supposes that there was a suitableness of temper and interests, and that she had a perfect union with her in her hopes and

views.

To follow Christ consistently in his ordinances, such an union in heart and affection with his believing church is necessary. They are but unfruitful vines, unprofitable members of gospel churches, who have interests and views separate from, or opposite unto the common views and interest of Christ in his church; yet we shall find many who most evidently give the concerns of the Redeemer's kingdom, at farthest, but a second place in their care and assiduity. Can it, with any propriety, be said of such, that they are crucified to the world, and the world to them? that they deny themselves, and take up their cross daily? that they love the Lord Jesus Christ with all their heart, with all their souls, and with all their minds? Look to it, my brethren, that your first and principal concern, be the welfare of the church, the honour of Jesus, and his mediatorial kingdom. If you seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, all other things shall be added to you; and you shall never have it to say that you have served God for nothing.

That was a well chosen petition of the royal Hebrew, that he might dwell for ever in the house of the Lord, and inquire in his temple. Psal. xxvii. 4. 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. One thing,' as if there had been no other thing worthy of his notice, much less that had the possession of his heart. He had a kingdom to govern, all the tribes of Israel to direct; but one thing, unconnected with kingly rule, lay warmest on his heart. This one thing was, that he might dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of his life, see the beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple. He had all the brilliance of a regal court to attract his attention, and allure his desire; but regal magnificence, and courtly parade, were by no means the objects of David's supreme regard. He had the beauty of kingly majesty every day in his palace to sooth his wishes; but the ultimatum of his desires was, to behold the beauty of the Lord; not barely to have a glimpse of it in a transient manner, but to behold it with steady eye; to behold the beauty of the Lord, so that the eye shall be satisfied with seeing. Might I have this one thing,' I think that heaven and earth might reserve all their other beauties to themselves. This one thing 'he desired of the Lord.' He well knew it was not in man in general, nor in himself in particular, to command the precious, the much desired blessing: that it was not to be found in the horrid din of noisy war, nor in the tinseled grandeur of kingly levees, he sought it of the Lord. His heart was resolutely set upon obtaining it, therefore he would seek after it: and that

'will I seek after. The near and interesting concerns of my numerous family, the softest endearments, and nearest attach ments of consanguinity, shall never divert me from seeking after this, as my chief, my superlative good. Not all the weighty, the important and arduous concerns of government, nor the deep machinations of war, shall prevent me from seeking thy face, my God and Father, from beholding thy face, O blessed Immanuel. In the church, only in the believing church, are the brightest glories of our gracious God, the pure and illustrious beauties of sovereign grace, conspicuous and manifest. There, O believer, thou mayest inquire, and there shalt thou behold his ineffable beauty beaming forth through the manhood of Jesus.

DISCOURSE V.

RUTH i. 16, 17, 18,---22.

And Ruth said, Intreat 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: where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me. When she saw that she was stedfastly minded to go with her, then she left speaking unto her, &c.

SEE in the person and disposition of Ruth the Moabitess, the believer's firm attachment to the gospel church. Hear her endearing and resolved words, Where thou goest, I will go,' through smiling fields, or gloomy fens; through verdant meadows, or howling deserts; whether in prosperous or adverse circumstances, I am resolved to cast in my lot with thine. If thy way should lie through the land of Beulah, and the voice of the feathered songsters animate thee for thy journey; if thou mayest happily emerge out of the ocean of afflictions, which long has overwhelmed thee, and the candle of the Lord be rekindled on thy tabernacle; I shall account myself blessed to behold thine enlargement. But although thy way should be more dismal than the shadow of death itself, and the future part of thy life be more afflicting than that part elapsed, I can have no pleasure, no other joy, besides what ariseth from assiduously ministering to thy distress, and sharing in, if I cannot alleviate, thy sorrow.

'Where thou goest, I will go,' will be the language of every

truly converted soul to the gospel church. The society of the wicked is held abominable, as the synagogue of Satan, and the maxims of the world as an unclean disease. Even when there is not a full persuasion of interest in Israel's portion, and sharing with the church in her future felicity, you will find a settled, unalterable resolution of seeking her advantage, and sharing in her adversities whilst here, whatever may happen in that world which is to come. This is a noble evidence of Christian affection, and a signal display of the conquest of grace upon the heart, and I may boldly assert, that he who is willing to cast in his lot with the people of God here, shall not be excluded from their enjoyments hereafter.

No man ever did forsake all in this world for the sake of Christ, his gospel and church, but he found the Lord to be as good as his word, and received eternal life according to the full tenor of the promise.

Where thou lodgest, I will lodge.'---Here was no proviso made for its safety and delicacy. Ruth might have made this resolution conditionally. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge,' provided thy lodging is safe, easy, and commodious. Like that Scribe who, it is probable, would have followed Christ, provided he had been assured of agreeable accommodations in the way; but finding great reason to apprehend a deficiency in this respect, in point of worldly prudence, laid aside his design. It has not in any age been common for the greatest of saints, to have the softest beds, and most comfortable lodgings; and yet, in every age, God has had his followers and witnesses, and the church her unfeigned lovers.

