rod of painful chastisement, and our many wanderings from duty and from God to be repressed with a holy severity. What improvement and advantage might we not reap, if we habituated ourselves to reflect more carefully upon all the way that the Lord our God has led us; what cause for humiliation would we not find in our manifold sins; and what motives for gratitude that we were not permitted utterly to perish, in being given over to our hearts' lusts. The habit of devoutly reviewing God's dealings with them has always been characteristic of his genuine people, and has eminently tended to advance their best interests; deepening their sense of his manifold mercies, showing them the duty of continuing to trust in him, and suplying them with a source of wisdom and experience of a peculiarly important and valuable nature amidst the temptations and trials of life. An instance of this we have in the history of David, who when Saul would have dissuaded him from encountering Goliah, as not able to fight with him in battle, called to mind the merciful preservation vouchsafed to him on previous occasions of peril by the favour of God, and said, 'The Lord that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine.' In the case of the great apostle of the Gentiles, how frequent and solemn are the references which he makes to his former unconverted state, when he was a persecutor and injurious, and how profound is the admiration and gratitude which he expresses that he should have been counted worthy to receive mercy, and to be made a preacher of that gospel which he went about to destroy. Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all long-suffering for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.' How infinitely unmerited must the mercies of God, which they have so richly enjoyed, appear to those who habituate themselves to a careful consideration of all the way in which he has led them. To us belongoth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee. To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him. Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets,' Dan. ix. 8-10. is now high time to awake out of sleep.' How vile and unprofitable does the service of sin appear to them who look back upon it; 'what profit had ye in those things whereof ye are now ashamed, for the end of those things is death?" How should the remembrance of past mercies be treasured up as an incentive to bless God for his goodness, and as a reason for patiently submitting to his will on the day of trouble. 'Shall we receive good at the hand of the Lord, and shall we not receive evil?' 'Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.' It is valuable to form a connected view of God's dealings; to see them in their principle and in their end, as all designed to advance his own glory and to work together for good to them who love him. How many erroneous impressions and false views would it not correct, concerning what is truly good for man, thus to consider the ways of the most High. We call the proud happy; yea, they that work wickedness are set up. But a juster estimate would teach us to esteem the lowly, the afflicted, the poor and contrite in spirit; those whose trials, though numerous, have all been sanctified, as the alone blessed and truly happy. Better is it to choose with Moses, to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy all the riches and honours of Egypt. In the end, how shall the redeemed, on taking a retrospect of all the way in which God has led them, approve of the wisdom and faithfulness of every dispensation which he allotted in the journey of life. They shall sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty: just and true are all thy ways, thou King of saints' THE reason at the present day, and with the many religious advantages we enjoy, why any do not glorify God as God, neither are thankful, is not that they are ignorant of his nature and perfections, as the omnipotent God, and the supreme Benefactor, but that they do not desire to retain the knowledge of God in all their thoughts. The What motives to repentance and to new obedience arise from a saving consideration of age of idolatry has for ever passed away; but still the long-suffering and forbearance of God. It is there reason for the expostulation and rem Abba, Father. ۱ as being made the theme of divine investigation. | filial relation to God, to receive the doctrine, That the Spirit can search, or in other words, that, together with this rank, God will send forth fully penetrate and understand all the deep the Spirit of his Son into your heart, crying, things of God, is an evidence of divine perfection, which denotes that in this, as in all other attributes, the Holy Spirit is equal with the Father and the Son. And accordingly we find, in the various acts of worship commanded to believers, that the Spirit is conjoined with the Father and the Son, as the object of adoration and praise. You are baptized in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. The apostle beseeches his fellow-disciples, in Rom. xv. 30, 'for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit,' to strive together with him in their prayers to God on his behalf. You are admonished against grieving the Spirit, and against quenching the Spirit; and you are called to know that ye are temples of the Holy Spirit, 'which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own.' NINTH DAY. - EVENING. And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the THERE is a close and mutual connection among In scripture the Holy Spirit is in some passages called the Spirit of God, and in others the Spirit of Christ, indiscriminately, according as the design of the inspired writer renders either the one application or the other more appropriate and expressive. This shows that he proceeds equally from both; and that he is not a mere attribute or name, as some have attempted to establish who have denied his personality. In Rom. viii. 9. we find both modes of appellation employed, the one in the first, and the other in the second clause of the verse. 