Prince's munificence and the widow's mite cast into His treasury, whence it shall be restored to you with immeasurable interest when, having passed through the grave and gate of death, and rendered an account of your stewardship, you shall enter into the joy of your LORD.

THE TRUTH OF GOD.

SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

BY THE

REV. CHARLES A. THURLOW, M.A.,

RECTOR OF MALPAS, AND CHAPLAIN TO HIS GRACE THE ARCHBISHOP OF

YORK.

NUMBERS XXIII. 19.

God is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent: hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?

THIS acknowledgment of a great truth was forced from

a man, whose lips reluctantly uttered what his heart disliked. And a sentence, itself of permanent importance, received, if possible, additional enforcement, from the circumstances which accompanied its first announcement. It was Balaam who was obliged to make this solemn declaration respecting the infallible truth of GOD. That prophet had been informed with a clearness and decision which should have commanded his instant submission, what was the Divine will, and his own corresponding duty. Yet he attempted to evade a plain and positive order. And having begun a course of disobedience, he passed through the usual experience of all persons who swerve from the narrow and secure path of simple submission.

He was allowed, like others, in a measure to follow the devices of his own heart; and for a moment he might think that he had succeeded in altering the Divine purpose. He was rebuked, chastened, alarmed: yet he con

tinued to persevere, and still seemed to hope that ultimately, by some means as yet unknown, he should be able to compass his object, and defeat the declared intention of GOD. After waiting for many days, as it were, in expectation that time might operate a change; after trying various expedients, which might arrest, if not turn aside, the inevitable course of events; and after the performance of certain religious services, as if to win the approbation of Him, whose determination he wished to alter; the prophet was obliged, at last, to give utterance to a truth, which was the sentence of disappointment to those who anxiously hung upon his lips; as well as the severest condemnation of his own obstinate disobedience and disbelief. Positively and conclusively Balaam said, "GOD is not a man, that He should lie; neither the son of man, that He should repent; hath He said, and shall He not do it? or hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?"

And this, my brethren, is the confession which, willingly or unwillingly, must come forth from the mouth of every child of man. Whatever degree of influence this undoubted truth may now exercise over us, the moment must come when this shall be the very expression of our own experience. GOD cannot intentionally deceive: GOD cannot change his mind: whatever He has indeed told us, must be the sincere expression of his will; and his will is the eternal law of the whole creation.

When, therefore, I seriously propose to you the question, "Hath He said, and shall He not do it? Hath He spoken, and shall He not make it good?" you do not, you cannot seriously, doubt what answer should be given: you would at once, if individually appealed to, add your testimony in confirmation of the text; and in a certain sense your own judgment and conscience might

spontaneously adopt the expression of the Psalmist, "For ever, Oh LORD, Thy word is settled in heaven."

You do not expect, you dare not deliberately wish, that God should falsify his own truth, and so bring inconceivable misery and confusion upon all his creatures, who would thus be cast off as the victims of chance and doubt and fear for ever. We none of us desire such tremendous evil: but, alas! we are so accustomed to deceit and change; so often does man lie; so often does the son of man repent, that by experience we almost know nothing of fixed purpose and unchanging veracity. We pass our days in the midst of uncertainty, falsehood, and fraud and it is to be feared, that familiarity with these things has prevented a just estimation of their character. We have become so accustomed to such a state of things, that by force of habit, as it were imperceptibly, we have been gradually preparing to expect the same every where, even in the government of GOD.

And it requires a collected and chastened exercise of the judgment, before we can receive a truth so rigid and severe. And when the reason is convinced, the heart still remains to be subdued. That every word will be remembered and fulfilled to the very letter; what an idea of unbending strictness! Is it possible? Can we firmly and cheerfully answer, "Yes, thus it must be, thus it ought to be, thus it shall be?"

Let us try and examine this serious subject a little more closely.

You all acknowledge the Bible to be a sacred book; and you have been accustomed to look upon it with respect and reverence. You see it opened during Divine Service: and certain portions of it are devoutly read. It is again referred to in the sermon, as the supreme authority. Have you then distinctly considered that thus

the Almighty and Alwise GOD speaks to mankind? In this manner you hear what the LORD of all has determined: here He has recorded for ever the decisions of his infinite mind.

"All Scripture given by inspiration of GOD is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness." And, "GOD who in sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the Prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us by his Son, whom He hath appointed heir of all things." While, therefore, every word of God demands an instant attention and submission,-the truths which once passed from the lips of the Son himself,-the revelations of that glorious Person, who is The supreme disposer of all things, seem in a pre-eminent degree to command a cheerful acquiescence and implicit unreserved confidence. May "the Spirit of Truth teach us!" speaks in CHRIST, and CHRIST with the utmost solemnity. May the "HOLY GHOST take of these things of CHRIST and shew them unto us!"

GOD

Thus saith the Lord, "Verily, verily I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of GOD*." "Verily I say unto you, Except ye be converted and become as little children, ye shall not enter the kingdom of heavent." Thus is recorded the great final law which shall regulate the admission of every child of man into the kingdom of the redeemed. There exist not in language terms more decisive or comprehensive, than those which have here been chosen. begin life anew, to be turned round and obliged to take another opposite path, these are the images presented, in order to express the extensive moral change which

* John iii. 3.

+ Matt. xviii. 3.

To