any wish that you should be artful, and versatile, that he gives this advice. But what he means is this. The time is yours. At present ye are strangers, and sojourners, and foreigners, and aliens; seek not honors, seek not glory, seek not authority, and revenge; bear all things, and in this way, redeem the time; give up many things, any thing they may require. The expression is obscure. Come, then, I will throw light upon it by an example. Imagine now, I say, a man had a magnificent house, and persons were to make their way in, on purpose to murder him, and he were to give a large sum, and thus to rescue himself. Then we should say, he has redeemed himself. So also hast thou a large house, and a true faith in thy keeping. They will come to take all away. Give whatever they demand, only preserve the principal, the faith, I mean.

What

Because the days, he saith, are evil. What is the evil of the day? The evil of the day ought to belong to the day. If thou understandest what evil is incident to each of the several things among us, thou wilt also know what is the evil of a day. is the evil of a body? Disease. And what again the evil of the soul? Wickedness. What is the evil of water? Bitterness. And the evil of each particular thing, is its badness with reference to that peculiar quality of which it is the evil. If then there is an evil in the day, it ought to belong to the day, to the hours, to the daylight. So also Christ saith, Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. And from this expression we shall understand the other. In what sense then does he call the days evil? In what sense the time evil? It is not the essence of the thing, not the things as so created, but it is because of the things transacted in them. In the same way are we in the habit of saying, "I have passed a disagreeable and wretched day." And yet how could it be disagreeable, except from the circumstances which took place in it? Now the events which take place in it are, good things from God; but evil things from bad men. So then of the evils which happen in the times, men are the creators, and hence it is, that the times are said to be evil. And thus we also call the times evil.

SEPTEMBER 8.

I will heal their backsliding.—Hosea xiv. 4.

REYNOLDS.

WHEN God's people return to him, and pray against sin,then God out of his free love heals them of it. He first teaches them what to ask; and then he tells them what he will give. Thus we find "conversion" and "healing" joined together. They shall return even to the Lord, and he shall be entreated of them, and shall heal them: ", " Return, backsliding children; I will heal your backslidings." Men, if they be injured and provoked by those whom they have in their power to undo, though they return and cry, "I have sinned," and are ready to ask forgiveness, yet many times, out of pride and revenge, will take their time and opportunity to repay the wrong. But God doth not so; his pardons, as all his other gifts, are without his upbraiding as soon as ever his servants come back unto him with tears and confession, he looks not upon them with scorn, but with joy his mercy makes more haste to embrace them, than their repentance to return to him. Then out comes the wine, the oil, the balm, the cordials; then the wounds of a Saviour do, as it were, bleed afresh, to drop in mercy into the sores of such a penitent. O, though he be "not a dutiful, a pleasant child," yet he is a "child:" "though I spake against him, yet I remember him still; my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him." The Lord greatly complains of the inclination of his people to backsliding, and yet he can not find in his heart to destroy them, but expresses a kind of conflict between his justice and mercy, and at last resolves, "I am God and not man; " I can as well heal their backsliding by my love, as revenge it by my justice; therefore, "I will not execute the fierceness of mine anger, but I will cause them to walk after the Lord."

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We should hence learn, First, To admire the unsearchable riches of the mercy of our God, who is pleased in our misery to prevent us with his goodness, and when we neither felt our disease, nor desired a remedy, is pleased to convince us of our sins -to invite us to repentance-to put words into our mouth, and to draw our petition from us—to furnish us with arguments—to encourage us with promises; "I will heal, I will love ; "-to

give us his ministers to proclaim, and his Spirit to apply these mercies unto us. If he did not convince us, that iniquity would be a downfall and a ruin to us: we should hold it fast, and be pleased with our disease; like a madman that quarrels with his cure, and had rather continue mad than be healed.

If being convinced, he did not invite us to repentance, we should run away from him, as Adam did. No man loves to be in the company of an enemy; much less, when that enemy is a judge. They have turned their back unto me, and not their face." Adam will hide himself " from the presence of the Lord; and Cain will go out "from the presence of the Lord." Guilt can not look upon majesty; stubble dares not come near the fire. If we be in our sins, we can not stand before God.

