thy soul, My soul, though thou dost find innumer- | many, never so vile, though your load be never so able infirmities in thyself, and in thy actions, yet heavy and intolerable, though you deserve no help, look upon thy Jesus, the man Jesus; he is wisdom, not the least help, no mercy, not the least compasand that for thee, to govern thee, to take care for sion, yet ‘cast your burden upon me, and you shall thee, and to order all things for the best for thee. find rest for your souls.' Come unto me and I He is also thy righteousness now at will heal you, love you, teach you, and tell you the God's right hand, always shining before way to the kingdom of heaven. Come unto me, the eyes of his glory; so that there it is unmovable, and I will succour you, help you, and keep you though thou art in never such a sad condition, yet from all devils and their temptations, from the law thy righteousness, which is the Son of God, God- and its curses, and from being for ever overcome man, shines as bright as ever, and is as much with any evil whatever. Come unto me for what accepted of God as ever. O this sometimes hath you need, and tell me what you would have, or been life to me; and so, whatever thou, O my what you would have me do for you, and all my soul, findest wanting in thyself, through faith thou strength, love, wisdom, and interest that I have shalt see all laid up for thee in Jesus Christ, with my Father shall be laid out for you. Come whether it be wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, unto me, your sweet Jesus, your loving and tenderor redemption. Nay, not only so, but, as I said hearted Jesus, your everlasting and sin-pardoning before, he is all these in his own person without Jesus. Come unto me, and I will wash you, and thee in the presence of his Father for thee. put my righteousness upon you, pray to my Father for you, and send my Spirit into you, that you might be saved. Therefore,

Object. But now, if any should say in their hearts, 0, but I am one of the old-covenant men, I doubt that is, I doubt I am not within this glorious covenant of grace. And how if I should

not?

Answ. Well, thou fearest that thou art one of the old covenant, a son of the bond-woman. [1.] In the first place, know that thou wast one of them by nature, for all by nature are under that covenant; but set the case that thou art to this day under that, yet let me tell thee, in the first place, there are hopes for thee; for there is a gap open, a way made for souls to come from under the covenant of works, by Christ, for he hath broken down the middle wall of partition between us' and you. Ep. ii. 14. And therefore, if thou wouldst be saved, thou mayest come to Christ; if thou wantest a righteousness, as I said before, there is one in Christ; if thou wouldst be washed, thou mayest come to Christ; and if thou wouldst be justified, there is justification enough in the Lord Jesus Christ. That is the first. [2.] And thou canst not be so willing to come to Christ as he is willing thou shouldst come to him. Witness his coming down from heaven, his humiliation, his spilling of his blood from both his cheeks, by sweat under the burden of sin, Lu. xxii. 44, and his shedding of it by the spear when he hanged on the cross. It appears also by his promises, by his invitations, by his sending forth his messengers to preach the same to poor sinners, and threateneth damnation upon this very account, namely, the neglect of him; and declares that all the thousands and ten thousands of sins in the world should not be able to damn those that believed in him; that he would pardon all, forgive and pass by all, if they would but come unto him; moreover, promiseth to cast out none, no, not the poorest, vilest, contemptiblest creature in the whole world. Come unto me all,' every one, though you be never so

Consider, besides this, what a privilege thou shalt have at the day of judgment above thousands, if thou do in deed and in truth close in with this Jesus and accept of him; for thou shalt not only have a privilege in this life, but in the life everlasting, even at the time of Christ's second coming from heaven; for then, when there shall be the whole world gathered together, and all the good angels, bad angels, saints, and reprobates, when all thy friends and kindred, with thy neighbours on the right hand and on the left shall be with thee, beholding of the wonderful glory and majesty of the Son of God; then shall the Son of glory, even Jesus, in the very view and sight of them all, smile and look kindly upon thee; when a smile or a kind look from Christ shall be worth more than ten thousand worlds, then thou shalt have it. You know it is counted an honour for a poor man to be favourably looked upon by a judge, or a king, in the sight of lords, earls, dukes, and princes; why, thus it will be with thee in the sight of all the princely saints, angels, and devils, in the sight of all the great nobles in the world; then, even thou that closest in with Christ, be thou rich or poor, be thou bond or free, wise or foolish, if thou close in with him, he will say unto thee, Well done, good and faithful servant,' even in the midst of the whole world; they that love thee shall see it, and they that hate thee shall all to their shame behold it; for if thou fear him here in secret, he will make it manifest even at that day upon the house-top.

