which is in the bosom of the Father. The second is the Lord Jesus who is at the right hand of the Father. And the third is the Holy Spirit, who is one with the Father. 4. He gives his blood.

The blood of Christ is a gift of Christ to his beloved ones. The Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many, Matt. xx. 28. I am the good Shepherd; the good Shepherd giveth his life for his sheep, John x. 11. His blood was the purest blood, his human nature being most pure. His blood was the noblest blood, and therefore called in scripture the blood of God, by reason of the conjunction of the divine nature with the human. It was his life-blood, his heartblood, that he gave. It was not the blood of his finger, but the blood of his heart. It was precious blood.

Three things are called precious in the scripture; faith is called precious faith, 2 Peter i. 1; the promises are called precious promises, verse 4; the blood of Christ is called precious blood, 1 Peter i. 19. All your precious mercies swim to you in precious blood, as you may see by comparing these scriptures together, Rom. v. 9; Ephes. i. 7; Col. i. 20; Heb. ix. 7, 14; x. 19; 1 John i. 7; Rev. i. 5. It was an excellent saying of Luther, speaking of this blood of Christ, One little drop of this blood is more worth than heaven and earth.' Your pardon swims to you in blood, your peace swims to you in blood, your reconciliation is made by blood, your acceptance is wrought by blood. Christ's blood is heaven's key. Christ's blood is à preservative against the greatest evils.

5. Christ gives pardon of sin; and do you know what a mercy that is? Ask the troubled soul, ask the soul that 'knows what it is to lie under the wrath of the Almighty; and he will tell you that pardon of sin is a gift worth more than a thousand worlds. Now that pardon of sin is a gift of God, as you may see in Acts v. 31; Him hath God exalted with his right hand, to be a Prince and a Saviour, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. So in Acts xxvi. 18. Ah soul, of all mercies pardoning mercy is the most necessary mercy. I may go to heaven without honours, and without riches, and without the smiles of 'creatures; but I can never go to heaven without pardon

ing mercy. A man may be great and graceless, he may be rich and miserable, he may be honourable and damnable; but he cannot be a pardoned soul, but he must be a very blessed soul; Psalm xxxii. 1, 2. It entitles souls to all blessedness; it puts the royal crown upon their head.

Of all mercies, pardoning mercy is the most sweetening mercy. It is a mercy that makes all other mercies look like mercies, and taste like mercies, and work like mercies; and the want of it takes off the glory and beauty of all a man's mercies, and makes his life a very hell. Pardon of sin is a voluminous mercy, a mercy that has many, many precious mercies in the womb of it. You may well call it Gad, for it ushers in troops of mercies. When you can number the sands of the sea, and tell the stars of heaven, then, and not till then, shall you be able to recount the mercies that attend pardoning mercy. He who has this mercy, cannot be miserable; he who wants it, cannot be happy. Get this, and get all; miss this, and miss all. This is a gift conferred only upon Christ's favourites. Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee. No mercy will make a man everlastingly happy, below pardoning mercy. He has no reason to be sad, who has his pardon in his bosom; and he has no reason to be glad, who is upon the last step of the ladder, ready to be turned off without his pardon. And this is the fifth gift that Christ gives to his saints, pardon of sin.

6. Christ gives precious promises,-Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, 2 Pet. i. 4. The promises are a precious book; every leaf drops myrrh and mercy. The promises are golden vessels that are laden with the choicest jewels that heaven can afford, or the soul desire. All our spiritual, temporal, and eternal good, is to be found in the womb of the promises. There is nothing you can truly call a mercy, but you will find it in the promises. Under all changes, they are the comfort, support, and relief of the soul. Remember thy word unto thy servant, upon which thou hast caused me to hope. This is my comfort in my affliction, for thy word hath quickened me, Psalm cxix. 49, 50.

If the soul groans under the power of sin, then that promise relieves it, in Rom. vi. 14; For sin shall not have

dominion over you, for ye are not under the law, but under grace.

