zeal for the honour of God, obtained the high honour of a per petual priesthood in his family.

Balaam has been supposed by some to have been a prophet of God, who had degenerated by converse with idolaters to become one himself; but it seems more probable that he was a soothsayer or diviner, celebrated for his skill in foretelling future events, and gratifying the desire, so strong in man, to look into futurity; that he was not an idolater, but acknowledged the true God, and having heard the wonderful history of the Israelites, then on their march towards Canaan, was struck with admiration of their exalted privileges, which he so eloquently describes.

With respect to his extraordinary character, there is something so imposing about it, that we are in danger of forming too favourable an opinion of him. There is an enchanting beauty in his prophecies which yields to nothing in the most admired effusions of prophetic inspiration, and which it is impossible to contemplate without emotion: we are scarcely masters of our feelings when we hear such accents as those which were uttered by the son of Beor: "How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed, how defy whom the Lord hath not defied? for from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him: lo, the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who can count the dust of Jacob, and the number of the fourth part of Israel! Let me die the death of the righ teous, and let my last end be like his!" This last pathetic exclamation was probably uttered with a sincere desire, and certainly has awakened devotion in thousands since it was penned.

Turning from his prophecies to his actions, we see the semblance at least of a conscientiousness and firmness that we cannot but admire. When the elders of Moab and Midian came to him with the rewards of divination, he refused to go without first consulting God: and having received the Divine prohibition to curse Israel, he resisted the temptation of Balak, saying, “If Balak would give me his house full of gold, I cannot go beyond the word of the Lord my God." When he did go, the oracles which he uttered expressed, in all probability, "the whole counsel of God," delivered to him: unseduced by bribes, and unawed by authority, he kept nothing back, when "he took up his parable." In his last prediction, he perseveres to the close in declaring the destined felicity and glory of Israel, triumphant over all enemies. So far, then, he appears like a true prophet of God, like one whose heart was right with the Lord.

But when we come to look more narrowly into his character and conduct, we too clearly see that his heart was not right, that it was cankered and corrupt at the core; that he stands as a recorded beacon to warn others against the ruin that attends departure from God, and rebellion against the dictates of con science. For, first, at the very opening of his intercourse with Balak, we find him hesitating and demurring whether or not he

would curse the people of God. This is the first symptom of evil within. He inquires of God, evidently in the hope that he might be permitted to obtain the object of his covetousness: he receives an express prohibition; but, after yet larger offers have been made, he applies again for the Divine answer, and thus manifestly tempts the Lord. Had his heart been sound, he would have leaned to Israel, and taken side with God's people; but his heart was after its covetousness; he had cast a lingering eye at the rewards of divination. He had been safe if he had firmly resisted; but, by this tampering with conscience, he committed himself to great and unspeakable danger. We are not to expect God to hinder us from the accomplishment of the worst designs; He does not render them impracticable; He often opens the way to wickedness, and suffers the path of crime to be strewed with flowers. We must learn to walk by a standard far more decisive and inflexible than the openings of Providence; we must consult the internal monitor which God has given us, and obey its first and clearest dictates. In matters of prudence, second thoughts are often the best; but in matters of conscience, first thoughts are sure to be our truest guide. Deliberation and demur, so valuable on many occasions, are here most dangerous; reasoning here will only lead us into perilous paths; the moment we attempt to persuade ourselves that something, of which we doubted the rectitude, is allowable, we stand on the brink of a precipice that has been fatal to millions. Balaam affords a striking instance of a very common character, in which some prevailing vice biases the conduct, and keeps back the person from a sincere and entire devotion of himself to the will of God; he is held as by a magic spell; he walks within an enchanted circle; where he is always aiming to reconcile the indulgence of his evil desire with the opposing conviction of his conscience.

But we have yet to come to the worst part of Balaam's conduct. He dared not defy, he felt himself compelled to bless, Israel; and yet he clung to the wages of unrighteousness; he found out an indirect, a circuitous way, as criminal, though not so open, as that of rushing against the thick bosses of God's buckler, for accomplishing the wicked wish of Balak; for causing God to withdraw the very blessing which he celebrated, and impose the very curse which he could not denounce. He seduces Israel to idolatry. He instructs Balak to make a great feast; and, by collecting all the youth and beauty of Moab at this carnival, he allures the people first to fornication, and then, through the medium of their passions, to idolatry; he thus finds a way to rob them of all those privileges which he had so sublimely sung. His conduct in this is a striking instance of self-deceit; he takes not the daring, but the disguised way to sin. God had not said in so many words, you shall not seduce the people; but this was implied in what God had said, and might have been so understood by any person of far less penetration than Balaam.

Such, my brethren, is the darkening, hardening influence of an evil passion cherished within; so wonderfully it glosses over evil, and confounds it with good. None knew so well as Balaam that whoso touched the people of God, touched the apple of his eye; yet all was lost in the love of filthy lucre; he was maddened by avarice, and deaf even to the voice of an ass!

There are two persons mentioned in sacred history, with whom Balaam may be properly contrasted: one is Rahab the harlot; she was placed in a similar dilemma; on the one side she had the comparatively light fear of sudden destruction, with all the rest of the city, by the invading enemy, whose spies she harboured; on the other, she had to dread the more terrible doom of a discovered traitress. She hesitated not a moment which to choose; fearless of the lingering tortures that must await one, if discovered, who had betrayed her city, she received the spies from pure reverence for the God of Israel. Her love to God allies her, though an alien, to his people; she feels a leaning of heart towards the spies, as sacred persons, inviolable deposites; and only barters for the life of herself and her kindred; a conduct worthy of a servant of God, worthy to be enrolled with that of the faithful.