Secondly, Not only thus, but thou shalt also be lovingly received and tenderly embraced of him at that day, when Christ hath thousands of gallant saints, as old Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, together with all the prophets, and apostles, and martyrs, attending on him; together with many thousands of glittering angels

ISRAEL'S HOPE ENCOURAGED ;

OR,

WHAT HOPE IS, AND HOW DISTINGUISHED FROM FAITII:

WITH ENCOURAGEMENTS FOR A HOPING PEOPLE.

ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR.

'AUSPICIOUS hope! in thy sweet garden grow

Wreaths for each toil, a charm for every woe.' Christian hope is a firm expectation of all promised good, but especially of eternal salvation and happiness in heaven, where we shall be like the Son of God. This hope is founded on the grace, blood, righteousness, and intercession of Christ the earnest of the Holy Spirit in our hearts, and the unchangeable truth and enlightening power of God.* Every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself even as God is pure.' 1 Jn. iii. 3. Blessed hope! Tit. ii. 13. Well might the apostle pray for the believing Romans, That ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.' xv. 13. Which is Christ in you the hope of glory.' Col. i. 27. This is the sacred, the solemn, the all-important subject which Bunyan in his ripe age makes the theme of his meditations and of his deeply impressive exhortations.

When drawing near the end of his pilgrimage ---while in the fullest fruition of his mental powers -he gives the result of his long and hallowed experience to comfort and cherish his fellow pilgrims in their dangerous heaven-ward journey. One of his last labours was to prepare this treatise for the press, from which it issued three years after his decease, under the care of his pious friend Charles Doe.

faith, no hope,' to hope without faith is to sce
without eyes, or expect without reason.' p. 577.
Faith is the anchor which enters within the vail;
Christ in us the hope of glory is the mighty cable
which keeps us fast to that anchor. p. 578.
'Faith
lays hold of that end of the promise that is nearest
to us, to wit, in the Bible-Hope lays hold of that
end that is fastened to the mercy-seat.' p. 578.
Thus the soul is kept by the mighty power of God.
They who have no hope, enter Doubting Castle of
their own free will-they place themselves under
the tyranny of Giant Despair-that he may put
out their eyes, and send them to stumble among
the tombs, and leave their bones in his castle-yard,
a trophy to his victories, and a terror to any poor
pilgrim caught by him trespassing on Bye-path
Meadow.† Hope is as a guardian angel-it en-
ables us to come boldly to a throne of grace in a
godly sort. p. 589. The subject is full of consola-
tion. Are we profanely apt to judge of God harshly,
as of one that would gather where he had not
strawn? Hope leads us to form a holy and just
conception of the God of love. Kind brings forth
its kind, know the tree by his fruit, and God BY
HIS MERCY IN CHRIST. What has God been doing
for and to his church from the beginning of the
world, but extending to and exercising loving-
kindness and mercy for them? Therefore he laid
a foundation for this in mercy from everlasting.'
p. 601. "There is no single flowers in God's gospel
garden, they are all double and treble; there is a
wheel within a wheel, a blessing within a blessing
in all the mercies of God; they are manifold, a
man cannot receive one but he receives many,
many folded up one within another.' p. 596. Bless
the Lord, O my soul!!

Here, as drawn from the holy oracles of God, we contemplate Hope, the helmet of salvation, without which our mental powers are exposed to be led captive into despair at the will of Satan. Our venerable author pictures most vividly the Christian's weakness and the power of his enemies; Should you see a man that could not go from door to door but he must be clad in a coat of mail, a helmet of brass upon his head, and for his life- Reader, my deep anxiety is that you should guard a thousand men, would you not say, surely receive from this treatise the benefits which its this man has store of enemies at hand? This is glorified author intended it to produce. It is acthe case, enemies lie in wait for Israel in every curately printed from the first edition. My notes hole, he can neither eat, drink, wake, sleep, work, are intended to explain obsolete words or customs, sit still, talk, be silent-worship his God in public such as at p. 594, or to commend the author's sentior private, but he is in danger. p. 602. Poor, lame, ments. May the Divine blessing abundantly reinfirm, helpless man, cannot live without tender-plenish our earthen vessels with this heavenly great-rich-manifold-abounding mercies. No hope. GEO. OFFOR.

ISRAEL'S HOPE ENCOURAGED.

LET ISRAEL HOPE IN THE LORD; FOR WITH THE LORD there is MERCY, AND WITH HIM is PLENTEOUS REDEMPTION.'-PSAL. CXXX. 7.

