4. A settling on one's lees under the DOCTRINES of grace, but unmindful of the PRECEPTS of the Bible-sound in doctrine, but far from sound in practice? Who has not known characters who will take a prominent position in connexion with the house of God, pray very fluently at the prayer-meetings, show a great deal of zeal, and yet, after all, whose home and business life but ill accords with the prayer and the profession. As dear Hart says:"Dry doctrine cannot save us, Blind zeal or false devotion; The feeblest prayer,

If faith be there,

Exceeds all empty notion."

Now, beloved, will our religion bear this probing? If it is genuine, blessed be God, it will; and one can say unhesitatingly, "No; whatever I am, I am not a hypocrite: behold, before God I lie not." We may know but little, but we can say of that little, "I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it but by the revelation of Jesus Christ." This is the religion we can understand; this is the assurance we want increased. Is there, then, any darling sin nurtured that is producing estrangement from the Lord? or is the fear of man inducing a worldly spirit? or is there the attempt to serve God and mammon, or a settling on the lees under the doctrines of grace, without due regard to the practice in the life? for these are the things which hinder one from realizing a settled peace. We would recommend, then, that this be the earnest inquiry: "What is it that hinders me from enjoying an increased measure of assurance in the covenant of grace ?" Find out honestly what it is. Methinks it is not difficult to discover it. Then go to the throne, tell the Lord you are determined to confess the truth, and, if it has been a darling sin that has been the hindrance, give it up. Oh, if what we have been led to record should bring one poor harassed fellow-pilgrim to a point, God be praised; may such examination lead to a purification! We have that precious promise of our God to encourage us: "The meek also shall increase their joy in the Lord, and the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel" (Isaiah xxix. 19).

And now let us, beloved, draw attention to

II. OUR SAVIOUR'S DECLARATION.

"Thine whole body also is full of light."

Full of what kind of light? Why, that light which shall bring to a more abiding assurance of the things the new-born soul wants and craves for. And what are these? Well, beloved, if we judge rightly, the children of God will want an increased assurance of

1. Their election.-The apostle knew the value of being well grounded in this precious doctrine, and therefore enjoins us to "make our calling and election sure." Not that it is not sure-nay, it is as sure as God can make it; but, if we want the comfort of it, we will not let our God rest concerning it until we feel He declares personally to us, "Thou art mine." We have Scripture authority for such confidence, which declares "But know that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly for Himself." Such also will want to be assured of

2. Their redemption.-Clearly is it asserted of the Lord's purchased ones, that in Him they have redemption through His blood, even the forgiveness of sins. And yet they often doubt it. But why doubt it? "Oh, my sins! my sins! you do not know what a sinner I have been."

The very reason you need Christ: "It is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief." "Ah, but my sins are so numerous, and their character so vile." "The precious blood of Jesus, which cleanseth from ALL sin:" that ALL must include them, that precious blood must cover them. And then the panting of the children of God will be to recognize,

3. Their adoption.-It is impossible to get anything like a calm assurance unless the spirit of adoption is cherished. A proper appreciation of relationship produces the happiest results. Let us feel truly that God is our Father," and we shall approach Him as His children. Oh, it does greatly strengthen one's faith to realize "our adoption;" as the apostle John so affectionately writes: "Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when He shall appear, we shall be like Him; for we shall see Him as He is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as He is pure."

4. Their salvation."I have not a doubt about salvation in Christ Jesus for poor sinners," say they; "but I want to feel that He has saved me-I have to face eternity soon. Am I a saved soul?" Momentous inquiry! May the Lord the Spirit, who alone can settle your mind upon this point, give you peace concerning it. Oh the calm of soul that is realized when one can go about one's daily duties, looking up and exclaiming with holy joy and tearful gratitude, "Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; He also is become my salvation." Beloved, we want you so to say and so to feel. And why not? It is Godhonouring to believe Him. Take Him at His word. Be not afraid. Believe only.

