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his salvation, to proclaim him as the Great King over all the earth, and to cali upon all people, and nations, and languages, to bow down before him, to receive his yoke, and accept his salvation.

This dominion of Christ has a two-fold bearing-in reference to the Church, and the world. He rules his people as willing subjects; his service to them is perfect freedom: their highest happiness consists in not being their own, but bought with an infinite price, that they may glorify him in their bodies and in their spirits, which are his; and their most fervent ambition is to have every thought of their hearts brought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. The frame of mind which they most earnestly cultivate, is that expressed in the inquiry of the trembling Apostle, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" And more extensively throughout the world, the submission to his will, though less conscious and less willing, is not the less absolute. In all the complicated machinery of conflicting events, which are moving forward in their several directions, with resistless rapidity, there is not one, either the smallest or the greatest of them all, which is not subject to his righteous sovereign control. Even the winds and the seas obeyed him, when he was on earth; and that troubled and tempestuous sea of the world's distempered passions, and busy schemings, and eventful changes, subsides at once into a great calm, if he but utter the word, "Peace, be still;" or is permitted to lash itself into fury again, if so it may better help forward the accomplishment of his purposes. He ruleth in the kingdoms of men: he stilleth the raging of the sea; and the noise of its waves, and the madness of the people: the counsels of the wise, and the efforts of the mighty, are not only powerless against him, but are bending to him in implicit subjection, to work his will in the convulsions of nations; and the rise and fall of empires are ordained and overruled, for the setting up of his kingdom.

In the possession of all this sovereignty, he is Head over all, though especially and emphatically to the Church. And in the exercise of this universal dominion, he addresses that Church with an inexpressible combination of tenderness and majesty: "I have put my word in thy mouth, I have covered thee with the shadow of my hand; that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people." This is the never-failing resource, upon which his Church must cast herself in all her difficulties. And no one difficulty is more imminent, than those which rise before her in her prosecution of her missionary work; for as this, above all others, is a work of faith, so above all others, it shuts us up to a simple and immediate dependence on the arm of the Lord. When, then, obstacles present themselves before us, which baffle human wisdom; when faith is tried, and nope tempted, by the want of visible success; when disappointment withers our undertakings, or worldly policy thwarts them; when our missionaries are weakened by sickness, or cut off by death; when they turn aside from the simplicity of their walk with God, or their converts turn back to idolatry and sin; yet still it is our privilege and comfort to know, that Christ sits and rules upon his throne, and that at his bidding, the great mountains of difficulty shall become a plain before Zerubbabel. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill be made low; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together." And so, whether in prosperous, or in troublous times, he shall build the temple of the Lord.

Moreover, "He shall bear the glory." The glory of Joshua's temple

belonged not to himself. Like Moses, he was faithful in all his house, as a servant; but Christ as a son over his own house. And the glory of the spiritual temple which he builds is all his own. Even in this present world, the Church which is planted in the midst of it, marred as it is with infirmity and corruption, and burdened like its Saviour with contempt, is a glorious monument of praise to our Saviour's name. Every stone that is laid upon a stone in the temple of the Lord, becomes a living witness to the truth, and grace, and power of a crucified Redeemer. The universal Church is the light of the world, shining before men in the beauty of holiness, and shewing forth the praises of Him who hath redeemed it with his blood. And just as when he was upon earth, and went about doing good, those who were made the happy subjects of his beneficent miracles delighted to employ their newly recovered faculties in tributes of affectionate homage to their deliverer, and followed Jesus, glorifying God, even so it is now in the spiritual working of his power; all who experience his grace are unto him for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: the temple that he is thus building in the world, resounds with his praises; for in every part of it, under all varieties of climate, in all the different grades of society, the heart is still the same, has the same bitterness of sin to be delivered from, and finds the same relief at the cross of Jesus. From the ends of the earth have we heard songs, even glory to the Righteous One, and the hallelujahs of the Christian Church, ascribing salvation unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb, have been echoed back from the banks of the Ganges, and the coasts of Africa, from lips heretofore polluted with the frantic cries of idol worship, and hearts bound in the iron chains of brutalizing superstition.

And when this glorious temple shall be completed, and the head stone is brought forth with shouting, and a great multitude which no man can number is gathered before the throne, what an exceeding weight of glory will then rest on the universal Redeemer? All the crowns in the heavens will be cast down before him; every eye shall see him, and gaze upon him, with wonder and ineffable delight; every redeemed sinner, in the enjoyment of a full salvation, will give all the glory of it to his Saviour, and ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands of angels, will join their songs with ours, saying, with a loud voice, "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing." Thus will the once suffering, but now glorified Redeemer, see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied. All his enemies made his footstool, and all his people brought to glory, to be with him where he is to dwell in his presence, and sing his praises, for ever. This is the joy that was set before him, for which he endured the cross, despising the shame. "And he shall reign for ever and ever.” And now, beloved brethren, we have only to gather up in a few concluding sentences, some of the fragments of the subject before us, for the purpose of direct practical application to ourselves as concerned in the work of missions. In the first place, Let us beware of building without Christ. For "he shall build the temple of the Lord: even he shall build the temple of the Lord." It is his prerogative to build, as he is to bear the glory; and as he himself has solemnly warned us, "He that gathereth not with me, scattereth;" so the greatest and wisest of earth's master builders hath set us an example of disclaiming all participation in the power, as well as the glory,-"Not I, but the grace of God which was with me." Cordially do I rejoice, my brethren, to know and believe,

