[Every one of them does he bring out of Egypt. How- ever long we may have been in bondage there, he looses our bonds, and " brings us into the glorious liberty of his children." See what he did for his people of old, and then you will see what he will do for us : did he cause them to go from their bondage, and to commit themselves altogether to the guidance and protection of their God ? That is what he will do" for us : neither sin nor Satan shall detain us any longer under their dominion ; but we shall devote ourselves altogether to the Lord, to be to him a holy and a peculiar people ]
3. The efficacy of his grace in their behalf —
[Not one was left behind : " not one feeble person was found," at that juncture, amidst all the tribes of Israel. And shall there be one amongst all his people, whom he has re- deemed, unable to withstand his spiritual enemies? No, not one : " It is not the will of our Father that one of his little ones should perish." There may be a diversity in the mode of their preservation, as at the shipwreck of St. Paul : but not one shall be lost ; nor shall a hair fall from the head of any one amongst themk.]
Address —
1. Have any of you been called to God as from early childhood ?
[O, " bless God for this unspeakable gift." How much have you avoided, which might have ensnared and destroyed your souls ! Verily, to be called to the knowledge of the truth in early life, is a far richer blessing than to have been called to the possession of crowns and kingdoms.]
2. Are any of you brought into a state of deep affliction ?
[This is no proof that God does not " love you," or deal with you as " his children." Israel of old were scarcely escaped from Egypt, before they were menaced with destruc- tion at the Red Sea. And our blessed Lord was scarcely born into the world, before it was necessary that he should be carried to Egypt, to avoid the sword of the destroyer. Indeed, you will find that God in general calls his people to trials. " John the Baptist must be in the deserts, till the time of his shewing unto Israel1:" our blessed Lord must be " forty days tempted of the devil in the wilderness," before he shall enter on the office to which he had been baptized"1: St. Paul shall be three days and three nights without sight ; and even then
k Acts xxvii. 34, 44. ' Luke i, 80.
m Matt. iv. 1. Mark i. 9 — 13.