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To such he speaks plainly his words both of solemn admonition and of heavenly comfort; of heavenly comfort, when he assures us that in all suffering, whether of mind or body, we may confidently venture to commit the keeping of our souls to ALMIGHTY GOD; and of solemn admonition, when he adds the emphatic words of caution: In time of affliction (says he) commit your souls to GOD, as to a faithful CREATOR; but ever remember that when you so commit them, it must be "IN WELL DOING."

SERMON CCCXXXII.

OF HUMBLING OURSELVES UNDER GOD'S HAND.

1 PETER V. 6-8.

"Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:

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Casting all your care upon HIM; for HE careth for you. "Be sober, be vigilant."

In all periods and circumstances of life, but especially in times of trial and difficulty, from whatever cause arising, Faith must of course be the first of the first principles on which a Christian can build or rest. As "without Faith it is impossible to please GOD," so without Faith it is impossible there can be true comfort or peace in the heart. It is therefore a great calamity, (in a certain sense the greatest of all calamities,) when God, in His severe judgments, suffers either a nation or an individual to become very weak in Faith, or perhaps almost or quite destitute of it; when men are brought to the sad condition described by the Apostle, not only as "having no hope," but even as without GOD in the world." When the hand of God is thus mighty and heavy, strong and irresistible, what is a nation or a person to do? Surely, not to yield to feelings of desperation, not to go on in blind recklessness, wicked and miserable, but rather against hope to believe in hope, to receive such trials as God's deserved chastisements, trusting that in His good time, sooner or later, (though perhaps it may not appear on this side the grave,) the cloud will pass over, God's Name be glorified, and sinful penitents be pardoned and accepted.

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Therefore, (says the holy Apostle,) who knew so well what it was to be weak in Faith, "Humble yourselves under the mighty," the strong, the heavy "hand of God," that He may exalt you in due time;" that when He thinks well, HE may lift you up from your low condition, and bring you to that state of peace and happiness, which, though all naturally wish for, yet none can claim it as of right, in this place of trial.

And, proceeds the Apostle, taking up the ancient words of the holy Psalmist," casting all your care upon HIM;" for whatever your own weakness may be, or whatever your faults and failings, still you need not doubt but " HE careth for you;" to imagine otherwise, to think that He does not care for you, were most absurd, not to say unthankful and blasphemous.

But then, (he continues,) be cautious of mistaking the nature of this Christian resignation; it does not mean that we are to be presumptuous, nor yet again that we may venture to be careless or indolent. "GoD careth for you," (saith he,) why then, "be sober, be vigilant." "Be sober," i. e. having activity, steadiness, and what is called presence of mind in each emergency. Also, "be vigilant," self-denying, earnest, and on your guard.

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Then "in due time," and when your patience and humility have been sufficiently put to the proof, you will for your Saviour's sake be pardoned, and even exalted;" so exalted as to have no occasion to fear the being cast down any more. But that, perhaps, may not be in this world of chastisement and probation, but is reserved for a more perfect state of things.

The true Christian's temper of confidence, then, according to St. Peter's teaching, is essentially humble, patient, resigned, far both from presumptuousness and from indolence.

As to the fulfilment of our Christian duty herein, the Apostle's first plain rule is, "Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of GOD;" under His hand, whenever in any way it is laid strongly and heavily upon you, such is the force of the original word. And possibly it may have reference, among other passages, to the earnest supplication of the holy Psalmist, so familiar to our ears, Take Thy plague away from me; I am even consumed by the means of Thy heavy hand."

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In whatever way, then, it pleases God to inflict His chastisements, (as He has numberless ways of chastising us,) the Christian

knows at once whose hand it is that strikes each blow, and knowing this, he is so far, at least, satisfied. I say so far satisfied, because there still remains the painful reflection, that the punishment, however severe, is less than is deserved.

I consider, then, that this passage of St. Peter is one among many to which, in the estimation of a rightly judging mind, the powerful heavenly language of the Psalmist is most applicable; "More to be desired than gold, yea, even than fine gold "-to the Christian's taste, "sweeter than honey and the honey-comb." At all times, indeed, such places wherein our great GoD shows such condescending tenderness towards us, are valuable beyond all price, but this value comes out (so to speak), and is of necessity seen, and felt, and acknowledged in seasons of peculiar trial, unless, indeed, men's hearts have become hard, and their feelings blunted by long intercourse with the evil world, or by false views of religion.

For each of these causes are powerful, (as we constantly may observe,) to deaden the feelings, and to harden the heart, and this even under circumstances when one would think such effects almost impossible.

In seasons, I say, of trial and perplexity, from whatever cause arising, the value of God's warnings is most deeply felt by the faithful penitent heart. To such an one the present times must of necessity be times of trial and perplexity, as all seriouslyminded persons will confess, however they may differ in opinion as to the quarter from which the storm will come, or rather, I should say, is come. But the sincere penitent would rather avoid speculations and anticipations of what the result of these confusions will be, and receiving them as the just punishment for his own and others' sins, will hope for a brighter day, when heavenly Truth shall shine out as it were from behind the cloud, and GOD shall receive His faithful penitents to HIMSELF, to be separated from HIM no more. And God grant that it may be so with us. In the mean time, we may turn our thoughts for a little while to the particular view of our condition and duty in this respect, I mean, in respect of the need that Christians now have to "humble themselves under GOD's mighty hand," with entire resignation; far from all impatience and all presumptuousness.

Thus, it is certainly a very humbling thought, (no one will

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deny it, at least no one whose heart is affected by any sincere sense of religious truth,) how GoD, speaking of old by His Prophets, said of His chosen people, not once or twice, that "they kept not the Covenant of God, and refused to walk in His Law;" that "they cast away the Law of the LORD OF HOSTS, and despised the word of the HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL;" that " they were a rebellious people, lying children, children that would not hear the Law of the LORD." "They," saith the LORD, have forsaken My Law which I set before them." "They have forsaken ME, and They have turned unto Me the back, and not the face." 66 'They are not humbled, even unto this day, neither have they feared, nor walked in My Law." In short, My people would not hear My voice, and Israel would not obey ME, SO I gave them up unto their own hearts' lusts, and let them follow their own imaginations."

have not kept My Law."

Now, I say, when one reads or hears such accounts as these, given again and again by ALMIGHTY GOD HIMSELF, of His own chosen people, under the former covenant, it is, I suppose, a common thought, and almost a natural one among Christians, to thank God we are not as the Jews were, to take for granted, as a matter of course, that because under the last covenant our knowledge and our privileges are so far superior to theirs under the first, therefore our spiritual condition, our condition before ALMIGHTY GOD, is the more safe and favourable.

Nevertheless, we all know very well, if we choose to consider at all, that what we so often hear in various ways is certainly true, namely, that the possession of Divine knowledge and of precious privileges will avail nothing, if they are made a bad use of.

But I should not say that they will avail nothing, rather they will bear heavy witness against us, will add fearfully to our guilt and to our punishment in that world where it will be too late to repent.

now,

And if this be so, (and who can deny that so it is?) then who that compares herewith the condition of what is called the Christian world at this day, as well in this as in other lands, can help being filled with amazement and apprehension at the prospect?

For it really does seem as if we were come very close upon the

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