fore, begin the work of heaven before we come there, daily offering the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving unto him, even the fruit of our lips. Using the same language here, as we hope to use for ever hereafter. "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God and his father: to Him be glory and dominion for ever and ever, Amen." Rev. i. 5, 6.

Is the way of the wilderness the right way to a city of habitation ? How easy should this make us under all the temptations, trials, and afflictions with which we are now exercised. "All things are for your sakes, that the abundant grace might, through the thanksgiving of many, redound to the glory of God," 2 Cor. iv. 15. This should make us willingly submit to the various trials we meet with on our passage. There is a crown of glory reserved in heaven for all those that shall continue faithful unto death-a city of habitation, where the weary pilgrim shall rest-rivers of pleasure, where he shall be refreshed and delighted. There he will have an ample amends for all the difficulties he has been exposed to in the present life. The view of this recompense of reward will make death itself pleasant, and hang out a lamp sufficient to enlighten even that dark valley.

Can none get admission into this city of habitation but the "redeemed of the Lord?" Let this lead us to Jesus Christ, the only person "Who is of God, made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption," 1 Cor. i. 30. "Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance unto Israel, and forgiveness of sins," Acts v. 31. No one can save us from our sins, but He whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation for our sin, through faith in his blood. Hither then, must the con

vinced sinner fly, as his city of refuge; on His righteousness must we all depend for a right and title to life ; and his Spirit alone can fit and prepare us for it. If we have not on us Christ's perfect righteousness, we are not his people; none but they who are arrayed with this fine linen, clean and white, shall be thought worthy to enter into this city of habitation. Let us, therefore, be importunate with God to lead us unto Christ, and enable us to believe in him to the saving of the soul. Such he has purchased glory for, and he lives to prepare them for it. "There, as their forerunner, he is for them already entered; and thither, as the captain of their salvation, will he at last bring them, and present them faultless before the throne of his Father's glory, with exceeding joy."

XLV. Thus far on life's perplexing path,

Thus far, thou, Lord, our steps hast led;
Snatch'd from the world's pursuing wrath,
Unharm'd tho' floods around us spread,
Like ransom'd Israel on the shore,
Here then we pause, look back, adore!

Strangers and pilgrims here below,
Like all our fathers in their day,
We to the land of promise go,
Lord, by thine own appointed way :
Still guide, illumine, cheer our flight
In cloud by day, in fire by night.

Safety thy presence is, and rest;
While (as the eagle, o'er her brood,
Flutters her pinions, stirs the nest,
Covers, defends, provides them food,
Bears on her wings, instructs to fly),—
Thy love prepares us for the sky.

Protect us thro' this WILDERNESS,
From fiery serpent, plague, and foe;

With bread from heav'n thy people bless,
And living streams where'er we go;
Nor let our rebel hearts repine,

Or follow any voice but thine.

Thy holy law to us proclaim,
But not from Sinai's top alone;
Hid in the rock-cleft, be thy name,
Thy pow'r and all thy goodness shown,
And may we never bow the knee,
Or worship any God but thee.

When we have number'd all our years,
And stand, at length, on Jordan's brink,
Tho' the flesh fail with mortal fears,
O! let not then the spirit sink;

But strong in faith, and hope, and love,

Plunge thro' the stream, to rise above!

XLVI. Our heavenly Father graciously severe, and wisely kind, often takes care to infuse some salutary bitter into his children's cup below; since, were they, here, to taste of happiness, absolute and unmingled ; were not the gales of prosperity, whether spiritual, or temporal, counterpoised, more or less, by the needful ballast of affliction; his people (always imperfect here) would be enriched to their loss, and liable to be overset, in their way to the kingdom of God. Wherefore, consummate happiness, without any mixture of wormwood, is reserved for our enjoyment in a state, where perfect sanctification will qualify us to possess it. In heaven, and there only, "the inhabitant shall no more say," in any sense whatever, "I am sick."

Let every afflicted believer then, rejoice in that he is made low. God deals out our comforts and our sorrows, with exact, unerring hand, in number, weight and mea

sure. Hence we have not, either of joy or adversity, a grain too little, or too much. If less tribulation would suffice, less would be given. We are bad enough, with all our troubles; what then should we be, if we were exercised with none? Is affliction then the christian's lot? It is a visit from heaven. "Thou hast visited, thou hast tried me," says David, Psalm xvii. 3. God never uses the flail, but when his corn wants threshing :

Our hearts are fastened to the world

By strong and various ties:

But every sorrow cuts a string,
And urges us to rise.

Afflictions are as nails, driven by the hand of grace, which crucify us to the world. The husbandman ploughs his land, and the gardener prunes his trees, to make them fruitful. The jeweller cuts and polishes his diamonds to make them shine the brighter. The refiner flings his gold into the furnace that it may come out the purer. And God afflicts his people to make them better. To thank God for mercies is the way to increase them; to thank him for miseries is the way to remove them.Afflictions are then blessings to us, when we can bless God for afflictions; whose only purpose, in causing us to pass through the fire, is to separate the sin he hates, from the soul he loves. And, in all his dealings with us, let us remember, that, though he cause grief, yet he will have compassion: at the worst times, he will suit his dispensations to our strength, or afford strength for his dispensations.

XLVII. Sanctified afflictions are spiritual promotions. There is no affliction so small, but we should sink

under it, if God upheld us not; and there is no sin so great, but we should commit it, if God restrained us not.

"The time is short," I Cor. vii. 29, and, if your cross is heavy, you have not far to carry it.

As no temporal blessing is good enough to be a sign of eternal election; so no temporal affliction is severe enough to be an evidence of reprobation; for the dearest Son of God's love, was a 66 man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief."

Every vessel of mercy must be scoured, in order to brightness. And, however trees in the wilderness grow without culture, trees in the garden must be pruned, to be made fruitful; and corn-fields must be broken up, when barren heaths are left untouched.

God may cast his people down, but he will not cast them off.

Through Christ's satisfaction for sin, the very nature of affliction is changed with regard to believers. As death, which was first the wages of sin, is now become a bed of rest (they shall rest upon their beds, saith the prophet), Isaiah lvii. 2. So afflictions are not the rod of God's anger, but the corrections of a tender Father.

If we gain the kingdom at last, it is no great matter what we suffer by the way.

Afflictions are as needful for our souls as food is for our bodies.

It is a good sign of our state, when the Lord blows off the blossom of our forward hopes in this life, and lops the branches of our worldly joys to the very root, on purpose that they should not thrive. He spoils the enjoyment of this life, that we may be saved for ever.

XLVIII. The Lord knows how to deliver his people,