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by truth, his will subject to the will and law of his Maker, his affections pure and spiritual, and every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only good, and that continually; his whole soul was "holy and beautiful," fit to be the habitation and throne of him who made it. But, alas! sin and Satan have defiled this temple and laid it waste; and its former holy inhabitant, being hereby dishonoured and grieved, has forsaken it. Not that I would be understood to intimate that there are in man no traces of moral loveliness remaining: many a gem may sparkle among the ruins of the temple, and many a vestige of its former greatness and splendour may yet be discoverable. Still the house is indeed desolate, and the glory hath departed; whilst the utmost which the enfeebled and shattered powers of man can produce, must fall short of a single grain of real holiness, and sink infinitely below the standard of perfect excellence. The sacred fire which was burning on the altar is wholly extinguished, and must for ever remain so, unless rekindled by the Spirit of God. But it is the design of the gospel to rekindle it, and once more to make the redeemed and renovated soul of man 66 a habitation of God through the Spirit." Though man is ruined by his own sin, he may be completely restored by free and sovereign grace. For this cause God sent his Son into the world, that

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through the redemption which is in him he might raise us from the ruins of the fall. It was the work of the Son to redeem us with his precious blood; it is the office of the Holy Ghost to sanctify us by his grace; and it is the purpose of our heavenly Father, through the work of Christ, rendered effectual by the ministry of the Spirit, to save us from our sins, to build us up as living temples to his honour; to make us a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people," that we might show forth his praise. And of this we may safely assure ourselves, that if Christ dwell in our hearts by faith; if God by his Spirit prepare our souls for his dwelling-place here, it is in order that we may be fitted to become the inhabitants of his heavenly temple hereafter. This is that good hope through grace of which nothing can deprive the true Christian; this a prospect, which none of the changes and chances of this mortal life can obscure; this is the blessed effect and fruit of the everlasting covenant, well ordered in all things and sure; and the bow of promise glows with a lustre which increases in exact proportion to the blackness of the threatening cloud. Let the worst happen that can happen, yet still," In the fear of the Lord is strong confidence; and his children shall have a place of refuge." Every refuge of lies may be swept away; every earthly prop may be removed; each

temporal and worldly shelter may fail: yet, amidst the varying, shifting scenes of life, the Christian. knows that the Lord still reigns; that Christ is still head over all things to the church, which is his body; and that to each believing soul Jesus is still 66 as an hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place; as the shadow of a great rock in a (Isaiah xxxii. 2.) Though every weary land." thing else should change, yet He continues unchangeably the same-" Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever." Let every one therefore who hath this hope, so purify himself that he may enjoy the comfort of it in time of need. The humble, obedient, practical Christian will be found in the hour of trial to be the peaceful and triumphant Christian. "Whosoever heareth these sayings of mine," says Christ, "and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock." (Matt. vii. 24, 25.) Those therefore who have thus built their house on a rock, whose hope is fixed on Christ the Rock 'of Ages, may take up the triumphant song of the Psalmist: "Therefore will we not fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea; though the

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waters thereof roar and be troubled, and though the mountains shake at the swelling thereof. There is a river, the streams whereof shall make glad the city of God, the holy place of the tabernacles of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved: God shall help her, and that right early. The Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge." Psalm xliv. 1-7.

I hasten to consider, in conclusion, OUR DUTY AS CHRISTIANS, AS PROTESTANTS, AND AS MEMBERS OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND AT THE PRESENT EVENTFUL AND ALARMING CRISIS.

1. Our first and principal business is with our own hearts. Let no outward changes, or excitement of inward feeling, divert your minds, my brethren, from this grand point. In this sense of the words we would say, "Every man to your tents, O Israel!" Let every one retire within the sanctuary of his own breast; let him look well to the state of his heart; let him mourn over the desolations which sin has there made; let him humble himself in deep penitence at the throne of the heavenly grace, while his lamentation and his groaning come up before God; and with such dispositions of mind let him provide for the worst that can ever happen, by flying for refuge to the hope set before him in Christ, and seeking the renewal of his soul in holiness, after the image of him that created him.

2. It is the part of the Christian in difficulties and trials, whether individual or national, to repose unbounded confidence in God; and such is the Christian's duty at the present crisis. My brethren, "Cease ye from man, whose breath is in his nostrils." We are all naturally inclined to trust in an arm of flesh, though we are perpetually reminded, and recent events have been too well calculated to remind us, of the baseness and folly of so doing. "Thus saith the Lord; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the desert... Blessed is the man that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is: for he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit." Jer. xvii. 5-8. Henceforward the Christian will say to his soul, My soul, wait thou only upon God, for my expectation is from him." My brethren, let your eyes be directed upwards unto the everlasting hills from whence cometh your help; in God alone let your confidence be reposed.

3. Not indeed that it can be required of us to remain indolently passive under the present emergency. The exercise of reason, the employment

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