nefs shall not depart from thee, neither fhall the covenant of thy peace be removed, faith the Lord that hath mercy on thee." I think we may reduce the whole inftruction to be gained from this awful affecting story, to thefe two heads; I mean we may learn the "feverity" of God, on the one hand, and his "goodness" on the other. Men are not apt to believe, that God will be true to his word, especially in respect to his threatenings againft the wicked. They choose to conceive of him, as fome easy being who, because he is merciful, will either not punish at all, or will not punish feverely; or at least, will not extend his punishment to any great number of his creatures; and when the preachers of righteoufnefs ftand up like Noah, and declare, in the very words of Scripture, his eternal judg ments on all the wicked, multitudes are apt to think they will never come to pass, and they treat the preachers much as this wicked and unbelieving world treated Noah before them. But the history which has now been given, fhews that God is not the fort of being he is fuppofed to be, and affords a full answer to this dangerous delufion. "For if God fpared not the old world, but faved Noah, the eighth perfon, a preacher of righteoufnefs, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; and burning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into afhes, D condemned them with an overthrow, making them an example unto thofe, that after fhould live ungodly. The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to referve the unjuft unto the day of judgment, to be pu. nifhed." Such is the argument drawn by the apoftle Peter, from thefe ancient judgments, and it is very remarkable that our Saviour himself makes nearly the fame ufe, though in a still stronger way, of these well known and famous events, explaining by the means of them, the furprise and confternation which will overtake not the few profligate and more abandoned only, but the worldly-minded and carelefs, and unbelieving in the day of judgment. And is it not then important, as well as truly charitable, to warn men plainly of thefe fayings of that Saviour, whofe name we all profefs to reverence, and in the truth of whofe words, how fhall we refuse to trust! For are not many perfons apt to live at their ease, up to the hour of their death, who are by no means religious, and who are no more afraid that a day of wrath is coming, than the world of unbelievers were on the day before the flood. I fay again, therefore, let fuch attend to our Saviour's defcription of the furprise which will one day overtake perfons of this defcription. "As were the days of Noah, fo alfo," fays Chrift, "fhall the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and drinking, marrying, and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not, until the flood came and took them all away; fo fhall alfo the coming of the Son of Man be. Likewife, alfo as it was in the days of Lot, they did eat, they drank, they bought, they fold, they planted, they builded. But the fame day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimftone from heaven, and deftroyed them all. Even thus fhall it be in the day when the Son of Man is revealed." But on the other hand, let the humble and fearful Chriftian learn from another part of the fame ftory, to truft in the Almighty grace and goodnefs; for as the threatenings of God are fure to the wicked, fo alfo are his.promises fure to them that unfeignedly repent, and believe in Jefus Chrift. They fhall be fafe amidst all dangers. When "that great and terrible day of the Lord" fhall come, in which the elements fhall melt with fervent heat, and the earth, with all her works thereof, fhall be burnt up," they having committed their fouls into the hands of Chrift, having believed his teftimony, and walked, though in the midst of an evil generation, according to his holy word, fhall then be like Noah in the ark fafe, amidft the furrounding ftorm. And it may be added, that even in this world, when times grow dark and threatening; and calamity, either public or private, feems to break in upon them like a flood, when the tempeft lowers, and the clouds feem to gather over all the furrounding countries-even then, I fay, God's promifes of mercy fhall be feen by them, fhining like the rainbow over the cloud, for even their troubles and afflictions fhall remind them of their intereft in the Saviour, and in the everlafting covenant of their God. TH THE STORY OF JOSEPH and his BRETHREN. HE first part of Jofeph's ftory, though both inftructive and entertaining to all, is particularly fo to children. I propofe to tell the story nearly in the words of the Old Testament, but to make now and then a few remarks upon it.: Jofeph was the fon of good old Jacob. "Now Jacob," fays the Scripture, “loved Jofeph more than all his children, because he was the fon of his old age: and he made him a coat of many colours. And when his Brethren faw that their father loved him more than all his Brethren, they hated him and could not fpeak peaceably unto Him." But was not this hatred of Jofeph's Brethren against Jofeph very wicked? It is true Jacob might be faulty in fhewing fo much partiality to one fon above another, yet this was no excufe for the hatred which was felt by Jofeph's Bre thren. Methinks this hatred, though as yet it is only concealed in their breafts, will, by-and-by, break out into fome very wicked act or other. But let us go on with the ftory. "And Jofeph dreamed a dream, and he told it to his brethren; and they hated him yet the more." This is doing worfe and worse, and it fhews that when hatred once begins, we know not where it will end. "And Jofeph faid unto them, Hear, I pray you, this dream which I have dreamed: for behold we were binding fheaves in the field, and my fheaf arofe and alfo ftood upright, and behold your fheaves flood round about and made obeifance (or bowed down) to my fheaf." Jofeph feems to me to have told this dream thus publicly, through his openness of heart and fimplicity; it was a dream moreover which God fent, and God caufed afterwards the thing fignified by it to be fulfilled, as in due time we fhall fee. "And his Brethren faid to him, fhalt thou indeed reign over us? And they hated him yet the more, for his dream and now for his words.And Jofeph dreamed yet another dream, and told it his brethren, and faid, behold I have dreamed a dream more, and behold the Sun, and the Moon, and the Eleven Stars made obeifance to me. And he told it to his Father and to his Brethren, and his Father rebuked him, and faid to him, What is this dream that thou |