system has been devised by which it can be done; and Christians are to make it known, that through faith in Christ it may be done. And when they consider that millions on millions, from the depths of their degradation, and from the brink of eternity, are looking to them for deliverance, oh! how they ought to hasten, and to fly to tell them that Jesus can save them, and that he is yearning over them with a heart overflowing with pity, and teeming with compassion and love! Their own spiritual welfare will be promoted by it. It will give them a deeper insight into their own weakness-a more earnest longing after God, who chooseth the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in his presenceand, also, it will stimulate them to seek after greater efficiency in the work of the Lord, that they may be instrumental in winning many souls to Christ: thus their influence will act and re-act for good, heaven will re-echo with songs of more fervid gratitude and elevated 60 DUTIES OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. praise, and earth will catch its notes, and send them back in higher strains to heaven. The glory of God would be advanced by it. God is glorified in the conversion of every sinner to himself, in the homage which he pays to him—in the allegiance which he swears to him—in the fruits or evidences which he gives of the power of the gospel-and in the gratitude which he cherishes to God for all his unmerited favours in providence and grace. What glory, therefore, must redound to God in the conversion of the multitude, and of the world! Arise, then, Christian brethren! and wrestle with God on behalf of a sinful world, as Abraham interceded for the guilty cities of the plain; and so labour and pray for it, as though the conversion of the whole world depended on your individual exertions. CHAPTER III. ON THE TRIALS OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD. IN the Telescope of the Gospel we see their trials. Their trials consist in bodily afflictions, mental sufferings, persecutions for the truth's sake, and bereaving providences. Believers in Christ Jesus are subject to bodily afflictions. Many of them know from painful experience, that we do groan in these earthly tabernacles, being burdened with affliction. Methinks I hear them saying, "Would to God that we enjoyed bodily health! how active and useful we would be in the cause of Jesus Christ. We would visit the sick, hold prayer meetings, distribute religious tracts, and put forth our strength in seeking the conversion of perishing sinners to God. But, alas! our health is fled, our strength is gone, and wearisome days and nights are our portion. In the morning, we long and faint for the evening; and in the evening, we pant for the dawning of the morning: thus our days are filled up with sorrow and grief." But this is not all: The children of God experience mental sufferings. These may arise from a variety of causes. Two friends may be united in the bonds of friendship, affection, and love: circumstances may arise to burst the ties asunder which bound them together, and congealed their affections in one their spirits are wounded, and their bosoms rent with anguish; feelings of sorrow and deep regret vibrate through every fibre of their hearts, and tears of grief stream down their cheeks. A converted husband may have an unconverted wife, or a converted wife may have an unconverted husband: they may not coincide in each other's views, but attempt to thwart each other's designs, and to frustrate each other's hopes in the service of God. There may be some belonging to us, who may be curses to us: when we think of them, it is with sadness, and we are anxious to draw a veil over their history. Business may fail-our affairs in life may become embarrassed—and our prospects in life may be gloomy; distress may arise-and our property be reduced to a wreck; the winds of adversity may set in fiercely against us, and blow hard upon us our hopes in life may be blightedand our expectations withered and shattered. These things may cause great mental suffering. Neither is this all. The followers of Christ are liable to persecution for the truth's sake. Perhaps you have heard of the miller's mill-clack, which reduced to atoms every thing that came within its reach; and who are there amongst the followers of Christ that have not had their good names ground to powder in the mill-clack of envy? You may have seen a picture of Atlas with the globe on his shoulders; this is a true representation of many among the professors of Christ, who have had to bear a world of reproach on their shoulders. And when the sun has arisen on our world, on a fine summer's morning, diffusing joy and gladness throughout universal nature, have you never seen it overcast, and its glories shut out from the world for a season, by the dark, heavy cloud which has come over the sky, and blotted out the blazing sun from the firmament? even so the virtues of the Christian may be obscured by the clouds of misrepresentation, and concealed for a time from the view of men. But the sun, proceeding in its onward course, has at length peeped out from under the cloud, and variegated it with its rays: how grand and imposing has the scene then been! So," says Robert Hall, "distinguished merit will rise superior to oppression, and will draw lustre from reproach." 66 Virtue may be appall'd, but never hurt; Yea, even that which mischief meant most harm, |