number compared with the multitudes of ungodly | men who surround them, to whose contempt and opposition they are exposed. Still their defences are weak and inefficient, contrasted with the formidable numbers and superior strength of their visible and invisible foes. Thus called to encounter opposition from every quarter, and destitute alike of friends and forces able to maintain a successful contest with their adversaries, no wonder that their "hearts meditate terror,”—that a fearful anxiety about their own most valued interests, and about the cause of their divine Redeemer, still dearer to their hearts, fills their minds with gloomy apprehensions. In these circumstances of destitution, of weakness, and of alarm, how soothing, how consoling, how animating, the language of the text! "Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It is proposed to illustrate the passage in this general view, by pointing out the grounds of consolation which it presents to true Christians in every age of the world. It leads us to contemplate the happiness of their present situation the grandeur of their prospects and the security of their hopes. 66 I. All Christians belong to the Redeemer's fold, are of the number of his little flock," and, as the necessary consequence, they experience the unceasing care of the good Shepherd of Israel, who "neither slumbers nor sleeps." They enjoy the bounty of their Shepherd. Liberal, indeed, is the divine benignity; abundant, beyond all conception, is the provision made for the Redeemer's little flock. It was prophesied respecting him, "He shall feed them in a good pasture; and upon the high mountains of Israel shall their fold be; there shall they lie in a good fold, and in a fat pasture shall they feed on the mountains of Israel." "I am the door of the sheep," said he of himself; "by me if any man enter in, he shall be saved, and shall go in and out and find pasture." The Lord is my shepherd," said David, "I shall not want. He maketh me to lie down in green pastures; he leadeth me beside the still waters." What the verdant mead and the gently flowing rill are to the weary flock, the sacred truths and ordinances of the Gospel are to the souls of his people in the land of their pilgrimage. By means of these, he communicates of his own fulness; for, in strict propriety of language, he himself is their food. Your fathers did eat manna in the wilderness, and are dead. I am the bread of life, the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever; and the bread which I shall give him is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world." The flock of Christ enjoy the guardianship of the good Shepherd. He preserves them from evils, a numerous and direful train, which would disturb their peace, and mar their enjoyment. "He that is an hireling," to use his own language, "and not the shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, seeth the wolf coming, and leaveth the sheep, and fleeth; and the wolf catcheth and scattereth the sheep." But the most secret snares which are laid for the flock of Jesus, they are enabled to escape; the most violent assaults to which they are exposed, they are strengthened to resist, and for such deliverances they are indebted to the wisdom and power of their Divine Shepherd. Does the Christian fear lest he be deserted in the hour of trial, and left to fall by the hands of his enemies? Let him dismiss his fears-let him abandon his distrust. Having for his shelter the wings of the Almighty; having the sword of the Spirit, the helmet of salvation, and the breastplate of righteousness for his defence, he is proof against every attack; and he may say with the Psalmist, in assured confidence, "Yea, though I walk through the dark valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me."-The flock of Christ enjoy the guidance of their Shepherd. When he putteth forth his sheep, he goeth before them, and they follow him." They may wander far from the ways of holiness and peace, they may forsake their "first love," and may be brought to the very brink of perdition, but they shall not finally fall from that state of grace into which they have been brought, for they have the assurance of Him who cannot lie, and wil not deceive, that "they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of his hand." "My Father," says he, "which gave them me, is greater than all, and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father's hand. I and my Father are one." "As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is amongst his sheep which are scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." Are these "the true sayings of God," the gracious declarations of the infallible record? Then they are truly happy who "were as sheep going astray, but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls," who not only saves his people from falling into perdition, but pursues them with affectionate earnestness when they are flying from their own happiness, who never abandons the search till he finds them, who brings them back "by a way which they know not" to the home from which they had so thoughtlessly wandered; who "restoreth their souls and leadeth them in the paths of righteousness, for his own name's sake."