seen the Father, which he truly and properly represented, The Godhead could not be subject to human infirmities, sufferings, and death; yet it was necessary that man's Redeemer should experience all these; and they were known through the human nature in the person of Christ. In our afflictions he was afflicted; he was circumcised, baptized, tempted, hungered, thirsted, was weary, and slept; was sor rowful, wept, and endured great and agonizing pain; shed his precious blood and died. But what was it that rendered both his active and passive righteousness meritorious? It was the Godhead which stamped such a value upon all his actions: without this, and his miraculous conception, he would have been a mere man, could neither have merited nor conferred grace; nor could any one have believed in him, without incurring the displeasure of him who says, "Cursed be the man that maketh flesh his arm." Oh how precious is this consideration to an awakened conscience! While the sneering infidel, the unhumbled formalist, the conceited moralist, or abandoned sinner, either makes light of his person, or opposes him, the real penitent sees him an all-sufficient Saviour, and casts his guilty soul, and all his cares and fears upon his merits, and trusts his all into his gracious hands.

Nor does a real penitent feel less interested in the various names and titles given to the Lord Jesus; those three especially, Prophet, Priest, and King: as making known the will of his Father, and communicating by himself and his servants all the information requisite for holy walking with God; as making atonement for our sins, reconciling the Father to us, and pleading our cause in heaven; and as ruling and governing all things in the most just and equitable manner, saving those that confide in him from all their enemies, and making them partakers of the blessings and benefits of his kingdom. In short they begin to view him as "the chief among ten thousand, and as altogether lovely;" none in heaven, or in earth being worthy to be compared with him; the greatest, wisest, and best, among angels or men, possessing not

a thousandth part of the grace and excellencies found in him.

5. A clearer view of the evil of sin.-No description that can be given of sin to the eye or ear of man, can ever discover the evil and pollution of it, as it appears to the awakened conscience by the Spirit of truth and holiness. It is then that the sinner cries out, "I am vile," and dares scarcely lift up his eyes towards his much offended God. Then we see ourselves more loathsome than can be expressed. We regard our past offences with horror, and condemn our impiety in our religious exercises, where we have asked for blessings which we neither wanted nor believed attainable, returning thanks for mercies we never received, forming resolutions and making vows we intended not to keep or observe; and for all the self-complacency, ignorance, and hypocrisy we have discovered in any form, or been guilty of at any time, We no longer wonder why the apostle and others like him, who knew their own hearts better than those of others, should call themselves "the chief of sinners;" the sight of our sins, and especially of our beloved besetting sin, that so frequently carried our hearts away from God, and caused us, while we trembled at the consequences, to shut our ears to all his calls and warnings, now constrains us to adopt the same language. We look around us, and see the world lying in wickedness, regardless of their characters and dead to God, glorying in their shame; others idolizing their's, striving to wash the Ethiopian white, cleansing the outside of the cup, wearing the mask of virtue, substituting superstition for piety, making devotion a pause in their pleasures, attending the places of worship with the same taste and design, and perhaps with the same motives as the places of mirth and varied amusement; we see these things, and are shocked both at their folly, misconduct and irreligion, and at our own. We feel that the seeds of all evil are in us, and are only prevented from shooting suddenly up, and bearing their pernicious fruit in abundance, by the restraints under which we lie from God

or man. We love sin, tremble at the consequences, and while we tremble readily fall into its snares. We see that God is displeased at it, acknowledge that we are weak and wicked in committing it, and yield again to the first seducing temptation; and feel ready to wish that God would on such occasions forget us, and assist us to forget him. The treachery and deceitfulness of the heart in submitting to these evil propensities are glaring, and its readiness to fall into temptation, after repeated checks of conscience, and fears of hell, is truly astonishing; and it is probable that though many are found, who have turned to God from an affecting view of his kindness and compassion, yet the greater number of the saved were first wrought upon by the dread of hell to seek for mercy, that afterwards glorified him from a nobler principle. Thus by the light of heaven we discern both our own weakness, and the hateful nature of sin; and in the same proportion as we see these, we see the justice of God in punishing sin, and readily acknowledge that if he were to deal with us as we deserve, he would be just in excluding us from his presence, and in shutting us up in the prison of hell, in darkness and eternal despair. Such views may alarm and create much sorrow of mind: they are however highly necessary, because they prepare the awakened sinner for the more eager reception of the converting grace of God, and induce him to form

A DELIBERATE CHOICE OF PIETY.

