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in this world, but also in that which is to come: and hath put all things under his feet."

Much of this is at present unrealized. But we see Jesus, for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour. And the view should gratify our affection. Love delights in the glory of its object. If therefore we love in sincerity, after sympathizing with him in the garden, and smiting on our breast at the cross, what a satisfaction shall we feel to view him possessed of power over all flesh, all power in heaven and in earth, and exalted far above all heavens, that he might fill all things. John could not go on with his description of him without pausing to express the adoration of his heart; "To him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

Let the view also encourage our hope. We are deeply interested in his elevation. It was expedient for us that he went away. In his ascension he received gifts for men. As glorified he gives the Holy Ghost. As exalted he is a Prince and a Saviour to rule and relieve his people, and to make all things work together for their good. "Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us." He is our head and representative, and by reason of our union with him we are quickened together with Christ, and raised up together, and made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ."

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And let it wean us from the earth. Where the treasure is there will the heart be also. But he is your treasure, and he is in heaven. Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here. He is risen. Follow him; and "seek those things that are above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God." What an inducement was it to Jacob, at a period when nature dislikes a change, to leave his own country, and go down into Egypt, when he heard the message, “Thus saith thy son Joseph, God hath made me ruler throughout all the land of Egypt: come down unto me, tarry not: and thou shalt dwell in the land of Goshen, and thou shalt be near unto me-and there will I nourish thee." At once his aversion and fears gave way. "And Israel said, It is enough; Joseph my son is yet alive: I will go and see him before I die." And what says Jesus to his people? Come up hither. I am Lord of all the region into which ye shall enter-Come, and be near me-Come, and be for ever with the Lord.

And let it embolden us, while here, to acknowledge and honour him. Were we to be ashamed of him, or to deny him, we should be far guiltier than Peter. For we run no such risk in confessing him as he did-He trembled for his life. And when he disowned him his Lord was a prisoner at the bar, and going to be crucified, under a charge of blasphemy and sedition-But we deny him on the throne, angels, principalities, and powers being subject unto him, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but in the world to come. 66 Seeing then that we have a great high priest, that is passed into the heavens Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our profession."

SEPTEMBER 11.-" Fear thou not; for I am with thee."-Isaiah xli. 10.

THERE are more than sixty admonitions against fear addressed in the Scripture to the Lord's people. And what do all these imply, but their proneness to apprehension, and the groundlessness of their alarms. Hence the injunction is never unaccompanied with an argument to enforce it. For whatever the men of the world may think, religion is wisdom, and its children are able to give a reason of the hope that is in them. Hence knowledge always befriends a Christian. It is injurious to the comfort of many, because their comfort is founded in delusion: they think themselves safe while their house is built upon the sand; and therefore a discovery of the truth must tend to distress them but though the Christian may fear, every thing is safe and right with him; and therefore the more he truly examines his condition, the more he must be satisfied with it; his doubts are mistakes, his apprehensions are misapprehensions-He only needs to be informed of things as they really are, and he is free indeed. Hence nothing can be of more importance to the subjects of divine grace, than just and clear views of their state and privileges; for though their safety does not depend upon the degree of their knowledge, their consolation is much affected by it-They that know his name will put their trust in him.

The presence of God is the most effectual resource against the fears of his people: "Fear thou not; for I am with thee." This does not intend the essential presence of God by which he is every where. When his presence is spoken of in a way of promise, it refers not to a perfection of his nature, (though this is always implied,) but to his peculiar nearness and influence as their Saviour and friend. He is in one place as he is not in another. He is in heaven as he is not on earth; and he is with his Church as he is not with the worla-"The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit."

What the Lord says to all his people, he says to each of them individually, "Fear thou not; for I am with thee." And what fear will not this assurance prevent or remove?

Do your temporal exigences excite your fear? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to provide for thee. He sustained the Jews with manna from the clouds, fed Elijah by ravens, and multiplied the widow's oil and meal. You are not to look for miracles; but you may look for the Lord, who performed these wonders of old. He is with you; and his hand is not shortened that he cannot save, nor his ear heavy that he cannot hear

"And sooner all nature shall change,
Than one of his promises fail"

And what has he promised? Thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure. O fear the Lord, all ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him. The young lions do lack and suffer hunger, but they that seek the Lord shall not want any good thing."Behold the fowls of the air for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?”

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Do your perplexities excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to guide thee. The Jews had before them a wayless desert; but to relieve them from their anxieties, the I ord furnished them with a pillar of cloud by day, and of fire by night. As this paused they rested, as this moved they followed straight on, or turned to the right hand, or to the left, according to the direction of their leader, till it brought them to a city of habitation. You have the same advantage. You have the world before you, through which you must pass to reach a better, even a heavenly country. How much depends upon your course, yea, and upon every movement. And the way of man is not in himself, it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Neither is it necessary, if he knoweth the way that you take, and he will direct you with his eye. And he is with you for this very purpose: "I will bring the blind by a way that they knew not; I will lead them in paths that they have not known: I will make darkness light before them, and crooked things straight. These things will I do unto them, and not forsake them."

Do your duties excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to aid thee. You are indeed called to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts; to forgive injuries; to walk by faith; to have your conversation in heaven. You will not quarrel with these demands; you will acknowledge them to be just and good: but you will lament your want of conformity to them: and sometimes they may discourage you-They must indeed always dismay you if you view them only in connection with your own strength. But your sufficiency is of God. His almighty Spirit shall help your infirmities. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. His strength is made perfect in weakness.