-The flock of Christ experience the compassionate tenderness of their shepherd. His language is, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep." And as he is distinguished by an acquaintance with the circumstances of his flock that is absolutely perfect, so he enters into the peculiarities of individual distress with a sympathy and compassion which never can be equalled. "In all their afflictions he is afflicted, and the angel of his presence saveth them." He became a man of sorrows that he might make acquaintance with the sorrows and trials of man. "We have not an high priest who cannot be touched with a feeling of our infirmities, but who was, in all points, tempted like as we are, yet without sin. And in that he himself suffered, being tempted, he is able also to succour them who are tempted." Are any of his "little flock" young, and feeble, and helpless? "He gathers the lambs with his arms, and carries them in his bosom, and gently leads those that are with young." Are any of them wounded in spirit? "He healeth the broken in heart and bindeth up their wounds." Are any of them groaning under bodily pains? He "lays not more upon them than they are able to bear;" either removes the burden or gives strength to bear it. Are they mourning under dark and discouraging dispensations of Providence? "For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great kindness will I gather thee; in a little wrath have I hid my face from thee for a moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer." Are they called to withstand the reproaches and persecutions of ungodly men? "His eyes run to and fro over the whole earth to show himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect towards him." Joseph was in prison, the three children were in the burning fiery furnace, Jeremiah was in the dungeon, Daniel was at the mercy of ravenous lions, John was in Patmos, but none of them was left alone; "the great Shepherd of the sheep" was with them to cheer, support, and grant them deliverance. His whole conduct towards his disciples is a farther illustration of the same attractive quality by which his character was distinguished. He saved them from sufferings to which he himself willingly submitted; "the Shepherd was smitten," but the sheep were spared. While he was with them he kept them in his Father's name, and when he left the world he commended them into the same gracious hands, "Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, even as we are one." Do not these considerations, then, afford a powerful antidote to "fear," to slavish dread, to painful and discouraging apprehensions? Excluding from our estimate of the Christian's happiness all reference to a future state of existence, and viewing merely his present circumstances as belonging to the number of Christ's "little flock," have we not good reason to exclaim, 66 Happy is the people who are in such a case, yea, happy is that people whose God is the Lord?" But while the considerations connected with their present circumstances, tending to dispel their fears, are obviously implied in our Saviour's address to them, under the interesting character of his "little flock," those which bear reference to their future felicity and glory are distinctly expressed in these terms," it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." We, therefore, proceed to consider, II. The grandeur of their prospects. A kingdom is promised as their ultimate possession. What a striking contrast does this declaration afford to the view already given of the people of Christ as a small, feeble, and defenceless flock! It comprehends the ideas of dignity, of power, of The majesty, and of splendour; it includes all that is great and glorious, all that is fitted to fire ambition and to enkindle hope. Astonishing truth! inconsiderable, feeble, friendless, despised flock of Jesus have a kingdom prepared for them, have their hopes raised to "glory, honour, and immortality," beyond death and the grave! How shall we describe this kingdom? It is indescribable. How shall we attain adequate conceptions of its grandeur! It is inconceivably glorious. Human language and human imagination are equally baffled in their attempts to represent and to conceive its grandeur. "Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive what God hath prepared for them that love him." In this land of darkness, and while our vision is obscured by the veil of mortality, we can at best receive only a foretaste of future bliss, we can catch only a glimpse of the glory which is to be revealed. But few and feeble as the rays of glory are which proceed from the bright regions beyond the grave, let us attempt to collect them into one point, to contemplate their splendour, and to feel their warmth. What then, is that kingdom which is promised to the flock of Jesus? It is heaven; and, this view of it conveys the ideas of power, of glory, and of felicity. It conveys the idea of power, for a kingdom implies a sceptre, authority, and dominion. In similar respects, heaven is the kingdom of the saints. It is the reward of their conquests, it is the consummation of their triumphs. They are now surrounded by enemies, with whom they are called to maintain a constant warfare, whose snares it requires the constant operation of human wisdom and foresight to elude, whose power it requires the utmost exertion