loudly of building their hopes on Christ alone; but forget that he must be, as one says, a Christ believed in, loved, and obeyed, and not merely a Christ talked of. These are frequently heard boasting how strong their hopes are, of their being delivered from slavish fear, of their certainty of going to heaven, die when they may, with many such presumptuous things; but they forget surely what the Judge of all the earth has said, Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven: but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven. These, whatever their professions may be, build not upon the rock of ages; but upon a concealed part of self. There is no such great difference between them and professed legalists, against whom they so bitterly inveigh: those think to gain heaven by doing and these by knowing, which they think to be believing. Their hope is but the hope of the hypocrite, which will in the end prove no better than the spider's web. Nor do they draw their evidences for glory, from such things as the scriptures speak of as characterizing the godly, but from their supposed orthodoxy or soundness in religious principles, with, perhaps, some texts of scripture which may have occurred to their minds with a certain impulse, tending mightily to lift them up with joy, but not to fill them with holy mourning, or self-loathing, or with a desire and endeavour to walk humbly with God. Real religion has no worse enemies than these. approaching near unto it, and being accounted its votaries, they are capable of doing it much more injury than its professed foes. While, Joab-like, they embrace it with a dissimulating kiss, by their works they stab it as under its fifth rib!

By

We do not mean to suggest but that the holy scriptures are often of great consolation to the godly; nor yet to deny that some passages of it may be more conselátory to the godly than others; and the same passages at one time which are not at another : these are things which we freely acknowledge and happily experience. For

gospel. That is an essential of the gospel, without which it would not be the gospel. Now what constitutes it gospel is its being good news; but whatever faith such people may have in it as a piece of news, they have none in the goodness of it, which is a most essential thing in it; and without which it would not be the gospel.

the truth or duty contained in any passage of scripture to be, by the Spirit of God, opened to the mind, and impressed upon the heart, and afford strong consolation to the person, is a part of experience which we can set seal to, as both reasonable and desirable. It is through patience and comfort of the scriptures that we have hope. But when impressions have no tendency to humble, sanctify, and lead the soul to God, we affirm, and are ready to give proof that they are no better than lying vanities, though they lie at the bottom of some mighty fabrics. Our having certain passages of scripture tmpressed upon our minds, is in itself no evidence for glory at all, either to ourselves or others; no, not though those passages should be promises of heaven itself: but if by this we are humbled and sanctified; if a spirit of holy mourning, selfloathing, watchfulness, love to Christ and holiness, as well as joy, be hereby wrought in us, that is an evidence for glory.

Many persons are the subjects of scripture impressions, and to the great scandal of religion, are henee supposed to have God's good work begun in them, when it appears evident by their spirit and conduct that they are utter strangers to real Christianity. Balaam could have produced plenty of such evidence as this. All those things of his speaking are recorded as a part, and an excellent part of holy scripture, and were suggested to him even by God himself. The Lord, we are told, put a word in Balaam's mouth. But as none of these things had any tendency to sanctify his heart, they left him but where they found him! Besides we have no reason to think but that Satan can and does suggest many things in the words of scripture. We know he did thus to Christ himself; and if to him, why not to us? He has ends to answer in so doing; namely, to deceive poor souls with such airy dreams,. to draw them away from resting their hopes on scriptural grounds, and to substitute these illusory foundations in their room.-On the other hand, whatever be the means, whether hearing the word preached, reading, conversation, prayer, or meditation; and whether, in so meditating, any part of the word be suddenly brought to our mind, and impressed upon our heart, or whether it be more gradually; whether we have never thought of the passage before, or whether we have read it a thousand times over, VOL. VIII.

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it matters not.* If it tend to produce a spirit of pure love to Christ, lowliness, and holiness, that affords us a ground for hope, and a reason for thankfulness. God has plentifully promised salvation to all who are the subjects of these spiritual dispositions.

Should an enemy to your holy religion, after all, require of you a reason for the hope that is in you; should he demand what grounds you have to conclude that the things you hope for have a real existence; we trust you would not be at a loss for a reply. There is not one of all those solid arguments which prove the divinity of the sacred oracles, (which for brevity's sake we forbear to enumerate,) but would furnish you with sufficient reason to give an answer substantial in its nature, though in its manner with meekness and fear.

