men.

He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. This, we are expressly told, he spake of the Spirit, which they that believe on him should receive. Christ is the dispenser of this favor, as of every other gift of heaven, to guilty He bids them "COME TO HIM," and find full satisfaction for all their spiritual necessities. He is the Mediator between God and man, by whom alone we can come to the Father, and by whom alone the Father's mercy is conveyed to us. From a respect to his all-sufficient merits and atoning death, God can at once honorably acquit sinners of guilt, and bestow his Spirit to renew and purify them. Both blessings are held out together in the gospel testimony; both blessings are conferred on the same ground, and through the same medium; and both must be asked and received together by the guilty, as the gifts of the Father's mercy, and the fruits of the Saviour's death and intercession. If any man desire these blessings, he has only to ask in order to receive, and that without money and without price. But if he despise them, his is the sin and the soul-destroying folly, and he must

meet the consequences. If any man have not the Spirit of Christ he is none of his.---If ye live after the flesh YE SHALL DIE, but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, YE SHALL LIVE. And why should not every sinful soul live, when the means of life are thus set before us in all the fulness of divine liberality, recommended by the beseeching invitations of divine compassion? Why should the needy and the perishing not ask of Him who is ready to give them living water? Still the expostulation rises to the lips of all who have known from experience the soul-satisfying sweetness of spiritual good, and who know also that others have only to accept of it to be happy too-" Wherefore do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not ?" Oh how pitiable the thought of perishing amidst abundance, and descending to eternal death after the wondrous discovery of God's most unexpected mercy-mercy which meets our every want, and leaves to us nothing but to receive its benefits, and be happy forever! "Oh that my people had hearkened unto me,' said the Most High to a rebellious nation, "and

Israel had walked in my ways! The haters of the LORD should have submitted themselves unto him; but THEIR TIME SHOULD HAVE ENDURED FOREVER!" "As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel ?”

12

1

NOTES.

A. p. 47.

The necessity of perseverance in prayer springs from the very nature of our relation to God. We are dependant beings, and not only dependant but sinful; and thus are without spiritual strength, wherewith to perform our duty. From our very relation to God, then, arises the necessity of prayer; and so long as this relation continues, so long does the necessity of prayer continue. While the child is feeble and helpless, though it may continue for a long time so to be, it seeks aid and assistance from the parent; and while we are dependant on our heavenly Parent, we are under the same law. But this is often forgotten, and the devotions of the closet are neglected, and the services of the sanctuary become spiritless to us. No deep and living sense of dependance excites to constant ardor in petition;-no startling belief of our wants arouses the whole inner man to earnest supplication; and then the "strong crying and tears" and "the groanings that cannot be uttered" are supposed to belong to some strange and unusual occurrence, in our religious history. And because it is so, we become wearied with the same round of acknowl