5. Their preservation throughout the pilgrimage.-Do we not find Christians who are brought to a peaceful assurance of their adoption in the Beloved, but who are exercised deeply about the body and its wants, fearing if it is tolerably well with them now in this respect, yet the time will assuredly come when they will be brought into great straits? Well, 'tis time enough surely to misgive when that time comes; and, when it does, if ever it should, they will find the name of their God to be Jehovah-jireh: and they may depend upon it, that He who hath done the greater, namely, saved the soul, will provide all that is needful for the body. The bodies of God's saints are as much in His hands as their souls. Then, again, they need strengthening in the assurance

6. Of a glorious resurrection.-The way to be delivered from fearing the depths and darkness of Jordan, is to look by faith beyond it. When the pilgrims came to the borders of Jordan they asked the two men in raiment that shone like gold, if the water was all of a depth? They said, "No; for," said they, "you shall find it deeper or shallower as you believe in the king of the place." Poor Job in the midst of all his trials seemed to look forward to a glorious resurrection, which anticipation doubtless greatly cheered his heart. "I know," he says, "that my Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God." And now what will be the effect of this increased measure of assurance? Where enjoyed and realized there will be,

(1.) Calmness with regard to temporals.-Surely we have had proof enough of the Lord's goodness to us, as a God of Providence, to cause us not to doubt Him, but to believe that He will provide all that is needful for us

the rest of the journey; and yet we do find ourselves again and again mistrusting. Oh, for that measure of reassurance that will bring us to say and feel,

"I know not what may soon betide,
Or how my wants shall be supplied,
But Jesus knows, and will provide.

Oh, this is blessed confidence-a state of mind highly desirable to attain unto! Then it will bring also to

(2.) Comfort in the season of affliction.-It is sweet, when flesh and heart faileth, to be able to add, "But God is the strength of my heart and my portion for ever." And nothing but our lovely Jesus will do when heart and flesh does fail; and this we must all come to. Flesh failing is flesh trying; no arm but Jesus will do then. There must be much to distress us as we pass onwards and homewards, and the thing that will most lift us up above wilderness-care and affliction is the precious assurance that Jesus is ours and we are His. It cannot long be smooth work for the heir of glory. Possibly it would be for his harm if it were. But, oh, how soothing in the season of trial,

"Then, then to have recourse to God,

To pour a prayer in time of need,
And feel the balm of Jesus' blood,
This is to find a friend indeed!"

And, then, a settled assurance of our salvation brings

(3.) Composure in the hour of death.-"Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me." "I have no raptures," said a dear dying saint, "but I have no fears; for the cross and atonement of Christ are my all-sufficient ground of hope and joy." "I a am dying," said a departed sister in Christ, "dying in the truths I have so often heard with delight; they are all my support now. I have no fears now; my soul is happy, happy; I am going to be with Jesus." Beloved, this is being "full of light," because the eye is then single, fixed upon a precious Christ; and this is really the gist of our subject. If we would run well, let the eye be fixed upon Jesus. Let us cast aside the weight of a doubting mind, and in life and death look to Him. God grant us that singleness of eye that brings us to the apostle's declaration, "I am determined to know nothing among men but Jesus Christ and Him crucified."

And, then, assurance is strengthened by looking back to some memorable season in past experience, when the manifestation of Jesus has been precious to the soul, and the Spirit did convince one of his relationship to Jesus. "It may be dearth and deadness of soul now, but surely then it was delight and brightness. I cannot be deceived about it: it was genuine. That precious sermon that was blessed to my soul at a time when I was greatly cast down; that blessed word which came home with such power; that sweet visit of my Lord when He broke in upon my soul, and that sanctified melting of heart, which must have been the work of the Spirit-no, I can never forget those sacred seasons; and the remembrance of them must assure me that He who began such a gracious and glorious

work, will carry it on and carry me through, and that grace shall be consummated in an eternal weight of glory

"The mountains and hills He will melt,

The sea and the skies shall depart,
But those who His kindness have felt
He'll never, no never desert.'

One thought more for the encouragement of the one who earnestly desires to be brought into this state of assurance of which we have written. Beloved, such desires are to be found nowhere but in the heart of a child of God; and recollect that assurance is not to be jumped at in a moment -if it be hastily grasped, its genuineness may be doubted; no, it is the work of years. A child cannot say, "Father" for some time after its birth, and a child of God may be a long time ere he can say, "Abba, Father." And then, after all, be it recollected, our safety for eternity does not depend upon our measure of peace by the way, but upon the power of Him who has promised to save. If He fails, we shall fail, and not without. Assurance is the result of regeneration and not the cause. And now, in conclusion, beloved, suffer us to say, in this age of conflicting opinions it is most desirable not to be "soon shaken in mind," but to have an abiding and settled peace concerning the fundamentals of our most holy religion and of one's personal interest in them. One's heart sickens at abounding errors, the prelude, we think, of a mighty sifting time for the Church, which is close at hand. May the Lord strengthen your faith in Him. May He give you a greater measure of assurance than you have ever before realized, and may He preserve you unto His heavenly kingdom, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Ilford.

