racters, which an unchanging God graciously displays for the consolation of all who trust in him aright; and what are the manifestations of divine interposition which they are permitted to plead and expect, amidst the toils of their warfare and pilgrimage. This might be illustrated by a review of the trying situations in which the servants of God. in former ages have been placed, and the divine consolations and deliverances they have experienced; but this would lead us into a very ample field of discourse, upon which we cannot at present attempt to enter.

Search the scriptures for information on this subject; and in your perusal of the sacred volume, keep in view the immutability which the text ascribes to Israel's leader; thence infer, for your encouragement in the path of righteousness, that no scripture is of any private interpretation; and that the promises made unto the saints of old, with all the promises of the well-ordered covenant, are yea and amen in Christ, are the sure portion of every believer in Jesus, and will be accomplished in the happy experience of all who have, through faith, fled for refuge to the hope set before them.

Before

Before we conclude our meditations on the immutability of Christ Jesus, it seems not foreign to the subject, to remark the safety and perpetuity of the Christian church, amidst all the ravages of time, and revolutions of the nations.

He who has planted his church on earth, ever lives to defend it, and extend its progress. Die who will, the Lord lives; and on this rock his church is built, so that the gates of hell can never prevail against it. "Trust not in man," saith the royal Psalmist, "put not your trust in princes, nor in the sons of men, in whom there is no help; their breath goeth forth, they return to the earth, and in that very day their thoughts perish: But the Lord shall reign for ever, even thy God, O Zion! unto all generations *." To the same purpose are those remarkable words, in the first chapter of the epistle to the Hebrews, "But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God! is for ever and ever; a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom." He whom the text celebrates, has established on earth a spiritual and peace

ful

• Psal. cxlvi. 3, 4, 10,

ful kingdom, essentially different from the empires of the world ; not governed by worldly maxims, but by laws holy, just, and good; not supported by worldly power, but by the special care of the Lord God omnipotent who reigneth ; not extending its triumphs by violence and war, but by the resistless energy of the truth, and the victorious power of the gospel.

This spiritual kingdom of Christ shall spread among the nations, nay,

the nations, nay, it shall prosper and prevail, by the very stratagems employed to mar its

progress.

These commotions among the kingdoms of men, which astonish and alarm the wisest politicians, are hastening forward that happy period, when the fulness of the Gentiles shall be brought in; when all Israel shall be saved, when all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God. Already is the pride of Antichrist laid low, his delusions are detected, his policy reviled, and this wide dominion daily diminishing. Already the King of Zion arises to plead his own cause; he girds his sword

upon his thigh, and shall ere long take to himself his great power, and reign.

Be

Be comforted then, my Christian brethren: You have lost a faithful, eminent pastor; but Jesus lives and reigns, as Head over all things for his church: He will arise and plead his own cause, will have mercy on his Zion, and the time to favour her shall ere long arrive; he will clothe his priests with salvation, and make his people shout aloud for joy; he will guard his church by night and by day, will enlarge the boundaries of his kingdom, will perpetuate the ordinances of his gospel through all succeeding ages, and will have a seed to serve him while sun and moon endure. “ All thy works shall praise thee, O Lord; and thy saints shall bless thee. They shall speak of the glory of thy kingdom, and talk of thy power; to make known to the sons of men his mighty acts, and the glorious majesty 'of his kingdom. Thy kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and thy dominion endureth throughout all generations * "

Remember them which have the rule over you,

who have spoken unto you the word of God; whose faith follow, considering the end of their conversation ; Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.

و

H. ow highly honoured were the Hebrews, in having been blessed with such faithful pastors ! They were men of God, who made their light shine before others, who adorned the doctrine of their Saviour in all things, and exemplified the instructions they gave ; who were vessels of mercy fit for their Master's use, and made known the path of sal