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lusts, the world with its affections, self with its sins. It is for this new creation in the soul the Apostle blesses God. It is this, and nothing but this, which can give us a lively hope of our future inheritance.

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frees you from your captivity; and having given you the Spirit of light and life, gives you, also, the desire and the will to walk worthy of your high calling, and to devote your newly created powers to the service of your Redeemer and your God.

It is for this that the Apostle blesses the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ-and rightly blesses him; for it is the spontaneous act of God's own free and sovereign grace, undeserved and unsought by those who are the blessed objects of it. If I, then, address any-and I trust that, through divine grace, I am addressing many such-who have attained to one true and scriptural thought of God—to one heartfelt desire to know and to serve him-to one prayerful aspiration to be what he would have you to be, and what he alone can make you-blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ for this undeserved mark of his compassion and love. To him be all the praise and all the glory. Early beseech him to carry forward the work of mercy, which he alone could have commenced: and be assured, that he who has begun the good work will carry it on until the day of Jesus Christ.

Observe how remarkably strong is the expression. He does not say, "Blessed be God that he has merely reformed or improved us;" but that he has "begotten us again." How entire, then, must be the change of motives and feelings, of inclination and practice, to justify such a term as this. Could such a phrase ever be applicable if the work were only a partial work? Must it not be total and entire to justify such an expression? Must there not be the implantation of a new principle in the heart, to give the full meaning to such language? And is not something more than this implied? Does it not prove that the work cannot be our own? If by the unaided efforts of your own resolutions you could turn from "a death in sin" to a life in righteousness," would it not be a total misapplication of language to say, that by such a change God had begotten you again? Most assuredly it would. The Apostle in such a case might have said, "Blessed be God that we have begotten ourselves;" but he could never have said, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us," unless, as it most certainly is, the work of this change in heart and life were wholly and entirely, from first to last, of God himself. Be assured, therefore, your own will would never have been influenced by any thing in itself, to turn from the follies and pleasures of sin; but that it is acted upon by the internal force, the sweet and gentle, but still powerful and prevailing influence, of God's quickening Spirit. It is He who finds you, as the Scripture describes you, and as you feel yourselves to be, "dead in trespasses and sins." It is He who breathes into your soul the spiritual life of the children of God. It is He who finds you fast bound by the thousand chains which the corruptions of your own nature, and the fascinations of this world, have wound round you; and who, by his all-powerful interest, dissolves these chains, and

There are those, my brethren, who, when they think of spiritual religion, the religion of the Gospel, speak of it as some gloomy, forbidding mysticismsomething of which they feel themselves to be ignorant, and rather inclined to thank God that they are so, and to pray that they may continue so; believing that the reception of it would deprive them of the harmless joys and pleasures of the world. This is an argument against the reception of the truths of the Gospel so universal, that it is impossible to avoid alluding to it; and yet so unscriptural, that the most simple reader of God's word can overthrow it. Look at the manner in which the Apostle expresses himself in the very words we are considering. He blesses God that he has begotten us-to what? To" a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." Does this appear to be the language of a man who saw nothing in religion but privation and restraint, gloom and despondency? Is it not rather the ex

pression of one who felt that his greatest present happiness, as well as his future welfare, depended entirely on those views of eternity which the eye of faith had now opened? He says, in effect, "Blessed be God, that, by the resurrection of Jesus Christwhich was the seal and sign that his atonement had been accepted for the remission of sins-blessed be God, that I have been created anew in heart and affection, in motives and desires; and am filled with a lively hope which no sorrow can quench, and which death itself shall not be able to destroy.' How elevating such a subject ought to be! How cheering is such a hope! There is nothing gloomy nor desponding here. Has the world with all its immunities and rewards, its wealth for the covetous, its rewards for the ambitious, its luxuries for the indolent, its joys for the sensual-has it any thing to offer which can stand a moment's competition with this? They are the melancholy and desponding whose pleasures are for the passing day, who have no consolation in their sickness, no hope, no certain hope in their death. "The end of that mirth," as the wise man says, "will turn out to be heaviness." What would they give, the happiest, the most dignified, the most successful of the sons of earth-or rather, what would they not give, when on a bed of sickness, and about to enter the valley of the shadow of death, for a single hour of that peace, and joy, and strong consolation, which the true believer can alone experience, and which shall be his portion throughout eternity?

We now proceed to consider the Second subject brought before us in the text-THE NATURE OF THAT INHERITANCE WHICH GOD HAS PROVIDED FOR

HIS PEOPLE.

The most durable of your possessions cannot be secured to you, even for the day that passeth over you. The morning sun sees you rejoicing in your abundance: the evening sun may behold you destitute and impoverished. The year opens upon you surrounded by an affectionate family, closely united to loving relatives: it closes upon you cheerless and bereft of all the gladdening joys of the present life. Such, even as to temporal things, is the Christian's life here below. And with respect to spiritual things, they are almost equally unsatisfactory. A few hours of holy meditation, and the world returns again with its unceasing demands, and must, and will be attended to. A few moments of intimate communion with God, and wandering thoughts, or sinful imaginations, come in among us, and remind us that we are still possessors of an unholy nature-that we are carrying about a body of sin and death with us

that the good which we would we do not, and that the evil which we would not, that we do.

