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Christian may be destitute of the assurance-he never can be destitute of the desire, and therefore will be found upon his knees continually praying, "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation; and give me a token for good.”.

Let us notice, thirdly, THE PRAISE. "Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet." Oh, how little is there of this to be found! How much does our selfishness predominate, even in our religious exercises! We are backward to all the engagements of religion; we are backward enough to pray; but, urged by our necessities, we must go to God for supplies; but when we succeed, we forget the Giver. Is it not so? Were there not ten lepers cleansed; but where were the nine? And how was it with good Hezekiah himself? How had God appeared for him! And he composed a song on the occasion, and said, “The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the Father to the children shall make known thy truth." And yet what was after a while the consequence? "Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him for his heart was lifted up therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah, and Jerusalem." How much better was it with David, who said, "I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall be continually in my mouth." And that he does not enjoin upon others what he was regardless of himself, is obvious from his own address to his soul, after he had called upon all creatures to praise God: "Bless the Lord," says he, "O my soul." And though he resolved to "bless the Lord at all times," and that his praise should "continually be in his mouth," it was no more than he ought to have resolved to do it was no more than what a Christian should always do. Whatever be his condition, gratitude is required; whatever be his circumstances, he has more to be grateful for than to complain of. Events the most lowering and the most adverse to his wishes, may be yet the most necessary to himself. Have you forgotten the Poet who said,

"In all my list of blessings infinite,

Be this the foremost-that my heart has bled."

Have you forgotten the saint who said, "It is good for me that I have been afflicted?"

Take we four views of this gratitude, and conclude. First, you will observe, it is deserved. There is not a person here this morning who will call this in question, who reflects upon his short-comings and unprofitablenesses since he has known God, or rather, has been known of God. Surely you feel your unworthiness to such a degree as to induce you to say with Jacob, "I am not worthy of the least of all thy mercies, and of all the truth which thou hast showed unto thy servant." Then when you come to reflect on his remembering you in your low estate; of his giving his Son for you, and giving his Spirit to you; of his redeeming your souls from the lowest hell-of his conducting you to the highest heaven; that he hath quickened you when dead in trespasses and in sins, has forgiven you all your trespasses, and has admitted you into a state of holy intimacy; so that, by his grace, you stand rejoicing in hope of the glory of God:" must you not acknowledge that he has infinite claims upon your gratitude? That, if you fee! the kindness which is

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shown you by any of your fellow creatures, how much more alive should you be to the claims of this Infinite Being!

This gratitude, in the second place, is distinguishing. Your state (I wish you would remember this)-your state is to be discovered by your estimation. In a thousand things this estimation may be known by us: therefore do not pretend to be ignorant. For instance: are you afflicted as much by your trouble as you are by your sins? You are not, if you are real Christians: you may feel your trouble much, but you will feel your sin more, and more mourn over it. Then as to your anxiety-what is it? Is it for any worldly good? or is it for the light of God's countenance? Is your language, with the natural man"What shall I eat? what shall I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed ?" only and principally. Or with Paul, "That I may win Christ, and be found in him?" What is it that at any time will most easily and powerfully excite your gratitude? The natural man, if ever he is moved to thankfulness, (for he cannot rise higher than this principle) is so moved by a fine harvest, or a safe journey, or a prosperous voyage, or from some outward temporal good. Now, we do not mean to intimate you should overlook these, or that Christians will overlook these; but we only say, these will not principally draw forth his gratitude. He will say with the Apostle, "Thanks be unto God for his unspeakable gift." He will not principally bless God that his grounds bring forth plenteously, but that he has a plenty of the means of grace, and that he is "blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places :" not that he has bodily health, but that he has soul prosperity: not that he has freedom, but that he is made free indeed not that he has treasure on earth, but that he has in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Thirdly, this gratitude is practical. It will be so if you are sensible of that obligation which you are never able to discharge. With regard to the love of God, as well as the love of man, the language of the Apostle should be remembered: "Let us not live in word and in tongue; but in deed and in truth." David therefore says, "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits towards me? I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living: I will show forth all his praise." Therefore, says God, by David, "He that offereth praise, glorifieth me; and to him that ordereth his conversation aright, will I show my salvation." Upon which Philip Henry observes that, "though thanks-giving be good, thanks-living is much better." If a tree had a capacity, and wished to praise the husbandman, you know the only way in which it could do it would be, by the excellence and the abundance of the fruit it produced to him: "And herein," says the Saviour, "is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit." Thus, according to the well-known language of the Liturgy, you should be concerned to "show forth his praise, not only with your lips, but with your lives; by giving up yourselves to his service, and by walking before him in holiness and righteousness all your days."

