man, by his resurrection he appeared to be the son of God.

Christ was the great promise of the Old Testament, the spirit is the great promise of the New.

Christ's strength is the Christian's strength.

If we would stand, Christ must be our foundation; if we would be safe, Christ must be our sanctuary.

In regard of natural life, we live in God; in regard of spiritual life, Christ lives in us.

He that thinks he hath no need of Christ, hath too high thoughts of himself; he that thinks Christ cannot help him, hath too low thoughts of Christ.

Presumption abuses Christ, despair refuses

him.

Christ satisfied God to the uttermost, and therefore can save sinners to the uttermost.

The blood of Christ which satisfied the justice of God, may satisfy the conscience of an awakened sinner.

If sin was better known, Christ would be better thought of.

If sin doth not taste bitter, Christ cannot taste sweet.

When sin is hell, Christ is heaven.

There is no passage from sin to holiness, till we are passed from sin to Christ.

Christ may have an interest in us, though we may not be able to see our interest in him.

Christ hath entreated God to be reconciled to us, and now he entreats us to be reconciled to God.

God will give us nothing for our sakes, but he will deny us nothing for Christ's sake.

A PATHETIC INVITATION TO COME TO CHRIST

If

HAVE you sins, or have you none?—If you have, whither should you go, but to the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sins of the world?-have you souls, or have you none?— you have, whither should you go but to the Saviour of souls? Is there a life to come, or is there not? If there is, whither should you go but to him, who only hath the words of eternal life? Is there a wrath to come, or is there not? If there is, whither should you go but to him who only can deliver from the wrath to come?-And will he not receive you?-If he yielded himself into the hands of them that sought his life, will he hide himself from the hearts of them that seck his mercy? If he was willing to be taken by the hands of violence, is he not much more willing to be taken by the hands of faith? He that died for thy sins, will he cast thee off for thine infirmities? O come, come, come !-I charge you come-I beseech you come-come and he will give you life. Come, and he will give you rest. Come, and he will receive you. Knock and he will open to you. Look to him and he will save you.-Did any ever come to him for a cure, and go away without it? Thou wouldst find something in thyself, but thou findest nothing but what thou hast reason to be ashamed of; but let not that hinder, but further thy coming.-Come as thou art; come poor, come needy, come naked, come empty, come wretched, only come, only believe; his heart is free, his arms are open, it is his joy and his crown to receive thee.-If thou art willing, he never was otherwise.

REMARKS ON PRAYER.

TRUE devotion consists in having our hearts always devoted to God, as the sole fountain of all happiness, and who is ready to hear and to help · his otherwise helpless and miserable creatures. It is to be obtained

1stly. By earnest prayer! He that hungers and thirsts after righteousness will certainly be filled.

2dly. By possessing our hearts with a deep sense of our own misery and sinfulness, our wants and danger.

3dly. By considering God's goodness, power, and readiness to help.

Lastly. By convincing our hearts of the vanity of every thing else to afford us any real help or comfort.

Dying persons are generally more devout than others, because they then see their misery; that nothing in this world can help them, and that God is their only refuge.

The spirit of God will not dwell in a divided heart. We cannot feel the pleasures of devotion, while the world is our delight. Not that all pleasures are criminal, but the closer our union with the world, the less our union with God. A Christian, therefore, who strives after devotion, should taste sensual pleasures very sparingly; should make necessity, not bodily delight, his rule.

He that would be devout, must beware of indulging a habit of wandering in prayer; it is a crime that will grow upon us, and deprive us of the happiness we pray for.

Avoid, as much as may be, multiplicity of business. Neither the innocency nor the goodness of our employment will excuse, if it possess our hearts when we are praying to God.

Never be curious to know what passes in the world, any farther than duty obliges you; it will only distract the mind when it should be better employed.

Never intermit devotion, if you can help it; you will return to your duty like Sampson, shorn of his locks, weak and indifferent as other people of the world.

The oftener we renew our intercourse with God, the greater will be our devotion. Frequent prayer, as it is an exercise of holy thoughts, is a most natural remedy against the power of sin. Importunity makes no change in God, but it creates in us such dispositions as God thinks proper to reward.

Make it a law to yourself to meditate before you pray, as also to make certain pauses, to see if your hearts go along with your lips. They whose hearts desire nothing, pray for nothing.

He that has learnt to pray as he ought, has got the secret of a holy life.

The best way to prevent wandering in prayer, is not to let our minds wander too much at other times; but to have God always in our thoughts, in the whole course of our lives.

The most sure way to avoid this, is to dedicate some time, every day of our lives, to the worship of God: by doing this we shall retin God in our knowledge, provided it be performed out of a deep sense of our own wants and miseries, with a firm faith in God's promises to fulfil the desires of them that fear him, and with an eye to the

blood of Jesus our Redeemer, for whose sake, and through whose suffering, we are reconciled to God, and God to us.

DECEITFULNESS OF THE HEART.

"ALL the ways of man are clean in his own eyes." He looks with affected, it may be, with honest surprise at the sins, follies, and crimes, of others, which he may have already committed in the same or in differing forms. He is secretly injuring the reputation, or quietly planning to profit by the confidence of those who praise and trust him; while his anger is kindled, and carefully exposed against those who, for being less artful, are less fortunate in vile attempts. Crimes and miscarriages happen around him; and in the goodness of his surprise, he forgets the failures of the past, and predicts the virtues and successes of his future life. He is disgusted with the pride of wealth and office, and declares that nothing so elevates and adorns all distinction as humility. He scorns the airs of vanity, the timidity, the diffidence of speech and action that is inspired by the presence of excellence and superiority; but thinks not of the stupidity of boldness, the meanness of envy, and the vanity and pride of scorn. He soon sees one haughty, and, like himself, perhaps, in all but presumption, whose actions seem to say-stand back, I am richer or wiser or holier than thou; and he is "choaked with indignation." He pities the weakness of those who shun or dread places of great temptation to dishonesty and vice; blames and persecutes those who fail in them, and enters into them himself, invites the scrutiny of all; and, forewarned and