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Father so loving us as to give his Son to die for our transgressions; the Son undertaking and fulfilling the engagement; and the Holy Spirit renewing our hearts, disposing us to lay hold of the hope of mercy thus set before us through the blood of a crucified Saviour, and to live to his glory in a cheerful obedience to his commands.

Now, in all these ways we are invited to acquaint ourselves with God; to arouse ourselves from our natural indifference or dislike to sacred contemplations, in order to obtain a true and saving knowledge of our Creator. Too long have we been ignorant of him-too long have we neglected to study his character; to reflect seriously upon his justice, his holiness, his purity; his demands upon us; his judgments against us as transgressors of his law; his promises to receive us when we truly turn to him; his power and willingness to pardon and sanctify us; and his pledge to make us his children, and to receive us to everlasting glory in heaven. Let us begin at length to acquaint ourselves with him; no longer to be strangers to him who has shewn himself to be our best friend, and whom to have for our enemy must prove our eternal ruin. He invites us to communion with him let us not reject his offer, let us not do despite to his Spirit, let us not plunge our own souls into eternal misery.

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2. But, in order to obtain this sacred communion with God, it is necessary that we should be at peace with him. Aquaint thyself. with him, and be at peace." Ignorance is not the only bar to a saving acquaintance with the great Creator, Lawgiver, and Judge of the world; for, added to this, there is in our fallen nature, a principle of hostility to him. "The carnal mind is enmity against God; it is not subject to his law, neither indeed can be." We shrink from his requirements; we dread his all-seeing eye; we are unwilling to submit to his dominion. We think him our enemy; and why?

Because our conscience tells us that we have not sought for him to become our friend. We are well aware that we have offended him by our sins, and that we have not applied to him for pardon and reconciliation. We too well know that we are ready to seek our happiness in any thing rather than in his favour; that we have no desire for communion with him; that we side with his enemies, and do the things that he disapproves. that he disapproves. Such is our state by nature; and deeply does it concern us to lay it to heart, and to turn to our justly offended Crea. tor. He himself has mercifully provided the means of peace; for "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing unto men their trespasses.' Nothing therefore remains but that we on our part should avail ourselves of his offers of reconciliation. "We beseech you in Christ's stead," says an Apostle, "be ye reconciled to God." This divine peace must be founded upon an acquaintance with his character, his perfections, his commands, his plan of justifying sinners, and his various relations to us as his creatures, the subjects of his moral government, redeemed with the blood of his Son, and bound to walk in his ways, and to live to his glory. Form then this acquaintance; cultivate this peace. The Saviour has made peace by the blood of his cross; he was the Prince of Peace, exalted to be a Prince and a Saviour to give repentance and remission of sins. Having thus procured peace for us, by his infinitely meritorious sacrifice, he bequeathed it to us as his dying gift: "My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.' Shall we not then thankfully embrace this offer of pardon and reconciliation? Shall we not lay down the arms of our rebellion, and make it our chief object throughout the remainder of our lives to become loyal and obedient subjects to the Majesty of heaven? Shall we not especially seek to become

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endued with that saving faith in the Son of God, by which only we can be justified, and obtain peace with our Creator?

3. But there is yet another article of counsel inculcated in the text: "Receive the law from his mouth, and lay up his word in thy heart."Vain would be our speculative knowledge of God, and deceitful our hopes of peace, if unaccompanied by obedience to his commands. We are exhorted therefore to learn what it is that God requires ; "Receive the law from his mouth;" and having become acquainted with his will, to cherish it in our affections, as the spring of our conduct: " Lay up his word in thy heart." For faith without works is dead: that divinely implanted grace by which we become justified and obtain peace with God, only for the merits and obedience of Jesus Christ, is also the fruitful parent of obedience to God's commands. It inclines us to receive his law in its full extent and spiritual character, as applying to the very thoughts and intentions of the heart. It renders this law, which was utterly opposed to all our tastes and wishes while in a state of sin, delightful to us, so that we are not content to admit it only into our memories and understandings, but we deposit it in our hearts as a treasure of inestimable value. "Lord, how I love thy law! it is my meditation all the day." Such was the devout exclamation of the inspired writer of the hundred and nineteenth Psalm; who, in that long composition of one hundred and seventy-six verses, has scarcely omitted in any one to testify his veneration and affection for the law, the way, the testimonies, the commandments, the precepts, the word, the truth, the judgments, the righteousness, the statutes of the Supreme Lawgiver. The whole substance of this law is implied in the last verse of the text: "Return to the Almighty," and put away iniquity from thy tabernacles." Be not content with a bare acknowledgment of sin, but wholly CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 269.

