396 THE EVERLASTING SALVATION. AUGUST 31. The Eberlasting Salbation. "Israel shall be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation."—Isa. xlv. 17. CONTEMPLATE the salvation mentioned-the subjects of it -and the medium of it. The salvation mentioned is "an everlasting salvation.” Its deliverances are great. Ignorance lies at the root of all our misery, but this salvation delivers from ignorance. Guilt presses us down to the dust, and binds us over to punishment; but this salvation removes the load, and gives us freedom to breathe. Its possessions are valuable. Who would exchange knowledge, faith, hope, love, for all the wealth and honours of the world? That man is deemed happy who can say of a large estate, "This is mine;" but how much happier is he who can say, "Christ is mine, and heaven is mine." Its duration is eternal. It is begun on earth, completed in heaven, and enjoyed for ever. ver. The mountains may depart, the sun and moon grow dim with age, and the heavens may be rolled up like a scroll, but this salvation is eternal as the soul, or the soul's Creator. The subjects of it.-"Israel." This term is applied to the church, or all believers who have like faith with Israel; hence the subjects of salvation are a believing people. They believe all that God reveals, they receive all that God gives, and they claim all that God promises; besides, their faith is fixed and settled on Christ as the only Saviour. They are a praying people. Israel wrestled and became a prince, having power with God; so every believer wrestles, "I will not let thee go except thou bless me ;" and such wrestling always prevails. They are an obedient people. Their faith is seen by their works, and their obedience to the divine commands is sincere, cheerful, and universal. How happy are they who are Israelites indeed! THE EVERLASTING SALVATION. 397 The medium of it." In the Lord." This is JehovahJesus, who says in the context, "Unto me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear." Out of Christ there is no salvation; but in and through him there is free and everlasting salvation. The sinner has nothing from man, he has nothing from himself, but he is complete in Christ. Christ purchased salvation for us with his own blood; Christ confers it by his word and spirit; and through union to him, of which faith is the bond, every believer is saved with an everlasting salvation. O my soul, art thou in Christ, as Noah was in the ark? art thou in Christ, as the branch is in the tree? art thou in Christ, a living stone in the great building of which he is the head and the foundation? SEPTEMBER 1. The Goodness of God. "Despisest thou the riches of his goodness, . goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."—Rom. ii. 4. not knowing that the My reader, your attention is here called to the goodness of God-the goodness of God despised-and the goodness of God improved. The goodness of God is manifest in his providence. Thou dwellest in a good country, where there is more real liberty, where there are more genuine advantages, than in any country under heaven. Thou hast good employment for body and mind, without the risks and dangers of a foreign clime. Thou hast plenty of food at a reasonable price, because "God has crowned the year with his goodness." His goodness is also manifest in grace. Thou hast God's word, the food of thy soul; thou hast his ordinances, where he is found and worshipped; thou hast his sparing mercy, while many have passed away from the land of the living. His goodness is manifest in glory. An inheritance is there for all them that love him, "incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you"'—an inheritance where all evil is absent, where all good is present, and where all enjoyments last for ever. The goodness of God despised.-"Despisest thou, not knowing." This is done by thoughtlessness. Some consider not, and see not, and own not the hand that supplies all their wants. It is done by thanklessness. THE GOODNESS OF GOD. 399 Some receive gifts, daily gifts, unmerited gifts, and have no glowing gratitude in their hearts to the kind giver; while others may feel grateful, but fail to shew it in their conduct. It is done by perversion. How many receive mercies which they abuse! How many enjoy gifts which they waste! How many, after satisfying themselves, throw the fragments away! How many have privileges which they do not value! Wilt thou, O reader, employ God's gifts to the destruction, instead of the preservation of thy fellow-creatures? The goodness of God improved. "It leadeth thee to repentance." Reader, thou needest repentance. Own thy sins to God, and let godly sorrow fill thy heart on account of them. Let thy repentance be manifest in reformation of conduct. How wonderful that God leads thee to this! He might drive thee by the lightning's flash and the thunder's roar; but he leads thee by the gentle breeze and the still small voice. He might, by his judgments, drive thee as Cain, as Pharaoh, as Judas; but he leads thee as David, as Peter, as Lydia. He does it by his goodness. He speaks to thee as a kind father. "How shall I give thee up ?" He arrests thy attention by his word and providence, and melts thy heart by his love; and wilt thou say, "I will not have God to reign over me?" SEPTEMBER 2. Dibine Compassion. "Like as a father pitieth his children, so the Lord pitieth them that fear him."-Psalm ciii. 13. THE children of God are one family, and they have a kind and merciful Father. Think of the character of God's children-the divine regard for them-and the resemblance of this regard. 400 DIVINE COMPASSION. The character of God's children.-"They fear him.” They cherish reverence for his holy name, and are grieved when men take it in vain. They reverence his word, and resolve to hear what God the Lord shall speak. They reverence the Sabbath by remembering it, and the ordinances of religion by observing them regularly. They fear him as children fear a father; not with slavish dread, but with filial affection. They tell him all their wants, and look for needful supplies, and his blessing along with them. They fear to offend God. They know his holy nature and his holy law; and they tremble lest they should sin. They discern his judgments in the earth, and tremble when he says, "Be still, and know that I am God." The divine regard for them-"The Lord pitieth them." He pities their ignorance, and instructs them by his word and spirit. He pities their misery; his eye discerns their sorrows, and his bosom feels for their woes. He is anxious that their sins, the cause of all their miseries, should be forgiven; and that they should come to Jesus, who alone can save them from their sins. He pities their frailty, and gives them needed strength. As thy day of duty and suffering is, so shall thy strength be. In the season of adversity, affliction, and bereavement, the humblest of them that fear God are not overlooked. Jesus feels for them, and pities them. He who never shed tears for himself, wept with the bereaved, and wept over the erring and impenitent. O my soul, wilt thou resist such love and such tears? The resemblance of this regard.-"Like as a father pitieth his children." God's regard for us is like the regard which a father has for his children. A father provides for his children; he labours incessantly for their comfort. So God supplies the wants of his : "There is no want to them that fear him." He feeds them from his storehouse, he clothes them from his |