how shall he not with him freely give us all things." He will most assuredly fulfil them all; he will keep and perform whatever he has engaged to do for his people.

The sacraments of Christ then, when duly ministered with the prayer of faith, and in dutiful obedience to the will and commandments of God, ensure the blessing from above; but without faith, or without prayer, or without obedience to the will of God, there can be no ground to expect the blessing. "Ye have not, because ye ask not:" "whatsoever we ask, says St. John, "we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight." For "without faith it is impossible to please God, for they that come to him must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of all them that diligently seek him." "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, (who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not), and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering; for he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea, driven with the wind, and tossed, for let not that man think that he shall receive any thing of the Lord."

The pledges which God hath given in his word

and sacraments, can only be truly apprehended by faith, which is the gift of God, which comes by the hearing of God's word, and by the teaching of his Spirit. "No man can come to me,' said Christ," except the Father draw him." "It is written in the prophets, and they shall be all taught of God; every man therefore that hath heard and hath learned of the Father, cometh unto me." "All that the Father giveth me, shall come to me, and him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out." We must therefore ask for the blessing promised in faith; "this is the confidence which we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he heareth us.”

It ought ever to be had in remembrance by those who would know the truth as it is in Jesus, that the great design of the Christian sacraments is to exhibit Christ as a Saviour, and the treasures of heavenly grace conferred by him. alone. The God of grace is ready to fulfil what he promises by these signs, for faithful is he that hath promised. But there is reason to guard, lest in the use of the holy rites appointed by him as outward signs, "we should exalt the sign, but forget the thing signified; lest there should be a mere form of godliness, while we

deny the power thereof;" lest we should think the water of baptism had the virtue of washing and sanctifying the soul, and not the Spirit of God; lest we should pay homage to the bread and wine in the Lord's Supper, and forget the Saviour himself, of which they are the emblems. It should not be forgotten, that in the appointment of these sacraments, God intended to work by them, and with them, but not to transfer his virtue and power to them. The moment they are regarded more than signs and means of grace appointed by God, they become weak and beggarly elements. The author and finisher of our faith is ever the same, yesterday, to-day, and for ever. He is all in all; he is the Lord our righteousness; he is "of God, made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption." He died on the cross once for all, as an offering and sacrifice to God, and he can save to the uttermost all that come unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them." The sacraments of Christ then point to him, and when duly observed, are seals of the gracious promises of God in him; they are solemn pledges of light and life, of grace and mercy, of pardon and

peace, of his Spirit to dwell with us here, and of eternal life hereafter; and while they assure us of an interest in the blessings promised, they bind us to all thankful obedience from the most constraining motives of love and gratitude, for blessings and mercies promised or received. 'The love of Christ constraineth us, because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead, and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him that died for them and rose again." On the part of God, they are as sure pledges that he will be ever mindful of his holy covenant, to keep it even to a thousand generations; on the part of his people, when they engage in them in faith, they are a pledge, that while they place a trust in the exceeding great and precious promises, they will observe to do all that is commanded them. "If a man love me, he will keep my words, and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him."

The sacraments of Christ, as set forth in the everlasting gospel, are solemn appointments ordained of God. It is the God of all grace who gives the command to keep them, it is the

God of all grace who gives the promise to bless them. They are not merely signs of admission into the new covenant: they are not merely badges of the public profession, and solemn confession of the high calling of Christ, but they are bonds of obedience to God, sacred obligations to the exercise of charity, helps to godliness, preservations from sin, and memorials of the love which is in Christ Jesus. They are intended, in the most impressive manner, to set forth the grace of God, that grace which is promised to all his people, who seek it in the appointed means, for unto every one of us is given grace, according to the measure of the gift of Christ." "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man, to profit withal." The blessing which attends the sacraments ordained by Christ, is not from any natural or inherent quality, which men may attach to them as elements, but from the power of God's name and gift who first ordained them by our Lord Jesus Christ, and who has promised to be with them alway, even to the end of the world. "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." The sacraments of Christ appointed and ordained for this