for the prophetic promise delivered things shall be dissolved, is of the to the Jews. Let us now examine how the admonition and the promise bear upon the condition in which we are placed. And it is impossible for a moment to overlook the greater weight with which they fall upon every one who names the name of Christ, and who lives to see the fulfilment of those things which were but shadowed forth in the dim colourings of prophecy to the church of old. "For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we refuse Him that speaketh from heaven." very first importance, because that condition shall be eternal. Let us, then, reflect what manner of persons we ought to be, under the influence of the admonition and the promise contained in our text. The admonition I have already disposed of it requires no enforcing-it cannot be strengthened by any argument of human wisdom: but the promise deserves, if it may not command, the deepest attention on your part, the most persuasive earnestness and sincerity on mine, that it may not return void, but that it may accomplish the work whereunto it is given; namely, that the Lord may establish you an holy people unto himself, as He hath sworn unto you, if ye will keep the commandments of the Lord your God, and walk in his ways. Whatever necessity might have existed for appealing to the reason and experience of the Israelites upon the vanity of all created things; surely, my brethren, it needs not be urged to you, as a doubtful point, wanting the support of argument, that all these things which surround us shall be dissolved. I need not exhort you to lift up your eyes to the heavens, and to look upon the earth beneath, in order to remind you, that notwithstanding their visible beauty, and their seeming stability, they shall wax old and vanish away. Much less need I enforce upon you the certainty that all who dwell therein shall die in like manner. You know and feel this, and, therefore, it is of little importance to you whether the sky and the earth by which you are surrounded shall continue or not; except that the assurance of their dissolution, given in the Word of GOD, being strengthened by your own reason and observation, affords you additional ground of confidence, that whatsoever things are written in Scripture are true, and preserved there for your instruction. Consequently it follows, that what-unless we form a proper estimate of "My salvation shall be for ever!" And who is the author of this universally interesting declaration? Even he, who after he had lived upon earth, fulfilling, in his own person, the ministration of righteousness, and establishing its continuance from generation to generation, made himself known again in his glorified state in heaven. - (Rev. xxii. 13). I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last: He who created all things, and for whose pleasure they are and were created: He who is over all, God blessed for ever!" How inconceivably strong, therefore, is the claim of the person who offers this promise to our confidence, and trust, and dependence! And what is the gracious gift of which He makes us the free offer? Even salvation-the deliverance, the protection, the preservation of our immortal souls! But we cannot conceive rightly of the value of this gift, ever relates to that condition upon which we must enter after all these the worth of the soul, and the jeopardy in which it stands from the The means of thus preserving it are clearly laid down for our guidance, they are written for our learning; and if the ministration of the Gospel were to cease throughout the world, and the Bible were still left in the hands of future generations, they would be without excuse in the day of judgment if they remained ignorant of the terms and the means of salvation. Our Saviour's command to the Jews in his day was, "Search is the chief corner stone in this gloand justify our reliance upon this promise, He reminds us of his own unchangeable faithfulness-my righteousness shall not be abolished. His word, his truth, is the same yesterday, to day, and for ever. Heaven and earth shall pass away, but his word shall not pass away. moment it begins to exist. It is not to our present purpose to inquire why it is so circumstanced. It is enough for us to know that it is so, and that we have no power of ourselves to help ourselves: that there are no other means of deliverance than those which God has wrought. But that these are all-sufficient, we have abundant proofs from the same revealed wisdom which teaches us that they are provided. It is impossible for us to conceive a perfect notion of the soul's value, because while we exist in the body all our faculties are limited; and we cannot, therefore, comprehend the true nature of eternity: but we can compass quite enough of the idea to serve all the purposes of vigilance, and caution, and activity, and perseverance, regarding those things upon which the soul's welfare or woe through