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of this blessed result. Speaking to the Corinthians of the prevailing sins of the Gentile world, the indulgence of which would exclude the ungodly from the kingdom of heaven, he adds: "And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God." Again, to the Romans he writes: Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life." Again: "The love of Christ constraineth us, that we should henceforth live not unto ourselves, but unto him that died for us and rose again." "The life that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."

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God forbid, then, that what the wisdom of an inspired apostle hath thus joined together in the closest union, should ever be separated by those who profess that faith which he taught, and acknowledge the glorious gospel of the blessed God. The truths of religion may be set before us, as they display the perfections of God, and the wonders of his wisdom; but if they are not impressed upon our hearts, in their application to the wants and infirmities of our nature, in their demands of holiness, and in their provision for the reformation of our life, they will fail to produce that result for which they are calculated, practical and vital godliness. The duties of reli

gion may be enforced by all the energy and sanction of divine authority; but unless the sublime motives of the gospel be adopted, the service of God will be deficient in sincerity and in zeal. Neither can we fully appreciate the comfort which Christianity affords, unless by this connected view of its whole system. Its doctrines have a natural tendency to promote the purpose for which they were designed; and while we adopt the sublime motives by which they urge us to the cultivation of that holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord, every step of our progress will establish in us the faith of Christ. For if the primary object of the gospel be accomplished in us here, by the renovation of our hearts and the holiness of our lives, we have every reasonable confidence that its ultimate object will also be accomplished in us hereafter, by the final salvation of our souls, and our admission into the holiest of all by the blood of Jesus.

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SERMON XII.

THE OBEDIENCE OF THE RECHABITES.

JEREMIAH XXxv. 13, 14.

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

THAT the record of the dealings of God towards his chosen people, would afford us some information respecting his general government of the world, might easily be conjectured, by any one who considered, that the great principles of his

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government, depending on the immutable relations of good and evil, must be alike unchangeable; and that the characters which are opposed to his purity, or which are in unison with his righteousness, will invariably meet with their correspondent recompence and reward. not, however, left to draw examples for the guidance of our actions, from the history of God's people, upon the mere grounds of conjecture, however plausible or consistent. The same power that ruled the events of former ages, has caused them to be recorded for the express purpose of our instruction; and the wisdom that has thus recorded them, has declared this purpose in the clearest terms. "Whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come." This purpose, then, of the divine Spirit, has invested the pages of the Bible with an importance that belongs to no other history: inasmuch as the causes and circumstances of the various events are explained, not according to the imagination of fallible and short-sighted man, but according to the wisdom and knowledge of Jehovah himself. It has therefore been usual, in all ages of the church, to make use of the example of the Jews, to illustrate the consequences of obedience or disobedience to the will of God. And well would it be for us, if, while we read of Judah's rebellion and iniquity, and wonder at her per

verseness and ingratitude, we should turn our thoughts to the close examination of our own hearts; and instead of confining the expression of our feelings, either of sorrow or indignation, to her calamities, or her sins alone, learn to tremble for ourselves, lest we also fall into condemnation, and leave behind us the record of our privileges and our ingratitude, of our iniquities and our punishment.

The chapter before us contains an impressive appeal to the inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem, from the prophet Jeremiah, upon their continued neglect of the word of God, and the commandments of the Most High. After having so long (to use the words of another prophet) "stretched out his hands unto a disobedient and gainsaying people," the Lord endeavoured to show them their folly and ingratitude, by setting before them the example of a race of men, who had, for a series of years, complied with the injunctions of their progenitor, and still refused to break the commandments which he had given. Thus did he, according to the words of Moses, them to jealousy by those which were not a people ;" and "provoke them to anger" by those whom they might esteem only a "foolish nation."

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It appears that the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, moved with fear of the invading army of the king of Babylon, had left the pastoral habits, to which the institutions of their ancestor

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