sus is the only Saviour, but vainly attempt to save themselves; and whilst the Bible asserts, and experience proves, that "there is no other name under heaven, given among men, whereby we can be saved, but the name of Jesus," they will apply to any other person for relief but to him from whom alone it is to be obtained. "Being ignorant of God's righteousness, they go about to establish their own righteousness, not submitting themselves to the righteousness of God" Jesus is the door to the regions of glory : Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God?" The foundation of all our preparation for heaven must be laid in our being washed, justified, and sanctified in the name of our Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.

more.

The joys of heaven are unspeakable, complete, and eternal; Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for them that love him." "In the Divine presence there is fulness of joy, and at his right hand are pleasures foreverBut, however great the glory, or lasting the happiness of heaven, it must be well understood and remembered by us, that if we know not Christ as our only Saviour, we shall never see its glory, or enjoy its pleasures. Would we be partakers of the felicity of the heavenly world, we must enter in by Jesus, the door; it is only he who can prepare us for that happy state. And do you ask, How it is that he makes us meet for the inheritance of the saints in light?" the answer is, By imputing to us his own immaculate righteousness, whereby our sins are pardoned, and by affording us the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, whereby we are made holy. Without this

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blessed preparation for glory, where God is we never can come, "the gift of God being eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord." Oh, let every one in the present congregation, lifting up to God the voice of prayer, exclaim, "Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go in unto them and praise the Lord this gate of the Lord, into which the righteous shall enter !" That Jesus is the way to heaven is abundantly evident from the songs of the glorified, who ascribe all their felicity to him that "washed them from their sins in his own blood, and made them kings and priests unto God." Yes, my brethren, those who now stand round the throne of God, to hunger no more, nor thirst any more, are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb." Jesus is the only door, then try no other: he is an open door, then try him: bless the Lord, who, in his designs of love and mercy, and in his preached gospel, has set open this way to himself; adore him for giving you an assurance of your acceptance through Jesus, and for sweetly drawing you to himself, whilst others were left to perish in their sins. Thus have we considered the representation of Christ which our text affords; let us now view the passage.

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II. As describing the blessedness of all his people. They are here mentioned as entering in by the door.

What we have already said is sufficient to teach us that the language is metaphorical; that it implies their cordial reception of Christ, and their hearty belief in him; for, inscribed on this door, stand the soul-quickening words, "Believe, and live." The blessedness of such as enter in by

Christ is thus described: "They shall be saved;" "they shall go in and out, and find pasture."

Need we here observe, that these promises relate to the present life, are great and unspeakable in their nature, as vast as God can make them, and as suitable to the exigencies of the soul of a poor sinner, as it is possible for them to be? To be a little more particular: three things are contained in the declaration of the text, namely, salvation, liberty, and provision.

1. Salvation.

By entering in through Jesus, the door, you secure your safety as it respects temporal calamities, spiritual distresses, and eternal woes.

Those who enter in by Jesus, the door, are safe in temporal calamities; for "they that trust in the Lord shall be as Mount Zion, that cannot be removed, but abideth forever." What, though the nation in which they live is the object of Divine displeasure and almighty wrath, God is saying unto them, Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber; and shut thy doors about thee: hide thyself, as it were, for a little moment, until the indignation be overpast." Yes, Jehovah has an ark, in which he shuts up all his Noahs in public distresses. For it shall be well with the righteous, in what circumstances soever they may be placed. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Jesus is the believer's "rock, and fortress, and deliverer, his God, his strength, in whom alone he trusts, the horn of his salvation, and his high tower." "The eternal God is his refuge, and underneath him are the everlasting arms. "Happy are the people that are in such a case; yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord." The Christian's way

being committed to the Divine care, and the Lord being acknowledged in all his ways, he shall not be destitute of domestic mercies; and although he may be tried in his family and circumstances, he shall be delivered out of his embarrassments, and all things shall work together for his good. Nay, though he is visited with bodily pains and afflictions, he shall be saved from their distracting influence, and blest with their purifying tendency. He shall glorify the Lord in the fires, and be made wiser and better, holier and happier, by all the trials he may be called to bear.

The saints, then, wherever they are, are safe as in the hollow of his hand the Lord keepeth them as the apple of his eye. "The eyes of the Lord are always upon them, from the beginning of the year even to the end of the year," to notice their condition and to supply their wants. Oh, how great was his care of his ancient Israel! "In all their afflictions he was afflicted, and the angel of his presence saved them: in his love and in his pity he redeemed them; and he bare them, and carried them all the days of old." And we may rest assured, that as he is an unchanging God, the same care which was so remarkably exerted in behalf of Israel, shall be the protection of the saints to the latest age. "He shall deliver them from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence :"" They need not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day: nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day: there shall no evil befall them; neither shall any plague come nigh their dwellings; for he shall give his angels charge over them, to keep them in all their ways; they shall bear them up in their hands, lest

they dash their foot against a stone they shall tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the dragon shall they trample under foot." "I," saith the Lord," will be with them in trouble, I will deliver them and honor them, with long life will I satisfy them, and will show them my salvation." And all this their security is the happy consequence of their entrance in by Jesus, the door. What, though they are persecuted by the world, they have to recollect that it hated Jesus the Master before it hated Christians the disciples; they are assured that Christ has overcome the world, and by that assurance are encouraged to be of good cheer.

So also shall they be saved as it respects spiritual distresses. When assaulted by Satan, "the Spirit of the Lord shall lift up a standard against him," and "the God of peace shall bruise him under their feet shortly." Although they now groan under the wickedness of their hearts, and long to be delivered from the body of this death, their great Master has declared, for their encouragement, that "sin shall not have dominion over them;" that "he will present them faultless before the presence of his glory, with exceeding joy;" yes, they shall appear as a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing." Sometimes they are distressed on account of the hidings of God's face, yet are they safe, because he will return unto them in mercy, he will not finally leave them, nor forsake them.

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Once more, we say, that they are safe from eternal woes. It is an awful truth, that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God;" but it is a glorious fact, that to those who have entered in by Jesus, the door, there is