GOD'S PAST MERCIES THE ENCOURAGE- A Sermon For the New-Year, BY THE REV. H. S. PLUMPTRE, M.A. "Then Samuel took a stone, and set it between Miz- tended to record; he called its name Ebenezer, or the "stone of help," adding, at the same time, "hitherto hath the Lord helped us." This was probably all that he could do in his present situation. Though it was a simple, it was a faithful tribute of devotional gratitude, such as found favour in the sight of God; for we read that the hand of the Lord was against the Philistines all the days of Samuel. Let not this history, recorded as it is, no doubt, for our instruction, be exhibited in vain. The prophet Samuel, though dead, still speaks to us; he seems to afford a practical illustration of Solomon's admonition, "In all thy ways acknowledge God, and he shall direct thy path." This is the duty inculcated, which we would earnestly desire to see transcribed in your lives. Meditations of this nature are at all periods appropriate, and form a most delightful source of Christian employment; but they seem more particularly to solicit our attention at the present season, when we have been permitted by a gracious God to arrive at the commencement of another year unhurt, and preserved alive, in the midst of so much to wound and destroy. We envy not that individual, who stands upon the earth this day a living monument of the forbearance and long-suffering of God, who does not bear this superscription upon the tablet of his heart,-"It is of the Lord's mercies that I have not been consumed." Turn, then, O my soul, look inwardly upon thyself, pause awhile; acknowledge the superintending Power which hath watched over thy waking and sleeping hours, which hath rescued thee from dangers seen and unseen, which hath delivered thee from the powers of darkness, and introduced thee to the realms of light. Surely, my soul, thou wilt blush to be outdone by the prophet, when thou hast not only seen the day of the Son of man completed, but felt his power. Raise a little emblem of gratitude to thy merciful benefactor; set up some token for good, that they who see it may confess that thou, Lord, hast holpen me and comforted me. In the enumeration of God's providential and redeeming blessings, the difficulty is, to know where to begin, or where to end; "for, O, eternity is too short to sing of all thy praise." We must exclaim, "surely goodness and mercy have followed us all the days of our life." The event which Samuel here commemorated was a signal interposition of Divine Providence to rescue him from the hands of his enemies. Have we no such deliverance to record? Has the arm of Omnipotence never been extended on our behalf; or, have we been abandoned to our own custody and selfdefence? It is true that, like Samuel, we 66 "is will of God? Hath the sin which formerly led you an easy and willing captive, whose approach you always regarded rather with pleasure than with horror, been at all divested of any of its deceptive or destructive powers, so that it no longer has dominion over you, but, pierced by the sword of the Spirit, lies prostrate at your feet, a vanquished enemy? Are you enabled to regard the fascination of the world with less complacent eyes, so that you are less in danger of being poisoned by its breath, or hugged to death by its polluted embrace; neither, on the one hand, seduced by its blandishments, nor, on the other, repulsed by its frowns? The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, the pride of life, do they less incite you to daily gratification, and require, as the daily sacrifice upon their devouring altar, less of your time, your talents, your property, and your persons? In a word, are you enabled, with greater facility and with greater success, to mortify the deeds of the flesh, to drive from your presence the unhallowed thought, to extinguish the raging passion, to overcome the long-accustomed habit of intemperance, or of idolatry of any kind? Then, indeed, you have been enabled to obtain a great victory, and may exclaim, in the language of Samuel, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." You have indeed been greatly signalised for your triumph over your enemies, and may claim pre-eminence in the list of generals; for, as Solomon says, that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a city." have not been compassed about by an host of bodily enemies, neither have we had occasion to dread the invasion of our territories by the armies of a foreign soldiery; the bloodhounds of war have not been let loose upon us; peace," thanks be to God for the boon, still within our walls, and plenteousness within our palaces." Have we, therefore, no adversaries leagued against us, no contest to be maintained, no opposition to be encountered? Why, then, are we exhorted to "fight a good fight," to "endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus Christ," to "war a good warfare;" and why are such glorious prospects held out as the reward of him who overcomes in this arduous contest? The fact is, we have enemies numerous and gigantic, with powers to destroy commensurate with the strength of the victim whose ruin they would accomplish. As Jesus Christ is called the great Captain of our salvation, so may the devil be called the great captain of our destruction; he is the great adversary of mankind, incessantly occupied in effecting their ruin; his name is Legion, for he has myriads of agents at his command, who, in some shape or other, intrude themselves into every human bosom; and if they find it swept and garnished, fitted for their reception, there they will take up their abode, and establish their dominion; nor can they be dislodged until a stronger power shall arrive and overthrow them. These, then, are the combined forces, whose attacks, either separately or unitedly, have been directed against your peace, your happiness, your very existence. The