to him as Jesus Christ. I would here observe also, that he preached the gospel to mankind; he told us what we must believe and do, in order to enter into the kingdom of Heaven. Through him also the holy spirit of God is granted to us. And, to crown all, he died for us. He was nailed to the cross, and suffered a cruel death for our sakes, bearing the wrath of God in our stead. 66 Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins." Christ is that lamb of God "which has been offered up as a sacrifice," and "which taketh away the sins of the world." Now, then, let us rejoice and say triumphantly with the Prophet of old, "Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given.""Behold (said the angels) I bring you glad tidings of great joy; for unto you is born, this day, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord."-" Glory be to God in the highest, on earth peace, good-will towards men."

Oh! how many thousands have had reason to bless the season which we are now commemorating-the season of the birth of Jesus Christ! The world, it is true, is still wicked, for there are many who do not believe in this Saviour; and there are not a few who think they believe in him, and who do not. Nevertheless, even the world in general has been the better for his coming, for the thick darkness is past, and the true light now shineth. Through Christ's coming iniquity has been lessened even among unbelievers; for the real Christians, though few, have held up to view the nature of true goodness, and even bad men have, in some measure, been constrained to imitate them; they have also grown more ashamed, than they otherwise would have been, of their vices.

But who can calculate the blessing which Christianity hath been to thousands of true believers? How many lives have been made holy here on earth; how many hearts have been cheered and comforted by it; how many deaths, which would otherwise have been most gloomy, 'have been rendered joyful and triumphant;

and, above all, how many immortal souls have been saved, and made happy to all eternity, through faith -in this blessed Redeemer!" My sheep (says Christ) hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give unto my sheep eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of my hands.”—“ I go to prepare a place for them, that where I am they may be also."

And now, reader, what are your thoughts on the subject of your Savior's appearance on this earth of our's? If you are a true Christian, your language will be such as the following-"It is through the coming of Christ. into the world that I have learnt to know myself, and to know the God who made me. I am by nature blind and ignorant; I am also sinful and undone; I am utterly without hope, except through the mercy of my Savior; and even though I have been born in a christian land, I can trace back, in my recollection, many proofs of this my natural ignorance, and corruption, and hardness of heart. I was once like a sheep going astray, but I am now returned to the shepherd of my soul. I followed the bent of my own foolish will, but the grace of God in Jesus Christ, hath changed my sinful heart; the knowledge of my corruption has humbled me; the thought of my Savior's dying for me, has stirred up divine gratitude within me, and that acquaintance with his Gospel which I have gained, hath changed my whole views of life. Christ's character delights me; I read the history of his humble birth, his painful death, and his glorious resurrection, as it is recorded in Scripture, with hope and joy, and with holy confidence and trust.How shall I sufficiently bless God for Jesus Christ! Whatever change has been wrought in me, I trace to Christ's coming into the world. If Christ had never come, how corrupt should I at this moment have been, how blind, how dark, how ignerant, how different from what, through the grace of God, I now am! How VOL. II. No. 1.

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miserable in comparison of my present happiness! I am engaged, indeed, in a sharp conflict with my sins; but, through my Savior's help, I hope to gain ground against them. I have occasionally doubts and fears, but, in general, I feel confident that the promises of God are sure and certain in Christ Jesus; for I know in whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that soul which I have committed to him, till the great day."

PRESIDENT EDWARDS' LETTER.

Extract from a letter, written by the Rev. Mr. Jonathan Edwards, Pastor to a Church in Northampton, NewEngland, to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Gillespie, Minister of the Gospel at Carnock, dated 4th Sept. 1747.

CON

NCERNING the difficulty you mention, relating to the verifying of Romans viii. 28" All things shall work together for good," &c. in a saint that falls under backslidings and spiritual decays. It seems to be a matter of some difficulty to understand exactly how this is to be taken, and how far it may from hence be inferred, that the temptations saints meet with from satan, and an evil world, and their own declensions and sins, shall surely work for their good. However, since you desire my thoughts, I would give them as follows:

In order rightly to state this matter, there are two things may be laid down, as positions of certain and indubitable truth, concerning this doctrine of the Apos tle:

1. The meaning cannot be, that God's dispensations and disposals towards each saint, are the best for him, and tend most to his happiness, of all that are possible; or that all things that are ordered for him, or done by God with respect to him, are in all respects better for

him, than any thing else that God could have ordered or done, issuing in the highest good and happiness that it is possible he should be brought to. For that would be as much as to say, that God will bestow on every one of his elect, as much happiness as he can in the utmost exercise of his omnipotence; and this sets aside all these different degrees of grace and holiness here, and glory hereafter, which he bestows according to his sovereign pleasure.

All things may work together for good to the saints; all may be of benefit to them, have a concurring tendency to their happiness, and finally issue in it, and yet not tend to, or issue in, the highest degree of good and happiness possible. There is a certain measure of holiness and happiness, that each one of the elect is eternally appointed to; and all things that relate to him, work together to bring to pass this appointed measure of good. The text and context speaks of God's eternal purpose of good to the elect, predestinating them to a conformity to his son in holiness and happiness-And the implicated reasoning of the Apostle leads us to suppose, that all things will surely concur to bring to effect God's eternal purpose-And, therefore, from his reasoning, it may be inferred, that all things will tend to and work together to bring to pass that degree of good that God has purposed to bestow upon them, and not any more. And indeed it

would be in itself unreasonable to suppose any thing else but this. In as much as God is the supreme orderer of all things, doubtless all things shall be so ordered, that with one consent they shall help to bring to pass his aims, ends, and purposes; but surely not to bring to pass what he doth not aim at, and never intended. God, in his government of the world, is carrying on his own designs in every thing, but he is not carrying on that which is not his design-And, therefore, there is no need of supposing, that all the circumstances, means, and advantages of every saint, are the best in every respect that God could have or

dered for him'; or that there could have been no cir eumstances and means that he could have been the subject of, that would, with God's usual blessing on means, have issued in his greater good. Every saint is, as it were, a living stone, that in this present state of preparation is fitting for the place appointed for him in the heavenly temple: and in this sense all things undoubtedly work together for good to every one that is called, according to God's purpose; he is, all the while he lives in this world, by all the dispensations of Providence towards him, fitting for the particular mansion in glory that is appointed and prepared for him, or hewing for his appointed place in the heavenly building.

2. Another thing which is no less certain and de-. monstrable than the position that hath been already laid down, and indeed follows from it, is this--When, it is said, all things work together for good, &c. thereby cannot be intended that all things, both positive and negative, are best for them; or that it is so universally, that not only every positive thing that the saints are the subjects of, or are concerned in, will work for their good, but also, that when any thing is absent or withheld from them by God in his Providence, that absence or withholding is also for their good, in that senseas to be better for them than the presence or bestow-. ment would have been: for this would have the same absurd consequence that was mentioned before, viz. that God makes every saint as happy as possibly he, can. And besides, if so, it would follow, that God's, withholding greater degrees of the sanctifying infiu, ences of his spirit, is for the saints' good, and that it is best for them to live and die so low in grace as they do; which would be as much as to say, that it is for their good to have no more good, or that it is for their happiness to have no more happiness here and hereafter. If we take good notice of the Apostle's discourse in Romans 8th, it will be apparent, that his words imply no such thing. All God's creatures, and