corresponding encouragements are annexed. The precepts and the promises are scarcely ever found apart, but inseparably joined." Draw nigh to me, and I will draw nigh to you. Ask and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened." Nor can we justly complain that the promises are either too few in their number, or too general and indefinite in their nature. These fair stars, if I may so speak, are thickly set in the firmament of divine revelation, though in some places their lustre is more brilliant than in others. If you say, What has God promised? we might reply, What has he not promised? Whatever is proper for him to bestow, and for us to receive-whatever is necessary or useful to man-whatever is required for the body or the soul, in this world, or that which is to come, is included in the ample scope of God's promises. He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly. It is a point of great consequence that our prayers should be regulated by the will of God; and unless this be the case, we shall ask amiss. The two disciples, who prompted their mother to solicit from Christ the favour of sitting one on his right-hand and the other on his left in his kingdom, met with a rebuke rather than a compliance. There is a wide difference between the prayers of faith and the motions of self-will and

infidelity. The promises are therefore peculiarly suitable to us, as they shew us what we need and what we are authorised to expect. 1 John v. 14. And this is the confidence, "that we have in him, that if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us."

Again, the certainty of the promises is a great encouragement to prayer.

If men give us reason to expect favours from them, we are too often disappointed, through their falsehood, fickleness, or inability. Sometimes they promise what they do not mean to perform; at other times their minds change, and the engagement of yesterday is broken to-day; and when their words are sincere and their intentions remain fixed and unaltered, unforeseen circumstances arise, the necessary means are wanting, or the opportunity confidently anticipated never comes. But do the promises of Jehovah miscarry from any of these causes? He is a God of truth; without iniquity; and not one good word that he hath spoken can fail. He is immutable, for with Him there is no variableness, neither shadow of a turn. Bars of brass may be dissolved, and rocks of adamant broken; but His firm indissoluble purposes are linked in the compact chain of Providence, which upholds the vast universe. Whatsoever his infinite wisdom determines, his almighty power accomplishes; and he says, "My council

shall stand; and I will do all my pleasure.' He will regard the prayer of the destitute, and not despise their prayer. This shall be written for the generation to come; and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord. Ps. cii. 17, 18. And do you fear to present your supplications and requests? Is this recorded testimony become null and void? Would you hesitate to ask a favour of an earthly prince, if you could lay before him a paper, written, signed, and sealed with his own hand, containing a grant of that very favour? Esther, indeed, from the urgency of her case, determined uncalled to enter the presence of Ahasuerus considering her life and the life of her people at stake, she ventured, without a warrant, to throw herself at the monarch's feet. But have not we loud and frequent calls to enter into the presence-chamber of the King of kings, and great and precious promises to assure us of a welcome reception? Are not our sins many, our wants pressing, our dangers imminent? Whither can we go but to Him, who is rich in mercy?-to Him who is ready to pardon, to supply, to direct, to deliver, and to bless us? Shall we question his truth, his faithfulness, his power, or his goodness? It is unbelief and ingratitude in us, thus to doubt his promises, or dishonour his perfections.

2. We have encouragement to prayer in

the powerful and perpetual intercession of Christ.

Neither our petitions, nor our praises, will be accepted, unless they are offered up in the name, and through the mediation, of Jesus. The vassals of Rome, by praying to the Virgin Mary and to the saints in heaven, incur the just charge of idolatry. There is one God, and one Mediator between God and man, the Man Christ Jesus. We are commanded to pray, and to give thanks for all things, unto God and the Father, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Does it become us to set aside, much less despise, the appointments of infinite wisdom and absolute authority?" Non petitur in nomine Salvatori, quod petitur contra rationem salutis," says Augustin:-That which is not asked in the name of the Saviour, is asked against the rule of salvation. We have not the least reason to expect, that we or our services can be accepted but through our Lord Jesus Christ. It was the custom of the Jewish High Priest, to go into the Holy Place with the names of the twelve tribes engraven in precious stones upon his breastplate. While the people were praying without, he sprinkled the blood of atonement, and made intercession within the veil. The Divine Majesty rendered such a medium of approach necessary; for if the cloud of incense do not cover the Mercy

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seat, Aaron will die before it. (Lev. xvi. 13.) And is not Jesus the great High Priest of our profession? He is not entered into the Holy Place, made with hands, but into Heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God for us. How encouraging is this salutary truth to the trembling penitent! How comfortable under a consciousness of much imperfection to the humble devout Christian! What a pillar does it provide for his sinking hope! what a motive to his languishing prayer! The afflicted patriarch, mourning the absence of a gracious God, exclaimed, "O that I knew where I might find Him! that I might come even to his seat!". Is this your cry? Then be of good courage, for the light of the Gospel shews you where and how you may find God. Lift up your eyes, and behold him seated on a throne of grace, stretching out the golden sceptre to invite your approach. Go, plead with Him; and while you fill your mouth with arguments from the promises of the everlasting covenant, God, who has the sovereign disposal of every blessing, shall fill your soul with joy and peace in believing, through the power of the Holy Ghost.

But perhaps you say, whatever arguments and reasons the promises furnish, I have no skill to use them. I am ignorant, polluted, unworthy, helpless, utterly undone! My very