2. For our consolation —
[When under peculiar temptations, we are ready to think that there is no one like us, and that no one was ever tempted as we are. But " there has no temptation taken any one of us, but what is common to man ''." And when we know this, it is a rich source of consolation to us. Not that the trials of others can do us any good : every man must bear his own burthen, whether it be greater or less : but, when a man supposes that he alone is subjected to any peculiar trouble, he is ready to imagine that he is an outcast from the Lord, and that there is no hope for him in God. The removal of this painful appre- hension, however, raises him from his dejection, and emboldens him to maintain the conflict with all the enemies of his salva- tion. He will then chide himself, and say, "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God : for I shall yet praise Him, who is the health of my countenance, and my God '."]
3. For our encouragement —
[If in the Scriptvu'es we see what human nature is, we see also what divine grace is, and what it can effect in the heart of
ii Rom. iii. 10 — 19. > Jer. xvii. 9.
k 1 Cor. X. 13. ' Ps. xlii. 11.
man. After a most horrible description given by the Apostle, of persons who were to be excluded from the kingdom of heaven, he says to the Corinthians, " And such were some of you : but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are jus- tified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God""." And the change wrought, on the day of Pentecost, on the murderers of our Lord, abundantly shews what may be expected by all who believe on him. The same holy joy shall animate their souls ; and the same Almighty power renovate them after the divine image. It was to Christians scattered throughout the world that Peter said, " Through believing in Christ, they rejoiced with joy unspeakable and full of glory ; receiving even now the end of their faith, even the salvation of their souls "." What, then, may not we also expect, if we truly believe in Christ ? Verily, as in water face answereth to face, so shall our hearts respond to the hearts of the primitive saints, in all that is good and great. Our victories shall be the same as theirs, as shall also be our triumphs and our joys. Let this encourage us to go forward in our heavenly way, expecting assuredly that we in due time shall " see the good of God's chosen, and rejoice in the gladness of his nation, and glory with his inheritance °."]
"1 1 Cor. vi. 10, 11. » 1 Pet. i. 8, 9. « Ps. cvi. 5.