perplexed, or an almighty power wearied-"Is any thing too hard for the Lord?" Besides, a general providence involves a particular; as a whole is made up of the parts, and a universality is only the aggregate of the particulars. The truth of the case too is also proved by facts; for we actually find that nothing is overlooked, but every thing, however small and apparently insignificant, presents undeniable indications of divine power, contrivance, and care. And this is what our Saviour here teaches his disciples. And to impress them the more, he has two references. The one is taken from themselves "the very hairs of your head are all numbered." What could express more strongly the minuteness of Providence? According to this assertion, God takes more care of us than we take of ourselves: for if we number our books, our cattle, or our houses, we never think of numbering our hairs; and if one of these falls off, we never observe or feel the trifling loss. And if he attends to the least, will he neglect the greatest of our interests? The other is derived from the inferior creatures. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? And one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Heavenly Father." How natural and unavoidable then the inference : "Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." The estimation is comparative-"ye are of more value than many sparrows." Sparrows therefore have their value; and we are reminded that we are no more to despise than to abuse any of the animal tribes. They have all their place and uses. No angel in heaven could produce one of the meanest of them. They are the work of God's fingers: all praise him; and he deems none of them beneath his regard. But there is a gradation in his productions; and he himself ranks some of them above others. Thus he magnifies his word above all his Name; and tells us of his creating new heavens and a new earth, so superior to the old, that the former shall not be remembered nor come into mind. A plant is above a pebble; a bird above a plant; a man above a bird. The supremacy of man appears in his being made the lord of this lower world, and having had all creatures put under him, and given him not only for service but food. Hence he said to Noah, "The fear of you and the dread of you shall be upon every beast of the earth, and upon every fowl of the air, upon all that moveth upon the earth, and upon all the fishes of the sea; into your hand are they delivered. Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb." Though man is now a fallen creature, and he cannot think too meanly of himself before God, yet he has physical endowments which place him only a little lower than the angels. He is capable of a thousand operations inconceivably above the reach of the beasts that perish. How superior is his reason to their instinct! They soon reach the extent of their ability, beyond which there is no advance or improvement; but what wonders have his faculties achieved! and what bounds can be fixed to their expansion and progress? He teaches us more than the beasts of the field, and makes us wiser than the fowls of the air; for there is a spirit in man, and the inspiration of the Almighty giveth him understanding. And this spirit in man is not only immaterial, but immortal. The body dies, but the spirit returns to God who gave it, and will behold the heavens and the earth pass away, survive the dissolution of all things, and live for ever. He is therefore not only of more value than many sparrows, but of more value than the material universe; and would be an infinite loser were he to gain the whole world and lose his own soul. But if the disciples, as men, were so valuable, how much more were they so as Christians, under which relation and character he viewed them! Thus they were not only superior to all other spe cies of creatures, but to their own. Christians are the excellent of the earth, and whatever their outward circumstances may be, are more excellent than their neighbours. The world knoweth them not, but they are princes in disguise; they are ransomed with a price of infinite value; they are the temples of the living God; they are partakers of the divine nature: and of such importance are they, that they cannot be spared from any place without danger and detriment; they have power with God; they are the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof; they are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world-Their value is indescribable. And they may without pride be conscious of this; and our Lord would have his disciples feel confidence as the result of it-" Fear ye not, therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." There were two fears which this consideration was designed and adapted to prevent. The first regarded their defence. In proportion as things are valuable, we are concerned to secure them. And will not God preserve those who are precious in his sight? They were going forth as lambs among wolves; and would be hated of all men for his Name's sake. Yet they were to be safe in all their dangers: their enemies could do nothing against them without divine permission; and if they suffered, they were to be more than indemnified. A sparrow cannot be destroyed or injured without his providence; and shall you? "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows." The second regarded their support. "Provide," said he, " neither gold, nor silver, nor brass in your purses, nor scrip for your journey, neither two coats, neither shoes, nor yet staves." Yet you need not dread want. He who employs you will supply you. Does he suffer any of his creatures to famish? It is pleasing to contemplate his care; to see how he sustains the various classes of animals, especially in the more dreary parts of the year. Some for months he lulls to sleep. He reduces the appetites of others, or changes their food. The more domestic and useful, he supports by the instrumentality of man. How, when viewing the foddering of cattle, nave I said, "The eyes of all wait upon Thee, and Thou givest them their meat in due season!