That resplendent cloud of witnesses, of whom the world was not worthy, wandered about in sheep skins, and in goat skins; were destitute of house and home; lodged in dens and in caves of the earth, notwithstanding they were the chosen heirs of the kingdom of glory. Nor was the Lord from heaven, the only Begotten of the Father himself, better provided in his sojourning below; for although the foxes had holes, and the birds of the air had nests, the Son of man had not where to lay his head. Notwithstanding which penury, his faithful disciples forsook him not, but were contented with such lodgings as their Lerd had for himself, deeming it sufficient that the servants should fare as their Lord and Master.

Thy people shall be my people.'---The forsaking of her own kindred, kingdom, and household gods, is followed by an adherence to the kindred of Mahlon and Elimelech. Thy people 'shall be my people. Hereby,' says the inspired divine, do we 'know that we are passed from death to life, because we love 'the brethren.' Without such a love to the brethren, as will cause us to cleave to them in every situation, we give no adequate evidence of our having passed from a state of nature, into the

kingdom of the loving Jesus. Wherever this love to the brethren does discover itself, it evidently shews the soul to be born from above. The reason why you love the brethren is, because they love and follow the blessed Jesus; because in their spirit and temper you see the image, or likeness of the amiable spirit, by which his whole conduct was influenced. Thus it is, that the love of Christ, and only the love of Christ, constraineth you to pay a distinguished regard to those who worship the immaculate Redeemer. Wherever the heart is right with God, as enlivened by the quickening influences of the Holy Spirit, it will discover itself by this unfeigned love to the brethren. The saints of God will be esteemed the excellent ones upon the earth, in whom is all your delight, the only people with whom you choose to associate.

Thy God shall be my God.'---This is indeed the foundation of Ruth's attachment to Naomi, and from this it appears she had seen, that in the spirit and conduct of her mother, which endeared the God of Israel to her affection and supreme regard. That she had seen in her what she had never met with among her own kindred and people, therefore this becomes her cool and determinate resolution, Thy God shall be my God.' What a noble and encouraging incentive is this to stimulate us to an observance of the spirit and laws of Christianity, that thereby we may win dark and benighted Heathens, our unconverted fellow sinners, to the love of Jesus, and worship of the Father through him! What an honourable, what an illustrious figure does this mother in Israel make in the annals of heaven; as by her pious and endearing conduct, having allured Ruth the Moabitess to the love of the true and living God!

This exalted instance of genuine piety, is inserted in records subject to no future erasement, and to Naomi's honour, shall be made venerable mention of when fleeting time shall have run his destined race, and all shall be immense, unspeakable, inconceivable eternity. O my soul, may this be the highest point of thine ambition in this life, to be enabled, by grace to draw the attention of young and thoughtless Moabites to the love and worship of thy holy, thine adorable Redeemer, the perfection of beauty, and center of heavenly excellency! Mayest thou sojourn here below no longer than this shall be thy ardent wish and daily study!

What shall we think of those called Christians who never visit Pagan shores, but with a view to plunder the inhabitants? what must the old Indian inhabitants of Mexico and Peru think of the religion of the Spaniards? what must the inhabitants of Indostan think of the Christanity of the English? must not the conduct of the Company's servants in the East Indies, fix in the breasts of the unhappy natives an indelible disgust against the name of Christ, as the patron of ruffians? I fear it, and 1 think upon

solid and scriptural grounds, that the time is coming when a just God will revenge the tyranny of that infamous Company, and plead the cause of the unhappy Pagans with the whole British nation and who shall be able to stand when an avenging God shall stir up himself as a man of war against us?

'Thy God shall be my God,' will be the language in which every true convert shall address the believing church. O Lord, ' other lords have had dominion over us, but henceforth we will 'serve thee, the living and true God. Ashur shall not save us, 'we will not ride upon horses, neither will we say any more to 'the works of our own hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the 'fatherless findeth mercy.' Because the presence of the incarnate God is in a peculiar manner with the believing church, her assemblies will ever attract the Christian's attention.

'Where thou diest, I will die, and there will I be buried.'---In life and in death, she fully cast in her lot with her mother-inlaw. She would not so much as have her body carried back to her native country for interment. With thee will I be buried, and repose my dust in thy hallowed tomb. That affinity and union which hold out for the full term of life, must be strong; but stronger still that which holds good in life and death. Such only is the Christian union. In life, in death, at judgment, and to eternity it is indissoluble. Those who come to Jesus for life, and salvation, consider their bodies as well as their souls as bought with a price, and therefore commit them to him even in death, and in hope lay them down to slumber in the grave, till awakened by that awful voice, compared to which the loudest thunder is but as the softest whisper, and the ruffling hurricane as the breathings of zephyr.

Ruth being inclined and enabled to forsake all, met with a suitable and encouraging reward for her pious attachment to the seed of the promise. She was married to an honourable Israelite, of whom we shall have occasion to take further notice in some future discourse. "That no man shall serve God for nought," is a good maxim, notwithstanding laid down by the parent o error, and was exactly fulfilled in the case of this illustrious Moabitess. She was honoured with becoming the ancestor o the man after God's own heart, and through him, the mother o a race of monarchs; not only so, but she became the mother of the glorious Immanuel, that only and blessed Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, who is possessed of all power in earth and in heaven. This bounty of divine Providence towards our Moabitish heroine, beautifully confirms the truth of our Lord's words, where he says, Whosoever shall forsake father or mother, wife or children, houses or lands for his sake, shall in this life receive an hundred fold, as well as life eternal in the world to come.'

You, therefore, to whom the world is crucified by the cross of