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by many, the Lord hearkens and hears it. As God could remonstrate with the ungodly in the days referred to in the text, so his eyes were upon the righteous, and his ears were open to their cry. Satan, your subtle and too powerful enemy, cannot, after all, prevent the approbation of your God in covenant, and your God in Christ. O, then, go forward to sing in the way to Zion: "Be of one spirit, and of one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel," and the Lord will hearken, and hear it.

2. Jehovah manifests his approbation of them, by granting them a share in his affectionate remembrance; for "a book of remembrance was written before him" for them.

"Remember me, O my God, for good," was the prayer of Nehemiah: "Lord, remember me, when thou comest into thy kingdom," was the petition of the dying thief; and an interest in the Divine recollection is indeed a great blessing; and great as it is, it is granted to them "that fear the Lord, and that thought upon his name." "A book of remembrance was written :" this language is metaphorical, and is used to express the particular, the abiding, the never-to-be-forgotten recollection, which God has of the honor his saints put upon him. "He tells even their wanderings, and puts their tears into his bottle; are they not in his book?" Of every thing, you, Christians, are enabled to do to the glory of his grace, it may be said, "It is written before him." The deeds of Bigthana and Teresh were written in the book of the Chronicles before king Ahasuerus, to their infamy and disgrace; but yours are inscribed by an immortal pen in the book of God's remembrance, to your joy, and the lifting up of your head.

It is evident, from the following verse, that this is one of the books which shall be opened in the day of judgment; and do you not recollect in what approving strains "the King eternal, immortal, and invisible," speaks of the acts of his saints, as recorded in the 25th chapter of Matthew's gospel? But remember, these deeds are by no means spoken of as approved by God as meritorious; no, but only as testimonies of their real religion, as evidences of their possessing faith, without which, none of these things could be acceptable in the sight of God; and as proofs of their superiority to those on the left hand of the Judge.

And what are we, that God should think of us? Say, brethren, are we not altogether unworthy of his notice? Have we not indeed merited his wrath? And yet he gives us every blessing, and records our names on the palms of his hands, yea, prints them on his very heart.

3. God gives an evidence of his delight in their services, by promising to own and spare them in the day of judgment. "They shall be mine, saith, the Lord of hosts, in the day when I shall make up my jewels."

Yes, he accounts them his jewels; despised as they are by men, they are chosen of God and precious. They are dear to him; he has rendered them comely by the righteousness of his Son, and in them he magnifies his bright and glorious perfections.

There is a day coming when he will make them up; when he shall send his angels to gather his elect from the four winds of the earth, when they shall have his name written on their foreheads in legible characters, and when Jesus shall say, "Well done, good and faithful servants, enter ye into the

joy of your Lord." Come, subjects of my conquering grace, ever children of my love, and partakers of my Spirit, " inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Then shall all believers, the poorest not excepted, be owned before an assembled world, be dignified with the blessings of heaven when Christ, who is their life, shall appear, they also shall appear with him in glory; crowns of honor shall be placed on their heads; palms of victory shall be held in their hands; robes of glory shall adorn them; and hymns of praise shall be heard from them, to the Sovereign grace of Jesus: then they shall be ever with the Lord of hosts.

"And I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him." They are his sons, begotten by his grace, adopted into his family, and distinguished with all the privileges of the children of God whilst on earth, they are active for him: they love him with the affection, the zeal, and the constancy of a son; and "like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him." I will spare them (as the passage may mean) till that day; I will preserve them from every evil, to the enjoyment of myself; they shall be kept by the mighty "power of God, through faith unto salvation." And then, when the last trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised, I will spare them according to the multitude of my mercy; since I did not spare my Son for them, I will spare them for him. "When he shall appear, they shall be like him, for they shall see him as he is" grace shall be brought to them at the revelation of Jesus Christ; they shall find mercy of the Lord in that day; they shall have no part in the fury of God's wrath, in the fire of hell,

which is the second death; they shall be delivered from going down to the pit, for he has found a ransom. O then, Christian, lift up your head, for your redemption draweth nigh.

Sinner, this subject proclaims your misery; instead of fearing God, you hate and disobey him; instead of meditating on him, your mind is occupied on what you shall eat, what you shall drink, and wherewithal you shall be clothed. You never stretch a thought half-way to God; instead of going with others in the road to heaven, the conversation in which you mingle is sensual and devilish. Your friends are the enemies of God, and you delight to confirm one another in your opposition to Jehovah he sees you, but it is with indignation; he marks it down, but it is that it may appear against you another day; you shall be consigned over to the devil; instead of being spared, you shall be damned.

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O, believer, live up to your character as delineated in the Bible; rejoice in the prospect of eternal life; when called to it, pass the river Jordan with a hope full of immortality, and so shall you be ever with the Lord. "Wherefore, comfort one another with these words." Amen.

DISCOURSE VIII.

LOVE TO, AND FAITH AND JOY IN AN UNSEEN CHRIST

PREACHED JANUARY 15, 1809.

"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory." 1 PETER, I. 8.

THE second appearance of the Son of God is an event for which every Christian, when in a proper frame of mind, ardently longs, and earnestly prays for; it is his employment and delight, to be "looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of the great God, and our Saviour Jesus Christ:" it behoves him always to be hastening unto the coming of the day of God, and to hope to the end for the grace that shall be brought to him at the revelation of Jesus Christ. On that day a display will be given of the grandeur and glory of the God we worship those dispensations which appear to us at present irreconcilable with his perfections, will then strike our admiring minds as being altogether right, yea, absolutely necessary, to accomplish his own designs, and illustrate the depths of his infinite love. "This mortal shall then put on immortality, and this corruptible be clothed with incorruption;" a final termination will then be put to all those fiery trials, which are now sent to try us; the Christian shall, both in the glory of his body and in the purity of his soul, resemble his Redeemer; and, in fine, the kingdom of heaven will be opened to all believers, and a loud voice shall

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