avoid her doom. "I know thy works," says the "Amen, the faithful, and true witness, I know thy works; that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert either cold or hot; so then because thou art luke-warm, and neither cold nor hot, I will throw thee out of my mouth."

Spirit of the living God, dwell with celestial fires within these sacred walls, and preserve us and our children to the latest line, from these fearful judgments! Sacred to the inculcation of doctrines thus pure, to the exercise of discipline thus strict, and to devotions thus fervent, be this holy edifice to the latest generation! Then shall "the eyes of the Lord be open upon this house day and night, for good;" and when its foundations shall tremble in the general convulsions of nature, it will be found that the name of Jehovah was recorded here.

Do you ask, O congregation of the Lord, what advantages shall result from the eyes of your God being thus open upon you day and night? This is the

II Question, suggested by the text which we promised to answer. Blessed is that house in which God has recorded his name. Blessed is that church upon which his eyes are open, day and night continually. Although the fires of persecution may rage against her, she shall issue from the midst of them, having lost nothing but her dross. Like the bush of Moses, in which the flame burned, she shall not be consumed. The rage of men and devils shall not be able to hurt her. Enemies may encamp, and foes invade, but the Breaker of Israel goes up before her; the Lord of hosts at her head, therefore she shall not be afraid. The captain of her salvation, on whose vesture and on whose thigh is the name "King of kings, and Lord of lords," shall wave the banners of eternal triumph over the camps of those who would spoil her. She may have many sore conflicts, and be brought very low; she may even be made to cry out, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my God hath forgotten me;" her songs may be turned into mourning, and her tuneless harp be hung upon the willow. In the camp of her enemies the shouts of triumph may be heard ;-it shall be for a moment: the Hope of Israel, and the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, shall soon return and cover her with his buckler; the night of her darkness shall be chased away by the returning beams of his glory. Our Jesus holds up to the view of his Church, no Mahometan paradise; no visionary notions of superior bliss, or exemption from trouble in this world. He has never told her that she shall pass to glory on a bed of down; nor that the path that conducts her to his Father's kingdom shall be covered with roses. No: very different are the terms upon which he has taken her into covenant-relation with him. Through many tribulations must she pass; many a conflict must she experi

ence; many a tear must flow, and many a weary, trembling step must she take, before she finish her pilgrimage upon earth. But she has the promise of her Lord, that, during this pilgrimage, he will be with her, to support and to bless her; to increase, to strengthen, and finally to conduct her to glory and triumph in heaven. On earth he will bless her with a faithful ministry; with peace among her members; with the agency of her Spirit to make the word and ordinances effectual for her salvation; and finally with protection and defence, until her warfare be accomplished.

Behold the advantages which a Church of God has a right to promise herself, from having "the eyes of the Lord open upon her for good."

He will bless her with a faithful Ministry. The promise of God to his Church is, "I will give you pastors according to my own heart, who shall feed you with knowledge and understanding." Ah, it is a solemn, it is a weighty business to guide the flock, to feed the Church of Christ, which he has purchased with his own blood. There is awful responsibility attached to the station occupied by him who "stands between the dead and the living." How important is it to the interests of a Church, that her pastors feel the spirit of their station; that they be "men fearing God, and hating covetousness;" "taking good heed to themselves and to their doctrine, that they may save themselves and them that hear them." If God intended to curse a people, and blast their spiritual interests from the blossom to the root, I know of no way in which it could be more certainly effected, than by giving them up to an unfaithful ministry-a ministry from which the Spirit of God must forever stand at a distance. To fill the office of a faithful minister, and "rightly to divide the word of life;" to "declare the whole counsel of God;" to feed the flock; and, unabashed by the countenance of man, to warn the sinner of his danger; to stem the torrent of iniquity and popular prejudice, requires much firmness, much prudence, much courage, and much grace. Such men are blessings to the world; such pastors are blessings to the Church. Their names shall be had in everlasting remembrance, when the memory of the temporizer shall rot. The worth of such men in the Church of God is seldom known, until their light has been put out in the sanctuary. After they are dead, the church begins at once to feel their worth and her loss. But whether the church be sensible of it or not, these are the men under whose ministry she shall eventually flourish as the palm tree. These are the ministers of whom Jesus hath said, "I will be with you always, even to the end of the world.” Receive them, brethren; they bring blessings in their train; they will be evidences that "the eyes of God are upon you for good."

These are the earthen vessels, in which, for your edification and the furtherance of your salvation, he has deposited the treasures of his gospel and his grace. Thus their gifts and graces your Saviour kindly bestows upon them, that he may make them instrumental in blessing you. "When he ascended upon high," says the Apostle, "he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men." He gave some Apostles, some Evangelists, some Prophets, some Pastors, and some Teachers," for the perfecting of the saints; for the work of the ministry; for the edifying of the body of Christ.

