before us, in the sacred oracles, the knowledge | loftiness of pride disdains to learn from the source which is necessary to make us wise unto salvation. of revelation, as something altogether abject and useless; the presumptuous complacency of a selfrighteous spirit scorns to admit its humbling truths, and rejects it as a libel on the character of human nature; the boldness of impenitence and infidelity calls in question the justice and truth of its representations, concerning the guilt and penalty of sin, and affects to compliment the mercy of God at the expence of his truth; the love of the world spurns the sacred principles which it inculcates as visionary and enthusiastic, whilst the lawless violence of vice and licentiousness blasphemes its authority as a tyranny subversive of the natural liberty and happiness which are the prerogative of man. The doctrine, that all scripture is given by inspiration of God, impresses a peculiar value upon every portion of the sacred volume, and should secure the conviction that a design, worthy of infinite wisdom and righteousness, pervades all it contains. Let us aspire to possess an eminently sanctifying and comforting experience of the majesty, the power, the purity, the wisdom, and the excellence which distinguish the sacred oracles. They are more precious than gold; yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey or the honey comb.' The main design of the Spirit of inspiration, in both the Old and the New Testament, is to reveal Christ; to make known his character, his offices, and his work as a Saviour; to invite sinners to come to him, and believe on him, that he may be made unto them of God, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and complete redemption.' How solemn are the warnings against despising the divine testimonies, and rejecting Christ. Whosoever shall fall on this stone, shall be broken, but on whomsoever it shall fall, it will grind them to The subjects about which scripture is concerned, though the farthest from the reach of mere human investigation, are of the highest practical moment and of the most enduring personal interest to every member of our race. The being, the perfections, and the counsels of God; the nature, the authority, and the sanctions of the divine law; the demerit of sin; the method of restoration to the favour of God through a Redeemer; the regenerating and sanctifying agency of the Holy Spirit; the covenant relation in which God stands to his people; the unalterable love which he bears to them, and the ineffable blessedness to which he shall exalt them, constitute an outline of the grand themes presented to our knowledge in the divine testimonies. Every great and solemn question which we can desire to have solved in relation to our duty, our interests, and our prospects, as accountable beings, is satisfactorily settled in the scriptures, and it is no slight demonstration of their excellence that whilst they shed a copious light upon every subject truly interesting or important, in a religious and moral point of view, they utterly abstain from gratifying the idle inquiries of a mere fruitless curiosity. To derive benefit from the holy scriptures, we must read them with reverence, humility, faith, penitence, and an earnest and prayerful spirit, that we may find them to be to our souls a savour of life unto life. Relinquishing the proud spirit of self-sufficiency, which is so natural to the human mind in its unregenerate state, we should sit with the teachableness of little children at the feet of inspiration, and the sacred testimony, thus saith the Lord,' should be decisive upon every subject, and command the profoundest homage of our understandings and of our hearts. Whatever appar-powder.' ent difficulties we may find in any part of scripture, we should reflect, that it ought to be expected that the only wise God' should have discoveries to place before us beyond our capacity fully to conceive, and works to reveal past finding out. A consciousness of our spiritual blindness and liability to err on all subjects relative to salvation, should dictate a spirit of fervent and habitual supplication to the great Father of lights, from whom cometh down every good and perfect gift. To how many does the power of indwelling corruption render the volume of in-But the Comforter, who is the Holy Ghost, whom spiration a sealed book, because they neglect the duty to which they are called in this respect; 'If any man lack wisdom, let him ask of God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not.' The "Within this awful volume lies SECOND DAY.-EVENING. the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things,' John xiv. 26. IT is the privilege of the redeemed to be exalted to the most distinguished rank, and to the most glorious prospects. Not only are they delivered from a state of condemnation, but they are advanced to the dignity of the sons of God, and receive the spirit of adoption, whereby they cry, Abba, Father.' And although the world knows them not, as it knew not their divine Master, that renders not the communications with heaven, which they are privileged to enjoy, or the blessings from on high with which they are visited, the less real or the less precious. The Holy Ghost, the third person in the adorable Godhead, is equally concerned as the Father and the Son in promoting the work of human redemption; and it constitutes his special province to form the medium of communication through whom Christ and the blessings of salvation are sealed and applied to believers. A knowledge of his person, and of his work, accompanied with an earnest desire to enjoy the benefits which he conveys, is essential to salvation; and, accordingly, the Saviour concluded not his personal ministry, nor left the earth, until he had first instructed his disciples, that they were henceforth to look upon themselves as placed more immediately under the guidance, protection, and consolation of the divine Spirit, whom, at his intercession, the Father should send