So prays earnestly yours in this hope,

G. C.

A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF DR. DODDRIDGE. ABOUT the middle of the seventeenth century there was at the free-school of Kingston-upon-Thames, as head master, a very remarkable man, named John Bauman. He had left his native country, Prague (from which the Elector Palatine and his Christian queen, Elizabeth of England, had been driven), out of love to the Protestant cause, at that time under the Roman Catholic yoke of persecution. Although abounding in this world's goods, he forsook them all for the sake of Christ; and it is recorded of him that "he withdrew on foot in the habit of a peasant, carrying with him nothing but a hundred broad pieces of gold, plaited in a leathern girdle, and a Bible of Luther's translation." Mr. Bauman the first night after he commenced his journey, left his girdle behind him at the inn in which he lay, and did not miss it until he came to another inn the next evening. Upon this he immediately went back to his former lodgings, with the united painful apprehension of being met by pursuers, and of not having the good fortune to recover his substance. When he arrived at the inn he inquired of the chambermaid if she had seen a girdle which he had left in his chamber. She informed him that she had seen it, but that, imagining it to be of no value, had thrown it away, and could not recollect where. After having told her that he had a great value for his old belt, and that he would reward her for finding it, she searched diligently, and at length found it in a hole under the stairs where the family used to throw their useless furniture. The good man

received his girdle with great joy and pursued his journey, thankful to Providence for the recovery. This event he often spoke of to his friends as an extraordinary and seasonable mercy. Faithful John Bauman died at Kingston in 1668, leaving one only child, a daughter, who in afteryears became the mother of Dr. Doddridge, that mother of renown, who taught her little boy at five years' old the whole of the history of the Old and New Testament from Dutch tiles upon the chimney corner of their sitting-room; and to this early but simple training her son, so eminently useful in his day, traced the first dawn of light and grace in his own soul. His father, an oilman in London, was heir-at-law to a large estate, inherited from his uncle, a judge in the reign of James I.; but, from the hazard and trouble attendant on the recovery of the property, Daniel Doddridge was content to resign his claim to £2,000 a year, and live upon the profits of his trade. Philip was the youngest of twenty children, all of whom, with the exception of one sister, died in infancy. At his birth no signs of life appeared, and the infant was thrown aside as dead; when one of the attendants, fancying she saw him breathe, was the means in the hands of Him in whom "we live and move and have our being," of preserving a life destined to be of much blessing to the Church of God. But from the cradle to the grave he was sickly; and, on the return of every birthday, his gratitude was always expressed in his diary that his life had been prolonged another year. Both his parents died when he was a child, and on being informed of the death of his father, when he was nine years' old, he exclaimed, "God is an Immortal Father-my soul rejoiceth in Him." In after-years, when preaching a sermon entitled "The orphan's hope," he made this pithy remark, "I know the heart of an orphan." At the age of thirteen Philip was sent to a private school at St. Albans, and while there a great trial befel him in the loss of all his property, through the mismanagement of the person entrusted with it. But "the silver and the gold are the Lord's," either to give or take away, and a godly friend was raised up for him in Dr. Samuel Clarke, the well-known author of "Scripture Promises," under whose generous care he was enabled to proceed with his studies and preparation for the ministry; but, from his limited means, there seemed little prospect of the desire being accomplished. The Duchess of Bedford having heard of his Christian character and talents, offered to send him at her own expense to either of the universities, and ultimately provide for him. This Philip Doddridge, from conscientious scruples, gratefully declined, and applied to Dr. Calamy, the noted dissenting divine of that period, respecting his ministerial education; but the Doctor endeavoured to dissuade him altogether in the matter, and, much discouraged, he turned his attention. to the law, and was about to commence its study, when he determined once more to seek divine direction; so he fell on his kness in earnest, importunate prayer that the Lord would direct his choice and choose for him. Just then the postman knocked at the door with a letter from Dr. Clarke, offering to take him entirely under his care if he still desired to become a minister. Thankfully the offer was accepted; and he writes in his diary on the occasion, "This I look upon almost as an answer from heaven, and while I live shall always adore so seasonable an interposition of Divine Providence. I have always sought God's direction in all this matter, and hope I have had it. My only view in my choice hath been that of more extensive service, and I begged God would make me an instrument of doing much good in the world."