For, lastly, this gratitude is to be never ending. Ah, Christians! you will soon have done some of you especially-with many things here. You will soon have done with sorrow; you will soon have done with sin; you will soon have done with a wicked world without you, and a wicked heart within you; you will soon have done even with some parts of your Christian experiences and exercises. Faith will soon be lost in sight; hope will soon be lost in

fruition. There will be no need of patience where there is nothing to be endured, and nothing to be waited for. But as to thanksgiving and praise, though you will change your place, you will never change your employment, unless for higher and nobler strains. They that dwell in his house above, will be still praising him. And therefore, Christian, you may retire and sing alone what you have already been singing: you may say, “My waiting days, my watching days, my warring days, and my weeping days-and even my praying days, (though I have loved the throne of grace)—my praying days, too, will soon be past; but

My days of praise shall ne'er be past
While life, or breath, or being last,

Or immortality endures."

THE FOUNDATION OF THE BELIEVER'S HOPE, AND THE COMPASS OF HIS PRIVILEGES.

REV. S. ROBINS, A.M.

PORTMAN CHAPEL, BAKER STREET, SEPTEMBER 28, 1834*.

"And now, brethren, I commend you to God, and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them which are sanctified.” ACTs, xx. 32.

It was one of the most interesting occasions, one of the most interesting eras in the Apostle's whole ministerial life, when from Miletus he sent to Ephesus, and called together the elders of the Churches. We may suppose, with some very learned and very wise commentators, that the whole Church was included; that they came with their officers; and that the Apostle addressed them together.

He first appeals to his own manner of life amongst them: "Ye know from the first day that I came into Asia, after what manner I have been with you at all seasons, serving the Lord with all humility of mind, and with many tears, and temptations which befel me by the lying in wait of the Jews." So that he was preaching to them, not only by the power and eloquence of the Word wherewith God had gifted him, but he was preaching to them by the still more efficacious eloquence of a holy, consistent, and devout life. He testifies of the faithfulness of his preaching: "I kept back nothing that was profitable unto you." And again, he calls them as his witnesses: "I take you to record this day, that I am pure from the blood of all men. For I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God." So that you see, he did not cater to their prejudices; he did not pare away, he did not explain away the offensive doctrines of the Gospel, but he ministered unto them that which the Lord Jesus had committed to his hands.

Then he gives them a word of exhortation: "Take heed, therefore, unto yourselves, and to all the flock, over which the Holy Ghost hath made you overseers, to feed the Church of God, which he hath purchased with his own blood." If there be a matter, which would be bound with more especial interest upon the heart of a departing minister, it would be the consideration of the hands into which his flock should fall; and he would desire to commit this to them, as a matter to be bound upon their consciences, and for which they shall answer at the great day: that he should minister to his poor flock in the wilderness, of the same food which they have been accustomed to receive.

Farewell Sermon, as Evening Lecturer.

These were times of great peril; he adds, "I know this, that after my departing, shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away disciples after them." And so it is in our own times, the enemies of the Church of Christ, are they of her own household. Well, therefore, might I add to you, dear brethren, the closing admonition, "Therefore watch;" let each one walk warily, lest he be turned aside from the simplicity of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And then he commits them unto one mighty Keeper: in the words of the text, he commends them "unto God, and to the word of his grace, which was able to build them up, and give them an inheritance among all them which were sanctified."

Now we think that these words may not be altogether unsuitable to the specialty of the occasion of our gathering ourselves together this night. The ministry of Paul had been greatly blessed among the Ephesians: he found them sunk into the debasing depths of idolatrous worship: they were bowing down -high-minded creatures as they believed themselves, in their metropolis of luxury and knowledge-to the works of their own hands. And Paul preached Jesus Christ to them. And though at first they would have silenced him with their senseless yells, in praise of their own goddess, yet, ere Paul left them, he had the satisfaction of building up a Church: for he points to those who were once without God, without Christ, without hope in the world, aliens from the covenant of promise, outcasts, hopelessly wretched, brought to the enjoyment of the citizenship of God's spiritual Israel, And so, dear friends, might we hope, in closing our ministry amongst you, that there are some, at least, to whom this matter shall come with a speciality of application-that there are some, at least, among you, who have cast down your idols, and are no more rendering them your service, and your heart's affection; who have been brought within the compass of the holy city; who are now the people of the Lord; who are bound unto Him, who is the great head of the Church.

Now, in choosing this as our parting topic, there are two points which I would desire especially to bring before you. In the first place, I would speak to you of the foundation of the believer's hope-"God and the word of his grace:" and, in the second place, of the compass of the believer's privilegespresent edification, and future glory.

Now, as to the first head of our discourse, THE FOUNDATION OF THE BELIEVER'S HOPE-"God and the word of his grace." No truth can be more palpable, or more undeniable, than that all creation is dependant upon God. He openeth his hand, and filleth all things living with plenteousness. If he were to withhold his care, or to cause his bounty to cease, even for one hour, there would be desolation and death spread through all the provinces of God's creation. There is not that spot, dim and distant in its unconceived remoteness, but there is a constant dependance upon God; and there walks not on this, his wide territory, one single creature, who can arrogate to himself that he is independent of the hand that formed him. There is not one, forming even the remotest link in the chain of animate nature, which exists, from moment to moment, but by the supplies that are ministered by Him, who at first gave existence. So that if God were for one moment to lift off his sleepless eye; if

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