down upon them. agency of the Spirit is distinguished by the most consummate wisdom and grace, and he adapts his communications and blessings with admirable suitableness to the various circumstances of the church, to the diversified exigencies of believers, and to the peculiar openings of providence, and to the state of the world at different periods. On the day of pentecost, and during the age of miraculous interposition, he manifested his presence by affixing the seal of heaven, by signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds, to the doctrines which the apostles delivered. At all times his operation is necessary to render the ordinances of the gospel efficacious, that sinners may be convinced and converted; saints edified and comforted; and the church built up in faith and holiness to eternal life. The The necessity for divine teaching arises from the corruption and moral blindness, together with the alienation of heart from God, characteristic of human nature in its fallen state. It is not enough to have the objective knowledge of divine things set before the mind in the volume of inspiration, if the mind itself is incapable of rendering due attention to them, by an aversion which repels the subject altogether, or by sinful prejudices which warp its vision, and prevent the truth from being fairly and distinctly felt. We do not depreciate the value of the divine testimonies when we assert that they are insufficient of themselves, exclusive of the power of the Holy Spirit, to make men wise unto salvation. They claim for themselves no higher honour than that of being the sword of the Spirit,' the instrument which he wields for penetrating and subduing the soul of the sinner. The divine Author of Christianity teaches us that it is the Spirit who quickeneth, the word profiteth little. And one of the greatest apostles and ministers of the New Testament has placed it upon record, 'that the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.' The constant misapprehension of our Saviour's own immediate disciples, it has been well observed, of which we read so much in the gospel, was certainly due as much to their being blind, as to their being in the dark; to their defect in the power of seeing, as to any defect in the visibility of what was actually set before them. It is the province of the Holy Spirit to open the heart, as in the case of Lydia, to attend to the things that are revealed in the gospel, and spoken by the ministers of Christ; to impress convictions of sin, as took place on the day of pentecost, with the three thousand who were converted under the preaching of Peter; to impart faith, and to enable the sinner effectually to flee to Christ for salvation, as happened with the Ethiopian eunuch, the Philippian jailor, and others; and to produce a growing experience of the power and efficacy of divine grace upon the soul, and a persevering devotedness in the Christian life under all its duties, and under all its trials, as was exemplified by the faithful disciples of the apostolic and of every subsequent age. When Paul would express his confidence, that the Thessalonians had received the gospel, when it was first preached to them, in a saving manner, he does so by ascribing their reception of it to the agency of the Holy Spirit. For our gospel came not unto you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Ghost, and in much assurance.' All vital godliness, all genuine and permanent religious principles, must then be implanted in the soul by the Spirit in every instance; and his agency, and his blessing, must also continue to attend the work, throughout all its progress, onwards to its final consummation in glory. The gift of the Holy Spirit, and of his precious influences, was the purchase of the Redeemer's blood; and it was in virtue of the efficacy of his atoning sacrifice, that when he ascended up into heaven, he obtained his interposition to guide, and comfort, and sanctify his disciples. To most elevated and spiritual conceptions with repray for the Spirit, to cherish his indwelling in their souls, and to walk in communion with him, constitutes the privilege and the duty of all who receive the gospel. But how much is this privilege undervalued, and how extensively is this duty neglected! The self-righteous tendencies of the heart are so strong, that we are habitually in danger of leaning to our own understandings, confiding in our own sufficiency, and resting satisfied with our actual state, however characterized by backsliding, lukewarmness and spiritual degeneracy. If we felt aright our sinfulness on the one hand, or if we knew the grace of God on the other, and understood what we would become by walking in the Spirit, and bringing forth the fruits of the Spirit, how should we long and thirst for the influences of the Spirit as our chief good! O let the solemn impression of these words be felt by every individual. be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.' Heaven is brought down to every soul in which the Spirit has his residence; and to the degree that his enlightening, sanctifying, and comforting operations are enjoyed, the joy of heaven is experienced, and its character and dispositions are formed. Ho, every one that thirsteth, come unto the waters and drink, and he that hath no money; yea, come buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Wherefore will ye give your money for that which is not bread? and your labours for that which satisfieth not? Hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David.' gard to the unity, perfection, and the majesty of Jehovah. And although this people were not distinguished for superiority in learning, or in science, but the reverse, yet has science, in the fullest manner, adopted and accredited their faith; and from the loftiest star to which she has winged her flight, or the deepest laboratory of nature into whose recesses she has ever penetrated, has she brought back accumulated demonstrations to the doctrine that there is but one God. Every