build the old waste places: thou shalt raise up the foundations of many generations; and thou shalt be called, the Repairer of the breach, the Restorer of paths to dwell in," Isa. lviii. 12. Thus some bring to light, and some bury; some pull down, and some build up. "He that is not with me is against me, and he that gathereth not with me scattereth."

True yoke-fellow, adieu. Grace and peace be multiplied. So prays Yours in the path of tribulation,

W. HUNTINGTON, S. S.

LETTER VIII.

ΓΟ THE REV. J. JENKINS, AT THE NEW VICARAGE, LEWES, SUSSEX. Dearly-beloved and longed-for, my joy, and the crown of my rejoicing!

I WISH above all things that thou mayest prosper in thy labours, and be in health for the work, knowing that

hard labour and a frail tabernacle make us move heavily: but our God has promised that as our day so shall our strength be. I shall now resume my former subject, as I find you are by no means weary of it. And what I purpose to send to my dear brother is something of the unctuous experience which believers have of the glorious mystery that I have been writing about. I shewed you in a former epistle that if ever our hearts were comforted, if they were ever knit together in love, and if ever we come to the full assurance of understanding, it must be by a humble "acknowledgement of the mystery of God, and of the Father, and of Christ, in whom are hid all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge," Col. ii. 2, 3. This mystery is not only to be acknowledged or assented to as a revealed truth, but it is to be embraced by faith, and to be held, and held fast; as many violent and unwearied attacks, both by devils and heretics, will be made against it; and, if we are unsound or unsettled in the ground-work or foundation, all the rest will be out of order. The building

cannot be fitly framed, according to the account of a wise master builder, unless the glorious Proprietor of the building be savingly known; for it is a mystical building, founded in faith, and cemented together in love, and grows up in wisdom, knowledge, and power, not by human might, nor by the power of freewill, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts." Take the apostle's account

"Now, therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God; and are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner-stone; in whom all the building, fitly framed together, groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord; in whom you are also builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit," Eph. ii. 19-22. The apostle tells us that the living stones, the choice materials of this building, are God's household, free-born citizens; and that Jesus Christ is the chief corner-stone that unites all saints, Jews and Gentiles, ante-diluvian and post-diluvian

saints together; and that the building grows up into a holy temple in the Lord, a habitation of God through the Spirit. If God the Son be left out of our faith, there is no foundation; and if God the Father, or the Holy Spirit, be left out, where is the inhabitant? It is "an habitation of God through the Spirit." Christ is the nearest object to faith, as our Mediator. "Ye believe in God, believe also in me;" for through Christ we believe in God, who "raised him from the dead," 1 Peter i. 21. And we receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Here is the mystery; faith lays hold of Jesus Christ, and through him we believe in God the Father, and, upon our believing, we receive the Spirit through faith, and are sealed by him. This is the groundwork, the basis, and power, on which faith stands or rests; all building is in vain without this. "Building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost, keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life,' Jude, 20, 21. The most Holy Trinity is

the mystery on which faith rests; and we stand by faith, or rest on the powerful confidence which the arm of God, reveals in us. Hence the exhortation, "Hold the mystery of faith in a pure conscience," 1 Tim. iii. 9. This is called building up ourselves on our most holy faith. Faith is the Father's gift to us through Christ, and from his fulness it comes, and by the operation of the Spirit it is wrought in us, and therefore called a fruit of the Spirit; this is the basis, namely, the Holy Trinity. Love is the bond of union, or the grand cement that compacts and builds up; charity edifieth, or raises the edifice. Hence we read of the love of God to us, in giving the Son; and the love of the Son, in laying down his life for us; and the love of the holy Ghost also. "Now I beseech you, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit," Rom. xv. 30. The love of the Trinity to us is the bond of union, which, when perceived by faith, and enjoyed, leads to a most blessed freedom and familiarity with the Father, Son, and Spirit; as you read, "And to make