promise, every prayer, all past success, all present blessings furnish an earnest pledge and assurance of this triumph. The perfection of the divine goodness may assure it to us. If God has commanded us, Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good, and if every command be but a reflection of his own beauty and excellence, O how assuredly will he overcome evil with good! If David could pray with confidence, Thou art good and doest good, teach me thy statutes, how sure may we be that this goodness will not rest till all are taught his statutes. If God commands us to love our enemies, his heart too is full of goodness, even to his enemies. The greatness af the mystery of godliness assures us of this. Think of the Creator of all becoming man! God was manifest in the flesh. It could not be for an object that should be left incomplete, a merely divided empire with Satan. The Lord of glory dying on the cross assures our triumph. The extent of his sacrifice furnishes a further ground of confidence. He gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time. He himself stated, the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. He chooses his own church, his very elect, to bear witness of this, and they rejoice to declare, we have seen, and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. The Almighty power of his Spirit is a yet further assurance to us. What are difficulties? Where are enemies to stand before this Spirit? This is the Word of the Lord: not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord. Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain, and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it. Zech. iv. 6, 7. And every thing else is summed up in the oath and covenant of God: Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else; I have sworn by myself, the word is gone out of my mouth in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear. In the Lord shall all the seed of Israel be justified, and shall glory. Isaiah xlv. 22, 25. Nothing in heaven, or in earth is, or can be, more certain than this full triumph of Christ and his church in the conversion of Jew and Gentile to him. Let us then, in the close, briefly notice the nature of the triumph. 1. There is the gathering of God's elect to the glory of their Saviour. This has ever been the blessed hope of his people. I will, that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory. John xvii. He promised when on earth, on the appearing of his sign in the heavens, coming in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, he would send his angels and gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matt. xxiv. His coming, and our gathering to him in resurrection-glory, are continually connected in the scriptures. (Zech. xiv. 5; 2 Thess. ii. 1; Jude 14.) Then shall we inherit his kingdom, and sit on his throne, and reign with him for ever and ever. What a glorious triumph will this be to all his believing saints! A second step in this triumph is the full conversion of Israel to Christ. The promises of this are exceedingly numerous. The 11th of Romans makes it plain on the New Testament evidence, verse 26, All Israel shall be saved, as it is written, there shall come out of Zion the deliverer, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob. For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. Read the 60th of Isaiah to discern the glories and blessedness of this full conversion of Israel. The third and last step in this triumph is, the general conversion of all nations to Christ. If such blessings were connected with the Jews' fall, what with their fulness? if their casting away was the reconciling of the world, what shall the recovery of them be but life from the dead? Yes, amidst all the varied scenes which the Bible shows our earth has yet to pass through,-blessed be God, the consummation is a new heaven and a new earth wherein dwelleth righteousness--the holy Jerusalem descending out of heaven from God, and the nations of them that are saved walking in the light of it—and all kings of the earth bringing their glory and honour into it. The tabernacle of God shall be with men, and he will dwell with them. There shall be no more curse, every tear shall be wiped away, and God himself be with men, and be their God, and his will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Oh! glorious consummation of the triumphs of Christ! Let us rejoice to hasten it on as the only true happiness of our earth. Let us seek to have a part also in the earliest and highest glories of the church. Let us remember that ardent desire of St. Paul, which made him such a blessing to the world, and so willing to suffer, counting all but loss for Christ; to know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable to his death, if by any means he might attain to the resurrection of the dead. Dear brethren, there is neither safety, happiness, nor glory but in being one with Christ and wholly bis. Judgments are speedily coming on our earth. They must precede this heavenly glory. Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand, and bring forth works meet for repentance, by following Christ at all costs and sacrifices. Joyfully also continue to aid the gospel among all your fellow men. progress of his Nothing given shall be lost, nothing done, that is done for his name's sake, be unrewarded in the day of his appearing. DISCOURSE II. THE SAVIOUR'S PERSEVERANCE AMIDST DISCOURAGE MENTS. [PREACHED IN CANTERBURY, JULY 12, 1840.] ISAIAH XLII. 4. He shall not fail nor be discouraged till he have set judgment in the earth, and the isles shall wait for his law. Of all the great objects that can interest the human mind, next to our own salvation, nothing can be higher or more important than the spread of the gospel of our Divine Redeemer. Man's blessedness and God's glory are here especially concerned. We become fellow-workers with God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost, for the greatest of all ends. While the object, however, is thus great, the trials, difficulties, and discouragements are proportionally great, and there is special need of patience. Zeal is apt to grow languid, and love to become cold, when the fruits are not so speedy, nor the success so full, as we have hoped. Our graces need revival and establishment on God's promises, and our faith to be confirmed by our Lord's example. Both are here set forth for this end, and especially the example of our Lord as the beloved servant of God, and his persevering love. The two former chapters of Isaiah had been foretelling the comfort and triumph of Jerusalem, and the time when all should see the glory of the Lord. But what delays were to take place? Seven centuries before the first advent, and above eighteen hundred years more since, ere the complete fulfilment. The Lord seeing this trial of his people's faith, gives the prophecy contained in the xliind chapter. He calls our attention to that elect in whom his soul delights, to his meekness, his tenderness, his unfailing and unwearied love in carrying on the work given to him, till all should be fulfilled. Our subject is the progress of the gospel of Christ. Let us consider I. The great aim of Christ. I. THE GREAT AIM OF CHRIST-to set judgment in the earth. His object in sending his gospel through the world is to bring in universal holiness and obedience. Here is the charter of all our missionary labours. The gospel is both a privilege and a trust. It is a privilege in the present blessings which it confers on those who truly receive it, and it is a trust committed to us that we may further its progress and spread it through the earth.. In this aim of Christ we have three views of what he designs to accomplish in the progress of the gospel: its sphere, its nature, its durableness. 1. ITS SPHere. In the earth. Not in heaven;judgment is perfectly there already; but in the C |