of mortal energy to overcome. But when the saints shall have reached heaven, they shall be for ever released from that watchfulness, resolution, and boldness, which they now require to maintain constantly in action; they shall see that their anxieties and struggles have not been in vain; they shall look back on their achievements in the Christian warfare with exultation and triumph, for "death shall be swallowed up in victory;" they shall contemplate (with what feelings we dare not now say) the dismal fate, the everlasting destruction of their foes. A kingdom conveys the idea of glory, and, in this respect also heaven is the kingdom of the saints. It is the abode of glorified spirits. There, in "the just made perfect," all the lineaments of the divine resemblance shine forth in celestial brightness, unshaded by any cloud of sin, or of infirmity. It is the abode of the celestial hierarchy," an innumerable company of angels," who cast their crowns before the throne, expressive of the profoundest reverence, and who strike their golden harps in celebration of divine glory, and of matchless love. It is the abode of Jesus, the eternal Son of God, "the brightness of the Father's glory, and the express image of his person." It is the abode of God the Father, whose character is adorned by every lineament of excel lence, and whose throne is supported by every attribute of majesty. There he reigns enthroned in glory, and receiving the accumulated praises of angels and archangels; for heaven is expressly said to be "the habitation of his holiness, the place where his honour dwelleth." But the saints themselves shall share in the glory which is to be revealed. They "look for the Saviour, who shall change their vile bodies, and fashion them like to his own glorious body, by the mighty working whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself." "This corruptible shall put on incorruption, and this mortal shall put on immortality." "Christ loved the Church, and gave himself for it, that he might sanctify and cleanse it by the washing of water by the word, that he might present it a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle, or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without blemish.". "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." But at present they cannot form adequate conceptions even of "the glory to be revealed in them at the resurrection of the just," and can only say with an apostle, "Now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." A kingdom conveys the idea of felicity. Happiness, indeed, is not necessarily connected with the possession of earthly dignity and splendour, nay, the proudest monarch is often a greater stranger to true felicity, than the meanest of the sons of men. But, we find that in all ages, happiness has been associated in the minds of men, with the attainment of earthly grandeur, and to these ideas, though manifestly erroneous, the language of our Saviour seems to have been accommodated. When the flock of Jesus shall have arrived at the world above, they shall enjoy in the most noble of all circumstances, happiness pure and unmixed. Bliss shall not be derived through the intervention of means. It shall not be tasted like that of worldly men, in scattered streams often tinged with the blackness of misery, but it shall be drank at the eternal fountain without termination, and without alloy. "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes. And there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain." such bright prospects before you, will assuredly not overlook you in this the land of your pilgrimage. Having thus attended to the present happiness of believers as the flock of Jesus, and to the grandeur of their prospects as those for whom a kingdom is prepared, let us now, as proposed, direct our thoughts, III. To the security of their hopes; "It is your Father's good pleasure," says Christ, "to give you the kingdom." Here three ideas are suggested to our minds, all equally tending to evince the security of the believer's hopes. 1. The kingdom is represented as a gift bestowed on the flock of Jesus. Were the possession of heaven suspended on some condition or other, which believers were required to fulfil; were it held forth as the reward of their obedience, and as in danger of being lost by their imperfections and sins, they might justly tremble for the insecurity of the foundation on which their hopes were rested. From the very commencement of their being, they have been transgressors of the divine law, involved in guilt, and exposed to the awful sentence which the justice of heaven has pronounced on the guilty; and totally unfit by their own best performances, to cancel that debt, or to remove that sentence. But the kingdom of heaven is the "reward not of debt, but of grace." Every jot and tittle, even all righteousness, has been fulfilled by One who was fully competent to the mighty task; the demands of justice have been satisfied, and now God is "just even when he justifieth the ungodly;" and sinners, when converted, are invested with a full and unalienable right to all the blessings of the new and well ordered covenant. The kingdom has been gained for them by another, and it is bestowed on them as a free gift, as the grant of sovereign grace. Can