bly by it till the day dawn, and the day ftar arife in your heart.*—Hafte, my beloved, towards the things which eye hath not feen ;t and, ere the eter❝nal day break, and the present shadows flée away, run with patience the race fet before you, looking unto Jesus +-How will my cup overflow to meet you among those who daily come hither out of great tribulation: and, having 6 washed their robes in the blood of the 'Lamb, ferve him day and night in his temple !'§ Embrace every method God hath recommended for maintaining communion with him, and obtaining relief from him. -The various ordinances of his House, the encouragements of his Word, the fociety of his children, and, efpecially, Prayer. Often fpeak to him who feeth * 2 Pet. i. 19. + 1 Cor. ii. 9. in in fecret,* and is nigh unto all that call upon him, though, with the Woman of Canaan, you can only fay, 'Lord help me.'-Not only an high commendation, but a miracle followed her requeft. She urged it under the greatest difcouragements, but you have both a command and a promife, Call upon me in the day of trouble, I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me.'S And, while you fearch the Scriptures, and attend the Church, you will at once be inftructed and encouraged by marking in both thofe footsteps which we lately confidered.-They are, indeed, not fo explicit in the latter; but attention to the fcriptural account of the Christian character, will greatly affift you in distinguishing real Christians from thofe who, equally forward and corrupt, Matt. vi. 18. + Pf. cxlv. 18. have have at all times affumed their name, and mixed in their fociety, to their grief and fcandal.*-Leaving these unhappy exceptions to their proper Judge, follow the unerring Rule he has put into your hand, and thofe who walk by it; particularly, fuch as are your companions in affliction. You will fee them paffing before you with not only the fame wounds in their hearts, but almost the fame words in their lips.-Study their courfe; mark their progrefs; obferve how they held his arm, pleaded at his throne, repofed in his bofom, and magnified his truth, who walked with them in a furnace which, like that of the three children, burnt nothing but. their bonds.t But who is fufficient for thefe things * Phil. iii. 18, 19. + Dan. iii. 25. A A fourth direction will ferve for a reply. To improve the opportunity you difcern, and to keep pace with thofe you approve, SEEK DIVINE ASSISTANCE; or, as St. Paul has expreffed it, 'be strong in the grace that is in Chrift "Jefus.* If, on the one hand, Religion has vaft proposals to make; on the other, to be truly religious is a mighty Aim, and can be accomplished only through HIM that loved us.† Oppofing omnipotence to difficulty, was their fe eret, who fo gloriously overcame a world that was not worthy of them: read their hiftory in the 11th chapter of the Hebrews, and fee what an implicit reliance, called Faith,-a feeing him who is invifible, will perform. That invaluable record feems to fay, 'Our fathers trufted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them: they * 2 Tim, ii. 1... Rom. viii. 37. G trufted * trusted in thee, and were not confound "ed.'t We are, indeed, called to aim and to act, and have the greatest promises annexed to the endeavour: but are as frequently reminded that we are not sufficient of ourselves to think any thing as of our felves, but that our fufficiency is of God.t Chrift encourages no one to advance on the ground of his own Strength, any more than on that of his own defert: he is as jealous of the power of his Arm as of the merit of his Blood. He admitted infirmity and mifery to be prefented as a complaint, but never as an objection.-I have obferved it not uncommon for this to be a feason of peculiar temptation; a spiritual enemy ftands ready to defeat every fpiritual opportunity but our help is near, and our example, in fuch conflicts, excellent. * Pf. xxii. 4, 5. 2 Cor. iii. 5. For |