ersuade sinners
to be reconciled to God. So that your calling is above that of
angels: for they are _afterwards_ to minister to the heirs of
salvation; but the sinner must be _first_ reconciled to God. And you
are called on from day to day to intercede with man as his friend,
that you may win souls to Christ. Christ is ascended up on high, to
intercede with his Father for guilty sinners, and to plead for them
the merits of his death. So that Christ and his faithful ministers,
through the operation of the blessed Spirit, are co-workers together.
Yet without him we can do nothing: our strength is his strength, and
his is all the glory from first to last.

"It is my heart's prayer and desire, sir, that you may, by a living
faith, cleave close to that blessed, exalted Lamb of God, who died to
redeem us from sin--that you may have a sweet communion with Father,
Son, and Spirit--that you may sink deep in humble love, and rise high
in the life of God. Thus will you have such discoveries of the
beauties of Christ and his eternal glory as will fill your heart with
true delight.

"If I am not deceived, I wish myself to enjoy his gracious favour,
more than all the treasures which earth can afford. I would in
comparison look upon them with holy disdain, and as not worth an
anxious thought, that they may not have power on my heart to draw or
attract it from God, who is worthy of my highest esteem, and of all my
affections. It should be our endeavour to set him always before us,
that in all things we may act as in his immediate presence; that we
may be filled with that holy fear, so that we may not dare wilfully to
sin against him. We should earnestly entreat the Lord to mortify the
power and working of sin and unbelief within us, by making Christ
appear more and more precious in our eyes, and more dear to our
hearts.

"It fills my heart with thankful recollections, while I attempt in
this weak manner to speak of God's love to man. When I reflect on my
past sins and his past mercies, I am assured, that if I had all the
gifts of wise men and angels, I could never sufficiently describe my
own inward sense of his undeserved love towards me. We can better
enjoy these glorious apprehensions in our hearts than explain them to
others. But, oh, how unworthy of them are we all! Consciousness of
my own corruptions keeps