fore that believe, he is precious." He does not say how precious-this would have been impossible. But faith makes him more precious to the soul, than sight is to the eye; or melody, to the ear; or food, to the hungry; or health and life, to the sick and the dying. Oh! says the believer, when I see him, as he is revealed in the Word-when I see him in all I want-when I see how he becomes my Saviourthat, when he was rich, for my sake he became poor; and died, that I might live-when I know that he is remembering me still, now he is come into his kingdom; appearing in the presence of God for me; and making all things to work together for my good-how can I but exclaim, Thou art fairer than the children of men!-His Name must be as ointment poured forth-His cause must lie near my heart—I must dedicate myself to his service. I must hourly ask, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? "My God! and can a humble child, "Be ever from Thy face exil'd, "Without the pity of thine eye? 66 Impossible !-for thy own hands "Have tied my heart so fast to thee "And, in thy Book, the promise stands "That where Thou art, thy friends must be." Without this, an Thirdly. A life of obedience. orthodox creed; clear knowledge; high confidence; much talking of Divine things; great zeal for a party: will all in vain be called in to denominate you believers in Christ. Nothing can be more certain, than that as a man is not wise who calls himself so, while all his conduct proclaims him a fool; and as he is not a benefactor who never gives-unless, indeed, words: so he is not a believer who thinks and professes himself to be such; but he who acts and lives as such. We read of the work of faith-Where is this? By faith Noah built an ark. By faith Abraham left his own country, and his father's house. Read the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews; and see whether faith is a mere notion, or a vital principle. "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead also." "What doth it profit, my brethren, though a man say he hath faith, and have not works? Can such faith save him?" Therefore, says James, "Shew me thy faith without thy works"-shew me a sun that never shines; a fire that never burns; a fountain that never flows-" and I will shew thee my faith by my works"-I will shew thee the spring in the streams; the cause, in the effects; the principle, in the practice. Though faith can alone justify the soul; works can alone justify faith, and prove it to be of the operation of God. Nov. 26.-"My people-have forgotten their resting-place." Jer. 1. 6. GOD has provided every creature he has made with some convenient good, in the possession of which it reposes. Natural bodies have their proper places, towards which they are carried, and declare, by resting in them, that they are where they ought to be. Sensitive beings are led towards sensitive, and animal beings towards animal indulgence, as agreeable to their nature; and they look no farther. But God himself is the resting-place of man: and it has justly been remarked, that herein lies man's excellency; that he alone, of all creatures in this lower world, was made capable of communion with his Maker; and designed for it-and being designed for it, and made capable of it, he is necessarily unsatisfied and restless without it. For though he has been turned away from God by sin, he retains the same natural relation to God as his end; so that he can enjoy no true repose, till he meets with God again. He feels not only sentiments of misery, but of grandeur; and whatever may be employed to quiet and content him, will be found perfectly inadequate and from every fruitless experiment to supply the immense cravings of a fallen, yet immortal mind, he will ever be asking, "Who will shew us any good?" There was a time when the "people of God" themselves attempted to live without him in the world. But they were dead while they lived. They were strangers to every thing like satisfaction, till they happily enquired, "Where is God my maker, who giveth songs in the night?" But since they sought and found him, they have been able to make their boast in the Lord-"The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." "Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory. Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee. My flesh and my heart faileth: but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever." He, therefore, is "their resting-place" actually; and by conviction; and choice; and enjoyment, And what a resting-place is He! There is no repose like that which we possess in Him-It is a peace that passeth all understanding. How then can it be described! Who can express the blessedness of viewing him as our own God, in the covenant of his dear Son-ready to pardon-able to enlighten, to renew, to support, to defend-presiding over all our affairs, and making the most adverse events conduce to our welfare-and promising, on oath, that his grace shall be sufficient for us; and that he will supply all our need from his riches in glory, by Christ Jesus! All we can do is to invite others to come, and learn (it is the only way to know) by experience-"O taste and see that the Lord is good! blessed is the man that trusteth in him." Incomparable as this resting-place is, it is equally secure and durable. Nothing can destroy it; nothing can injure it; nothing can invade it. We live in the midst of uncertainty and change; but the Lord changes not. There is therefore something sure; something lasting-It is that very one thing, O Christian! upon which thou hast laid all thy hope; and from which thou drawest all thy comfort-The eternal God is thy refuge; and underneath are the everlasting arms. And yet they are charged with forgetting their resting-place. The charge cannot be taken without limitation. As fainting is not death; and as backsliding is not apostacy; so this forgetfulness is not constant and total. But, alas! it cannot be denied, that it is occasional and partial.-Our ingratitude shows it. This is at once the effect and the proof of our forgetfulness of God; and is therefore expressed by it-"Thou hast forgotten the God that formed thee." It sometimes appears with regard to the means of grace. In proportion as we feel our need of Him, we shall value them; because it is in these that God is to be found and enjoyed-Hence it is said, "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you." But we may read the Scriptures less than we did-and be less alone-and less regardful of the Sabbath-and suffer excuses to keep us from the sanctuary that once would have had no influence over us. It shews itself in our looking to ourselves for what we want; when in the Lord we have righteousness and strength; and from him is our fruit found. We betray it in our creature dependence. Instead of committing our way unto the Lord, and waiting patiently for him, we weary ourselves for very vanity, in running from creature to creature for help; and learn, by our folly and suffering, that our strength is to sit still: "În returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength."-And do we not forget Him when we faint in the day of adversity? "Oh!" says one, "if such a comfort was removed, mine eye would no more see good." "Oh!" says another, "my loss is irreparable; my wound is incurable." We do not wish you to be insensible, or to undervalue your deprivations: but is it a lamp, or the sun, of which you have been deprived? David, in the desolations of Ziklag, did not forget his resting-place-" Then David encouraged himself in the Lord his God." Our regard to the world, will also shew our regard to God. We forget him, just in proportion as the world strikes and allures us-In sight of Him, it can do nothing with us. But where is the spring, when we stoop to the puddle? Are not the consolations of God small with us, when we repair to worldly attractions and delights?-But the charge is too obvious to require proof-and every Christian will readily confess, "Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it; "Prone to leave the God I love." 99 But how humiliating is the fact! And how wonderful, too! "Can a maid forget her ornaments? or a bride her attire? Yet my people have forgotten me days without number," "who am their beauty, their glory; all their salvation and all their desire.' How little would they themselves have supposed this possible, when they first returned to him, from darkness to light; from bondage to liberty; from a wilderness to the Garden of the Lord! "Thus saith the Lord, I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown." And still, after renewed manifestations, and under lively impressions, they are often |
