SERMON XXIV. THE FIDELITY OF THE PROMISES OF GOD. PSALM LXXXVIII. 10, 11. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in de struction? SUCH was the melancholy expostulation of king David with his Creator, when, stretched upon the bed of suffering and sorrow, he was in momentary expectation of resigning his agonized spirit into the hands of God who gave it. Whatever was the answer which the eternal spirit poured into the heart of the afflicted monarch at this pathetic appeal; whatever was the nature of that consolation which God vouchsafed to him, we know to us a most satisfactory reply has been accorded, and a practical affirmation has been given, that God will shew wonders to the dead, that his loving kindness will be declared in the grave, and his faithfulness in destruction. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive," is the great doctrine of the Christian revelation; a doctrine which sets forth the real state of man in this world, and proclaims him a candidate for the honours of immortality. All that we do, My Brethren, must be done with reference to this doctrine, and we shall find it will supply a motive to human conduct applicable in all circumstances, and durable through all temptations. I shall now consider, My Brethren, first, what is the loving kindness which the Lord hath promised to his followers; and secondly, how that loving-kindness is shewed in the grave, and his faithfulness proved in destruction, I. God's "loving kindness" to Christians is not merely displayed in those general benefits and blessings which, through whatever channel they come, or whatever shape they assume, are still the gift of his hand; but is implied in a more especial manner in that gracious covenant with his people, by which he has promised on certain conditions to blot out all their sins, to remember their iniquities no more, and notwithstanding the transgressions of their fathers and themselves, to restore to them that kingdom which was prepared for them before the beginning of the world. The messenger of this loving covenant was no other than the Son of God, the seal of it was the blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; the terms of it are belief and peni tence, eventuating in a new life of piety and vir tue; the reward of it is life everlasting to all believers, who, after "they die in the Lord, rest from their labours, and their works do follow them." "He that believeth in me," says our Saviour," hath passed from death to life.” He has in his own mind a conviction of his real situation, of which no trials, no pains, no terrors, can deprive him; he knows that he was a miserable sinner, that he was born with the taint of sin so deeply contracted in his nature, that he was a child of wrath, and liable to eternal death and condemnation. But he knows that to free him from that desperate condition his Redeemer died, that having risen again from the dead he has gone to prepare a place for them that love him that he is now at the right hand of God making intercession for him; that, when Christ shall appear again, he shall also appear with him in glory. When the day of our Lord's severest trial and suffering drew nigh, and he was about to quit by a death of excruciating pain, that world whose sins had brought him to the cross, he summoned his few disciples around him and blessed them in these emphatic words; "Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world, give I unto you; let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid." This peace of mind, My Brethren, arising from the con sciousness of possessing God's covenanted mercy is, in truth, the most valuable treasure that this world contains. It enhances every pleasure of health, and affluence, and prosperity, and enables its possessor to bear up against all the assaults of adversity. Amid all the changes and chances of this mortal life, it never fails to produce a serenity and resignation equal to their pressure. It is aptly compared to "the goodly pearl" for which the merchant gladly barters all his merchandise, and the landlord disposes of his inheritance. From all temptations it is a protection; in all sorrows it is a comforter; from all vices it is a guardian preserver. It is the present angel in all the troubled waters of the soul, which allays their fermentation and hushes them to a calm. In all our transactions with the world, it is the amulet of our integrity; it is the inhabitant of our homes, and spreads its heavenly halo over our families and domestics. No loss of wealth, or friends, or honours, but it alleviates; no pain of body or of mind (the common penalties of humanity) but it assuages; and when, like our poor brother, whose body we are here to inter, we are "feeble and sore broken," that peace of God, which passeth all understanding, descends with healing in its wings, and opens wide those everlasting gates at which the King of glory is gone in, to his tried, and tempted, but approved follower. S SERMON XXIV. THE FIDELITY OF THE PROMISES OF GOD. PSALM LXXXVIII. 10, 11. Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? Shall the dead arise and praise thee? Shall thy loving kindness be declared in the grave? Or thy faithfulness in destruction? SUCH was the melancholy expostulation of king David with his Creator, when, stretched upon the bed of suffering and sorrow, he was in momentary expectation of resigning his agonized spirit into the hands of God who gave it. Whatever was the answer which the eternal spirit poured into the heart of the afflicted monarch at this pathetic appeal; whatever was the nature of that consolation which God vouchsafed to him, we know to us a most satisfactory reply has been accorded, and a practical affirmation has been given, that God will shew wonders to the dead, that his loving kindness will be declared in the grave, and his faithfulness in destruction. "As in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be |