PART I. SERMON Y. 69 for sinners, I will not go away without one; since there is such a righteousness as that of thine own Son to clothe the naked, I will not go away without being clothed with this righteousness ; since there are suchsupplies of strength for the weak, I will not leave thy seat till I' get somestrength." The soul then wrestles andpleads, and makes supplication as Jacob did when Ire came near to God ; Gen. xxxii. 22. Iwill not let thee go, except thou bless me. Thesold beholds in God mercy enough for the largest multitude of sinners, and pardons large enough for the blackest offences ; it sees Paul the persecutor and blasphemer so near to the right-hand of God in glory, that it cries out with a joyful faith, " All the aggravations of myguilt shall no more divide me fromthe mercy-seat, shall no more prevent my hope and help in God ; for there sits Paulthe persecutor and blasphemer ; and he was set forth as an example how full God is of mercy !" 1 Tim. i. 16. I obtained mercy, that in mefirst Christ Jesus might chew all long-cefering, for a pattern to believers. This it thetempel, this is the voice, and this is the language of a soul that gets near to God, even to his seat, considered as a seat of majesty, of judgment, and of grace. I proceednow to the second sign or attendant of holy near- ness to God inprayer. - II. When a soul comes near to God in prayer, there will generally be some sweet taste of the special love of God, and warm returns of love again to God from the soul. The soul that comes near to God is not satisfied merely with low degrees of faith and hope, with some feeble dependance, and some faint ex- pectations of mercy; it can hardly leave God till it has an assu- rance. Faith and hope in the mercy of God, are different from that joy that arises from the immediate sensationsof divine love. The Psalmist in the lxiii. Psalm, ver. 1, 2, &c. seems to have a reference to both these particulars together, which I have already mentioned. JVIy soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee to see thy power and thyglory, so as I have seenthee in the sanc- tuary. " I have seen thee in the sanctuary as 'sitting upon a throne of majesty, on a seat of judgment and of grace; I have seen thy power and thy glory there, and I have seen something more than this, I have tasted some special-loving-kindness, and that loving-kindness is better than life, therefore my lips shall praise thee. I have had a sense of thespecial love of God shed abroad in my soul, I have known Isis love is exercised toward me, therefore my soul is full of praise." God' will seldom let a soul that is got so near him by holy labour and fervency of spirit, go away merely with hope and dependance, without some sacred dt- light and joy. F3
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