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you go on a little. 'Tis a great saying with some of these people, that they like praying in power.

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Old S. And so do I too, Mary- but what is praying in power? It is not praying in uproar and confusion, as some of them do, making another Babel, as it were, to climb to heaven by, and with no better success; neither is it pouring out a flood of words, which others seem to glory in-at one time running on in vain repetitions, and at another in such a wild strain of this, that, and the other, without any order or connexion, that it is plain neither head nor heart can be properly engaged — and, I'm sure, they, who do not 46 pray with the understanding," never pray with the "Spirit of God." Oh, Mary, I can mourn over these persons, whilst I marvel at them. Did they never consider that there is such a thing as indecent familiarity with God, taking liberties with him, as you may say? He is never served acceptably," unless it be according to the apostle's rule, "with reverence; and godly fear." Our own Church, in teaching us to pray for a "heart to love and dread God," seems just to have hit the right state, a state of safety and enjoyment too. Love will take you swift to God; but dread (or reverence and godly fear) will steady you,-'twill be the ballast of your little ship. You look at the behaviour of all the Bible men of God in their approaches to the throne of grace. Look at Abraham, Moses, Ezra, Isaiah, Daniel, David, and St. Paul, to mention no otherswhat self-abasement, what fear, what holy awe was theirs! And, just in proportion as they had clearer manifestations of God to their souls, so were they more humbled and self-condemned. But 'tis the fashion with many, now-a-days, to go just contrary to this. They would have you suppose that much of God's glory is revealed to them; but you don't see them in the dust, you don't hear the cry of "Woe is me, I am undone!" These persons talk at God rather than pray to him; they take advantage of the apostle's invitation to come boldly, and forget that they are going to beg for mercy and grace to help them. I trust, Mary, the Bible has shewn us a more excellent way. Praying in power is praying in humble faith, fervency, and truth. The prayer of power, the effectual prayer, is one that comes from a sense of want, and desire, wrought into the heart by the Holy Ghost, and put forth with trust in God's mercy through the Saviour. There needs no clamour, haste, or violence of manner; "God is not the author of confusion, but of peace." The divine Spirit wears a dove's image, and his "fruit is gentleness." Besides, length and noise are no signs of sincerity. The groanings of the spirit in a man are "groanings that cannot be uttered;" and he who takes upon himself to speak to the great God, would do well to think before he speaks, that he may not be "rash with his mouth," or forget that he is sinful dust and ashes. No doubt there are times (thank God, I know them) when the enlarged heart breaks out beyond its usual bounds, when the soul wrestles hard for the blessing; and then of course the prayer is suited to the frame. But these times, I believe, are neither frequent nor lasting; and they come mostly to the Christian when he is in his closet alone with God. The general rule in prayer, and especially in public prayer, to my mind, is this:

in language be strong and simple; in spirit be fervent and humble; in behaviour be reverent and solemn. Our good old Church makes great account of all these; and the whole of the litany, but particularly the latter part, is one of the most beautiful specimens of "effectual, fervent prayer" that ever the heart of man indited.

M. Will you be so good, James, as just to point out what part you mean, that I may look at it at home?

Old S. To be sure I will, Mary.

THE SAVIOUR'S TESTIMONY TO JOHN THE BAPTIST.

The

THE decided testimony which the Saviour bore to the exalted virtues of that individual, who, as "the voice of one crying in the wilderness," was sent as the messenger to prepare the way before him, and whose nativity the Church calls on us this day to commemorate, naturally leads the mind to contemplate, with lively interest, a character so exalted. There were many distinguished features in the character of the Saviour himself, which proved him to be the Son of God. He appeals to his miracles as proofs of his Messiahship; and, as he said to the Jews," the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me;" so, in reply to the question put by the disciples of the Baptist, "Art thou he that should come, or do we look for another?" he answered and said, "Go and shew John again those things which ye do hear and see. The blind receive their sight, and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up, and the poor have the Gospel preached to them." Besides these miracles, there were many other circumstances which incontestably proved him to be the Messiah. prophets, among other marks whereby he might be distinguished, declared he should be preceded by some remarkable person-according to the testimony of Malachi," Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me." And again, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to the fathers: lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." that by this person was meant, not Elijah, who had been translated to heaven, but another that resembled him in many qualities, even the Baptist, was asserted by our Lord himself on more than one occasion. Thus, when the disciples asked him, "Why say the scribes that Elias must first come?" Jesus allowed it to be in a certain sense that Elias was first to come and restore all things. But then he adds that Elias is come already," and they, i.e. the Jews, knew him not; and lest any doubt should remain whom our Lord meant by the Elias that was come already, St. Matthew adds, "That the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist." And again, the same evangelist introduces our Lord saying, that "all the prophets and the law prophesied until John." To which he immediately adds-" And if ye will receive it, this is Elias which was to come." Between the prophet Elijah and the Baptist there were many points of similarity. If Elijah was distinguished by the coarseness of his external garb, so had John his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins. If Elijah took refuge in the wilderness, so did John come preaching in the deserts of Judea. If Elijah zealously opposed the corruptions of Ahab, so did John reprove the enormities of Herod.

