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wrecked; all are exposed, but God preserves and saves them all.

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A MORE PARTICULAR VIEW OF THE NECESSITY AND UTILITY OF THESE PAINFUL DISPENSATIONS.

But all this is too general; we must distinguish between the interior and exterior state of things. In the falls and ruins we have described, on what, properly speaking, does the danger descend? We lose the liberty of our holy assemblies; we are deprived of the assistance of preaching, and of the ordinances; but this is only the external part of religion; it is not its essence. These are the means which God usually makes use of, to produce and nourish christian virtues: but where ordinary means fail, providence supplies their place. He who knew how to send bread to Elijah in the wilderness by ravens; he who sent his angels to minister to his necessities, knows how to feed and satisfy our consciences in retreat and solitude. When the spirit speaks no longer by preaching as formerly, he ceases not to speak in the scripture; and, he is sometimes by it alone, best understood; because he is better regarded. Believers draw no longer from rivulets, yet their faith does not fail; for they ascend to the fountain head, and find there, more pure and refreshing waters. Are they in doubt, or in error? They look up to God and are instructed. Are they defiled by sin? They are reclaimed. Are they in distress? They are com

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forted. It is the comforter himself that speaks; they hear him; they understand his voice, and feel his power on their hearts: for they recall by meditation, the knowledge which he has imparted, and to their efforts, he joins his efficacious operations, to make them fruitful in faith and holiness: thus, where some means fail, others occupy their. place; they are less in number, but greater in power; and the effects of this power are always the same; faith is preserved, hope subsists, and charity abides. All virtues in the believer are lasting; they live in him, and manifest their life, by the good works which they produce: they are in him not like hidden seeds, but at a plant as its full strength and maturity; which is first adorned with flowers, and afterwards with fruit. Behold their victories over the world; behold the trophies with which the city of God in ruins, is ornamented! They may kill the body, and destroy animal life; but they cannot kill the soul, nor deprive it of that grace by which it lives. They may destroy buildings made of wood and stone, but believers are the true temples of the Holy Ghost, which cannot be demolished. What proportion is there between the means that men employ and such an effect? As they cannot save a sinner, they cannot destroy a believer. They may move him, because he is a man; they may astonish him by fear; they may allure him by hope; but they cannot prevent his being persuaded of the truths of the gospel, nor of his being sensibly affected with the love of God. The Lord has reserved to himself dominion over

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the movement of conscience, and, as he alone, has the right and knowledge which pertains to that dominion; he alone, can direct the conscience, as it seems good in his sight: thus, however men may dispose of the body, God will be always master of the heart. It is the house which he keeps, and there is none stronger than himself, to seize his goods and carry away his spoils.

Let us then pause here, and reflect on external appearances. They unroof the house of God, they break down its wainscoting, and carry away its ornaments; they do more than this, they reduce it to rubbish; they throw down its altars, they forbid public worship; its glory is removed from Israel. But pass to the interior state of things; view them in the lights of faith; all will then appear very different. You see, indeed, no longer large assemblies meeting together; believers are not found, as usual, one body, in one place, but they are united in heart. One and the same faith guides them, the same truth illuminates them, the same hope consoles them; each of them is united and joined in affection to all their brethren; and, this multitude, though dispersed, is, at present, to the eyes of God, as though they were collected; and, the prayers which they address to him, in the same spirit, excite his compassion; and draw down his promised blessings. By the same pleasant and powerful ties, though invisible, they are joined to an innumerable company of angels, and to the spirits of just men made perfect. They unite their

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their voices in concert with that happy assembly; they are commanded to imitate their purity and zeal; they rejoice in hope of being partakers of their glory, and in the actual foretaste of such felicity, though deprived of their visible and material buildings, they become, themselves, invisible and heavenly temples. Their heart is a sanctuary where God is worshipped in spirit and in truth; from it the perfume of prayer continually ascends; there they offer the sacrifices of praise by acknowledging the blessings of God, and there whole burnt offerings, by seeking the destruction of the body of sin; there are the URIM and THUMMIM; there rests the ark of the covenant; there is the book of the law; Jesus Christ dwells in them by faith; they grow daily in the knowledge of him, and faithfully obey his commandments. word, in their hearts are deposited and displayed the treasures of God, the remission of sins, the gifts of the holy spirit, christian strength and constancy, the joy of conscience, and the hope of a blessed immortality. These are the persons whom the world pretend to have vanquished; these are thé persons whom the world despise; yet they are not to be pitied as miserable, since they are great and precious before God: they are not vanquished, for, properly speaking, they are victorious; and their conquest is the more glorious, since, in some things, it is in conformity to the conquest of Jesus Christ, and since God has prepared for such conquerors an eternal triumph.

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It is, nevertheless, true, that this conquest is not obtained without suffering. Grace is preserved in them, in such a manner, as shews they are not exempted from the weaknesses of nature. We must then acknowledge, that the believer does not follow his calling, without vexation, from various inquietudes. As the evils which press him are violent, so also are his fears. Under the mighty hand of God, he is sometimes reduced to great extremities. He leads him into darkness, and not into light; he shuts up his way, so that he sees nothing round him but dangers, and the shadow of death; without knowing when he shall obtain deliverance. Hence, on these occasions, his faith is assaulted with so much violence, that he suffers rough and terrible conflicts. He knows not whether he may hope in God; he doubts whether he has not forgotten to be gracious, and whether in his anger, he has not removed his compassion. He complains of crying to him day and night, without receiving any answer; then his hope is almost extinct, and his consolation ready to fail: yet, as in winter, when the nights are dreadful, they are extremely long, so it happens here, for these afflicting intervals are longer than were expected. God would not only have him pass through them, but sojourn in such sorrow. But, in whatever depression of spirit the believer may fall, for him, there are always great alleviations: even these very trials, are an evidence that he belongs to God; for this is his common conduct towards his children. As they are weak, he would have them humble; as it is himself that

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