Unto you, therefore, which believe, he is precious. 1 Pet. ii. 7.

READER, put these following questions to thine own heart, as in the presence of God; if thou canst answer them affirmatively, doubt not thy real interest in him, and in his great salvation: Is the Lord Jesus Christ precious to me, as he is to all that believe? Once he was to me without form or comeliness, and I saw no beauty in him; is he now to me the chief of ten thousands, yea, altogether lovely? Do I behold an infinite amiableness and glory in his person, a transcendent excellency in his righteousness, an inexhausted fulness in his grace, and a heaven of happiness in his love? Do I esteem him above every name, love him above every creature and thing, and value an interest in him before ten thousand worlds? Is the language of my soul," None but Christ, none but Christ! Whom have I in heaven but thee?—and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee ?" Is all the world, all that is admired in it, esteemed by me as dung, and beheld with the greatest contempt, when compared with a glorious Christ, the ravishing sweetness of his love, and the unsearchable riches of his grace? Do I wish nothing so ardently, seek nothing so diligently, and rejoice in nothing so greatly, as to win Christ, and be found in him? Be this my portion!—and I can say, I want, I wish, I ask no more!

In vain I seek for rest

In all created good!
It leaves me yet unblest,

And makes me pant for God.
And sure at rest I cannot be,
Until my heart find rest in thee i

Upon thy right hand did stand the queen in gold of Ophir. The King's daughter is all glorious within,―her clothing is of wrought gold. Hearken, O daughter, and consider, and incline thine ear; forget also thine own people and thy father's house; so shall the King greatly desire thy beauty; for he is thy Lord, and worship thou him. Ps. xlv. 9-11, 13.

OBSERVE, O my soul, that thy celestial Bridegroom does not require any ornament, merit, worthiness or beauty of thine own! No; he will wash thee himself with his blood, he will adorn thee, and make thee truly amiable to himself and to his Father. O sweet and eternal truth! "He has loved us and washed us from our sins in his own blood." And being clothed with his righteousness, we have more than angelic beauty. If we have received the Spirit of Adoption, let us cleave to Christ alone, love him above all things, and walk in his commandments. This is not only our duty, but a needful evidence of our sonship.

The King of saints, how fair his face,
Adorn'd with majesty and grace!
He comes with blessings from above,
And wins the nations to his love!

At his right hand our eyes behold
The queen arrayed in purest gold;
The world admires her heav'nly dress,
Her robe of joy and righteousness.

He forms her beauties like his own;
He calls and seats her near his throne:
Fair stranger, let thine heart forget
The idols of thy native state.

So shall the King the more rejoice
In thee, the favourite of his choice;
Let him be lov'd, and yet ador'd,
For he's thy Maker and thy Lord.

They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. Gal. v. 24; Rom. vi. 6. See also Gal. ii. 20.

ALTHOUGH the flesh be alive still, and frequently stir, yet it cannot fulfil its desires when it is fas tened to the cross; with the crucifying of the flesh we have to do as long as we live. This is the cross we are to take up daily, and which either prevents many outward crosses, or at least yields great comfort under them. The cross being an extraordinary good mean to experience the sweetness of the word of God, thou must always be ready and prepared for it, O my soul! And if none come from without, take care to break thy own will in everything. Painful and hard as this may seem to be at first, yet it will certainly very soon grow easier, and be matter of real joy. Blessing and peace will attend thy ways and steps, and thou shalt glorify God for having been resigned and guided, not by thy own, but by his, good-will and pleasure. Self-will, on the other hand, creates nothing but vexation, trouble, and uneasiness. It is punished by itself, deprives us of real blessings, and therefore deserves, and is best to be broken and crucified in its first motions. Then help me, by pouring the Holy Spirit into my heart, to crucify the flesh with the vile affections and lusts thereof.

The Lord had respect unto Abel. &c. Gen. iv. 4, 5. HERE are two brothers, each bringing an oblation to the Lord. Cain, as a husbandman, brought of the produce of the ground he cultivated; Abel, as a shepherd, some of the firstlings of his flock, with the fat of them; consequently both believed that there was a God that made the world, and was to be worshipped; and yet one was accepted and the other rejected. Cain's sacrifice was wholly eucharistical, or a thank-offering to God for the blessings of his providence. Abel's was not only of the eucharistic, but of the expiatory kind; and while it was an expression of gratitude for the blessings of Providence, it was also typical of the atonement by Christ, and expressive of his hope of redemption through him; but what made the chief difference between them was, that Cain presented his offering while his heart was withheld, and without faith in Christ, so was of the wicked one. Abel brought forth his person and sacrifice an offering to the Lord: he presented his oblation, and performed the other parts of worship with faith in God, and the promised Saviour, and with sincerity, humility, and love. Thus God had respect to him and his offering; accepted first his person as justified, then his offering; but neither the person nor offering of Cain was accepted. Reader, mark the difference; by this Abel speaks to thee: art thou in a state of acceptance with God? Is thy whole dependance for pardon and life on Christ? Dost thou obey from a principle of love? Then thou shalt be blessed with righteous Abel here and for ever! O that the Lord would guide my ways,

To keep his statutes still;

O that my God would grant me grace
To know and do his will.

On that day shall the priest make an atonement for you to cleanse you, that ye may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. It shall be a Sabbath of rest unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls by a statute for ever. The life of the flesh is in the blood; and I have given it to you upon the altar, to make an atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that maketh an atonement for the soul. Lev. xvi. 30, 31; and xvii. 11.

OUR great day of atonement is that on which Christ shed his blood for us on the cross, and thereby made atonement for us. Now, if it was necessary for the Israelites to afflict their souls, and chastise their bodies on the great day of atonement, how much more ought we to pray for humility and repentance, as the evidence of our interest in the propitiation made by Christ Jesus! And as they abstained from all labour on that day, when the high-priest alone was employed, so should we abstain from all our sinful works, and particularly from all self-sufficiency of righteousness, and seek our salvation only in the meritorious blood of atonement shed by our High-priest; for the life of our souls is in the blood of Jesus. 0 my Redeemer, may I, with an afflicted soul, ever seek my atonement, life, and salvation, in thy blood and death! and may I lie down and rise up in a comfortable hope that I am pardoned through thy blood, thy Spirit bearing witness of it to my conscience!

Father, God, who seest in me
Only sin and misery;

See thine own anointed One!

Look on thy beloved Son!

Hear his blood's prevailing cry;

Let thy bowels then reply;

Then, through him, the sinner see;

Then in Jesus, look on me!