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to a fixed settlement, then thou wilt be enabled to go on comfortably, whatever thy frames and feelings be: yea, when these are at the lowest ebb, thou wilt not be thereby discouraged. Suppose thou art walking in darkness, thou canst walk by faith; because thou hast a promise, "Who is among you that walketh in darkness and hath no light? Let him trust in the name of the Lord, and stay upon his God,” Isa. l. 10. Still let him trust and believe. Why? Because God is his God still. Mind that, his God still; this blessed relation still subsists, and faith may draw comfort from it in the darkest hour. Suppose thou art in heaviness through manifold temptations-the word says to thee, "heaviness may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning;" here thou mayest quiet thy heavy heart, and rest with confidence, till the Lord deliver thee out of thy temptations. Suppose God hideth his face from thee, thou hast the example of those in the same case, "I will wait for the Lord that hideth his face from the house of Jacob, and will look for him,'

Isa. viii. 17. Wait in faith, looking for him, and thou shalt see the light of his countenance. Suppose all other comforts fail; thou hast one still, worth more than all"This God is my God for ever and ever. He will never leave me nor forsake me." This is the happiness of the true believer ; he is enabled to maintain his confidence, when sensible feelings are no more. And thou seest, reader, how this happiness is attained, and how it is preserved. It is by trusting to things which change not, the word of God, the Son of God, and his promises; all which are in him, yea, made in him, and in him, Amen; fulfilled by him. May the Lord help thee simply to trust his word, and to live upon Christ for the fulfilling of it; and then thou wilt indeed get, what thou art now seeking in vain, a comfortable frame; and wilt be enabled to maintain it against all the discouragements of sense. To that end search the scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation; and let it be thy daily request to the Lord, to make thee strong in faith, that thou may

est not stagger at his promises through unbelief, but mayest against hope believe in hope. Beg of him, when sense goes contrary to the word, to enable thee still to believe it, and not to doubt of Christ's faithfulness to fulfil it-and ask for strength to walk every moment by faith and not by sight. Thus the Lord will carry thee on safely and sweetly from faith to faith, till thou receive the end of thy faith, even the salvation of thy soul. May it be so. Amen.

St. Paul has been my guide hitherto. He says, Heb. v. 13. that a babe in Christ is one who is unskilful in the word of righteousness. To this determination of his, I have had an eye all along, and have accordingly endeavoured to remove those hindrances out of the way of young beginners, which chiefly arise from their unskil fulness in the word of righteousness. Righteousness signifies strict justice; with respect to God it is paying him the full demands of his holy law in this sense there is none of us righteous, no not one. The God-man Christ Jesus, the sure

ty of his people, came to work out such a righteousness for them, and the word reveals it, sets it before them in its infinite freeness, and in its infinite sufficiency to justify from all things. The word is also the means in the hand of the Spirit, of bringing them with the heart to believe unto righteousness, and therefore the scripture is called the word of righteousness; and being unskilful in it signifies want of experience in the management of it, unskilful in the knowledge of the person of the Lord our righteousness, who is true and very God, as well as true and very man; unskilful in the nature of his righteousness, that it is absolutely perfect and everlastingly meritorious; so that any sinner by receiving it will be not only delivered from sin, and all the miseries due to sin, but will also be entitled to life and glory; unskilful in the gift of righteousness, how freely God bestows it, nothing being required to make it the sinner's, but receiving it, and therefore it is called the righteousness of faith: because by faith he trusts in it for salva

tion, and for all its blessings in earth and heaven, and expects them as the fruits of righteousness-unskilful in experience, not knowing how to plead this righteousness against the charges of the law, of conscience, and of the accuser of the brethren; and therefore apt to fall into a legal spirit, to be distressed in their warfare between the old man and the new; and to covet and to rely more upon sensible feelings, than upon the sure testimony of God in his word. These are some of the principal difficulties, which young believers meet with, and they all arise from their unskilfulness in the word of righteousness; and therefore I have particularly considered some scripture motives for removing them out of the way. And after thou hast perused these motives, have they been the means of settling thy judgment, comforting thy conscience, and strengthening thy faith? Dost thou see more of Christ's grace and power to save thee, a sinner, than thou didst before, and therefore canst trust him better, and in time of need make morę use of his promised grace? If this be thy

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