If being invited, he did not "put words into our mouths," we should not know what to say unto him. We know not wherewith to come before the Lord, or to bow before the high God, if he do not "show us what is good." Where God is the judge, he can not be mocked or derided; who knoweth all things; and if our heart condemn us, he is greater than our hearts; and wherever we hide, can find us out, and make our sin to find us too;—where, I say, this God is the judge, there guilt stops the mouth, and makes the sinner speechless. Nay, the best of us "know not what to pray for as we ought, except the Spirit be pleased to help our infirmities." When we are taught what to say, if God do not withdraw his anger, we shall never be able to reason with him: "Withdraw thine hand from me; let not thy dread make me afraid; then I will answer, then I will speak." If he do not reveal mercy; if he do not promise love or healing; if he do not make it appear that he is a God that heareth prayer; flesh will not dare to come near unto him. We can never pray, till we can cry "Abba, Father; " we can never call unto him but in the "multitude of his mercies." As the earth is shut and bound up with frost and cold, and puts not forth her precious fruits, till the warmth and heat of the summer call them out; so the heart, under the cold affections of fear and guilt, under the dark apprehensions of wrath and judgment, is so contracted, that it knows not to draw near to God: but when mercy shines, when the love of God is shed abroad in it, then also the heart itself is shed abroad, and enlarged to pour out itself unto God. Even when distressed sinners pray, their prayer proceeds

from apprehensions of mercy: for prayer is the child of faith, and the object of faith is mercy.

Secondly, We should beware, above all other sins, of falling in soul as old Eli did in body," backwards," and so hazarding our salvation. If once we have shaken hands with sin, never take acquaintance with it any more; but say as Israel here, "What have I to do any more with idols?" The church should be like Mount Sion, "that can not be moved." It is a sad and sick temper of a church to toss from one side to another; and then especially, when she should be healed, to be "carried about with every wind.”

Thirdly, We should not be so terrified by any sin, which our soul mourns and labors under, and our heart turneth from, as thereby to be withheld from going to the physician for pardon and healing. Had he not great power and mercy; did he not love freely, without respect of persons, and pardon freely without respect of sins, we might then be afraid of going to him: but when he extends forgiveness to all kinds, " iniquity, transgression, sin," and has actually pardoned the greatest sinners, Manasses, Mary Magdalene, Paul, publicans, harlots, backsliders; we should though not presume hereupon to turn God's mercy into poison, and his grace into wantonness, (for mercy itself will not save those sinners that hold fast sin and will not forsake it,) yet take heed of despairing, or entertaining low thoughts of the love and mercy of God: for such examples as these are set forth for the encouragement of all "that shall ever believe unto eternal life;" and the thoughts and ways which God hath to pardon sin, are "above our thoughts and ways," whereby we look on them in their guilt and greatness, many times, as unpardonable; and therefore are fit matter for our faith, even against sense, to believe and rely upon.

And unto all riches of the full assurance of understanding.-Col. ii. 2.

To hearts comforted, and knit together in love, the apostle adds as a third fruit of continuance in the truth of the gospel, the riches of the full assurance of understanding. For not only will they become more firmly bound together in love, but they will

more abundantly increase in faith itself: for their faith will be triply augmented; in richness, in abundance, in intelligence or clear-sightedness. Riches refers to the matter embraced by faith; full assurance and intelligence, to the mode of embracing it.

First; The faith of Christians is augmented in richness when they who learnt only the principles and elements, as it were, of salvation, God blessing, and the Divine Spirit enlightening their minds more and more, proceed to farther attainments, and deduce from these principles many other particular propositions, and thus are enriched in a manner with new furniture in the knowl edge of religion. For, as in other sciences, the principles are few, but in these few, innumerable conclusions lie virtually hid, which afterwards are drawn out by the intellect when it is employed on these principles; so in this science of Theology, some few principles, absolutely necessary to be known, and presented to tender minds just approaching the Christian faith; and afterwards a rich treasury of sacred knowledge is collected for every purpose of salvation, by assiduous meditation, and by hearing, and chiefly by internal operation and teaching of the Spirit. They, therefore, who constantly persevere in the doctrine of the gospel, thence obtain all riches. For "the Lord, who hath laid the foundation of this spiritual edifice, in his mercy daily builds it up until he finishes it." He who hath begun a good work in you will perform it. Hence spring forth various doctrines.

1. The laity themselves should not be content with an elementary knowledge in religious matters, but ought to press forward from easy principles to a particular and richer knowledge of those things which have more difficult explications and require a deeper research. Thus the apostle to the Hebrews, says, Therefore, leaving the principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection.

2. When these riches are sought, it is certain that the means also necessary to their attainment should be sought out. He who would have a treasure must dig in the earth. He who would have riches in the knowledge of divine things, must search the Holy Scriptures, carefully hear ministers, and perform all those other things ordained by God for the acquirement of these riches.

Secondly, I come now to full assurance and intelligence. Full assurance; by this is denoted that firm and certain ad