THIS Psalm is said to be one of the Psalms of Degrees,' which some say, if I be not mistaken, the priests and Levites used to sing when they went up the steps into the temple.* But to let that pass, it is a psalm that gives us a relation of the penman's praying frame, and of an exhortation to Israel to hope in God.

some journies, or because of tedious sickness, to whom the night is most doleful and uncomfortable, waiting for spring of day; so wait I for the Lord, that his presence might be with my soul. So and more too I say, 'More than they that wait for the morning.' Then he comes to the words which I have chosen for my text, saying, 'Let Israel hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption.'

[FIRST. AN EXHORTATION.]

In the exhortation there are three things to be inquired into. FIRST, The matter contained in it; SECOND, The manner by which it is expressed; THIRD, The inferences that do naturally flow therefrom.

[FIRST. The matter contained in the exhortation.]

In which words we have, FIRST, AN EXHORTATION; SECOND, A REASON OF THAT EXHORTATION; Ver. 1. Out of the depths have I cried unto and THIRD, AN AMPLIFICATION OF THAt reason. thee, O Lord;' that is, out of deep or great afflic-Let Israel hope in the Lord;' there is the extions, and said, 'Lord, hear my voice, let thine hortation; For with the Lord there is mercy;' ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.' there is the reason of it; And with him is The latter words explain the former; as who plenteous redemption;' there is the amplification should say, By voice I mean the meaning and spirit of that reason. of my prayer. There are words in prayer, and spirit in prayer, and by the spirit that is in prayer, is discerned whether the words be dead, lifeless, feigned, or warm, fervent, earnest; and God who searcheth the heart, knoweth the meaning of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God. Ro. viii. 27. Ver. 3. If thou, Lord, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who shall stand?' Here he confesseth, that all men by the law must fall before God for ever; for that they have broken it, but cannot make amends for the transgression thereof. But, he quickly bethinking himself of the mercy of God in Christ, he saith, ver 4, But there is forgiveness with thee that thou mayest be feared.' Then he returns, saying, ver. 5, 'I wait for the Lord,' that is, in all his appointments; yea, he doubleth it, saying, My soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.' By which repetition he insinuates, that many are content to give their bodily presence to God in his appointments, while their hearts were roving to the ends of the earth; but for his part he did not so. Ver. 6. My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning, I say, more than they that watch for the morning.' As who should say, even as it is with those that are tired with the night, either by reason of dark or weari.

* The titles to the Psalms have puzzled all the commentators. Bunyan follows Luther; who adds, that the title to the Psalms of Degrees does not pertain to any doctrine, but only to the ceremony of the singers. Ainsworth applies it to the place or tone of voice of the singers, or to a special excellency of the Psalm. Calmet and Bishop Horsley consider that the title refers to the progress of the soul towards eternal felicity, ascending by degrees. Watford imagines that these Psalms were written or selected to be sung on the ascent of the Jews from the captivity in Babylon. Luther wisely concludes that the Christian has only to do with the brief and very notable

doctrine contained in these fifteen steps or degrees.- LD.

VOL. I.

We will speak first to the matter contained in the text, and that presenteth itself unto us under three heads. First, A duty. Second, A direction for the well management of that duty. Third, The persons that are so to manage it.

First, Then, to speak to the duty, and that is HOPE; Let Israel HOPE.' By which word there is something pre-admitted, and something of great concern insinuated.

That which is pre-admitted is faith; for when we speak properly of hope, and put others distinctly to the duty of hoping, we conclude that such have faith already; for no faith, no hope. To hope without faith, is to see without eyes, or to expect without a ground: for 'Faith is the substance of things hoped for,' as well with respect to the grace, as to the doctrine of faith. He. xi. 1. Doth such a one believe? No. Doth he hope? Yes. If the first is true, the second is a lie; he that never believed, did never hope in the Lord. Wherefore, when he saith, Let Israel hope in the Lord,' he pre-supposeth faith, and signifieth that he speaketh to believers.

That which is of great concern insinuated, is, that hope has in it an excellent quality to support Israel in all its troubles. Faith has its excellency in this, hope in that, and love in another thing. Frith will do that which hope cannot do. Hope 4 D

