thine enemies on the cross. I have led captivity captive, and received gifts for men, even the promise of the Father, that the Lord God the Spirit may dwell in them. At my command, the great, the evangelical trumpet, is blown, and they that are ready to perish in the land of Assyria, and the outcasts in the land of Egypt, do come, and are welcome to Mount Sion. Hasten with them, thou captive exile, hasten to me, that thou mayest be loosed, and that thou shouldest not die in the horrible pit of thy natural state.

"Thy helplessness is no hinderance to my lovingkindness: I break not the bruised reed, I quench not the smoking flax: I uphold all that fall, I raise up all those that are bowed down: I say to the priso ners, Go forth; and to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves: I strengthen the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees: I say to them, that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not; behold, I will come with vengeance and a recompence, I will come and save you.

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My tender mercies are over all my works. When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue faileth for thirst; I the Lord will hear them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. I will open rivers in high places. I will make the wilderness a pool, and the dry lands springs of water.

"It is true, thou hast sinned with a high hand, both against thy light, and against my love; but how shall I give thee up, Ephraim? how shall I deliver thee, sinner? How shall I make thee as Admah, and set thee as Zeboim, those rebellious cities on which I poured my flaming vengeance? My heart is turned within me, my repentings are kindled together. I will not destroy thee; for I am God, and not man. I have seen thy ways, and will heal and lead thee; and restore comfort to thee; for I create the fruit of the lips. Peace! peace to him that is afar off, and to him that is near, I will heal him.

"Thou hast not chosen me, but I have chosen thee; thou art my servant; fear not, for I am with

thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God. My strength is sufficient for thee; I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. They that war against thee shall be as nothing; for I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, and make my strength perfect in thy weakness. I will bring thee by a way thou hast not known. I will make darkness light before thee, and crooked paths straight: when thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee, and when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee; for I am the Lord, thy Saviour, and thy God. I have carried thee from the womb, and even to hoary hairs will I bear and deliver thee.

"Therefore hear now this, thou afflicted and drunken, but not with wine; I will not contend for ever, neither will I be always wroth; lest the spirit should fail before me, and the soul which I have made. I turn the water of affliction into the wine of consolation. Behold, I take out of thy hand the cup of trembling, even the dregs of the cup of my fury; thou shalt no more drink it again; I will put it into the hand of them that afflict thy soul: and, in the room of it, I give thee the cup of the new testament in my blood, shed for the remission of sins: it is now ready, draw near, drink thou of it, and taste that I am gracious.

"Come near, that I may speak a word in season to thy weary spirit. Why standest thou afar off? Come near, I say, that my soul may bless thee. Let me show thee my glory, and proclaim my soul-reviving name: "The Lord! the Lord God! merciful and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, and forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin!" Let me wash thy heart from iniquity, guilty sinner; for unless I wash thee, thou hast no part with me. Unless thou art

born again of water and of the Spirit, thou canst not see the kingdom of God. But this is the covenant of promise which I make with thee: I will sprinkle

clean water upon thee, and thou shalt be clean: a new heart will I give thee, and a new spirit, even my own Spirit, will I put within thee, and thou shalt be com pletely born of God; and at that day thou shalt know that I am in the Father, and thou in me, and I in thee.

"Who is he that condemneth? It is I, who died for thy sins, yea, rather, who rose again for thy justifi cation, who am even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for thee. The same compassionate love, that made me weep over ungrateful Jerusalem, and groan over dead Lazarus, made me bleed and die for thee. O that in this thy day, thou mayest know the things that belong unto thy peace, and the efficacy of that sacrifice, by which I have for ever perfected them that are sanctified! O that unbelief, so injurious to me, and so pernicious to thee, may no longer hide my love from thine eyes!

