COME unto me, all ye that labour, and are heavy laden, and I will give you Reft, Mat. xi. 28.

Our only Remedy is, to have Recourfe to Jesus, the Friend of Sinners, under all our Troubles and Afflictions. How fweet is it, to have our Dependance on a GOD who comes to meet us, in order to follicit us to come to him! Sinners, wearied in the Ways of Iniquity, throw yourselves into the Bofom of this amiable Shepherd. JESUS excepts none, ALL are invited and urged to go to him. No Man goes to CHRIST without receiving Rest. He himself promises it, and fhall not we believe it? I would fain come to thee, O LORD; but as thou givest me the Will, be thou also my Guide, my Light, and my Strength, to conduct me to thyself.

Take
my poor Heart, and let it be
For ever clos'd to all but Thee:
Seal thou my Breaft, and let me wear
That Pledge of Love for ever there.
Reft of my weary Mind,

My burthen'd Spirit's Eafe
Coming to Thee I find:

First born of many Brethren Thou,
To Thee, lo! all our Souls we bow,
ToThee our Hearts and Hands we give,
Thine may we die, Thine may we live.

But gafp for perfect Peace
To live, of Holinefs poffeft,
To die into eternal Reft.

HE

E that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath faid, out of his Belly shall flow Rivers of living Water, John vii. 38.

He who has the Spirit of God, and a lively and obedient Faith, has within his Heart continual Springs of Grace leading to all good Works. If the Marks and Characters of Faith are not seen in our Life and Actions, it is undoubtedly either because there is no Faith at all in our Hearts, or be cause it is, if not quite dead, yet in a very declining Condition. The Water of Faith is not a standing Water, but a living Water, which runs perpetually. My God, vouchfafe to blefs thy Church, by fending it those Men of Faith, full of thy Spirit, whofe Hearts may overflow like Rivers, and bring a fruitful Inundation upon thy Field by their Labours, Prayers, Inftructions, and good Examples.

To us at thy Feet
The Comforter give,
Who gafp to admit

Thy Spirit and live:

The weakest Believers
Acknowledge for thine,

And fill us with Rivers
Of Water divine.

IN

N Chrift Jefus, ye, who fometimes were far off, are made nigh by the Blood of Christ, Eph. ii. 13.

A Creature, a Pleasure, a meer Nothing feparates us from God: And yet it coft CHRIST fo much to bring us nigh to him. Whoever is unwilling to return to God, after having offended him, little confiders the Value of that Blood which CHRIST gave for him. Let that precious Blood bring me nearer and nearer to Thee, O Lord, and unite me to Thee for ever.

And are we now brought near to God
Who once at Distance stood?
And to effect this glorious Change,
Did Jefus fhed his Blood?

O for a' Song of ardent Praise

To bear our Souls above! What fhould allay our lively Hope

Or damp our flaming Love? Draw us, O Lord,with quick'ning Grace And bring us yet more near :

Here may we see thy Glory fhine,

And tafte thy Mercies here.

O may that Love which spread thy Board
Difpofe us for the Feast:
May Faith behold a smiling God
Thro' Jefus bleeding Breaft.

Fir'd with the View,our Souls fhall rife
In fuch a Scene as this,
And view the happy Moment near,
That fhall compleat our Blifs.

Jan. 6.
WHEN they faw the Star, they rejoiced with exceeding

(6) Epiph. or Twelfth Day,

great Joy. Matt. ii. 10.

Though the Star be gone that led the wife Men, yet God hath not left us in the Dark. We have (as well as they) a Light in our Souls; which as the wife Man fays, Prov. xx. 27. is the Candle of the Lord; it fearcheth all Things below; but not in Heaven. It is no Star indeed, but a Candle; and (which is worst) it winks in the Socket too, and burns dim fince it fell in Adam. Yet, though it halt, (like Mephibofbeth after the Fall), it is of the Blood Royal, and fhould be regarded: For it proceeded from God; and by it we are capable of a greater Light, which God hath alfo given us. A Light! which they faw not as we do; and that is his written Word; which expreffes itself to us (as their Star did) to lead us to the LORD JESUS CHRIST,

Chrift is a Star! he breaks the Night, Nations rejoice when he appears,
Piercing the Shades with dawning Light To chafe theirClouds and dry their tears.
I know his Glories from afar,
O let me climb thofe higher Skies,
I know the bright, the Morning Star! Where Storms and Darknefs never rife,
He is a Sun: his Beams and Grace, There he difplays his Powers abroad,
His Courfe is Joy and Righteoufnefs, And shines,and reigns th'incarnate God!

MAfter, Mafter, we perish. Then he arofe, and rebuked the Wind, and the Raging of the Water; and they ceased, and there was a Calm, Luke viii. 24.

Let us but awake CHRIST by Prayer, when the Storm arises, and the Calmt will be immediately reftor'd to our Hearts. Let us make Prayer familiar to us; for without his Grace we are in Danger of perishing every Moment. When we have JESUS CHRIST at the Bottom of our Hearts, we have Reason to hope that Temptations will be no more than Trials, and that they will only ferve to awaken our Faith, to render us more watchful in Prayer, and to make the Almighty Power of his Grace manifeft in us. The illuftrious Manner in which it fhews itself in this Miracle, is an Emblem of That which Grace performs in gaining the Victory over Temptations. It is to Prayer that God joins these wonderful Effects.

What kind of Man is this?
Obey'd by Winds and Seas:
Whofe powerful Word controuls
The Tempeft in our Souls!

A Man, who built both Earth and Sky;
A Man, whofe Name is God most high!