'But ye are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.' In the present passage the Holy Spirit appears to be called the Spirit of the Son, that is, of Christ, both because he is imparted to believers through Christ, or in virtue of their union with him, and also because he produces in them the same mind which was in Christ generally; and particularly the same confidence and love towards their heavenly Father. During his humiliation, how did Christ manifest, on every occasion, an infinite love and complacency in the Father, a profound acquiescence in his will, together with a deep reliance upon his divine aid, in his deepest afflictions! Who in the days of his flesh, when he bad offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears, unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared. Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered.' Now the same love and the same faith which distinguished Christ the Elder Brother, are also formed in his followers, the Holy Spirit being given them for this end, that they also may be able to draw near with confidence.to a throne of grace, as children to a father who is able and willing to help them. In all the doctrines, and in all the ordinances of the gospel, there is a manifestation more or less explicit of that filial relation to God, into which it is the grand design of the dispensation of mercy to introduce all who believe. At a communion table we are instructed to sit down as sons, and not to stand afar off as aliens, or to look on as menials or servants. In prayer we are encouraged to confide in God as most willing to receive us, and to supply all our wants according to his riches in glory through Jesus Christ. And it is only in so far as you have attained to a holy love and confidence in God, through the merits of the Saviour, that you have come to the enjoyment of that spirit of sonship which it is the design of the gospel to form in the souls of men. By nature we are all filled with a spirit of enmity, or in other words, of rebellion and distrust towards God; and it is not until Christ is received, and the promises of the gospel, that this spirit is destroyed, and that the spirit of reconciliation and adoption is obtained. TENTH DAY. -MORNING. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen, 2 Cor. xiii. 14. Nor only do we find in scripture the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, severally manifested, in relation to the particular connection in which they tand to the plan of redemption; the Father representing the Godhead, and sustaining the office of securing the authority and honour of the divine law; the Son humbling himself, by becoming abject to the law in order to fulfil it; and the Holy Spirit applying Christ and the benefits of redemption to the souls of believers; but we find also passages, such as the present, where the economic distinctions referred to are scarcely seen to exist at all, and in which the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are represented in their unity as one God, the Author of all mercy and blessing. As it has been the work of redemption which has more peculiarly called forth the manifestation of the distinct personality of the three persons in the adorable Trinity, the scriptures appear to teach us, that one great end for this manifestation was to lead us to understand distinctly, and to feel with deep impression our infinite obligations to redeeming love; and thus we ought to be careful to maintain in our minds a realizing apprehension of the absolute oneness which subsists, hot only in essence, but in counsel, and in operstion, between the three persons of the eternal Galhead. Undoubtedly Christ shall continue frever to exist as Emmanuel, God-Man; and the redeemed shall continue to behold in him the Mediator who, by assuming our nature, and becoming bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh, satisfied the law, and delivered them from hell; at the same time it is to be kept in view, that Christ has lifted up our nature to the throne of heaven, and that he there possesses all that glory which he had with the Father before the world was. It is evident that unless it had been the object of inspiration to teach us the absolute equality of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, it would not have presented instances of prayers, doxologies, and addresses in which they are conjoined and contemplated as the object of our worship, the supreme source of blessing, and the adorable Author of all glory and excellence. Upon the hypothesis, that two mere created and dependent beings were advanced to this honour, would there not manifestly be an impropriety, or rather an impiety, in such a conjunction, utterly inconsistent with the spirit of pure and reverential worship which the scriptures uniformly inculcate, and exclusively authorise. In order to manifest more fully the perfect equality subsisting between the Father and the other persons of the blessed Trinity, the order is not followed in this place, which the economic relation constituted among them would prescribe; but the blessing first supplicated, is 'the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,' and