vation is often God's instrument to confound the wise in their own conceit; but it means, he must not be a novice in grace, in experience, or in spiritual things; he must have humbling grace to counterbalance his spiritual pride, or else he will be lifted up as the devil was, and fall into condemnation for pride as the devil did. He must be "the husband of one wife," no polygamist, 1 Tim. iii. 2. What shall a soldier of Christ do with a troop of wives? Moses had but one wife, and she was trouble enough; but when she stood in the way of God's command, he got rid of her; for if she would not be an help-meet, she ought not to be an hinderance, Exod. iv. 25, 26; and xviii. 2. He must be one "given to hospitality;" given to it by grace; he must put on, as the beloved of God, bowels of mercy, as the bowels of God have sounded toward him; and feed Christ in his members, if he be hungry; and give him drink, if he be thirsty; and take him in, if he be a stranger: this hospitality convinceth the world that we do not make a gain of godliness, nor trust in uncertain riches. "Not greedy of filthy lucre." No; for how can he be a preacher of the true God, who is an idolater himself? "Not given to wine." One who is not drunken with wine, or applause; one who thinks soberly and lives soberly.

No chapter in the Bible is so full to the purpose in hand, as the eighth chapter of Leviticus. The consecration of Aaron has been the bar at which I have often arraigned myself. And here observe

what God says: "And he [Aaron] shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God;" and now I will shew you how Moses, in God's stead, consecrated Aaron, who as a minister, was to be a mouth for God. "Take Aaron," Lev. viii. 2; here is his call. "No man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Moses washed him, Lev. viii. 6. If Christ wash us not, we have no part with him. But says Paul, he saved us from our guilt, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing us by the Holy Ghost.

He put on his coat, Lev. viii. 7. We must be clad with zeal, and with the whole armour of God, before we can be called priests clothed with salvation, Psalm cxxxii. 16. Gird him with a girdle, Lev. viii. 7. This girdle was typical of truth, which is to swaddle our minds, that we give not a loose to vanity; to be carnally minded is to be dead; to be earthly minded, or covetous, is to be brutal and idolatrous. A mind corrupted with error is a mind in conjunction with Satan; such carnal minds conceive sin, bring forth iniquity, and increase transgressors among men. We must ever draw the sword of God at such, for we must not suffer a witch to live, Exod. xxii. 18. The Lord preserve my son from these things, and from a loose profession! To be spiritually minded is life and peace; "Wherefore, gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end."

Clothed him with a robe, Lev. viii. 7. We must be clothed with a robe of imputed righteousness; all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags, and no ambassador of the King of kings must appear at court in rags; no, nor yet take the Saviour's new cloth to patch his old fig-leaved garment: this is to make the rent worse than before, and to be guilty of spiritual theft. God clothes his ministers as he did Isaiah, with the robe of his righteousness; and we must bring forth this robe to every returning prodigal. This righteousness shall justify us, and all them that believe in it. "God saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness." The Spirit of Christ in Noah preached imputed righteousness to the antediluvians an hundred and twenty years, whose souls are now in prison, and under the sentence of condemnation, 1 Peter iii. 18, 20. A carnal mind is like the spider, turning every mystery into bane; and has no covering but her own web, Isaiah lix. 5, 6; but we know the leprosy is both in the warp and the woof; therefore wear no garments of linen and woollen together, Lev. xix. 19.

Put an ephod upon him, Lev. viii. 7. The ephod being the outer garment holds forth a holy, innocent life and walk, under the influence of God's Spirit; " Wo to them," says God, "who cover with a covering, but not of my Spirit, that they may add sin to sin." In this ephod God was consulted: we must lift up holy hands at the throne of grace. The ephod was bound to him by

the girdle. If truth braces our minds, our feet, tongue, and hands will be kept within bounds. All external shew of sanctity, without the spirit and word of truth, is only the varnish of a painted sepulchre.

Put the breastplate on him, Lev. viii. 8. The breastplate of faith and love, and the breastplate of righteousness, are recommended by Paul. We must in this world be judged by the law, and be justified by the faith of the gospel, before we can be said to pass from death to life, and have a right to the promise of never coming into condemnation; which we have when we are justified by grace in the court of our own conscience. When we are arraigned by a just God, at the bar of the law written in our hearts, we soon see our sins, and feel the sentence of death due to us on that account; and are brought at length to own it just. Then we begin to hear a still, small voice, found behind us in an act of sovereign grace; God turns our face towards it, and the Holy Ghost enlightens our understandings to see Christ crucified, the end of the law for righteousness, clearly revealed, and freely held forth in an unconditional promise. We see a suitableness in him, and feel our need of him; but the Spirit convinceth us of unbelief; therefore we eagerly catch at him, but cannot bring him in. We see what a lovely, sweet, blessed friend of sinners he is to those who are interested in him; we fix our longing eyes on him, woo him, but he appears coy, and stands at a distance; then the

thoughts of our having sinned against him, and fear of missing him, lays our souls on the rack, and we perpetually keep sinking, until the Spirit of God influences the mind with divine confidence. Then again we attempt to feel after him; and finding strength in the hand of faith, catch fast hold of him, crying out, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me." The hand of faith holds this Jew by the skirt, and the eye of faith peeps up at his face; and there we see a reconciled God glorified and appeased in the marred visage of a crucified Saviour. But he seeming to hang back, the Spirit of God helps our infirmities, and dictates a petition: O Lord, forsake me not utterly. At last he yields, saying, "Turn away thine eyes from. me, for they have overcome me;" and into the heart we bring him, with all that he has and is, crying out, "I had utterly fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." And from that moment we are as sure never to be damned, as we are that there is a God in heaven. And now our eyes prevent the night watches, that we may converse with him in his word; fearing to sleep, lest he steal away unawares; and if at any time we chance to sleep, and in the morning find him gone, we are like Samson when he shook himself, and found that his God was departed, because the tempter comes in his room. This sets us to search the scriptures for armour and artillery; and imputed righteousness we soon find is a breastplate suffi