sorrow, and the wildest storms of adversity; if we reflect, on the other hand, what little power is possessed, by outward circumstances of repose and tranquillity, to give quiet to the distracted soul; it cannot be doubted, that, where there is peace with God, that man cannot be utterly unhappy; as on the other hand, where God is our enemy, where we know that we have offended Him, and do not yet know, that our pardon is granted through Jesus Christ, we must be utterly wretched, whatever be the seeming smiles of the world, or our outward fortune. The spirit of a man is strength against adversity; but a wounded spirit who can bear? And that this peace it is, which our Saviour promised to His followers, is further plain from the very words in which He makes His promise. "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you." And where this peace was to be found, and in what manner obtained, may be learnt from the history, which has been read in the Gospel of this morning.

1

The apostles, when Christ thus came to give them peace, were assembled in the house of prayer, and on the Lord's day. Is there any, who hath not yet been reconciled to God through Christ; any, who is, at this hour, in a

1 St. John, xiv. 27.

state of war with his Maker? let him come hither; and the great Mediator of earth and Heaven will open unto him the new covenant of mercy and forgiveness. Is there any, who has once tasted the good gifts of God; but whose heart is weak; and, with much doubt and sorrow, looks back on his ancient sins, and on his present hardness of unbelief? any who mourns within himself, that he can neither love God so well, nor believe in Him so truly, nor obey Him so perfectly, as he would gladly do? Let him come hither, who is thus heavy laden: and the meek and merciful Jesus will wipe away his tears; will make light the yoke, which now weighs him to the dust; and will enable him to find rest for his soul. Is there any, who has mourned under the weight of human calamities; whose heart, like the heart of Peter, has failed within him for fear, as he has beheld the boisterous winds and waves of mortal life; and whose faith has been perplexed, while he has contemplated the violence and pride of successful villainy; let him come hither to the sanctuary of God, to learn the end of wicked men let him seek refuge, in the secret place of Christ's tabernacle, from the rebuke of the tyrant. Is there any, lastly, whose spirits have risen in honest triumph in beholding the mercy and justice of the Most High displayed in the destruction of sinners, and in the probable resto

ration of outward peace to the world, which we have for twenty years contended for', and prayed for, and hoped for vainly, let him mix his thanksgiving for this wonderful deliverance with a godly fear, lest, if we shew ourselves unworthy of the mercy thus bestowed, a worse thing may come unto us. Let him remember, that godliness is the strength of a nation, whether in peace or in war; and that, let the kings of the earth take what counsel they may, "there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked!"

I Written in 1814.

SERMON XXIII.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

NUMBERS, Xxiii. 10.

Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his !

IN the history of the prophet Balaam, whose words these are, and whose intercourse with Balak, king of Moab, is the subject of the first Lesson for this morning's service, there are many points so singular in themselves, and so instructive in their consequences, as to make it a very useful task to explain their difficulties, and to enquire into their force and meaning.

Amongst the various tribes who dwelt in that wide range of mountainous country, east of Jordan, and north of the great wilderness, a country now abandoned to drought and barrenness, but abounding, in ancient times, with flocks and pasturage, and with wealthy and warlike inhabitants, there were two very distinguished nations; Moab, descended from the horrible

connection of Lot with his daughter; and Midian, sprung from the loins of Abraham by his second wife, Keturah.

It should appear from several passages in Scripture, as when Moab and Midian are mentioned indifferently, sometimes one, and sometimes the other; and where Midianitish women are expressly called the daughters of Moab,— that, in the time of Moses, these two tribes composed in fact a single nation :—that they were united, at least, in the closest bands of alliance and kindred; and that a number of little kings among them obeyed the superior authority of that Balak, the Moabite, of whom I have already spoken. These nations were, as we have seen, of the same stock with Israel itself: their language was no doubt the same; and, though they had wickedly and foolishly corrupted the true religion of their fathers, by the worship of an idol, called Baal Peor, yet there is every reason to suppose, both from this history, and from the other parts of Scripture, where they are mentioned, that they still retained the belief of the one great God, the God of Abraham, of Isaac, and of Jacob.

It was to Jethro, the high priest of Midian, and doubtless a priest of the true God, that Moses fled, after he had killed the Egyptian; and in whom he found not only a protector but a father-in-law: and through the whole of the