a

love, nor brokenness of heart, when you find there but one thing only,—a looking to Christ as the only resource of a sinner; what will become of you, if, looking to him, you cannot “hope against hope," and say, “Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him.” Will you find any other door by which to escape from the circle of difficulties, in which you are, as it were, enclosed, but that one which is called in Scripture, “the door of faith ??? Is there any other way of deliverance than that of coming to Christ, just as you are? Far from Him, where will you obtain what you want? Yes, where will you obtain it ? When you find yonrself miserable and worthless, will you extract out of your misery and worthlessness, something on which you may place your dependance ? You will not go to Christ, just as you are! Then give yourself up to despair ; for Jesus hath declared, that “ without him you can do nothing." And, in fact, were you to live for ages keeping at a distance from Christ, at the end of those ages you would find yourself just at the point where you are this day. Renounce hope, then, for ever, or learn from this day to hope in a simple faith in the promises which God has made to every sinner who can say with Peter, “Lord, to whom shall we go ? Thou hast the words of eternal life." John vi. 68.

It is to lead his children to trust solely in himself, that the Lord sometimes makes them pass through a painful state of mind, wherein he deprives them of the sensible effects of faith on which they were too much inclined to depend. You will find an explanation of the weakness, dejection, misery and worthlessness which

you feel at such moments, in the account which the apostle gives of God's dealings with himself :-“We were pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that we despaired even of life : but, we had the

sentence of death in ourselves," adds he, “that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God which raiseth the dead." Here is the mystery unravelled. You must not trust in yourself; all confidence in your own strength, all self-righteousness must fall before the cross, like Dagon before the ark. Doubtless, you are still full of self; you are still seeking self under the garb of humility, and amid these general lamentations over your miseries, which, instead of directing your eyes to the Saviour, are perhaps turning them away from him. To withdraw you from such a delusion, the Lord removes all your unstable props, and reduces you to a state of mind, in which, from the failure of all other consolations, you are obliged to walk simply by faith, and to hope, resting exclusively on the promises.

And imagine not that when you thus trust in God, even in the most desponding state, you are less acceptable to him than if you were full of joy and love. Doubtless, a heart full of love and joy is an inestimable blessing, when at the same time we rest our hope of salvation and our confidence on the merits of Christ alone. Nevertheless, I know not if there be anything more honoring to God, than the state of the man who, feeling the depth of his misery, seeing in himself nothing on which to rest, finding in himself nothing but emptiness, weakness for every thing good, and opposition to the will of God, takes courage in looking to the promise of God, and gives him glory, saying, “God cannot lie; hath he said, and shall he not do it; hath he spoken, and shall he not bring it to pass ?"

If I open the word of God, and demand who are the persons whose faith it extols, I find that they are those who believed against all appearances, and in opposition to all discouragements.

I see there an Abraham commended, because that, “ being not weak

in faith, he staggered not at the promises of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God.” Rom. iv. 19, 20. I see that same Abraham commended for his “faith whereby he offered up Isaac: of whom it was said, that in Isaac shall- thy seed be called : accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead." I

open the Bible again, and I find a commendation of the faith of Noah, who, upon the intimation which the Lord gave him, and contrary to all human appearances, believed in the universal deluge, built an ark for the saving of his house, and for the space of a hundred and twenty years condemned the world by that silent preaching, continuing to give credit to the threatenings of God, notwithstanding the apparent delay of their execution. In the epistle to the Hebrews, I find the apostle Paul commending all those who died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.” Heb. xi. 13. I hear the Lord Jesus Christ commending the faith of the woman of Canaan, who persevered in following him, notwithstanding the apparent coldness with which he answered her entreaties at first. “O woman,” said he, “great is thy faith." I hear the faith of the centurion called great, because he declared that he needed not the presence of Christ in his house, to make him believe that he could heal his servant, but that he was persuaded that the Lord had only "to speak the word, and his servant should be made whole.” On the other hand, I find not Jesus praising the faith of Thomas, who required to see and feel before he believed. “ Thomas," said he to him, “because thou hast seen, thou hast believed ; blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed.”

We learn likewise, from the history of the Israelites, that those who will only believe what they see, and feel, and touch, neither believe nor' rejoice for any length of time; that they soon dishonor God by their despondency, and bring upon themselves his rebukes and displeasure. When Israel saw the great power which the Lord had displayed against the Egyptians, “ when the waters covered their enemies, and there was none of them left, then they believed his word, and sung praises ;" but the Spirit adds, “they soon forgat his works, and waited not for his counsel.” Ex. xiv. 39, 81. Ps. cvi. 11, 13. As soon as some new difficulty presented itself to them in the wilderness, their faith wavered, “ they turned their back and tempted God, and limited the Holy One of Israel. They remembered not his hand, nor the day when he delivered them from the enemy." Ps. lxxxiii. Hence, far from commending their faith, the Spirit of God, speaking of them, says: “ Therefore the Lord heard this, and was wroth : so a fire was kindled against Jacob, and anger also came up against Israel, because they believed not in God, and trusted not in his salvation.” Ps.lxxviii. 21, 22. Let us then learn from this anbelieving and rebellious people, not to tempt God on every occasion, saying, “ Is the Lord among us, or not?" Let us cleave unto the Lord with a steadfast heart, knowing in whom we have believed. Let us reject as injurious to his faithfulness, all the discouraging thoughts that arise in our minds, when the Lord, to prove us, makes us encamp, like Israel, in dry places ; let us go on, notwithstanding the drought and barrenness of the wilderness, persuaded that he who hath called us is faithful, and will not suffer us to perish by the way. Like Hezekiah, let us trust in the Lord, let us cleave to him, and not turn away from him.

The last feature in Hezekiah's trust is, that it was associated with uprightness. “He did that which was right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his father did. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from him, but kept his commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses.” 2 Kings, xvii. 5, 6. It is also said of him, in the book of Chronicles, that “ he wrought that which was good, and right, and truth, before the Lord his God. And in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered.” 2 Chron. xxxi. 20, 21. Had he not been thus upright in heart, he could not have trusted in the Lord God of Israel ; for conscience, in accordance with the word, tells us, that, while “with the upright, the Lord sheweth himself upright, with the froward he will also shew himself froward.” 2 Sam. xxii. 26, 27. Where there is not uprightness, and where the heart condemns us, there can be no solid confidence. In the reign of the impious Ahaz, when the Lord sent against him and his idolatrous people the kings of Syria and of Israel, it is said, that “the heart of Ahaz was moved, and the heart of the people, as the trees of the wood are moved with the wind.” Isa. vii, 2. And how, could they be calm, and trust in the Lord, seeing they had forsaken him, and their heart testified that they had provoked him with the works of their hands? On the other hand, where there is uprightness, there will also be confidence. When danger approaches, the upright man can say with David: My defence is of God who saveth the upright in heart. What time I

. am afraid I will trust in thee. When I cry unto thee, then shall 'mine enemies turn back: this I know, for God is with me.” Ps. vii. 10; lvi, 3, 9.

1