question is, whether or not they have been successfully engaged; whether the weapons of hostility have fallen impotent and harmless on the ground; or whether they have conveyed the deadly poison into the recesses of your souls? It would be impossible for me, without the gift of omniscience, to enter into all the particular cases of each member of this congregation; I can only in a general way address you as assaulted individuals, exposed to, and having actually experienced, the attacks of an invisible but formidable adversary. During the year which has just expired, what have been your peculiar trials, temptations, besetting sins, delusive snares? To some, probably, they have been neither few nor small, exciting that bitterness which the heart only knows, but, though knowing, cannot describe. Have they been more successfully resisted than on any former occasions, and the tempter more easily repulsed? Has the arrow of affliction pierced less deeply, or with less agonising throbs, into your quivering members; and have you been enabled to endure its wounds with less murmuring, and more steady, faithful acquiescence in the "he It requires a greater effort, more of the grace of God, to obtain a victory over self, one's own lusts and appetites, than to slay on the field of battle a whole army of Philistines; more of faith to subdue passions than kingdoms. It often happens that one single lust is fatal to him who has escaped unhurt from all the dangers of a military campaign. The sword of a temptation hath pierced him to the very vitals, whose heart the iron sword of the warrior hath failed to reach. But it may so happen, that in addition to these spiritual invisible foes, you have been exposed to the wrath of man; and that envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitableness, have excited against you the fierce indignation of some of your brethren; and that some, in the rancour of their hostility, may have been meditating to do you an injury, either in your person, your reputation, or your possessions. Nay, it sometimes occurs that a man's bitterest foes may be those of his own household, who, from a more intimate acquaintance with his habits and disposition, with greater liberty of access to his person, are put into possession of greater powers and greater facility of annoyance. Now, if, in the course of the past year, their impetuosity hath been restrained, and they have not been permitted to carry their threatened vengeance into execution; nay, if, instead of this, their animosity towards you has ought abated of its intensity, and they have shewn a disposition to stretch out the hand of friendship towards you; while you, on your part, have not felt the rankling of unforgiveness towards them, but have been enabled to pray for them, in the spirit of your divine Master,-thank God for it. Here has been a double victory obtained, over yourselves and over your enemies; thou hast gained thy brother, and art no longer included in that awful denunciation, "Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer; and no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." Here is great cause for gratitude; you may indeed unite with Samuel's song, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped us ;" he hath helped you out of the hand of your adversary, and hath converted him into a brother; and he hath helped you to overcome his evil with your good. Thus it is "that when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." But there is an enemy both implacable and irresistible, whose dominion you have evidently hitherto escaped; your presence here this morning confirms the fact. This great foe both to man and beast, and to every thing that creepeth upon the earth, is death. There is a sense in which death may be regarded as a friend it is so to the believer; for it introduces him into the presence-chamber of his King, and terminates his career of sin and suffering the one the consequence of the other; for it is through the grave and gate of death that we must pass to our blissful immortality. But inasmuch as death disunites body and soul, separates us from our nearest and dearest of earthly ties, and was entailed upon us as the penalty of sin, it is called an enemy; so it is designated by the apostle, "The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death." When we cast our eyes around this sanctuary, we see a chasm made in our congregation; and that some who began the year with us, possessing, to all human appearance, more of the plenitude of life than he who now addresses you, yet have not been permitted to celebrate with us the close of the year: they have been compelled to yield to the irresistible attack of this invincible foe, which spares neither sex nor age, poverty nor wealth. By what singular mercy, then, have we been preserved from the grasp of the destroyer; and not only have escaped with our lives, but with bodies unimpaired and uninjured either by the arrows that have flown by day, or by the pestilence that has walked in darkness? Is it because we were more virtuous, more pious, than those who have fallen? Alas, no! we dare not say so; or if we dare, death is no respecter of persons. The only solution we can give of the problem is that which is found in the words of Samuel, "Because hitherto the Lord hath helped us;" he has not allowed our enemy to prevail against us: if the Lord himself had not been on our side, now may our Israel say, we should have been as the land of Sodom, we should have been like unto Gomorrha. But there is a second, eternal death, still more to be dreaded than this first, temporal death. I would fondly hope there are some here present who can bear testimony, that during the year that is past they have undoubted evidence that they have been redeemed from its captivity. I would indulge the pleasing reflection, that to some of my hearers the word