eternity do depend, under the Divine control: and these things are openly revealed to us in God's word-they are made clear as the noon-day light. The value of the soul arises out of its immortality: for as it must exist for ever, either in a state of blessedness, or in a state of misery, it is a treasure worth the utmost pains we can bestow, to preserve it in a condition capable of inheriting the promise. the Old Testament. In applying this command to ourselves, our thoughts immediately rest upon the New Testament, the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, the glad tidings of the promised salvation perfected, wrought in the sight of men, sealed by the blood of the Messiah that should come according to the promise made even to the father of the human race, and ratified by the descent of the Holy Ghost even to this day, upon all who will commit their souls to his keeping. If then you have but a cold, languid, imperfect sense of the soul's value, search the Scriptures; for while they testify of Him who hath purchased its salvation, they will teach you at how great a price the purchase was made, and from what depths of misery it was thus redeemed. You will learn from hence also the extent of the deliverance thus wrought for you. "Mysalvation shall be for ever!" The sin of the body brought down a curse upon the soul: the body, therefore, remains liable to the penalty of its own guilt-"dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return!" But the love of God toward the creatures whom He had formed after his own image, pleaded for them, that He should not leave their soul in hell; and this most adorable attribute of the Deity, in his relation to man, prevailed in the councils of the Most High to contrive the wondrous scheme of human redemption; that in the ages to come He might shew the exceeding riches of his grace, in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus. We are come then to this point-we are living under the immediate operation of this gracious dispensation: and He who the Scriptures;" for they are they which testify of me: but He could refer them only to the Scriptures of rious structure of divine love, Himself assures us, My salvation shall be for ever." And in order to engage tion which shall be for ever; and partakers, by imputation of the Saviour's merits, of that righteousness which shall not be abolished. To embrace this as well as every other Divine Promise contained in the written Word, is therefore equally a matter of the deepest interest, as a matter of imperative duty with all who profess and call themselves Christians. For unless we believe, what motive can there be to strive against the powerful impediments which time, and the world, and our own carnal will, set up continually in the narrow path of Christian duty? Without this faith it is impossible to please GOD; and if by actual transgressions or omissions we renew and increase our natural obnoxiousness to the divine purity, the wrath of GOD abideth on us, and we have no part nor lot in Although, therefore, the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall wax old like a garment, and they that dwell therein shall die in like manner; yet on the power, the love, and the faithfulness of the Redeemer, we may build our hopes as upon a rock, that life and immortality are our glorious inherit ance hereafter; that neither height nor depth, nor time nor space, nor things present nor things to come, shall separate us from the love of GOD, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord: but that our own willing sub-the perservation and increase upon mission to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our faith in the merits of the Redeemer, our obedience to the revealed will of our Heavenly Father, are the prescribed means whereby we may become heirs of that salva the earth of that reign of righteousness, which notwithstanding our personal guilt shall not be abolished; nor can we hope to share the salvation which shall be for ever.-Amen. No. 126.] THE PREACHER. SERMON BY THE REV. F. G. CROSSMAN. THURSDAY, JANUARY 24, 1833. A Sermon [Price 3d. DELIVERED BY THE REV. F. N. CROSSMAN, AT CARLISLE EPISCOPAL CHAPEL, KENNINGTON, JANUARY 5, 1833. Psalm cx. 3.