--And shall they that seek the Lord want any good thing? Their bread shall be given them, and their water shall be sure. Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your Heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?" Christians! Be not fearful, but believing. Your Lord and Saviour is concerned for your safety and welfare. He would have you careful for nothing, but casting all your care upon him that careth for you, go on your way rejoicing. FEBRUARY 14.-"Felix trembled."-Acts xxiv. 25. "FELIX trembled"-not Paul. Yet Felix was the judge, and Paul the prisoner. But the prisoner was not guilty. Though he suffered as an evil-doer even unto bonds, he had a conscience void of offence; and knew that he was suffering in the best of all causes, and for the most excellent of all masters. Therefore none of these things moved him. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear. The audience might have intimidated him. It was a trying thing to speak before persons of such reputation, and rank, and influence, as Tertullian the orator, Felix the Roman governor, Drusilla his wife, and other individuals of quality, whom the occasion had drawn together. Yet he trembled not; for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. Creatures are all reduced to their proper level, when by faith we realize the presence and the eye of God. The fear of man would have brought a snare. It would have subdued or restrained his fidelity. And as Ahab's four hundred chaplains, when called in before the king, addressed themselves to his vanity, and only flattered him, so Paul would have endeavoured to ingratiate himself with those who had power over him; or at least, have studiously avoided whatever would tend to make them feel unpleasantly. But what was the nature and manner of his address? He was acquainted with the characters of those before him. He knew Felix was cruel and oppressive. He knew that he was addicted to bribery and corruption in his office. He knew that he was living in adultery: for this Drusilla now united to him, had been seduced by him from her own husband Azigus. And what does he? He not only gives his views of the faith in Christ doctrinally, but he applies them practically. He reasons of righteousness; and shows that there is such a thing as justice between man and man. He reasons of temperance; and shows the evils of unbridled appetites and passions. He reasons of judgment to come; and shows the awfulness of that day when the great as well as the small will stand before an impartial tribunal, and whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Yet he does not tremble. Wherefore? He has truth on his side. He has God on his side. He has nothing to do with consequences; but by manifestation of the truth commends himself to every man's conscience in the sight of God. "Such a man," said James the Sixth, "always preaches before me as if death stood at his elbow." It does really stand at the elbow of every minister; and therefore he should be able to use the words of Baxter : "I preach as if I ne'er should preach again; "Felix trembled"-not Drusilla. He was a Pagan; she was a Jewess; and had even induced her former husband to submit to the rite of circumcision, as the condition of her marrying him. She therefore seemed more likely to be affected than Felix. How was it she escaped, and left all the emotion to him? Was her insensibility derived from the thought of her Jewish extraction and privileges? We should have deemed this impossible; but we know that the Jews when they were most wicked, emboldened and encouraged themselves by this consideration. You steal, says God by Jeremiah, and murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, and bear incense unto Baal; and come and stand before me in this house, which is called by my Name, and say, we are delivered to do all these abominations; yet they trusted in lying words, and said, Thre temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the Lord are we. Severely as John censured many of those who came to his baptism, he knew under all their iniquity they were saying in themselves, We have Abraham to our father. But Abraham calls the rich man in hell his son: and God says, I will punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised. The unconcern of Drusilla is rather to be traced to these two things. She had been accustomed to these subjects. Though they were novel to Felix, they were not new to her. The noise of the waterfall that almost deafens strangers, does not even prevent the sleep of those who reside near it. The sparks do not terrify the animal that lies hard by the anvil. Familiarity with divine things takes off from the power of their impression, and exceedingly tends to harden the heart