Lord; speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto her, That her warfare is accomplished, and her iniquity is pardoned; for, in me, she hath received of the Lord's hand double for all her sins. He is well pleased for my righteousness' sake, I have magnified the law, and make it honourable: I have been lifted up, and now I draw all men unto me. My delights are with the sons of men, and therefore am I exalted, that I may have mercy upon them. Behold, I come with a strong hand; my reward is with me, and my work before me. Every valley shall be exalted, every mountain and hill shall be made low; the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain: my glory shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.

"Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness; I bring near my righteousness, it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry. Seek ye me while I may be found, call upon me while I am near: return unto me, and I will have mercy upon you; and though ye have only done evil before me from your youth, I will abundantly pardon: for my thoughts are not revengeful as your thoughts, nor my ways unloving as your ways: in me ye shall be saved with an everlasting salvation.

"Come therefore unto me, all ye that travail and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest: my yoke is easy, my burden light, and my rest glorious. Ho!

*This part of the address is almost literally transcribed from the scripture, and it is designed for none but Mourners in Sion, dejected sinners, who are backward to come to Christ that they may have life. These want line upon line, and invitation upon invitation; and it is well if, after all, they are encouraged to come. As for full souls, I know they will loath this honey-comb. But while they complain it has too many cells, and "they are filled with the same thing; some poor hungry hearts will say, "One thing is needful for us. We cannot have too much virgin honey; its sweets makes amends for the want of variety. If the manna falls abundantly round our tents, it will stir us up to praise, and not to murmur. Fulness of the bread of life will not make us. wax fat and kick like Jeshurun, but bless God for his rich profusion. With the disciples, we shall even gather the fragments, that nothing be lost.”

every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money: come ye, buy and eat all that can revive, strengthen, and delight your souls; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Wherefore do ye spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, eat that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; I will make an everlasting covenaut with you, even the sure mercies of David, and ye shall all know me, from the least to the greatest: for 1 will forgive your iniquity, and remember your

sin no more.

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'Oh, if thou knewest the gift of God, wretched sinner, and who it is that saith unto thee, If any man thirst, let him come to me and drink, thou wouldst have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water; a well, a fountain of it, would have sprung up in thee unto everlasting life; yea, out of thy belly, thy inmost soul, rivers of living water, the greatest abundance of the purest joy, would have flowed for ever. I, even I, am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions for my own sake, and will not remember thy sins: I will guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought; and thou shalt be like a watered garden, or like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail.

"O how often would I have gathered thee in years past, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings! How often would I have led thee, as an eagle fluttereth over her young, spreading abroad her wings, taketh them, and beareth them! but thou wouldst not. Nevertheless, this is still the day of my power, mercy, and love: I pardon those whom I reserve, and I will yet be pacified towards thee, for all that thou hast done. I was angry with thee, but mine anger is turned away; my thoughts towards thee are thoughts of peace, and I am become thy salvation. Come then, let us now reason together, and though thy sins be as

scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Why does not thy drooping heart, O sinner, leap for joy, or melt with gratitude, at these tender invitations of thy Saviour? Thinkest thou, they do not belong to thee? Dost thou suppose, that Jesus, who is all purity and holiness, must turn away with abhorrence from such a guilty, polluted, and abominable creature, as thou art?-one so void of all good, so full of all evil, so completely lost and undone, as thon seest thyself? Art thou afraid that thy relapses into sin have been so frequent, and thy backslidings so multiplied, that hope, which comes to all, can no more come to thee? Or does the enemy of thy soul suggest thou art careless, hardened, or sunk in stupid unbelief? Does he insinuate, thou hast so long trifled with divine grace, art gone such lengths in horrid wickedness, or hast contracted such unconquerable habits of indulging thy carnal mind, or following thy vain imaginations, that infi nite mercy can no longer pardon thy sins, or infinite power change thy nature? Art thou even tempted to believe thou hast committed the sin against the Holy Ghost, and art almost, if not altogether, given up to a reprobate mind? O check those gloomy, despairing thoughts; resist the devil; and give place to more true and honourable sentiments of Jesus.

Is

Wherefore dost thou doubt, O thou of little faith? any thing too hard for the Lord? Are not all things possible with God? Can the Almighty, who became incarnate to die, as man in thy place, want either ability or willingness to help thee, be thy case ever so deplorable and desperate? Are not darkness or light, sickness or death, all one to him, who is the light of the world, and the Prince of life; and who with a word or touch raised the dead, whether they were yet warm on a bed, or cold in a coffin, or already putrified in a grave?

Confine not then, poor dejected sinner, thy Saviour's boundless mercy within the narrow limits of thy un

believing thoughts. Get scriptural views of his pardoning love, and true discoveries of his redeeming power. To guess aright at the prodigious extent of his mercy, lift up the dim eyes of thy struggling faith, and behold a great multitude, which no man can number, standing before the throne, with their robes washed and made white in the blood of the Lamb.

Among those countless monuments of divine mercy, those illustrious trophies of free grace, see David, who, after having been admitted to close communion with God, plunged for ten months in the horrible guilt of adultery, treachery, hypocrisy, and murder!-See Paul, once so fierce an enemy to the truth, so fiery a blasphemer of Jesus, so raging a persecutor of the saints, that his very breath was threatenings and slaughter against them!-See, Peter, who after a great profession of faithfulness, and upon an apparently slight temptation, denied three times his Master, his Saviour, and his God, in his very presencePeter, guilty of lying, cursing, and perjury; immediately after he had been apprised of the imminent temptation, and armed against it, both by receiving the holy sacrament at our Lord's own hand, and being admitted to see his wonderful agony, and glorious miracles! These and thousands more agree to tell thee, For this cause we obtained mercy, that in us first Jesus Christ might shew forth all long-suffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.

If all these witnesses do not silence thy doubts, and encourage thy hopes, Jesus himself, the faithful and true witness, will yet plead the cause of his dying love, against thy unbelieving fears: thy gracious Advocate with God, will yet be God's condescending Advocate with thee. Olet thy clamorous conscience keep silence, while he preaches to thee the everlasting gospel of his grace. And if to-day thou hearest his voice, harden not your heart, come out of the cave of unbelief, wrap thyself in the mantle of divine mercy, and worship the pardoning God, the God of neverfailing truth and everlasting love.

Gracious Saviour! make thine own words spirit and life to the soul thou hast formed by thy breath, and purchased with thy blood.-Blessed Comforter! while thy precious sayings strike the eyes of this hope less Reader, let the love which thou sheddest abroad, soften, melt, and revive, his poor oppressed heart, and let salvation come this day to the house of a son or daughter of Abraham! A touch, a breath from thee, will break the bars of iron, burst the gates of brass, and make the everlasting doors lift up their heads, that the King of glory may come in.

Who is this King of Glory? Who is this, that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this, that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength?

"I, that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. I have trodden the wine-press alone, mine own arm hath brought salvation unto me, salvation for the lost: it is gone forth; my righteousness is near; the isles shall wait on me, and on my arm shall they trust. The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me: he hath anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, to comfort all that mourn, and by the blood of the covenant to send forth the prisoners out of the pit where there is no water.

"Fear not therefore, thou worm Jacob; I am the first and the last, he that liveth and was dead, and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Yes, I ever live to make intercession for thee; and because I live, thou shalt live also. All power is given, all judgment is committed to me in heaven and earth: I have the keys of death and hell: a Jonah, who cries to me out of the very belly of hell, is not out of the reach of my gracious and omnipotent arm.

"Who art thou that hast feared continually every day, because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? I, even I, am he that comforteth thee. I bring glad tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. I have triumphed over al