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And

Let us, then, consider the testimony which is here

borne by our Lord to the character of the Baptist; and, in the words of the collect of the day, 66 may we so follow his doctrine and holy life, that we may truly repent according to his preaching, and after his example constantly speak truth, boldly rebuke vice, and patiently suffer for the truth's sake, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

Our Saviour makes two declarations respecting John, one representing him in a superior, the other in an inferior light-GREATER than the greatest who had been born of women-LESS than the least in the

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kingdom of heaven. Verily I say unto you, among

them that are born of women there hath not risen a greater than John the Baptist: notwithstanding he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he."

I. He was greater than any that had been born of a woman. He was a prophet, more than a prophet; and this he proved himself to be by the miraculous circumstances of his birth; by the unblamable tenour of his life; by his boldness in reproving the licentiousness of the age in which he lived; above all, by the distinguished honour conferred upon him of being the immediate harbinger of the Messiah — the morning-star which betokened the approach of the Sun of righteousness about to arise with healing on his wings, and which, though resplendent in itself, was soon lost in the effulgence of the beams of the more glorious luminary. Eminent as were Noah, Abraham, Moses, David, Daniel, they were all inferior to the Baptist. The Saviour calls him " a burning and a shining light." By the manner in which he put the question to the multitudes, "What went ye out to the wilderness to see? a reed shaken with the wind?" it is obvious he regarded him as a man of decided principle, firm in the faith, resolute of purpose, not tossed about by every wind of doctrine. By the question, "A man clothed in soft raiment?" it is obvious he regarded him as one dead to the allurements, and luxuries, and pleasures of the worldready to make any sacrifice of personal comfort or convenience for the advancement of the cause he had in hand-one who counted not his life dear, so that he might fulfil his high office, might call men to repentance, and direct them to that Saviour through whose merits mercy is shewn to the penitent.

His birth was, like that of the Saviour, remarkable. Zacharias and Elizabeth were old and well stricken in years -- according to the common course of nature they could expect no offspring; when an angel was commissioned to announce to Zacharias the birth

of a son. In the Temple, moreover, when engaged in the most solemn services, this announcement took place; and the circumstances respecting it, his birth, and the recovery of his father's speech, who had been struck dumb for unbelief, were noised abroad throughout the whole hill country of Judea; and one said to another, What manner of child shall this be? In due time the Baptist appeared preaching in the wilderness of Judea. Multitudes flocked to hear him at Bethabara, and to be baptised of him in Jordan. He fulfilled in this respect the prophecy of Isaiah, "that he should be the voice of one crying in the wilderness." His doctrine was repentance-" Repent ye; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." What doctrine was more suitable for him to preach? Repentance is the best introduction to Christianity: before a cordial reception is given to the saving truths of the Gospel, there must be a heartfelt sorrow for sin, an earnest desire to be freed from sin; without this there may be the name, there cannot be the genuine spirit of godliness. The need of a Saviour's mercy must be felt before the offer of this mercy is accepted; and this need will not be felt unless the conscience be heavy laden on account of transgression. The ministry of John was as remarkable as his endowments; and his endowments must have been great, for St. Luke tells us," he was

