ting grace. "Christ came to seek and to save that which was lost." "The whole need not a physician, but they that are sick." Lost to the favour of God, and to every claim to his mercy, thou must acknowledge thyself to be, before thou canst repose, with supreme affiance, on the merits and power of him who is mighty to save. The taint of sin, which infects and corrupts thee, thou must deeply feel and deplore, before thou wilt have recourse to the purifying fountain, opened in the Redeemer's blood. Earnestly desirous, to be rescued from the galling and condemning bondage of sin, thou must be, before thou wilt embrace with grateful and supreme faith, the glorious Saviour offered to thee, under the precious symbols of the altar, in the inspiring and satisfying fulness of his mercy and grace.

The faith, which will vitally unite thee to thy Redeemer, and prove effectual to thy salvation, founded on a deep sense of thy guilt and misery, must lead thee cordially, supremely and joyfully to rely, on the all-sufficient merits of Christ, for pardon; and on his allpowerful grace, for complete redemption. God hath" set forth his Son to be a propitiation for the sins of the world;" and it is his merciful declaration, that, "whosoever believeth in him should not perish but should have everlasting life." When, by the penetrating conviction, which, the Spirit of God has excited, in the soul of the sinner, of his

guilt, condemnation, and misery, every high and lofty imagination is brought down, he will be disposed humbly to submit to the plan, which, the infinite and sovereign wisdom. and goodness of God have provided, for his redemption. When his understanding is "enlightened to discern" the excellence and glory of the Saviour, and the resplendent mercy and grace which are shed around the eternal Son of the Father; when he views the fulness of pardon, peace, and salvation treasured up in that divine Redeemer who, in the persuasive accents of compassion and tenderness, invites "the weary and heavy laden to come unto him and receive rest" the humble and contrite sinner, will repose with cordial, supreme and joyful affiance on him whom "God hath exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour," to dispense, from the eternal throne of mercy and power, pardon, grace, and everlasting redemption. Disclaiming every presumptuous and vain dependence on his own righteousness and strength, the reliance of the true believer, on his Saviour, is entire and supreme. In the merits, the mercy, and power of Jesus Christ, he discerns his only refuge from the terrors of a violated law, the only means of his redemption from the dominion of sin, the only armour with which he can repel the vengeful assaults of his spiritual enemies, his only pledge of final exaltation to the transcendent felicities and glories of heaven. Evermore "looking

unto Jesus" for every spiritual blessing, with the supreme and glowing ardour of grateful affection and love, he will constantly adore and bless his Saviour, as "the author and finisher of his salvation." To his Redeemer, rich in grace, compassion and mercy, he clings with faith lively and vigorous-a faith, which realizing strongly the all-sufficiency of the atonement of Christ, the almighty power of his grace, and his infinite willingness to save, allays every doubt and every apprehension, and inspires holy hope,-fervent and unceasing triumph. The reliance of the true believer, in his Saviour, is also uniform and stedfast. Emphatically it may be said of him, that he "lives by faith." Faith, is, the animating principle, which inspires, cherishes, and preserves his spiritual life-the invigorating fountain, whence flow all his virtues and all his consolations.

But it is the consummation of the exalted excellence of genuine faith, and it is its inseparable characteristic, that it "works by love," that" it purifies the heart," that it" overcomes the world." Faith, is, in the true believer, an active and animated principle, which is ever inspiring him, with the most ardent love, to that God who has mercifully provided for him the means of redemption, and to that Saviour, through whom alone he is redeemed from sin, and misery, and death. Faith is an invigorating principle, which is ever urging the true

believer, to testify, by the most exalted acts of obedience, the divine love' which warms his heart, and to endeavour to advance, by the uniform and sacred service of his life, the honor and glory of his God and Saviour. It is a purifying principle, which, by subduing the dominion of sin in the heart, removes the sense of guilt from the conscience; which, by impressing upon the soul the holy image of God, restores her to the enlivening joys of his favour; which, prepares the soul for the felicity of heaven, by forming in her those holy graces, that yield, on earth, a foretaste of celestial joys. The true believer acknowledges the Saviour, not only as the gracious High Priest, by whose atonement and intercession he is rescued from guilt and condemnation; but as the divine Prophet who illumines the soul with celestial and renovating truth; as the Almighty King, who establishes in the heart, the dominion of righteousness, and who inflexibly claims the submissive homage and obedience of his people.

Behold, now, my soul! the exalted characteristics of that faith, which, alone, is effectual to salvation. Founded on a lively sense of the guilt and condemnation, in which, through sin, he is involved, it opens, to the true penitent, the full and resplendent mercy and grace of the Saviour, and excites him, disclaiming every other dependence, to rely, with supreme, lively, and uniform confidence, on the merits

and power of Christ, for pardon and salvation. An active and vigorous principle, it renews and purifies the heart, and excites the believer to aim at that universal obedience by which, alone, he can glorify his Saviour, and prepare his soul for the fruition of the pure and holy, presence of his God.

This supreme, lively, and obedient faith in Christ, O my soul, is made, by the decree of God, thy Almighty Lawgiver and Judge, the indispensible condition of thy salvation. By this exalted principle alone, canst thou testify thy generous sensibility to the infinite glory and love of thy Redeemer, or obtain the inestimable blessings of pardon, peace, and everlasting glory. It is this divine faith which, applying to the soul the Saviour's merits and grace, plucks from her the envenomed sting of guilt, bursts, with resistless power, the enthralling chains of sin; and finally, bears the soul, triumphant over death, in the robes of celestial righteousness, to the throne of her Redeemer and God.

Blest is thy state, O my soul, glorious thy destiny, if thou art animated by this exalted faith in the Son of God. To the irritating pangs of conscience, thou canst apply the pacifying merits of the Saviour's blood-To the turbulent throws of guilty passion, thou canst oppose the conquering energies of his grace-Clad in a sacred panoply of invincible

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