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ambassadors of Christ! How are the privileges of the Lord's people sacrificed, in order to compliment the " man with the gold ring and the gay clothing!" How little difference is there put betwixt the precious and the vile! The land is groaning under a weight of sin, and the sin of the land is crying for vengeance at the hand of God. I doubt if these, and many other offences, and the occasions of them, be removed, till God put to his hand, as in the manner you were hearing in the doctrine; therefore we had need to prepare for a storm: "Prepare to meet thy God, O Israel."

2. A second inference I make is, If it be so, that God ushers in the restoration and up-building of David's tabernacle in such a way, here is ground of encouragement to the Lord's people. Whatever dismal days may cast up, all shall issue in the advancement of the interest of Christ, and the good of them that love him.

There are only these grounds and topics of consolation I would mention to you.

1st, Here is comfort and encouragement, that Zion's King liveth, and he will outlive all his enemies: "The Lord liveth, blessed be my rock and let the God of my salvation be exalted."

2dly, He not only lives, but reigns; and this is ground of comfort: "Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King." Why? "The Lord reigneth, even thy God, O Zion, to all generations. The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice, let the multitude of the isles be glad thereof."

3dly, He is adjusting all his providential dispensations for the good and advantage of his own people: “He rides in the very heavens for their help." "God's way," many times, "is in the sea, and his paths in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known." But though we cannot trace his steps, yet well does he know the way he is taking with his people, when he is plunging them as it were over head and ears in the deep waters of Marah. "Why sayest thou, O Jacob, and speakest, O Israel, My way is hid from the Lord, and my judgment is passed over from my God? Hast thou not known? hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary? there is no searching of his understanding. Therefore thy way cannot be hid from the Lord, nor thy judgment passed over from thy God," Is. xl.

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4thly, Know, for thy encouragement, believer, that whatever he do with you, though he should send a scattering wind, and sift you among the nations, yet not one grain shall be lost; his eye follows his remnant, wherever they go: "The

eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is upright before him."

And then know, for thy encouragement, believer, that, go where thou wilt, thy God will go with thee, a God in Christ will bear thee company: "When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the floods, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt, neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. Fear not, for I am with thee: be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee, yea, I will help thee, yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness." And is not this glorious encouragement? He has his people set at all times as a seal upon his heart and arm, whatever be his dispensations towards them.

Then know, believer, whatever be thy situation in the world, or whatever be thy apprehensions of thyself, thou art standing in heaven in the person of thy High Priest, thy Head, and thy elder Brother. As the high priest, when he stood within the veil, represented all the people of Israel; so all the true Israel of God are standing within the veil of these visible heavens, in their great representative: "He hath made us accepted in the beloved." And is not this glorious encouragement?

I conclude with two or three words of advice in this cloudy day, or in case a darker day cast up.

1. My advice to every one that has any regard to their eternal well-being is, To see that their standing be right: for if you be not standing upon the rock, upon the foundation God has laid in Zion, you will never stand in the day of trial; when the flood of trouble and persecution comes, you will give way, and be carried down before the flood. Therefore take care that you be settled upon the rock Christ, "not having your own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith."

2. Another advice I give you is, Beware of an evil heart of unbelief; for the root of all apostacy and defection lies here: Heb. iii. 12: "Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." Let your life in the world be a life of faith on the Son of God: for there is no standing, no warring, but by faith: "This is the victory whereby we overcome the world, even our faith."

3. Another advice I give to the Lord's remnant is, That they would beware of the prevailing defections in the day and generation in which they live. Keep your garments

clean; for they that keep the Lord's way, and his testimony, he will take care of them, and keep them: Rev. iii. 10: “ Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth." And then,

4. See that you be among the mourners in Zion, that sigh and cry for all the dishonours done to God in the day in which you live. God takes care of such in an evil day: he puts a mark upon them, and gives charge to the man with the slaughter-weapon, not to touch any of them upon whom the mark is set. Then,

5. Another advice I give you is, Beware of every thing that may mislead you; beware of every person that may mislead you: "Evil communication corrupts good manners." Christ in a special manner bids us, "beware of false prophets, that come in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves." We are advised in scripture to beware of se veral kinds of guides, that we may not commit our souls to their keeping or direction in their eternal concerns. As, First, We are to beware of blind guides, men that are ignorant of the work of God upon their own hearts, that are ignorant of the narrow way that leadeth unto life. How shall they lead others to heaven, who are not travelling the road to it themselves? When "the blind lead the blind, both will fall into the ditch."