filled with the Holy Ghost even from his mother's womb." It was the powerful agency of this divine Spirit which enabled him to fulfil the high duties of his station. Without this assistance the Baptist would soon have felt himself unable to perform the work assigned him-to overcome the difficulties which must have presented themselves at every step. The same divine Spirit must lead and guide us in our journey through life, or we shall never arrive at the heavenly kingdom. The world will ensnare us; Satan will get the advantage over us; our own weakness will ruin us; for, while partakers of a corrupt nature, we are continually liable to fall away; and then only are we secure when the Divine strength is perfected in our weakness. The doctrine which St. John preached was preached in power; the common people flocked to him in vast multitudes, and with them publicans and soldiers, all anxious to know how they might flee from the wrath to come. No prophet had appeared at all to be compared to John-none in qualifications for his great work of calling sinners to repentance; none had been ushered into the world in so miraculous a manner; none had so many seals to the blessed effects of their ministry;-and yet these things did not constitute the high dignity of the Baptist, or raise him above other preachers of righteousness. He was more than a prophet-greater than those born of women-not because he was endowed with higher attainments, but because it was his high privilege immediately to precede the Messiah-to bear testimony to him as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world"-to baptise him in the Jordan-to bear record when he saw the Spirit descending as a dove, and abiding upon him, when he came out of the water. Nay, he bore testimony, even before he was born, to the Messiah's dignity; for St. Luke informs us, that it came to pass when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost, and said, "Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb."

The death of the Baptist fully proves how zealous he was in the Messiah's work, in endeavouring to lead men to repentance, in placing before them the grievous nature of sin, and in being not dismayed by the fear of man. He scrupled not to rebuke Herod, though he was sure that the rebuke would call down his severest hatred-he scrupled not to address the many Pharisees and Sadducees who came to his baptism, as a generation of vipers-to warn them to flee from the wrath to come, to exhort them to bring forth fruits meet for repentance; not to trust to their supposed privileges in having Abraham for their father. He would allow of no compromise with sin. What an example for Christian ministers at the present day! how incumbent is it on them to lay to heart the words of St. Paul-" Moreover, it is required in stewards that a man be found faithful; but with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged of you, or of man's judgment.' Is it not the duty of private Christians, as much as of the Christian minister, boldly to rebuke vice to rebuke it by their exhortations, and also by their living-to suffer no opportunity to pass by of bearing their testimony to the truth of the Gospel?

It is impossible not to advert to two points in the character of the Baptist well worthy our particular consideration-to his candour and humility.

To his candour. "When the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, Who art thou? he confessed and denied not, but confessed, I am not the Christ. And they asked him, What then? Art thou Elias? And he saith, I am not. Art thou that prophet? And he answered, No." The Jews, groaning under a foreign yoke, torn asunder by internal disputations, were willing to have received him as their deliverer. The sensation which he had excited among all ranks of the community was so great, that

according to the testimony of Jesus, they were willing for a season to rejoice in his light. He had only to say he was the Messiah, and the whole Jewish council, the priests, and elders, and scribes, would, with one accord, have hailed him with transport. Here, then, was candour, candour which well merited the approbation of the Saviour, and which no impostor would ever have displayed-which proved how anxious he was to ascribe the honour to whom honour was due.

To his humility. He declares himself unworthy to be the servant of the Saviour-so far from being the Saviour-not even worthy to perform for him the most menial offices. "There cometh one mightier than I, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose." "I have need to be baptised of thee," said he to the Saviour, as he came to be baptised of him in Jordan; "and comest thou to me?" And when some, touched perhaps for his honour, and jealous for his reputation as a preacher of righteousness, informed him of the multitudes who flocked to hear the Saviour, "Ye yourselves," said he, "bear me witness, that I said, I am not the Christ, but that I am sent before him: he must increase, but I must decrease this my joy therefore is fulfilled." Not that I am prospering, but that he is prospering; not that multitudes flock to hear me, but to hear him. What a reproof to the petty jealousies, and envyings, and strifes-which, as St. James affirms too truly, are attended with every evil work-which are too often found even among the professed followers of the Saviour; and which prove that, with the outward form of godliness, there is something wrong in the heart! It was the envy of the brethren of Joseph that led them to commit the cruel act of selling him as a bondman. It was the envy of Haman that led him to seek the destruction of Mordecai. It was envy in Saul which led him to attempt the life of David, for he could not bear to hear the song of triumph-Saul hath slain his thousands, but David his ten thousands. It was envy which raised the first murderer's knife to shed a brother's blood. But no such feeling existed in the mind of the Baptist.

