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life are appointed us, and we are called to give up, or perhaps to pluck out, a right eye, it is an easy matter for a stander-by to say, "Be comforted;" and it is as useless as easy;-but a view of Jesus by faith comes home to the point. When we can fix our thoughts upon him, as laying aside all his honours, and submitting, for our sakes, to drink off the bitter cup of the wrath of God to the very dregs; and when we further consider, that he who thus suffered in our nature, who knows and sympathizes with all our weakness, is now the Supreme Disposer of all that concerns us, that he numbers the very hairs of our heads, appoints every trial we meet with in number, weight, and measure, and will suffer nothing to befall us but what shall contribute to our good; this view, I say, is a medicine suited to the disease, and powerfully reconciles us unto every cross. So when a sense of sin prevails, and the tempter is permitted to assault us with dark and dreadful suggestions, it is easy for us to say, "Be not afraid;" but those who have tried, well know that looking to Jesus is the only and sure remedy in this case;-if we can get a sight of him by faith, as he once hung between the two thieves, and as he now pleads within the vail, then we can defy sin and Satan, and give our challenge in the apostle's words, "Who is he "that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea, ra"ther, that is risen again; who also maketh intercession for us:" (Romans, viii. 34.) Again, are we almost afraid of being swallowed up by our many restless enemies? Or, are we almost weary of our long pilgrimage through such a thorny, tedious, barren wilderness? A sight of Jesus, as Stephen saw him, crowned with glory, yet noticing all the sufferings of his poor servants, and just ready to receive them to himself, and make them partakers of his

THE

WORKS

OF THE

REV. JOHN NEWTON,

LATE RECTOR OF THE UNITED PARISHES OF ST. MARY WOOLNOTH,

AND

ST. MARY WOOLCHURCH HAW, LONDON:

WITH

MEMOIRS OF THE AUTHOR,

AND GENERAL REMARKS ON HIS LIFE, CONNECTIONS,
AND CHARACTER;

BY THE

REV. RICHARD CECIL, M. A.

THIRD EDITION.

IN SIX VOLUMES.

VOL. VI.

LONDON:

PRINTED FOR HAMILTON, ADAMS, AND CO.,

33, PATERNOSTER ROW.

M.DCCCXXIV.

in every time of trouble; seeing likewise that he himself was a man of sorrow, and acquainted with grief for our sakes. He drank off the full cup of unmixed wrath for us; shall we then refuse to taste of the cup of affliction at his appointment; especially when his wisdom and love prepare it for us, and proportion every circumstance to our strength; when he puts it into our hands, not in anger, but in tender mercy, to do us good, to bring us near to himself; and when he sweetens every bitter draught with those comforts which none but he can give? Let us rather say, None of these things move us, neither do we count any thing on this side eternity dear, so that we may finish our course with joy, and run with patience the race which is set before us.

The time is short:-the world is passing away; all its cares and all its vanities will soon be at an end. Yet a little while, and we shall see him who has found a way to make us love him, though we have not yet beheld him," we shall see him as he "is," every vail will be taken away, every seeming frown be removed from his face, and every tear wiped away from our's. We shall also be like him. Even now, when we contemplate his glory as shining in the glass of the Gospel, we feel ourselves, in some measure, transformed into the same image; what a sudden, wonderful, and abiding change shall we then experience, when he shall shine directly, immediately, and eternally, upon our souls, without one interposing cloud between! Because he lives, we shall live also:-because he shines, we likewise shall shine forth as the sun, in our Saviour's brightness; then shall we sing with understanding those glorious songs, Isaiah, xii. lxi. 10. Revelations, v. 9, and vii. 10, without one jarring note, or one wandering thought for ever.

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