they have not softened. Hence is it that many in our assemblies now hear, hardly awake, those awful truths which once alarmed themselves, and now make others tremble. She had also sinned under greater obligation, and against clearer light; and it is natural for such to wax worse and worse. Having known the way of righteousness, and turning from it, they became tenfold more the children of hell than before. Their peculiar guilt provokes the displeasure of God, and he judicially and generally gives them up to strong delusion, and to their own hearts' lusts; and withholding the influence that can alone render means alone effectual, and withdrawing his restraining grace, he says of them as he did of Ephraim, "they are joined to idols, let them alone." How serious is the state of many of the children of the kingdom! We have more hope of those that come from the east and from the west. The first shall be last, and the last first. FEBRUARY 15.-" Felix trembled."-Acts xxiv. 25. "FELIX trembled"-See the vanity of worldly greatness. We can judge very little of persons by their outward circumstances. As the mind is the standard of the man," so it is the standard of his state, as to happiness or misery. Had we seen a prisoner in chains, and a governor on the bench, we should have been disposed to pity the one, and envy the other. Yet had we known all, our pity and our envy would have changed sides: for we should have found the prisoner possessed of the peace of God which passeth all understanding; while the governor was devoured by anxiety and fear, notwithstanding his office, his rank, his authority, wealth and luxury -Felix trembled. "Felix trembled"-See the power of conscience. Conscience is a bosom friend, or a bosom fury. It is God's vicegerent on earth; his tribunal within; the quarter sessions before the grand assize. Paul speaks of "the conscience bearing witness, and the thoughts the meanwhile accusing or else excusing one another." Is this principle ever entirely suppressed? Some have boasted of the attain ment. But there is a difference between pretensions and reality. What are men-not in company, but alone? Whence their dislike and dread of solitude? What are men-not in life, but in death? "Fools men may live, but fools they cannot die." Yet even in life, how hard is it to resist particular apprehensions! And apprehensions which cannot be ascribed to the danger of human detection, or punishment, because there is no fear of either. As the winter-frozen serpent seems lifeless, but is only benumbed, and when brought to the fire, again feels, and uncoils, and stings: so, when conscience is asleep, it is not dead. And it is easily awakened by a particular reflection: the sight of a funeral, or sudden death, or a threatening sickness. The wicked, though not always actually in it, are all their lifetime subject to bondage, through fear of death. Madame de Stael observes, that misfortune has the power to make the strongest minds superstitious. It would be better to say, it has a tendency to revive a belief of a moral Providence, and to remind us of the connexion there is between sin and suffering. We see this in Jacob's sons when in the ward: there seemed to be nothing to lead them to think of Joseph, yet "they said one to another, we are verily guilty concerning our brother, in that we saw the anguish of his soul, when he besought us, and we would not hear; therefore is this distress come upon us." So Belshazzar's knees smote one against another when he saw in the midst of his feast, the handwriting on the wall. The inscription was unintelligible: it might therefore have contained something favourable to him: but guilt was the interpreter. Herod, hearing of our Lord's fame, said, it is John the Baptist; he Is risen from the dead: and mighty works do show forth themselves in him. If, as Josephus says, he was a Sadducee, he denied the existence of spirits and the resurrection of the body-But his conscience was too strong for his creed. "Felix trembled"-See the energy of divine truth. The word of God is called "a hammer," and "a fire;" and is said to be quick and powerful," sharper than any two edged-sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart." The noblest instance of its efficacy is when it is the power of God to salvation. But where it does not work effectually, as in them that believe, it often produces great effects for the time. Many were astonished at our Saviour's doctrine, and wondered at the gracious words that proceeded out of his lips. The stony ground hearers heard the word with joy, and endurel for a while. Herod revered John, heard him gladly, and did many things; performing various duties, and breaking off from some of his vices. We little imagine, when the Gospel is plainly and faithfully preached, what feelings are excited even in natural men, and which will serve to render them inexcusable. For they that preach the truth as it is in Jesus, have a witness even in the experience of the unconverted. When these come from curiosity, or to ridicule, and are made to tremble: when they have forced upon them a remembrance of their sins, as if the preacher had been privy to all they have said or done; when the very secrets of their hearts are made manifest; when, notwithstanding their self-love, the doctrine makes them dissatisfied and uneasy with themselves; when they cannot but own secretly the necessity of the change they strive to |