might obtain a better resurrection'. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover, of bonds and imprisonments: they were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented (of whom the world was not worthy); they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth."

And these all, having

obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise: God having provided some

Such are the glorious examples of faith, recorded for our admonition, either in the Old Testament or by uninspired Jewish historians:-examples, to most of which God himself has given testimony that they were righteous-examples, too, of individuals who lived under imperfect dispensations of religion, not in that clear, distinct light of revelation which we enjoy, but at a time when the heavenly promises were "afar off," dimly discernible in the distance. If they lived by faith, when faith had so much less light to guide it, how much more should we, who have received the full revelation of the Gospel! We enjoy not the dawning privileges of the Old Testament, but the better things of the New; and being thus highly favoured, we may reasonably be expected to live accordingly. It would be a lament

better thing for us, that

they without us should

not be made perfect.

39, 40.

1 "And when he was at the last gasp, he said, Thou, like a fury, takest us out of this present life; but the King of the world shall raise us up who have died for his laws, unto everlasting life." 2 Mac. vii. 9. "Fear not this tormentor; but, being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren." Ib. ver. 29. So fully were these Jews persuaded of a resurrection to come!

able inconsistency that faith should degenerate, as revelation has become brighter. Christianity was designed to be the perfection of religion; and Christians, therefore, should strive, if possible, to surpass the saints of former days, and draw still nearer to a perfect faith.

; -as

also are compassed about Wherefore seeing we

with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set be

fore us. xii. ver. 1.

crown of life, and

Pause, then, and consider. Look not at these instances with barren admiration; but let us also endeavour to be like them. Let us regard them as so many witnesses, by their examples, to the nature and power of that faith, by which we are to live here and to attain hereafter to life eternal so many witnesses also of our exertions, a glorious crowd of spectators, surrounding, in their exalted ampitheatre, this earthly arena on which we are contending for the looking on with affection and concern, as we run the race that is set before us. Nay more, reflect, that, if we fail through unbelief, they will further be witnesses against us in the day of judgment, that it was not for want of example we failed, nor for want of light (for they themselves had less), but solely through our own wilfulness or neglect. If, on the other hand, we strive in our Christian race and endure unto the end, then, doubtless, they will be witnesses of our success, rejoice exceedingly in it, and receive us with gratulations, when the race is over, at the heavenly goal.

Roused, then, by the thoughts of such witnesses, let us lay aside the weight of worldly cares, which cannot but relax our progress; and, above all, let us cast away sin, which, adhering to the soul as a garment,

is sure, with its various folds, to twist itself about us; or, as a net, to entangle us in its toils. We cannot retain a love of sin or of the world, and still hope to run with success our spiritual course: we must be divested of these impediments and incumbrances, or else our failure is certain.

But suppose you are thus sincerely engaged in the Christian race, weaned from sin, and willingly renouncing the world; still remember that patience is necessary. A race implies exertion, continued exertion, yea, increasing exertion, (for that is one great peculiarity of a race, and a most appropriate feature in the comparison), exertion increasing to the very last. It is not enough to begin well, nor yet to go on well for a time, unless we endure to the end. Patient perseverance is indispensable. Beware, then, of backsliding; take heed lest your faith fail you, and your patience be exhausted in the middle of your course. Look at the bright "cloud" of witnesses above you, who themselves have run the race already, and who are now rejoicing, with joy unspeakable, that they were enabled to do so. But, above all, "look unto Jesus the Author and Finisher," the Guide and Perfecter, of the faith of the Church in general from the beginning to the end of time, and of your faith in particular, under at the right hand of the whose auspices, and by whose help, throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds. ver. 2, 3.

Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the

cross, despising the shame, and is set down

you must both commence and end your course. Consider the succour he is able to give. The race is difficult and trying, to flesh and blood impossible: "through our

sins and wickednesses we are sore let and hindered in running" it. A sense of our danger should keep us continually “looking unto Jesus," and entreating Him, of his bountiful grace and mercy, to be among us continually, and with his great might to succour us,' until He shall have perfected in us the faith which He has begun. Consider too the example which our Lord has left us. His life upon earth was a life of affliction and persecution, of contempt and ignominy, such as the most violent opposition of "a wicked and adulterous generation" could heap upon him: but all this he endured for the sake of the joy that was set before him, as a glorious prize at the close of a painful struggle. The disciple is not above his Master; suffice it, if he be as his Master; if even, by painful perseverance in the faith, and a steady course of suffering and self-denial, he shall enter into the joy of his Lord.

In urging upon you, my Christian brethren, so fully and so earnestly, the necessity of faith, I am aware of the prejudices which the very mention of faith is likely to excite in the minds of many;—prejudices arising, partly, it may be, from the erroneous views which some Christians entertain, or the unguarded expressions which they use, respecting the nature and relative importance of faith; but yet not wholly to be thus accounted for. Such prejudices may also arise from want of sufficient attention to the subject, and also from that disinclination to scriptural piety, which is but too natural to the heart of man, and which both the world and the devil are too ready to cherish. Whatever be their origin, let not prejudices of any kind close your hearts against the truth. Even if truth has been abused, it must not, therefore, be aban

doned. Strive, rather, to disentangle it from the errors with which human wickedness or weakness may have blended it, and to hold it in scriptural simplicity. Remember, however the world may decry faith, or our own pride be opposed to it, that many excellent things are undoubtedly spoken of it in holy writ; and that it is, in fact, the very principle by which just men live-a principle, observe, not merely a form of words or an intellectual notion; but a cordial principle, full of life and energy, realizing to the soul the future as if present, and the unseen world as if it were visible; -a principle so bringing home the promises and assurances of God's word, as that we may be led and governed, animated and supported, by them;-a principle, as we have seen, applicable to all stations and circumstances of human life, such as may and should regulate each one of our duties. Some, perhaps, may think, that it is well enough to talk of faith to the devotee, or to such as abound in religious leisure, but not to men engaged in the active business of life. But what saith the Scripture? Have we not seen, how it records for our instruction examples of persons in every rank and position of society, who were expressly distinguished for their faith, and by that obtained a good report for pre-eminence in the duties of their different stations? Not only have we preachers of righteousness, patriarchs and prophets, but law-givers, courtiers, kings, judges, soldiers, conquerors. In all, the high and the humble, the weak and the strong, the persecuted and the prosperous, in men and in women, we see the same principle at work, and producing wonderful fruits both of active and passive virtue.