Then we are advised, likewise, to beware of barking guides: Beware of dogs; that is to say, men who bark at the truth, and who bark at honest ministers and Christians that desire to adhere to the truth in a day of defection. "Beware of

dogs, beware of evil workers,, beware of the concision."

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We are, likewise, warned against dumb guides, who have not a mouth to open for Christ or his cause. The watchman is to give the cry when the city is in danger of being given up into the hands of the enemy. The Lord commands his ministers to cry aloud, and to spare not, to lift up their voice like a trumpet, and show his people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins." It is a sign that the watchman is in a confederacy with the enemy, who is silent when the enemy is breaking down the carved work of God's temple: can that man be counted faithful to his trust?

Then we are, likewise, to beware of erroneous guides, men that are tinctured and leavened with error. A sad watch of this kind has of late come abroad into the world; a whole system of errors, in a catechism published for promoting Ar

minian, Arian, and Socinian errors, and in order to darken the truth. Beware of such erroneous men, who will " give a stone for bread, and a scorpion instead of a fish;" and those also, who industriously skreen and cover erroneous men from due censure. No man that has a regard to his natural life, but will take care to have a steward that will provide him with wholesome food; and much greater reason have persons to beware of erroneous teachers, that poison souls with erroneous doctrine.

Likewise beware of intruding guides, that force themselves, or are active in intruding others into the priest's office, or allow themselves to be forced in upon a representation or a sham call, "for a piece of bread:" they can never be true and faithful guides for souls, that do so. "No man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God." And, in opposition to such, it is the duty of the Lord's people at this day to "stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free."

Then another advice,I would give you is, O "keep your hearts in the love of God." Study to maintain the lively impresssion of the love of God in Christ; for that will kindle your zeal for God and his glory, in a day when "the love of many is waxed cold." And it will make you stand when the floods of trouble and persecution are running; for "many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it : if a man would give all the substance of his house for this love, it would be utterly contemned" and despised.

man.

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And then another advice I give you is, Study to maintain the fear of God upon your spirits, and beware of the fear of The fear of man has been a terrible snare in our day and generation; many have been carried off their feet by the fears or flatteries of men; but beware of this. Who art thou that should be afraid of man that shall die, and of the son of man which shall be as grass?" What are all flesh before God but like grass? "All flesh is grass;" therefore let us not be afraid of man that is as grass, but let us fear the Lord our maker, that "stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundations of the earth."

And then, lastly, Study meekness and quietness of spirit, in opposition to a spirit of anger, wrath, malice, or of hatred; Zech. ii. 3: "Seek ye the Lord, all ye meek of the earth, which have wrought his judgment, seek righteousness, seek meekness: it may be, ye shall be hid in the day of the Lord's anger." Our proud spirits are ready to take fire in defending the cause of Christ. Moses was the most zealous man upon earth, and yet he was the meekest man upon earth. "The wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God:" and

Christ's cause and interest was never advanced by a spirit of wrath.

And in order to meeken your spirits, consider these two things I shall name.

1st, What a holy and righteous hand God has even in the most dark and cloudy dispensations that can befall his church. in the world. Should we be angry at what God does? "Who gave Jacob to the spoil, and Israel to the robbers? did not the Lord, he against whom we have sinned?"

2dly, Let us consider what we deserve at God's hand, what a sinful hand the best of us have in bringing these gloomy dispensations on the land and place in which we live. It was the consideration of this, that made the church, in a very dark day, (Mic. vii. 9,) to say when she was sitting in darkness, when her enemies were insulting her, saying, "Where is thy God?" says the church, in that case, "I will bear the indignation of the Lord, because I have sinned against him." Not only they, but I have sinned against him, therefore "I will bear the indignation of the Lord."

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THE TABERNACLE OF DAVID RUINED BY MAN, AND REARED UP BY THE MIGHTY GOD.

In that day will I raise up the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof, and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old.-Amos Ix. 11.

THE THIRD SERMON ON THIS TEXT.

I HAD occasion elsewhere to insist a little upon the context, and the connexion of these words with the preceding, and shall not spend time in resuming what was then delivered. Only I take up the words of this verse in these four particu lars: (1.) We have a noble structure mentioned, and that is, the tabernacle of David; by which we are to understand the church of Christ, particularly the New Testament church; for so these words are applied by the apostle James, in his speech before the first council at Jerusalem, Acts xv. 16. Christ is called by the name of David, because he was "the root and offspring of David," he in whom David's horn and throne is perpetuated for ever, Psal. lxxxix. 4. And the church is called his tabernacle, because he is the purchaser,