form for his praise. In his providence he is subverting, scattering, destroying, in order that he may find stones to polish for a temple into which he will enter, into which his Father will enter, and where they will abide. This is the one great end the King of Righteousness has in view. The preparatory scenes of the world are as a "valley full of bones, very many and very dry;"* but the Spirit of the Lord shall raise out of them a people upon whom he will breathe, and they shall live, and become a glorious army, animated by the heavenly grace. How is it possible, if we see things only with carnal eyes, that we should see them as God sees them, who directs all things with a view to an eternal state of being? Our "light affliction" may work for us a "far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory; while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen: for the things that are seen are temporal; but the things that are not seen are eternal." It is only by looking at "things unseen and eternal" that we can derive true benefit from the miseries of life. Under the hand of God every thing is propelled, every thing temporal is rushing forward to give way to, or to be united with, that which is eternal. This is the development of the whole plan, the explication of all the complicated movements of providence. Look at the things which are eternal: there is the state to which we are tending, where we shall know in perfection what we now know only in part, and shall be satisfied that all has been conducted agreeably to the known character of God. 6. Yet, let it be observed, even here the light of prophecy dispels many of those clouds which would otherwise obscure, for the present, the government and the throne of the Deity. We are assured that in the latter day the gospel will be more widely disseminated, that its influence will be more extensive and efficacious, that the superstitious prejudices and vices by which it has been so long opposed will give way; that the desert and the wilderness shall become a fruitful field, and "shall blossom as the rose;"‡ that all the kingdoms of the earth shall bring their riches and glory into the church, the whole earth shall be full of the glory of the Lord, and there shall be peace unto the ends of the earth. At what period this glory of the latter day will commence is not for us to determine; it is generally agreed the time draws near; how long it will last is, again, not easy to tell. The thousand years are perhaps to be calculated upon the same scale as other prophecies, wherein a day stands for a year, which would make them more than three hundred and sixty thousand years. Be this as it may, at that period the Spirit will be poured down from on high; the potsherds of the earth that have been striving will be dashed to pieces; the great Proprietor will come to fashion them anew: then "the fruitful field will be as a forest," and the forest "as the garden of God;" none shall destroy in all God's holy mountain; the sacred influence of piety will bring us back to a paradisaical state; the love, the harmony, the plenty which will abound will fill every heart with * Ezek. xxxvii. 1-14. † 2 Cor. iv. 17, 18. gladness; the temple of God shall be among men, the marriage of the Lamb will come; and the universal song will be, "Hallelujah: for the Lord God omnipotent reigneth !"* If this period shall continue long, the miseries that once reigned will be forgotten, and all the disorder that was introduced by the fall will be as nothing, when compared with the joy of the restoration; the creation of a 66 new heaven and a new earth, wherein righteous ness shall reign." "Behold, the coming of the Lord draweth nigh; but who can abide the day of his coming?" He will come with his "fan in his hand." "He will sit like a refiner of silver." The chaff will be separated from the wheat; the visitations of the Almighty will find out his enemies; the phials of his indignation will be poured out upon the opposers of the gospel; wrath will come upon them in this world, preparatory to that of the eternal state. Let us "flee from the wrath to come.' Let us consider the salvation of the soul to be the one thing needful. The body is only the tenement in which the soul is lodged, the case in which it is enclosed; the soul is all-important; "the redemption of it is precious;" "What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul; or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?"t The gospel is the only refuge to which we can flee. It presents Christ crucified among you, shedding his blood as an atonement for your sin, willing to "save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him." O my friends, accept his grace; break off from every sin; ask yourselves in what you have offended; set your sins in order before you; remembering that if you do not, Christ will do it at the great day. Judge yourselves now, that you may not hereafter be judged, and sent to condemnation. Turn with humble penitence to the cross of Christ, and approach God by him; bend your knee before the throne of grace, plead the merits of the Redeemer's blood, and be "reconciled by his death." May God grant you these blessings for the sake of his Son. Amen. † Mark viii. 36, 37. * Rev. xix. 6. A a 2 VII. ON THE DISCOURAGEMENTS OF PIOUS MEN.* NUMBERS XXI. 4.-And the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way. [PREACHED AT BEDFORD, MAY, 1815.] It is generally understood and believed that the Old Testament is in great part typical. The history of the deliverance of Israel is a type of redemption by Jesus Christ; the paschal lamb a type of the great Passover. The journey of the people through the wilderness represented our pilgrimage through this world; and the land of Canaan was a shadow of the heavenly rest. Viewed in this light, many parts afford direction and consolation peculiarly suited to individual experience. I shall take leave to accommodate this passage as an expression of what frequently befalls the people of God in this world; their "souls are greatly discouraged, because of the way." The present life is a way; it is not the end of our being: it is not our rest, it is not our abode; but the place of our pilgrimage, a passage to eternity. There are two ways, the way to heaven, marked out by the example of Christ, and the way to perdition, marked out by an evil world. But there are many discouragements that the Christian meets with, though he is in the way to heaven. These we shall point out in the first place, and then direct you to some considerations to remove these discouragements. I. I shall point out the discouragements in the way; and in doing this I shall keep my eye on the pilgrimage of the people who were originally referred to in the text. 1. The way is circuitous, and therefore discouraging. This is suggested in the beginning of this verse: "And they journeyed from Mount Hor, by the way of the Red Sea, to compass the land of Edom;" they took a way which was round about, which added to the tediousness of their journey. Their nearest route would have made it comparatively easy; but instead of taking this, they went up and down in the wilderness. When we consider what God had done for this people in Egypt, it might have been expected that all the way would have been prosperous; that joy would have been heard in their tents, and triumph attended their march; and it would have been seen that they were the people of God by the blessings which they enjoyed; but instead of this they met with delays, hinderances, and troubles, till they murmured against Moses and Aaron, saying, "Why were we brought out hither? Would to God we had * Printed from the notes of the Rev. Samuel Hillyard. died by the hand of the Lord in Egypt."