motto. And yet withal, let your humility surpass your godly pride, and be, above all things, watchful, lest peradventure your ghostly enemy should master you in some unwary moment; and, finding you presumptuous, should slay you with some deadly sin. Watch and pray; and if, indeed, you be quickened with the Spirit of God, you, who were before dead in trespasses and in sins, guard yourselves well with unceasing prayer that Christ would be pleased to stand at your right hand always. His strength is great, and his power is invincible; but you also must fight, and watch on the walls of the holy city, without relaxing a moment. Day and night you must watch; and then, with God on your side, you will find that the watchman doth not wake in vain: but woe to that man, who, trusting in the privileges of his birth from above, ceases from good works, which are the evidence of a true faith !—for that man is heady and presumptuous, and is in danger of falling into Satan's hands, who will rifle all his shining armour, and trample his escutcheon in the mire.

Thus have I, in unworthy language, endeavoured to set forth the privileges of the free Jerusalem. O that all her sons would value them but half as much as they deserve to be valued! But, alas ! too many are ready to turn aside to the visible decorations of a carnal church, and prefer them to the invisible glories of the spiritual city. For the spiritual church, except seen with the eyes of faith, has nothing lovely in it; nay, in this world it must suffer and be trod under foot; for all these privileges are gained through suffering, as St. Paul has taught, when he calls us "heirs of God, and jointheirs with Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together," Rom. viii. 17. And this, too, is a truth that can never be sufficiently published; for there are false churches in the world, which offer riches and carnal consolations to their children; but they are all counterfeits of Christ's pure bride, who willeth that her children should be tried with a fiery trial, and become partakers of Christ's sufferings, 1 Pet. iv. 12, and enter into a fellowship of his tribulations. Her privileges and her freedom are all in the way of spiritual enlargement and the liberties of grace; but of liberty in the flesh she says nothing, nay, she hedges the flesh in with thorns and briers, and wills that they should learn obedience by the things which they suffer, Heb. v. 9. But grace increaseth in proportion to suffering; and the more that Christians weep in the flesh, so much the more have they joy and peace in believing. Join with me then, my Christian brethren, in a prayer to God, that he would be pleased to bring in quickly his scattered

sheep into the fold, that the streets of the free Jerusalem may be crowded with happy inhabitants, and that all who do now dwell there, may "become complete in Him which is the Head of all principality and power."

"Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us; unto Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen."

SERMON III.

THE INABILITY OF THE ENEMIES OF THE CHURCH TO SHUT THE DOOR WHICH THE LORD HATH OPENED.

Preached before the Congregational Union of Scotland.

BY RICHARD PENMAN.

REV. iii. 8.-Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it.

THERE is not only a difference between the man who fears God and the man who fears him not, but there is also a difference between one good man and another. Some men, like David, have their hearts perfect, and serve their generation according to the will of God; while others are like Solomon, of whom it is said, that "his heart was not perfect with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father."

What is said to individuals may be applied to churches, who profess the same faith and observe the same order. This was manifest in the seven churches in Asia. The Lord, who searches the heart and tries the reins, declares that he knew their works, approved of what was worthy of commendation, and called upon them to repent of the evils which they had done. To some of the churches nothing is said by way of commendation: a few names in Sardis were found worthy, and promised a blessed and gracious reward; but this approbation did not extend to the body in general, as, in the most corrupt churches, some may be found who love the Lord. The epistle from which we have selected our text, contains no censure against the church to whom it was addressed. He who had a perfect knowledge of their works, confers upon them his unqualified approbation. The characters under which they are addressed correspond with the state of the respective, churches. He that was holy and true,—that had the key of David,—that "openeth, and no man shutteth, and shutteth and no man openeth," set before the church

in Philadelphia an open door, and no man could shut it. The promises made to one church may be properly applied to churches united together for the spread of the gospel. Union, like knowledge, is power we can accomplish together what we cannot do alone; and as our spiritual interests will be thereby advanced, and the claims of the truth more effectually advocated, we are to strive together for the furtherance of the gospel. It is on this principle that so many useful societies have been formed in our day, and blessed by God for converting souls to the faith of Christ. The Congregational Union of Scotland may justly claim the honour of being a fellow-labourer in the work of the Lord; and although we may have but a little strength, yet we believe that strength is exerted in the best of causes; and as an encouragement to labour for its increase, the great Head of the church hath already blessed us with success, and given us reason to believe that he hath set before us an open door which no man can shut.

In further prosecuting the subject upon which we have entered, we would, under the supplicated influences of the Divine Spirit, direct your attention to the privilege granted, the work to be accomplished, and the protection promised.

I. The privilege granted.

"Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it."

1. The person who has done this is the Lord," the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty." He who has power over all worlds,-who holds the keys of hell and of death, and lives for evermore to save unto the uttermost all that come unto God by him, by virtue of his divine nature, and voluntary undertaking in our flesh to redeem us from the curse of the law,—is now exalted to the right hand of God, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, that he might give eternal life to all who believe on his name. All persons are in his hands: those who hate him he rules with a rod of iron, and disposes them to promote his cause when they intend to destroy it. When they rage against him, and set at nought his almighty power, his glory becomes the more manifest; and it was when the pride of Herod was humbled, that the word of God grew and multiplied. He is Lord of all, and he does according to his will "in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth." In the fall of an empire, and in the fall of a sparrow, we behold a particular providence, exercised over all creatures for the good of his body the church. The Lord hath absolute power to open the heart to receive the gospel ;-to open heaven to

receive the departing saint into its capacious bosom; and he will at last display his power in opening the graves of the saints, and raising their bodies glorious and immortal, that both soul and body may be happy for ever and ever. But

2. His power is seen in opening doors of usefulness, that his servants may enter in and labour in the gospel. His command to preach the gospel would avail little, unless in his providence he opened a door of access unto the nations: but he hath been pleased to crown with success obedience to his command, for we are told that his disciples went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. The Apostle Peter was honoured to open the door of faith both to Jews and Gentiles, and the terms of admission were set and determined. In the second and tenth chapters of Acts, we have an account of the success which attended the gospel on the day of Pentecost, and upon its introduction into the Gentile world. It is the same Spirit that renders the gospel effectual in our day; and though his effusions may differ in degree, yet they are the same in kind. His influences impart energy and life to the word preached, and in some degree perpetuate those days in which "the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Ghost." The terms of salvation are the terms of communion in the Christian church: we rejoice in their simplicity and adaptation to our exigencies, and believe, that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved. When doors of usefulness were opened in primitive times, and liberty was granted to preach the gospel, the inspired writers were careful to ascribe the opening of these doors to Christ. His death and resurrection afforded a divine sanction to the apostles to make known the way of salvation, and imboldened them in exhorting their fellow-men to walk in it. And by his ascension to the right hand of his Father, the gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred, and effects were produced which have as yet been unrivalled in the church. All the open doors in the heathen world have been opened by Him who was promised "the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost end of the earth for his possession." The enemies of Christ have tried to shut these doors; they stand and guard the passages which conduct to the territories of the prince of darkness, and exert their influence to prevent the champions of the cross from "proclaiming liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound." But they are unable to maintain their ground: greater is He who is with us, than all who can be against us. When the Lord opens a door in his providence, he also opens the heart to receive the truth: thus the Lord opened the heart of Lydia, that she