of God has been made the power of God unto salvation; and that some of those who began that year dead in trespasses and sins, have been made alive unto God through Jesus Christ. "These shall have part in the first resurrection, and on these the second death shall have no power." With what rapturous delight will you exclaim, "Hitherto hath the Lord helped me it is of the Lord's mercy that I have not been consumed, even because his compassion fails not: therefore, not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the praise." If, then, to all this we add our wonderful preservation from seen and unseen dangers; the way in which the Lord hath helped us over our mountains of difficulty, or out of our depths of tribulation, smoothing our path when it was rugged to our step, or straightening it when it was crooked; if we have experienced that a blessing hath rested on the operation of our hands, or on the meditation of our hearts; if, in the domestic relations of life, we have been favoured with any special tokens of God's superintending providence and fostering protection (and who has not had them?), what gratitude ought to be ours; what abundant occasion have we to adopt-what demons of darknesss hould we be if we did not adopt the sentiment of Samuel," Hitherto hath the Lord helped us." example of Samuel, narrated for our instruction, will be serviceable for our imitation. Did he set up a stone to record the gracious act of his deliverance? Let us go and do likewise. How is this to be effected in the present day, since such a rude memorial of divine mercy would be inconsistent with the notions of modern refinement ? It may be accomplished in two ways. Those who have omitted to do so, may lay the foundation-stone of a domestic altar, and rear a structure in their houses, on which may be placed the morning and evening sacrifice of prayer and praise this will be a dedication to God, a record of his mercies, the incense of which will ascend to heaven in grateful odours. This will be a monument erected at less expense than even the simple fragment of the rock which Samuel reared between Mizpeh and Shen; but still it will not be a sacrifice of that which will cost us nothing. The sacrifice of a little time, the sacrifice at first of no little feeling, of our own reputation, and the approbation of the world; a price which many have found so impossible to pay, that they have abandoned the attempt in despair: but those who have had the courage to persevere have generally had reason to exclaim, that it hath procured for them inestimable blessings; that their dwelling has indeed been converted into the "house of God, and gate of heaven." a But the conduct of Samuel may be imitated in another point of view, by the reception of Christ Jesus in our hearts; thus to erect a spiritual edifice in our souls, and to make our bodies the temple of the Holy Ghost. Christ is indeed that living stone, which we would see the tenant of every bosom testifying in a lively way of providential and redeeming mercies: a "stone disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious;" "tried stone," a 66 sure foundation;" but to some a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence:" a stone, which the builders, in their impiety and folly, rejected, which is now become the head of the corner; yes, it is indeed this Rock of Ages, which we desire to see set up in all hearts, at all times, and upon all occasions, as the stable basis on which to erect a structure of temporal or eternal blessedness; as the sure refuge and hiding-place from the storm of adversity, or the gale of prosperity. The apostle Peter evidently alludes to this structure; for he transfers the name bestowed upon the head to the component members of the body. In speaking of true believers, he addresses them as lively stones built up a spiritual house." In applying, therefore, to Christ the appellation of a stone, we have the full warranty of Scripture; and the preacher is not indulging in the re 66 veries of his imagination by the adoption of such language. Who can say that Samuel, dedicated to God as he was from his birth, did not see Christ Jesus afar off with his prophetic eye, and by that emblem, which he established on the plains in the vicinity of Mizpeh, intended to prefigure the light of the Gentiles, and the glory of Israel? Here, then, we have the line of conduct we earnestly recommend for your adoption, strongly enforced by the patriarch of old: receive Him into your hearts, whom we preach unto you as the author and finisher of your salvation. Let the idol-altar be thrown down, and the name of Jesus Christ be inscribed thereon; may that natural, dead, indurated heart yield its place to the living stone, which will impart new life and vigour to all its energies and emotions, and gratefully record the achievements of divine grace to the glory of God the Father. But, laying aside all imagery, let us determine to commemorate the loving-kindness of the Lord, experienced during the past year, by some work begun in the name of the Lord; let us enter upon a new covenant, and dedicate ourselves afresh to the service of the living God. Let us with the old year cast off the old leaven of malice and wickedness, the darling lust, the besetting and besotting sin; and with the new year let us put on the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. Ask yourselves this question, What shall I render to the Lord for all the benefits he hath done unto me? and let your resolution be that of the Psalmist, to receive the cup of salvation, the sacramental cup wherewith you commemorate the greatest of all blessings-redemption from sin--and call upon the name of the Lord, in private in your closets, in public in the Church, and with your families in the parlour. This is the most acceptable offering which you can present unto the Lord; an honour due unto his name, which