You have known its value, from the time when you were first converted unto God, when in that time of need it presented before you an all-sufficient refuge.-You remember, dear brethren, it may be some of you particularly, the wormwood and the gall in that great work, which is commonly begun with a painful conviction of sin. You remember when a sense of the nature and demerit of sin, of your sin, was such that your souls had almost dwelt in silence!Ah, you remember when the glorious character of God appeared, though excellent, yet terrible, approaching judgment unavoidable, and the Judge at the door! And have you forgotten the door of hope which then was opened to you? Have you forgotten the sound of the great trumpet which invited you to come when you were ready to perish? No, surely. While many, like Cain and Judas, despair of mercy, and so die in the pit, you have reason to bless God for having enabled you to turn to the strong-hold as prisoners of hope! Moreover,

As servants of God, you have a great work to do. Though the meritorious part of your salvation has been long since finished, yet there is a salvation for you still to work out. By prayer, by patience, by watchfulness, and holy strife, you have to overcome the world, mortify sin, and run the race set before you. Hope is of excellent use in this great work. It is well denominated a lively hope. Its tendency is not to lull the soul asleep, but to rouse it to action. We trust, dear brethren, that the hope of which you are partakers will more and more animate your breasts with generous purposes, and prompt your souls to noble pursuits. For this you have the greatest encouragements surely that a God can give ! God will employ none in his service without making it their ines timable privilege. They that plough for him shall plough in hope. Mansions of bliss stand ready to receive you; and crowns of unfading glory to reward you: therefore, beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord.Again,

You are attended with indwelling sin: a body of sin, which in the account of every one that loves and longs for purity, is a body of death; yea, worse than death itself!-You wish to think spirit

ually, pray fervently, hear profitably, and in a word, grow in grace; but this proves a dead weight to all: the good that ye would, that ye do not!-You wish to hate and avoid evil, and all its detestable appearances; but you find it in ten thousand forms, haunting, surprising, and drawing you aside, so that too often, the evil that ye would not, that ye do! We doubt not, dear brethren, but that in secret you frequently groan with the apostle, O wretched man that I am; who shall deliver me from the body of this death! Now we ask, What can afford relief in this case, but a good hope, through grace, of being freed at the hour of death ?This proves a helmet in your spiritual warfare. This will inspire you with courage in every conflict: nothing invigorates the soldier like the hope of conquering at last. With this you will tread down strength, and in prospect of approaching victory, sing with the apostle, I THANK GOD, THROUGH OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST! Again: You are subject to many fears and despondings of mind ere you reach your desired haven.-Too often, through an unwatchful, unholy conduct, the Spirit of God is grieved. His presence once withdrawn, darkness will overspread the mind, and evidences for glory seem blotted out. Satan is often permitted, at such seasons, to stand at your right hand, accusing you of your filthy garments; suggesting that such a one cannot be a brand plucked out of the burning. Under these exercises the mind is apt to be depressed beyond measure; the soul, afraid of acting presumptuously in laying hold of consolation, is ready, strangely ready, to sink beneath the waves of dark despair. If any offer consolation, like Rachel on the loss of her children, he refuseth to be comforted. The spirit, at some such seasons, is so dejected, it is as if all must be given up. The painful language of the heart is, The Lord hath forsaken me, and he whom I once thought my God, hath forgotten me! My hope is dried up, and I am cut off for my part! Ah, farewell hope! farewell heaven! farewell Christ! No, no,-nor Christ, nor heaven, nor hope will suffer this! Let deep call to deep, let waves, let billows overflow, deliverance shall arise, hope will not fail, but will afford relief. It will prove an anchor to your soul, sure and steadfast. Yes, it will cheer your heart, and enable you to sing, Why art thou cast down,

O my soul; and why art thou disquieted within me? hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise him, who is the health of my countenance and God! Again,

my

You are subject to various trying providences in your passage through life. Enjoyments in this life are very precarious. While we are feathering our nests, and promising ourselves that we shall die therein unmolested, bow soon are we disappointed; yea, how many have been nearly stripped of their earthly all! These, being deprived of almost every comfort of this life, have then tasted the sweetness of hope in another. These look to their Maker, and their eyes have respect to the HOLY ONE of Israel for the reparation of their losses. Thus sang the church in affliction, stripped, and bound in Babel's yoke, The Lord is my portion, saith my soul, therefore will I hope in him!

