favor and blessing. And while you confess the various symptoms of a diseased and corrupted heart, you are painfully convinced, that every sin has been immediately committed against that holy and gracious Being, whom you ought to have loved with all the powers of your soul. Thus you can take the comfort, that this applies to yourself. Convinced of sin, and feeling utterly helpless, the renewed soul looks simply to the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, "Mine eyes are ever toward the Lord; for He shall pluck my feet out of the net." "He cometh to the light" of the world for instruction, and righteousness, and for all that his soul needeth; and far from wishing to conceal his sin, he begs the Lord his Saviour to "Search him, and know his heart; to try him, and know his thoughts; to see if there be any wicked way in him, and to lead him in the way everlasting."

Now my friend you know well that all this describes your case. You know that you simply look to the Lord Jesus for help, that there is nothing you so much dread as self-deception, and that you wish to have your heart truly revealed to you by the light of God's spirit. This then, applies also to yourself.

Again, the child of God delights in his holy word, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart." You know dearest that you have experienced this. How often have you gone to your Bible as to a friend, and when you have "found" some words of comfort there, which particularly suited your state of mind, you have read them again and again, fed upon them as it were, till a hope that the promise would be realized to you, has sprung up in your heart. But the child of God not only reads the

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Bible for present comfort, he studies it for a holier purpose. "Thy word have I hid in my heart, that I might not sin against thee." "I will meditate in thy precepts."

In our Lord's own words "In an honest and good heart, having heard the word he keeps it, and brings forth fruit with patience." And this, dearest, pourtrays yourself. You have tried to treasure up the instructions you have received; you have sought to cover in the good seed by meditation and prayer; you have endeavoured to "keep" the holy exhortations you have heard, and for this express purpose, that they might be made the means of sanctifying your soul, and of keeping you from sin. And when you have failed in your desire to bring forth the fruits of meekness, love and holiness, with renewed earnestness and "patience," you again have sought the counsel and

aid of the Divine word, and again unweariedly commenced the struggle with your own evil nature.

In every trial and distress, the child of God looks to Jesus. "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge, and my fortress my God; in him will I trust." And oh dearest, how you are constrained to look to Him in every hour of sorrow! If at such a season you were prevented seeking the mercy-seat, the desolation and yearning of your heart would soon discover to you, that you had been accustomed to make it your refuge. This also then applies to you.

Another proof of being a child of God, appears in seeking happiness in Him, "The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." And you have long felt, that nothing below the love of God can satisfy and fill your heart.

Like the dove you have found this world a watery waste, having no resting place, and you have earnestly longed to have the Saviour for your portion, and heaven for your home.

But this spiritual portion hath no beauty in the eyes of the natural man. "The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." Therefore "you have received not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God, that you might know the things which are freely given to us of God." Thus a converted person is "a new creature, old things are passed away, behold, all things are become new." And you know well, that your own experience testifies to this. Once this world,-its pursuits, and pleasures, its cares, sorrows, and vanities, were all engrossing. Your thoughts and attention were absorbed by them. You ever obeyed the impulse of natural feeling, and yielded