With such a ministry will the Lord bless that church, "upon which his eyes are open day and night," and in which he has "recorded his name.' He will also give her peace in all her borders; and her sons and her daughters shall be united together as one family. The religion of the Gospel is a peaceful religion, and its peaceful and happy effects are felt in that church upon which the eyes of the Lord are open for good. Before its blissful influence, envy, malice and revenge; wrath, hatred and strife, retreat back to the dungeons of darkness. If, in the wilderness below, there can be found any thing which resembles the paradise above, it is a Christian Church cemented together by the principles of christian love. "Behold," exclaimed a heathen, when looking upon such a Church, "Behold how these Christians love one another."* "Behold," says the spirit of God, "how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." And why should they not? Children of the same family; heirs of the same inheritance; travellers to the same distant country; hastening to the same eternal home, and preparing to sing the same song, the burden of which is, "to Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood." These considerations might surely induce the members of the Church of Christ to live in amity with one another. "Great peace have they who love thy law," is the promise, and with peace, both within and without, will the Lord bless that church "upon which his eyes are open day and night for good."

He will also bless her with the visitations of his Holy Spirit. This is the divine agent, without whose influence no church can ever prosper. It is He who opens the fountains on high and "pours water on him that is thirsty, and floods upon the dry ground." We may stand in the midst of the "valley of dry bones," and prophecy for ever, but unless the Spirit of eternal truth awaken the north and the south winds to blow upon them, they will continue to be dry bones still. There will be neither noise nor shaking among them; but let him proclaim aloud, "O ye dry bones, hear the word of the Lord!" and immediately

*Pliny's Epistles to Trajan.

there is a movement among them; they prepare to stand on "their feet an exceeding great army."

Why is it, my brethren, that so many of the branches of Zion languish, and why have the word and ordinances of God so little effect upon our worshipping assemblies? Why so few flowing to the standard of the cross, and crowding the gates of salvation? It is because of the absence of God the Spirit. Only let Him return, and Zion begins to rejoice, and to blossom as the rose. Her converts are numerous as the drops of dew. Sinners are smitten with a sense of guilt, and with bleeding hearts and streaming eyes ask the way to the Saviour, earnestly enquiring "the road to Zion, with their faces thitherward."

The saints go on their way rejoicing, and with songs of redemption flowing from their lips, they proclaim, as they march along, that times of refreshing, from the presence of the Lord hath visited them; the groans of the mourner are turned into songs of praise, when he finds that his feet are taken from the fearful pit, and placed upon the Rock of Ages.

Then the "light of Zion breaks forth as the morning, and her health springs forth speedily." The house of God is a Bethel, and his courts are filled with his glory; the flocks of the chief shepherd are conducted to the green pastures, and made to lie down beside the still waters.

With such glorious seasons does the Lord oftentimes bless his Church when "his eyes are upon her for good." Thus did he bless his infant Church on the day of Pentecost; thus in every age has he continued to make his word and ordinances effectual to the salvation of sinners and the refreshing of saints, and thus will he continue to make his Church flourish, until he shall call her to the Church Triumphant.

These are some of the blessings which a Church of God has a right to promise herself from the eyes of the Lord being upon her for good.

We notice, in the last place, the protection and defence of the Most High, which shall be as a munition of rocks to his Church. He places her in possession of these great and distinguishing privileges, and guards her in safety while she enjoys them. He protects her against the machinations of her foes, whether they be of a temporal or spiritual nature. "When the enemy rushes in like a flood, the spirit of the Lord lifts up a standard." He preserves her from error, and from the influence of false teachers, who would sap the foundation of her faith. "The Lord (says the Holy Prophet) will create upon every dwelling of Mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and a smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for upon all the glory shall be a defence. This shall be written for the genera

tions to come, and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord."

These, O brethren, are the blessings which shall make this branch of Zion flourish like the palm tree, so long as the eyes of the Lord shall be open upon this house, and his name stand recorded in this place. But if we should become luke-warm in our worship, licentious in principle, or immoral in practice; if, forgetful of our high privileges, we should hereafter practically ask, "Who is the Lord that we should obey him?" shall we turn from our God and "heap to ourselves teachers having itching ears," we have reason to fear that he will turn away from us; remove our candlestick out of its place; smite our house in his wrath, and take away our mercies till we shall learn by their loss, to appreciate their worth; and with unavailing lamentations be left to deplore our situations when these slighted mercies are gone, and the things that belong to our peace may for that reason be eventually hid from our eyes.

Let this salutary caution be written in our hearts. "The Lord is with you while ye be with him, and if ye seek him he will be found of you, but if you forsake him he will forsake you." In every period of the Church, God has made good these promises to her. He was with her in the wilderness when she was fitly represented by the burning bush. When Jacob was small, and his spiritual sons but few in number, yet when "they spake one to another, the Lord hearkened and heard them." Nor has he in later times left himself without a witness. In the primitive ages of Christianity he displayed his mighty power, and went up before his servants with signs and mighty wonders; and when Imperial Rome drenched the earth with the blood of the saints, the great Jehovah was with them, realizing his promise, that "as was their day, so should their strength be." "Through the long and dark period of AntiChristian tyranny, while fiery trials beset her on every side," his right hand conducted her to the glorious morning of the Reformation, and from that period to the present, he has displayed his glory in the fulfillment of his promises to his people.

But we hasten to a conclusion. I have directed your attention to the principal features in the character of a church, which has a right to expect the presence of the Lord to be favourably with her. These features consist in soundness of doctrine; purity of discipline, and fervency of devotion. To the advantages which a church has a right to promise herself from the presence of the Lord being so with her, I have also directed your attention, and have stated them to consist in a faithful ministry; peace among her members; the visitations of his Holy Spirit; and final protection and defence. Happy Church! Glorious blessings.