12. The support of God may not be alike sensible to us, whether it be under outward afflictions or the deeper exercises of the heart; but either in the conflict, or after it, we certainly shall find that Christ, by his secret grace, hath kept us from destruction, and brought us safely through. Trust, then, the protection of the Lord. On the wings of his faithfulness and love he will assuredly bear you safely through, above the reach of every foe. The words of our text are admirably adapted to console the heart in old age. Even to hoar hairs, the Lord hath said, he will carry, and will deliver you. When the aid of the most skilful physician fails, and all the enticing scenes of nature vanish, the Lord will afford the most ample support and supreme joy. How wretched must be that aged person, loaded with infirmities, and borne down to the dust with sins and transgressions, and who yet knows not Jesus as the sin-bearer of the guilty! Who but must feel an ardent disposition to warn all such aged people, and pray that they may know, and be lead to the Saviour, before they finally sink in death! It is presumed, however, that the aged Christian reader can review the text with peculiar gratification. He has brought you to good old age; and although the hoar hairs upon your head are as light as they are grey, yet they are accompanied with burdens which would be unsupportable, did not the Lord bear you in his hand. Let this be an excitement to cast your daily burdens upon the Lord, for he will carry you, and finally deliver you, and then receive you to himself, to be for ever blessed. How adequate a Saviour, therefore, is Jesus, to bear our PERSONS, Our NAMES, our SINS, and our SOULS, through the sorrows of this world, the valley of death, and finally to receive us to heaven! Glory be to the Saviour! we will praise him for all that is past, and trust him for all that is to come. V. Upon the whole, it is no wonder that we find it prophesied by Zechariah (vi. 13,) that this Saviour should bear the glory. The glory of nature, providence, and grace, devolves on Christ: For by him, and for him, were all things created. Christ is the glory of his church; all his ordinances, his word, and his ministers, unite in bringing glory to the Lord Jesus. Every mercy we receive, every victory we obtain over sin, sends us with shouts of praise to our adored Emmanuel; and it is hoped that the reader has a large tribute of praise to offer for the multitude of blessings he has received throughout the length of his days. And to which we may add, all the spirits of the just made perfect in heaven bow before the throne, and with united voices exclaim, Unto him that washed us from our sins in his own blood, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Surely Christ thy griefs hath borne, A. M. T SERMON II. Age, bright as Noon-day. JOB xi. 17. Thine age shall be clearer than the noon-day: tbou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. THE history of Job is highly interesting, and some passages in it are admirably adapted to console and animate those who are advanced in years. The address I have selected was made by Zophar to Job, at the time he was in the dark night of affliction. Zophar, however, mistook his case, and indulged an apprehension, that he was chargable with hypocrisy, personal sins, and domestic evils, or God would not have visited him with such complicated distresses. Under these impressions he exhorts Job to prepare his heart, and stretch forth his hands to God. If iniquity be in thy hand, said he, put it far away, and let not wickedness dwell in thy tabernacles. For then shalt thou lift up thy face without spot; yea, thou shalt be steadfast, and shalt not fear and thine age shall be clearer than the noon-day: thou shalt shine forth, thou shalt be as the morning. Certainly if Job had been the sinful man which his friend supposed, he stood in need of repentance and reformation, for there is an inseparable connexion between a virtuous life and a happy old age. Of the correctness of Job's moral conduct, however, we can indulge no suspicion, for God acknowledges him as his servant, that there was none like him in all the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and escheweth evil. Chap. ii. 3. To a person of this description, though covered with the dark cloud of affliction, this address of Zophar to Job must be highly desirable, and the beautiful figures of which it is composed, cannot fail to be instructive to a person advanced in years. Perhaps the reader of this discourse, in addition to the infirmities of age, may be under the pressure of outward affliction, or that his mind is depressed by the powers of unbelief, aided by temptation, which covers him with a dark cloud, and deprives him of that light, peace, and composure, which are so desirable to every Christian, especially when advancing to the end of life. In order, therefore, to contribute to the relief of such a painful case, I will attempt to explain the expressive figures of which this text is composed, and at the same time indulge the hope, that the Lord of light and love will grant you a sense of the blessings which they so admirably describe. You will readily perceive that the text will apply to the natural age of a good man, and the renewal of his animal strength.-To a desirable change from affliç tion to comfort and prosperity-and also to the renewal of that happy experience in the enjoyment of God, which is so desirable before we pass away from time, to return no more. I. We will apply the figures of the text to the debilitated age of man, and as an encouragement for a restoration to health. Job was now extremely reduced by sickness, and of that kind which produced an eruption, and his body became full of biles, so that he frequently wished to be hidden in the grave. Persons in age are subject to various diseases, and they have a peculiar time of life to pass, which, if they survive, their health is frequently renewed like the eagle's, and they enjoy a sort of second spring. It was so with Job; and according to the assurance of Zophar, his health was restored, and his animal spirits so revived, that his age became clearer than the noon-day, and he shone forth in health with brightness and vigour, as the sun, which, after a dark night, produceth a bright morning. Such a revival of health was also granted to king Hezekiah, and the Lord added to his days fifteen years beyond his expectation of living. If, therefore, the health of my reader be impared, he hath strong encouragement to look to the healing hand of the Saviour, who is the physician of value, and who also is the glorious sun of righteousness to shine upon him with healing in his wings, so that his age likewise may be clearer than the noonday, and shine forth as the morning, full of light and animation, joy and gratitude to the Lord for |