visited my poor, polluted, miserable bosom! But for thee, I had been languishing in gloom, sitting in despondency, or sinking in despair! But for thee I had never wept over sin, fled to Jesus, embraced his cross, or felt the sweets of pardon, peace, and liberty! But for thee, I had been a felon in chains, a criminal in prison, a malefactor doomed to eternal death! Oh, Grace, how much I owe thee! Oh, Grace, how shall I sufficiently extol thee! Yes, good hope is through grace, and grace alone. Grace devised it, grace made provision for it, grace produced it, grace sustains it, and grace shall have all the glory of it!

It is a good hope. Good in its author, which is God, who is called the God of hope. Sweet is that prayer of the apos tle, "Now the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope, by the power of the Holy Ghost." Whatever God produces must be good; whatever God gives must be excellent. Hope is his gift, one of those favours referred to by James, "Every good gift, and every perfect gift, is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, in whom is no variableness, nor shadow

of turning." It is good in its nature. An expectation, founded on the goodness of God, generated by the good Spirit of God, of receiving good things from God; an expectation, that does honour to the benevolence of the Divine Nature, the veracity of the Divine Word, and the glorious atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is good in its effects. It banishes sullen gloom, dissipates dreary fears, scatters distressing doubt, and conquers accursed unbelief. It lights up a candle in the prisoner's dark cell, it opens a door to the traveller in Achor's dreary vale, and it kindles a fire in the sinner's icy heart. It gives lustre to the eye, colour to the lip, and bloom to the cheek. It purifies the heart from prejudice against God, enmity to man, and accursed selfishness. It sets the idle to work, sends the sick soul to the Physician, and stimulates the disheartened to run the race set before him. It is good, for it gives God praise, its possessor comfort, and benefits all around. It is good, for it rests on a good basis. A basis broader than time, firmer than earth, and durable as the throne of God. It rests on the infinite love of Father, Son, and Spirit; on the everlasting covenant, or

dered in all things and sure; on the me ritorious blood and perfect righteousness of Incarnate Deity; on the many exceed. ing great and precious promises of the sacred Word; on the oath of God, that he willeth not the death of the sinner, and will not be wrath with his people; and on the immutable faithfulness of a God who cannot lie. Glorious foundation of our hope this What can shake it! What disturb it! My soul, let thy hope rest, not on anything within thee, or on anything done by thee, but on what God is, what God has said, what God has done, and what God is pledged to do. This is the rock on which to cast thy anchor,-it will keep thee steady amidst all the storms of life, and in the great earthquake of death. As the anchor grasping the rock holds fast the vessel, causing it to outride the storm, so thy hope, grasping this glorious rock, will keep thee safe and steady. It moors thee to the eternal throne. Others may make shipwreck of faith and of a good conscience, but thou never shalt, Other vessels may be dashed to pieces by the fury of the storm, but thine never can. The metal of which this anchor is made is so strong, and so well welded, that all the

powers of earth and heil may try in vain to break it; the cable by which this anchor is held-the faith of the operation of God-is so powerful that no stress can ever snap, or even strand it; and the timber to which it is fastened in the vesselthe work of the Spirit of God in the soul -is firmer than any old English oak, or Lebanon's far-famed cedars; therefore it is, that every vessel of mercy is enabled to sail over the stormy and troubled ocean of time, and notwithstanding its eddies and tides, its rocks and quicksands, its whirlpools and waterspouts, not one ever perished yet. Perished! Forgive the thought, alike dishonourable to God and iujurious to man! Perished! Utterly impossible, since He who holds the winds in his fists, and the waters in the hollow of his hand, has said, "THEY SHALL NEVER PERISH!" Perished! if so then the promise must fail, the oath of God must be violated, the blood of the cross must be d shonoured, the everlasting covenant must be broken, the word of Jesus must prove a falsehood, and Satan would triumph over the Saviour! Perished! No, never one! Rejoice, rejoice, rejoice, my soul, in this! Hold this fast, and never give it up; for if one

has perished, more may; and if any one is likely, thou art the man. Yes, my feeble, fickle, foolish soul would be sure to be found among the lost. But no, that hope that originated with God is sustained by God, and will be consummated in the presence and glory of God. "The hope of the righteous shall be gladness." A good "hope maketh not ashamed, because the love of God is shed abroad in the heart by the Holy Ghost." But if I hope for victory, and lose the battle,-if I hope for the prize, and lose the race,― if I hope for heaven, but am doomed to hell, should I not be ashamed? And when tormented by devils and fellow-sufferers of a different class, would not my hope make me ashamed? But we are saved by hope. Saved from distraction, desperation, and despair now; and saved from the horrors of hell for ever. Hope, eldest daughter of a living faith, thou hast cheered, solaced, and comforted me hitherto; wilt thou not comfort me to the end? Yes, yes, and when, on my dying pillow, when heart and flesh is failing, when earth is receding, and the unseen world is approaching, thou wilt whisper to me, "Grace reigns, glory approaches, heaven opens