We have better ordinances, and brighter mediums of converse with God; we have more powerful assistances to raise us heaven-ward; we have the Messiah, the Emmanuel; that is, _God in flesh_, God come near us, that we may get near to him; we have the _promise of the Spirit_, which is one of the glorious privileges of the gospel; Eph. ii. 13, 18. _Ye who sometimes were afar off, are made nigh through the blood of Christ: and through him—have we access by one Spirit to the Father._ Through Christ Jesus, and the purchase of his blood, and the working of his Spirit, we approach to the Father, we are brought near to God. And this very method, _viz._ the atonement of the blood of Christ, and the working of the Spirit by which we are brought near to God in our first conversion, are the ways by which we must draw near him in duty ever afterward: it is by the same atonement, and by the same Spirit. We are continually contracting fresh guilt, and were it not for the perpetuity of the virtue of that sacrifice, our guilt would be an irremovable bar against our coming near to God daily and hourly; and after every new sin, were it not for that Spirit, we could never get near to God again: but that Spirit is promised _to abide with us_; John xiv. 16. and in Heb. iv. 14, 16. _Christ is passed into the heavens_, is very near to God, and hath shewn us the way thither; Heb. x. 19, 20. _Having therefore boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, let us draw near with a true heart, in full assurance of faith._ O how should we value our acquaintance with Christ, and pray earnestly for his Spirit! one makes a way for our coming near to God, and the other actually brings us near. How glorious would churches be, if there were more of this Spirit poured down upon us! When an assembly of saints, all joining together in one act of worship, shall at once rise by the same Spirit, and approach to the mercy-seat, and order their cause before God; what might not such a worshipping assembly obtain at the hands of God? What beauty would appear in the worship of christians then? What glory would be found in a society of saints, if this Spirit were but there? Christianity has had these ornaments, and these honours: let us pray that God would restore them again.