purity? Besides, some of the very graces which most unequivocally mark his spiritual growth, are of a character to lead rather to selfdistrust and abasement before God, than to strong expressions of joy and confidence. Contrition for sin, lowliness of mind, and an increasing sense of personal demerit, are at the very root of all spiritual attainments; and as these graces abound in him far more than was the case in the first stages of his religious progress, they tend to cause an abatement of that confident spirit which originated in a considerable measure in comparative ignorance and want of acute Christian sensibility. Again; the very magnitude of the prize, which, as he increases in faith and knowledge, he more fully discerns, causes corresponding dread lest he should come short of it. He discerns also far more of the infinite value of the soul; and thus resembles a traveller who might prosecute his journey with ease and unconcern while he had no treasure in his possession, but would instantly become anxious and on his guard, if invested with a jewel of great value, which he feared he might lose through carelessness, or be robbed of by the hand of violence. In addition to all which, as the Christian approaches nearer the goal, he feels increasingly solicitous respecting the final issue; a transient doubt, which at an earlier period might have passed by almost unnoticed, is now felt to be of vast importance: for if he is wrong, he is wrong for eternity, and will soon be wrong beyond the reach of reparation; so that almost every consideration which indicates his religious progress, is connected with such a state of the mind and affections as may incidentally lead, unless counteracted by other principles, to occasional doubt and perturbation. What these counteracting principles are, the reader will have anticipated. It will be recollected, that in most cases, while humility, and self-distrust, and a sense of personal demerit, and similar dispositions have been thus advancing, faith, and love, and peace, and joy will also have been growing in corresponding proportion. If the matured Christian perceives increas ingly that he "has destroyed himself," he will also enter with fuller understanding into the truth that "in God is his help;" if he discover more of his own sinfulness, he will likewise behold more of the pardoning grace of God, and the infinite value of the Redeemer's sacrifice. This growth of the more animating graces of the renewed character, is therefore a powerful check to those distressing apprehensions which a view of the sombre part only of the picture would be apt to suggest; and we often find, in point of fact, that advanced Christians who entertain such selfabasing views as would at a former period have plunged them into despondency, possess also such a measure of faith, such a plenitude of love, and such an enlarged knowledge of the exuberance and the freedom of the Divine mercy, as exhibited in the atonement of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit, as effectually overcome that "fear which hath torment," and fill their souls with joy and peace in believing. Still the general fact remains true, that increasing spirituality of mind is often among the causes why the humble Christian "writes bitter things against himself," and entertains apprehensions, which though as far as they indicate want of faith are doubtless sinful, yet as far as they spring simply from tenderness of conscience are a hopeful symptom of a right state of the religious affections. (To be continued.) FAMILY SERMONS.-No. CL. Heb. iv. 9.—There remaineth there fore a rest to the people of God. IN this Epistle St. Paul is drawing a continued parallel and contrast be tween Moses and Christ; the Law and the Gospel; the ancient Israelites and the faithful since the coming of the Messiah; the earthly and the heavenly Canaan. In the chapter before that from which the text is taken, he had exhibited to the Hebrews the sinful conduct of their. forefathers, who perished in the Wilderness for their unbelief and disobedience. In the first verse of the present chapter he applies the case to those to whom the Epistle was immediately addressed, and to professed Christians in general. "Let us therefore fear," he says, "lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." He shews that the Gospel is preached to us as well as to the ancient Jews; but that the word preached did not profit them, and will not profit us, unless mixed with faith. He then goes on to point out the certainty and excellency of the heavenly rest as typified by that of the Jewish Sabbath and of Canaan; "There remaineth a rest for the people of God;" and exhorts us to "hold fast our profession," and to labour to enter into that rest, encouraging us with the recollection of our having a great High Priest, Jesus the Son of God, who is already passed before into the heavenly Canaan, and who can be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, and will bestow upon us mercy and grace to help us in time of need. To assist our meditations upon this interesting subject, we shall endeavour, First, To point out what is meant by the people of God. Secondly, To shew that they stand in need of a rest. And, Thirdly, Make a few remarks on the nature of the rest that is provided for them. 1st, It is necessary to shew what is meant by the people of God. All men belong to God as their Creator, and are bound to submit to him as their Governor. But something more is implied in the text. The Jewish and Israelitish nation first obtained the name of the people of God: they were selected from the world at large; they were the depositaries of the sacred oracles; Jehovah was their King, and in an especial manner they were under his guidance and