angel, that no one's life should be lost; after he had said to them, Wherefore, be of good cheer, for I believe God that it shall be even as it was told me ;" we find him, when the sailors were about to enter the boat that they might shift for themselves, declaring to the centurion and the soldiers, "Except these abide in the ship ye cannot be saved." No fact can more plainly shew that the purposes of God respecting us, do not overlook, as connected with their accomplishment, the use of appointed means. He who ordains the end, ordains the means also, and renders a regard to the one necessary to the enjoyment of the other.

Unhappily for us, we carry the feelings of presumption into our religious concerns, to an extent unknown in our worldly occupations. A husbandman does not expect that Providence will fill his barn with corn, if he do not attend to the processes of cultivation. Hence, seed-time is observed, and other seasons with watchfulness and activity. Nor does a merchant expect to amass the wealth he desires, without attending to the well-known means of acquiring profit. And what is the principle acted upon? that there is a connexion between the process and the result; a connexion which makes hope a vanity if it be disregarded. Yet, how many are there who discover great wisdom and diligence in attending to their worldly interests, and who would smile contemptuously at the man of business, who should hope for gainful ends while neglecting proper means; but who themselves are, at the same time, presuming on the heavenly inheritance without regarding the way which leads to its enjoyment; who link predestination with glory, unmindful of what comes between. They leave out in their creed (and the same blank is too often found in their character) what is most clearly required by the gospel. brethren, give all diligence to make your calling and election sure, for if ye do these things ye shall never fall: and so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

66

Wherefore, the rather,

How needful then it is for all to consider, that God, who has provided through Christ a future inheritance for his people, has ordained their meetness for the enjoyment of it; that his word exhibits justification and the exercises of the new man in essential union; that when the purposes of his electing love are executed in man's experience, they are felt in conviction, and faith, and prayer, and holiness; and that it is by exemplifying these fruits of Divine influence, that we can either be distinguished on earth from those who receive the grace of God in vain, or can hope to be acknowledged as righteous' by the Judge at the last great day.

4. His faith was exercised to the glory of God.

It is interesting to observe how fully he brought the Author of providence into view, as the cause of their promised deliverance from the dangers of the deep. There was no attempt to magnify himself by concealing the source of his prophetic assurance. He attributed nothing to his own wisdom or power; he ascribed the honour entirely to God. Yea, he spake of himself as being God's property and servant, the mere medium through which the good news was communicated. Still it was an honour conferred upon Paul to be thus visited by a heavenly messenger; and the disposition he discovered, shews how well the highest offices and the greatest privileges can comport with deep humility. Many instances occur in Scripture of this accordance. When the glory of God is seen most to shine, exhibiting to our view the grandeur of his perfections, it will produce a corresponding sense of our own insignificance. It is the part of piety so to feel. We shall acknowledge God to be all in all; our delight will be to speak both of him and of ourselves in a manner that will best set forth his praise. This, from the very nature of our circumstances, as dependent and helpless creatures, must be the influence of faith properly exercised. What do we credit, when informed by the word of God in reference to the preservation of life, whether natural or spiritual, but that what we receive is given in mercy; it is what we do not deserve, and must therefore be received as a gift. A believer is one who feels he has wants which sin has produced, but for which God in rich mercy has made provision; hence he seeks his salvation from above. He trusts himself to the faithfulness of his Father in heaven, and offers to him the ascriptions of a thankful heart. "What! know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and that ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's."

The subject may profitably teach us,

1. The tender care which God exercises over those who love and serve him, and sometimes over others for their sake.

Not only was the apostle saved himself from the threatened destruction, but the crew also; for though human foresight could not for so long a time discover any way of escape, nor human skill avail to direct the movements of the ship, yet Providence preserved it from becoming a wreck till it had nearly reached the shore. What a security is the Divine favour! How is its perfection celebrated!

"He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High

shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day, nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noon-day. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee." Let us remember that such care, in every valuable way of its expression, is secured by the gospel as a part of its rich benefits. "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. Godliness is profitable unto all things; it has promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." Whence then our anxious cares, our gloomy forebodings? If indulged by a true Christian, it must be through forgetfulness or distrust.

2. The subject may be viewed as directing us, when under the mysterious dispensations of providence, not to think that the purposes of God are changed.