where she finds herself within an empire which by the uniformity of its laws, the identity of its institutions, and the symmetry and consistency of its administration, proves this great truth. The same force which causes a stone to fall, or a stream to flow, at the earth's surface, is found to incline and bend to the sun the largest and the most remote planet in our system; and to guide the course To of the erratic and far revolving comet, as it pursues its mysterious flight, crossing over worlds through the interminable fields of one unexplored immensity, unto the equally profound and inaccessible recesses of another. It is the same God who forms the dry land, and who holds the waters of the deep in the hollow of his hand; who weighs the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance; who kindles into brightness the host of heaven by the breath of his mouth; and who has filled the whole universe with the harmonious indications of his all-creative and adorable power. THIRD DAY.-MORNING. The degradation connected with the idolatrous worship of the heathen world, constituted a decisive and melancholy evidence of the power of Satan over a fallen and blinded race. It was at once the effect and the punishment of that spirit of enmity and alienation which caused them that they did not like to retain God in their knowledge. Professing themselves to be wise they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and four-footed beasts, and creeping things.' If the religious feelings and 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord,' dispositions of the human mind be not exercised Deut. vi. 4. ALTHOUGH the Jews were not distinguished for scientific eminence, like many other ancient commonwealths, yet they infinitely excelled them all in the knowledge of a sublime and pure theology. While Egypt, Greece, Persia, and the whole ancient world, was spell-bound by idolatrous delusion, how remarkable the contrast among the posterity of Abraham; who had a law which not only prohibited the least approximation to the sin in question, but inculcated the on their proper objects, and consecrated to the worship and service of the true God, they will be perverted to the most injurious and degraded ends; and from being the glory become the disgrace, and the bane of human nature. Hence an undue love of the creature, an extravagant desire for the pleasures and possessions of the world, and the vain hope that a satisfying enjoyment can be obtained in the multiplication of those objects which please and flatter the natural feelings and sentiments of the mind. The scriptures teach us to regard covetousness as idolatry, and upon a similar ground are we to consider every unhallowed affection, as of this nature, which would exalt any created thing to that place in our esteem and confidence which is due only to God. THIRD DAY.-EVENING. surely then may we know that none of the children of men can ever be permitted to enter into that heavenly kingdom of which Canaan was only an emblem and a type, unless they are first washed from their sins in the blood of Christ, and renewed in the spirit of their minds by the Spirit of God. The society, the employment, and the blessedness of heaven, can only be congenial to those whom God has prepared for them; and it could constitute no real enjoyment to the wicked, and the unregenerate, to be advanced to From all your filthiness, and all your idols, will those sacred seats, if they retained, and carried I cleanse you,' Ezek. xxxvi. 25. with them, minds alien from all the piety and all the purity for which their inhabitants are distinguished. Have you sought to be made meet for the inheritance which awaits the saints in IDOLATRY and wickedness were invariably connected in the history of the people of Israel, and no sooner did they depart, in any case, from the true God, and adopt the creed of the surround-life; and that the very God of peace would sancing heathen, than they became characterized for every thing flagitious, immoral, and abandoned in conduct. How untenable the sentiments of those who attribute little or no influence to the religious opinions which men may entertain, and who conceive that a high standard of virtue and moral purity may coexist with heretical, sceptical, or infidel principles. Before God would bring back the captivity of Israel, and reinstate them in the land from which they had been cast out for their sins, he showed them that he would effect a great spiritual change upon them, and cleanse them from all their filthiness, and from all their idols. And in like manner are we taught in the New Testament, that before any can be put in possession of the mercy of God in Christ, or of the inheritance which awaits the saints in life, they require to become the subjects of a change so great and decided, as to admit of being expressed by terms no less emphatic than those of being born again, and made new creatures. And hence the security provided in the economy of grace, that the mercy of God cannot be exercised in vain; or, as an eminent divine has strongly stated the subject, that the righteousness of Christ can never be made the covering of a dead soul. There is a necessary and inseparable connection between regeneration and justification, and it is only in that heart which has been renewed and purified by the power of the Holy Spirit, that Christ can dwell, and that the blessings of salvation can be effectually received and enjoyed. To have restored Israel to the land of Canaan without, in the first place, renewing them to repentance, and cleansing them from their filthiness and their idols, would have been a course neither really beneficial to themselves, nor calculated to promote the glory of God. And how tify you wholly; and that your whole spirit, and soul, and body, be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ? Have you turned to God in a spirit of deep penitence, mourning over past sins, and earnestly entreating that he would mercifully pardon and graciously receive you? Have you felt your obligation to love the Lord your God with all your heart, with your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind? Has the love of Christ constrained you thus to judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that they who live should not henceforth live to themselves, but to him who loved them, and gave himself for him? Is it your daily care to keep yourselves from idols, and to become more and more dead unto sin and alive unto righteousness? Know you not that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are whom ye obey, whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin; but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you.' 