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his services, and by all those endearments that he can possibly manifest.

But it must have been a comfort to them to recollect that it was not their own self-will that had brought them into this difficulty. No-the Lord had bid them embark; it was by his command they found themselves involved in darkness and distress. It is a great comfort which we cannot value too dearly, if we are enabled always to keep in the path of duty, always to move in the track of God's commands; so that whatever be the inconveniences, whatever the distresses that may await us, we may be able to say, I did not bring myself into this situation; it was the Lord who bade me enter into it.

Observe, moreover, they go forward. That had been a sin, a capital offence if they had endeavoured to go back to the shore. And yet they were but a little way from it. Happy is that young Christian who, if, after engaging in a course of real practical Christianity, after entering into the paths of piety and true religion, he speedily met with obstacles, speedily found himself overtaken with difficulties and distresses, still determined that he will struggle against them, that he will not be driven back by any difficulties, but that he will effect the good pleasure of the Lord, convinced that he will never forsake those that trust in him. They might indeed have said, after toiling so long, "It is useless we labour in vain-we spend our strength for nought-we never counted on this-we never imagined we were to engage in a service so arduous." O no; this is not their feeling; but having once engaged in it, they press forward; and he who commanded them to enter upon it, will assuredly succour them in due time. Go on, Chris

tian, to use all thy endeavours to toil in the road. It is true, without Christ in the vessel thou canst not make much way; but go on, and he will surely arrive in due time.

But in the mean time where is Jesus the Friend of sinners, the kind, compassionate Saviour? He has retired to a mountain to pray. It might seem that in so doing he had left his little flock; but it was not so. Though we may well believe, that part of his prayer was for strength for himself to support the dreadful undertaking that so heavily oppressed his human nature, to drink that cup of bitterness which God had put into his hand-it cannot be doubted, that a great portion of his There prayer was for his Church. he was in a mountain; and was that doing nothing for his people—was that leaving them to themselves, when the prayers of the great Intercessor were rising before God, entreating him to watch over the little ark which contained all his Church-to preserve all those whom Satan desired to sift like wheat-and not to suffer the great waters to overwhelm their souls? Think of this, ye tempest-tost and weather-beaten mariners. Remember that the heart of Jesus is full of compassion. He is praying that your faith may not fail; and when he intercedes, the strength of God must speedily be imparted to your souls.

How beautiful is the description of this in the parallel passage of St. John's Gospel. He is described as looking on from the shore. He sees them toiling in the ocean; they see him not-perhaps they had almost forgotten they had one so mighty to save. But the eye of his love is upon them-his wakeful tenderness cannot for a moment be surprised.

(To be continued.)

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What a blessed consideration is this! "Lord, thou seest the conflict of our souls-thou seest how hard the struggle in which we are engaged-thou perceivest that our enemies are mighty; but thine eye is upon us; the power and malice of these enemies shall be thwarted; and our desires, feeble though they be, to execute thy will, shall be accomplished." But it is long before he arrives. He sees them toiling till they are almost spent. Now, what should you have expected from a Saviour like this-from one whose heart is so full of tenderness, and whose bowels melt with love? You would have expected him to fly to the succour of his people-to speak the word, to appease the fury of the winds, and to cause a great calm. But nohe sees it all, he sees their trouble and difficulty and anguish; he sees the might of the waters, and the feebleness of his servants in contending with them; yet he does not immediately proceed to their help. The Lord can bear to see his followers distressed to see them engaged in sore conflict with the enemies of his salvation, and yet not fly to their immediate succour ; for secretly he is helping them. His tenderness is not weak, but moves according to the rules of perfect wisdom. But the dawn has now arrived-it is the fourth watch of the night-a period that corresponds with our three o'clock in the morning. Now, supposing them to have embarked in this vessel about six in the evening, they may have been eight or nine long hours in this trying and perilous situation. They are spent with toil and with fear, and perhaps ready to give up all. Still they were not driven back, but were gone forward. Still they used the little strength

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that remained. No-it is not their strength that overpowers the enemy, but the accompanying strength of Omnipotence himself. Now, are there not some of you ready to despond, even when it is now only midnight, and hardly even that-when you have only entered on the perils and hardships of the Christian course, instead of being the fourth watch of the night. Faint not in the day of adversity-the dawning hour comes, if you will but wait for it. Let faith and patience and devotion hold out till the fourth watch, and come he will, and will not tarry, and with healing in his wings.

And now he is near the vessel. We can imagine the ecstasy of the disciples on beholding him, expecting the immediate entrance of the blessed Jesus into the bark, to remove all their fears, and to produce that state of things they had desired so long. But it is not so; he makes as if he would pass by them, to teach us this important lesson-that we are not hastily to judge by appearances what the real pleasure of the Lord is. You will imagine perhaps that he means no good when in fact he is providing the greatest benefit. We cannot always in the preparation see the gracious event that will in due time arrive. Never do we feel the value of spiritual succour-and of temporal succour too-as when we receive it after it has been driven away in its seeming approach to us. If " hope deferred maketh the heart sick," that hope when abundantly restored will revive the heart, and make it overflow with gladness.

