centre in one word, and that is CHRIST—this is the Captain of our salvation; he heads the train of graces, for they are all given to us, to be exercised on Christ and his finished salvation; and as they are exercised on him so they are a death blow to all that oppose, both within and without, and we rejoice in hope that as he has bruised the Devil’s head on the cross, and in our hearts, he has dethroned him; so he will, shortly, bruise Satan under our feet this is our prospect, nor shall we be disappointed—our way to the kingdom is hard and rugged, through the corruptions of the human heart and the wiles of the Devil; he has the impudence, at times, to dispute every inch of ground. We have been brought to raise up some sin in our nature, to oppose some grace in the new man; this I find in my own experience—and if any tried, benighted travellers can get any comfort from my afflictions they are welcome to it; but the true state of the case is this, _I find a law in my members_, _warring against the law in my mind_, always trying _to bring me into captivity_ to the power of _sin_ and _death_—but I am happy at times that Christ has engaged that _grace shall reign_, nor do I wish a greater felicity in death than to be enabled to exclaim, _Grace reigns_! Faith and Unbelief strive in their turns for the mastery—Hope and Despondency, Love and Hatred, Joy and Sorrow, Patience and Murmuring, Resignation and Complaints, Carnality and Spirituality—sometimes I am really overcome by this troop; but as soon as Jesus puts fresh strength in these graces, the enemy is routed, and I can sing, _Nay_, _in all these things we are more than conquerors_, _through him that hath loved us_—his appearance cuts down all my foes; as soon as he is gone they all come again, and vex my soul. As he shines upon my faith, leads forth my love, and invigorates my hope, I die to the world, to sin, to self, to the creature, and live only to, as I live only upon, a precious Saviour! This is a little of what I do know of the subject, but must not enlarge here, only remark, that as this world is not our rest, nor the arm of the creature our strength, so the blessed Sprit by this warfare, leads us to see the vanity of the world, the emptiness of the creature, the vast importance of a Work of Grace upon the heart, and the malice of the Devil, the deceitfulness of our own hearts, and all this, that we may highly prize, make much of, and find rest and consolation only in Jesus. This leads us to the Name,