If we make present appearances the rule or index by which we judge of the love of God, we shall often be deceived and perplexed: the wicked might not unfrequently boast, and the righteous be hopeless. We see but little of his ways; we too often forget the preparatory nature of his present dealings, and the importance of his rendering the manner of bestowing a gift a moral discipline to fit the mind for its improvement and enjoyment; or we should readily admit the truth that it is an unchanging God, who is causing all things to work together for good to those who love him, and who are the called according to his purpose.

A lengthened trial, therefore, a dark and awful calamity, should not be viewed by a Christian as implying a change in God's intention to do him good, but as involving various, and some of them painful, means by which that good is to be effected. Look at the condition of Paul; he was unjustly made a prisoner, and in consequence of this, he became exposed to imminent danger, but his voyage, notwithstanding all difficulties, was both attended with gracious supports and was conducting him to a scene of usefulness; and thus promoted the very object from which it seemed to take his zealous services away. It follows, then, that such dispensations may have a character in the Divine view which they have not in our own. Those may be the appointments of unchanging love (as the result will prove), which, at present, appear to be only the effects of displeasure.

3. The subject shews the necessity to the possession of solid peace and hope, of our being what Paul denominated himself, "a servant of God."

We are not called, like him, to the apostleship; we have not the gift of inspiration nor of miracles; we have no warrant to expect visible angelic ministration to give an assurance of Divine protection; but we have the revealed will of God, and are required, in believing what he has spoken, to submit to his authority and yield ourselves up to the promotion of his honour. Such was the apostle when he called himself a servant of God. He had repented of past ignorance and rebellion, was turned from his former sinful courses to walk in the paths of holiness. Christ was embraced as

the way of salvation, was chief in his esteem; yea he counted all things else but loss in comparison. He lived, feeling the quickening influence of the doctrine of the cross of Christ upon his mind; love constrained him, and in the faithful discharge of his important duties, both personal and relative, he pressed towards the mark for the prize of his high calling. It is when obeying God with such views and principles that we are, spiritually, his servants. And this devotedness of life is connected with a safe departure into eternity. Paul was not only delivered from the peril of shipwreck, and many other temporal evils, he was finally raised to immortal blessedness. How safe, how honourable, how happy was the closing scene! "I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith; henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, shall give me at that day. Have we such a character? such a wellfounded expectation? The voyage of life is rapidly conducting us from this world, and will soon terminate either in our everlasting salvation or destruction. Our chief concern should respect the final result, since this will determine the real worth, to us, of all present things. It is of little consequence, if our course be right, whether we sail over smooth or tempestuous waters. The "better country" is before us, the care of Providence is with us; and though we see not at present the assured inheritance, yet having the words of eternal truth to rest upon in every condition, neither the portending blackness of overspreading clouds nor the assaults of the raging tempest can deprive us of all consolation; for while Faith keeps hold of the promise, Hope will linger in the storm.

SERMON XXIII.

ALL THINGS WORKING TOGETHER FOR GOOD TO THEM THAT LOVE GOD.

BY JOSEPH GRAY.

ROMANS Viii. 28.-And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.

How great and precious are the privileges of the children of God! Whatever the nature of His providential dispensations towards them, or the discipline with which He may exercise them, no persons are so truly happy. In whatsoever state they are, they have whereof they may be glad. Are they poor in this world? yet being rich in faith, they are partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light! Do they pass their life in the lowliest sphere, and move almost unseen and destitute of earthly honours and distinctions? yet Christ hath made them kings and priests unto God; and in due time they shall be exalted to the highest dignity at the right hand of God! Are they visited with severe and successive afflictions? and is their day dark and cloudy? yet at evening time it shall be light; and as they are both scripturally taught and assured that their "light affliction which is but for a moment, worketh for them a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory:" so far are they from fainting in the day of adversity, that they "glory in tribulations, and count it all joy when they fall into divers temptations." To stimulate the believing Romans, who were now the victims of cruel persecution, and who had before them the prospect of abounding sorrows, to a firm and unalterable attachment to the cause of Christ; to fortify them against all discouraging and ensnaring suggestions, that might be presented to the mind; and to refresh and solace, by putting