XVI.

THE GRATITUDE OF NAAMAN.

You know the words which we find in Heb. xii. 26—28, "Whose voice then shook the earth: but now he hath promised, saying, Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven. And this word, Yet once more, signifieth the removing of those things that are skaken, as of things that are made, that those things which cannot be shaken may remain. Wherefore we, receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear,' Words that are like a deep sea, who will fathom them! The lead is wanting for the purpose. In its absence, let us sink the net into the deep, in order to fish at least a handful of pearls out of it.

The Apostle reminds the brethren in the context, that they had left the Sinaitic economy, and were come to that of the New Testament. He connects with this remembrance, a serious warning, whilst reminding them that the despising of the Gospel of grace renders a man more reprobate than the transgression of the law. He further calls to their minds, how the voice of the Son of God, at the giving of the law, shook the earth; but that a thousand years later, the Lord had said by Haggai, "Yet once, it is a little while, and I will shake the heavens and the earth." These prophetic words refer to the period of the new covenant, and began to be fulfilled with its establishment in Christ. History shows what a shaking commenced from that time amongst mankind. The sound of the Gospel penetrated

through the world, and wherever it was heard-tumults, revolutions, and uproar ensued, sleeping lions awoke, and showed their teeth; but the children of darkness became light, and cried Hosannah! The hoary edifices of superstition fell into ruins at the sound. Ancient prejudices, customs, and manners, suddenly made way for a new order of things. Whole nations changed their internal and external form. Laws, constitutions, civil regulations -all were forcibly carried away into a vortex of transformation. Charitable institutions, previously unknown, sprang forth out of the chaos, and flourished in vernal beauty. Completely new creations were called forth, as if by magic, in defiance of the foaming rage of numerous foes. Movements of a thousand different kinds took place in every direction, and without such a shaking, nothing occurred whithersoever the Gospel penetrated; and such is also the case to this hour.

But the movement, which commenced with the entrance of the kingdom of Christ into the world, did not confine. itself merely to the earth. Heaven also was shaken. What a movement took place there, when the Eternal Son prepared to clothe himself in our flesh, and the astonished angels descended to sing his first cradle-hymn! What a movement took place, when he, who is life itself, became the victim of a bloody death! What a joyful emotion at his priestly return into the upper sanctuary, accompanied by the malefactor! What a movement, when so many children of God were introduced into the eternal glory! and this movement will continue as long as the heavens shall receive Christ, as Peter says, " until the times of restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began." This saying is being accomplished even to the present hour; for Christ

and his spiritual members are one; and it will only be when he has them all with him in the world above, that the promise shall be entirely fulfilled.

But now let us hear what our Apostle says further. We have not yet heard what he means chiefly to reveal to us in the words. He observes to us, that in this announcement of the Lord by Haggai, something more is contained, than a prediction of those movements in heaven and on earth, which should accompany the introduction of the kingdom of Christ into the world. In the words, "Yet once more I shake not the earth only, but also heaven," the Lord intimated at the same time, the great changes which would occur in the lapse of ages. "And this word, Yet once more," says the Apostle, "signifieth the removing of those things that are shaken, as of things that are made, that those thinge which cannot be shaken may remain.” There are consequently, things in the world which may be shaken, that is, such as are liable to perish or be changed. This comprises all that which was made and called into existence with the intention of being mutable and subject to change, and to exist only for a certain space of time, in order that those things which cannot be shaken may abide and remain. To these unstable things belongs, for instance, the Levitical typical economy of the Old Testament. It was intended only to last for a time, and then vanish away. But the Jews, in their blindness, clung closely to it as if it were immutable; hence the needless desperation they manifested, when the fire-brand of dissolution was hurled into it. They did not dream for a moment, that that which is immutable was to be sought for in the quiet shepherd's tents of an Abraham and an Isaac, or in the lowly cottages of a Simeon, a Zacharias, or a Hannah. That which presented a splendid appear

ance, like the pomp of the typical priesthood, they regarded as belonging to the things which could not be shaken; and when at length the whole temple was destroyed, they cried out, "Ichabod-our glory is departed!" and then, instead of joyfully embracing that which is immutable, they cher. ished the vain hope of restoring that which is mutable, although irrecoverably lost.

To the things that can be shaken, belongs all that is earthly, however it may shine and glitter, and however durable it may appear, When we unfold the history of nations before us, upon what do we walk? Under our feet lie whole strata of states that have sunk into oblivion, princely families that have become extinct, royal thrones that have mouldered away, systems of religion that have been long buried, and faded glories, both intellectual and material. The dust of transitoriness covers them, and their place is known no more. The storm of annihilation blows rudely and piercingly upon us from every quarter; on all sides, in the tangible characters of history, the inscription meets our eye, "That which can be shaken is subject to vicissitude; that which is mutable, passes away!" Yea, thou beholdest it on almost everything which attracts thy attention. It stands upon the founda, tion of the city which thou inhabitest, for the latter also only occupies the period which God has prescribed to it, and then ceases to be. This inscription stands written upon the political and civil relations under which thou livest. These also belong to the things that can be shaken. It stands inscribed upon the pleasing family circle, in which thou feelest so happy. This also is a flower of the field. Thou mayest read it likewise on the official station which thou fillest; on the position in human society which thou occupiest; ay, and even on thy own forehead; for

thou belongest also in part, to the things that are mutable and may be shaken. Thus everything around thee is a transient and shadowy scene. However excellent or glorious it may be, it fulfils its destined period; a destroying storm, which it is unable to resist, then claps its wings over it. And though it were the earth itself, and the heaven with its suns and constellations, yet the former shall at length change its form, and the latter shall be folded up like a scroll. What folly therefore to attach ourselves so closely to that which may be shaken! Establish yourselves, my brethren, in that which cannot be shaken. But is there such a thing? Yes, there is, in the midst of such universal agitation and vicissitude.

If we return to the huge cemetery of the world's history, we meet, amidst the general overthrow, a phenomenon which remains, which survives everything, and rises up again unconsumed out of every vortex of change, which would seek to swallow it up, and appears to be indestructible and eternal. If we go back to the beginning of the world; this phenomenon is coeval with it. Our eye wanders through centuries after centuries, and where does it not meet us? We perceive it at first, confined to a little speck on earth. But in the course of eighteen hundred years, it fills many countries, islands, and nations. But what is it? A temple, a living temple; but such a one as no Nebuchadnezzar can plunder, nor can a Titus hurl into it the torch of destruction. A human family, a host of quiet brethren; we find them, with cheerful looks, surrounding a table, which shows us first a paschal lamb, then a mysterious bread, and a cup of blessing. They sing, and the fundamental note of their melody is, "Hosannah!" One like unto the Son of Man, stands with a friendly aspect in the midst of them. He is the object of