that the proceedings of this society, alloyed as they still doubtless are with a mixture of human infirmity, are yet, in the main, conducted in a simple dependence on the promises of Christ, for our encouragement, and on the Spirit of Christ for our guidance. Our gracious Master has sometimes seen fit to wither the arm in which we were tempted to trust, and to disappoint the hope which gathered perhaps some of its confidence from the imagined efficiency or adaptation of human instruments. Let it all combine to lead us to a greater simplicity of faith: let us be jealous over ourselves, with Godly jealousy: let our dependence be more child-like, and our obedience more unequivocal and self-denying: let all be begun, continued, and ended, in Him who is the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last let us seek to be, even more than we yet have been, a society whose very element is prayer: and so let all the results of our undertakings, whether prosperous or adverse, lead us to the Saviour in prayer for blessings received, or confiding acquiescence under afflictive dispensations. In the next place, Give all the glory to Christ. "He shall bear the glory;" and while all the events of the restless and agitated world, moving forward, as they too generally do, in utter forgetfulness of him, must yet work together in entire subordination to his glory, even the wrath of man must praise him; the work of missions has this high and holy character stamped upon it, that it aims at this hallowed end in the most direct way, and on the largest scale. And this consideration it is, which, above all others, endears the missionary work to our hearts, that it is so identified with the work of our Saviour, and so bound up with his glory. It is a direct assault made upon the kingdom of Satan, by the act of proclaiming another king, even Jesus, for whom it claims the universal empire. The temple you are now building in New Zealand, or in any other of the darkest spots of Satan's dominions, is consecrated to his glory, and becoming vocal with his praise. O, let us put the crown on His head who alone is worthy to wear it. The silver and the gold, which from the Church's liberality is poured into this treasury of the Lord, would be desecrated and perverted from its legitimate purpose, if employed to make crowns for any other head than that of Jesus. The most honoured of those who have laboured in the work of this building, and in whom pre-eminently we glorify God for the grace bestowed upon them, from the venerable Scott to those whose names are more recently embalmed in our affectionate remembrance, James and Wilberforce, would all unite with one mind and one might, to glorify God, even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, putting away the honour from the earthen vessel, and referring to the grace of their beloved Master all they have been enabled to do for him.

Still let us go forward, dear and honoured brethren, in the same spirit; and let it be the joy and rejoicing of our heart, that we are counted worthy, in a very feeble measure, to work the work of the Lord Jesus, and that his grace has taught us to set our affection to the house of the Lord. May He, for whom it is built, take pleasure in it and be glorified.

Lastly, upon this principle, drawing all our strength from Christ, and giving all the glory to Christ, Let us contribute with a self-denying liberality of our labour and our substance for the work of building the temple of the Lord. This is the concluding point, but I forbear to urge it by any formal arguments or exhortations. The cause itself is too elevated and holy to need a recommendation to our hearts by any enticing words of man's wisdom. Our labours in this cause, our prayers, and our gifts, are all for the glory of Christ.

"And he shall live; and to him shall be given of the gold of Sheba ;" prayer also shall be made for him continually; and daily shall he be praised. To him be all the glory of what he has already done in us and by us. May our hearts be filled with his love, and constrained by that love to bring forth more abundant fruits of righteousness to the glory and praise of God. "Blessed be the Lord God, the God of Israel, who only doeth wondrous things, and blessed be his glorious name for ever, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory."—Amen and

amen.

NATURE AND ORIGIN OF REVIVALS.

REV. E. BICKERSTETH, A. M.

SIR G. WHELER'S CHAPEL, SPITAL SQUARE, BISHOPSGATE, MAY 4, 1834.

"O Lord, revive thy work in the midst of the years."-HABAKKUK, iii. 2.

prayer for you.

What greater

THIS, my brethren, is our hearts' desire and wish can your present minister, or your former minister, have for the good of his congregation, than that there should be a blessed revival of the work of grace among you? And as it is the prayer of your minister, so, I doubt not, it is the prayer, the heart's desire, of very many before me. Long has the truth as it is in Jesus been preached in this congregation; times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord we have again and again had: what we want to see is, fresh supplies of grace imparted from season to season, and the work of the Lord continually growing and reviving among you. May these wishes, these prayers, be abundantly answered at this time.

I purpose this evening to direct your attention to these four points:-first, the state calling for a revival: secondly, the nature of a revival of God's work: thirdly, the only source from which it can flow: and, fourthly, the time in which it should be sought. And O that while I am preaching upon the subject, the Spirit of our God itself may realize the truth in many a heart before me; that it may indeed be a blessed beginning of a revival of the work of grace in our souls.

First, I have to consider, THE STAte calling for A REVIVAL. A revival is a return to life and vigour, from a state of languor and decay. A revival supposes a previous profession of the Gospel, and in its strictest sense, a previous partaking of its life and power. But I will consider the state calling for a revival in a larger sense, as applying to the Church in general, and to us as individuals.

I will look at it, first, as it regards the Church in general. The Church of Christ needs revival. Though better than it once was, it is not, I apprehend, taking a large view of the whole Church of Christ, in a lively state as to deep and practical godliness. There are comparatively few flourishing Churches, where the congregations are manifestly prosperous to a large extent in their souls. There is a vast increase of profession in our day, and with that, I doubt not, an increase of real piety. But in the midst of that, there is much disunion among different bodies of Christians; and there is among Christians themselves but a low standard of devotedness to Christ; a low standard of doctrine, and of devotedness to him. We ought as Christians, to have a lively and deep interest in the Church of Christ a lively and deep interest in the conversion of all VOL, L,

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