can do that which faith doth not do, and love can | ter him from so doing, yet thoughts of the interest do things distinct from both their doings. Faith promised in the kingdom, and hopes to enjoy it, goes in the van, hope in the body, and love brings will make him out his way through those difficulup the rear: and thus 'now abideth faith, hope,' ties, and so save him from the ruin that those deand charity.' 1 Co. xiii. 13. Faith is the mother- structions would bring upon him, and will, in congrace, for hope is born of her, but charity floweth clusion, usher him into a personal possession and from them both. enjoyment of that inheritance. Hope has a thick skin, and will endure many a blow; it will put on patience as a vestment, it will wade through a sea of blood, it will endure all things, if it be of the right kind, for the joy that is set before it. Hence patience is called, Patience of hope,' because it is hope that makes the soul exercise patience and | long-suffering under the cross, until the time comes to enjoy the crown. 1 Th. i. 3. The Psalmist, therefore, by this exhortation, persuadeth them that have believed the truth, to wait for the accomplishment of it, as by his own example he did himself—' I wait for the Lord,' my soul waiteth,' and in his word do I hope,' It is for want of hope that so many brisk professors that have so boasted and made brags of their faith, have not been able to endure the drum † in the day of alarm and affliction. Their hope in Christ has been such as has extended itself no further than to this life, and therefore they are of all men the most miserable.

But a little, now we are upon faith and hope distinctly, to let you see a little. 1. Faith comes by hearing, Ro. x. 17, hope by experience. Ro. v. 3, 4. 2. Faith comes by hearing the Word of God, hope by the credit that faith hath given to it. Ro. iv. 18. | 3. Faith believeth the truth of the Word, hope waits for the fulfilling of it. 4. Faith lays hold of that end of the promise that is next to us, to wit, as it is in the Bible; hope lays hold of that end of the promise that is fastened to the mercyseat; for the promise is like a mighty cable, that is fastened by one end to a ship, and by the other to the anchor: the soul is the ship where faith is, and to which the hither end of this cable is fastened; but hope is the anchor that is at the other end of this cable, and which entereth into that within the vail. Thus faith and hope getting hold of both ends of the promise, they carry it safely all away. 5. Faith looketh to Christ, as dead, buried, and ascended; and hope to his second coming. 1 Co. xv. 1—4. Faith looks to him for justification, hope for glory. Ro. iv. 1-8. 6. Faith fights for doctrine, hope for a reward. Ac. xxvi. 6, 7. Faith for what is in the Bible, hope for what is in heaven. Col. i. 8-5. 7. Faith purifies the heart from bad principles. 1Jn.v.4, 5. Hope from bad manners, 2 Pe. iii. 11, 14. Ep. v. 8. 1 Jn. iii. 3. 8. Faith sets hope on work, hope sets patience on work. Ac. xxviii. 20; ix. 9. Faith says to hope, Look for what is promised; hope says to faith, So I do, and will wait for it too. 9. Faith looks through the word to God in Christ; hope looks through faith beyond the world to glory. Ga v.5. Thus faith saves, and thus hope saves. Faith saves by laying hold of God by Christ. 1 Pe. i. 5. Hope saves by prevailing with the soul to suffer all troubles, afflictions, and adversities that it meets with betwixt this and the world to come, for the sake thereof. Ro. viii, 24. Take the matter in this plain similitude. There was a king that adopted such a one to be his child, and clothed him with the attire of the children of the king, and promised him, that if he would fight his father's battles, and walk in his father's ways, he should at last share in his father's kingdoms. He has received the adoption, and the king's robe, but not yet his part in the kingdom; but now, hope of a share in that will make him fight the king's battles, and also tread the king's paths. Yea, and though he should meet with many things that have a tendency to de

*The hither,' or nearest end; now obsolete.-ED.

The Psalmist therefore, by exhorting us unto this duty, doth put us in mind of four things. I. That the best things are yet behind, and in reversion for the saints. II. That those that have believed, will yet meet with difficulties before they come at them. III. The grace of hope well exercised, is the only way to overcome these difficulties. IV. They therefore that have hope, and do exercise it as they should, shall assuredly at last enjoy that hope that is laid up for them in heaven.

I. For the first of these, that the best things are yet behind, and in reversion for believers; this is manifest by the natural exercise of this grace. For hope that is seen, is not hope; for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it.' Ro. viii. 24, 25. Hope lives not by sight, as faith doth; but hope trusteth faith, as faith trusts the Word, and so bears up the soul in a patient expectation at last to enjoy what God has promised. But I say, the very natural work of this grace proveth, that the believer's best things are behind in reversion.

You may ask me, what those things are? and I

When Diabolus, in the Holy War, marched against Man. soul, his infernal drum affrighted the backsliding Mansoul with its roaring. This, to speak truth, was amazingly hideous to hear; it frighted all men seven miles round.' This drum was beat every night, and when the drum did go, behold darkness and sorrow over Mansoul; the light was darkened in the heaven thereof, no noise was ever heard upon earth more ter rible; Mausoul trembled, and looked to be swallowed up.' This awful alarm-this terrible drum-is a want of a good hope through faith, which purifieth the heart.-ED.