God is a holy God; heaven is a holy place; and hope should be a holy grace.

A hope that is not productive of holiness may exist in the heart of a hypocrite, but such a hope will be cast out of the renewed heart; and, like the raven which Noah sent forth from the ark, will not return unto it again.

Try your hope, then, beloved readers, by this rule; and should it be found, as I trust it will be found, a good hope, then may you rejoice therein. In this world many things may occur to cast down and disquiet your souls; but so long as your hope is fixed on that within the veil-so long as you confidently expect treasure in heaven, and glory that shall endure when there is no more pain-so long as your anchor is fixed, not on things that can be moved, but on the Rock that cannot be moved, you may rejoice, for you have a good portion, a portion infinitely more valuable than that of the monarch, who, when dividing his treasure amongst his followers, said, I reserve hope for myself! for his hope speedily perished: but your hope maketh not ashamed; it ends only in fruition.

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CHRISTIAN LIBERTY GLORIOUS.

ROM. viii. 21.

"The glorious liberty of the children of God."

ERHAPS there is no nation in which civil liberty is more justly appreciated than our own. To attain to it, our forefathers did

not hesitate to brave the dangers of the battle-field; and in maintaining it their posterity have ever manifested the most uncompromising and undaunted resolution. And if any civil liberty deserves the name of glorious, that of Britain undoubtedly does. In some countries, as, for example, in the United States, liberty degenerates into licentiousness; but in our own, men enjoy large and rational liberty; nothing is withheld from them save that licence which might be injurious to society at large.

But though civil liberty is a glorious privilege, it is not that to which the apostle alludes in the text; for whilst civil liberty is extended alike to believers and to unbelievers, the liberty referred to in the text is peculiar to God's people; it is "the glorious liberty of the children of God."

To determine the nature of this liberty, and to show how justly it merits the epithet glorious, will be the object of my inquiries in this discourse.

That mankind are by nature in a state of bondage

is evident from the Scriptures. They may and do say in the pride of their hearts, We never were in bondage to any one. This, however, is a vain boast; for it is written, Of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought into bondage ;" and it would be no difficult matter to show that man is overcome of many enemies, of sin, of Satan, of the law, of the world, of death. From the yoke, however, which these enemies impose, the children of God are made free; as it is written, " If ye continue in My word, then are ye My disciples indeed; and ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

But what does this liberty consist in? Christian liberty is not a deliverance from the obligation of obedience to the precepts of the divine law, but a deliverance from its condemnatory power. Some, indeed, have contended that the believer is no longer bound by the moral law. Such an opinion, however, meets with no countenance in Scripture; for both the Old and New Testament refer the believer to the law, as the standard to which his life is to be conformed.

And whatever licentious men may urge in support of their view, the true believer has an advocate within him which allows him not to listen to such reasoning. His renewed heart teaches him that the law is holy, and the commandment holy, and just, and good; so that he feels no wish to be delivered from his obligation to obey it; he only regrets that, through the weakness of the flesh, he in many things offends against it, and in many things comes short of it.

But though as a child of God he admits himself to be under the law to Christ, he is not under that

bondage through it in which men are held, when ignorant of Him who is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth, So long as a man is ignorant of the hope set before us in the gospel, and has no hope save that which is built upon his own obedience to the divine law, he must, if he has any knowledge of the extent and spirituality of the divine commandments, be most miserable, for he must be sensible that he has not kept and cannot keep them.

I am well aware, however, that Satan is very skilful in allaying the alarm which a conviction of this kind naturally excites. When he can no longer bring men to say, like the young ruler, "All these have I kept from my youth up," he then tries to fill them with a high opinion of their own sincerity; and would gladly persuade them, that since they have a desire to do the will of God, the Lord will say, "It is well that it was in thine heart to obey," and will not enter into judgment with them. This is, however, a broken reed to lean upon; for though men persuade themselves that a partial obedience will save them, the law will hear of no compromise: "Pay me that which thou owest," is its unvarying language; and as none can meet that stern demand so long as they are out of Christ, its curse and penalty rests upon them all. When, therefore, men feel that nothing short of perfect obedience can profit them, they are either miserable through their vain and futile attempts to obey, or they are weary and heavy laden through a dread of that curse which rests upon them; and thus, as St. Paul observes, Mount Sinai gendereth

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unto bondage: it commands and condemns men, but it tenders them no help.

That which the law cannot do, however, Christ does. When penitents have come to Him, and have received Him to be to them and to do for them all that He has promised, and He has given them power to become the sons of God, He not only takes away the burden of guilt which was upon them, but He teaches them thenceforth to build their hope upon His righteousness, and not upon their own. Thus they are made free from that overwhelming dread of condemnation which before haunted them, and can confidently say, "Though I have sinned and done. wickedly," and though I am sensible that in` many things I daily offend, yet I know that I am in Christ Jesus, and that I am walking, not after the flesh, but after the Spirit; and I also know that to such there is no condemnation; I will therefore fear no evil: I will no longer dread, though I will ever love the holy law of God, for its condemnatory power is taken away. "Thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!"

This is liberty-liberty only to be appreciated by those who have felt the pangs of a defiled and sintroubled conscience, and who by coming unto Christ have found rest.

Christian liberty is not deliverance from the incursions of sin, but deliverance from its tyrannical dominion. Of the natural man it must be said, sin reigns`in his mortal body; sin has the dominion over him, so that with both body and soul he serves sin. Of this we daily behold too many living proofs;

for, as St.