warning, reasoning and expostulating with me, threatening me, and lamenting over me. But when he called, I refused! when he stretched out his hand I disregarded. He poured out his spirit-many of my companions became serious I paused and became thoughtful. But still I loved sin, and soon said to my convictions, "go your way for this time, when I have a more convenient season, I will send for you." He visited me with alarming providences; death snatched my friends from me, and disease threatened his approach to me. I trembled, I wished to die the death of the righteous; but I refused to give God my heart. I besought him to remove his hand from me, and promised amendment. He heard me, and granted my request; but I forgot his goodness and my promises, and returned to carelessness and sin. My heart became harder, my mind blinder, and my conscience less tender. O wonder of patience! that I was born with and not cut down in my sins!

The Lord would not give me up; but continued to call me, and sent his Spirit to accompany the call with his Almighty, and irresistible influences. Then, like the prodigal, I came to myself, and saw my wretchedness. I saw myself walking the broad way to destruction. I heard the law of God pronouncing its curses against me; and felt a load of guilt pressing down my soul into woe. Then my anxiety was excited in earnest; and I cried, "what shall I do to be saved."-I then feared that the day of grace might possibly be past-I read, and heard, and prayed, and reformed; but could find no comfort. I heard the law rigorously demanding satisfaction for the past, and perfect obedience in future. I heard of the gospel plan of salvation; but my mind was blind, I could not understand it. My heart was proud,

tremendous wrath of Almighty God! who can bear the ceaseless agonies of the second death!

But the Lord has justified my guilty soul. He has pardoned all my sins. By the operations of his holy spirit, enlightening my mind, and renewing my will, he enabled me to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ; and believing on him, my faith was counted for righteousness," Rom. iv. 5. By faith I apprehended the Saviour, and renouncing every other hope, I trusted to his merits alone for salvation. In consequence, agreeably to his promise-not for any good works of mine; for so far from having any good works to recommend me, I deserved God's eternal wrath-not for any merit in my faith; for this was the gift of God ;-but of his free mercy, he imputed the righteousness of Christ unto me; and for the sake of this righteousness, he pardoned all my sins -he annulled the sentence of the law against me which had doomed me to eternal death-he delivered me from the law as a covenant of life, and placed me under the covenant of grace. And truly I can say with David, " blesed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered; blessed is the man unto whom the Lord imputeth not iniquity," Psalm xxxii. 1, 2.

Further, for the sake of Christ, and through union to him by faith, the Lord has not only pardoned my sins; but he has done more he has accepted me as righteous, and received me into favour. He has not only delivered my soul from hell; but has also given me a title to everlasting life. What riches of grace has he manifested in the justification of such a guilty, hell-deserving sinner! Let us unite in, more fervently, adoring and loving him, and unreservedly devoting ourselves to him.

5. The christian may say again, "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare he hath" adopted "my soul" He hath not only pardoned my sins and accepted me as righteous; but he hath also received me into the number of his children. He condescends to call me his son, and permits me to call him, my Father-He loves me with a paternal love-yea, with a love infinitely greater and more tender than an earthly parent is capable of. And he has admitted me to the privileges of this high relation. With the tenderness and care of a father, he instructs me, provides for, corrects and protects me. "He hath sent forth the spirit of his Son into my heart, crying, Abba, Father," Gal. iv. 6 "I have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but the spirit of adoption, whereby I cry Abba, Father. The spirit itself beareth witness with my spirit that I am a child of God: and if a child, then an heir; an heir of God, and a joint heir with Christ," Rom. viii. 15, 16, 17. and all things are mine; whether Paul, or Apollos, or Cephas, or the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come," 1 Cor. iii. 21, 22. Fellow-christian! what amazing love is this? The Lord hath not only pardoned me; but he hath received me into his special favour-He hath admitted me into his family; and this, too, not as a servant, but as a son; and he hath made me an heir of heaven, and of all things.-Truly we who are the subjects of this love, have reason to exelaim with the Apostle John-Behold! what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God:-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," 1 John iii. 1, 2.

6. The christian, speaking of his experience, may fur ther say, "Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare, he hath" sanctifled my soul." By nature I was totally polluted, estranged from God, unfit for communion with him and the enjoyment of him, and wholly indisposed, and unable to do any thing really good and acceptable in his sight. In regeneration, the spirit of God gave me a new nature: he implanted a principle of spiritual life within me : this was the beginning of that work of sanctification, which he has ever since earried on. Although grace was implanted in my soul, the seeds of sin still remained, and tempted me to disobedience, backsliding and apostacy. But through the influences of the spirit, accompanying the means of grace, I have been kept from yielding the dominion of my soul unto my corrupt propensities; and, although, alas! with shame I have reason to speak it, I have too often yielded to the corruptions of my own wicked heart, and dishonored my God and Saviour; yet I humbly hope, sin has been mortified in my soul, and its influence gradually weakened, that I have a more pure and deep hatred of sin, and that I am filled with an increasing desire to be entirely delivered from it.

But this is not all that the Lord has done in the work of sanctification: he has by his spirit, not only mortified sin, but he has preserved and quickened grace, and caused me to "grow in grace," through the operations of his spirit. I humbly hope I have been enabled, not only more and more to die unto sin, but also to rise unto newness of life, and live unto righteousness, although I was regenerated, and then had a principle of spiritual life implanted in my soul; yet if God had left me then to myself, I should soon have relapsed, and yielded the