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of the earth; but every thing which appears vast and mighty in the eye of man will crumble into ruins. The rocks shall be rent; the mountains shall be removed; the earth shall be consumed; the heavens themselves shall flee away; yet in the midst of that wreck and conflagration one building will still remain; the Church of God, with every living stone which belongs to it, will stand firm on its immoveable foundation, uninjured, inconsumeable. If ever the humble Christian is tempted to doubt of the security of them who believe in Christ and continue faithful to His words, let him remember the foundation upon which he is plåced; if ever the timid disciple is inclined to tremble for the safety of the church, let him lift up his eyes to its Almighty Protector. It may be assailed on earth by the hostility of man, and the malignity of apostate spirits; but it is the building of God, and there is no arm which shall dismantle its towers, or tear up its bulwarks. It may be obscured by the darkness of this lower world, but there is a light which shines upon it from heaven, and which will never be extinguished.

That Saviour, by whom it is sanctified and

cleansed, will hereafter present it to himself in the beauty of holiness, and it will be filled for ever with the glory of its Great Inhabitant.

SERMON IV.

CHRIST THE REFUGE OF HIS PEOPLE.

ISAIAH XXXii. 1, 2.

“Behold, a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment. And a man shall be as a hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

THIS is one of the many passages to be found in the sacred writings, which were intended to support the people of God under afflictive appointments by encouraging them with the prospect of happier times. The inspired prophet is led on some of these occasions, while beholding the depression of his country, to speak of her future elevation; or contemplating the impiety and injustice of her rulers, to tell of princes who should hereafter arise and prove a blessing to the nation and an honour to their land; but in descriptions of this nature he glances at a brighter period than days of merely temporal felicity, and at a more glorious

reign than that of any earthly sovereign. As the whole dispensation of the ancient church was preparatory to the introduction of the gospel, so were the greatest princes of Israel and Judah in some respects typical of that Prince of peace, who was hereafter to sit upon the throne of David.* It is therefore to the days of the Messiah, rather than to the immediate subject of prediction, that in such cases the glowing language of the prophets must be understood to apply: it is in the prospect of His reign that the inspired servant of God kindles into rapture, and to the blessings of His government that he directs the views of an oppressed and afflicted nation. The passage just read seems in the first instance to be descriptive of king Hezekiah: a sovereign, who both in his personal character and in the rule of his government was an ornament to the throne; but the pious Israelites would be taught to discover in these words the promised advent of Him who was the desire of all nations,† and eminently the glory of his people Israel. To Him they would look forward as the King who should indeed reign in righteousness: to Him, as in the highest sense a hiding place from the wind, and a covert

* Isa. ix. 7.

+ Hag. ii. 7.

↑ Luke ii. 32.

from the tempest: as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land. These words bring before us,

I. The GENERAL EQUITY OF THE REIGN OF THE MESSIAH; and,

II. The PECULIAR BLESSINGS OF HIS SUBJECTS. May we, my brethren, submit to his authority, and partake in the blessings of his people.

I. The GENERAL EQUITY OF THE REIGN

OF THE MESSIAH.

Concerning the existence and reality of His kingdom we need no assurances more distinct than are those contained in the second psalm, where the Almighty expressly declares that He hath set Him upon His holy hill of Sion and challenges for Him the obedience of all the kingdoms of the world. In asserting therefore the authority of our glorified Saviour, as Sovereign over His dominions, we advance not a theory but a fact; we affirm a clear and unquestionable truth: there is nothing more real in the visible government and administration of earthly rulers, than there is in the controlling and commanding agency of the Son of God. Such is the testimony of the Holy Scriptures.

And not only does that kingdom exist, but

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