protection. Thus also, under the Christian dispensation, true believers are the people of God: they are not of the world, but are strangers and pilgrims upon earth. Scattered as they are among men, they are inhabitants of a better country, and look for a city whose builder and maker is God. Their motives, their tastes, their enjoyments, are of a higher order than those of the natural and unrenewed mind. They cannot relish the sinful gratifications which those around them consider of such high value. The atmosphere of the present world appears to them noxious and polluted; and they hope soon to breathe the celestial air of that better world, where their Almighty King has fixed his throne, and where they trust to be for ever with the Lord. Is it not then an inestimable privilege to be members of this blessed community; to be the people, yea the children, of God by faith in Christ Jesus? Nothing surely but the continual occurrence o expressions of this sort in Scripture can account for the indifference with which we often hear them. What ought to be our as tonishment, when told that the Creator of the universe, the God of all power and dignity, has condescended to call us sinful mortals his children and peculiar people! Happy indeed is the man who is in such a case, yea happy is the people who have the Lord for their God! It is of the utmost importance then for us to inquire whether we are of this number. Do we acknowledge God for our Governor, and that not in words only but in fact? Do we surrender ourselves to his service? Do we avoid every thing that may draw us from our Let us, secondly, proceed to con- The first cause that makes the people of God stand in need of a rest, is that the present world is a world of affliction. Man is born to trouble as the sparks fly upward: he is of few days and is full of misery. Sickness, pain, poverty, disappointment, loss of friends, and at length death, are among the many calamities to which our nature is subject. Nor is it from things of great moment only that we suffer; there are daily and almost hourly circumstances in human life that often induce the afflicted to say in the bitter words of Job, "I would not live always; let me alone, for my days are vanity." But affiction applies to mankind in general, and is therefore not an exclusive reason why the people of God in particular should desire a rest. But the world is also a "world of sin ;" and this at least is a cause of uneasiness which none but the renewed mind can experience; men in general have no fault to find with the world on this account. But what must be the feelings of "the people of God," while they live where their heavenly King is despised, and his government opposed; where his laws are continually mocked at, and his name taken in vain; where even the eternal punishment with which he has threatened the disobedient, so far from producing universal awe, and leading men to repentance, is too often mentioned only to give emphasis to a profane oath or exclamation! Is it no cause of uneasiness to a pious mind that the Sabbath is broken, and the Gospel contemned? Whither can the Christian turn his eye, without beholding spectacles which must inevitably distress a regenerate mind? Can one whose delight is in holiness, in every thing that resembles God and that God approves, behold without grief, the pride, the covetousness, the irreligion, the raging passions of the great majority of mankind? Yet this is not all; for it is not merely the wickedness of others that causes the children of God to grieve. Were they themselves possessed of hearts unassailable by temptation, they might perhaps view the sins of their fellow-creatures, as angels probably view them, with amazement indeed and aversion, but without any diminution of their own holiness or enjoyment. But, alas! the world is a world of temptation; and the Christian feels his own weakness and liability to fall. There is a constant struggle in his bosom between remaining sin and the divine principle implanted within him: he needs therefore every assistance to keep him in the course of duty; but too often he finds the stream setting strongly against him, and dreads lest he should be carried away by the torrent. While he is daily contending with his corrupt nature, while he is striving against the very inclination to what is sinful, the scenes around him are adding new temptations to those he but too strongly feels already,and are powerfully thwarting his holiest desires and best resolutions. And must not a weak and frail being, thus engaged through life iu an ardu ous warfare with passion and temptation, stand in need of a rest? Could we take from the world all its miseries, and wholly remove from the Christian the sight of sin in other men, yet while his own nature continues subject both to internal temptation and the evil suggestions of his spiritual enemy, there must remain enough to make him desire a world of certainty and repose, where nothing either from within or without can endanger his eternal safety. To all this it must be added, that the present world is not the home of the Christian. By nature we know of nothing beyond the present state, and therefore seek our whole happiness here upon earth. But the people of God are looking forward to a better country. The pomps and vanities of this wicked world cannot satisfy them. They dare not seek their final comfort here: this is not their rest, it is polluted. They are in an enemy's country, and they cannot make a league with those who oppose the authority of their rightful Sovereign. How truly did their Divine Master predict that the world should hate his disciples, because they were not of the world. And with what joy therefore must they hear the consoling proclamation of their