gate which leadeth unto life eternal. We are exhorted to seek, as the first great object of pursuit, not the honours and wealth of the world, but righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. We are warned against the smallest approach towards spiritual declension; and to avoid so great an evil, we are commanded to persevere in the good and the right way, by continuing in the constant exercise of a supreme love to Jesus, who loved us, and gave himself for us.

"If

f ye

Such are the salutary counsels given to us by our divine Saviour, who said to his disciples, know these things, happy are ye, if ye do them."

In the Gospel of the blessed God, we are also cautioned against spiritual pride: "Be not highminded, but fear."

How prone we are to be proud, although we have nothing to be proud of. Our hearts are strongly inclined to pride, which is the very essence of the fall. Pride cast angels out of heaven, and man out of paradise. Pride fights against the mercy of God; bars the sinner's heart against the Saviour; and hurries the proud rebel down the precipice of desperation into the burning gulf of hell! "Happy then is the man who feareth alway," lest he fall into the condemnation of the devil!

Blessed Jesus! clothe me with humility; destroy this baneful root of pride out of my heart; and make me meek and lowly; resigned to all thy wise disposals, however painful they may be to fallen

nature.

How needful at all times is this kind admonition: "Let him that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall." We are never in such danger of falling as when we think ourselves the most secure. Selfdependence and carnal security are those fatal props by which thousands are upheld through the delusions of Satan, till they drop into everlasting misery.

How good is this caution also: "Let us fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."

Self-love blinds the eyes of the mind, so that we cannot see our real state and condition. This was the case with the declining church of Laodicea. She fancied herself rich and increased with goods, and as having need of nothing: when in the eye of the all-searching Jesus she was wretched and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Of Ephraim it was said, " "gray hairs are here and there upon him, yet he knoweth not." Of Ephesus, "thou hast left thy first love." Of Sardis, "thou hast a name that thou livest and art dead." So blind are we to our spiritual declensions!

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