If the soul groans under the guilt of sin, then that promise, relieves it, in Jer. xxxiii. 8; I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned against me; and that promise, Isa. xliii. 25; I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. I, even I, am he, that blotteth out thy transgressions. I, even I whom thou hast offended; I, even I whom thou hast provoked; I, even I whose glorious name thou hast profaned; I, even I whose righteous law thou hast violated; I, even I whose holy covenant thou hast transgressed; I, even I whose mercies thou hast despised; I, even I whose chastisements thou hast slighted, will blot out thy transgressions for mine own sake. I, even I, is a passionate and emphatical expression. God's goodness runs over to sinful creatures; and where sin aboundeth, there grace doth much more abound. If the creditor himself blot out the debt, and cross the book, surely it shall never be remembered more. Our sins are debts which God who has the power of life and death, of heaven and hell, of condemning and absolving, has engaged himself to blot out as a thick cloud; I have blotted out as a thick cloud thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins, Isa. xliv. 22. An under officer may blot out an indictment, and yet the offender may be never the better for it; but if the king, who is the supreme judge, shall blot it out, then the offender is safe. The application is easy.

If the soul is deserted, then that promise relieves it, in Mic. vii. 18, 19; He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us.

If the soul is sliding, and ready to fall, then that promise supports and upholds it in Psalm xxxvii. 24; Though he fall, he shall not utterly be cast down, for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand; or, as the Hebrew has it, The Lord upholding him with his hand. The Hebrew denotes a continued act of God. God has still his everlasting arms under his people, so that they shall never totally nor finally fall. And the root from whence this word is derived, signifies to sustain or uphold, as the tender mother does the little babe. The safety and security of the child

lies not so much in the child's hanging about the mother's neck, as in the mother's holding it fast in her arms. So our safety and security lies not so much in our weak holding upon Christ, but in Christ's holding us fast in his ́everlasting arms. This is our glory and our safety, that Christ's left hand is always under us, and his right hand does always embrace us.

If the soul is forsaken by friends, then that promise relieves it, in Heb. xiii. 5, 6; I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. There are five negatives in the Greek to assure God's people that he will never forsake them. Five times this precious promise is renewed in the scripture, that we might have the stronger consolation, and that we might press and press it again, till we have gotten all the sweetness out of it. And, verily, many precious souls have sucked much sweetness out of the breasts of this promise, when their nearest relations and their dearest friends have forsaken them, and forgotten them. God loves that his people should put his bonds, his promises, in suit; and he that does, shall find God near him, though friends should leave him, and the world be in arms against him.

If the soul is tempted, then that word of promise relieves it in 1 Cor. x. 13; But God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able. The promises are a Christian's Magna Charta; they are his chief evidences for heaven. Men highly prize their charters and privileges, and carefully keep the conveyances and assurances of their lands. O, how should saints treasure up and keep these precious promises, which the Lord has given them, and which are to them instead of all assurances for their protection, maintenance, deliverance, comfort, and everlasting happiness! And thus much for the sixth gift the Lord gives, the promises.

7. The Lord gives grace.

Of his fulness have all we received and grace for grace. The Lord gives that grace, the least dram of which is more worth than heaven and earth.

It was an excellent saying of one of the ancients, 'I had rather have St. Paul's coat with his heavenly graces, than the purple robes of kings with their kingdoms.' Grace

is that which truly ennobles the soul. It raises the soul up to converse with the highest and with the noblest objects; and every man is as the objects are with which he converses. If the objects are noble, the man is so; if the objects are base with which a man converses, the man is base. A man may better know what he is by eyeing the objects with which his soul does mostly converse, than by observing his most glorious and pompous services. The righteous is more excellent than his neighbour. Abraham was a prince of God among the Hittites. The Jews say, that those seventy persons who went down with Jacob into Egypt, were more worth than the seventy nations of the world. Indeed, it is grace only that makes a man, truly noble. When one heard the King of Persia styled the great king, he said, 'I acknowledge none more excellent than myself, unless more righteous; and none greater, unless better.' Grace, as it is bred by the noblest means, so it is preserved and maintained in the soul by the choicest means, union and communion with God. Grace is glory in the bud, and glory is grace at the full. Grace makes a man all glorious within and without. Grace is a ring of gold, and Christ is the sparkling diamond in that ring.

8. He gives peace. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. John xiv. 27. Christ gives peace with God, and peace with conscience, and peace with the creatures.

The very name of peace is sweet. The Hebrews, when they wished all happiness to any, used but this one word, 'Peace be with you;' and the ancients were wont to paint peace in the form of a woman, with a horn of plenty in her hand, all blessings. Ask a soul that has been under terrors of conscience, and he will tell you, that of all gifts, inward peace is the most princely gift.

9. He gives glory. My sheep hear my voice, and they follow me, and I give unto them eternal life, John x. 28. The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, Rom. vi. 23.

Now the glory that Christ gives, is real glory. Henceforth is laid up for me a crown of glory. The Greek word signifies two things, a designation of a crown, and a