The other person, whose conduct may be contrasted with Balaam's, is Ruth the Moabitess; she, when her sister Orpah resolved to return to her people in Moab, clave to her Israelitish mother Naomi, and addressed her in those affecting words, "Entreat me not to leave thee; where thou dwellest I will dwell, and where thou diest I will die; thy people shall be mine, and thy God my God." And she, also, had her high reward; for thus embarking her interest with that of Israel, "a full reward was given her of the Lord God of Israel, under whose shadow she was come to trust;" united to Boaz, she became the recorded ancestor of David and the Messiah. Unlike the son of Beor, she felt all her best hopes and affections bound up with those of God's Israel.

The rock on which Balaam made shipwreck of his soul was the same on which Judas Iscariot was lost, the lust of lucre; he loved it more than he loved the favour of God; he feared its loss more than he feared the curse of God. And is there nothing, it may be said to many, in your heart like this? no evil desire and motive preponderating against conscience, and preventing the perfect union of your heart to God nothing that makes a wall of partition between you and his people, between you and himself, and keeps you from "following the Lord fully," from "following the Lamb whithersoever He goeth ?" nothing that you love more than the Great Eternal himself? while your situation is like that of the amiable young man to whom our Savjour said, "Yet lackest thou one thing" one thing only, and yet that equivalent with many, yea, with all things; since it kept him from following Christ; it prevailed against eternity; it out.

weighed the value of his soul! But, whatever it may be, God is not mocked; He sees it, and withholds his blessing. God will never dwell in any heart in which He is not enthroned! God will never be a patron of idolatry; a party, a pander, to any man's lusts! He will have a living sacrifice, or none at all!

Are there none who are varnishing over some part of their conduct with specious excuses that cannot satisfy even themselves? If you are sincere, you will have no difficulty to explain; nothing crooked or obscure to justify. The way of God is a plain way; even the fool need not err therein. But remember, if you are found prevaricating, it is against your own soul; you are putting out your own light; and never can you attain ultimate happiness, but in resigning yourself up wholly to a state of union with the blessed and only Potentate, for time and eternity!" Happy is he that condemns not himself in that which he allows." You are ready to condemn Balaam; but, perhaps, you are less excusable; subjected to a less temptation, and favoured with a greater light. Pray that God would search your heart, and make you see if any wickedness lurk within it. Have you found out the leak in your character? have you detected the traitor in your camp? Destroy the foe; and, as you cannot by your own strength, apply to Jesus Christ for help! "If the Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed!" To as many as receive Him, He gives power to become sons of God by believ ing in his name. When you have identified your interest with that of Jesus Christ, his power will be so perfect in your weakness, that you shall prove at last "more than conquerors through Him that loved you.'

LII.

EARLY PIETY EXEMPLIFIED IN ABIJAH.*

1 Kings, xiv., 13: All Israel shall mourn for him ; .... because in him there is found some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel.

[Preached at Broadmead, Bristol, Lord's Day evening, October 15, 1826, on the death of a pious youth, the son of the Rev. John Foster.]

THE Connexion of these words is briefly this: A son of Jeroboam is taken ill; his mother assumes a disguise, and bears presents, in the hope of obtaining a favourable promise from the prophet; but the prophet, inspired, sees through the artifice, and denounces that when her feet shall enter the city in return, the child shall die. It is very remarkable that this child, born and bred in so wicked a house as that of Jeroboam, discovered sincere piety. His father instituted idolatry over all the land, and

VOL. IV.-B B B

From the notes of the Rev. T. Grinfield.

is never named but as he who not only sinned, but "made Israel to sin." Yet in his house there was a child who, unseduced by such an example, had in his heart "some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel." There are some remarks on this passage to which I shall request your serious attention.

1. It is here implied that religion is an internal principle: "something was found in him." Religion is seated in the heart; it consists in a right frame of the inner man-in the rectifying of the judgment, the will, and the affections. "The kingdom of God," says our Saviour, "is within you." The reign of God is established in every true believer. Hence God alone can certainly know his own people. There may be every outward appearance of religion to our view; but as the heart is the seat, and God alone can see the heart, so none but God can pronounce the final judgment on the character. Accordingly, the Apostle Peter, speaking of a good man, adds, "a brother, as I suppose:" even the discerning of spirits failed here . . . . . The first prayer with every one should be, "Create in me a clean heart, O God." Let this be done, and the congenial conduct will follow-as the water partakes of the spring-as the fruits represent the tree.

2. Religion is the best of principles: "some good thing"good by way of eminence above all else-that which makes all besides good-that which purifies from all evil. There can be no form of good but what is comprised in religion: it implies purity in affections as well as actions; benevolence not only in words, but exertions and sacrifices; integrity in purpose and proceeding; whatever is good in solitary or in social conduct. It is good, above all, as it qualifies for true felicity, and unites us to its author and substance in God. Without it, all is depraved and crooked-all energies are only perverted; even genius is only an instrument of destruction; the fairest gifts are only like adornments of the sepulchre in which human nature lies entombed and corrupted-wanting this, which is the salt of nature, and which alone purifies and preserves the man. Could we see things with the eyes of a spirit, not Babylon in ruins would appear so doleful a spectacle as a heart wrong towards God, where every thing about the moral creature is only, essentially, and incurably evil! 3. Religion has "the Lord God" for its author and its object: some good thing towards the Lord God of Israel." Towards Him it tends, as the flame tends upward. It is devotedness to his will, engagedness in his service, desire of his glory-a supreme concern to please Him whom man was made to please. He sits enthroned upon the pious heart, and rules all its powers and affections. Religion realizes his invisible hand and government in all things. It makes God, as it were, seen-God, as it were, felt! Hence religion casts a kind of splendour over all the actions of him who has it: it purifies from all that is unclean, elevates all that is low, and expands all that is contracted-impressing, in a degree, or its subject the character and image of