come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven:" What occupies their attention? O! they delight to stoop down, and contemplate earnestly the things connected with our salvation. Of this truth God gave us a representation, when He caused cherubims to be made above the mercy-seat, which looked down upon it and upon the ark of the covenant, glorifying God, and magnifying their King, Jesus Christ, for His love to lost sinners. It delights the angels to contemplate the sufferings and the victory of Christ, and the church suffering and conquering with Him; the scheme of redemption is to them an abyss, a great deep, the extent of which their glances cannot fathom. When in the church here below they behold the glorious effects of Tabor and Golgotha; when they see the Lamb that has been slain, and those whom He has purchased by His blood; when they see the good fight, the glorious, yet arduous contest of the Lamb and His followers, with the "beast out of the bottomless pit;" when they behold the wonderful spectacle of perfect weakness conquering invincible might by a single word; and which when subdued, still proves itself victorious; they are filled with awe and devotion when they see the purchased of the Lord overcome by death, sin, the devil, the world, by pain and suffering, by the grave and corruption, and One in them who enables them to hold fast love and faith, through which they conquer their conquerors, and bring them to shame.

My beloved friends! Do you wish to have assurance of salvation while you abide in the faith,

you

assurance of salvation while you walk by faith and not by sight, assurance of salvation while you continue in grace and hold fast on Jesus Christ and on the word of promise, with all your heart, storm and rage against it who will, and let who will threaten failure and destruction? Would you possess the certainty that these things that are presented to your faith are true, that they belong to you, that they are ready for you; would have the assurance that all will end well with you, the certainty that after this time of suffering you shall inherit the promised salvation? Then open the prophetic word; behold how all the prophets were full of the grace that was appointed for you, how they were never weary of speaking of a blessedness and salvation, which after much struggle and suffering they through the spirit of Christ discerned afar off! Hear what the apostles reveal to us; To you, even to you, has this grace that bringeth salvation appeared; ye are God's children through faith in Christ Jesus; ye "are heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ." Consider well that they declare such things through the testimony of the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; consider that this Spirit bears witness to your spirits that ye are children of God; think what the blessed spirits before the throne in heaven are occupied in contemplating;—and then let me ask you: Can any one of us come to shame at last, who confide in the "nevertheless" of faith? O! no; it will surely be unto us according to our faith, the faith that has here been tried and proved; monies give us full security. Though to the eye of

for this the above testi

sense there may appear nothing but destruction; yet having our wills renewed by the Holy Spirit, we will never desert the standard of faith, but rather than do so, be cut in pieces by the enemy, looking forward to a joyful resurrection. As the poet beautifully and truly says:

Despondency! from out thy gloomy wave

Have thousand saints already soared on high;

How bright they shine! Through Him who came to save,
Secure upon their Father's breast they lie.

To know ourselves lost, wretched, and forlorn,
Yet see God's love,-this vict'ry ends the strife:
Then midnight changes to the dawn of morn,

And death becomes the power of endless life.

69

SERMON VI.

"Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, (or "understanding,"*) be sober, and hope perfectly (margin) for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ, as obedient children."-1 Peter i. 13, 14.

I'MUST especially claim your unwearied attention this morning, while I take into consideration these words, on the due observance of which eternal life depends.

I will first set forth and explain the words in their order; and then say something by way of application.

The "wherefore," or "on this account," of the apostle, is connected with all that he has previously written: It is as if he would say, Since you have not a dead, but a living hope of the inheritance of eternal salvation, which is preserved for you in heaven, while ye yourselves, by the power of God, are through faith preserved for this inheritance ; since you will soon take possession of this inheritance, though for a season you will have much to suffer, which suffering, however, is only in order that your faith may be proved, and made manifest in the day of Christ; since ye know what love, what confidence this faith produces in you, even in the *This is the translation of the Greek word, which Dr. K. prefers.-TRANS.

midst of suffering; since you already experience the beginning of heavenly joy, through having obtained the salvation of your souls; since ye have received such pledges of the certainty of your salvation as are given by the prophetic predictions, the apostolic announcements, the Holy Spirit in the prophets, which is now sent down from heaven, and the angels who desire to look into the things pertaining to your redemption: "Wherefore," since these things are so, hope perfectly for this salvation.

The apostle sets forth in the first place, something that belongs to this perfect hope of salvation: "We must gird up our loins." This is a figurative manner of speaking, taken from the Eastern custom of wearing a girdle round the loins, wherewith to bind up their long garments, in order to walk more easily, and at the same time to keep them from being defiled when they passed through muddy ways, to prevent, in short, anything that might retard them in their path. The apostle writes this, however, in relation to our understanding. The word which I have translated "understanding," occurs four times besides this, in the apostolic writings: In Colossians i. 21, "You that were sometime alienated, and enemies in your mind (understanding) by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled." Ephes. i. 18, "That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory-may enlighten the eyes of your understanding, that ye may see what is the hope of his calling." Heb. viii. 10, "I will put my laws into their mind, (understanding,) and write them in their hearts" and 1 John v. 20, "We know that the Son