March 10

are not yet ended. Whatever be their indulgences, earth will always be distinguished from heaven. They are now in the warfare; the triumph is to come. This is their seed-time, and they sow in tears; but they shall reap in joy.

Let us learn our obligation to the Redeemer of sinners. Our tears would never have been wiped away, but a miserable life would have been followed by a more miserable eternity, had not he interposed on our behalf, and bore our sins in his own body on the tree. "These are they that came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb; therefore are they before the Throne—"

Christians! in the multitude of your thoughts within you, let this comfort delight your souls. Life is the date of all your griefs. If the one be short, the other cannot be long. Not a single tear beyond the grave! Bear up faith, hope, and patience a little longer, and the "eye shall see evil no more."

What folly and madness to resign this prospect, and when the blessedness is within our reach, to sacrifice it for a thing of nought! Yet are we in the number of those whose tears will be thus wiped away? It is certain that many are not heirs of this promise; and therefore whatever be their present distresses, they only feel the beginning of sorrows. Poor as their pleasures now are, they are the best—they are all the happiness—they will know. And the vanity and vexation of spirit here will issue in outer darkness hereafter, where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth—

"But as yet there is a hope, You may his mercy know; Though his arm be lifted up, He still forbears the blow"—

MARCH 10.—"When the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feasts, he that entereth in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate: he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it."—Ezekiel 46:9.

To preserve the remembrance of his mighty works; to attach the people to the true religion by the frequent use of public and instructive services and ceremonies; to allow them seasons of rest and pleasure; to promote their acquaintance with their brethren; and to prefigure good things to come under the dispensation of the Gospel; God appointed various "solemn feasts" among the Jews. There were more especially three; the feast of the Passover or of unleavened bread, the feast of Pentecost or of weeks, and the feast of Tabernacles. Each of these was annual, and all the males were required to attend upon them in Jerusalem, where alone they could be celebrated.

In doing this, they "came before the Lord." For his dwelling-place was in Zion. There he sat between the cherubim, and communed with the worshippers from off the mercy-seat. Of his presence there, he gave not only real but miraculous proof, in the cloud of glory, and in the answers from the holy oracle. Though his

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manifestations are less sensible, he is as truly present in the Christian as in the Jewish sanctuary. It is insured by his promise, and confirmed by the holy and happy experience of all his people. Hence they feel this to be the principal attraction when they assemble together in his name. They love the habitation of his house, because it is the place where his honour dwelleth.

But what means this law of the temple to regulate the attendants in their ingress and egress? "He that entereth in by the north gate to worship shall go out by the way of the south gate; and he that entereth by the way of the south gate shall go forth by the way of the north gate; he shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in, but shall go forth over against it."

First, it was to prevent confusion, and to keep order in their comings and goings. God is not the God of confusion, but of peace. He has not deemed it beneath him to enjoin, "Let every thing be done decently and in order." He is the example of what he requires—order pervades all his works. The heavenly bodies are called "the army of heaven," to signify not only power but discipline; not only multitude but arrangement—"He brings out their host by number, he calleth them all by names." When Peter went into the sepulchre, he saw "the linen clothes lie, and the napkin that was about his head, not lying with the linen clothes, but wrapped together in a place by itself." This proved how unlikely it was that the body could have been stolen away in haste and fear, either by foes or friends; and shows the presence of mind and calmness with which our Saviour left the tomb—but does it not also show that he did nothing negligently and disorderly? All greatness, in proportion to its degree, demands order. Surely not only holiness but decorum becomes God's house for ever. How far this is often displayed in our assemblies, especially in entering and departing, we leave observers to judge.

Secondly, to express respect and reverence. It is deemed only polite and becoming for persons in leaving a room not to turn their back on the company. Courtiers always leave the presence of the king with their faces towards him—The very thing God here requires for himself. He "will be sanctified in all that come nigh him." "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him." The prohibition here by an outward and visible sign, shows the inward and spiritual obeisance and homage his infinite majesty demands and deserves. He complains of the want of it: "They have turned unto me the back, and not the face: though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them, yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction." Therefore, says he, to express their punishment, under the same image with their sin: "I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity."

Thirdly—That you are not to turn back in serving God, but to go forward. "If any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him." "But," says the Apostle, "we are not of them that draw back unto perdition, but of them that believe to the saving of the soul"—that is, who "continue in the faith," "to life everlasting." We are not even to look back; but to say, with Paul, "For-