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it to their souls. See our Redeemer in the days of his flesh: was there any disease which he could not cure? Was not even a touch of his garment instantly effectual for one who had spent her all upon physicians, and to no purpose? Methinks I hear one complaining, that sin and Satan have such an entire possession of his soul, as to render his state altogether hopeless. But "is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no Physician there?" Look at the demoniac in the Gospel: so entirely was he possessed by Satan, that no chains could bind him, no restraints prevent him from inflicting deadly wounds upon himself. But a single word from the Saviour expels the fiend, and causes the maniac to sit at his feet, clothed, and in his right mind. Fear not then, thou desponding sinner; for there is nothing impossible with him. And if thou say, 'True; but he has already tried his hand upon me in vain, and given me up as incurable;' hear then what he speaks to thee by the Prophet Isaiah: "For his iniquity I was wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and yet he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." (Here is your very case: and what says he to it? Does he say, 'I have therefore given him up as incurable?' No; but ("I have seen his ways, and will heal him." Heal HIM, does he say? Yes; "I will heal HIм, and will restore comforts to him and to his mourners." Go then to him, thou desponding soul. Say to him, as David did, "Lord, be merciful unto me; heal my soul, for I have sinned against thee P."-If you reply, 'There is no hope for me, because I have once known the Lord, and have backslidden from him;' be it so; yet, as a backslider, hear what a gracious message he sends thee by the Prophet Jeremiah: "Return, ye backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings." One thing only would I guard you against, and that is, "the healing of your wounds slightly." Let your wounds be probed to the very bottom: and then, as the waters of Marah were healed so as that the fountain itself was changed, so shall your soul be purified throughout, and "the waters flowing from you spring up unto everlasting life"."]

o Isai. lvii. 17, 18.
r Jer. vi. 14.

P Ps. xli. 4.
q Jer. iii. 2
s John iv. 14. and vii. 38.

LXXXVII.

SCRIPTURAL EQUALITY.

Exod. xvi. 16-18. This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded: Gather of it every man according to his eating; an omer for every man according to the number of your persons: take ye every man for them which are in his tents.

II. The duty which we owe him in reference to itThis, though already in a measure anticipated, may with great propriety be now more distinctly noticed.

1. We should acknowledge him in the mercies we have received at his hands

[Sure I am, that his preventing goodness is by no means appreciated as it ought to be. We see others sick and dying; and little think to whom we owe it, that their lot has not been awarded to us. We are restored after sickness; and how soon do we forget the hand that has delivered us1! Nor are we less insensible of our obligations to God for preservation from great and heinous sins; whereas, if we noticed the falls of others who were in every respect as likely to stand as ourselves, we should be filled with wonder and admiration at the distinguishing mercies vouchsafed unto us. Even converting grace, alas! how little gratitude does it excite in our hearts! We can see clearly enough the goodness of God to Israel in bringing them out of Egypt, and in making them a peculiar people to himself, whilst their Egyptian taskmasters were left to perish. But "that deliverance, though glorious, had no glory," in comparison with that which is vouchsafed to us. But I call on all to look at the mercies which they have experienced, and at the means by which they have been procured for a ruined world. The tree that heals us has been felled: the Saviour has been "wounded for our transgressions, and bruised for our iniquities; and by his stripes we are healed." Yes, the Saviour himself has died, that we may live". Shall any one, then, that has experienced the virtue of his blood and the efficacy of his grace, not bless him? O! let every soul stir himself up to praise his God, and break forth like David, "Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits; who forgiveth all thy sins, and healeth all thy diseases"!"]

2. We should apply to him for the mercies which we may yet stand in need of

[Wherefore does the Saviour proclaim to us his office, but that we may apply to him to execute it in our behalf? That you are all labouring under a mortal disease, is certain: and that there is but one remedy for all, is equally

that remedy is all-sufficient: none ever pe

1 If this were a Spital Sermon, or from childbirth, this would be the servations.

m Isai. liii. 5. with 1 Pet. ii.'

