I testify, therefore unto you, my fellow-traveller, that prayer is the Believer's resource in the day of trouble; that rejoicing, inward rejoicing, arising from a firm faith and confidence in the providential and merciful dispensations of his Heavenly Father, is the result, the undoubted and necessary result of a sincere seeking this appointed resource; and that the reason of all this is, because "The Lord God is his strength." He disclaims, as unsafe, every other arm; he renounces his own sufficiency; abhors the idea of pleading any thing but the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, and trusts to nothing for acceptance, save the merits and intercession of the same gracious Redeemer; he relies upon the covenant of grace, and is assured, by the terms of it, that there is a need-be for every trial; that a prospective good will arise from that which may seem a present evil; and that every cup is, in reality, deprived of its bitterness; every affliction, of its sting.

Now, as a practical conclusion, I desire to observe, that we may receive the subject which we have been considering, as a test of our discipleship. For if the words of the Prophet sound but strangely in our ears, we cannot but fear, that Christ is not yet made precious; that we have professed and believed in vain. It is undoubtedly the Believer's privilege to "give thanks always for all things;" to receive every thing from the hand of God without a murmur or sinful expression, yea, even with thankfulness, knowing that He who so loved us, as to give His only

begotten Son to die for us, will not surely, with Him and for Him, not only not refuse to give us all things that are needful for us, but will not send any thing that shall be hurtful to us. Try then yourself, dear Reader, by this test; and ask, "In what way do I receive my present trial? do I perceive it to be a blessing? does the hand of God appear to be filled with wrath or with mercy? or am I indifferent, receiving my afflictions, as things common to man, for which there is no help?" But I trust that there may be an inward witness within you, which, with confidence, will make answer and say, "No; by the grace of God, it is not so with me now; I have joy, peace, and hope in believing; and the Apostle's direction is dear to me indeed, and perfectly intelligible, Rejoice in the Lord always, and again I say, Rejoice." "+

* 'God,' saith St. Augustine, would not permit evil to exist, if He had not some greater good to bring out of it.'

† Phil. iv. 4.

XXIV.

ROMANS VIII. 35, 37.

WHO SHALL SEPARATE US FROM THE LOVE OF CHRIST? SHALL TRIBULATION, OR DISTRESS, OR PERSECUTION, OR FAMINE, OR NAKEDNESS, OR PERIL, OR SWORD? NAY, IN ALL THESE THINGS WE ARE MORE THAN CONQUERORS THROUGH HIM THAT LOVED US.

In my preceding expositions of those rich words of consolation, with which the Word of God so abundantly teems, I have endeavoured, "according to the good hand of my God upon me," to distribute unto all that comfort and encouragement, which they are intended to impart. I consider my Readers, as sufferers, and therefore in need of consolation; and I have occasionally warned them, that the promises are for the exclusive benefit of the children of God, as of some privileged and peculiar persons; wishing hereby to set them upon a diligent inquiry into, and an examination of, their state, in the sight of God. For God forbid that I should so far deceive any, as to hold out to them hopes, which they would fail to

realize, or point out to them blessings which were not intended for them while they remain aliens from God and which, moreover, they would be unable to understand.

In commenting, however, on the words now before us, no such alternative is left me: for they are addressed to those who love, and are loved by Christ; who love Him, because He first loved them, and because He loved them, gave Himself for them: they are spoken of those, who "have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby they cry ‘Abba, Father,' and with whose spirits, "the Spirit itself beareth witness, that they are the children of God."*

ووو

But you may ask, 'Are the children of God subject to tribulation? will He suffer them to undergo the pains, and encounter the calamities, to which other men are heirs?' Let me observe in answer, that he who puts this question, knows nothing of the Bible, or of God's dealings with mankind; he is ignorant of the curse which is entailed on all the human race, by the sin of our first Parents; and he knows not, unhappily for himself, he knows not how, and by what means, the Lord is pleased to call into the number of His adopted, those whom He will. But that there are such, who, while in the flesh, are troubled, afflicted, and in tribulation, and who scarcely dare make use of their privilege, or rejoice in their sonship, the Scriptures abundantly testify:

* Rom. viii. 15, 16.

P.

they testify this, not only in the direct, positive History of many, to whom God has borne witness that they were His; but also the fact, that there are promises of strength in their time of need, and of final victory in every contest, abundantly proves this.*

To such then, in humble and unfeigned dependence on the Spirit of truth, I proceed to unfold the triumphant and exulting language of the Apostle. Come ye, laying aside your fears, casting away your doubts; come with humility, and a persuasive belief of your unworthiness and self-insufficiency, as the best antidote against an ill-grounded confidence and presuming licentiousness. It is not my wish, (far indeed be that from the mind of one, who would rather mourn in gloomy despondency all his days, than boast in vain-glorious assurance; the former may be raised to enjoyment, the latter must be made to descend in despair) it is not my wish, I repeat, to excite in you too high a degree of rejoicing; nor do I desire that you should follow where I am not authorized to lead you. But it is my heart's desire,

"The promises," observes Newton, in a letter to a friend, "are generally made to an afflicted state; and we could not taste their sweetness, nor experience their truth, if we were not sometimes brought into the circumstances to which they relate. It is said, I will be with them in trouble;' but how could we know what a mercy is contained in these words, unless trouble was sometimes our lot? It is said to be the believer's privilege to glory in tribulation: but we never could know that this is possible, without we had tribulation to glory in."