he himself will condescend to honour by some unequivocal token of divine approbation; this will be the most effectual method of evincing your gratitude for past mercies, and of securing their continuance for the future. This is the last point I would notice,-the well-grounded expectation of God's superintending providence for the remainder of our days. Moses, the renowned servant of the Lord, made use of this argument to foster and encourage the faith of the Israelites in their covenant-keeping God,- Thou shalt remember," said he, "the way which the Lord thy God hath led thee these forty years in the wilderness." We employ the same persuasive mode of reasoning, and enjoin the pilgrim of the present day, whether of forty years' stand ing, or only of a few years' growth, to see the way along which he has been conducted safely and successfully during the year which has just expired, through scenes, perhaps, of more than common difficulty and danger. Why should ye doubt, O ye of little faith, of the power of Omnipotence to achieve what infinite mercy hath designed? That you are alive unto this hour illustrates both these attributes of Deity; you owe it to God's power in sustaining you, to his mercy in sparing you, for had he designed your destruction, he could have accomplished it in ten thousand ways. Whether with reference to the past or to the future, to reason or to revelation, to your own or to others' experience, you must indeed, unless you are dead to every impulse of faith and feeling, by this time be convinced that "it is better to trust in the Lord than to put any confidence in man," yea, even in princes. But while we endeavour to administer consolation, we must not omit the word of exhortation," If thou do at all forget the Lord thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day, that ye shall surely perish." With these sentiments, I dismiss you to your respective homes, to begin, if such should be the will of God, a new reckoning of time: enter upon the work in the spirit of the following verses, with which I conclude : "And is this life prolonged to me? Let me no more my soul beguile LITURGICAL HINTS.-No. VII. "Understandest thou what thou readest?"-Acts, viii. 30. THE CIRCUMCISION OF CHRIST, 1st January. "THIS feast is celebrated by the Church to commemorate the active obedience of Jesus Christ in fulfilling all righteousness,' which is one branch of the meritorious cause of our redemption. The observance of this feast is not of very great antiquity. The first mention of it, under this title, is in Ivo Carnotensis, who lived about the year 1090, a little before St. Bernard, which latter has also a sermon upon it. In Isidore, and other more early writers, it is mentioned The Devil's Festival. For which reason the sixth general council absolutely forbad the observance of it among Christians."* The original of our collect is not a prayer, but a benediction, which is found in Gregory's Sacramentary, and runs thus: "Almighty God, whose onlybegotten, that he might not break the law, which he had come to fulfil, received, on this day, bodily circumcision; cleanse your minds from all incentives to vice by spiritual circumcision, and pour upon you his blessing. Amen." "At whatever period of life, or on whatever occasion, we view our blessed Saviour, there is one feature in his character which is strikingly conspicuous — obedience to the whole law and will of God. 'I seek not mine own will,' said he, but the will of the Father which hath sent me;' thus accomplishing, to the very letter, David's prophetic declaration: Lo! I come; in the volume of the book it is written of me, that I should fulfil thy will, O my God! I am content to do it: yea, thy law is within my heart.' Though as man, sinless; and as God, omnipotent; he was nevertheless made obedient to the law, from the earliest to the latest period of his life; complying with every religious ordinance, that, by fulfilling the law, he might fulfil 'all righteousness.' Accordingly, in his earliest days, we find him undergoing circumcision. 'When eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS;' which occasion, as the beginning of his holy fulfilment of the law, our Church sees fit to commemorate; and, to proper meditations upon which, the prayer of this COLLECT is well fitted to lead us. Circumcision itself was instituted by God, when he called Abraham from a strange country, and appointed him the head of his Church-the father of the faithful. It was intended as a sign that a covenant had been entered into between God and his chosen; and it was commanded to be continued, in order that his people, reminded by the outward sign, might be continually impressed with a due sense of the inward grace thereby signified and conveyed. The only interruption to the continuance of this rite, till its abolition by our Saviour, was during the forty years' sojourn in the wilderness. At length, when Joshua had conducted them over Jordan into the promised land, the holy rite was renewed at Gilgal; as was the Passover, which also had been disused during their sojourn in the wilderness."† We pray in this collect for the "true circumcision of the Spirit;" for that inward and spiritual grace which the Jewish rite was designed to symbolise. "He is not a Jew," he shall not be accepted of God as the seed of believing Abraham, nor owned as having answered the intention of the law, "who is one outwardly." To be owned as Abraham's children is to do the works of Abraham. It is the heart that God looks at; the circumcising of the heart that renders us acThis is the "circumcision made ceptable to him. without hands," the "putting away of the body of the sins of the flesh :" it consists in having our heart and all our members mortified from all worldly and carnal lusts; so that in all things we obey God's blessed will. It is the having our spirit wrought upon by the Spirit |