But what is the conduct of the disciples? When the blessed Jesus comes near do they immediately hail him? Do they feel as if the hour had now

binger of joy. We are like Jacob, who when deprived of Joseph and Simeon said, "Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are against me”—and yet they were the very steps by which he was to be delivered from the greatest of misfortunes, and he and his family to be placed in a situation in which the great purposes of God were to be accomplished.

Let us not then, my brethren, feel perplexed with God's dealings towards us as if he was not dealing graciously with us: let us not entreat him immediately to remove the rod let us not desire him to remove that which carries the appearance of an evil, but to show us how this evil will be transferred into good-to clear away the darkness, to cause the scales to fall from our eyes, that we may understand and adore the dispensation, which is only misunderstood through the dimness of our own spiritual perception: let us pray for more clearness of vision-that the day star may arise and shine in our hearts.

arrived which would make them forget | mity in that which is in fact the harall their sorrows? and do they hasten not to lose a moment's time? No; they cry out with fear. They mistake him, and imagine it to be an evil spirit that is approaching-so liable were they at that time to the superstitions of the day. I will not now attempt to point out the mistake. There were mistakes then, which now prevail but little, since days of greater light and knowledge have arrived. But I would apply it to you in a spiritual sense. Sometimesnay often the heart when it first becomes affected with a sense of sin-when guilt is first discovered-when it sees in the death of Jesus Christ and the revelation of his gospel, the holiness of God and the inexorable justice with which he requires satisfaction-that heart is terrified rather than cheered. When Peter is made acquainted with the divine character of Jesus and the vastness of his redemption, he falls down at his feet and says-not," Permit me to follow thee whithersoever thou goest" -but," Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord." The first perception of God in his holiness and justice as it appears in Jesus Christ, requiring so vast an atonement before he will be reconciled to sinners, and of the holiness of that law which we, taught and renovated by the Holy Spirit, are to endeavour to obey, is often a troubling and an appalling thought. Thus we are made to cry out with fear even when our salvation draws nigh, as the demoniac did when Jesus appeared, “Jesus thou Son of David, art thou come to torment us?" This imperfect, this indistinct view of Jesus Christ, contemplated under one aspect alone, and, as it were, enclouded | in mystery, oftener tends to raise the fears of the convert than to dispel them.us melancholy and miserable. To see You are appalled, overwhelmed, and cry out with terror. But remember, it is Christ imperfectly known that terrifies: once understand and know his dispensations once be thoroughly acquainted with the amplitude of his grace-once perceive how immense is his compassion towards the greatest sinners, how full and complete the price he has paid-and all this doubt and fear will vanish. And do we not often misunderstand the march of God's Providence? We see aggravated cala

The Lord Jesus full of pity does not suffer his disciples to be long in this state of distress. And what does he do? He talks to them. Wonderful love and condescension, especially when we consider it as an emblem of his dealings with the soul. It is when he talks with the soul-it is when he enters into spiritual converse with it, that he is really known and truly manifested. Never till then shall we be enabled to understand his excellence and the greatness of his grace. what tender, what encouraging words does he employ!" Be of good cheer." It is a perfect mistake to imagine that the real knowledge of Christ will make

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him as he really discovers himself to us, is to see that which is calculated to dispel all our fear, and to make us lift up our heads and shout with joy. Religion will scatter all doubt and apprehension, and will cause us to dry up all our tears, and to cast ourselves, however heavy the burden of our guilt, on Him who is able to sustain us, or rather, who will take away our burden, and give us liberty and joy.

And what are his words?" It is Ibe not afraid." That is enough; he

only because my eyes were so clouded with self-love and attachment to the world, that prevented me from discerning it? Now I welcome the affliction-nay, it deserves not that name. Lord, I glory in the cross; I desire that thou wouldst not remove it till it hath wrought its perfect work. I am ready to empty the cup of sorrow

to be baptized with thy fiery baptism. Let me still hear thee saying to my soul, "It is I." Lord, be it unto me even as thou wilt. Enter in, dear Lord, for the door of my heart is open; and Thou being there, no evil can befall me; but Thou wilt make me to rejoice in the midst of tribulation, and to count all sorrows gladness for thy name's sake.