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forsake it; and while you that which is evil," also "seek that which is good;" turn to God, imitate the example of the returning prodigal son, and adopt his language: will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against Heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son." Study in future both to know and to do his will; and make him, as is said in the verses which follow our text, your "defence" and your " delight." Being acquainted with his character, as revealed in his word, being at peace with him, through the blood of his Son, the only Mediator between God and man, go on to live to his glory. "Receive his laws," assured that, however strict they may at first appear, if treasured up in faith, and love, and obedience, they will become the very joy of your heart. By walking in them, you will obtain peace of conscience, and possess a safe guide amidst all the snares of life. You will dwell under the shadow of the Almighty; you will enjoy a peace which passeth all understanding: the love of God will be shed abroad in your heart; animated by which enlivening principle, you will find his service to be perfect freedom, and will delight in it as your privilege, your solace, your unspeakable reward.

These considerations lead us to the second point proposed for our meditation; namely, the benefits which will result from following the counsel in the text; "Thereby good shall come unto thee."

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"Doth Job fear God for nought?" was the exclamation of the tempter, when informed of the eminent character of that holy man. not thou made a hedge about him, and about his house, and about all that he hath on every side? Thou hast blessed the work of his hands, and his substance is increased on every side." The remark was true, though uttered with an evil design. To serve God is our bounden duty; but we do not serve him for nought.

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He has united our obligation with our privileges, and has attached "exceeding great and precious promises" to a compliance with his commands. He might indeed have overawed us by his frown; he might have commanded our obedience on pain of his displeasure, without alluring us by any gracious pledges of his favour; but he has not acted thus: while he asserts his authority as our Creator and Governor, he also appeals to our affections, and awakens our hopes. To every command to obedience is added the promise, "Thereby good shall come unto thee." But what is the good which he offers for our acceptance? "Shall I," you may ask, "become richer or more prosperous, more respected, or more beloved in the world? Will my days be lengthened? Shall I feel less pain or sorrow? Will my earthly enjoyments be increased? In short, what substantial visible benefit shall I ensure by an acquaintance and peace with God?" Now, the answer to this inquiry is, that "godliness is profitable for all things, having the promise of the life that now is, as well as that which is to come." So far as any temporal gift is really good for the Christian, it shall not be withheld; but his chief privilege is, that his merciful Father in heaven, who knows all his necessities, both for the body and the soul, makes the latter the especial object of his guardian care, and apportions his gifts not according to the ignorant and impatient desires of short-sighted mortals, but according to his own eternal goodness and wisdom, having respect to the highest and everlasting welfare of the individual. He makes all things to work together for his good. Having given his own Son for him, he will with him also freely give him whatever can conduce to his best interests. All things are his, whether "the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come." Even, therefore, should his lot in this world be full of pain and sor

row, he has what infinitely counterbalances it: his iniquities are pardoned, and his sins are covered; he enjoys the love and favour of God; he has tranquillity of conscience, and a hope full of immortality and glory; he has strength afforded him in weakness, guidance in perplexity, and support in trial; he has communion and fellowship with the Father of spirits, through the merits and intercession of his Son, and the influences of the Holy Ghost. No affliction can befal him but what, could he see it in all its results, would be acknowledged to have been for his good. Even the last and saddest event which nature dreads, the temporary separation of soul and body in death, shall be to him but the entrance on a state of never-ending enjoyment, beyond the reach of change or care. Then shall he behold his glorified Redeemer, and be made like him; and " he shall inherit all things; and God will be his God, and he shall be his son." This is the great, the supreme good; for all other blessings are nothing in comparison with the eternal presence and favour of the infinite Author and Bestower of every perfect gift; and this inestimable blessing shall be the lot of all who acquaint themselves with God, and are at peace with him and receive the law at his mouth.

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In the case of Job, who lived at a period in which God was often pleased to attach temporal rewards to spiritual obedience, the good promised was of a mixed nature, comprehending both earthly prosperity and prosperity of soul." If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up, thou shalt put iniquity far from thy tabernacles. shalt lay up gold as dust, and the gold of ophir as the stones of the brook. Yea, the Almighty shall be thy defence, and thou shalt have plenty of silver. For then shalt thou have thy delight in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God. Thou shalt make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear

thee, and thou shalt pay thy vows. Thou shalt also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto thee: and the light shall shine upon thy ways." And, in general, in every age of the world, God is pleased to accompany with a temporal blessing that moral, diligent, self-denying and upright conduct which necessarily follows upon true piety. Health, contentment, esteem, and a moderate, yet cheerful enjoyment of earthly blessings, are, in the usual order of God's providence, attendant upon those habits which true religion fosters. But, even where, for infinitely wise and mer ciful reasons, the case is permitted to be otherwise; where sickness, or abject poverty, or bitter reproach is the lot of the faithful and consistent follower of Christ; he has still within his breast a peace which the world cannot take away, and he looks forward with earnest expectation to those higher and never-failing blessings which shall be his lot in a future world, knowing that "these light afflictions which are but for a moment, work out for him a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Have we then become acquainted with God? are we at peace with him? and do we obey his commandments? If not, how vain our hopes! how worthless our pursuits! how unsatisfactory our pleasures! how gloomy our prospects! Living and dying unacquainted with Him, we shall be banished for ever from his presence; the direst misery which can befal one of his creatures. If we reject that sacred communion with him to which he invites us upon earth, he will withdraw from us the light of his countenance in the eternal world, and consign us to the blackness of darkness for ever. And do we not tremble at the thought that such may finally be our lot? Do we not repent of our past folly and disobedience, and desire to begin a new and spiritual life? Long enough have we lived in habits of practical disregard to