Do your dangers excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to keep thee. It cannot be denied that you are surrounded with enemies, compared with which you are nothing in yourselves. But though a worm, Jacob shall thresh mountains. If God be for us, who can be against us?

"A thousand savage beasts of prey
Around the forest roam,

But Judah's lion guards the way,

And guides the traveller home."

Do trials excite your fears? Fear thou not, for he is with thee to comfort thee. "I, even I, am he that comforteth you." "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you, and ye shall be comforted in Jerusalem." And his consolation is not only tender, but strong consolation, sufficient to bear up the mind under any burden, and to cheer the heart in every distress. "Yea," says one who had often been revived in the midst of trouble, "yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me, thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." Death is a trying hour; but it should not appal you. You are not to judge by your present feelings what your experience will be when the season arrives. He is peculiarly with his people in their afflictions, and his grace is proportioned to the time of need-He will not, he cannot fail you in your last extremity and you may say, with Dr. Grovenor, "I can smile on death, if God smiles upon me."

. Well, here is enough in every period, in every condition, in every circumstance, to embolden and animate us-if we can but lay hold of it. But what is all this without faith? Lord, I believe, help thou mine unbelief!

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SEPTEMBER 12.-"O thou preserver of men."-JOB Vii. 20.

THE word may be rendered, and in some versions has been rendered, "O thou observer of men." And it is a true and an awfui reflection that "his eyes are upon the ways of men, and he seeth all their goings: there is no darkness nor shadow of death where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves." He is an unerring observer; an observer whose glance nothing can escape; an observer who records all he witnesses, and records it with a view to exposure and trial: for God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good or whether it be evil." It has been contended too, that the connection in which the term is found requires this translation: "I have sinned, what shall I do unto thee, O thou observer of men." But in this, as in almost every other instance, we deem the present rendering preferable, and preferable even on account of the connection. Here is a penitential confession; but in all repentance, at least in all repentance that is unto life, a view of the goodness of God is necessary, both to excite hope, and to produce godly sorrow: and it is here seen and acknowledged: for "it is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not; they are new every morning"

We need not endeavour to prove that man needs preservation. As he did not make himself, so he has no sufficiency of his own to sustain himself. If left to himself for a moment he would relapse into nothing. He lives and moves and has his being in God. He is constantly surrounded with dangers, yet he is not sensible of even one in a thousand of them, and he is unable to ward off those he apprehends. And who among his fellow-creatures is interested enough, wise enough, powerful enough, always near enough, patient enough, to watch over and secure him? But God is infinitely qualified for the office, and he graciously condescends to assume the character of "THE PRESERVER OF MEN"-Let us bring this home to ourselves.

Why died we not from the womb? Why dropped we not when' babes from the hands of a heedless or unfortunate nurse, and, like Mephibosheth, become a cripple for life? Why fell we not a prey to the perils of infancy, childhood, and youth? How many victims of accident, of disease, and of mortality have we known? But we are the living to praise him as it is this day. And wherefore? Ebenezer! "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us."

And if the Preserver demands gratitude for the past, he authorizes our confidence ar 1 comfort with regard to the future. Let us think of him under this endearing relation, and in all the uncertainties before us be encouraged-encouraged when we lie down, and have to pass through the darkness and dangers of the nightseason-encouraged when we rise in the morning, and have to go.

through the business and perils of the day-encouraged when we travel at the call of duty, or for the purpose of friendship or health: * let us say, as we advance, " O Lord, thou preservest man and beast;" and as we return let us remember the promise, "Thou shalt know also that thy tabernacle is in peace, and thou shalt visit thy habitation and not sin" Yea, in all the parts and passages of that life, in the midst of which we are in death, and know not what a day or an hour will bring forth, let us strengthen and cheer ourselves with the persuasion that nothing can befal us by chance, that all our times are in his hand, and that we are immortal till our work is done. A sparrow falleth not to the ground without our heavenly Father; and the very hairs of our head are all numhered.

But the subject has a peculiar bearing upon Christians. For while he is the Saviour of all men, he is especially so of them that believe. A man takes more care of his jewels than of his common property; and is more concerned for the safety of his wife and children than of his cattle. God's people are to him more than these images imply. Accordingly we are assured that he takes pleasure in them that fear him, in them that hope in his mercy. He keeps them as the apple of his eye. Lest any hurt them, says he, I will keep them night and day. This is the promise made to every Israelite indeed; "Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is thy keeper: the Lord is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul." And the soul is the main thing. Now this is absolutely secured. Other things are only secured conditionally. The Christian may suffer from the strife of tongues, he may lose his substance, his health, and even his life-but he can never lose his soul. With regard to his eternal all, he can say, “I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day." Thus he is not afraid of evil tidings, for his heart is fixed, trusting in the Lord. My enemies are numberless and formidable, and I am as weak as I am exposed; but "the Lord is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower. I will call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies." Thus it is said, They shall dwell safely in the wilderness, and sleep in the woods." How lonely, dreary, terrifying the situations! But amidst the howlings of the wilder ness, and the horrors of the woods, they shall dwell safely there, and sleep soundly there. So David, when Absalom had driven him from his palace, and he had few troops to support him in the field, garrisoned himself in God: "I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep: for thou, Lord, only makest me dwell in safety.""

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