they then, for one moment, imagine, that He who laid down his life for the sheep," may have shed his blood in vain, or that he has obeyed and suffered to procure for them the kingdom above, and that after all they shall fail of its attainment? Besides, a gift is something certain and determinate and Jesus expressly says regarding his sheep, "I give unto them eternal life, and they shall never perish." Here is nothing uncertain, nothing doubtful, nothing contingent. The love, the faithfulness, and the power of Christ, are alike pledged for the accomplishment of the promiseto every member of his "little flock." The price This then is the kingdom prepared for the flock is paid, the kingdom is purchased, and shall ̊cerof Jesus. This is the grand and majestic pros-tainly be given to those for whom it has been won. pect which they are called to contemplate. This is the hope set before them in the Gospel, to dispel their fears, to enable them to rise superior to the smiles and frowns of a passing world, to fill their minds with the high emotions of exultation and triumph. Are you then afraid, O Christian! lest your enemies should prevail against you? lest you be deserted in the hour of danger? lest you be denied the necessaries and the comforts of life? "Fear not," for ere long victory complete, glory unfading, happiness equally free from interruption and end, shall be yours, and he who hath set : 2. The kingdom shall be given to those for whom it has been purchased by One who stands to them in the endeared relation of Father,—“ It is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." It is one of the most tenderly pleasing characters under which God has been revealed, and it implies a peculiarly interesting and endeared relation. Where is the child who has been blest with the smiles of paternal love? who has experienced the indulgent care, the watchful solicitude, the soothing tenderness of an affectionate parent? and let him tell, whether there be any thing in LETTER OF A SISTER TO A BROTHER, ON HIS LEAVING HOME TO PURSUE A MERCANTILE LIFE. Communicated, teresting or endearing in the name of Father. | the salvation of his people, for his will is law, and "Yes," will he say; "that name awakens in my its purposes can never be defeated. But when, breast recollections the most pleasing; it revives to his fixed determination and eternal decree, we in my mind the feeling of obligations the strongest add his delightful satisfaction and ardent desire, the and most endearing. It recals the first thoughts prospects of the Christian become still more cheerwhich I had of love-the most interesting tokens ing, and the grounds of his assurance become, if of affectionate regard with which I was blest-possible, still more secure. Not only is he assured the tenderest expressions of fidelity and love with that he shall " never fall," that he shall be rescued which I have been followed from the first moments from destruction and raised to glory, but also that of my existence." And, Christians, can you think his salvation shall excite "joy in the presence of of the condescension and love of God, in calling the angels of God;" that "an entrance shall be himself your Father, and in addressing you as his ministered unto him abundantly into the everlastchildren can you reflect on the numerous mani- ing kingdom of his Lord and Saviour Jesus festations of paternal fidelity and tenderness with Christ;" that he shall be welcomed with the which he has blessed you since you began the smiles of the most ardent affection; and that he journey of life, and since you became "his chil- shall enter the haven of eternal rest with a full gale dren by faith in Christ Jesus," and yet harbour of heavenly influence and of holy joy. "It is his one suspicious thought of his faithfulness and love? Father's good pleasure to give him the kingdom." Well, then, Christians, your heavenly Father Eath promised to "give you the kingdom;" and will you question his veracity, will you doubt the sincerity of his paternal regard? No: Having loved you from the beginning, he will love you to the end. Having given the lesser blessings, he will not withhold the greater gift. Having accompanied you through life with the affectionate regards of a Father, he will not desert you in the last trying hour, when you most need his aid. Death itself shall not dissolve your relation to Him, nor cool the ardour of his love towards you; for each of you may say, with an apostle in assured confidence, I am persuaded, that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus my Lord." The waters of Jordan shall waft you to the promised land; Jesus, your elder brother, who has gone to prepare a place for you, shall hail your approach to yonder happy shore; and these words shall be addressed to your ears, in celestial accents, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." 