"What! afraid of my purity! Art thou ready to cry out as my apostle, "Depart from me, O Lord, for I am a sinful man?" And dost thou tremble at my words as a criminal at the sentence of his judge? O, be of good cheer, it is I, be not afraid. Am not I thy light and strength, thy shield and buckler, thy tower and resting place, thy strong hold whereunto thou mayest always resort, thy castle and fortress, the horn also of thy salvation, and thy refuge? As for thy sins, if thou desirest to part with them, they will no more hinder me from visiting thee, than the sickness of a patient prevents a physician from giving him his attendance.

I know thou art a sinner-a great sinner; for this cause I came down from heaven to Bethlehem to Gethsemane-to Calvary. I know thine iniquities are more in number than the hairs of thy head; like a sore burden, they are too heavy for thee to bear; and therefore have I borne them for thee in my own body on the tree. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance; I am the man that receiveth sinners, and eateth with them; I am the friend of returning publicans and harlots: all manner of sins and

blasphemies shall be forgiven them through faith in my blood: God was in me reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and now, I beseech thee, be thou (for one) reconciled to God; for in me God is reconciled to thee, thy sin is covered, and thine iniquity forgiven..

"Great as thy crimes are, poor mourner in Zion, I upbraid thee not with them; my infinitely meritorious sacrifice hath long ago atoned for their beinousness, and I now cast the mantle of my pardoning love over their multitude: thou art ashamed of them, and shall I be ashamed of thee?-Far be the thought from thee-I glory in extending my boundless mercy to such miserable objects as thou art. This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that I came into the world to save sinners: and if, with my servant Paul, thou seest thyself the chief of them, let me do the chief part of the errand on which I came; look unto me-partake with him of my richest salvation-lose thy cares in the bosom of my mercyand receive the atonement I made for thee; but receive it now: for I have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I succour ed thee: behold, now is the accepted time; behold," now is the day of salvation, the day in which I bind up the breach of my people, and heal the stroke of their wound.

"Whence arise, O poor sinner, thy backwardness and misgivings? I have ransomed thee from the power of the grave, and thou art mine: I come to heal thee, and reveal to thee the abundance of peace and truth: . I bring thee a cure for thy wounded conscience, and saving health for thy sin-distempered soul!

"In a little wrath, and for a small moment, I have hid my face from thee; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee: for I am the Lord the Redeemer. Believe it, and faith will work by love, and love will cast out fear; thus shalt thou take hold of my strength, that thou mayest make peace with me; and thou shalt make peace with me; and T ́am strength to the needy in his distress, a hiding-place

from the wind, a covert from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, and as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.

"Come then, be not of them that draw back from me to perdition, but of them who believe to the saving of the soul. Far from casting away thy little confidence, which hath great recompence of reward, hold it fast; resist even unto blood, striving against the damning sin of unbelief; trust in me for ever, for in me, Jehovah thy righteousness, is everlasting strength; and let me no longer complain, that thou (one of my oppressed people in spiritual Egypt) wilt have none of me, and wilt not even come to me, that thou mightest have life more abundantly.

"Not by works of righteousness which thou hast done, but according to my mercy, I saved thee. I am the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. What my gracious purpose planned before time, I have executed in time. My life and death have completed the wonderful bridge, by which thou canst go over the great deep fixed between a holy God and thy sinful soul. Concerning a main arch of this mighty work, with one of my last breaths I said, It is finished; and I now confirm the glad tidings with regard to the whole. With my right hand, and with my holy arm, I have gotten myself the victory, and parted for thee, not the waves of the Red Sea, but the dreadful billows of the fiery gulph. And now I return to see thee safe over. Leave only the world and sin behind, and, walking by faith, follow me through the regeneration to a throne of glory.

"Whence arises, sinner, this backwardness to trust in my promise, and venture after me? Dost thou suspect the sincerity of my tenders of grace? And by thinking, that I secretly except thee from my mercy, when I offer it thee openly, dost thou still make me a dissembler, a liar? O wrong me not so far. I am the Truth itself; I abhor dissimulation in my creatures: and I, that say a man should not use deceit, shall I use deceit? shall I have concord with Belial? Shall there