of corrupt nature, the inertness and blindness and ennsity of the human mind. We have still to subdue the pride and presumption of men, and to induce them to be saved by faith in the death and sacrifice of Christ. The drunkard, in short, is to be made sober, the unjust righteous, the careless thoughtful, the arrogant meek, the proud humble, the formal devout, the dead alive. In doing this, we have often to encounter misrepresentation and reproach, we have to instruct those that oppose themselves, we have to endure all for the elect's sake. And is there no triumph in accomplishing this? Is it nothing to be the means under God of overthrowing the kingdom of darkness, and of setting up the reign of religion and purity? Is it nothing to be the instrument of binding the strong man armed; of taking away his armour in which he trusted, and in dividing the spoil? Is it nothing to follow the Saviour in vanquishing principalities and powers, and in making a show of them openly?

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We admit, indeed, that TO THE EYE OF

SENSE THERE APPEARS NO SPLENDOUR IN ACHIEV

ING THESE VICTORIES. But what was there of external glory even in the case of the Apostle? Was he not in labours more abundant, in stripes above measure, in prisons more frequent, in deaths oft? What is there of triumph here? Does he not say, Of the Jews received I forty

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stripes save one, thrice was I beaten with rods, once was I stoned, thrice I suffered shipwreck, a night and a day I have been in the deep. In journeyings often, in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by mine own countrymen, in perils by the heathen, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren ? What is there of the earthly conqueror in all this? Follow him to Damascus, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, Phi lippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Ephesus, Jerusalein, Rome in all these places the entrance and the departure of the Apostle, triumphant as they really were, were perhaps little regarded. The philosopher of Greece or Rome no? doubt considered the life and actions of an unknown Jewish zealot as altogether contemptible. The cross of Christ which he preached, was to the Jew a stumbling-block and unto the Greeks foolishness.

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But still To THE EYE OF PIETY AND FAITH there was, amidst all, A TRIUMPH. God gave testimony to the word of his grace. A great multitude of Jews and Greeks believed. The Lord added unto the Church daily such as should be saved. As many as were ordained unto eter nal life, believed. The Apostle's entrance in was not in vain, but men turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. Many were washed and sanctified and justified in the

name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God. These effects were infinitely momentous, and presented to the mind of the intelligent Christian, a spectacle of bright and surpassing splendour. To those who could estimate aright the value of the soul, the importance of redemption, the glory of the cross, and the nature of eternal salvation, no circumstance of outward display would appear requisite in order to constitute the noblest triumph. Nay the very external ignominy and sufferings and infirmities of the Apostle, contrasted with the effects of his preaching on the hearts and lives of men, would only the more illustrate the surprising victory of the grace of God.

In like manner, at the present period, the minister of Christ celebrates, in the ordinary course of his duties, an equally real, though, like St. Paul's, a spiritual conquest. It is true, he may be unknown to men in the quiet discharge of his high office, he may be exposed to the obloquy of an ill-judging world, and to the contempt perhaps of the more indolent part of the visible church; but, in the midst of all, he continues to preach a crucified Saviour, and his labour is not in vain. The Blessed Spirit makes the word of God effectual to the conversion of sinners; for the Gospel is the power of God unto salvation: and the holy conduct and Christian order of the converts attest the change.

And is not this a real triumph? Is not captivity here led captive? Is not the fortress of the human heart taken? Are not the weapons of such a warfare, not carnal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down of strong holds, casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ? Do not the humility and tears and sufferings and weakness and difficul ties of the minister, who is the means of achiev⚫ ing all this, together with the very prejudices and opposition which seemed to impede his success, display more conspicuously the glory of the triumph?

And in cases of REMARKABLE REVIVALS OF RELIGION, when the word of God runs more rapidly and is glorified, when the minister comes among his people in the fulness of the blessing of the gospel of Christ; when there is a copious effusion of the grace of the Holy Ghost, and a concern for religion spreads far and wide; when many are awakened and converted, and the work of the Lord eminently prospers, may not the language of the text be applied in a still more full and appropriate sense? Is not this a magnificent triumph, not perhaps to the world and human reason, but before a far more glorious assemblage of spectators, before the general assembly and church

of the first-born, which are written in heaven; -before God the judge of all, and the spirits of just men made perfect, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.

This triumph is described in the text, to be IN CHRIST; and that because it is gained entirely by HIS GRACE. It is not natural reason, or the power or skill of the minister, or his experience in the Gospel, or his energy and address, which can change and illuminate a single heart. It is only by the secret virtue of Christ, the great Captain of our salvation, that the victory is won.

It is also in Him, because it is gained by his DOCTRINE, and by that only. It is not by enticing words of man's wisdom, but by plainly exhibiting the simple truths of redemption, that men are converted unto God. Mere moral suasion, heathen ethics, recondite disquisitions, cold and general statements, refined beauties of language, affected eloquence, never yet subdued a fallen and stubborn sinner. It is the doctrine of the cross of Christ which God has ordained for this end. It is only by the Saviour being held up to the eyes of perishing sinners, that they can look and live.

It is likewise a triumph in Christ because it is effected by THE MEANS OF CHRIST'S APPOINTMENT; not by force or persecution, but by a holy example and mild and continual efforts,