him. But of this conflict he knows nothing. He anticipates the same calm, serene, uninterrupted enjoyment, which he experiences in the freshness of his first love. It is well that the trials to come are hid from him, that he may gather strength for the conflict. But it was only three days after the children of Israel were rejoicing and singing the praises of God, on account of their deliverance, when they began to murmur for want of water. So with the young Christian. While all is calm and peaceful, he knows not the evil that yet remains in his heart; but when crosses and trials come, remaining corruptions rebel, and he finds his heart frets against the providences of God. The same thing is repeatedly illustrated, by similar conduct, on the part of the children of Israel, when brought into straits. There are, also, awful examples of backsliding. The children of Israel, even in sight of Mount Sinai, turned back to the worship of the gods of Egypt; and often they sighed for the pleasures of the land which they had left. And how often do young converts, even in sight of the altar where they pledged themselves, and of the emblems of the dying love of the Saviour, go back to their idols, and hanker after the pleasures of sin. Whether such are truly converted, or not, I do not pretend to determine; but many do thus backslide, who are afterwards recovered to a more devoted life, as Aaron and the tribe of Levi were; but probably the greater part of backsliders will fall in the wilderness, as the greater part of those did, who bowed down to the golden calf. Yet how dreadful the sin of a leading man or a minister, as Aaron was, who backslides,

and leads a multitude along with him, many of whom will not return when he returns. There are, also, solemn warnings against unbelief. But for this sin, the children of Israel might have entered the promised land in about two years; but to cure them of this sin, they were driven about in the wilderness forty years. And but for this sin, Christians might, doubtless, come into a state of elevated and permanent enjoyment of God, with a constant foretaste of the heavenly Canaan, without being tossed and driven about in a dry and barren land for many years, as it appears most of them are, to cure the plague of their hearts. There are many more points of resemblance between the journey of the children of Israel and the experience of Christians, which I leave the reader to trace out, by comparing them with his own experience. I leave the point with this remark :-That there does not appear to have been any necessity for the children of Israel to have encountered the evils which they did in the wilderness. If they had gone forward in the same spirit which they began, trusting in God for every emergency, submitting to him, and rejoicing in his holy providences towards them, it is altogether probable, that, after a short and easy passage through the wilderness, they would have gained possession of Canaan without difficulty. But it was their sins which created all the difficulty. So with the Christian. There is no necessity for his backsliding. There is no necessity for his walking in darkness. If he would but trust in God, looking continually to Jesus, he might go on his way rejoicing and hoping firm unto the end. There were some among the

Caleb and

children of Israel who did not backslide. Joshua kept on an even course of obedience, and never departed from God; and they became pillars in the church, and were richly rewarded in the land of Canaan. O that there were many such in the churches of our day!

7. This subject furnishes two valuable illustrations of the nature and necessity of faith in Christ, in the Passover and the brazen serpent, both of which are typical, as appears both from their connection with the great typical events already mentioned, and from the allusions made to them by Christ and the apostle Paul. The paschal lamb represented the sacrifice of Christ. The victim selected was a lamb, the emblem of innocence, to show that he was to suffer the just for the unjust; it was to be roasted and eaten whole, to show, perhaps, that Christ is to be taken as a whole and complete Saviour, and that we are to rely upon him alone for salvation; and not a bone of it was to be broken, to point to the same thing in the death of Christ. But the blood of the lamb was to be sprinkled upon the door-posts, as a sign to the destroying angel, to pass over those houses. Now it would have been of no avail for any family that the Passover was slain, if they had not sprinkled the blood on the door-posts. The destroying angel would have entered in and performed his work of death. So with sinners it will be of no avail to them that Christ has died to atone for their sins. There must be an application of his blood by faith. It required faith in God's appointed means, to induce the children of Israel to sprinkle the blood of the Passover on their

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doors; and it requires faith in the way of salvation which he has now appointed, to render it available for the salvation of any. If any had presumed on the goodness of God, and said, "Surely, God is too good to send his destroying angel into my house, to kill my first-born," and so had neglected the appointed means of preservation, would his house have been saved? So now, if any one presumes to be wiser than God, and to say, "Surely, God is too good to punish any of us forever in hell," and so neglects the blood of sprinkling, will God pass over him in the day of vengeance?

So of the brazen serpent. The people were bitten with fiery flying serpents, whose sting, like the sting of sin, was certain death. Multitudes around, were falling into the grave under the influence of the venomous poison, as multitudes now are dropping into the bottomless pit under the sting of sin. The brazen serpent, an emblem of Christ on the cross, was raised up in sight of all the people. Their sin was unbelief; and to look upon the brazen serpent required faith in God's word; but if they would not look, they must die. There was no remedy. So with sinners. Their great sin is unbelief. The act of faith required of them, is, to look to Christ on the cross, to look at him in his humiliation and exaltation,―suffering, bleeding, dying, rising, ascended on high, and trust in his almighty power to save. It was no great thing required of the dying Israelite,-it was only look and live,"-it is no great thing that is required of you, dying sinner,-only "look and

live." But refuse to look and live, and you must certainly die,-for ever die.

8. This subject teaches the dreadful nature of unbelief, and with what awful abhorrence God regards it. It was unbelief, or want of confidence in the word of God, which brought those dreadful plagues upon the children of Israel in the wilderness, and shut a whole generation out of the promised land, leaving their carcasses in the wilderness. This is a solemn warning to us. It is unbelief, or want of confidence in God's promises, which keeps the church so low. It is unbelief, O impenitent reader, which will destroy your soul. God says, though he is gracious and merciful, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, he will by no means clear the guilty, but will punish them with everlasting destruction from the presence of God, and the glory of his power. But you say, "No; I do not believe it,-God is too good to punish men forever in hell." The reason you think so is, that you have no adequate views of the evil of sin. This one sin of unbelief is enough to shut you out of heaven forever. Would you have a man in your house that would not believe your word? No; and God will not have you in his house, if you believe not his word; for the "fearful and the unbelieving," as well as the "abominable and murderers," "shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone which is the second death." There is no mansion in our Father's house for unbelievers,— there is no place there for those who make our Father a liar!