Some of you are poor in this world, and are subject to numerous hardships.-You are often entangled in mazes of difficulty; you have a thousand fears that you shall never get honourably through life. Especially at times, God seems to have set you in dark places your hopes confounded, your fears come upon you, and your prospects at an end! Yes, say you, Surely against me is he turned; he turneth his hand against me all the day. He hath builded against me, and compassed me with gall and travel. He hath enclosed my ways with hewn stone. He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out; he hath made my chain heavy! Poor people, we feel for you! wherewith shall we comfort you? Shall we recom mend and exercise benevolence towards you in our respective churches? Shall we exhort you to trust in the Lord and do good; and assure you in God's name, that so shall ye dwell in the land, and verily ye shall be fed? Or shall we hold up before you a kingdom to which ye are heirs; a period when every tear shall be wiped away! O, brethren, the hope of the gospel furnishes you with these strong consolations! Again,

You are members of Christian society; and though by your letters it appears you enjoy peace in general, yet you are not unacquainted with many things of a grieving tendency. In this state of imperfection, offences will come. Unhappy feuds will sometimes arise, and grievous scandals will take place. When church

members become self-sufficient, and cease to be afraid of entering into temptation; when carnal ease is substituted in the room of gospel peace; when love grows cold, and complaisance takes its place; when we are so watchful over one another as to forget ourselves; when godly jealousy is exchanged for an uncharitable temper, more cruel than the grave; when, instead of submitting to one another in the fear of God, each one becomes headstrong, and resolved to have his own way; when superior gifts are envied, and inferior ones despised; when zeal for the truth degenerates into vain jangling; when we are very apt to take an offence, but not to forgive one; when tale-bearers are encouraged, and a spirit of animosity cherished; then, brethren, then expect confusion, and every evil work. We are happy that we can say, (and blessed be God for it!) that such a spirit is far from generally prevailing among you; yet so far as it does prevail, (which the all-seeing God knows is too far,) it dishonours the great Head of the church, and wounds every upright member! However, this should be far from discouraging religious society itself; not to mention that these are things that must always be expected more or less in this state of trial, and that they always existed even in the purest ages; we can affirm, and ye are our witnesses, that it has pleasures which abundantly outweigh all these unhappinesses. Nor is this all hope holds up a period, even within the limits of time, a heaven compared with the present state of things, when HOLINESS TO THE LORD shall be written as upon the bells of the horses, and Zion shall become a quiet habitation! But this, say you, is a period that we have but little hope of living to see. Perhaps so still, you live in prospect of a better. Blessed society, where purity and amity for ever reign!. Yes, brethren, immediately on entering members of the church triumphant, you will enter into peace, and each one of you walk for ever in his uprightness! Moreover,

You are members of civil society.-You wish well to your country, and must have been the subjects of grief to see what you have of late years seen-its glory eclipsed by unhappy wars and dissentions; to see it conspired against by surrounding nations, and divided by domestic feuds, forsaken by its friends, and derided by its enemies. It may be, at times, fear has been ready to seize you,

and tempted you to ask, What will be the end of these things? The sounds of Nineveh is fallen, Babylon is fallen, yea, of JUDAH is fallen, have been long since heard in the world; and what, say you, are we better than they? Under these exercises, brethren, we trust you have found, and will yet find, hope of excellent use to you. Great have been the deliverances your God has wrought in former ages, which afford a ground of hope to us. He can defend our coasts, and still preserve our country; yes, he can, and blessed be his name for any encouragement afforded us. Let us then hope and pray: It may be the Lord God of Hosts will be gracious to the remnant of his people. Or, should he refuse that, should a consumption be decreed to overflow in righteousness, still he can preserve his faithful followers as he did Baruch, and those who sighed and cried in the day of Jerusalem's ruin, Nay, suppose him to refuse that; suppose that not only your country must sink, but you must sink with it, and perish in the general wreck! Still all is not lost. Did your portion lie in this world, then, indeed, like the owner of a vessel whose all is on board, you might dread its sinking: but seeing your inheritance is far beyond the reach of these vicissitudes, there is reason for you to mingle joy with trembling. Yes, brethren, we trust there is reason for you to unite with holy David, God is our refuge and strength; a very present help in trouble—therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea!

Once more: You and we all, by some means, must shortly die. Be it so, that no untimely end befall us: the hour cometh when we must bid farewell to every creature comfort; when every created union must be dissolved, and we appear before the judgment-seat of Christ! Oh, then to be without hope! better had we never been born! Let the reluctance and horror of those who are driven away in their wickedness, teach us the value of a wellgrounded hope in that awful hour. Verily, words cannot describe it, nor thoughts conceive it! Here is a rock, when all beside sinks under us! With this, brethren, like the priests that bear the ark of God, your feet will stand firm amidst all the swellings of Jordan! With this, you can behold the ghastly spectre, yea, VOL. VIII.

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