heritage of the servants of the Lord; and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord."

It is this peculiar providence that has preserved the Church of Christ, in defiance of the rage and the power of the world in arms against her, that, while her persecutors sent their thousands daily to the dungeon and the scaffold, made thousands immediately rise to replace them-that has rendered the cruelty of a Nero and the craftiness of a Julian the means of her purification, but unavailing to accomplish her extinction,— and that has so often, and in such a variety of ways, turned the devices of princes, and the profounder and more daring devices of Popes, into foolishness.

How elevated and glorious is the position thus occupied by the members of the body of Christ! For them, all the hosts of heaven, under the direction of their Lord and Saviour, are continually ministering. Every creature in heaven and on earth is under the sway of the Saviour's sceptre; for he is raised far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come; and hath all things put under him, and is made head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all. How peculiarly are the redeemed the object of care to the providence of God, since it is in the midst of them that he dwells upon earth, and manifests his power and his glory, since he has declared that they are dear to him as the apple of his eye, and since he is preparing them by his grace to be the associates of angels, and the inhabitants of

glory. Must not providence have those under its special guardianship for whom the Saviour ever lives to make intercession, in whom the hosts of heaven and the spirits of the just take the deepest interest, and who are the appointed medium of conveying to all nations the glad tidings of mercy and of reconciliation. Is it not of them, as the church of the Redeemer, that it has been said, "I the Lord do keep it; I will water it every moment: lest any hurt it, I will keep it night and day. Thy Maker is thine husband; the Lord of hosts is his name; and thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel, the God of the whole earth shall he be called. For the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed; but my kindness shall not depart from thee, neither shall the covenant of my peace be removed; saith the Lord that hath mercy on thee?"

How wonderfully have natural causes, by a marvellous coincidence of providence, operated for the deliverance and safety of the Church! The history of Joseph affords a beautiful illustration of this remark, as it exhibits the series of dispensations by which he was raised to honour and authority, and thus became the instrument of preserving much people alive. The deliverance of the Church from Haman's conspiracy by a singular concurrence of circumstances, all taking place in a natural order, but all meeting for a special purpose, by the overruling appointment of God, is another confirmation of the same remark. But examples are innumerable, and many may have happened in our own individual experience, which fully shew, that by a combination of things,

occurrgin in the ordinary course of providence, and that by a predisposition of persons who had no previous consultation with each other, the most important and beneficial designs are accomplished. Ought we not to trace the arrangement and the result to the agency of Him who worketh all things after the counsel of his own will?

Do we not see the care which God in his providence takes of his people, by the frequency with which the most powerful means employed for their destruction have been rendered ineffectual, and the weakest used for their defence have been crowned with success? From the beginning he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the spirit; and numerous and skilful have been the devices which the children of this world formed against the children of light. I shall not urge as an example the first planting of Christianity by the instrumentality of men destitute of secular power, without literature or influence, and in the face of the opposition raised against them by the rulers of the earth, who set themselves against the Lord, and against his anointed. But after the miraculous dispensation is considered as terminating, how constantly has God in his providence interposed for the preservation of his people. The emperors of Rome wielded the power of nearly the whole world, and many of them added to this power the deepest policy, and zealously employed their power and their policy for the destruction of the Christian people; but this people have survived their persecutors, and exhibit in their continued ex

istence and increase, the bush burning, but not consumed. By means the most simple, all the malice of their enemies has been rendered harmless.

To convince us that the God of grace is, at the same time, the God of providence, he has made his providence co-operate with his word in the fulfilment of his promises to his people. Do we not see that those who have been their enemies, he has considered and treated as his? Has he not generally followed their persecutors with judgments in this world, while he has abundantly rewarded those who shewed them kindness. Has not the time of their greatest extremity been often the time of his gracious interposition? When David was in circumstances in which it was impossible for him to escape, a messenger arrives, and announces to Saul that the Philistines invaded the land. What a beautiful and affecting illustration of this we have in the case of Hagar: "the water was spent in the bottle, and she cast the child under one of the shrubs; and she went and sat her down over against him a good way off, for she said, let me not see the death of the lad. And she sat over against him, and lift up her voice, and wept. And God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went, and filled the bottle with water and gave the lad drink." When Rabshakeh besieged Jerusalem with a great army, and blasphemed the God of Israel, a seasonable and providential rebuke made him return to his own land where he fell by the sword. It is when his people are in extremity and distress, that God shews himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect towards him: it is when

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they are brought to look to his compassion and power alone for deliverance, and say, "Help us, O Lord our God, for we rest on thee, O Lord, thou art our God; let not man prevail against thee," that he hears their prayer, and grants them deliverance. It was

when Zion was in ruins that David consoled himself by remembering the former kindness of God towards her, and expressed his confidence that the discovery of this kindness, and that at the fittest season, would again be renewed. "Thou shalt arise, and have mercy upon Sion; for the time to favour her, yea, the set time is come. For thy servants take pleasure in her stones, and favour the dust thereof."

As to the questions, whether the Almighty conducts the government of the universe by his own immediate agency; or, whether he originally communicated to every substance an efficacy by which it will continue, without any direct efficiency from God, to produce the ends of his government; or, whether he has delegated this power to intelligent and ministering spirits;— they appear to me to be incapable of solution, and founded on a misapprehension of the character of the Deity. They seem to me to proceed on the supposition, that though the Supreme Being possesses the power of attending at the same time to all possible occurrences, it is somewhat unworthy of his infinite perfection to do so; and that, after creating worlds, and appointing the laws of their varied phenomena, it is more befitting he should leave their movements and operations to subordinate agents.

Without presuming to decide in what way the Deity conducts the arrangements of his providence, I