dare not advance what he doth not believe, nor pretend to those joys which he never felt, as some do, who, as Paul says, glory in appearance, but not in heart. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh." If the heart be purified by faith, the precious atonement of the Son of God, the cleansing efficacy of the blood of the covenant, the certainty of forgiveness, and the happy enjoyment of it, will be the leading topic in a wise man's conversation, which is called a good conversation in Christ. "With the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Here the heart and the mouth are in harmony; what the heart embraces, the mouth acknowledges and proclaims. The heart leads the van, and the mouth brings up the rear. With the heart man believes unto righteousness to the justification of his soul freely and fully from all things, and the mouth confesses that the soul is eternally saved.

Again: it is faith in the heart that furnisheth the mouth. "I believed, therefore have I spoken," says David. "We believe, and therefore speak," says Paul. And faith regulates the mouth; so that the believer prophesies according to the proportion of faith; for, if he be weak in faith, he will speak doubtfully about his own personal interest in the things of Christ; yet he will not speak doubtfully about the truth of the things which God has revealed. Divine revelation is yea, yea; but weak faith is yea and nay. To prophesy

according to the proportion of faith, is to speak of what we have got, and to speak of that as our own of which we are the most sure. If the heart, like the heart of David, be fixed, trusting in the Lord, we shall speak of the things which concern the Lord Jesus with all confidence. Confidence is the substance of things hoped for, and the evidence of things not seen. There is eternal life in true faith; and that is the thing hoped for; while faith, as an evidence of things not seen, assures the conscience of them, and silences all gainsayers; and this brings peace and quietude. quietness and confidence shall be your strength," says the prophet.

"In

"It is a good thing," says Paul, "that the heart be established with grace." There are seven things which establish the heart. The first is, having the heart sprinkled from an evil conscience. 2. Having the sentence of justification passed in the court of conscience, upon which the sinner passes from death to life. 3. To have the peace of God ruling in the heart; for peace is the effect of pardon, and the fruit of righteousness. 4. A comfortable degree of assurance, sufficient to claim an interest in God; To as many as received Christ, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. No less than divine power can work this faith in the heart of an infidel; and it requires the power of assurance to enable such a sensible sinner to claim this his sonship. 5. The love of God shed abroad in the heart, which casteth out all fear, and

in some measure, keeps it out. 6. A good hope through grace, or a firm expectation of the glory that is to be revealed; "Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the vail." The seventh and last thing is the infallible witness of the Holy Spirit;" "He that believeth hath the witness in himself;" and this witness both testifies to the heart, and speaks by the mouth. He bears witness with our spirits that we are the children of God; and, because we are sons, he is sent forth into the heart, crying, Abba, Father. A heart thus established with grace, will furnish the mouth with everlasting themes. Not so the impostor, not so the hypocrite; for such often travel contrary ways, even at once. He promises and proclaims liberty, but he communicates nothing but bondage; the mouth glories, but the countenance falls. Such glory in appearance, but not in heart. "Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; and the end of that mirth is heaviness," Prov. xiv. 13. Here is laughter in the mouth, sorrow in the heart, mirth in the way, and heaviness in the end. But God makes the heart of the wise honest; and an honest heart is a faithful conscience; a conscience that will magnify its office, by dealing justly, and bearing a true testimony. According to the true state of the heart, and according to the good treasure of it, and according to the frame of it, so the mouth speaks. The sorrow of the heart fills the mouth with complaints. An enlarged heart opens

the mouth, and fills it with joyful acclamations. "O ye Corinthians," says Paul, "our mouth is opened unto you, our heart is enlarged. Ye are not straitened in us, but ye are straitened in your own bowels." Different frames send forth different voices. "Thus saith the Lord, There shall

be heard in this place the voice of joy, and the voice of gladness; the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; the voice of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will cause to return the captivity of the land," Jer. xxxiii. 10, 11.

Be

The real door of the heart is the mouth. If the heart be overcharged with grief, the lips are closed. "Thou holdest mine eyes waking: I am so troubled that I cannot speak." But when the heart is enlarged, then the mouth is open. "Our mouth is open unto you, our heart is enlarged." The treasure of the heart is brought forth by the mouth; for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh. And this shows us what our Lord means when he says, hold, I stand at the door and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." The Lord doth not knock as we do; we knock with the hand, but the Lord knocks with his voice. "It is the voice of my beloved that knocketh," says the spouse. The word of Christ is a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces; his reproofs are his knocks. He smites with the rod

of his mouth, and tells us that if we hear his voice, and open the door, that he will come in unto us. To open the door is to open our mouth to him by confession, by inquiry, and by prayer, as Samuel did, when he said, "Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth;" and as Paul did when the Lord knocked at his door, who said, "Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus, whom thou persecutest. And he said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do." And after this inquiry, and the information that the Lord had given him, Paul fell to praying; and the Lord heard his prayer, and sent Ananias to him, that he might receive his sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And thus Paul opened as soon as Christ knocked; and by the Spirit Christ entered into Paul when Paul sweetly supped upon the sacrifice and satisfaction of his longsuffering Lord; and Christ supped upon the prayers, praises, blessings, and thanksgivings, of Paul, his former enemy, but now affectionate friend. Besides, it is our Lord's meat to do the will of him that sent him, in saving the objects of his Father's choice; for it is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish.

And thus it appears that all the savour, sweetness, life, and power, that attend the word, comes from the heart. "Let your words," says Paul, "be seasoned with salt, that they may minister grace to the hearers." "Have salt in yourselves,"