Between the Saviour and the Baptist there was the most remarkable resemblance; so that the one was indeed frequently taken for the other. Herod, when he heard the miracles of Jesus, said, the Baptist is risen from the dead; the Pharisees, when they observed the Baptist, doubted not that he was the Messiah. "How, then," says Bishop Horne, "shall we raise our thoughts to conceive adequately of a person thus distinguished-thus raised to unrivalled pre-eminence above the generations of former men! Surely he deserved the encomium given by the Son of God; and surely, after this declaration made by the Master, the disciples cannot easily exaggerate in their praises of St. John as the great pattern of repentance, the relative of Christ, the friend of the Bridegroom, the herald of the King immortal, and the joy of the world."

Great, however, as was the privilege conferred on the Baptist, in being the honoured instrument in preparing the way for the Lord-in bearing testimony to him as the promised Saviour, the Saviour declares, "that he that is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he," and consequently than all the prophets, and wise men, and patriarchs, who lived under the old dispensation. What, then, are we to understand by the kingdom of heaven? and in what respects may those who are the least in that kingdom be regarded as greater than the Baptist? The expression, the kingdom of heaven, has several significations: here it must signify the Gospel dispensation. The Baptist urged repentance on the ground that the kingdom of heaven was at hand-that is, that the Messiah was now about to establish his spiritual kingdom over the hearts of men; and not merely the humble teacher, or apostle, under that dispensation, but even the

humblest Christian, the meanest, the poorest, the most ignorant of Christian believing people- the most abject, enjoys privileges which were denied to the prophets in old time, and even to the Baptist himself. They enjoy a clearer revelation of the Saviour's character, of the true nature of his kingdom, and of the mighty purposes for which he came into the world. Abraham rejoiced when "he saw the day of Christ afar off;" and doubtless he built all his hopes of acceptance on him. The Baptist bore testimony to his person, to his office, to his work, to his pre-existence; and yet it is probable he did not enter fully into the great work he came into the world to perform. Even the apostles themselves, though the companions of his ministry, constantly listening to his discourse addressed both to themselves and others, had imperfect notions upon many points connected with his salvation, until the Holy Ghost was given to them from on high, and they were led into all truth. It is the privilege of the very lowest Christian to be assured that the Saviour has appeared, has suffered, has arisen from the dead, has ascended into heaven as our Forerunner, and is there sitting, an all-powerful and a willing Advocate, and has declared that he will come again to receive his followers to himself. It is his privilege to hear that Saviour's gracious invitations, his promise of pardon, of grace, of life eternal; to know that the way hath been opened to the Father, even through the blood of his Son. It is his privilege to know something of the height, and depth, and length, and breadth, and to know, as it were, the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. It is his privilege to be baptised into the name of the eternal Godhead, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit-to bear on his forehead the mark of his Saviour's cross. It is his privilege to draw near to the holy table, and to partake of his Saviour's body and blood-body broken for our offences - blood shed for the remission of sin.

But there is a fearful tendency in man to forget the inestimable privileges bestowed upon him -a fearful tendency, even in the professing Christian, to live unmindful of the mercy of his heavenly Father, in sending the Son of his love to die on the cross for man's redemption. If those who sinned under the old dispensation were amenable to the righteous displeasure of the Almighty - if they who repented not at the preaching of the Baptist were in imminent danger of being made partakers of the wrath to comesurely their present condition must be fearful, and their future doom inexpressibly beyond human calculation wretched, to whom the gracious invitations of the Gospel are made in vain; and who, while their lot has been cast in a Christian land, and their path illumined by the rays of the true light, continue to walk on in darkness, and hate the light, because their deeds are evil.

THE RED SEA.*

THE Red Sea occupies a deep, rocky cavity, extending about one thousand one hundred and sixty miles in length, and its mean breadth may be taken at about one hundred and twenty. Strabo has compared its shape to that of a broad river; and it does not receive the waters of a single tributary stream. The name greatly puzzled the ancients, and has occasioned, in later times, a display of much superfluous learning to determine whether it was derived from the colour of the water, the reflection of the sand-banks and the neighbouring mountains, or the solar rays struggling through a dense atmosphere. These various conjecs

From Andrew Crichton.

