The more I am absolv'd by him,

The more I do myself condemn (b).
When he in heav'n dooms me to dwell,
Then I adjudge myself to hell (c);
Yet still I to his judgment 'gree,

And clear him for absolving me (d).

(b) LUKE Xviii. 13. 14. And the publican standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner. I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for every one that exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself, shall be exalted. EZEK. Xxxvi. 31. 32. Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities, and for your abominations. Not for your sakes do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you; be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel. JER. XXXI. 19. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth.

(c) MATTH, xxv. 34. 35. 35. 37. 38. 39. Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meet; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? 1 COR. xi. 31. If we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged LUKE XV. 20. 21. And he [the prodigal son] arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him. And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. GEN. xxxii. 9. 10. And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the Lord which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee: I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordon, and now I am become two bands.

(d) PSAL li. 4. Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this

Thus he clears me, and I him clear,
I justify my justifier (e)

Let him condemn or justify,

From all injustice I him free (ƒ).·

evil in thy sight; that thou mightst be justified when thou speakest, and be clear when thou judgest. And x 7. The righteous Lord loveth righteousness, his countenance doth behold the upright. And cxlv. 16. 17. Thou openest thine hand, and satisfieth the desire of every living thing. The Lord is righteous in all his ways, and holy in all his works. REV. xv. 3. And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

(e) Rom. iii. 26. To declare, I say, at this time his righteousness; that he might be just, and the justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. Is. xlv. 21. There is no God else beside me, a just God and a saviour. v. 24. Surely, shall one say, In the Lord have I righteousness and strength. Chap. lxiii. 1. Who is this that cometh from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? this that is glorious in his apparel, travelling in the greatness of his strength? I that speak in righteousness, mighty to save. ZECH. ix. 9. Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; behold, thy king cometh unto thee; he is just, and having salvation, &c.

(f) JOB Xxv. 4. 5. 6. How then can man be justified with God?' or how can he be clean that is born of a woman? Behold even to the moon, and it shineth not; yea, the stars are not pure in his sight. How much less man that is a worm: and the son of man which is a worm? PSAL. lxxxix. 14. Justice and judgment are the habitation of thy throne mercy and truth shall go before thy face. And xcvii. 2. Clouds and darkness are round about him: righteousness and judgment are the habitation of his throne. Rom. iii. 19. 20. Now we know that what things soever the law saith, it saith to them who are under the law that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become guilty before God. Therefore, by the deeds of the law, there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin. v. 23. 24. 25. For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; being justified freely by his grace, through the redemption that is in Jesus Christ: whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God.. PSAL. xxii. 2. 3. O my God, I cry in the day-time, but thou hearest not; and in the night-season, and am not silent. But thou art holy,

thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel..

The mystery of Sanctification imperfect in this life; or the believer doing all, and doing nothing.

[INE arms embrace my God (a), yet I

MIN

Had never arms to reach so high (b);

His arm alone me holds (c,) yet lo,

I hold and will not let him go (d).

I do according to his call,

And yet not I, but he does all (e):

But though he works to will and do (f),
I without force work freely too (g).

(a) SONG iii. 4. It was but a little that I passed from them, but I found him whom my soul loveth; I held him, and would not let him go, until I had brought him into my mother's house, and into the chamber of her that conceived me.

(b) PSAL. Ixi. 2. From the end of the earth will I cry unto thee, when my heart is overwhelmed: lead me to the rock that is higher than I.

(c) PSAL. Ixiii. 8. My soul followeth hard after thee: thy right hand upholdeth me. Is. xli. 10. Fear thou not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God; I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.

(d) GEN. xxxii. 26. And he [the angel] said, Let me go, for the day breaketh: And he [Jacob] said, I will not let thee go, except thou bless me.

(e) 1 Cor. xv. 10. But by the grace of God I am what I am and his grace which was bestowed upon me, was not in vain ; but I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me. v. 58. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, foras ruch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.

(f) PHILIP. ii. 13. It is God which worketh in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure.

(g) PSAL. cx. 3. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power. cxvi. 16. O Lord truly I am thy servant, I am thy servant, and the son of thy housemaid: thou hast loosed my bonds.

His will and mine agree full well (h),
Yet disagree like heav'n and hell (¿).
His nature's mine (j), and mine is his (k);
Yet so was never that nor this (1).

I know him and his name, yet own

He and his name can ne'er be known (m).
His gracious coming makes me do;

I know he comes, yet know not how (n).

(h) MATTH. vi. 10. Thy will be done in earth as it is in heaven. PSAL. xl. 8. I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

(i) MATTH, xxi. 28. 29. A certain man had two sons, and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to-day in my vineyard. He answered and said, I will not, &c. JOHN. v. 40. Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life. MATTH. xxiii. 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! (j) 2 PET. i. 4. Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these you might be partakers of the divine

nature.

(k) HEB. ii. 14. Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same. v. 16. For verily he took not on him the nature of angels; but he took on him the seed of Abraham.

(7) Is. xl. 17. 18. All nations before him are as nothing, and they are counted to him less than nothing, and vanity. To whom then will ye liken God? or what likeness will ye compare unto him?

(m) PSAL. ix. 10. They that know thy name will put their trust in thee. PROV. xxx. 3. 4. I [Agur] neither learned wisdom, nor have the knowledge of the holy. Who hath ascended up into heaven, or descended? who hath gathered the wind in his fists? who hath bound the waters in a garment? who hath established all the ends of the earth? what is his name, and what is his son's name, if thou canst tell?

(n) SONG iv. 16. Awake, O north wind, and come, thou south, blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out: let my beloved come into his garden, and eat his pleasant fruits. JOHN iii. 8. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

I have no good but what he gave (0),
Yet he commends the good I have (p).
And though my good to him ascends (1),
My goodness to him ne'er extends (r),

I take hold of his cov'nant free (s),
But find it must take hold of me (t).

(0) 1 CHRON. xxix. 14. And David said, But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee. 2 COR. iii. 5. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of ourselves; but our sufficiency is of God.

(p) 2 Cor. x. 18. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. ROM. xii. 1. 2. I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

cxli.

(q) PSAL. XXV. 1. Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. 2. Let my prayer be set forth before thee as incense; and the lifting up of my hands, as the evening sacrifice. ЕPH. iii. 12. In whom [Christ Jesus] we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him. HEB. X. 19. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jseus, &c.

(r) PSAL. xvi. 2. O my soul, thou hast said unto the Lord, Thou art my Lord: my goodness extendeth not to thee.

(s) Is. lvi. 4. Thus saith the Lord unto the eunuchs that take hold of my covenant, &c. v. 6. Also the sons of the stranger, that join themselves to the Lord, to serve him, and to love the name of the Lord, to be his servants, every one that taketh hold of my covenant, &c.

(t) ZECH. i. 6. But my words and my statutes, which I commanded my servants the prophets, did they not take hold of your fathers? and they returned and said, Like as the Lord of hosts thought to do unto us, according to our ways, and according to our doings, so hath he dealt with us. PSAL. cx. 2. 3. The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, &c. ROM. i. 16. I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. 2 COR. ii. 16. To the other we are the savour of life unto life : and who is sufficient for these things?