then in succession, 'the love of God,' and 'the communion of the Holy Ghost.' At the same time, so much of the economic relation may here be perceived, as shows in a very beautiful and interesting manner the way in which, as sinners, we become partakers of that great salvation, which is comprehensive of the blessings specified in this prayer, and of all others either implied in them, or that flow from them. We must then, in the first instance, receive the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ; in other words, his favour, including an interest in his righteousness, and in his advocacy or intercession; thereupon we become what otherwise in justice we never could be, objects of complacency or love to God the Father; and in consequence of this, again, we are, in the last place, privileged to enjoy that blessed communion of the Spirit which is co-extensive with the society of the redeemed in earth, and in heaven. TENTH DAY. EVENING. 'Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?' 1 Cor. iii. 16. In the previous context, the apostle insists largely upon the nature and design of the church of Christ; shows that it has one only foundation upon which it rests, viz., Christ himself; that apostles and ministers are merely artificers employed for the erection of this spiritual edifice, and that believers, as component parts of the building, require to be eminently distinguished for their personal holiness, and for the good works which flow from their faith. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward; if any man's work shall be burnt, he shall suffer loss, but he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire.' To urge yet more strongly upon believers the obligation to holiness, the apostle farther advances the solemn consideration which he thus states, 'know ye not that ye are the temple of the living God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?' When man was originally created, he was endowed with a rational and immortal soul, and was rendered capable of serving and glorifying God in a more perfect manner than any of the rest of the creatures connected with this lower world. He was in reality an animated temple, holy and pure, from the altar of whose heart there ascended the incense of a ceaseless adoration, gratitude, and praise; and all whose faculties were ministering servants, consciously engaged in a higher service than that of the creature, contemplating in whatever they did, as their high ultimate end, the glory of the Creator. But sin dissolved the sacred relation, and laid in the dust man's spiritual glory; and spoiled of innocence, and forsaken of God, his heart became the dwelling-place of every unclean and evil thing; and his condition would have been one of hopeless and irretrievable ruin, had not God, in his sovereign mercy, seen meet to signalize his glory by accomplishing our redemption, rather than consigning us to merited destruction and everlasting death. It is the blessed object of God, under the gospel, to receive man back into favour, to cleanse him from all his idols, and all his abominations, to establish his throne in his heart, to fit him for enjoying communion with him, and serving him; and in fine, to exalt him to dwell with him, and to glorify him throughout eternal ages in the kingdom of heaven. Every one must be familiarly acquainted with the general idea suggested by a temple. It is a place peculiarly consecrated to the worship of God, in which accordingly he claims a special property, and where his presence and favour may be found by those who worship with reverence and with godly fear. Under the Mosaic dispensation, there was one place where God was pleased to manifest his presence in the holy of holies, where the shechinah, or visible glory, shone forth between the cherubim from above the mercy-seat. Thither, however, the high priest alone was permitted to come once every year, not without blood, which he offered for himself, and also for the sins of the people. The typical vail which excluded from this sacred | spot, and which it would be fatal to attempt to pass, indicated that the way into the holiest of all was not yet made manifest; that a controversy still subsisted between the Most High and a rebellious race; and that a more excellent sacrifice than that of bulls and of goats was necessary to satisfy offended justice, and to reconcile us to God. Now when the apostle describes the Corinthians as temples of the living God, he points out, in a striking manner, the privileges and blessings enjoyed under the gospel, and the intimate union and favour with God to which believers are admitted, as contrasted with the alienation, distrust, and terror, with which the law inspired those who were under its institutions. We are called to know that God is in Christ Jesus reconciling a guilty world unto himself, and not imputing to men their trespasses; and all men, whatever be their condition, are now invited to cast away the arms of rebellion, to submit to mercy, and to become partakers of the most intimate union and favour with God. Behold I stand at the door and knock, and if any man open I will come nished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself in and sup with him, and he with me.' Now the middle wall of partition is destroyed-God is besieging the hearts of his children, and will have them to open to him, that he may come in and dwell with them, and walk in them, and be a father to them for ever. Are ye the temple of God, and what purity of character, what devotion of spirit, what entire consecration of all your powers and talents to the honour and service of God, should distinguish you from a world that lieth in wickedness! To profane a temple, by introducing into it any thing unsuitable to the sacred use for which it has been erected, is an act of aggravated impiety; and to resign yourselves to any sin, to follow any idol, after being enlightened and sanctified by the Spirit of God, involves an amount of guilt of peculiar magnitude, and cannot fail, unless speedily repented of, to incur the heaviest judgments. To this our Lord seems to refer in Matt. xii. 43. 