sight. Now, in all these ways will God discover his secrets to the believing soul. He will, by his Spirit, cast a flood of light upon the word; and make the soul most eager to apprehend his truth ; and by the medium of faith bring that truth directly upon the tablet of the mind; and thus fulfil that promise, " All thy people shall be taught of God1." Yes, " the meek he will guide in judgment; the meek he will teach his waym."]
1 Johnvi. 45. mPs. xxv. 9.
Deut. xxx. 4 — 6. If any of thine be driven out unto the out- most parts of heaven, from thence will the Lord thy God gather thee, and from thence will he fetch thee : and the Lord thy God ivill bring thee into the land which thy fathers possessed, and thou shall p>ossess it ; and he will do thee good, and multiply thee above thy fathers. And the Lord thy God will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, that thou mayest live.
IN interpreting the Holy Scriptures, it is common with many to dwell almost exclusively upon the literal or historical sense of them, and to confine their meaning to the persons to whom the different parts were immediately addressed, or of whom they spake. But this limits the use of the sacred volume in such a manner, as to render it of little service to us. By supposing that it related only to other persons and other times, we get rid of its authority, destroy its power over our conscience, and learn to set aside every doctrine which we are not willing to receive, and every precept which we do not choose to prac- tise. But there is an opposite error, against which also we ought to be on our guard. Some are so intent on the spiritual sense of Scripture, as almost entirely to overlook the literal. But the primary meaning is often as replete with instruction as any that can be affixed to the words, and incomparably more satisfactory to a well-informed mind. For instance, if we should take occasion from our text to speak of the nature and effects of true conversion,