The various deliverances the Divine Being wrought for his people, the services in which they engaged, and the sacrifices they offered, were for our learning. The promises, also, which they received, and comforts given them, were designed for us, if we fear God," that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope." Let us, therefore, endeavour to unfold the meaning of these words, written by Moses, "Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days so shall thy strength be," and impart from them some consolation. In doing this, we shall make three observations.

I. That the true Israel of God are called to tread in rough paths, and endure heavy trials.

II. That in the prospect of these things they are apt to be dismayed. III. That although their trials are great, they may expect all-sufficient strength.

I. We shall endeavour to show that the people of God are called to tread in rough paths, and experience trials which, in an absolute sense, are heavy in their nature. Had not his people of old been called to pass through difficult paths, there would have been no propriety in adopting the words of our text. The allusion, probably, is to the hard soil of the wilderness through which they had to pass to the promised land. It is called the "terrible wilderness," and " a waste, howling wilderness, wherein there was no water." Thy shoes, there fore, says Moses, shall be iron and brass.

This figure we shall take and compare to the trials of God's children. These trials have not been confined to one age or nation. In every age God's children have been peculiarly tried; sometimes their trials have been of a very complicated nature, arising from various sources-from pain of body, depression of mind, family bereavements, losses in business, temptations, poverty, and persecution; so that they have appeared almost too heavy to be endured. Under their pressure Moses wished to die. David said, "Give ear to my prayer, O God, and hide not thyself from my supplications. My heart is sore pained within me, and the terrors of death are fallen upon me; fearfulness and trembling are come upon me, and horror hath overwhelmed me. Oh that I had wings like a dove, for then would I flee away and be at rest." The language of Asaph is of the same purport: "Will the Lord cast off forever, and will He be favourable no more ?" In the wilderness the Israelites were led backward and forward. Trials attended them through all their journeyings. Look, also, at our blessed Redeemer, the pattern and leader of his people. Think of his trials and sufferings; and how light are ours when compared with his ' Thus, then, my dear brethren, we perceive, by the case of the children of Israel, the promises of God, by the experience of the faithful in different ages, and by Him who was in all points tried as we are, that we must expect heavy trials in this world.

II. And now, in the second place, you will observe, that in the prospect of sufferings and trials, we are apt to be dismayed. The promise in our text is applicable not merely to the present, but also to the fuIt relates not only to the trials we are enduring, but to those

ture.

we have in prospect. Some we have passed through, others we are now enduring, but there are more in prospect. In reference, then, to anticipated trials, we are too prone to be dismayed and cast down in our minds. This was the case with the children of Israel: notwithstanding the blessings they had received and the promises given them, they were dismayed; though their shoes were to be as "iron and brass," "they were discouraged because of the way."

The Israelites were not alone in this. God's people in every age have been exercised in a similar manner; they have been brought to the last extremity, and have not known what to do. It was in the prospect of trials that Elijah, distressed in mind, sat down under a juniper-tree, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, "It is enough: now, O Lord, take away my life, for I am not better than my fathers." And we may be sure that the Apostle Paul was the subject of perplexity when he thus expressed his feelings: "And now behold, I go bound in the Spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the things that shall befall me there, save that the Holy Ghost witnesseth in every city that bonds and affliction await me." Though he did not despair of the grace of God, he was perplexed; though not destroyed, he was cast down. Our blessed Redeemer himself, also, was so dismayed that he prayed that the cup, if possible, might be removed from Him.

Then, my dear brethren, recollect, that no new trial has happened to you. It is not an uncommon thing that you should be tried, but such as all who are now in heaven knew something of. They came out of great tribulation. Nor are you to think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you. Be not too much cast down and dismayed in prospect of trial. He in whom you trust is able to make all grace to abound, and work all things together for your good.

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III. And we shall now endeavour, in the next place, to show you the ground of your encouragement. For, although your trials may be great, you are to expect strength that shall be adequate to all your wants. Thy shoes," says God, "shall be iron and brass ;" as thy days so shall thy strength be." The meaning of which is, that all seasonable succour and support shall be equal to the trials and exigencies of every day.

Pious men have found this to be the case through all generations. They have had their days of persecution, days of affliction, days of want. They have had seasons of temptation, of darkness, and of duty; but seasonable and suitable strength has been received; their strength has been in proportion to their day; so that they have not really been in want of any thing for their good. So it is with the Christian now. His heavenly Father says, "When thou passest through the waters I will be with thee, and through the rivers, they shall not overflow; when thou walkest through the fire thou shalt not be burned, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Weep not, then, Christian; be not discouraged at what you have now to endure, or at what you have in prospect; you have more for you than against you. God is with you as your upholder, governor, and benefactor; and as a mother comforteth her children, so will He comfort his people.

You see, then, my dear brethren, that we are not to be over anxious about the future; if you have sufficient for the present, fear not that which may never take place. "Take no thought," no anxious, distressing, harassing thought, "for the morrow." Suffer not your minds to be torn asunder by doubt or apprehension. Consider, rather, what is the present will of God, and rest satisfied and content without anticipating evils which may never arrive.

Do not heighten your present sorrows by a morbid imagination. You know not what a day may bring forth. The future is likely to be better than you expect, as well as worse. The real victory of Christians arises from attention to present duty. This carries them from strength to strength.