it to their souls. See our Redeemer in the days of his flesh:
was there any disease which he could not cure? Was not
even a touch of his garment instantly effectual for one who
had spent her all upon physicians, and to no purpose? Me-
thinks I hear one complaining, that sin and Satan have such
an entire possession of his soul, as to render his state alto-
gether hopeless. But "is there no balm in Gilead? Is there
no Physician there?" Look at the demoniac in the Gospel:
so entirely was he possessed by Satan, that no chains could
bind him, no restraints prevent him from inflicting deadly
wounds upon himself. But a single word from the Saviour
expels the fiend, and causes the maniac to sit at his feet,
clothed, and in his right mind. Fear not then, thou despond-
ing sinner; for there is nothing impossible with him. And
if thou say, 'True; but he has already tried his hand upon
me in vain, and given me up as incurable;' hear then what
he speaks to thee by the Prophet Isaiah: "For his iniquity
I was wroth, and smote him: I hid me, and was wroth; and
yet he went on frowardly in the way of his heart." (Here is
your very case: and what says he to it? Does he say, 'I
have therefore given him up as incurable?' No; but ("I have
seen his ways, and will heal him." Heal HIM, does he say?
Yes; "I will heal HIM, and will restore comforts to him and
to his mourners"." Go then to him, thou desponding soul.
Say to him, as David did, "Lord, be merciful unto me; heal
my soul, for I have sinned against thee P."--If you
reply, There is no hope for me, because I have once known
the Lord, and have backslidden from him;' be it so; yet, as a
backslider, hear what a gracious message he sends thee by the
Prophet Jeremiah: "Return, ye backsliding children, and I
will heal your backslidings." One thing only would I guard
you against, and that is, "the healing of your wounds slightly."
Let your wounds be probed to the very bottom: and then, as
the waters of Marah were healed so as that the fountain itself
was changed, so shall your soul be purified throughout, and
"the waters flowing from you spring up unto everlasting life

[graphic]

And the children of Israel did so, and gathered, some more, some less. And when they did mete it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack.

To exercise faith, in opposition to all the dictates of sense, is no easy attainment. For instance; the Jews in the wilderness soon found that they had no means of subsistence; and no prospect was before them, but that of speedily perishing by hunger and thirst. Yet they did not well to murmur against Moses and Aaron, who, as God's appointed agents, had brought them forth from Egypt: in fact, their murmuring was against God himself, to whom they should rather have applied themselves in earnest prayer for the relief of their necessities. The wonders which he had already wrought for them were abundantly sufficient to shew them, that, whilst under his care, they had nothing to fear. Doubtless the pressure of hunger and of thirst rendered it difficult for them to believe that God would provide for them; and God therefore mercifully bore with their impatience, and relieved their wants: he gave them water out of a rock; and supplied them with bread from the clouds, even with bread sufficient for them from day to day. In relation to the manna, which was rained every night round about their tents, and which they were commanded to gather for their daily use before the risen sun had caused it to melt away, there was this very peculiar circumstance daily occurring during the whole forty years of their sojourning in the wilderness, that, whilst the head of every family was to gather a certain portion (an omer, about five pints,) for every person dependent on him, "those who had gathered more" found, when they came to measure it, that they "had nothing over; and those who had gathered less, that they had no lack." Now this circumstance being so very peculiar, I shall endeavour to unfold it to you in its proper bearings: in order to which, I shall consider it,

I. As an historic record

A more curious fact we can scarcely conceive: and

it is the more curious, because it occurred, not occasionally in a few instances, but continually, for forty years, through the whole camp of Israel.

It arose, I apprehend,

1. From God's merciful disposition towards them

[A variety of circumstances might occur from time to time to prevent some heads of families from making the necessary exertion before the sun should have dissolved the manna, and have deprived them of the portion which they ought to have gathered. Illness, in themselves or their families, might incapacitate them for the discharge of their duty in this matter; or a pressure of urgent business cause them to delay it till it was too late. In this case, what must be done? God, in his mercy, took care that there should be in some a zeal beyond what their own necessities required, and that their abundance should be sufficient to counterbalance and supply the wants of others. In order to this, he needed only to leave men to the operation of their own minds. They did not collect the food by measure, but measured it after they had brought it home; that so they might apportion it to every member of their family, according to the divine command. Hence it would often occur, that one who was young, active, vigorous, and disengaged, would exceed his quota; whilst another who was enfeebled by sickness, or depressed by sorrow, or occupied with some urgent business, as that of attending on his sick wife and family, might collect but little. Neither the one might think of administering relief, nor the other of receiving it; but in all cases where there was excess or defect found in the exertions of one, there was a corresponding want or superfluity in another; so that, on measuring the whole, there was no superfluity or defect throughout the whole camp.

In fact, this, in some respect, obtains throughout the whole world: for though there is doubtless a great disparity in men's possessions, arising from different circumstances, the rich unwittingly supply the necessities of the poor, by dispersing their wealth in return for the comforts or elegancies of life and thus, to a much greater extent than men in general are aware, is equality produced among them; all having food and raiment, and no one possessing more.]

2. From their bountiful disposition towards each other

[In this view St. Paul quotes the very words of my text. He is exhorting the Corinthians to liberality in supplying the wants of their poorer brethren: he tells them, however, that he did not mean to burthen them for the purpose of easing others; but only that, by an equality, their present abundance

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