-"Thy people shall he willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth." weakness. He confirms all the parts of redemption by an oath. Man is sunk down in infirmities, and the plague of unbelief has so embodied itself in his very nature, that the bare word of Deity is not enough for him; he must have the testimony of the Holy Ghost presented to him with an additional weight suspended to it. Hence the gracious disclosure that "the Lord hath sworn, and will not repent;" and that transcendent act of grace to which it points, "Thou art a priest for ever after the order of of Melchizedek." This priesthood assures the sinner that the altar, and offering of burnt-offering, has been actually set up, that the atonement has been made, and the reconciliation perfected; and the perpetuity of it is nothing less than a strongly marked declaration, that there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin, that all has been done that ever will be, for bringing the sinner up out of his grave of spiritual darkness, and setting open for him a passage to glory and immortality, those distincI THERE is more Gospel in this Old Testament hymn, than in many sermons where it is more professedly preached. In no part of the Bible is the Lord Jesus more truly exalted, than he is here. "Sit thou on my right hand." What a clear undisputed manifestation of his Sonship is this expression; and what a declaration of his mediatorial power is that which follows it! "Rule thou in the midst of thine enemies." Of whom was it ever said, but of God the everlasting King, that "his foes should be his footstool?" But this is the honor decreed to the anointed of God. What a proofhave we here then, of his eternal Godhead! And if I carry on these remarks and apply them to the subject of the fourth verse, we shall see far into the mystery of Redemption; the eye of faith will have a wide field to rejoice in, and all the thoughts so rich and high a theme to dwell upon, that if they are not, in some measure, held in by the Spirit, they would be apt to lose themselves in a sea of wonders. "The Lord hath sworn"-this is, indeed, a stooping, tive characters of life eternal. an unparalleled deference to human | might here go forward to the sixth VOL. V. P and seventh verses, and show you in what manner our Lord, in his reign of grace, exercises judgment amongst the heathen, and with what a ready will he bowed his head, and drank of the brook of God's wrath in the way of his glorious undertaking; but I have, perhaps, said enough of the general tendency of this Psalm, to stir you up to look more into the Gospel character of it. I now ask your particular attention to the text, which stands as one of its most remarkable features, "Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness: from the womb of the morning thou hast the dew of thy youth." May the Spirit which was in David, rest upon me, and give an influence to my words this day; May the same awakening power that put it into David's heart to write down this memorial of Christ's love, give me ability to improve it; then shall you, my brethren, join chorus in a song exclusively dedicated to Immanuel's praise, and great will be your soul's enjoyment in it. I see in this Scripture three things for consideration. I am led to examine, First, How IT IS THAT THE SAINTS OF GOD BECOME CHRIST'S PEOPLE. Secondly, THE END AND PURPOSE FOR WHICH HE MAKES THEM WILLING. Lastly, IN WHAT SENSE THEY ARE DESCRIBED AS THE DEW OF THE MORN ING. Every one who knows any thing of the phraseology of the Bible, will fancy he has learnt the signification of an expression that often occurs in it-the people of God; and, indeed, as far as all those who are living godly and righteously in this present world, may be named God's people, he does truly understand it. In some parts of revelation it means no more than this, that though as Lord of all the kingdoms of the earth the inhabitants of them are his by creation, yet that a chosen number of these are his by election. He has an overlooking providence for every man; as well for him, whose roots are cankering in the soil of an unconverted heart, as for those who are yielding God the peaceable fruits of righteousness. He sits in all the councils of men, though they perceive him not: and no decree of theirs can pass, without his yea, and amen. He sets up thrones and overthrows them; he bendeth the bow and breaketh it. He snappeth the spear asunder, and burneth the chariots in the fire. There is no casualty or contingency with him; whatever his will determines, cannot be altered or obstructed by events; it is virtually finished the moment it is conceived. Again, he opens these lower vineyards indiscriminately; and an unrighteous Herod shall have as much or more abundant honor, than the man after God's own heart, and the impious Belteshazzar more of perishable treasure, than the prince of Israel, who was fed out of the storehouse of Egypt, or the leader of the twelve tribes who refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter. But this is not the way in which he deals with the riches of heavenhe drops these where they will be gathered up and prized-he has a waiting anxious people who thrive on such food, and he will not take from his children to give to the impenitent, the unthankful, and the reprobate. He knows the inward workings of every Esau, and of every Jacob. He sees the carnal appetite strong in one, and the desire for a blessing as fervent in the other. Without reference to elder or younger, He attaches the birthright to the sinner that can rejoice in his privileges, and can love them heartily because they place him in a nearer position to his Heavenly |