66 But, Christians, the foundation of your hopes is still more secure, for we are led to observe, 3. That the kingdom shall be given to you with the most unequivocal expressions of the Father's satisfaction and delight; "it is your Father's pleasure to give you the kingdom." The original word here used generally signifies to acquiesce in with pleasure and satisfaction. And agreeably to this, (as has been justly observed) it is most edifying and delightful to observe how God is represented in Scripture, as enjoying his own prescience, as it were, with a peculiar relish, in the view of those glories which he has prepared for his people. Hence those emphatical phrases of "wisdom rejoicing in the habitable parts of the earth," or in the prospect or idea of them before they were actually made; of God's "knowing the thoughts he thinks towards his people;" and of his "rejoicing over them with joy, and silently resting in his love to them." It is enough that God wills BY THE REV. HUGH RALPH, LL.D., Minister of the Scotch Cherch, Oldham Street, Liverpool. MY DEAREST BROTHER,-When you open this, many miles will probably have separated us from each other; and though the time you are likely to be away from us, may be very short, still I feel there is much in the present circumstances of your situation that calls on me to give you, what I hope you will never cease to believe When I think it, I mean some affectionate counsel. that you are just now entering upon the season which probably will stamp the character of your future life; when personal experience has proved to me what a world of sin and danger you are just beginning to encounter; and, above all, when I know how many have gone out from their earthly father's roof, with as fair a promise as you of entering and continuing in the service of their heavenly Father, O how can you but be assured how seriously I must look upon every event that is likely to throw you in the path of temptation; how anxiously I must watch whether the principles I know have been instilled into your mind, shall stand the test, and prove whether you have taken your place on the side of God, or have gone over with many others to the service of the world and self! I address you in this serious tone, my dearest brother, because I know that it is only in the path of serious decided religion that you can find peace and happiness for this world as well as for the next, and because you and I, and all that will believe it, have the promise of Him who cannot lie, that if we will live to the glory of God, by seeking his salvation promised in Christ Jesus, we have secured every good for the present life. I say this, and entreat of you to remember it particularly at present, when all your efforts of mind and body are directed towards the attaining the means of providing for temporal life. O never forget that to lay up treasure for God is the only means of securing a blessing for any undertaking. This is the principle I would earnestly press on you amidst your many hopes and fears of success or disappointment. But I cannot fulfil what I conceive to be my duty to you without being more specific in what I would say to you, and if you would bear with me a little longer, I shall try to express my sentiments in as few words as possible. As a means of using another gift bestowed by God, (I mean intellect,) I would once more ask you to cultivate the habit of reading. Our understandings must be educated as well as every thing else, but it requires exertion and self-denial to do so, because we are naturally fond of the uneducated and darkened state that sin has brought us into; this is the reason why I have so often and still press on you the necessity of constant regular reading. And, now, in closing the reading of this, I know you will probably make a resolution, to follow, as far as in you lies, what I have so anxiously recom. mended; but I must not conclude without warning you that it is impossible for you to keep a single resolution unless you have made it the subject of prayer, and been strengthened by the Holy Spirit to perform it; and I must not omit, too, that whatever action is done from any principle but that of love to God, is utterly worthless and full of sin, in His sight who searcheth the motives of every action. That you may be led unceasingly to seek the enlightening, anointing, and directing power of the Spirit of God; to aim daily at becoming liker to Jesus Christ's example, and more interested in his great salvation; seeking the will of God in all your actions, and the blessing of God on all your undertakings, is the earnest prayer of your affectionate sister. THE CHRONOLOGY OF SACRED SCRIPTURE. confess the name of your only Saviour. This reminds | but by the conscientious use of what God has given us. me that you have not as yet joined the service of Christ by an open avowal of him at his Table. I would ear nestly ask you to consider the infinite obligations you lie under to that Saviour, to ponder well what he has done for you, and say, if it be not your duty to seize the first opportunity of obeying his dying command, by remembering him at the Holy Supper. There is but one way of serving God, my dear brother, and that way is by obeying his commands; if we live neglecting these, how can it be said we love God. I know that many seemingly good reasons may be presented to your mind for delaying this duty, but if you be now capable of taking all the duties of a man on you, in as far as regards this life, how anxiously should you be doing the same in regard to an eternal life! You will remember how often I have called your attention to the sacredness of the Sabbath-day; and my reason for still doing so is because there are very few declensions in religion