FROM what observations have been already made on sin, and its awful consequences, with the advantages arising from the knowledge and service of God, the necessity of giving a decided preference to him and his ways, strikingly appears. This choice of piety on our part being as necessary as illumination on his, till this is done we shall continue weak and irresolute, sin will be too powerful for us, and the tempter will keep us in his snares: but when the resolution is once formed, in the strength of divine grace, to choose with Mary the better part; or, as the psalmist expresses it, "When

thou saidst, Seek ye my face," our hearts reply, "Thy face, Lord, will we seek ;" then there is a fair prospect of our be. coming truly religious. He that would take the kingdom of heaven by holy violence had need to understand the value of its treasures, and oppose himself in good earnest to all that would hinder him in his attempt to take possession. To choose God, who is the supreme good, is true wisdom; and as it is his will that we should choose him for our portion, so he would have us do it with all our hearts; that is, he would have it to be voluntary, full, and fixed; expressive of the high value we set upon so great a favour, and of our determination to renounce all that has usurped his throne in our hearts, that we may cleave to him alone. The Lord will not pour his spiritual blessings on the double minded, for he is a jealous God: he will have no idols in his temple: he requires the heart, the whole heart, for he will suffer no rivals; and hence we see the necessity of being sincere and resolute in our choice of him and his holy ways.

1. Our own minds will require it.-Our natural instability in worldly concerns is not overcome but by powerful motives -pleasure, profit, want, or such like things, till the mind has contracted certain habits; and even then, something of the like impressions are required to preserve such habits; and if this is frequently the case in things more congenial with our carnal hearts, how much more ought we to be firm in our choice where religion is concerned; that no love of sin, no false reasonings, no principles of infidelity, no false shame, no desire to please others, nor any cause whatever, may divert us from our purpose of taking God for our portion! Religion contains in itself the strongest of all motives to determine our choice and conduct; and to these we should yield up ourselves entirely. What stronger inducements can there be to determine our choice of God, than a participation of his favour, the influence of his Spirit, receiving his holy image, power to glorify him according to his revealed will, peace here, and heaven hereafter? Who can form a just and proper estimate of such religion? Its value is

immense, especially if we consider the means adopted to render us capable of receiving it, and the inexpressibly glorious effects which flow from it to its real possessors eternally. Its worth cannot be fully understood by the capacities of angels: they are utterly inadequate to the task, it being only known by him whose gift it is. It is the pearl of great price, the one thing needful, for the attainment of which all should be willing gladly to part with all that would prevent them from experiencing it in all its power and fulness. What though this choice necessarily draws after it dispositions of mind entirely different from our former ones: if they are such as are holy and heavenly, will it not prove a most beneficial exchange? When we felt an opposition to the Divine law and its spiritual meaning, its sharp reproofs, full demands, and dreadful threatenings, all standing opposed to our love of sin, what were then the workings of our hearts? Would it not have been better if they had been of a very different kind? For instance, our pride wanted to be gratified without controul in every way, to attract the notice of others, to draw forth their praise, secure their esteem or applause; or that might pain them in seeing themselves outvied by our talents, appearances, or success. How much better will it be for us when, by choosing the fear of the Lord, we feel that humility of mind which will lead us to wonder why any should notice us with respect, receive advice from our lips, desire our company, or copy our example; and which will lead us to seek not the praise of men, but the commendation of our God, and not suffer us willingly to pain the minds of others by any part of our behaviour, or in the exercise of any part of our talents, which we shall then ascribe to God, and for which we shall give him all the praise.-Our revenge wished for unrestrained liberty, that the offending party might feel our vengeance, in wishes, words, and deeds, to teach them better manners than to contradict us, dispute with, or oppose us, or discover the least imaginable want of attention to our persons and concerns, All this will be superseded by meekness and