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the road will go rough; sometimes smooth. To-day, it may be, he is high on the mount; to-morrow, low in the valley. Now, his way is carpeted with moss; anon, it is planted with the prickling briar and the grieving thorn. But remember, O child of God, that both one and the other is thy Father's ground; that thou art still in the land of providence, and that the land of providence is also a land of grace to them who are strangers and pilgrims upon earth. So likewise, in a spiritual sense, when faith is in lively exercise, we may be said to travel through a rich, level, open country, where all is easy, lightsome, and pleasant. Soon, perhaps, may faith sicken-sicken it may, but, blessed be God, it cannot die-and hope may flag its wing; fear may set upon thee, as a strong man armed, and the overshadowing of doubt may for a while eclipse thy comforts. In that case, let the believer still go forward as well as he can. The way will mend and the prospect brighten in God's good time; and, in the meanwhile, that precious promise will be fulfilled, Thy shoes shall be iron and brass; and as is thy day, so shall thy strength be" (Deut. xxxiii. 25). If thou canst not go on, sit down; but let it be by the wayside. Wait, but let it be at Jacob's well. Ply the ordinances of God, and the God of ordinances will come to thee and bless thee. When poor Hagar, overwhelmed with distress of mind, and quite exhausted with fatigue of body, threw herself on the ground, unable to walk a step further, an angel was sent to point her to a fountain which she knew not of, and to give her "the oil of joy for mourning, and a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness." Godly sorrow ever was, and ever will be, the peculiar care and the tenderest object of Almighty love.

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Travellers need not be told that the weather is not always uniformly the same. At times, the affections of a saint are warm, sublime, and strongly drawn up to God and divine things. Anon, his affections may gravitate, grow numbed, and cold; and, like an eagle that is pinioned, be scarce able to creep where once they used to fly. Yet, be not cast down. You may, like Samson, be shorn of your locks for a season; but they will grow again, and your strength shall return as heretofore. Remember that comfortable frames, though extremely desirable, are not the foundation of your safety. Our best and ultimate happiness is grounded on an infinitely firmer basis than anything in us can supply. The immutability of God, the never-failing efficacy of Christ's mediatorial work, and the invariable fidelity of the Holy Ghost, are the triple rock on which thy salvation stands whence that of the Apostle, "The foundation of the Lord [i.e., the decree or covenant of the Lord] standeth_sure; having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are His." And, again,

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"Though we believe not [though we may occasionally reel and stagger and faint], yet He [faith's unchangeable Author and immoveable Supporter] abideth faithful, and cannot deny Himself." Was He to deny His decree, He must deny Himself, for His decree is Himself decreeing. But He cannot do this. He cannot forego His covenant, for His covenant is Himself covenanting. He cannot reverse His promise, for His promise is Himself promising. Consequently, every believer is safe, and can never be ultimately left or forsaken. As surely as effectual grace stirred thee up to undertake the heavenly journey, so surely shall glory crown thee at the end of thy pilgrimage.

Contentedly, therefore, embrace thy lot, knowing, that the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord. Be the weather fair or foul; let the calm prevail, or the storm rage; be thy mind cheerful or benighted; be thy path dreary with gloom or radiant with sunshine, commit thyself in patience and well-doing to God, as to a gracious Creator and an all-wise Disposer. A traveller is not the worse for being weather-beaten. It teaches him to "endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ." Besides, he is, at the worst of times, sure of invisible support; and every difficulty he encounters by the way will be infinitely overbalanced when he gets home to His Father's house, for the utmost "sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.'

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In point, likewise, of affluence and fortune, all the travellers to Canaan are not alike. Some of them are literally "rich and increased in goods," while others have but a small allotment of temporal wealth, barely enough to carry them to their journey's end. The former may be said to be well mounted for the road— the other goes on foot. But, in spiritual things, the humble footpassenger frequently outstrips the rapid horseman or the stately charioteer, and is seen, not seldom, to make swifter advances in the knowledge of God and the way to heaven; and thus that observation of the Apostle is verified, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world, rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom?" Yes, he has; and some, too, who are opulent, for we read that even Cæsar's household, the very court of Nero, was not wholly destitute of saints. But, since much wealth too often proves a snare and an incumbrance to the Christian racer, let him lighten the weight by dispersing abroad and giving to the poor, whereby he will both soften the pilgrimage of his fellow-travellers and speed his own way the faster.

When persons undertake a journey to a distant, unknown country, it is not unusual to have recourse to a guide. During their passage to Canaan, good people may, by mutual exhortation, reproof, and instruction in righteousness, be occasionally guides

to each other. But the two grand stated guides of the Redeemer's Church are, the Spirit and the Word of God, to which may be added, in humblest subordination to these two, the ministers of God. Generally speaking, these three guides do best together. A minister without the written Word would bid fair to be a false guide, a mere will-o'-the-wisp, a dancing meteor, who would only set you astray; and the Word itself, without the Spirit, is but as a dial without the sun, a dead letter, and a Book that is sealed. Therefore, the way for us not to lose our way is, to receive nothing from man but what bears the stamp of Scripture; to beg of God that He would shine upon the dial, that we may consult it profitably, and know whereabouts we are; i.e., that He would make us understand the Scripture by the saving light of His blessed Spirit, and then to look upon no influence, impulse, suggestion, or direction, as the certain voice of God in the soul, except it harmonize and coincide with that sacred Scripture which Himself inspired. Thus wonderfully and wisely are the means of salvation connected. The Word of God directs us to the Spirit of God; the Spirit of God makes that Word effectual; and the true ministers of God act in the most absolute subserviency to both.