does not add any other declaration, any epithet, any exhibition of any title by which he might be known. "It is I." It is the voice of their beloved, the voice that has before scattered their apprehensions, and given them comfort under heavy tribulation. He might indeed have added much; but that which he might have added would present itself to their minds. He might have said, "It is I who still the tempest in thy soul. I am the mighty God who hold the ocean in the hollow of my hand, who spread out the heavens by myself, and tread upon the waves of the sea. I am your friend, known to you by many wonderful miracles of goodness-known to you as ever ready to assist you. A thousand times have I fed you with my bounty, and in- Then he enters into the vessel-and structed you with my wisdom, and what follows? With a voice that is comforted you with my tenderness. mightier than the noise of many It is I, your alone friend, so often waters, yea, than the mighty waves proved faithful and sympathizing. of the sea, he quells the tempest. Therefore fear not."- O the comfort Till then the winds were high and that it is to every true believer in contrary-the sea was boisterousseasons of tribulation-when sorrows the night was dark-the bark was and bereavements of one kind or other wrought-the mariners were at their have almost pressed him to the dust, wits' end. But no sooner is Jesus to hear this language of the Saviour entered in than all this tempest ceases uttered in a tone that he cannot mis--the storm is hushed, and the sou. take. "It is I." It was I who raised the tumult in thy soul. It was I who took away thy help. It was I who bereaved thee of thy child, and of the wife of thy bosom. It was I who sent the enemy to persecute thee, or who caused thy character to be blasted, or who crossed thee in this and the other project. Thy sorrows did not grow out of the earth, neither were they laid upon thee otherwise than by the hand of a merciful God: I laid them on in love. I am now chastising thee indeed; I will try thee indeed, but thou shalt not perish in the furnace, though cast into the hottest fire; but I will order it that it shall be for thy spiritual good: fear not. Is it Thyself indeed? I knew it not till thou in spirit didst make me to understand it. When ignorant of this I was ready to despair, to cast myself down to the earth, and imagine that none could comfort or deliver. I felt the trial to be heavy, because I recognized not the hand that sent it. But wast it thou? and didst thou do it in thy love and kindness? and was it only the dimness of my sight-was it

of the agitated sailor is at once appeased-there is a great calm. As in the natural so in the spiritual world; it is only God can effect this; and when he speaks the word, "Peacebe still," in accents that cannot be misunderstood, he reveals himself by the Spirit of Adoption, saying, Ye are my children, the objects of my love. And then how placidly the vessel moves along! how gallantly she rides over the waves! The sea that was all contrary before is now in her favour, and she will be speedily in the haven.

Let me address those who love not the Lord. You cannot avert storms of one kind or another by refusing to embark in the vessel of Jesus. It is true you will not suffer the same kind of troubles-not those spiritual trials which are in a peculiar manner the portion of God's people: but still you shall find that "man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upwards." Now, I put it to those who know not God-to those who have never experienced the joys or sorrows of religion-Have you not found this to be a world full of hardships and misery? I do assure

you, my dear friends, and I pray God to make you believe and understand it, that you gain nothing in this world by keeping aloof from the trials of the Christian. Though your trials be different, they are not less severe. You want the support and the consolation which the Christian has. What is that for which you endure so much pain and mortification and disappointment, and fain now would begin again? Though it is happiness you desire, and though you think you have that point in your eye where true happiness is to be attained, it is but as the cloud that deceives the impatient sailor, which at a distance he conceives to be the land; he presses forward, and spends his little strength in endeavouring to gain it; but as he approaches its real character is seen it melts away into thin air, and he finds all his hope was illusory, that he is farther than ever from the object of his desires; and he resigns himself to despair. The mere outside professor of religion-one who has not cast himself on Jesus Christ as the only Author and Finisher of salvation, gets no nearer to happiness. He must have Christ with him in the vessel-he must commit himself to the care of that Steersman-he must confide in his faithfulness and all-sufficiency, or he will never prosper. And I would say to both the worldly and the mere professor, that they should remember this -they may appear to be getting further from the shore-they may be actually getting further from the shore of this world, and yet not be approaching nearer to heaven, but be still removing to a greater distance from thence.

Lastly-you that have experienced "the saving grace of Christ, will you not trust in him for the future? Again and ́again you have come to the conclusion

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that he deserves all your confidenceyou have resolved that whatever difficulties may surprise you, however perplexing the circumstances in which you are involved, you will never again doubt the mercy and power and faithfulness of God. But still, how unbelieving and forgetful are we when the season of danger arrives! It seems for the moment as if you would never be able to escape; the winds arise, the billows encompass you, and you look in vain for Jesus. You forget that he is interceding for you before the throne of grace-that his arms are still encompassing you that he is still actually present with his people, and bearing them safe in his own keeping. But amidst all the changes and chances of this troubling world-though you plunge from one abyss of sorrow to another-though deep calls unto deep, and waves call upon waves, threatening to overwhelm you-still retain your confidence in God; believe that he will never, never can leave you nor forsake you. By himself he has sworn that he will never cast away his people. It is impossible that your bark, though tossed and shattered, should founder at the last. Doubt not that Jesus is your Pilot, and that so you cannot be wrecked. You may be allowed to go on in darkness-you may suffer the howling winds and the tempest even to the fourth watch; but at last you shall surmount the waves, shall outride the fury of the tempest, and gain the shores of immortal bliss. And when you look back and understand the wonderful deliverances God has achieved for you, and the immense benefits you have reaped from the particular course he has compelled you to hold, you shall then rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory.

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