are with us, and as for our iniquities, we know them; the Lord will not cause his anger to rest upon you, but he will receive you graciously and love you freely: the blood of Jesus Christ shall cleanse you from all sin; he will be merciful to your unrighteousness, and your sins and iniquity he will remember no more! Then shall your iniquity be sought for, and there shall be none. În vain then shall conscience upbraid you and Satan accuse you; Jesus Christ will be your defender and deliverer. Conscious of his favour and assured of his mercy, you will then be privileged to look up to him and to say, Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? He retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy. Then, when with a trembling heart you hear the words, Be sure your sin will find you out, a merciful and faithful Saviour shall encourage your heart, and say, The Lord hath put away thy sin.

SERMON II.

STRENGTH FOR THE DAY.

DEUT. XXXIII. 25.

AS THY DAYS, SO SHALL THY STRENGTH BE.

PERHAPS We have never greater need of a sober judgment, than when we interpret a passage of Scripture in such a manner as to accommodate it to express a meaning not directly intended by the Holy Ghost. Many theories of man's device are built upon accommodations of Scripture, and some of them to contradict the plain, common-sense meaning of those parts which interfere with such theories.

When, however, the view to be supported by the accommodation of a passage is accordant with the general tone of Scripture, there can be no danger in the practice, and there need be no objection to it.

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Still it may be said, If the particular doctrine to be preached be found directly 'inculcated in some parts of Scripture, why 'not make use of such parts, and avoid the questionable practice of accommodation?'

The answer to this is, the practice has become so general, and many texts thus accommodated have been made so useful, that it is undesirable to discard the practice altogether.

The words selected for the text constitute an apt illustration of what has been said. There is no denying that, strictly speaking, these words, As thy days, so shall thy strength be, form nothing more than a part of the blessing which Moses the man of God pronounced upon the tribe of Asher. Of Asher he said, Let Asher be blessed with children: let him be acceptable to his brethren; and let him dip his foot in oil. Thy shoes shall be iron and brass, and as thy days, so shall thy strength be. Doubtless, this is to be primarily understood as a literal prophecy concerning that particular tribe of Asher. Yet, who is there, much acquainted with the writings of pious persons, or in the habit of conversing with them, that does not know how generally the latter words of this blessing are used as a promise to each of the Lord's people individually? And who is there, let me ask, that respects the feelings and considers the harmless prejudices of his fellow men, that would willingly deprive them of the comfort such an accommodation of the passage is intended to convey? Surely none, or, if any, certainly I should be sorry to be amongst the number.

Some, indeed, maintain that all promises to the literal Israel were intended by the Holy Ghost to be applied to the spiritual Israel. And, assuredly, it cannot be denied that this view of the matter is much countenanced by the writers of the New Testament, who not unfrequently make such spiritual applications.

In the Epistle to the Hebrews, for instance, we find, Be content with such things as ye have, for he hath said, I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. On referring to the Old Testament, we find such language used by Jehovah, once to Jacob, and afterward to all Israel by the mouth of Moses. It is every way more probable, that the Apostle refers to the latter occasion, which is recorded in the chapter but one before that whence the text is taken. Be strong and of a good courage, fear not nor be afraid of them: for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.

If, then, the inspired penman to the Hebrews sanctioned the application of these words to the Christians of his own time, we have some advance toward an argument, to prove that the other promises to Israel, as a nation, admit of application to Israel as a church; that the promises to the seed of Abraham, according to the flesh, may be applied to the spiritual seed of Abraham.

Not, however, to press this view of the question upon such as may suppose it to be

fanciful or unsound, it will be sufficient, for the present purpose, to assume that the words. conveniently express what is undoubtedly promised in other parts of scripture to the children of God.

What the apostle Paul says to the Corinthian Christians expresses much the same sentiment, God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will, with the temptation, make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it. It is true, that this promise is made directly to the Corinthians; but no one, surely, will argue that Christians at Corinth had any privileges of this kind peculiar to themselves; and, therefore, it may properly be affirmed, that it is a promise made to Christians generally, that in all their trials they shall be enabled to bear up; in other words, their strength shall be according to their day.

So that I may certainly say, without fear of mistake, to every believer that hears me, As thy days, so shall thy strength be.

And, oh! that the God of all consolation may so bless what shall be said, as to strengthen such as do stand, and to comfort and help the weak-hearted, and to raise any that have fallen, for Jesus Christ's sake!

The prayer that I have just uttered, taken out of our incomparable Litany, suggests the division of the subject. For the text may well be applied for these three purposes.