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shall devour the adversary of God. To such we say, repent now: fly to your Bible-the long-neglected Bible: search eagerly search to find a refuge from the impending danger; and stay not your efforts till, by the word of life, you are made wise unto salvation, through faith in Jesus Christ.

3. That all should be lovers of God's word-should take great delight in`reading and meditating thereon; for "Naught you can ask, to make you blest,

Is in this book denied."

And

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The Psalmist exclaimed, "O how love I thy law!” how ardently he prayed, "Teach me thy statutes!" tate him in his attachment to the word of life. Let the Bible be your daily companion. If parents, let me impress it upon you as a duty never to be neglected, to teach your children its soul-stirring truths. Do it prayerfully and faithfully, that the Holy Spirit may impress it upon their hearts. Be more solicitous to see your offspring pious— fond of the means of grace and of the path of life, than to see them reveling, mirthfully, with the occupants of the way to death and sorrow. Be careful to lead them to God— not from him. Remember, to you is committed the work of training them for heaven or for hell. God grant that you may feel your responsibility; and, in view of all the interests of your children, for this world and the world to come, help you to train them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord! And may he hasten the day, when the Bible shall have its place and its influence in every mind and heart!

"Divine instructor-gracious Lord,

Be thou for ever near;
Teach me to love thy sacred word,
And view my Savior there."

SERMON XXXII.

BY REV. SAMUEL LYNCH.

THE DESIRABLENESS OF DWELLING IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

"One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple," Psa. xxvii, 4.

Lord," is a figure used to
As a house is literally the

The phrase, "house of the represent the Church of God. habitation or dwelling of man, and as the body is called a house, being the habitation of the soul, so the Church is beautifully compared to a house, or body; for as the life and beauty of the body depend on its union with the soul, so the life and glory of the Church depend on its union with Christ; and as the body without the spirit dies, and becomes a putrid mass, so the Church, separate from the life-giving influence of the infinite and eternal Spirit, soon becomes a mass of moral putrefaction. This Church is composed of all who are united to Christ, their great Head, by faith-who, together, constitute the general, or catholic Church. But, like a vine or body, this Church is composed of different members, or branches; and our Lord has defined a branch of his Church thus: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them," like the soul in the body, giving life and joy to all their exercises. We proceed to notice,

I. THE DESIRE OF DAVID.

This was, that he might "dwell in the house of the Lord," or the Church of the living God, "all the days of his life." This union with the Church was, by David, highly esteemed; for, said he, "I had rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to dwell in the tents of wickedness." From this, we infer that it is our duty

and highest privilege to be united with the visible Church. It is our duty, because it is the path which the great Head of the Church has marked out for us; and, also, because we thus exert an influence on the Lord's side, and, by our example, lead others to become followers of Christ.

But one inquires, "Can I not serve God, and reach heaven, without joining the Church?" Suppose you could; then so can I, and so can all; and, then, what becomes of the Church? Would not this, therefore, be impeaching the wisdom of the Redeemer, who has set up and perpetuated his Church? Would it not be charging the only wise God with folly? But let us notice this a little further. "I can do without the Church." Can you? What would you know of God, of Christ, of judgment, of hell, of heaven, without the Church? You may say you could read your Bible, and attend the ministry of the word, and through these means learn your duty. But who has given you the Bible? Is not the Church the depository of God's word? and are not these ministers sent forth and supported by the Church? If it were not for the Church you would have no Bible, no Gospel minister, no day of rest.

There is much more implied in this prayer than a mere relation of membership to the Church. There is implied in it the enjoyment of the divine favor, and all the advantages connected with this favor. To explain: here is a circle within which the sun continually shines. While we keep within this circle we shall enjoy its light. So the Church, or house of the Lord, is this circle; and while we dwell here, walking continually in the fear of the Lord, and serving him daily, we shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life; hence, it is a high and glorious privilege to dwell in the house of the Lord. Happy are they who thus dwell in thy house! Here, to all such, the Lord God is a sun and shield, and the language of every sincere and pious heart is like that of Ruth, when she said

to her mother-in-law, "Entreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go; and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God."

And such was the one desire of David-that he might "dwell in the house of the Lord." How long? "All the days of my life." Our day of trial continues through and ends only with our mortal life. It will be of little avail, in death, that we have enjoyed the favor of God, if we are not then found in Christ. It is wise to secure the divine favor; but wiser still to hold fast to the end, as they, and they only, will, after death, be taken to the Church. triumphant, who, at death, are found members of the spiritual Church militant.

We proceed to notice,

II. WHY DAVID DESIRED TO DWELL IN THE HOUSE OF THE LORD.

1. "That I may behold the beauty of the Lord." By the beauty of the Lord, we are not to understand that he desired to see the Lord in any tangible form, or bodily shape. We know there are those who represent the great I AM as having a body and parts, and thus literally humanize Jehovah, and make him like unto one of themselves. But he desired to see the beauty of the Lord in a more sublime sense. First, in his works in the material universe. We can see the beauty of the Lord in the wisdom and goodness manifested in this mundane system. But it may be inquired, does not the infidel see the same beauty? We grant that a philosopher may see beauty in the arrangement or fitness of things in the material universe; but he sees not the "beauty of the Lord." God is not in all his thoughts-he has put him out of his system. Not so with those who are born of God, and live in the enjoyment of his favor. They see the beauty of the Lord in all his works, and can look "through nature up to nature's God." The eyes of

their understanding being opened, they see God in every thing. They see his wisdom and goodness manifested in all his works, and can exclaim, with a delight known only to the child of God, "My Father made them all."

Again: it is while dwelling in the house of the Lord, that the beauty of the Lord may be seen, in the arrangements of divine providence. It is a doctrine full of comfort to the child of God, that the superintending care of God extends to every minutiæ of his life-that the very hairs of his head are numbered that God is his Father and

his Friend. Confiding in his wisdom and goodness, he can, with patience, submit to all his providential dispensations-knowing that he is "too wise to err, and too good to be unkind." It is true, these dispensations may often be, to him, mysterious. God's ways may be past finding out— his path may be in the sea, and his footsteps in deep waters; but where he cannot know, he has learned to trust-having learned, not only from the assurances of God's word, but from past experience, that all things work together for good to them that love God. "No chastening," says the apostle, "for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous; nevertheless, afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness" so that, from happy experience, we can say, God does nothing, nor suffers any thing to be done, but what we ourselves would do, if we could see through all events, as he does. True, the various steps by which he brings about his gracious purposes, may seem to us, at first, to be without any order or design. To a superficial observer, a piece of complicated machinery may be entirely inexplicable; while, to the experienced engineer, all is order and beauty. So, though

"Blind unbelief is sure to err,

And scan his work in vain,"

the confiding Christian waits until God, in his own good time, shall make it plain. Dark and lowering may be the

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