The love of

the world, and the world to me. Christ constrains me. The time past is sufficient to have lived in vanity; henceforth I am the Lord's. He has bound me by his tender mercies to present myself, body and soul, to his service. Here, O Lord, I offer my whole self, all that I am,› and all that I have, a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to thee. O let me never, never wander from thee again, but walk in the light, as thou art in the light, and have communion with thee here below, till thou shalt remove me out of the reach of sin and sorrow for ever*.'

If there are any here who have neither known the loving kindness of the Lord, nor mourned under the sense of his displeasure, I am sure your. lips are closed to this hour. And should you die thus incapable of praising the God who made you, and the grace which has brought the sound of the Gospel to your ears, it were better for you that you had never been born t. You have much reason to cry out, " O Lord, open thou my lips." Open my eyes to see my danger, to see the evil of my nature and life. Open my lips to confess my wickedness. Open my heart to receive thy word, that I likewise may bear a part in the praises thy people pay thee, and not perish (as without thy mercy I must do) with a lie in my right hand t.-Consider, the time is short §; death is near, and may be sudden. May the Lord enable you to consider the things belonging to your peace, before they are hid from your eyes! And you, my friends, who at present enjoy the

Psal. cxvi. 14, 16, and xxxi. 5; Rom. vi. 1; Gal. ii. 20, and vi. 14; 2 Cor. v. 14; 1 Pet. iv. 3; Rom. xii. 1; 1 John i. 7. + Matth. xxvi. 24. Isa, xliv. 20, § 1 Cor. vii, 29,

Luke xix. 42.

light of God's countenance, who know your sins are forgiven for his name's sake, and have a happy freedom of access at a Throne of Grace, O be mindful of your privileges; beware of sin, beware of self, beware of Satan. Your enemy envies you your liberty: he watches you with subtilty and malice; he spreads snares for your feet; he desires to have advantage of you," that he may sift you as wheatt." Therefore be upon your guard, be humble, make much of secret prayer, keep close to the Scriptures of God-by the words of his lips you shall be preserved from the paths of the destroyer attend diligently upon the ordinances; and speak often one to another, in love and faithfulness, of what the Lord has done and prepared for you, and of what || manner of persons you ought to be, in all holy conversation and godliness. Thus you shall be kept safe from evil. Jesus has prayed for you, that your faith may not fail **. not fail **. Fix your eye†† and your heart upon him, as he that must do all for you, all in you, all by you. And he has said,

yet a little while, and, behold, I come quickly‡‡ Hold fast that which thou hast. Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. Amen. Even so, come Lord Jesus §§."

* 1 John ii. 12. § Mal. iii. 16. †† Heb. xii. 2.

+ Luke xxii. 31.

2 Pet. iii. 11.

Rev. i. 11.

Ps. xvii. 4. **Luke xxii. 32. SS Rev. ii. 10; xxii. 20.

A WELL-GROUNDED and abiding persuasion, not only that the doctrines of the Gospel are true in themselves, but that we through grace are surely and unchangeably interested in them, is highly desirable. If we may be safe, we cannot be happy and comfortable without it, when once we have received an experimental knowledge of the deceitfulness of our own hearts, and the variety, subtilty, and force of Satan's temptations: and He who knows our frame and situation, has, in his holy word, made a full provision for us in this respect, and declared it to be his intention, that those who flee for refuge to the hope he has set before them, might have strong consolation*; not be left at an uncertainty in a concern of the highest importance, but be rooted, grounded, established, and settled in the knowledge of his love, and be enabled to maintain it as an unshaken principle, through every change of dispensation and frame," that he who hath begun a good work in them will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ↑.

This animating confidence, so well suited, and so necessary, to render the soul superior to all the trials of life, to inspire a noble disdain of the sinful

* Heb. vi. 18.

Phil. i. 6.

pleasures and vain pursuits of the present evil world, and to engage the grateful exertion of every faculty and power in the service of God, is generally expressed by the word Assurance. But though the word is in frequent use, the thing itself has been, and still is, a subject of much dispute and controversy amongst professors of the Gospel. Many, not being conscious of such a cheering persuasion in themselves, and too hasty in supposing their attainments must be a standard to others, have ventured to deny the possibility of such an assurance, and treated every claim to it as visionary and enthusiastic. On the other hand, some have maintained the opposite extreme, and held assurance so essential to faith, that without it no person has a Scriptural warrant even to hope that a work of grace is begun in his heart. This sentiment, especially when asserted by persons of undoubted character for gifts, graces, and usefulness, has greatly startled and discouraged weak and feeble-minded souls, and been too often an occasion of adding to the distress of those who rather ought to have been comforted.

Great differences of judgment have likewise obtained concerning the means whereby, the manner in which, and the persons to whom, this assurance is communicated, supposing it attainable. It is not needful to insist on particulars. Perhaps, the best way to prevent or remove mistakes, is to propose the truth simply; which, so far as it takes place, will necessarily prevent the entertainment of error. I only mention in general, that there is a variety of sentiments on this point, and the most of them supported by respectable names, in order to caution you against paying too great a deference to human authority, and to urge you to praise God for your Bibles, and to be di

ligent in the perusal of them. If you search the Scriptures, and pray for the Spirit, you may arrive to a clear satisfaction for yourselves, no less than if all the learned were of one mind, and all of your side.

My text assures us, that this assurance was possessed in the first ages of the church. There were some who could say, without hesitation, "We know that we are of God;" and though they are an apostle's words, he uses them not exclusively as an apostle, but generally as a believer.

The greatest part of the chapter, and indeed of the Epistle, shews that he considers those to whom he was writing as partakers with him in the common privileges of Christians. So likewise St. Paul joins the believing Corinthians with himself, when he says, "We know, that, if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens*." And elsewhere he takes it for granted, that they (some of them at least) had this assurance, and presses them to a lively discharge of duty upon that consideration: "Forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord †.".

And we need make no scruple of affirming, from the fullest evidence, that this precious privilege was not confined, or designed by God to be so, to the first ages of the Gospel. There have been, in all periods of the church, where the word and ordinances of Christ have been faithfully administered, many who could say, "We know that we are of God;" and we trust there are more than a few who can say so, and give a solid Scriptural evidence of the hope that is in them, even