You suppose this faith to imply an evidence that God is merciful to me a sinner, that He is reconciled to me by the death of His Son, and now accepts me for His sake. You accordingly describe the faith of a real Christian as "a sure trust and confidence" (over and above his assent to the sacred writings) "which he hath in God, that his sins are forgiven, and that he is, through the merits of Christ, reconciled to the favour of God."

You believe, further, that both this faith and love are wrought in us by the Spirit of God; nay, that there cannot be in any man one good temper or desire, or so much as one good thought, unless it be produced by the almighty power of God, by the inspiration or influence of the Holy Ghost.

If you walk by this rule, continually endeavouring to know and love and resemble and obey the great God and Father of our LORD Jesus Christ, as the God of love, of pardoning mercy; if from this principle of loving, obedient faith you carefully abstain from all evil, and labour as you have opportunity to do good to all men, friends or enemies; if lastly, you unite together to encourage and help each other in thus working out your salvation, and for that end watch over one another in love, you are they whom I mean by Methodists.

II.

THE SOUL'S REFUGE.

Jesu, lover of my soul,

Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high!
Hide me, O my Saviour, hide,
Till the storm of life is past,
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last!

Other refuge have I none;

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;
Leave, ah! leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me!
All my trust on Thee is stay'd,
All my help from Thee I bring:
Cover my defenceless head

With the shadow of Thy wing!

Wilt Thou not regard my call?

Wilt Thou not accept my prayer? Lo! I sink, I faint, I fall!

Lo! on Thee I cast my care!

Reach me out Thy gracious hand!
While I of Thy strength receive,
Hoping against hope I stand,
Dying, and behold I live!

Thou, O Christ, art all I want;

More than all in Thee I find:

Raise the fallen, cheer the faint,
Heal the sick, and lead the blind!
Just and holy is Thy Name;

I am all unrighteousness;
False and full of sin I am,

Thou art full of truth and grace.

Plenteous grace with Thee is found,
Grace to cover all my sin;
Let the healing streams abound;
Make and keep me pure within!
Thou of Life the Fountain art,
Freely let me take of Thee;
Spring Thou up within my heart!
Rise to all eternity!

III.

FAITH.

Come, O thou Traveller unknown, Whom still I hold, but cannot see,

My company before is gone,

And I am left alone with Thee; With Thee all night I mean to stay, And wrestle till the break of day.

I need not tell Thee who I am,
My misery or sin declare;
Thyself hast call'd me by my name;

Look on Thy hands, and read it there! But who, I ask Thee, who art Thou? Tell me Thy Name, and tell me now.

In vain Thou strugglest to get free,
I never will unloose my hold;
Art Thou the man that died for me?
The secret of Thy love unfold.
Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,
Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

Wilt Thou not yet to me reveal
Thy new, unutterable Name?
Tell me, I still beseech Thee, tell:
To know it now, resolved I am:
Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,
Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

'Tis all in vain to hold Thy tongue,

Or touch the hollow of my thigh;
Though every sinew be unstrung,

Out of my arms Thou shalt not fly:
Wrestling, I will not let Thee go,
Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

What though my shrinking flesh complain, And murmur to contend so long?

I rise superior to my pain;

When I am weak, then I am strong: And when my all of strength shall fail, I shall with the God-Man prevail.

My strength is gone; my nature dies;
I sink beneath Thy weighty hand,
Faint to revive, and fall to rise,

I fall, and yet by faith I stand:
I stand, and will not let Thee go,
Till I Thy Name, Thy Nature know.

Yield to me now, for I am weak,
But confident in self-despair;

Speak to my heart, in blessings speak,

Be conquer'd by my instant prayer!
Speak, or Thou never hence shalt move,
And tell me, if Thy Name is Love?

'Tis Love! 'tis Love! Thou diedst for me!

I hear Thy whisper in my heart!
The morning breaks, the shadows flee;
Pure universal Love Thou art!
To me, to all, Thy bowels move;
Thy Nature, and Thy Name, is Love!

The Sun of Righteousness on me

Hath rose, with healing in His wings;
Wither'd my nature's strength, from Thee
My soul its life and succour brings;
My help is all laid up above;
Thy Nature, and Thy Name, is Love.

Contented now upon my thigh

I halt, till life's short journey end;
All helplessness, all weakness, I

On Thee alone for strength depend;
Nor have I power from Thee to move;
Thy Nature, and Thy Name, is Love.

Lame as I am, I take the prey,

Hell, earth, and sin, with ease o'ercome;

I leap for joy, pursue my way,

And as a bounding hart fly home!

Through all eternity to prove,

Thy Nature and Thy Name is Love!

IV.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD.

But further as the Kingdom of God and true religion doth not consist in being baptized, neither doth it consist in being orthodox in our notions, or being able to talk fluently of the doctrines of the Gospel. There are a great many who can talk of free grace, of free justification, of final perseverance, of election, and God's everlasting love. All these are precious truths-they are all con

nected in a chain; take away one link and you spoil the whole chain of Gospel truths. But then I am persuaded that there are many who talk of these truths, who preach up these truths, and yet at the same time never, never felt the power of these truths upon their hearts. It is a good thing to have a form of sound words; and I think you have got a form of sound words in your Larger and Shorter Catechism. But you may have orthodox heads, and yet you may have the devil in your hearts; you may have clear heads, you may be able to speak, as it were, with the tongues of men and angels the doctrines of the Gospel, but yet, at the same time, you may never have felt them upon your own souls. And if you have never felt the power of them upon your own hearts, your talk of Christ and free justification, and having rational convictions of these truths, will but increase your condemnation, and you will only go to hell with so much more solemnity. Take care, therefore, of resting in a form of knowledge-it is dangerous; if you do, you place the Kingdom of God in meat and drink.

Others, again, perhaps may be saying, "Well, if a man may go thus far and not be a Christian," as I am sure he may, and a great deal further-you will be apt to cry out, "Who, then, can be saved?" And O that I could hear you asking this question in real earnest! for, my friends, I am obliged, wherever I go, to endeavour to plough up people's fallow ground, to bring them off from their duties, and make a Christ of them. There are so many shadows in religion, that if you do not take care you will grasp at the shadow, and lose the substance. The Devil has so ordered the affairs of the Church now, and our hearts are so desperately deceitful, that if we do not take a deal of care we shall come short of true religion-of the true Kingdom of God in the soul. The great question then is, "Whether any of you are convinced of what has been said?" Does power come with the word? When I was reading a book entitled "The Life of God in the Soul of Man", and reading that a man may read, pray, and go to church, and be constant in the duties of the Sabbath, and yet not be a Christian, I wondered what the man would be at; I was ready to throw it from me, till at last he told me that religion was an union of the soul with God-the image of God wrought upon the heart, or Christ Jesus formed in us. Then God was pleased with these words to cast a ray of light into my soul; with the light there came a power, and from that moment I knew I must be a new creature.