hast thou not brought down of grace for time, and of promise for eternity, to me, and to helpless sinners like me! Yea, thou hast given thine own self to thy brethren, that in thee they might be given up to God, and like thee be a sweet smelling savor, ascending by thy merits to the highest heaven. O what shall I, what can I, render for mercies like these! I can give, poor as the gift is, only my heart and soul to thy dear glory; and I would not, surely I would not, restrain these. Yet I cannot offer these, so weak and so corrupt am I without the assistance of thy strength. Favor me, then, more and more, with thy gracious power, that my affections may be constantly mounting upward, longing for the place of my everlasting residence, and counting all things worse than dung, that would stop my progress thither. Where thou art, dear Lord, soon do I hope to be. I am tired of this earth, and of all its shifting miserable scenes; I am weary of this body, full of disorder and sin; I loathe the husks, which the swine of this world quarrel for and devour; and I can be satisfied with nothing less than thee and thy presence for ever. O my Beloved, when shall I ascend up after thee!

All below is Mesech and

Kedar, but, with thee there is the fulness, not the mere shadow of joy; and at thy right hand there are pleasures, not for a moment only, but for evermore. Thou hast said, Surely, I come quickly.-Amen, (reply the hearts of thy people, and my poor heart among them) yea, come Lord Jesus!

CHAPTER XIV.

ON THE GLORIFICATION OF CHRIST.

THE mission and work of Jesus for our salvation was completed in the eternal glorification of his person in heaven. His body was spiritually, though not substantially changed in this great event, and thus, with his human soul, as one complete and perfect manhood, was taken into God. He now shines in the brightness of the divine glory, far above all principality and power, and every name that is named, whether in heaven or in earth; and he thus shines as the head of our redeemed nature, that his people may also be glorified with him, and be so united to him and to each other, as to become an holy temple and a glorious habitation of God through the Spirit.

"I pray, (said the gracious Redeemer) that they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee; that they also may be one with us; and the glory which thou gavest me, I have given them, that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one."

O what transcendent height of glory is this, to which such creatures as myself, believing in Jesus, shall shortly be raised! What mind could have been . sublime enough so much as to have thought of these wonders, if the Lord of glory himself had not revealed them?

The glory of Christ is not like the airy phantom which men call glory, but hath everlasting weight and solidity; it not only sends forth light, but is light: and all that can be conceived of splendor, excellency, durability, and bliss, meets in this glory, as its sole and substantial essence. The believer, therefore, is said to enjoy Christ, an exceeding and eternal weight of glory-exceeding all conception and comparison; eternal in its enjoyment and duration.

"It doth not yet appear, what we shall be; but we know, that when Christ shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is :" So that "with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we shall be changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.-Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us!" O that my heart may feel the thanks, which no tongue can utter, and, in humble adoration, bless my God for his unspeakable gift.

CHAPTER XV.

ON THE INTERCESSION OF CHRIST.

WHEN the high priest, once a year, entered into the most holy place, he carried the fume of the sweet incense and the blood of the sin-offering with him. The fume was to cover the mercy-seat upon the ark of the testimony, and the blood was to be sprinkled before it. This shadowed forth the interceding office of the great High Priest, of our profession in the holiest of all. He is entered there with his own blood, by which he hath made a perfect atonement for his people, and with his own righteousness, which both covers himself as the propitiation, and his whole church under him, so as to render all, and all together, acceptable to the pure attributes of Jehovah.

Hence my Redeemer received his name of Angel, Interpreter, Advocate, or Intercessor. He pleaded for me, and for all poor sinners who come unto God by him, before the throne of the Highest. He fumeth out the merit of his blood, and the excellent perfection of his righteousness, filling all heaven (as it were) with

the fragrance of that, which is unutterably delightful to God himself. No broken-hearted rebel, who cometh unto God by this High Priest Jesus, shall ever bewail the insufficiency of his advocate, but rather shall bless the Lord for his mercy, in laying his help upon one so almighty. If he look to this Savior, then certainly he will be with him as his Angel Interpreter, or Advocate, one among a thousand to show unto him his uprightness; and he is gracious unto him, and saith, redeem him from going down to the pit, I have found a ransom. Then his soul is brought back from the pit, and enlightened with the light of the living.

Our High Priest, bearing our nature, can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, though without their sin; and he is able to save us to the uttermost, or for evermore, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for us. O that I may come therefore boldly, with liberty of speech, and with confidence of heart, to the throne of grace, that I may obtain the mercy I want, and find grace to help in the time of my need!

Blessed Lord thou hast showed me what thou hast done for me on earth, and what thou art now doing for the interests of my soul in thy kingdom. Thou settest before me, in both respects, the motives of the most sure and the most strong consolation; so that, in thee, I might have the fullest assurance of faith and hope. O work, if it be thy will, this rich consolation within me; for, without the effectual aid of thy power, I may reason upon these motives, but I cannot apprehend them; I may conclude for my mind, that they are true, but I shall not be able to apply their sweetness, strength, or truth to my heart. Lord, take thy poor servant's cause into thine own hand; plead it for him in the court of heaven; urge it upon him in the court of his own conscience on earth; let him feel the comfort of both in all the sorrows of his present state, so that no trial nor outrage from his enemies may be able to stagger his confidence in thee.

Though thou art in heaven, my Jesus, yet thou knowest where I am and whereof I am made; and thou rememberest, that I am but dust. O leave me not, neither forsake me; lest my own heart, without any thing else, and especially my own heart with ten thousand evil ones beside, draw me off from my only true hope to some wretched, stupid, corrupting refuge of lies! Intercede for me, as for Peter, that my faith fail not. He needed an advocate not more than I. O thou, that didst plead his cause with everlasting success, plead and take care of mine; that I, together with him, and all the clients of thy grace, may rejoice in thy goodness to my soul, and bless thy holy name for ever and ever!

CHAPTER XVI

THE LOVE OF THE FATHER.

IN this is manifested the love of God towards us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the word, that we might live through him. We could have had no life but through the Redeemer; and we could not have had him but through the tender love of the Father. Nothing more forcible can show the love of God towards us than this, that he should give up Christ to the deepest humiliation and sufferings for our rescue and redemption. Had there been any possible method of salvation besides this, consistent with the divine attributes; surely the bitter cup would have passed away from the blessed Jesus, and God would not have permitted him to drink it. But God did not, and therefore could not, in this case, spare his Son, but delivered him up to death for our sakes; and thus, in