the love of Christ. In every trial, our Saviour seems to say to us, "Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" His estimate was, when about to suffer, "Now is the Son of Man glorified; and God is glorified in Him." Let us arm ourselves with the same mind; being " strengthened with all might, by His glorious power, unto all long-suffering with joyfulness." "There remaineth a Rest to the people of God," which must be ardently desired by weary pilgrims. But, though delayed, the inheritance is certain, and the promise is sure: “ Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the Temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, which is New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name: Rev.

iii. 12.

APPENDIX:

CONTAINING

FRAGMENTS AND ABSTRACTS OF SERMONS,

PREACHED BY THE REV. RICHARD CECIL,

CHIEFLY IN 1795 AND 1796,

AS TAKEN DOWN BY MRS. HAWKES:

WITH

REMARKS

MADE BY HIM, AS RECORDED BY MRS. HAWKES,

ON VARIOUS SUBJECTS.

FRAGMENTS AND ABSTRACTS OF SERMONS.

CHRIST A SHELTER.

For Thou hast been a shelter for me.-PSALM lxi. 3.

RELIGION has often been contemplated as it exhibits patience, hope, safety; but it has not been sufficiently considered as it exhibits wisdom. Every man needs a shelter; and he must secure it in time, or be undone in eternity. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished." God in Christ is the sanctuary of man but this hiding-place can only be enjoyed by faith taking hold of the promise: see Isa. xxvi. 20. The proud and the profane will trifle and boast: but here is their folly ;-their refuge will not hide them; their strong-holds will not secure them in time of danger. While false philosophy is pulling down the only shelter, and can propose nothing but a cobweb in its place, man remains a poor, exposed, helpless creature and this surely is not wisdom in one who feels every day his need of a shelter, even with respect to his meanest part-the body. But what is the body to the soul!-the body will soon be eaten of worms, while the soul will live for ever. Man is a guilty creature, a depraved creature, a tempted and afflicted creature, a helpless and dying creature; and therefore, if he is wise, he will be careful to seek a shelter, and will be thankful that God has provided

one.

See Psalm xci.-Nothing but true and vital Religion, and faith in the Son of God, will prove a shelter; and the Minister who speaks of less than this, is a blind guide. When we speak of a shelter, we must not stop short of Him, "whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation, through faith in His blood:" Rom. iii. 25.

The shelter which man needs, and which God has provided, is a tried shelter. It is a matter of experience: "Thou hast been a shelter for me."

A cloud of witnesses might be brought, to prove that God has provided a shelter; and that it is a tried one: see Noah, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Hezekiah, Daniel, St. Paul, &c. This is also a daily shelter it is what David calls, in another place, a very present help in time of trouble":-as if he had said, "I can rely upon Him for the moment."

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The true Christian, in every age, is taught of God to seek this shelter; to turn from all others, and to make use of it upon all occasions. And, as he finds his emergencies come on, he has a spiritual habit of turning to the shelter God affords. His language is, "Tell me, O Thou whom my soul loveth, where thou makest thy flock to rest at noon?" Where is the shelter, in which, under the heat of temptation, the storm of persecution, losses or crosses, I may lie down? I have gone to shelters that have made great promise of repose, but they could not yield it. I fainted under them; and now seek a better covering.

Let every Christian, who has found this shelter, put honour upon it; and consider his temptations, trials, and afflictions as sent to say, "Come under the shadow of my wings." This is not a metaphysical or controverted point: every man needs a shelter; and there is no case where the true Christian may not find it always ready. To employ this shelter daily, and universally, is the life of faith.