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lend their assistance to send them abroad. This land of churches, of Sabbaths, and of Bibles, is, in comparison of many regions, a truly happy land. And how awful the condemnation of those of us will be, who despise, or neglect, or abuse such inestimable privileges! May it be yours, my friends, rightly to appreciate them, and to improve them! Especially do I rejoice, that there are so many in this congregation who care for the religious education of the children, and that the children delight in learning wisdom's ways. In the distant regions beyond the Ganges, and in the land of the "rising sun,"* children do not enjoy those spiritual advantages which children in this country enjoy, not because Heaven has withheld the means, as many impiously suppose; but because of the selfishness of Christians, which has prevented them from using the means in their power, to communicate those privileges to others. I hope brighter days are near at hand, when the churches will all exert themselves more in the great duty of disseminating the Gospel, than they have ever yet done. When Cain's sullen selfish speech-"Am I my brother's keeper?" shall be reversed, and Christians shall all acknowledge the sacred solemn duty of caring for their brethren of mankind, irrespective of geographical limits; for God has made of "ONE blood," all nations of men—and all men are brethren; even the Pagan Chinese maintain the principle, (whatever their practice may be,) that (Teen hea wei yih kea) "The whole world is but one family."

* Jih-pun, or Japan, denotes, in Chinese, "The source of day."

DISCOURSE XIII.

DELIVERED AT WINDSOR CHAPEL, NEAR MANCHESTER, OCT. 31, 1824.

THE CHURCH AMIABLE.

PSALM LXXxiv. 1.

"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!"

WHEN the posterity of Abraham were, by the hand of

Moses, delivered from that state of slavery to which the Egyptians had reduced them, and were crossing the deserts of Arabia, proceeding to the land of promise, a spacious tent was, by divine command, erected in the wilderness, to be at once a palace for the Divine Presence as Israel's king, and a place of the most solemn public worship; this tent, set up in the wilderness, was the first Tabernacle. "Let them make me a sanctuary," said the Almighty, "that I may dwell among them."-" And there," said Jehovah to his servant Moses, "will I meet with thee, and I will commune with thee, from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim, (which are upon the Ark of the Testimony,) of all things which I give thee in command, unto the children of Israel." This Tabernacle was carried by the Israelites into Canaan, and during about five hundred years, continued the place of public worship, to which the several tribes resorted, till it was succeeded by the magnificent temple reared by king Solomon.

The Psalm which I have taken as the subject of discourse on this occasion, was written by king David, when expelled from Jerusalem, by his abandoned and rebellious son Absalom. In it the pious and afflicted monarch, agreeably to his usually devout manner, expresses his ardent attachment to the House of God. A pious commentator has thus rendered the whole Psalm

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"How lovely are thy tabernacles,

O Jehovah, God of Hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, languisheth,

For the courts of Jehovah !

My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God!

Yea, as the sparrow findeth a house

And the swallow a nest for herself,

Where she may lay her young;

So I seek thine altars, Jehovah God of Hosts,
My King and my God.

Happy they who dwell in thy house,

They will be for ever praising thee.
Happy the men whose strength thou art,
Confidence reigns in their hearts.
Though they pass through a desolate valley,
Yet shall they drink from a fountain:
Yea, the rain shall cover it with blessings;
They shall go from strength to strength,
Till each appeareth before God in Zion.

O Jehovah, God of hosts, hear my prayer ;

O God our shield, behold and regard

The person of thine anointed.

For better is a day in thy courts,
Than a thousand spent elsewhere!

I had rather be a door-keeper

In the house of my God,

Than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

For a sun and a shield is God, Jehovah.
Jehovah will give grace and glory;
No good thing will he withhold
From those who walk uprightly.

O Jehovah, God of Hosts,
Happy is the man who trusteth in thee!

• Boothroyd.

Now, this beautiful ode, expressive of the delight which the inspired penman took in the place where God was pleased graciously to reveal himself, and descriptive of the benefits and the bliss derived from an attendance there, is applicable to Christian churches, consisting of redeemed and regenerated persons; and also to the edifices where they assemble to worship God and to learn his will. And both the ancient Jewish Tabernacle, and the Christian Church, are emblematic of heaven, which is called by St, Paul, the greater and more perfect tabernacle, not made with hands, into which Christ, the great High Priest, not by blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, has entered, having obtained eternal redemption for us.

An assembly of real believers constitutes a church, a spiritual temple composed of living stones-of which temple, the Divine Redeemer is the chief corner-stone. In such a church God dwells and communes with his people. The priests of this temple are the ministers of Jesus Christ;"Wise-hearted men, in whom the Lord puts wisdom and understanding, to know how to work for the service of the sanctuary, according to all that the Lord hath commanded." (Exod. xxx. 1.) By the instrumentality of these men, "opening and alleging," from the Sacred Scriptures, the infinitely important, and inexpressibly gracious truths of divine revelation, the glorious perfections and the merciful designs of the Almighty, are exhibited or manifested to the children of men. And by the devotional parts of the Christian service, men unite in humble confessions, petitions, and thanksgivings to the Supreme Judge, the Divine Father, and bountiful benefactor of mankind. If you, my fellow Christians, who delight in God's house, had been exiled from it, and had seen nothing but pagan temples rising in its stead, you would have been able to enter more fully into the feelings of the Psalmist, when he exclaimed-"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts!" Then, instead of the spiritual presence of the living and true God, which you here enjoy, you would there have, perhaps, a carved image of something merely human, or brutal, or ludicrous, or obscene, set up as the object of worship and of prayer.

Instead of the soul-cheering development of the heavenderived plans of mercy, founded on the sacrifice and atonement of God our Saviour; yonder, there are only the human and heart-chilling fictions that require man, ever-sinning man, to atone for his own sin; a never-to-be-effected work, which is productive only of disappointment, and remorse, and sorrow; or else of false hopes, which will eventually leave the sinner in unutterable despair. Instead of that sweet fellowship which true Christians enjoy when they go to the House of God in company, other lands have only the selfishness of solitary superstition, on the one hand, or licentious crowds at frantic festivals, carrying in procession, or hurrying towards, their idol gods. How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of Hosts, in comparison of these! Alas, how much undervalued by those who enjoy the privilege of attending them! and by how many in this land neglected and despised. There is reason to apprehend, that even pious people do not usually value, as they deserve, the blessings derived to themselves and their children, from God's house of prayer, and Christian ordinances there dispensed; and this undervaluing of them arises, as is the case in other matters, from the abundance of the blessing.

Instead of having to travel from other districts and remote provinces, to assemble with God's people in the tabernacle dedicated to Jehovah; a house of prayer is to be found in almost every street. How inexcusable are those who will not frequent public worship, who will not enter where God dwells, and where the mercy of our Saviour is proclaimed to sinners! How few of the most pious can sincerely join with the royal Psalmist, and say in truth, "My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God?" And in the case of others who do attend the house of prayer, it is more matter of usage, and mere formality, than of desire, or a sense of duty. People go to hear some popular speaker, or to see some stranger; but few of us, it is to be feared, come hither to meet with God, who dwells in his church; and to commune with the Father of Spirits. But, since there is, in this christianized land,

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