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Nor are the Christian travellers guided only, but guarded likewise; and a guard is requisite, for the highway of holiness is infested with robbers. Though the celestial road is enclosed from the common, and made a distinct way of itself, yet it lies through an enemy's country, and the Canaanite is still in the land. Satan will study to annoy those whom he cannot devour the world will try various arts, both of menace and allurement and indwelling depravity, from whose remains we are never wholly delivered in the present life, will on all occasions be ready to revolt from the obedience of faith, and to bring us into subjection to the law of sin. The foes without, though vanquished, are not slain; and original corruption, that beast within, though wounded, is not dead; nor motionless, though chained.

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Happy it is for God's regenerate people that they do not go through the wilderness defenceless and alone. If they did, they might well fear, with David, "I shall one day perish by the hand. of Saul." But they are under the escort of a truly invincible armada. Providence is for them without, and grace within. Though they appear as strangers and pilgrims upon earth, they are no less than kings in disguise-"kings and priests unto God." Hence, in that grand writ of protection, recorded in the ninetyfirst Psalm, we read, "He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. They shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou hurt thy foot against a stone. Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt

thou tread under thy feet." The gates of hell may assault, but they shall not prevail. They may endeavour to intercept the believer on his passage to Canaan; but God, who put it into his heart to go, will be his Guardian even unto death.

There is no convenient travelling without proper accommodations, and a competent supply of provision. Deprived of these, the healthiest would become languid, and the most robust would faint by the way. For this reason, the God of all kindness has, figuratively speaking, furnished the road to His kingdom with houses of rest and refreshment, where His redeemed may occasionally turn in and renew their strength. The good things of His providence may be considered as the temporal accommodations, vouchsafed by His bounty for the comfort and support of our mortal part; and the stated means of grace are the spiritual accommodations, designed to quicken, strengthen, and sustain the soul unto life eternal. When outward ordinances are effectual to this end, through the Holy Spirit's influence, of which they are the ordinary channel, then is it that God's travellers can pursue their way, rejoicing as they go: "The King of Sion has brought me into His banqueting-house, and His banner over me was love." In secret prayer, in public worship, in reading the Scriptures, in sitting under the Word preached, and in compassing the altar of the Lord, His saints catch some delightful glimpses of their heavenly Father's countenance, and these experiences, viewed in retrospective, are what the soul can sometimes reflect on with comfort, during the cold and darkness of wintry desertions; just as the pot of manna, reserved in the ark, reminded Israel of the months and years that were past, and remained as a token for good long after God had ceased to rain on His people the bread of heaven, and to feed them with angels' food.

Nor does His goodness only spread a table for us in the wilderness, by the bounties of His providence and by the consolations of His presence. He even deigns, perhaps, at times, to soften the toils of our warfare, and to sweeten the fatigues of our journey, by showing us, as in perspective, the city to which we are hastening, and by giving us, in the full assurance of faith, a taste of Canaan's grapes, on our way to Canaan's land. Faith is the mount, and Gospel promises and Gospel ordinances are the pleasant windows, from whence (like Moses from the top of Pisgah) we survey that good land which is afar off. The nearer we approach to heaven, the clearer, frequently, are our views

of it

"Divinely fair, and full in sight,
The shining turrets rise!"

I mean, if and when the light of God's Spirit shines upon faith's

eye, and illuminates the Gospel windows; for the keenest human eye can discern no object, and the most transparent windows in the world can transmit no prospect, if light be totally excluded.

Sin, temptation, weakness of faith, or sense of guilt, may sometimes spread a mist between a child of God and his view of glory. But there are also intervals of assurance, seasons of holy rejoicing, when faith is high on the wing, when hope trims her lamp, and when seraphic love (like the ascending Tishbite's fiery chariot) wraps the elevated soul to heaven. The happy traveller emerges from the dark, deep, narrow lanes, where the boughs met over his head, and all prospects of the adjoining country were shut out. He mounts the hill. The sky brightens, and the prospect widens. All is light and cheerfulness and joy. During these golden moments, this is the triumphant song: "God is my Father. Christ is my righteousness. The Spirit is my Sanctifier. The Messiah loved me, and gave Himself for me. He died for my sins; He rose again for my justification; and, because He lives, I shall live also."

Fear not, thou that longest to be at home! A few steps more, and thou art there. Soon, O believer, it will be said to thee, as it was to her in the Gospel, "The Master is come, and calleth for thee." When that word is pronounced-when you are got to the boundary of your race below, and stand on the verge of heaven and the confines of immortality-there will be nothing but the short valley of death between you and the promised land. Dread not this valley; it is but the shadow of death; and what is there in a shadow to be afraid of? Dark as it may seem, it will brighten as you enter; and, the farther you go, the brighter will it prove. When soul and body, like two bosom friends who have travelled long and far together, come to the parting-place, where they separate, and each goes a different way, one to the grave and the other to heaven; when death, your last enemy, is subdued (for he is not destroyed entirely, until the morning of the resurrection dawn); when you have got to the extremity of the vale, and have actually breathed your last, you will find your equipage waiting for you on the other side, to take you from the body, and to set you down at the throne of God, just as Lazarus was carried by angels into Abraham's bosom.

Having thus traced the Christian in his spiritual journey, from nature to grace, and from grace to glory, let me, for the present, leave him there, and address myself to those who, as well as myself, are still detained in the wilderness, and whose tour is not yet finished.

The readers of this address, and indeed the whole world at re, may be distributed into two kinds of people-of those who

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