The glorious OBJECTS with which your hope is conversant next demand your attention, brethren; as they much, very much, contribute to its excellency, and your felicity.-You may be assured they are something good. Hope of every kind has to do with nothing but what in the view of the mind appears such, and this hope has to do with nothing but what is really such. That which we hope for is not merely an apparent, but a real good; and not only a good, but a substantial good; and not only a substantial, but a suitable, a great, yea, an everlasting good!

The hope of worldlings terminates on trifles; on things which, when enjoyed, do butclo y, and cannot satisfy. Let a man in pursuit of happiness knock at the door of every created good, every created good must answer, It is not in me! Riches make themselves wings and fly away; honour is empty as the wind; mirth, what is it but madness? Crowns of earthly glory commonly prove crowns of thorns to them that wear them; all are lying vanities, promising what they cannot perform. O, brethren, let the resolve of the church made wise by affliction be our resolve, The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him.

Here we find what the wisest of men well termed substance.— Only a taste thereof affords substantial bliss. O, to enjoy God! To enjoy God in Christ! To enjoy him with the society of the

* See Help to Zion's Travellers, a piece published at the request of the Association by our brother Hall, pp. 139–141.

blessed! To enjoy him with soul and body, the latter raised and re-united to the former! To enjoy him to all eternity! To enjoy him and be changed into the same image! These, brethren, these are the things on which our hope centres: nor is it a matter of small consolation, that God himself has pledged his faithfulness for their bestowment on all his faithful followers. However desirable these things might be, we should have little reason to rejoice therein, if he on whose word it rested, were either false or fickle; but blessed be his name, we live in hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world begun!

Nor let it seem the less glorious that it is a future good. In the view of infinite wisdom, it is good that a man should both hope and quietly wait for the salvation of the Lord. It seems good to him to place the blessings he means to bestow upon us at a distance; so at a distance that they must be hoped in, and waited for, ere they are enjoyed. Doubtless, God could have bestowed all his blessings on us as quickly as he did paradise on the converted thief; but he has not seen fit in common so to do. Certainly, by his suspending for a time our enjoyment of promised favours, and at length bestowing them, he glorifies his faithfulness in the end, as well as that in the mean time he exercises our faithfulness, patience, and resignation to his will. But this is not all: they are the more welcome when they do come. If the object hoped for prove less in value than we expected, then indeed its having been suspended only sinks it the more in our esteem; but if it surpass all expectation, if it exceed desire itself when it makes its appearance, then its having been so long in coming only makes it the more welcome when come. Hope deferred maketh the heart sick for a time; but when the desire cometh, it is a tree of life! Let us not think much at waiting a little while; no, not though during that time exposed to great tribulations; since our dwelling before the throne will by this be rendered the more blissful, and our weight of glory by this increased. With what sacred pleasure did the patriarch Jacob resign his life, having waited for God's salvation! With what unspeakable joy did good old Simeon embrace the long-looked for blessing! With what raptures of bliss will the Lord again be welcomed on an approaching period, when all who

love his appearing will unite, saying, Lo, this is our God, we have WAITED for him!

Nay, it seems to be a glory in some sense peculiar to religion to reserve the best till last. That you may enjoy strong consolation, brethren, in your passage through life, God has placed his favours in a glorious ascending gradation. The inviting language of every one of them is, Press forward. The pleasures of the world and sin, if they speak truth, can afford no such encouragement to their admirers: no, Ezekiel's roll is descriptive of their utmost pros pects; that roll which had written within and without, lamentations, mourning, and woe. But religion presents a train of rising glories: he that enters it aright will find it like the waters of the sanctuary; first to his ankles, then to his knees, then to his loins, and at last a river to swim in! The different stages of the church maintain the same idea; the Mosaic dispensation contained greater discoveries than the patriarchal; the gospel contains greater than the Mosaic; latter-day glory will outshine this; and ultimate bliss will exceed them all. Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?

Give us your attention, brethren, while we next attempt to point out the UTILITY of this heavenly grace throughout the Christian' life.--Truly this is beyond expression. If hope in general is of so much use among men, as to stimulate them in all their labours, support them in their sorrows, and extricate them from a thousand labyrinths in life; if by it they brave dangers, encounter hardships, and endure difficulties; if, in short, it be that by which as a. mean, even God himself as it were bears up the pillars of the world; then what must be the use of that hope which as we have already seen, so much surpasses this in excellence? As far as the

objects of Christian hope exceed in value, and its grounds in solidity, those of natural; so far does the use of the one exceed that of the other. Its special use will, however, be best ascertained by taking a view of some of those exercises, cases, and circumstances, wherein you are concerned in your passage through life. Particularly,