tures are set at rest: both the air and water are unusually clear; the theory of King Erythrus is exploded; and the name is now admitted to be merely a Greek translation of the "sea of Edom," (a Hebrew word denoting Red,) so frequently mentioned by the sacred writers. Its surface is diversified with a number of islands; some of which, such as Kotemble, and Gebel Tor, near Loheia, exhibit volcanic appearances. The western coast is bold, and has more depth of water than the eastern, where the coral rocks are gradually encroaching on their native element. These reefs are found dispersed over the whole gulf, rising, in some places, ten fathoms above the water. The bottom is covered with an abundant harvest of this substance, as well as of certain plants; and, if examined in calm weather, it has the appearance of verdant meadows and submarine forests,-phenomena which procured this gulf the appellation of Yam Zuph from the Jews, and Bahr Souf from the Arabs, signifying (in both languages) the "sea of green weeds." These beautiful productions attracted the admiration of antiquity. Strabo seems to allude to them when he speaks of trees, resembling the laurel and the olive, growing at the bottom and along the eastern coast of the Red Sea, which at ebb-tide were left uncovered, though at other times they were wholly under water; a circumstance deemed the more surprising when contrasted with the nakedness of the adjacent shores.

Burckhardt remarks, that the coral in the inlet of Akaba is red, and that in the gulf of Suez the white is chiefly to be seen,-facts which may reconcile the discordant statements of Bruce, Valentia, Henniker,

and other modern travellers.

All who have frequented the Red Sea have observed the luminous appearance, or phosphorescence of its waters. "It was beautiful," says a graphic writer, who sailed from Mocha to Cosseir, "to look down into this brightly transparent sea, and mark the coral, here in large masses of honeycomb-rock, there in light branches of a pale red hue, and the bed of green sea-weed, and the golden sand, and the shells, and the

fish sporting round the vessel, and making colours of a beauty to the eye which is not their own. Twice or thrice we ran on, after dark, for an hour or two; and though we were all familiar with the sparkling of the sea round the boat at night, never have I seen it in other waters so superlatively splendid. A rope dipped in it and drawn forth, came up as a string of gems, but with a life, and light, and motion, the diamond does not know." Those sea-lights have been explained by a diversity of causes; but the singular brilliancy of the Red Sea seems owing to fish-spawn and animalculæ,-a conjecture which receives some corroboration from the circumstance, that travellers who mention it visited the gulf during the spawning period; that is, between the latter end of December and the end of February. The coral banks are less numerous in the southern parts. It deserves notice, that Dr. Shaw and Mr. Bruce have stated (what could be true only so far as their own experience went), that they observed no species of weed or flag; and the latter proposes to translate Yam Zuph, “the Sea of Coral," a name as appropriate as that of Edom.

GOD BOTH JUST AND MERCIFUL THROUGH CHRIST:

A Sermon,

BY THE REV. W. WELDON CHAMPNEYS, M.A. Fellow of Brasenose College; and Curate of St. Ebbe's, Oxford.

ISAIAH, xlv. 21.

"And there is no God else beside me; a just God and a Saviour; there is none beside me."

To human reason it seems impossible that these two things should meet together; that the God who declares that "there is none beside him," should be both "a just God and a Saviour." We are, indeed, through the deadening effect of sin, so apt to hear Scripture read without thinking or caring what its words mean, that, perhaps, the difficulty there is, that God should be both a just God and a Saviour, may not, at first, be plainly seen. But we shall see it by looking at a case which is plain to all. We will suppose a court of justice to be met, and the judge on his bench

a man has just been tried-he is brought in guilty-the judge must, by his very character and office, condemn the man, or he would not be a just judge; and take away justice from a judge, you take away the very thing which he is appointed to administer. But if the judge be of a merciful temper, he would wish to spare the man; it is plain, been broken, the man must die: for if he, however, that he cannot, for the laws having being appointed to punish the guilty, should not punish them, but let them go free, where would laws be? trampled on and despisedyea, and whose life or property would be safe? Thus, then, we see how impossible it is for a judge to be just and punish, to be merciful and not punish: yet God is "a just God and a Saviour,". "the Judge of all the earth, who will do right," "who shall by no means clear the guilty ;"-and yet the Saviour who passes by iniquity, transgression, and sin; and who desireth not the death of a sinner, but had rather that he should be converted and live." Let us see how this is. We must go to the Bible; for the Bible is a history of God's dealings with man-a discovery of his nature and cha

racter.