that do not arise from the forgetting of this. When the duties and cares of the week are permitted to be so numerous and fatiguing as to render us weary or unable for the services of God's day, either in mind or body, we should surely be most anxious to arrange or get quit of what unfits us for God's service, when we can devote all our powers and faculties to our own. Few temptations are more common or more difficult to withstand than that which would lead us to devote a part of this day either to business or pleasure, but let us remember that the whole day is God's property, and that he can enable us to keep it all holy if we ask him. Many of those whom we respect and look to as examples in life, may use this day differently from what we consider right, but we must be most careful in judging others, remembering they answer to their own Master, and that we cannot judge of their circumstances; in this matter, as well as in others, never let man be your mode of comparison, but compare yourself with the law of God,-that alone is to be your judge at the great day of account. I cannot help connecting with this the anticipation of those who may be your companions in a new and unknown city. I beseech you to shun the idle and dissipated; their haunts are the dwelling of Satan, and whatever better names they go by in the world, few, alas, have ever returned from them without joining in their sin. I must not, for a moment, conceal it, that I mean one of these places to be the theatre. There you will hear the name of God taken in vain, and listen to the most impure language which no brother could possibly read aloud to a sister. You will find the words of sacred Scripture used there as a jest, or to heighten the point of some profane speech; the evil passions of the heart and worst affections of our corrupted nature are all administered to through the words and actions of a play; and the most immoral and corrupt characters held up to view as examples. You cannot possibly compare one single play with the Word of God, and not find it as I have said in one or all of these particulars. O ask yourself if this be what a Christian ought to countenance or be a willing auditor of, and see what answer conscience will return. When I say so much, dear brother, I must entreat of you to take nothing on my authority, but to search and find out the truth for yourself,-to study the Word of God, and bring every particular that I now or ever offered to your consideration to that touchstone; if it be not consistent with that, reject it instantly, but if it be, O remember that the knowing of your duty only increases your guilt when you do it not. If success in your temporal undertakings is to be what is provided for you, O remember that money is as much a talent of God's giving as any other, which will either be a blessing or a curse, as it is used or not to his glory; and I would add, as to the use of money in its smallest degree, that it is not what others possess by its means we are to regulate ourselves by, CHRONOLOGY is the art of measuring time, and distinguishing its parts, so as to determine the exact distance between any memorable event, and any other point of time whatever. Scripture chronology is so called, because it is chiefly confined to those events which are recorded in the Sacred Scriptures. Nevertheless, in Scripture chronology there may be occasional references to profane history, in order to strengthen or illustrate certain chronological points or propositions. But such references are by no means inconsistent, either with Scripture, or any system of Scripture chronology; the inspired writers themselves had the very same license, for, in the Books of Kings and Chronicles, we find many references to other books; and when Paul was preaching at Athens he referred to certain of their own poets. With respect to the importance of chronology, we may observe that it has always been regarded, in every civilized state, as a necessary help to the proper understanding of history. That it was regarded as such by the inspired writers themselves, may be inferred from their being so very careful in noting the time, in order to preserve entire the whole series of years that reaches uninterruptedly from the creation down to the close of the Old Testament canon. "It is to chronology," as Mr Locke observes, "that history owes its use and beauty, as being, without it, a mere chaos, a jumble of facts confusedly heaped together, and, consequently, capable of affording neither pleasure nor instruction." Ac In the Old Testament Scriptures we have an account of time, in a series of years from the Mosaic creation, down to the reign of Artaxerxes, king of Persia. cording to these Scriptures, the seventy years of the Babylonish captivity ended in the first year of Cyrus; reckoning his first year from the death of Darius the Mede, and the succession of Cyrus to the government of the whole empire. Now, the sum of all the series from the time of the Mosaic creation, down to the end of the Babylonish captivity, will be found to be equal to three thousand five hundred and sixty-eight solar years; consequently, the Mosaic creation must have begun in the 4104 year before the beginning of the vulgar era of Christ's birth, for it is certain that the first year of Cyrus, in which |