faculty of man is compelled to acknowledge that all is vanity, because none of them can impart peace or joy to the heart. In the Scriptures alone the good desired and hoped for is to be found. There its nature is explained; the manner in which it has been procured for sinful man is unfolded; and the offer of it as a free gift is made to all who hear the glad tidings.

This good is an interest in the promised Messiah, including deliverance from sin, both in its power and punishment; the sanctifying influences of the Holy Spirit, and restoration to the favour and fellowship of God. Through Christ the ruins of the fall are rebuilt, and sinners renewed in their minds. In him there is " redemption through "his blood, the forgiveness of sins according "to the riches of his grace." They who embrace him as the Lord their righteousness, are justified freely by his grace, and being justified, have with God through

peace

our Lord Jesus Christ.

By the power of Christ's grace man thus

becomes upright. His intellectual as well as his moral nature is completely revolu

f Ephes. i. 7.

tionized. The faculties of his mind, having examined the Scriptural view of Christ, the hope of glory, approve of him entirely. The affections of the heart centre in him as one altogether lovely. His salvation is that good which suits man's original constitution. By means of it he is made upright, and thus once more qualified to use his intelligent nature to the glory of God. Restored to the favour of God, he looks forward with desire and anticipation of joy to the period when he shall be ever with the Lord. To him death is no object of terror; for death is a minister of Christ the Saviour. By death Christ will purify his body from all sin, and prepare it for immortal beauty and glory in heaven.

Such is the hope which the Scriptures reveal to sinful man; a hope of eternal happiness, springing from faith in Jesus Christ, who hath endured the curse for sinful men. This hope thus rests on Christ, inasmuch as he hath purchased it by his death, and imparts it by the operations of his Spirit, regenerating and sanctifying sinners. It is a good, a real good, not delusive; and the more the heart tastes of its

excellence, the more it desires to taste. On this it can perpetually feast, without the appetite being cloyed. The understanding, the more it examines this good, the more it is satisfied and delighted with its infinite beauty. Overwhelmed at the sight which bursts upon the view, it

Wanders up and down

For ever; and for ever finds new charms"."

Thus real, thus blessed in its influence, this good is permanent. Relating to the soul and body, no changes of time can destroy it, or deprive the possessor of its enjoyment. Amidst all the varieties of his state; in adversity and prosperity; in sickness and health; in death as well as life, the hope of everlasting rest fills his heart with joy and gladness. It enables him to use the bounties of providence with a proper temper, and to devote them to a proper purpose. It converts afflictions into blessings, and the world itself into a region of enjoyment, preparatory to the blessedness and glory of heaven. This is the hope of the Scriptures; a hope which maketh

g Young.

not ashamed, and which is offered to all, without exception, who receive Christ Jesus the Lord, and walk in him by faith. I pass on to show, that,

II. In the Scriptures alone, man, when he has found real hope, can find the means requisite for preserving and invigorating it.

Such is the condition of man, such the difficulties and temptations from. within and without, to which he is exposed in this world, that his hope is oft-times assailed, and needs to be defended. The consummation of his hope is future; his trials are present. How then shall he sustain his hope, thus deferred and thus assailed? The answer to this question is given, and can be given, only in the Scriptures. As the hope itself to which the question refers is only revealed in the Scriptures, so the Scriptures alone can make known to us the way in which it is preserved and invigorated. By examining them, we find that patience and comfort are necessary supports of hope, before its consummation takes place. Of these the apostle makes mention, as the instruments by which hope is to be consummated. He designates his meaning, particu

larly when he calls them "the patience "and comfort of the Scriptures," that is, which they unfold. The mere revelation of them in the Scriptures, however, is not sufficient to confirm hope. They must be possessed, and their influence experienced, as much as the hope with which they are connected must be possessed and its influence experienced. And as the hope is enjoyed only by those who believe in Christ, so none but these know what patience and comfort are. Let us for a moment explain

each separately.

1. Patience is that disposition of mind which believers, by the grace of God, display in enduring injuries from their fellow-men with meekness; in bearing providential afflictions with a calm acquiescence of temper in the divine will; and in waiting with humble submission for the accomplishment of God's promises, in the attainment of the object of their hope, eternal salvation. It is not an insensibility to present evils, or an indifference about future and expected good. But it secures to a believer the possession of his soul, under the various sufferings and dangers to which he be

may