storm and affected not the light which shone gloriously forth when they were cast into outer darkness. How did Goliath the giant of Gath stand defying the Lord; but, Oh, how quickly did he perish and come to his end before the valiant David! How impossible is it for a man to stand against God and prevail! Overwhelmed with destruction "he must give up his breath, and then where is he?" Where are all his schemes of ambition, his proud bearing, his lofty looks, his rebellion against light? All cast down before the Lord his God—his soul, his lamp, his light is put out. What was the fate of the haughty Herod, who set at nought the humble Jesus, and with his men of war mocked Him and arrayed Him in a gorgeous robe and sent Him to Pilate, who from that day became his warmest friend-a miserable friendship of the world against the Lord of life and glory. The death of Herod was one of the most awful which history has described. But why do we speak of these things but to show you, "They were those who rebelled against the light: they knew not the way thereof?" "I am the way, the truth, and the life (saith the Lord Jesus): no man cometh unto the Father but by me." "He is the true light which lighteth every man that cometh into the world." Why, then, do you not come to His light, seeing it would make you happy-seeing it would show you things past, present, and to come? Why do you not receive it? Oh, rebel no longer against Him! Come, let me entreat you to set the Lord always before you, and to judge yourselves before Him. Come to His light. He will undoubtedly show you the depths of darkness into which your sins would hurl you: He will

show you your cruelty-yes, the cruelty of your spirit-which would persecute souls by preventing their coming unto Him: He will show you the wickedness of your heart-what evil thoughts have been there what malice, what passions, what pride, what madness, what abominable selfishness and wickedness have been there nourished in the midst of deceit! The Lord will open your eyes and will let you see yourselves in sin. You may be terrified at the enormity of your secret sins when set before the Lord in the light of His countenance: but, Oh, my brother sinners, will the Lord let you see these things without mercy? Oh, believe me, there is infinite mercy in His thus opening your eyes; for the more hideous He makes sin to appear in you, the more will He perfect the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of truth and light-the spirit of love and charity within you. Oh, think not that God visits any one merely to terrify him. He has no pleasure in exercising His great power in condemnation. He who sent His Son into the world to seek and to save them that were lost, to make an atonement for them, Oh, how little do we imagine of His great love, and how much less do we know of His goodness! Oh, say not, sinner, that He has any pleasure in tormenting you! By all the love He has borne you-by His provision for you in the midst of a guilty world-by the very bread which came down from heaven-He would have your souls nourished up in grace and led to the foot of His cross. He would there have you see your salvation; and, if from thence He turns your very soul inward to let you see His love, it is that you may shudder and pass from the gate of hell to the gate of

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heaven. But, perhaps, you would see none of these things you would know nothing of them: they do not affect you-you do not desire they should. I must ask the reason why. Is it not because you love darkness rather than light? "O, house of Israel, why will you die?" Why will you kill yourselves? Why, when I have cried unto you from the cross-why, when looking up to me ye might be saved-why will ye shield yourselves under the beggarly elements of the world and be involved in the darkness of death? Oh, be not among those who rebel against the light. Know the ways thereof and abide therein; for the light of the wicked is but as a flower it is put out in the midst of thunder and darkness. But where can the souls of the wicked go? Can any thing wicked ascend to heaven? No. Heaven is a place only for the good, the righteous, the amiable, the loving-such as are ready to do the will of God in love-who have no fear of any thing because they are obedient to the Lord. If such be the purity of heavenly places that no sin can enter there, consider, I entreat you, what it is to be fitted for such a place to be by faith in God a true penitent-one filled with the adorable love of Christone to whom the Lord will, for Christ's sake, impute no sin, but freely forgive us all, and with Him give us all things. This is the light to which the truly penitent turn for comfort, whilst the wicked may ridicule their visionary state, as they call it, but never can obtain it. Yet it is the light to which the wicked man must turn, as the bitten children of Israel looked up to the brazen serpent, or they will perish for ever. Why, then, will you refuse to see Jesus the author and finisher of your faith, the

beginning and the ending, the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last? Turn away from the darkness of the world rebel no longer against the light: let us walk as in the day-let us walk in the righteousness of the faith, and be not deceived with vain delusions. God would have us all come to His light and take greater interest in Him than we do. Let us, then, put on the armour of light, and take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Once thus prepared-so clad, so armed, so shielded-let us go forth against the foes of darkness and fear nothing; for in such confidence is strength, and the bows of the mighty shall be broken before us. The word of God must be our light and our life: we must see Christ and Him crucified-see Him not with our mortal eye, but with our discerning spirit: we must read our Scriptures, behold Him who is invisible, and yet as surely seen in His works and known therein as that we live, move, and have our being "Who is he that overcometh the world but he that believeth that Jesus is the Christ?" Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life. "Now, unto Him who is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy, to the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and for ever, Amen."

Believe me your affectionate friend,

THE COMFORTER.

ADDRESS XXVI.

ALMIGHTY GOD, whose ways are unseen by any of thy creatures, and who walkest in darkness as in the noon day, grant us the light of thy truth, that we may see the way of our salvation, and walk therein, through faith in Jesus Christ our Lord.— Amen.

There is a way which no fowl knoweth, and which the vulture's eye hath not seen the lion's whelps have not trodden it, nor the fierce lion passed by it.-JOB xxviii. 7.

MY DEAR FRIENDS-In every way man can, he will seek for riches. Gold is his desire, and he will, on account of the earthly luxuries to be had through its medium, seek for it in every place. What will not men do to obtain it? Where will they not go in search of it? What difficulties will they not attempt to overcome in the hope that gold may reward them? It is no new doctrine peculiar to our day, that there is no path so secret in this world but the hunters after wealth will search it out; for in the days of the patriarch Job, no stone was left unturned that men might get riches. "As for the earth, out of it cometh bread, and under it is turned

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