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upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a new Spirit will I put within you; and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them." As far as we are strangers to this practice, and to these dispositions, whatever our knowledge or our assurance may be, we ought to tremble. For though the grace of God finds us sinners, it does not leave us such. While it "bringeth salvation," it teaches us "that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present evil world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

JULY 9.-" And it came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his disciples.' Luke xi. 1.

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THOUGH "One" of the disciples said this, we have no reason to think the rest differed from him. He was the mouth for them all. When our Lord said to the twelve, Will ye also go away? Peter answeredbut it was in the name of his brethren; and expressed the conviction of each of them-" Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life."

It is very probable he was the speaker here: for his heart was always in his mouth. But whoever the speaker was, every thing here was praiseworthy.

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I admire his decorum. Some are satisfied with the moralities of conduct; but there are the proprieties too; and these are not to be overlooked. "Let every thing be done," says the Scripture, "decently, and in order." This should be peculiarly the case in our holy assemblies. Let us guard against every thing that is unseemly, and disturbing. Let us avoid coughing as much as we can. us not look and stare all over the House of God. Let us not talk or whisper. Let us beware of coming in during the service. How painful and injurious is it to the preacher and worshipper to be interrupted and diverted in those sacred moments in which we ought to attend on the Lord without distraction. Observe these disciples. They surrounded our Saviour while he was engaged-but with breathless silence; and did not break in upon his devotion-but waited till he had "ceased praying."

I admire his emulation. Having heard his Master, he began to say, Well, this is prayer. What dignity! What wisdom! What reverence! What submission! What fervour! According to this, we have never prayed yet-Lord, teach us to pray. Indeed, the more we attend on him in any thing, the less shall we think of ourselves. The beams of this Sun will soon darken our tapers.

I admire his wish to resemble what he so much admired. We should always endeavour to improve by the superior endowments and excellencies of others. These should not excite envy, or yield discouragement; but excite to imitation. What others are, they are by grace; they are by grace; and when we see how any of our fellow-Christians bear prosperity, or endure affliction, or fill up their stations; we should be anxious to follow them, even as they follow Christ.

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I admire his spiritual wisdom. Some wish to resemble others in worldly possessions; or bodily qualities; or mental endowments and acquisitions. But it is better to resemble them in grace, than in any of these. Many would rule, or compose, or speak, like others; but the thing is, to pray like them. It is by prayer we hold communion with God. It is by this we unlock all his treasures. He that knows how to pray, has the secret of safety in prosperity, and of support in trouble. He has the art of overruling every enemy, and of turning every loss into a gain. He has the power of soothing every care; of subduing every passion; of adding a relish to every enjoyment-The merchandise of it is better than the merchandise of silver; and the gain thereof, than much fine gold. Many things are good for me; but none so good as to draw nigh to God.

I admire his humility. He is convinced that they are not sufficient of themselves for the duty, but need Divine aid. We want instruction in every thing. The way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps: but we peculiarly need guidance here. The Spirit helpeth our infirmities, says the Apostle; for we know not what to pray for as we ought. The best of men have erred in their prayer. Take my life from me, says Elijah, in the very midst of his usefulness. İ beseech Thee, says Moses, shew me thy glory. You ask for death, says God; for no man can see me, and live. "And James and John, the sons of Zebedee, come unto him, saying, Master, we would that thou shouldest do for us whatsoever we shall desire. And he said unto them, What would ye that I should do for you? They said unto him, Grant unto us that we may sit, one on thy right hand, and the other on thy left hand, in thy glory. But Jesus said unto them, Ye know not what ye ask can ye drink of the cup that I drink of? and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized

with?" What would children be-how miserablehow useless-what burdens to themselves-and what plagues to others, if they had whatsoever they desired! As to temporal blessings, it is hard to distinguish between our real and our imaginary wants; and between what is pleasing, and what is profitable. And even as to spiritual things-we never see their beauty and glory, so as to desire them supremely, till the Lord teaches us to profit. Nor do we know of ourselves how to come before the Lord, and deal concerning them. Under a sense of guilt, and a concern to obtain acceptance, what strange expedients do we often adopt; and what a self-righteous traffic do we carry on, before we come to the blood of sprinkling, and make mention of his righteousness only.-We may also err, as to our end and aim. We often ask, and receive not, because we ask amiss, that we may consume it upon our lusts.

-"An easy thing to pray"!!! Who that has made the trial, and is concerned for the result of it, but exclaims, with Elihu, "Teach us what we shall say unto Him; for we cannot order our speech by reason of darkness"? Lord, teach us to pray.

JULY 10." Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." 2 Cor. ix. 15.

We have always been accustomed to think of Christ when these words are pronounced: and we are not disposed to give up this application without necessity. And we see no such necessity-if we appeal to authority: for, not to mention many of the ancients, this application is supported by many of the moderns also; by a Henry, a Scott, a Doddridge. And we see no such

necessity-if we refer to to the writer of the words. Paul's mind was full of Christ; and the love of Christ constrained him: and nothing is more common in his Epistles than sudden and unlooked-for allusions to him. To which we may add, the nature of the case itself: for if the words would apply to the charity of the Corinthians, how much stronger will they apply to the Saviour of sinners! And though we would do justice to every part of the Scripture, we would yet rather be followers of Cocceius than Crellius, of whom, as expositors of the Bible, it was said, the one found Christ every where, the other no-where.

God then (this is the meaning) so loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life-and he is not only a gift, but an UNSPEAKABLE gift. Much has indeed been said of this gift-in Christian conversation; in the sermons of ministers; in the preaching of Prophets and Apostles; in the Scriptures of Truth, of which it is the principal, and, in a sense, the only subject. But it is not in the power of words to do it justice. And we see how even inspired men labour for terms and images, when they would hold forth a little of the Saviour's glory.

He is a gift unspeakable-if we consider the greatness of his person. We consider him a man of sorrows: but he was not always so. He was born in the fulness of time: but his goings forth were from of old from everlasting. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

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Unspeakable-if we consider the immensity of the plenitude which he possesses, as Mediator, for our use. Some things include many more. What an unspeakable blessing is a fountain, being the

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