Now turn your eyes from what you are, to what you shall be-from what you now possess, to that which is promised you hereafter. An inheritance is placed before you in which every thing is entirely the reverse of all that we have just stated; in which the enjoyment is declared by the unerring word of God to be eternal-for it is an inheritance incorruptible: no taint of sin shall ever pass upon it—for it is an inheritance undefiled: no change shall ever interrupt or diminish the happiness of it-for it is an inheritance that fadeth not away. No sound of sorrow shall ever be heard within those blissful abodes. The wealth laid up in store for you in those im

The Apostle calls it, "an inheri-perishable garners shall never be extance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away." Consider only the nature and the blessedness of such a prospect; and see whether it is not likely to be an influential motive to holiness, and for gratitude towards God. You are placed here but for a short and uncertain period; and if you supposed, that while here your lot were the happiest ever enjoyed by mortals, still, all you possess is transitory-all you do is defiled--all you love and enjoy is perpetually fading from you.

hausted. The friends you knew on earth who have entered there, shall go no more out for ever; they are in their Father's house, rejoicing in their Redeemer's presence, and beholding his glory. How delightful is the thought, how glorious the anticipation, that not a person whom we have loved on earth, if a real child of God, shall be absent from our future inheritance-not a joy in which as Christians we appear delighted, that we shall not find awaiting us, but per

striving; but it would not yield the peace which can defy the world and its impositions, the flesh and its temptations, the devil and his threats. But here is something which can, and will, and blessed be God, daily and hourly, to the humble follower of our Lord and Saviour, does bestow a peace of mind and consolation which can defy all these, and places their possessors in a state where they shall never prevail.

fectly purified, and unspeakably mag- | engaged, or for which your hearts are nified, in our Redeemer's kingdom! That is indeed worthy the name of an inheritance where all are heirs, and yet where nothing is divided; but where each shall enjoy an abundance of which no mortal tongue can tell the extent-where our communion with God shall not be momentary, but perpetual-where our union with the Redeemer shall be of a nature so certain and unquestionable, that it shall form the one great subject of our thanksgiving, the one great crowning joy of all our joys throughout eternity -where our intercourse shall be unchequered by those sinful differences, those selfish jealousies, those unholy suspicions, those unchristian coldnesses, which mar the happiest state of Christian fellowship on earthwhere all shall be loved equally, and each desire above all other happiness, the increase of each other's joy, and the advancement of each other's honour, as tending in the same proportion to the increase of their own gratification, and to the extension of their Redeemer's glory.

Such is a faint and imperfect-alas, how faint and imperfect!—such is a faint and imperfect view of that blissful inheritance for which the Apostle blesseth God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

But there is yet one peculiar feature, which to every true and obedient believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, must yield, while in this world, a ten-fold joy. It is, says the Apostle, an inheritance reserved " for you who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation:" that is, in other words, THIS GLORIOUS INHERITANCE

IS KEPT FOR YOU, AND YOU ARE KEPT

FOR IT. Here is a boundless motive
for gratitude, the one substantial
ground for present peace-not that
there is, in some far distant and far
happier clime, an inheritance incor-
ruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth
not away, to which you might by
some possibility attain, but of which
you can possess no comfortable assur-
ance below.
Would this be comfort?
It might be in your minds a certain
undefinable longing for something
which appeared desirable when op-
posed to the comparative worthless-
ness of all in which your hands are

There are times when you-I speak now to those, and to those only, who are enabled to thank God that he has begotten you again unto this lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead-who are conscious of this change of heart, and of this change of life, of which we have been speaking-there are times when you may feel doubtful whether you shall ever arrive at the one great object of your hope and of all your prayers—an inheritance into the kingdom and joy of our Lord. Now, my brethren, at such moments call to mind the declarations of the text, and see whether it will not turn your silence into thanksgiving, your heaviness into joy. The revealed word of God declares, that the inheritance is reserved for you, and that you are reserved for it. The word that expresses this is in the original a very peculiar word; it is that which is used for those who are kept by a constant guard; so that it implies the Christian is never left alone, or unguarded on the road to his inheritance-that you have a defence perpetually before you, and behind you, and around you, through which your spiritual enemies can never break, and from which they shall never force you. Your strength and your security do not depend upon yourselves; they depend upon your position. The weakest woman, the youngest child, when placed in a wellgarrisoned and ably-defended fortress, may smile at the hostile army without, though thousands and tens of thousands were encamped around the walls. And is not the Christian thus situated who knows something of this security, when he has realized the truth of the declaration, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe?" Most blessed

