continually the approach of night. Blessed will it be, if, while under the influence of his declining, we are brought under the shadow of the "Sun of Righteousness, which ariseth with healing on his wings;"* and amidst all our changes, while passing under the tropics of this world, we live in Him, and upon Him, " with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." Precious consideration! when like the moon, whose waning is increased in proportion as she draws nearer to the sun, the Church dwindles in herself, and all her supposed self-attainments, as she is brought closer within His orb, who is her "Everlasting light, and her God her glory."

it

Verging as I now am on the confines of Eternity, and well aware that, at my advanced age, every step I take in the present time state, the world is receding more and more from me, and I from the world,-I gladly avail myself to catch the passing moment as it flies, that may bear on its wing, at this era, my salutation to my fellow-pilgrims travelling with me to the city of our God. I am favoured to greet the "brethren that are in Christ Jesus," which most probably will be my last, before I go hence and be no more seen. And I persuade myself that every truly redeemed and regenerated child of God, who with me feels and knows the plague of his own heart—and no less, that all the "promises of God in Christ Jesus are yea and amen❞—will give me credit when I say, that I rejoice in the blessedness of my situation. So much of my eventful life being over, through the whole of which, abounding undeservings have only been exceeded by more abounding grace. In the over

whelming view of such goodness in the past, I find the greater confidence to trust the Lord for the remainder that is to come. I can say with the Apostle Paul, and from the same well-grounded faith as his was-" I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed unto him against that day."* I am, therefore, as that blessed servant of God was when he so expressed himself, "looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." And I know as he did, that it is indeed a blessed hope, that "maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in my heart by the Holy Ghost which is given unto me." And being now almost come within the reach of it, I already anticipate the possession. By faith I bring it near. And like the traveller returning from his journey, and being nearly arrived at home, to whose longing eye his habitation, in which are lodged all that is dear to him, begins to open before him, and a thousand tender images of delight arise to his imagination; so to my spiritual senses, the many glorious things which are spoken of in Scripture, concerning my Eternal home, come in full prospect before me, and fill my soul with joy unspeakable, as I approach the precincts of that blessed city, "whose builder and maker is God." The gates of the new Jerusalem already appear in view; they magnify to my ravished view every time I behold them; and the glorified inhabitants, amidst their shouts and thanksgivings, seem as if looking over the battlements of heaven, and calling upon their kindred relations here below, in the animat† Tit. ii. 13.

2 Tim. i. 12.

Rom. v. 5.

ing language of scripture, "Be ye not slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises."*

For

Under these impressions, I desire to salute my Christian brethren of the family of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ here upon earth, while I bless His holy name for that part of it which He hath taken to himself in heaven. They are indeed but one and the same. though at present in different worlds, yet not differently beloved or differently related. Jesus himself says to his Church, "My dove, my undefiled is but one: she is the only one of her mother; she is the choice one of her that bare her." And when the purposes are fully answered, for which the Lord, in his unerring wisdom, keeps any of his Church here below, he will take the whole home to join the Church triumphant above; for as the Lord hath said, "There shall be one fold and one Shepherd." In the meantime, with what words can I congratulate the Lord's redeemed and regenerated family, who are waiting for his coming to take them to himself; or what shall I say-yea, what can I say, except what the Holy Ghost hath said, and left upon record for the perpetual consolation of his people until the Lord come? Our most glorious Lord and Saviour hath "ABOLISHED DEATH, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel." This is a proclamation that ought to be made in every place of concourse where the Lord's people are, and especially to such among them who are brought into sharp and trying circumstances. There is a beautiful correspondence between this proclamation and that

Heb. vi. 12.

† Cant. vi. 9.

2 Tim. i. 10.

of the mighty Angel which the Evangelist John saw in a vision, "who came down from heaven, clothed with a cloud and a rainbow, and who set his right foot upon the sea, and his left foot upon the earth."* And the Apostle heard the words of the proclamation which he made, when, lifting up his hand to heaven, "he sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, that there should be time no longer." This destruction of time and the abolishing of death are to the same amount. And it may be said of both, as Joseph, taught of God, said of the dream of Pharaoh being doubled; because the thing is established by God, and God will shortly bring it to pass. The spiritual Church of Christ is highly interested in these immense events. Death abolished, and life and immortality brought to light through the gospel, are the precious privileges of every truly redeemed and regenerated child of God to know now. And in the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound, and the mystery of God is finished, these will be followed by the consummation of this mighty angel's oath-all will be Eternity, and there shall be time no longer. Let me only, by the way, observe, that the perfect conviction of those momentous truths, and of the triumph of our most glorious Saviour over death, hell, and the grave, as the Almighty head of his church and people, is now received by faith into the spiritual mind, and understanding, and conscience, of every redeemed and regenerated child of God; and, under the unction of God the Holy Ghost, lived upon and enjoyed, day by day, in the personal knowledge of, and communion with,

* Rev. x. 1, 2.

☆

These

the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. blessed Divine properties realize, and bring home to the soul, things of an Eternal nature, however remote in time, and afford an instant and an abiding possession; and are what the Apostle prayed for respecting the Church, when he said, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost.”*

CHAPTER II.

The Dignity of the Son of God.-The imbecility of Man, and his utter impotency. The Infinite greatness of Christ and his Salvation.-His various dispensations with his Church, and his recovering it from all the consequences of Sin.

The foundation principle upon which we are now proceeding, is the great question in the Gospel, and proposed by our Lord himself "What think ye of Christ ?" What have you been divinely taught concerning him? For until we have a knowledge of his Person, we can have no knowledge of his work, nor knowledge of ourselves and of our lost estate by nature before God; neither knowledge of our want of salvation, and of the fulness and suitableness of Christ for salvation. The language of Holy Scripture on these momentous points is, "They that know thy name will put their trust in thee."† But none can trust an unknown God, though through grace we have faith to live upon an unseen God. Hence it is said of our Lord and Saviour, "Whom not having † Ps. ix. 10.

*Rom. xv. 13.