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and expressing the same to an holy excess. They will walk before him in Christ, fully persuaded of his beholding their persons in him, and of their glory and completeness in Jesus; so that their joy and delight in the Lord will have an exuberancy in it. It is not unlikely that the following words of the prophet may be a reflection and shine of the same. I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh himself with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth herself with her jewels. Isa. lxi. 10. Such as these, whose joys are thus expressed, cannot but, as the justified and pardoned ones of God, walk in the Lord's way. It will be so, as they will be under the powerful influences of divine and irresistible grace. They will be filled through and through with the gifts and graces of the Holy Spirit. This will be the fulfilment of the following promise, And I will strengthen them in the Lord: and they shall walk and down in his name, saith the Lord. Zech. chap. x. 12. And thus the just shall walk in the Lord, and in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord, blameless. They will continue in the same, and thereby be adorning the doctrine of God their Saviour in all things. Thus I am arrived at the conclusion of my

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posed head of discourse, which comprised these words, And the just shall walk in them; that is, the ways of the Lord being right, in nature, providence, and grace; in the free and open revelation of himself in his sacred word; in the ordinances of the same, and in the whole connected therewith. The man in Christ, as enlightened therein, cannot but walk with real delight in the knowledge and acknowledgement of the same. Thus I am brought to my last particular, which is this:

IV. That these things are a stumbling block to the wicked: But the transgressors shall fall therein; which is not owing to any defect in the revelation made of these things; they are all clear; they are all plain; they are all equally set before us, one as well as the other, as it respects the record made and given of them in the oracles of truth. What Daniel says may serve fully to elucidate these words: None of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. Chap. xii. 10. It is not good to be asking and inquiring into the secrets of the Most High, beyond what is set before us, and revealed in the open volume of inspiration. The ways of the Lord exceed the comprehension of our minds. The very execution of God's decrees is a cause of stumbling to the wicked. When the Lord shall finally consume both the eastern and

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western anti-christ, by the breath of his mouth, and brightness of his rising, and bring his antient people, and the fulness of the Gentiles, to be one fold under Jesus the one Shepherd; this will be such a miracle in the world, that sinners shall be consumed out of the earth, and the wicked be no more. It is then, as I imagine, the latter part of the words before us, will receive their entire accomplishment. That the trausgressors shall fall therein: even in the accomplishment of the Lord's vast designs upon the earth. As I do not want to darken counsel by words without wisdom, I will therefore forbear all further interpretation of the words, leaving them as they are, to the light the Holy Spirit may be pleased to shed on your minds by means of them. May it please Him most graciously to bless the substance of what I have been aiming to declare and set before you, in the foregoing Lectures, so that it may be received into your minds; that you may digest it in your hearts; and so retain the same in your memories, that it may be of benefit and advantage to you in days to come. Then my very end in writing them, as well as in the delivery of them, will be most completely answered. I must leave the whole with the Lord. If his blessing, which maketh rich, and addeth no sorrow with it, follows the same, it will be so; if not, his will be done.

I cannot refrain from adding this, that I am truly thankful I am brought to the end of these papers; and also for being favoured with some communion with the Lord, in compiling these outlines on the chapter. It is therefore with real pleasure I cast the same into the treasury of the church. Let the Lord do with them as seemeth good in his sight. I would beg the prayers of the saints who may read and approve of the things here written, in the words of the Apostle 10 the saints at Rome. Now, I beseech you brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me, in your prayers to God for me, that this my service may be acceptable to the saints. The Lord grant this. Amen.

SAMUEL EYLES PIERCE.

May 4, 1821.

FINIS.

Nichols, Printer, Earl's Court, Little Newport Street, Soho.

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