* Thus, souls that are brought to Jesus, and delivered from the slavery of sin and the curse of the law, in their first ardour overlook trials, and think of nothing but enjoyments; they do not anticipate the fightings and fears that are the portion of God's Israel. After a time, through want of watchfulness and care, the love of their espousals begins to decline, the world regains a degree of influence, the Spirit is grieved, and they fear God has become their enemy: they seem to themselves to go backward, and indeed are in danger of doing so, if they neglect to watch and pray; and much time is spent in mourning, retracing, and recovering the ground that has been lost. This is too common a course: there is provision made for something better; there are promises and comforts which should encourage us to advance from strength to strength; but through our neglects we feel that we go backward instead of forward, and are therefore discouraged. 2. The way is through a wilderness, and is therefore discouraging. Moses reminded Israel of this in Deuteronomy: "You remember how you went through the wilderness, a waste land, not sown or tilled, where there was no trace of human footsteps, and where no man dwelled." A wilderness is distinguished by the absence of necessary sustenance: there was no corn, nor vine, nor olive; nothing to sustain life. Thus this world is a state of great privations; men are often literally straitened with poverty, penury, and sorrow, and know not how to conduct themselves in their difficulties: the supplies which they once had may be exhausted; and though they have seen the hand of God in affording them what was necessary on former occasions, they are ready to say, Though the rock has supplied us, and the manna has descended, yet can God spread a table for us in the wilderness?" With respect to the blessings of this life they live by faith, and frequently have no provision or prospect for futurity. 66 But in a spiritual sense this world is also a wilderness. It has no natural tendency to nourish the spiritual life; nothing is derived from it of that kind: though spiritual blessings are enjoyed in it, the Christian knows they are not the produce of the soil; the "bread" which he eats "cometh down from heaven;" the perpetual exhibition and communication of that one bread is all his support. Jesus Christ says, "I am the Bread of life. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead; but he that eateth of this bread shall never die. My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed." The ordinances of the gospel do not support and comfort us any further than there is a heavenly communication and influence attending them. This is not peculiar to the poor: the rich, who abound in worldly things, feel that this is a wilderness to their souls; they feel that there is something to which earthly treasures are not suited; wants which they cannot supply. The same bread that feeds the poor must feed them, or they will be lean from day to day: on this they depend as much as the meanest around them. David felt this when he said, "I stretch forth my hands unto thee: my soul thirsteth after thee, as a thirsty land." "As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul after thee, O God. When shall I come and appear before God?" "Deliver me from the men of this world, who have their portion in this life." "Then shall I be satisfied when I awake in thy likeness." There was nothing on earth to satisfy him; he felt the present world to be a wilderness, because it was a state of absence from the Divine presence. The Christian is a child of promise and of hope, and his eye is directed to the "glory that shall be revealed." Again there is much intricacy in the Christian's pilgrimage. There were no paths in the wilderness; the Israelites could not have explored their way but by the direction of the pillar of fire and of the cloud: so the Christian knows not how to explore his path. There are doctrinal difficulties by which we are perplexed, and errors to which we are continually exposed, and which we know not how to escape but by attention to "the light that shineth in a dark place." There are voices that are heard in the wilderness, crying, "Lo here," and "Lo there ;" but we must not go after them: we must "search the Scriptures,”§ and ask the guidance of the Spirit, or we shall never have the comfort that arises from right views of truth, nor hear the "voice behind us saying, This is the way, walk ye in it." I need not mention the various errors of the present day; but simply specify the two chief, which are, such a view of the doctrines of grace as destroys the necessity of holiness, and such a view of the Saviour as destroys the notion of grace. There are also many difficulties in practical religion; and thus we are again in danger of mistake. What shall we do to serve and please God? The general rules of Scripture are sufficient, if studied with an humble mind, for general direction; but they do not furnish us with immediate and particular directions in all cases: diligent inquiry is necessary, attending to the voice of conscience, giving up sensual desires and inclinations, and rejecting temptations presented in various forms. There is only one grand remedy, if we would walk aright : "If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him."|| 3. The way lies through a hostile country, and is therefore discouraging. We pass through an enemy's land. The Israelites went up in military array, marching in file; and they had not proceeded far before the kings of Edom and Moab, and the Ammonite, opposed them. They were obliged to unite the courage of the military with the assiduity of the pilgrim's life; they had to fight as well as travel. And so must we: on our pilgrimage we must gird on "the whole armour of God, taking the sword of the Spirit, and the shield of faith ;”P we must conquer as well as advance; we must fight our way, or die. There are three great enemies the flesh, the world, and the devil: these are allied, have perfect understanding with each other against us, and combine their efforts for our destruction. The Christian pilgrim becomes a marked character in the world; he dwells alone: the men around him take the alarm; they endeavour to imbitter his choice *Psalm exliii. 6. John v. 39. † Psalm xlii. 1, 2. Psalm xvii. 15. |