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Let us look first at God's justice. Justice means punishing the guilty. The Almighty passed his word, that if man sinned, he should die ;-and does he not die? What day goes by, that you see not "the mourners passing through the streets, and man going to his long home?" What day goes by, without and the worldly that they must soon have some church-bell ringing to tell the careless done with the world they love, and be overtaken by the death they fear? And among

those countless souls that are thronging through the dark gate into the world of spirits, how many an infant spirit passes out, on whose little body death laid his claim, because sin, his mark, was set upon its frame? Is not this justice-stern, unbending justicethat surely punishes the guilty?

But look at the history of God's dealings with man, and the same lesson will be learnt. The world fell into deep transgression; "all flesh had corrupted its way before God;" Noah alone was found righteous; he warned the world for one hundred and twenty years; they despised his warning; the flood came and destroyed them all; they fled to the trees, but the waters covered them; they mounted the hills, but the swelling waters mounted after them; they climbed to the tops of the "rocks, and the highest points of the ragged rocks," but the avenging waters rose high above the highest: and what were they but a creature made the minister of God's awful justice upon a guilty world?

Look at Canaan,-a race cursed from its very parent, the mocker of his father Noah's weakness; what followed such " a seed of evil-doers?" surely they were" children that were corrupters;" sin spread among them like a leprosy coming down in their blood; they forsook the worship of the living God, and worshipped devils; "yea, they shed innocent blood, even the blood of their sons and their daughters, whom they offered unto the idols of Canaan, and the land was defiled with blood." The very earth was polluted under the wicked inhabitants of it; the very cattle and houses were defiled by their owners' sins; and when "Israel came out of Egypt," God led his own people against the Canaanites, and they were all but utterly destroyed. And what was Israel then but one nation made the executioner of Almighty justice upon another nation, which "had filled up the measure of its iniquities," whom the great Judge had tried and found guilty?

And did the justice that thus swept away whole nations, that thus "whet its glittering sword," and made it red with the blood of a disobedient and guilty people; did that justice ever pass by unrepented guilt? Turn your eyes to the tabernacle of the Jews; it has just been set up; Aaron and his sons have just been consecrated the priests of God; the people are rejoicing before the Lord;who are those two young men who have put incense into their golden censers, have lighted them with fire from the common flame, not from that altar on which the fire of heaven streamed down? They are two of Aaron's sons, two of the new-made priests; pride, or it may be wine, or both, have made them rush uncalled into the presence of the Lord-and

one flash of fire from his awful presence strikes both of them in an instant dead. They both sinned, and God's justice slew them both.

Cain, the first child of the first sinner, was the first murderer-himself the sinners' firstfruits-his sin the first-fruits unto death: did justice let him pass? No; God branded him, set a mark upon him, and made him cursed from the earth. Miriam, the sister of Moses, rebelled against her brother, she resisted him whom God had exalted: did she pass unnoticed? No; she was smitten on the spot with leprosy.

God's own Israel sinned against him at various times: did his love to them make him forget his justice? Let the Bible tell; see twenty-five thousand slain by a plague in one day; see three thousand killed by the hands of their own brethren, the Levites, for idolatry, on another; see Moses and Aaron not allowed to go into the land of promise, because they took upon themselves to bring water out of the rock; see Achan and his whole family stoned and burnt, because he had taken of the goods out of Jericho, which God had forbidden; see David's house plagued with the sword, because he had slain Uriah with the sword: follow through the whole history of God's dealings with man, as we have them recorded in the Bible, and there is written, in letters so large and plain that "he who runs may read," "the Lord is a righteous Judge; he will by no means clear the guilty." And yet the world is as careless and unconcerned about their having disobeyed this just and holy Lord God, as if either he was not the same now as he is set before us in the Bible, or as if the Bible had set forth a lie.

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But these who were thus punished were transgressors, a seed of evil-doers," "children whom he had nourished up, but who had rebelled against him." Come with me, and see another scene-it is night-we will enter this garden; it is not far from Jerusalem who are these asleep on the ground? they are only poor Jews by their dress-there is a look of sorrow upon their faces, as if some care and trouble had weighed them down to sleep. We will go further, about a stone's throw; see, what is this? a man in prayer; how earnestly he prays! his heart seems sent forth with every word;-what deep horror and pain of soul seems written on his gentle countenance! what agony of mind seems to draw every feature! And now he throws himself upon the earth the big drops of sweat fall upon the cold ground! What can cause this fearful distress?-and see, such is the horror of his soul, that it forces out the very blood itself through the skin, so that sweat and blood pour down upon the earth

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