Almighty King, That "there remaineth a rest to the people of God;" a rest from all that before was a source of anxiety or fatigue, a rest eternal and undisturbed! Let us then, 3dly, consider the nature of that rest which is provided. On this part of the subject a very few observations must suffice. It may be remarked, in general, that the promised rest infinitely outweighs the past toil. Our light afflictions, which are but for a moment, work out for us an exceeding and eternal weight of glory. Heaven is a rest from all those things which before were a burden; from sorrow, from sin, from temptation, from the world. This contrast will doubtless add greatly to the enjoyments of that unspeakably blessed state. Behold that glorious cloud of witnesses who were tortured, not accepting deliverance; who had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, of bonds and imprisonments; who were stoned, who were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword, who wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented; who sought refuge in deserts and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth: must not a rest from pain and sorrow be to them of itself a transition affording intense enjoyment? Yet a cessation from sin and a rest from temptation are even a greater blessing; and perhaps the very first idea that occurs to the mind of a true Christian, when he thinks of a future world, is, I shall be perfectly holy; I shall be clothed with the image of my Saviour. To one who knows the burden of sin and temptation this hope is highly consolatory. Such a man could not enjoy the paradise of Mahomet, or the fabled Elysian fields of the Greeks and Romans, because they were not the abodes of righteousness and true holiness, without which nothing appears to a Christian mind really desirable. But the rest provided in heaven, being a rest from sin as well as from sorrow, appears altogether grateful to his renovated nature, and meets every wish of his heart. But is there no doubt as to the fact of the existence of such a 27 blessed state? May not our hope be a delusion? No; for the pro mise is made in the infallible word of God, to every returning penitent on account of the death and merits of his Saviour. "Verily, there is a reward for the righteous. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. The righteous shall shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of the Father. Little flock, it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." These, and numberless other promises of a similar nature, are scat tered over the whole volume of inspiration; all pointing to those mansions of which our Saviour spoke in his farewel discourse with his disciples, when he informed them, that in his Father's house were many mansions, and that he would go to prepare a place for them, that where he was they might be also. The Apostle St. Paul in like manner instructed the Thessalonians, that though they were then troubled, they should have rest when the Lord Jesus should be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright, for the end of that man is peace." miserable of human beings, for he has neither rest in this world nor in that which is to come. To those then who are burdened with poverty or distress, it must surely be a doubly welcome invitation to be urged to become partakers of this eternal repose. It was to the poor and the afflicted that the Gospel, which is a dispensation of rest, was especially commanded to be preached; and our Lord himself said, "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy-laden, and I will give you rest." Oh then let us not despise this merciful invitation! But how shall I address the sinner? No rest remaineth for him. "There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked."-I would take this opportunity of cautioning the poor and the afflicted against a common error on this subject. Such persons often imagine, that because they find no rest here on earth they are entitled to it in a future world. They view death as a happy release, and forget that after death cometh the judgment. But we should remember that it was not the poverty and affliction of Lazarus, but his piety, that conducted him to his eternal rest in the bosom of Abraham; nor was it the wealth and prosperity of Dives, but the criminal use he made of them, joined with his other sins, that plunged him into the place of torment. A poor and wicked man is the most To those who are styled in the text "the people of God," the rest that awaits them should ever be before their eyes. A traveller, when bewildered by night in the desert, and exposed to the fury of the elements and the rage of wild beasts, looks forward to the return of morning, and hopes soon to see his home. The mariner, while contending with the tempest, consoles himself with the thought that the danger will soon be over, and that he shall be safely landed on the wished-for shore. Much more should the Christian take comfort in reflecting upon the heaven that awaits him; and especially in periods of sickness and affliction, and at that moment, the most awful which man can experience, when he is about to quit the world, and to appear in the presence of God to be judged according to the deeds done in the body. At that rapidly approaching period, which cannot be very distant from any of us, may we have a well-grounded hope that we are among the people of God! for then shall we die the death of the righteous, and our last end be like his. In the mean time, let us make our calling and election sure; that, come when he may, the last enemy may find us prepared, and that when we close our eyes on this world we may open them upon the eternal enjoyments which God hath prepared for those that love him. Amen. |