arrive in the pi'omised land shall we cease to need these sup- plies, which are to be brought to us by the exercise of a lively faith. There is no substitute for them : the life of the Israelites in the wilderness is a perfect pattern of our life ; and to theirs we are taught to conform our own.
To " the rest which remaineth for us*^" we are taught to look forward with high expectations and assured confidence. There is a better country than Canaan, even heaven itself, which the patriarchs, to whom the land of Canaan was pro- mised, themselves regarded as their destined home*^. And to that must we look as our inheritance. " There, we shall rest from all our labours :" there, shall all tears be wiped away from our eyes. There shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying ; neither shall there be any more pain : but, having his tabernacle with us, we shall dwell with him and he with us more intimately than we have now any conception of, we being his acknowledged people, and he our endeared God, for ever and ever ^]
But as this Gospel has never yet produced what it was destined to accomphsh, it will be proper to shew,
II. To what must be ascribed its inefficacy both in them and us —
The Gospel itself is not destitute of power : it is " the rod of God's strength :" it is " quick and power- ful, and sharper than a two-edged sword :" it is " mighty through God to the pulhng down of the strong-holds of sin and Satan :" it is the power of God unto salvation to all who truly believe it. Yet its operations have been very limited and partial. And whence arises this ? I answer.
The Jews " mixed not faith with what they heard"—
[Moses from the beginning told them of all the blessings which God had in reserve for them : yet from the beginning they were an unbelieving people. Though Moses had given them abundant evidence of his divine mission, they murmured against him, when they found their burthens augmented in consequence of his interposition s. When they had seen all the wonders wrought in their behalf in Egypt, they again complained, as suon as ever they saw the hosts of Pharaoh
d ver. 9. « Heb. xi. 9, 10, 13—16.
f Rev. xxi. ;3, 4. ii Exod. v. 21—23.