'When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return unto my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and gar seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there; and the last state of that man is worse than the first.' What need of vigilance, self-denial, and prayer, earnest and persevering prayer, that you may be kept pure from idols, as become the temples of God. How true the testimony of scripture, that | eternal counsels of God, but fall in with the most it is not in man who walketh to direct his steps perfect accordance with his foreknowledge and aright. What a lamentable tendency to spirit- foreordained purpose. And thus it is that the ual backsliding and deterioration is characteristic of our nature. How soon does the flame of piety begin to burn dimly upon the altar of the heart, and how constantly does it need to be revived and purified. The service of the house of Aaron, fulfilment of prophecy has never in a single instance failed, when the appointed time has arrived for its accomplishment; and although rebel spirits and wicked men, in many instances, had nothing less in view than to establish the counsels of God, in waiting on the ancient temple, was unceasing; and to vindicate his truth, their agency has, in in and they were exempted from all other labours to devote themselves exclusively to its appointed duties. And what an interesting lesson do they, in this respect, present to you, of the careful and assiduous zeal with which you should watch over the interests of your soul, and be always found living to the glory of God. O let the worship of God be attended to with punctual and persevering care. Every morning and evening offer up your sacrifice of praise and of thanksgiving. Sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Quench not the To reconcile the decrees of God, or even his Holy Spirit. Lead a life of faith, and spirituality, foreknowledge, with the freedom of the human numerable and very important cases, been overruled to that end. How, for instance, was the crucifixion of Christ the effect of the blind rage and wickedness of his enemies, and yet in every point how were they controlled and overruled, that in such minute particulars as casting lots for his raiment, and abstaining from breaking one of his bones, they gave prophecy cause to triumph in the complete fulfilment of her every announcement. and holiness. What agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the Iving God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, will, is a subject of too profound a nature to be competent for the limited powers of man, at least in the present state of existence; and it should be sufficient for us to know that the fact is so without and they will be my people. Wherefore come being curiously inquisitive into its grounds. In no out from among them, and be ye separate, and sense can the actions of wicked men be so traced to touch not the unclean thing, and I will receive you, and will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty,' 2 Cor. vi. 16-18. THE immutability of God's counsels is a necessary conclusion from the unchangeableness of his being and perfections. He is not a man that he should lie, nor the Son of man that he should repent.' His unerring wisdom, infinite holiness, and absolute truth, preclude the possibility of his her being under a necessity of deviating from the determination which he has formed, or of Sing to fulfil the engagements to which his faithfulness stands pledged. Known unto him are all things to the end of the world, and no unforeseen difficulties, no unexpected circumstances, can ever require him to modify his purposes to Meet the altered aspect which the state of the universe may at any time present. Even the actions of free and intelligent agents can occasion no uncertainty, and induce no change in the God, or connected with the necessity of fulfilling his counsels, as to charge him, in the most remote manner, with being the author of sin. On this subject the scriptures are most explicit. 'Let no man say, when he is tempted, I am tempted of God; for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man. But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.' Neither ought we so to think of the immutability of the divine counsels, as to imagine that the necessity for exertion or prayer is superseded, by the consideration that whatever has been ordained cannot but come to pass, whether we labour and pray for it or not. God who ordains the end, ordains likewise the means, and without the employment of the one we have no ground to look forward and expect the other. The duty of prayer has been appointed by God, and his blessing is promised in answer to it, and if any neglect the duty, they are justly excluded from the reception of the benefits which otherwise they might have received. Let this subject be improved, as a reason for being stedfast and consistent in the Christian life. God is unchangeably the same for ever, and our allegiance to him ought to be no less devout than permanent and enduring. The same obligation which exists now will always exist, to entitle |