him; long enough have we despised his offers of peace and reconciliation; long enough have we rejected the promised grace of his Holy Spirit to restore us, in virtue of the merits and intercession of the Saviour, to that state of fellowship with God which we had forfeited by our transgressions. Let us no longer be insensible to our duty, or blind to our best interests. Let us "seek the Lord while he may be found, and call upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thought; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon."

For the Christian Observer. SCRIPTURE ILLUSTRATED BY INCIDENT AND EXAMPLE.-NO, II.

HEBREWS ii. 11. "He is not ashamed to call them brethren."-There is not a more distinguishing feature of the Christian character than condescension to men of low estate. It was this which gave peculiar exaltation to the gracious interposition of the Son of God on behalf of the fallen, wretched, degraded children of men; and it will ever be found foremost among the dispositions and habits of those who are in spirit and in truth his followers. The excellent Archbishop Whitgift was an eminent example of this Christian grace. He was made Archbishop in the year 1583; and the ingenious Sir Henry Wootton, who knew him well, has left this character of him: "That he was a man of a reverend and sacred memory, and of the primitive temper; a man of such a temper as when the church by lowliness of spirit did flourish in highest examples of virtue." The following is an instance in which he displayed this temper, and shewed the assimilation of his character to the example of Him who was "meek and lowly of heart." He built a large alms-house near his own palace at

Croyden, in Surrey, and endowed it with maintenance for a master and twenty-eight poor men and women: and this place he visited so often, that he became familiar with all their names and dispositions; and was so truly humble, says his biographer," that he called them his brothers and sisters." When the Queen dined with him at his palace at Lambeth, which was very frequently, he would usually the next day visit his poor brothers and sisters at Croyden, and dine with them at his hospital. "You may believe," adds his biographer, "there was joy at the table;" for, after the example of his Divine Master, "he was not ashamed to call them brethren."

Matt. xi. 7. "Jesus said unto the multitudes concerning John, What went ye out into the wilderness for to see? A reed shaken with the wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment? Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in king's houses! [whereas John had but a leathern girdle about his loins, and his meat was locusts and wild honey.] But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? Yea I say unto you, and more than a prophet; for this is he of whom it is written, Behold I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee."-A striking parallel to this character of the Baptist, was conspicuous in the venerable, mortified, and retired Richard Hooker. It is hardly possible to read the account of his life and habits, his fastings and devotions, and his constant subjection of his animal to his spiritual nature, and not revert in thought to the example of the Baptist. He seemed habitually to aim at the imitation of this example, according to the spirit of our church, when she assimilates the labours of the "ministers and stewards of God's mysteries," in reference to the second advent of the Saviour, to the efforts of him who was the special messenger of the Redeemer at his first coming. The biographer

of Hooker describes him, like the Baptist, living in retirement from the world, yet an object of attrac tion to many, for his talents, his exemplary piety, and primitive strictness of deportment. He was the rector of Bourne, not far from Canterbury; and by the time he had been in that parsonage twelve months, his works, and the sanctity of his life became so celebrated, that many turned out of the road, and others, scholars especially, went purposely, to see the man whose life and learning were so much admired. But, as our Saviour said of St. John, what went they out to see? A man clothed in purple and fine linen? "No," says honest Walton; "but an obscure harmless man; a man in poor clothes, his loins usually girt in a coarse gown or canonical coat, of a mean stature and stooping, and yet more lowly in the thoughts of his soul, and his body worn out, not with age, but with study and holy mortification." And yet this man forgot all his timidity, when called to reprove sin, and, like his great exampler, could vigorously "lay the axe to the root of the tree."

A few instances of bold and fearless rebuke of sin may appropriately close the present paper.

Acts xxiv. 25. « Paul reasoned before Felix of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come,"-" and Felix trembled," as well he might do; for he is represented by Tacitus as having been guilty of all unrighteousness and intemperance: "Per omnem sævitiam ac libidinem jus regium servili ingenio in Judeâ exercuisse." How fitly therefore did St. Paul frame his discourse!-Many illustrious instances are on record of ministers of the Gospel who have displayed a kindred courage and fidelity in the discharge of the duties of their sacred office. Among scriptural examples, we read of the reproof of the man of God at Bethel to Jeroboam, of Elijah to Ahab, Daniel to Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, John the Baptist to Herod; and, though infinitely removed from all

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