hell: God cherisheth hope, as He is the lover of souls: Satan, our enemy, cherisheth despair, when his way of blind presumption faileth. As fear is a foretaste of evil, before it is felt; so hope doth anticipate and foretaste salvation, before it is possessed.”—Baxter.

"Our (spiritual) safety consists in due proportion of hope and fear. When devoid of hope, we resemble a ship without an anchor; when unrestrained by fear, we are like the same vessel under full sail, without ballast (1 Pet. i, 13—17). Indiscriminate censure of all fear as the result of unbelief, and unguarded commendations of strong confidence, without respect to the spirit and conduct of professors, not only leads to much self-deception, but also tend to make believers unstable, unwatchful, and even uncomfortable; for the humble often cannot attain to that confidence that is represented almost as essential to faith; and true comfort is the effect of watchfulness, diligence, and circumspection. Few lessons could possibly have been selected of greater importance, or more worthy of the Christian's study, than those which Bunyan has most ingeniously and agreeably introduced in the emblems of the Interpreter's house. The principle subjects which faithful ministers enforce publicly and in private, on all who begin to profess the Gospel, and which every true disciple of Christ daily seeks to have more clearly discovered to his mind, and more deeply impressed upon his heart, were there presented before the mind; and the comment of Christian, when the Interpreter asked him, 'Hast thou considered all these things?' was, 'Yes, and they put me in hope and fear.""-Rev. T. Scott.

"There is no grace whereof I find so general a want in myself and others, as an awful fear of the infinite majesty of God. Men are ready to profess and affect a kind of familiarity with God, out of a pretence of love, whereas, if they knew

Him aright, they could not think of Him without dread, nor name Him without trembling. Their narrow hearts strive to conceive of Him according to the scantling of their own strait and ignorant apprehensions; whereas they should only desire to have their thought swallowed up with an adoring wonder of His divine incomprehensibleness. Though He thunder not always, He is always equally dreadful. There is none of His works which doth not betray Omnipotency. I blush at the sauciness of vain men, that will be circumscribing the powerful acts of the Almighty within the compass of natural causes, forbearing to wonder at what they profess to know. Nothing but ignorance can be guilty of this boldness. There is no divinity but in an humble fear; no philosophy but in a silent admiration."-Bp. Hall.

"How blessed to remember that there is no hindrance in coming to our Lord, but that which our own fears suggest! His words are, 'Look unto me, all the ends of the earth, and be ye saved;' as if our Lord would speak to every individual between Himself and the isles that were very far off, and say to each, 'There is mercy for you; only look, and live.' And then, to encourage their approach, He says, 'Him that cometh I will in no wise cast out.' No extent of sin, no abuse of privileges, no real or imagined difficulty, can prevent. I, who have said the word, "Come unto me all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest,”I will fulfil my promise; it shall be done; only come, and ye shall have rest in your souls.' Oh! how sweet the promise! how sure the fulfilment! There is, indeed, no promise for to-morrow. We know not that when trials come there may be a moment given to come to Jesus; but should that moment graciously be afforded, do not despair, but think that, in love to your soul, and in answer to the many prayers offered for you, your Lord has watched over your course."J. H. Stewart.

"Fear produceth servile and unwilling performances, as those fruits which grow in winter, or in cold countries, are sour, unsavoury, and unconcocted; but those which grow in summer, or in hotter countries, by the warmth and influence of the sun, are sweet and wholesome, such is the difference between those fruits of obedience, which fear and which love produceth. The most formal principle of obedience is love; and the first beginnings of love in us unto God, arise from His mercies unto us being thankfully remembered.

"There are some affections and motions of the heart that do stop the mouth, are of cold, stupefactive, and constringent nature; as the sap stays and hides itself in the root while it is winter. Such is fear and extremity of grief. 'Come,' saith the prophet, let us enter into our defenced cities, and let us be silent, for the Lord our God hath put us to silence;' other affections open the mouth, are of an expansive and dilating nature, know not how to be straitened or suppressed; and of all these, joy and sense of God's mercy can least contain itself in the compass of our narrow breast, but will spread and communicate itself to others. A godly heart is, in this, like unto those flowers which shut when the sun sets, when the night comes; and open again when the sun returns and shines upon them. If God withdraw His favour, and send a night of affliction, they shut up themselves and their thoughts in silence; but if He shine again, and shed abroad the light and sense of His love upon them, then their heart and mouth are wide open towards heaven, in lifting up praises unto Him. Hannah prayed silently so long as she was in bitterness of soul, and of a sorrowful spirit, but as soon as God answered her prayers, and filled her heart with joy in Him, presently 'her mouth was enlarged' into a song of thanksgiving."-Bp. Reynolds.

VOL. I.

A A

354

LOVE.

"Now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity" 1 CORINTHIANS XIII, 13.

"THE great first cause, from whence man's salvation proceeds, is sovereign love, and all its blessings must be traced up to this source, to be fully enjoyed; no other doctrine will sufficiently humble the pride of man, and render to Jehovah the glory due to His name. Hence Moses is directed to assure Israel that their distinction and privileges as a nation, and as the Church of God, were not because they were more in number than any other people, but because the Lord loved them; and Jesus Himself advanced the same sentiment when He taught Nicodemus, and said, 'God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.'"-Irons.

"The grace and love of God, that in this matter the Scripture reveals to be exercised in order unto the forgiveness of sinners, consists principally in two things:-1. In His holy eternal purpose of providing a relief for lost sinners. He hath done it, 'to the praise of the glory of his grace' (Eph. i, 6). 2. In the sending His Son in the pursuit and for the accomplishment of the holy purpose of His will and

grace. Herein most eminently doth the Scripture celebrate the love, goodness, and kindness of God, as that whereby, in infinite and for ever to be adored wisdom and grace, He made a way for the forgiveness of our sins. John iii, 16, God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son.' Rom. iii, 25, Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation. through faith in His blood.' Rom. v, 8, 'God commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.' Tit. iii, 4; 1 John iv, 9, 10. Herein consists that ever to be adored love, goodness, grace, mercy, and condescension of God. Add hereunto, that, in the act of causing our iniquities to meet on Christ, wherein He immediately intended the declaration of His justice (Rom. iii, 25), 'Not sparing him, in delivering him up to the death for us all' (Rom. viii, 32), there was a blessed harmony in the highest justice, and most excellent grace and mercy. This grace, this goodness, this love of God towards mankind, towards sinners, our adversaries in this matter neither know nor understand; and so, indeed, what lies in them remove the foundation of the whole Gospel, and of all that faith and obedience which God requires at our hands."—Owen.

"The foundation of all mercies is free love. We do not first give to God that He may render to us again. We turn, we pray, we repent, we are holy, we are healed, only because He loves us; and He loves us, not because He sees anything lovely or amiable in us, but because He will show the absoluteness of His own will, and the unsearchableness of His own counsel, towards us. Our goodness is not the motive of His love; but His love the fountain of our goodness. None indeed are healed and saved, but those that repent and return; but repentance is only a condition, and that freely given by God, disposing the subject for salvation; not a cause moving or procuring God to save us. It is necessary as the means to the end; not as the cause to the effect.