Be

Some are alarmed at the thought of death. They say, How shall I meet the agonies of dissolution? But when you are called to die, you will, if among God's children, receive dying consolation. satisfied if you have the strength to live to God, and God will support you when you come to die. Some fear persecution, lest, at such a season, they should make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience. "As thy day is, so shall thy strength be."

Consider to what it is we owe our success. If we are nearer our salvation than when we believed, let us not ascribe it to ourselves, to our own arm, but to the grace of God. Not I, but the grace of God with me, enabling me to sustain and to conquer. If we continue, it is because we have obtained help of God; we are kept by his mighty power unto salvation. In all our sufferings, if Christians, we are perpetually indebted to Divine succour.

er.

Let us habitually look up to God in the exercise of faith and prayInstead of yielding ourselves to dejection, let us plead the promises, and flee to the Divine word. He has been accustomed to sustain the faithful, and He is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever. He is never weary. Look to Him. They that wait on Him shall mount up with eagles' wings, run and not be weary, walk and not faint. Go to Him in prayer-cling to his strength-lay hold of his You have a powerful Redeemer. Be strong in the power of his might. Draw down the succours of his grace, which will enable you to go on " from strength to strength, until you appear before God in Zion."

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ABRAHAM AND LOT.*

GENESIS, xiii., 7-13: And there was a strife between the herdmen of Abram's cattle and the herdmen of Lot's cattle. And the Canaanite and the Perizzite dwelt then in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between me and thee, and between herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethren. Is not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar. Then Lot chose him all the plain of Jordan; and Lot journeyed east ; and they separated themselves the one from the other. Abram dwelt in the land of Canaan, and Lot dwelt in the cities of the plain, and pitched his tent towards Sodom. But the men of Sodom were wicked, and sinners before the Lord exceedingly.

[Preached at Cambridge, February 7, 1802.]

In early times no one appears to have appropriated any thing to himself but what was for his own immediate use. When the number of the inhabitants of the earth were few, its spontaneous productions, with the animals then alive, were sufficient for them; but in process of time this mode of subsistence became more precarious. This suggested the increase of their stock, to which they might have recourse in time of need, and occasioned the introduction of the plan of rearing animals. Hence we read of their herds and flocks; and their riches are described to us by the number of cattle, sheep, and different animals in their possession. Thus we learn the riches of Lot and of Abraham. Their occupation was chiefly in attending their flocks, that they might choose such districts of pasture as were suitable to them. The cultivation of the soil in those days was not common. Genesis, xxvi., 12th verse, it is said of Isaac, that he sowed seed in that land. It is mentioned as a remarkable circumstance, as being a transition from the pastoral to the agricultural state. We do not find in any writings of this time, that the "seed time and harvest, summer and winter, shall not cease." In this simple state, while rearing cattle and tending their flocks, the venerable patriarchs passed their lives Abraham and Lot had both large stocks of cattle, but the land was barren, so that they could not dwell together; this occasioned the circumstance which is the foundation of the history here recorded "There arose a strife between the herdmen of Lot and the herdmen

From the notes of John Greene, Esq.

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of Abraham" about their respective rights of pasture. The Canaanites and the Perizzites, who were afterward destroyed by the descendants of Abraham, we are informed, dwelt in the land. And Abram said unto Lot, Let there be no strife, I pray, thee, between me and thee, and between my herdmen and thy herdmen; for we be brethIs not the whole land before thee? Separate thyself, I pray thee, from me; if thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. And Lot lifted up his eyes, and beheld all the plain of Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere, before the Lord destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, even as the garden of the Lord, like the land of Egypt, as thou comest unto Zoar."

This conduct of Abraham affords us several important instructions. First, Abraham had a great disposition to cultivate peace with his countryman, Lot. "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me, for we be brethren." Such reasons will apply in many cases. They were not properly brethren, Abraham being Lot's uncle; but the Jews were accustomed to extend that relationship to those whose kindred were not very remote. In members of families, and in domestic and social life, every thing like strife, contention, or discord, should be extinguished by this sentiment, and the recollection of " we are brethren." God has been pleased to form families as an asylum and refuge in the midst of this desert world. Man fixes his eye on one humble roof, where all that is sweet and endearing is concentrated; where, if all the world are enemies, he knows there are those who will feel affection for, and pay attention to, him. How important is it that peace should be preserved, especially in families! Abraham knew the value of it, surrounded, as he was, by those who were indifferent, if not enemies, to him. Christianity takes men up as families, for there never was but one true religion, of which Christianity is the completion. It takes them under its patronage, animates them by the most endearing relationship, exhorts husbands to love their wives, and wives their husbands, children to obey their parents, and parents to love their children. What is the tendency of all these precepts, but to preserve that peace and affection, which is the bond and cement of domestic society, and which, with such near connexions, should remove all sources of discord and disunion? Let a sense of the bond of kindred induce all families to cultivate peace, and to propose this sentiment, "Let there be no strife, I pray thee, between thee and me; for we bé brethren." As Christians, this may be extended much farther. If it be true that they were brethren after the flesh, Christians are such after the spirit. They have drank into one spirit; "they have one Lord, one faith, one baptism;" nay, more, they are members of one body, of that sacred family in which God chooses to dwell, and in which He will dwell. How important, then, is it that Christians should cultivate this friendly spirit! Occasions of difference will spring up in the midst of them, especially in the present imperfect manner in which they are, as societies, constituted; but the time will come when they will "see eye to eye," and arrive at the