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of faith, and in it I persuade myself your thoughts find daily entertainment. May that cheering prospect become gradually more extensive and luminous, till the period arrives which is completely to realize it all! And in that day, when you return with singing unto Sion, and everlasting joy upon your head, I hope to appear among the foremost of those, who shall then issue forth to welcome you to your heavenly inheritance.

In the mean time, with many grateful recollections, and with many an ardent wish for your continued welfare, I remain,

Dear and honoured Madam,

Wrockwardine,

Your poor disabled pastor,

JOSHUA GILPIN.

18 May, 1826.

SERMONS.

SERMON I.

PREACHED IN AID OF THE BRITISH AND FOREIGN BIBLE SOCIETY.

MATT. XVI. 18.

I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

FROM the earliest period of time God hath had a Church in the world; and it

appears, from many intimations in the sacred volume, that the whole frame of the visible world was created for the sole purpose of furnishing room and accommodation to that Church, under all its various forms. Till this end be answered, the earth and the heavens which now are, shall continue to exist: but, having accomplished this, the earth shall be dissolved, the heavens shall be wrapped toge

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ther as a scroll, and the whole fabric of nature be removed as a shepherd's tent. The visible heavens do indeed declare the glory of God, and the firmament sheweth his handy-work but his manifold wisdom is still more abundantly displayed in the frame and government of his Church, which he hath designed as the master-piece and crown of all his works-they shall perish, but this shall endure; yea, they all shall wax old as doth a garment, till, as a decaying vesture, they shall be folded up and cast away but this shall remain, and its years shall not fail.

In the present state of the Church, we see much about it to excite our lamentation; while, in its future destiny, we behold every thing that is great and glorious. He who loved it and gave himself for it, will never leave nor forsake it. His intentions towards

it are full of grace and mercy. He will watch over it for good, from age to age; he will uphold it with the right hand of his power; he will gradually purge away all its dross, and finally present it to himself a glorious Church, not having spot, nor wrinkle, nor any such thing.

The Church of God is that sacred theatre, upon which the most wonderful exhibitions of grace and truth have taken place, from generation to generation. On which account, the apostle elsewhere points it out as a spectacle, not only worthy the contemplation of all mankind, but equally calculated to draw forth the admiration and praise of principalities and powers in heavenly places.

In how many ways the divine counsels have been employed about the concerns of the Church, it would be difficult to enumerate; but a few of them shall here be mentioned. And

First, This appears in the constitution of Christ to be the great Head and universal Saviour of it.

We have here one of those deep mysteries, which can never be fathomed by any human line, and into which the highest Archangels are represented as anxious to look. It is evident, however, from the whole tenor of Scripture, that Christ is the foundation and top-stone of the Church; that in all its affairs he is the Alpha and Omega; that he is its life, its excellence, its glory, under all its

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