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Be careful, lest such a declaration as this, which God has intended for your comfort, be wrested to your destruction. Be careful, lest such a declaration as this make you careless, indifferent, disobedient, or unholy. Surely the very words of the text themselves ought to prevent this. You are" kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation." It is then by God's power that you are kept; but it is through your own faith. If either be absent the promise is rendered void. You are not told that you are kept by God's power without a lively, influential faith. Man may tell you so, and will tell you so; but be assured God has never told you so. He who has appointed the end has also appointed the means; and those means are, a true, living, active, and obeying faith-a faith which worketh by love -a faith which knows, and which honours, and delights to honour, even the very least of God's commandments -a faith which by uniting you to your Redeemer, brings you within the citadel; and by causing you to cleave to your Redeemer, keeps you within it. Therefore the word of God says, "This is the victory that overcometh the world, even your faith." The weakest believer is safe by the power of God through faith; because by faith he has united himself by the most powerful of all protectors, and is placed in the strongest of all defences.

Rejoice, therefore, in the Lord, my Christian brethren, and glorify him in your bodies and in your spirits,

which are his for his unerring word has declared, "The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil : he shall preserve thy soul. The Lord shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore." How astonishing a promise! Three times within two verses does the Almighty pledge himself to preserve every obedient and believing servant "from this time forth, even for ever more." Let the world foolishly assert, that such a statement as this will lead us to licentiousness and sin: do you disprove the profane and impious fallacy, by demonstrating, that, in your own case, instead of leading to licentiousness, it leads to greater holiness-to a more abundant love of God's commandments-to a greater dread of sin-to a more enlarged charity to every member of the human family. As you have been forgiven much, love much, obey much, practise much, of all that the Lord requires of you; but still cast all these duties behind you as keepers or dependants; and let your morning and your evening song for ever be on earth, as it will ever be your song in heaven, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which, according to his abundant mercy, hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for all who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time."

A Sermon

delivered BY THE REV. W. HOWELS,

AT THE EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, LONG ACRE, NOV. 7, 1830.

1 Corinthians, xi. 24.-" This do in remembrance of me."

I HOPE there is no individual here this morning who quarrels with the word preparation calls it legality, and then rejects the idea. The word legality is bandied about by some professors from time to time; abused first of all, and then rejected. It behoves, however, every minister, especially one who is fixed in one and the same place, to present his hearers with every part of truth, with the preceptive parts as well as with the promissory portions of Scripture. To dwell incessantly on the mercy and love of God, and systematically omitting many parts of Scripture, has a very injurious effect. When my Bible tells me, that all Scripture is given by the inspiration of God, and is profitable for reproof, for doctrine, for correction and instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be made perfect in righteousness-dare I, or any one else, with a clear conscience, neglect any part or portion of it? The first thing I would observe is, God commands us to prepare ourselves to meet him. If somebody were to inform you, to-morrow you are to have an interview with his Majesty, no individual would rush into the presence of an earthly sovereign in a thoughtless manner, forgetting whose presence he was in. There would be a certain degree of respect due to him, and there would also be a dignity—that dignity involving humility in the deportment of every one under the influence of common sense, in the presence of an earthly sovereign. But what are earthly sovereigns compared, or rather contrasted, with the King of kings? "Upon the first day of the first month began he," that is Ezra, "to go up from Babylon, and on the first day of the fifth month, came he to Jerusalem, according to the good hand of his God upon him. For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and teach in Israel statutes and judgments." He pre

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pared himself to lead the families of Israel into the presence of the living God. Hear what Samuel says-" And Samuel spake unto all the house of Israel, saying, If ye do return unto the Lord with all your hearts, then put away the strange gods, and Ashtaroth, from among you, and prepare your hearts unto the Lord, and serve him only: and he will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." I might, if time would permit, from the minutia of our own concerns, point out the folly, as well as the wickedness, of rushing thoughtlessly into the presence of the King of kings. No wise man doeth any thing without first of all throwing all his intellect into it, if I may so speak. Thoughtlessness was never intended by God to accompany man in any thing. Is it to follow him in his approach to God? Are we like some of the Israelites of old, worshipping him with our lips only, while our hearts are far from him? We know what it is to do this again and again. May God teach our hearts by the influence of the Holy Spirit.

Secondly, The peril and presumption of approaching God in this manner is very great. Need I remind you of the fate of Nadab and Abihu, who rushed into the presence of the Lord with strange fire? They were visited with death and evidently, their history is handed down to us that we may be presented with instruction, that we may address our own hearts, and invoke God to address us at the same time. It is when we thus approach him that God has promised to meet us. Nay, he will be honoured by those whom he honours, and he will honour those who honour him. But to show the temerity of individuals who will sometimes call this preparation legality, consider this

unless we are preparing ourselves to meet the Lord, we are arming ourselves to fight against him. We must do the one or the other-there is no neutral

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