terest in him for them; pleading the everlasting covenant, with the promises thereof. Here I will endeavour to open this mysterious grace, as it is actually manifested to the soul in real experience. There is none of the Lord's people on earth without sin. And every one of them knows, by experience, the bitterness of spirit which is occasioned by feeling the plague of their own hearts. There are seasons when they are overcome by, and fall into sin. Then Satan is busy with his accusations, and their spirits are overwhelmed. They betake themselves to the Lord Jesus, and fall down before him acknowledging what they have done. Grief on every hand surrounds them. It is given them to consider, though their present case, evil, and wound, may be of a deep dye, and of a peculiar nature, attended with it may be very aggravating circumstances; yet Christ is what he was before to them, their Saviour. Though in their experience they feel themselves most awfully defiled; yet they are not even now so black as Jésus beheld them, when he undertook for them, and saw

them actually to be when he underwent soul travail for them. Which consideration, as suggested to their minds by the Holy Spirit of God, enables them to pray the Lord Jesus Christ to look upon them, and be merciful to them, as he hath been used to do to such as believe on him. To act now towards them according to his own heart which burned with love to them, when they were " in their sins, and in their blood." And as he bore their sins in his own body on the tree, and his soul was then oppressed with the imputation of that very particular guilt which now lies on their minds, he would be pleased to give them present relief from it, by creating fresh thoughts, and giving them fresh views of the everlasting cleansing, healing, purging, pardoning, justifying, sanctifying virtue of his bloodshedding, and oblation of himself for them. While they are thus addressing Christ, he by his Eternal Spirit within them, gives them such conceptions of himself as "the High Priest of their profession," as leads them by faith to view him in heaven, as their everlasting

healer and purifier. Which encourages them to approach him with all their fulness of inward sin and defilement, viewing him in the fulness of his worth and worthiness, grace and fulness, as infinitely exceeding and surpassing them in the meanness of their persons, and demerit of their sins. By which means, through the influence of the Holy Ghost, the efficacy of Christ's death and mediation is so gloriously, freely, and powerfully revealed to them, and their faith so distinctly exercised on it, that they inwardly feel, truly, and spiritually in themselves, the virtue of Christ's blood, and experience fresh peace and pardon flowing therefrom, to the comfort of their minds, and quieting of their consciences. Thus they are brought in their inward thoughts to see and perceive the allprevailing advocacy of Christ, which is founded upon his righteousness and blood, to be their all-sufficient security to defend and shelter them from all the malicious accusations of the enemy, to render them useless and unsuccessful. So that now Christ's advocateship ap

Christ in their affections and estimation highly honourable, their All in All. Now the Lord Jesus being well acquainted with the interest they have in his Father's heart for love, and how highly honourable they are in his view and esteem, this as considered by Christ, is made use of by him, as motives and reasons to rebuke Satan, and defend them.

And here I would be understood to conceive Christ's intercession founded upon the counsel of the eternal Three; and that in the dischage of it within the veil, there is by this means a bringing to remembrance as it were, the utmost depths of that counsel. As may appear if you read, and enter spiritually in the seventeenth chapter of John's gospel; which may be well styled an original copy of our Lord's acts for us within the veil. Here a question may be asked; seeing election of persons is an eternal and internal act in the will of God, and Christ's intercession which is the fruit of his salvation is only on their behalf; how are such to act, who have not the immediate testimony of the Spirit witnessing with their spirits

that they are the children of God? See ing that this sacred witness may, and doth suspend his testimony when believers are in the sinful cases we have been speaking of! At least he leaves them without the powerful belief and comfort of it! I answer, seeing it remains an eternal irrevocable act in the mind and will of God, and Christ/knows each, and all of those persons whom the Father gave to him, whose sins he bore, and for whom he intercedes: let them therefore cast themselves upon the belief of his immutable verity, praying him to deal with them according to it. And let them learn to leave the decision of this great point with himself, to shine upon, and manifest himself to them, and give them a sense of their personal interest in himself just when, and as he pleases. Let them also in such high and holy exercises, watch diligently, and mark attentively what holy motions are raised in their souls; and what secrets Christ is pleased to impart unto them. If they find by a passive resignation of themselves to God, it is the desire of their souls to be dealt with