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time, exalt you as his messenger and advocate, in the esteem of all those to whom Christ is precious. Oh, may you go to the Christian assembly at D-, as Philip went down to Antioch, "to preach CHRIST unto them;" to proclaim his worth, his grace, his suitableness, the wonders of his love, the dignity of his person, and the preciousness of his salvation; preaching not yourself, but Christ Jesus the Lord; labouring to shew to those who may hear you, at once their own hopeless state and the grace and sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ! Professors of Christianity talk of Christ and love to Christ; but to the broken in heart he is precious indeed! I commend you, my dear R-, to God, the best instructor, and to the word of his grace, your surest guide; having affectionately communicated to you these few hints of what experience has recommended to me.

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LETTER XXVII.

TO THE REV. R

B

Dec. 4, 1799.

MY DEAR R,

I DULY received yours, which gave me at once pain and pleasure. I felt much sympathy with you in the sufferings you must have endured, and I hope much gratitude to God for the wonderful experience you have had of his preserving mercy. Truly, he is the God of salvation, and blessed are all they who put thei trust in him! His name, indeed, is "Jehovah Ji reh." He is now presenting you with a new impression of it in capital letters. Let it be worn by you as a sacred breast-plate on your very heart; and let every fresh view of it stimulate to duty. Is His eye upon me as that of a parent on the child he loves, or as the eye of the nursing mother on the infant she carries in her arms? Then let mine eye wait upon him as the eyes of a servant look to the hands of his master, and as the eyes of a maiden. to the hands of her mistress. Does he continually watch my path? does he attend my lying down and my rising up? "Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, am I surrounded still with God?" Then let me attentively and affectionately watch the intimations of his will, and carefully improve every opportunity of glorifying him in my body and in my spirit, which

are his. May the Lord, my dear R-, shew you yet more of his mercy; affording to your understanding a larger view, and to your heart richer and more delightful experience thereof! It is the cement of Divine friendship, and the spring of all spiritual obedience. Something of God's mercy he shews us now, or the desire of the soul would not tend in any degree towards him: but when mercy shall finally remove the veil of darkness from our minds, and shall appear to us arrayed in her own unclouded and transcendent beauty; when thus unveiled she shall beautify us with her precious salvation in every part; shall enrich us with all her treasures, carry us to sit down at an eternal banquet of celestial delights, and at the king's right hand, oh! with what admiring eyes and hearts shall we then contemplate mercy; what love and zeal will glow within us; what transports of joy and gratitude shall we feel, and what songs shall we raise! Oh! how inadequate and how low our conceptions here of the height, the depth, the length, the breadth of mercy! and hence the languor so apparent and so much to be lamented in our best services, and in our very hearts. Oh, mercy! mercy! be this, my dear R-, the subject of your frequent contemplation, the ground of your hope, the spring of all your services, the principle of your consolation, and your heaven will not be all future. In proportion as God is pleased to shew you his mercy, will your heart be bound by her cords, and your days and powers be employed in

devoutly sacrificing at her shrine. Then the rich treasures of mercy will be your sanctuary amid every aların, the smiles of mercy will fill you with joy unspeakable, and in the bosom of mercy you will at last sweetly breathe out your departing spirit. Wishing you the unspeakable advantage of living near to God,

I am, my dear R-, very affectionately,

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Ir affords me pleasure, beyond what I can express, to find your mind impressed with the impor-/ tance of the trust committed to you, and seriously concerned to discharge it faithfully. I cannot but consider it as a token for good, that he has rich blessings to dispense by your means. Indeed, it is a high privilege to see the Gospel by a Divine light ourselves; to see the glory of God, the lustre and harmony of his perfections, in the face of Jesus Christ; to see how sin has reigned unto death through the first Adam; and how grace reigns through righteousness unto eternal life by the second

Adam, the Lord from Heaven. By this light we look into our own hearts, and see enough to rebuke our pride, and fill us with contrition and shame. By the same Divine light we look unto Jesus, and see a Rock which invites our firmest confidence; an effectual Sanctuary from deserved wrath; a Fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, a never-failing Spring of rich and cordial joy. There we find every thing to relieve the troubled mind of the awakened sinner, and to heal the wounded spirit. There is every thing in Him to encourage the hope of a sinner, whom conscience rebukes, the law condemns, and who wants righteousness: who sees and deplores, more and more, the deep iniquity of his heart, and wants holiness; who feels his own utter inability for any holy and acceptable act of obedience, and wants strength; whose soul is cast down within him, and who wants comfort. Blessed Saviour! the brazen serpent, the very sight of which was life to the expiring Israelite; the manna and the water from the rock which completely supplied, and never failed, the vast army in the wilderness ;-these were but faint shadows of the restoring, the sustaining, and the refreshing efficacy of thy merits and thy grace. Here is the bread of life, and the water of life. We eat, and drink, and live,-live for ever. His flesh is meat indeed, and his blood is drink indeed. Here is the tree of life. Oh! how sweet its fruits how grateful its shadow! It is peculi arly instructive, I think, as well as highly delight

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