THE BLESSEDNESS OF BELIEVING. 501 fellow-men; and shall we not believe divine and soulsaving truth on the testimony of God as well as men ? Whatever sins we may be guilty of, let us no longer be guilty of the soul-condemning sin of unbelief. It The happiness resulting.-"Blessed are they." This includes blessed enjoyments, blessed peace, blessed joy, and blessed hope. It includes blessed promises. All the promises relating to this life, and that which is to come, are yea and amen in Christ Jesus, and belong to the believer. Since Christ is mine, then all is mine. includes blessed prospects. A peaceful death, a crown of glory, a joyful resurrection, a place on the right hand of Christ, are infallibly secured to him. It includes eternal blessedness. The sun, the moon, and the stars have been shining nigh six thousand years; but what is this to eternity? Eternity is the life-time of the believer's blessedness, and when as many years shall have passed as there have been hours since the creation of the world, eternity will be no nearer its termination than when the saved soul entered on it. NOVEMBER 4. The Church's Prayer. "Awake, O north wind; and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out."-Song, iv. 16. WHAT the church is, a garden-what the church should be, a praying church-and what the church should do, extend her influence, are the subjects we ought to consider. What the church is." My garden." As a garden, the church is separated from the world by the wall of a credible profession. All her members were originally in the world, and of the world; but they have come out of the world-renounced it as their chief good-and have entered 502 THE CHURCH'S PRAYER. by the door of the gospel, the society of the faithful. "If any man enter in, he shall be saved." The church is consecrated to the service of Christ. All her members, scattered throughout the world, have given themselves to Christ, and he has given them a post of duty in his church; and if they would be found faithful, they must support and extend the church according to their utmost ability, and no longer serve the world or self. The church, as a garden, is cultivated by the ministry of the gospel. She is regularly watered and fructified by the word and ordinances of God, and if any of her members are not fruitbearing, what can they expect but that they will be cut down and burned? The church is regulated by the laws of Christ. He is the only Lawgiver in his garden, and he appoints the rules of duty, and makes all the regulations for her management. "Awake, O north wind; The Spirit's influences are They are essential to the What the church should be. and come, thou south; blow." greatly needed by the church. prosperity of Christ's work, have been largely enjoyed in times past, and, if the church is awake to her duty, will be largely enjoyed still. Earnest prayer is God's appointed way of obtaining this influence. "The Father giveth the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." "Come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe upon the slain that they may live." Before the day of Pentecost the disciples at Jerusalem continued in prayer unitedly and earnestly, when they heard the rushing mighty wind, and saw the cloven tongues of fire descend, and they were all filled with the Spirit. And if the church were as united, and as importunate, and as faithful in persevering, how great would be her success! "Awake, come, blow." Jesus prayed three times in the garden, Paul prayed three times about his thorn in the flesh, and the church will give up praying before God will give up granting. THE CHURCH'S PRAYER. 503* What the church should do.-"That the spices thereof may flow out." The church has fragrant graces or spices. Her unity, for which Jesus prayed; her spirituality, so necessary to distinguish her from the world; her activity in employing labourers, and her liberality for support and extension, are graces which ought to be eagerly sought and cultivated. These graces should be conspicuous. They should flow out like the fine fragrance of lovely flowers, or the reviving odour of delightful perfumes. The church's graces and excellences are not to be hid under a bushel, or confined to a favoured few: "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven." These graces should so flow out as to exert a salutary influence on others. The church, by her own excellences, must stir up others to seek after similar attainments; by her self-denied labours, should aim at the conversion of sinners; and by her good deeds, should silence or overawe the wicked. NOVEMBER 5. The Prayer of Christ's Enemies. "They said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb."— Rev. vi. 16. HERE we have a terrible appearance—a terrible meeting— and a terrible prayer. A terrible appearance."From the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb." Think of the Judge. All judgment is committed to the Son, and he is here exhibited as having a face of such glory that the wicked cannot look upon it. On the mount of transfiguration "his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light;" but still more glorious 504 and overwhelming to the wicked, will be his appearance as Judge of all. Think of his posture: "On the throne." How different now from what he was, when before the Jewish Sanhedrim, or at the bar of Pilate ! "And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them." This posture is one of great dignity, almighty power, and inflexible justice. Think of his bearing to his enemies. It is called "the wrath of the Lamb." How inconceivably awful to those who have slighted Christ's love, despised his sacrifice, and trodden his blood under their feet! The wrath of the lion is dreadful; but what heart can conceive, what tongue or pen can describe, the wrath of the Lamb! THE PRAYER OF CHRIST'S ENEMIES. A terrible meeting.-A great multitude shall be there. The resurrection is pre-supposed, and to the wicked the resurrection will be a curse, an awful increase to their misery. The ungodly dead raised to life, and the ungodly living when the Judge appears, shall compose this terrible meeting. What a multitude of the wicked attending their last prayermeeting, who never attended a prayer-meeting before! What a variety there! "The kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondman, and every freeman." They who held their heads high on earth, shall seek to go "into the holes of the rocks, and into the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of his majesty." Who among us shall be found in this meeting? All the indifferent; all the opponents of Christ and true religion; all who hold the truth, but hold it in unrighteousness; and all but the true disciples of Jesus. "O my soul, come not thou into their secret; unto their assembly, mine honour, be not thou united!" A terrible prayer.-"O mountains, O rocks, fall on us, and hide us." Think of their state of mind. Their con THE PRAYER OF CHRIST'S ENEMIES. 505 sciences shall be alarmed. Like Belshazzar, their countenances shall be changed. Their thoughts shall trouble them, the joints of their loins shall be loosed, and their knees shall smite one against another. How can they look on him whom they hated, despised, and rejected? How can they think of lost opportunities, abused mercies, and rejected warnings, without self-reproach and self-condemnation ? Think of their idolatry. They pray to rocks and mountains, as if these could help or conceal them from him whose eye is like the lightning, and whose power is greater than a thousand thunders. Think of their petition. They are anxious to be crushed beneath the mountains, and hidden from the Judge's all-seeing eye. They court annihilation. On earth, death was the chief object of dread; but now death is courted in vain. The cry to the mountains will be like prayers from hell, too late. No knell ever went to the heart of a condemned criminal with such awful force, as the sentence of Christ's condemnation which shall be passed upon the wicked. Surely it had been good for them if they never had been born. NOVEMBER 6. The Sinner Alarmed. "Do thyself no harm."-Acts, xvi. 28. WHEN the keeper of the prison at Philippi drew his sword to kill himself, Paul cried with a loud voice, "Do thyself no harm." Let us think of the jailer's alarm-and Paul's cry to him. The jailer's alarm.-It was produced by the dread of an ignominious death. When he saw the prison-doors open, and imagined that the prisoners had fled, he knew that by the Roman law he was liable to be put to death; and to avoid the shame and disgrace of such a death, he |