August 16

wonderfully made." Galen, a physician atheistically inclined, after examining the body in the number, the perfection, and the exquisite adaptation of all the parts, was fully convinced of the being of God, and composed a beautiful hymn to his praise. No mechanism will bear a comparison with that of the animal economy. It would be much more reasonable to suppose that a watch made itself, than that the eye, in which there are such marks and proofs of design and contrivance, should be the effect of chance. But it is an "earthly" house—earthly in its composition; earthly in its support; earthly in its destination—"Dust thou art," says the sentence, and "unto dust shalt thou return." It is the case not only with the body of the peasant, but of the prince—"His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his dust." And so it must be with the relics of the most endeared connection. The beauty of Sarah, who had endangered kings, was soon despoiled of its charms, and after a wish, how natural! to keep even the lovely shrine a little longer, Abraham was compelled to say, "Bury my dead out of my sight"—So the bereaved go, and inscribe over the grave of the once sparkling eye, and the once ruby lip, and the once fascinating tongue—

"How lov'd, how valued once avails thee not, To whom related or by whom begot: A heap of dust alone remains of thee, 'Tis all thou art, and all the proud shall be."—

It is also the earthly house of this "tabernacle." This reminds us of its weakness, frailty, and danger. A tabernacle, though covered, has no foundation; it has no nails fastened in a sure place, but pins and cords instead; it is a moveable, temporary, slender abode, soon taken down, and easily destroyed—The Apostle therefore speaks of its being "dissolved."

But what means "a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens?" Some suppose that it is a description of the resurrection-body. The body, when glorified, may well be thus expressed: but the reference here is to something nearer, something to be found at death, and enjoyed before the revival of the body; as we see in the verses immediately following. It is therefore a representation of the blessed condition into which the soul enters as soon as it leaves "dull mortality behind." The Apostle would intimate that the soul does not die with the body. It does not resemble Job's sons; when the house fell with them, they were crushed in the ruins; but here while the house is destroyed the resident escapes. The believer at death is not like an ejected tenant, forced out of his present dwelling without having another provided to receive him. "I go," said Jesus, "to prepare a place for you:" "where I am there shall also my servants be." This blessed abode is characterized by four articles. The first tells us that it is solid. It is not a tabernacle, but "a building." The second that it is reared by a divine agency. It is a building "of God," and "not made with hands." The third marks its permanence. It is "eternal." The fourth shows its situation. It is "in the heavens." We must arise and depart hence to enjoy it.

But here is a confidence expressed with regard to it: "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have

a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." The confidence is twofold: the confidence of faith and the confidence of hope. The first regards the reality of the thing. The belief of this is necessary. Some deny it; others doubt it: but Christians know it. This knowledge was not possessed by the heathens. None of them ever thought of the restoration of the body: but many suppose that they believed in the immortality of the soul. Yet what was their belief? Did they ever teach the doctrine publicly? Did they ever reason from it as a principle? Did they ever urge it as a motive in their morals? They could not; they were not convinced themselves. Seneca dared not decide whether death destroyed the soul or delivered it. And he who, of all their philosophers, spake the best upon the subject, left suspicions at death that his mind was not satisfied. But, as Paley says, among a thousand conjectures one of them happened to be right; and with them it was nothing better than conjecture—they had no proof of the thing itself: and if, as he justly adds, nothing more is known in religion than is proved, "life and immortality were brought to light through the Gospel." Now every Christian, however poor and illiterate, admits it as a fact; and though he cannot evince the certainty of his belief, as many did in the first ages, who suffered the loss of all things, yet he acts upon it, and in the whole course of the religious life "walks by faith, and not by sight."

There is also the confidence of hope. This regards not the reality of the state only, but our own claim to the possession of it. The one of these does not necessarily produce the other. How many, alas! are there, who believe there is such a glorious state, who have either no expectation of enjoying it, or an unfounded one that will issue in the most dreadful disappointment. They never, how strange! give themselves a moment's concern about it; though nothing can be of equal importance; and they know it! And know that if they do not receive a happy immortality they must endure a miserable one; and thus the greatest blessing will prove the greatest curse!

Yet all the partakers of divine grace do not possess this confidence equally. We read of the full assurance of hope, which supposes inferior degrees of it. We may also observe that no degree of it, however established, is free from fluctuations. The confidence of appropriation therefore, even in the Lord's own people is not so extensive as the confidence of belief. Neither is it essential to their safety—Yet how necessary is it to their comfort. How desirable is it amidst the troubles of life, and the growing infirmities of nature, to know that "when the earthly house of this tabernacle shall be dissolved, we shall have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens." "Say unto my soul, I am thy salvation:" and "give me a token for good."

What a question then arises here—"Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, and who shall dwell in his holy place?" The best way to ascertain your title to the inheritance of the saints in light is, to look after your meethness for it. Your hope of the one without the other is presumption and madness: for can you imagine that God will bring you into a condition which it is impossible for

you to fill or enjoy? But if he has prepared you for the blessedness, be assured he has prepared the blessedness for you. It is a holy state—and if you now love holiness: it is a state in which Christ is all in all—and if you are now rejoicing in him as your portion, "He that hath wrought you for the self same thing is God, who hath also given you the earnest of the Spirit."

AUGUST 17.—"And Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and, as they followed, they were afraid."—Mark 10:32.

THEY were now, it is said, in the way going up to Jerusalem, where he was to suffer and die upon the cross, after enduring every kind of insult and cruelty. But a circumstance is added which is worthy of our attention—"Jesus went before them: and they were amazed; and, as they followed, they were afraid." That this is not mentioned without design may be inferred from the brevity of the Evangelists. Had every thing pertaining to the history of our Lord been recorded, the world could not have contained the books that would have been written. But when it is necessary to comprise much in a little, a writer if wise, will introduce nothing that is insignificant and uninteresting—The incident therefore is mentioned to show how far he was from being unwilling to advance to the post of danger. The action intimates how full of zeal and courage he was; and that in the knowledge of all that lay before him he was eager to engage in the conflict. Many have vapoured away while the enemy was not at hand: and the children of Ephraim, carrying bows and spears, yet turned their back in the day of battle—Such a difference is there between an imaginary and a real, between a prospective and a present encounter. But this distinction does not apply to him. He who in the beginning said, "Lo, I come to do thy will, O God, I delight to do thy will; yea, thy law is within my heart," could also say as the scene approached, "I have a baptism to be baptized with; and how I am straitened till it be accomplished!" and after administering the memorials of his death, he arose from the table, and said, "That the world may know that I love the Father; and as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. Arise, let us go hence." Oh! if we were as willing to receive the blessings of his great salvation, as he was to procure them for us by anguish and blood, we should all be able immediately to rejoice in him with joy unspeakable and full of glory!

At other times he seemed to give his disciples the precedence. When any advantage was to be gained he followed them. It is an honour and a privilege to preach the word first in any place: and this privilege and honour he conferred on his disciples; for he sent them "before his face into every city and place whither he himself should come." But when the call was to suffer and die he went before them, to stimulate, encourage, and embolden them, by his own example—And who would not follow where he leads the way? How well may we glory in any fellowship with him! How fully may we be assured of the goodness of the cause! How confidently may we reckon upon our succour and success! "Lord," by thy grace "I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest."