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search of truth, but was still more and more embarrassed and miserable. At length, by the leading events of Providence, he was brought to an acquaintance with the glorious Gospel, and soon found, in the school of Christ, that certainty and that full satisfaction, which were elsewhere sought in vain. How much more sublime and desirable was the joy of Justin, in finding the knowledge of Christ, than the rapture of Archimedes, in solving his mathematical problem!

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Besides, when an awakened soul begins truly to know, it will learn firmly to trust Christ. They that know thy name will put their trust in thee." I grant it is not unusual for the sinner, under the alarms or pangs of conscious guilt, to try many vain expedients to procure a little temporary ease. Sometimes he endeavours to drown the recollection of the past, and the thought of the future, by plunging into that torrent of dissipation and folly, which hurries thousands into the gulph of utter ruin and despair. Wretched expedient! Gay companions, flattering amusements, and midnight revels, instead of assuaging, eventually increase the anguish of a troubled conscience. From this quarter he turns perhaps to the law of God, and resolves by fulfilling its commands to erect a fortress of security on the ground of his own righteouness. He hopes that

a punctual attendance on religious ordinances, deeds of charity to men, and acts of zeal for God, 'may atone for his follies, and furnish a passport for heaven. But as increasing discoveries are daily gained of the evil of sin, and the depravity of the heart; these, and all the other strong holds of legal hope, are forsaken, while the trembling transgressor anxiously cries, "What shall I do to be saved ?" In this state of deep concern, the sinner hears the testimonies and calls of the unerring word. "Kiss the Son, lest he be angry, and ye perish from the way, when his wrath is kindled but a little: blessed are all they that put their trust in him. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved. Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." The sinner lays hold on these delightful invitations and promises, crying, "Lord, I believe, help thou my unbelief." Here is found the only antidote to the poison of sin. Here the troubled heart gains quietness and assurance for ever. Here, after the failure of many false props, and the violence of many dashing billows, the soul finds a firm basis of confidence, and a sure anchor of hope. By two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope

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set before us." Heb. vi, 18, 19. None but those who have found what an evil and bitter thing sin is, and who have felt those arrows of the Almighty, the convictions of a wounded conscience, can tell the preciousness of Christ. O! says the believer, unto me, the chief of sinners, hath heavenly mercy extended the inestimable benefit of pardon, and the glorious hope of eternal life! "I cried unto the Lord, and he heard me. He hath in love to my soul delivered it from going down into the pit." Blessed Saviour! can I forget the hand which snatched me from everlasting burnings? Can I ever be insensible of thy tender compassion, and marvellous loving-kindness? O, how can I sufficiently feel my obligations, or magnify as I ought the grace, which bringeth salvation to such a rebel as I am?

Nor will there be an experimental knowledge of Christ, and a firm trust in him, without a pure and fervent love towards him.

Faith and love, as kindred graces, are united in their power on the heart. When the dignity, condescension, wisdom, power, and faithfulness of Christ are clearly discerned, the poor, perishable objects, which before possessed the chief share of the affections, lose their lustre, and cease to charm. “If any man love father or mother, wife or sister, house or lands, more than

me, he is not worthy of me," once perhaps appeared a hard saying, but it becomes easy to be understood, "when the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost." The young Christian often feels, in a high degree, the melting power and glowing ardour of holy love to Jesus. The sacred fire intensely burns on the altar of his heart, and sends forth the grateful odour of acceptable praise. All the desires and affections of his soul are drawn out and placed on things above, where" Christ sitteth on the right hand of God." Ask him at this time, while he is peculiarly alive to every warm and tender emotion, What think you of Christ? and he will reply,

"His worth, if all the nations knew,

Sure the whole earth would love him too.”

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How often, after the lapse of many years, does he mourn the languor of his affections, and feel applicable to his own case the reproof given to the church of Ephesus: "I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first love. Remember whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do thy first works," &c. How often does he wish he could recal those tender, ingenuous meltings of heart, and those lively, enrapturing transports he experienced in the day of his espousals,

when he put off the garments of mourning, to be girded with gladness. "Oh!" says he, "that it were with me as in months that are past! Then I could sometimes mount as on eagles' wings, and leaving the world behind, enjoy a calmer and purer region." How did the bright manifestations of my Saviour's glory eclipse the faded splendour of every inferior object! How did the tokens and fruits of his amazing love refresh my fainting spirit! While his free abounding grace filled every faculty, warmed every passion, and captivated every thought, my soul could adopt the glowing language of the poet :

"Thou, my all!

My theme! my inspiration! and my crown!
My soul's ambition! pleasure! wealth! my world!
My light in darkness! and my life in death!
My boast thro' time! bliss thro' eternity!
Eternity too short to speak thy praise,
Or fathom thy profound of love to man!
To man of men the meanest, even to me!
My sacrifice! my God!"

YOUNG.

Do you remember such a time of holy peace and heavenly joy? Then let the remembrance of the past quicken your diligence in the use of such means as are best adapted to revive your spirit. But perhaps, my reader, you never yet at any

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