'What fruit had ye then in those things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of these things is death. But now, being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life. For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.' our frame; it is to worship him with the devout and holy affections which the divine Spirit imparts, and not with the cold and lifeless formality of a mere ceremonial observance; it is to prostrate our hearts before him in deep humility and self-abasement, and not to multiply idle genuflexions, or insincere and hypocritical confessions; it is to present the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving from a pure heart fervently, and not to burn the incense of odoriferous perfumes, or of costly ob-lations. Let us ever bear in mind, when we engage in the worship of God, that we appear in the presence of the great Searcher of hearts, and that it is impossible that any vail or covering can hide us from his inspection and knowledge. 'Keep thy feet when thou goest into the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they consider not that they do evil.' Be not rash with thy any thing before God; for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth, therefore let thy words be few. THE particular truth which it was the design of our Lord to inculcate at this time, was that the disputes between the Jews and Samaritans, about the place where they ought to worship the Father, were on the eve of becoming altogether groundless and inept, inasmuch as every thing merely ceremonial in religion was in the act of being for ever abolished; and nothing but what was spiritual and moral, and therefore essentially immutable, was to be permitted to remain. The doctrine that God is not confined to temples built by the hands of men, but that he is every where present in the fullness of his perfections throughout the immense universe, was uniformly acknowledged, throughout all ages, by his en-mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter lightened and spiritual worshippers. Under the Mosaic dispensation, however, it pleased God, for wise and holy ends, to define and limit the mode of observing his worship, and to specify the times, and the seasons, and the localities, in which sacrifice, and some of its other more solemn duties, required to be performed. But as the use of the typical and ceremonial institutions of Judaism, so also their obligation terminated simultaneously with the death of Christ, and we find at that time the finger of God putting visible dishonour upon them, to show that they were for ever abolished. Thus the sacred vail which was only lifted up once ever year when the high priest entered into the holiest of all, was rent in twain from the top to the bottom. And a short while | after, when the Romans besieged Jerusalem, under Titus, voices were heard in the temple, as an ancient historian mentions, saying, Arise, let us depart;' and the very next day the abomination of desolation was seen standing in the holy place, and the whole of that splendid fabric was so completely consumed with fire and overthrown, that not one stone was left standing upon another. And now, after the lapse of a long succession of centuries, the Mosaic ritual has been so completely set aside by providence, that notwith-announces himself to us, in reference to his threestanding all the zeal and pertinacity of the Jews to resist the divine counsels, they have no where, throughout the whole world, a sacrifice, a temple, or a priest. The nature of the worship which God requires is described under two particulars, spirit and truth. To worship God in spirit, is to worship him with the soul, or think ing principle, in contradistinction to the mere body, or material part of To worship God in truth, includes two things: the one, that our worship have truth for its substance; the other, that it be true or sincere in its exercise; it must be founded upon, and consist with, the will of God as revealed in the holy scriptures, and it must also be engaged in with unfeigned reverence and heartfelt solemnity. As to the value and importance of truth, it is essential to every thing that has a claim to the consideration of intelligent beings. It is truth which confers on science its dignity, gives to experience its use, imparts to knowledge its worth, and invests religion with its authority and sacredness. It is the glory of God that he is a God of truth, and it is the excellence of his word, and of his works, and of all his operations and promises, that they are replete with truth, and free from any mixture of deceit or error. As there can be no subject more profoundly important and interesting than religion, we are not left to our doubtful speculations regarding its doctrines, but have received from heaven an inspired revelation, containing every thing which is necessary to make us wise unto salvation. And accordingly Christ fold offices of a Priest, a Prophet, and a King, as the way, the truth, and the life. By his atoning sacrifice he has opened up a way of access and return to the Father. By his word and pirit, he has set before us the truth, which should guide us in that way; and by his divine power he communicates spiritual life to those who are dead in trespasses and sins, and will raise up to eternal life all his redeemed peo |