XII.

i

SERMON Here, tents only are pitched; tabernacles erected for the sojourners of a day. But in the region of eternity, all is great, stable, and unchanging. There, the mansions of the just are prepared: there, the city which bath foundations is built; there is established, the kingdom which cannot be moved. Here every thing is in stir and fluctuation because here good inen continue not, but pass onward in the course of being. There, all is serene, steady, and orderly; because there remaineth the final rest of the people of God, Here, all is corrupted by our folly and guilt ; and of course must be transient and vain. But there, purchased by the death, and secured by the resurrection, of the Son of God, is an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away. There reigns that tranquillity which is never troubled. There shines that sun which never sets.

There flows that river of pleasures, which is always unruffled and pure. Looking forward to those divine habitations, the changes of the present world disappear to the eye of faith; and a good man becomes ashamed of suffering himself to be dejected by what is so soon to pass away.

SUCH

XII.

SUCH are the objects you ought to op- SERMON pose to the transient fashion of the world; Virtue, and God, and Heaven. Fixing your regard on these, you will have no reason to complain of the lot of man, or the world's mutability.-The design of the preceding representation which I gave of the world, was not to indulge vain declamation ; to raise fruitless melancholy; or to throw an unnecessary cloud over human life: But to shew the moderation requisite in our attachment to the world; and at the same time, to point out the higher objects both of attention and consolation which religion affords.Passing and changeable as all human things are, among them, however, we must at present act our part; to them we must return from religious meditation. They are not below the regard of any Christian; for they form the scene which Providence has appointed at present for his activity, and his duty. Trials and dangers they may often present to him; but amidst these he will safely hold his course, if, when engaged in worldly affairs, he keep in view those divine objects which I have been setting before him. Let him ever retain connexion

R

4

XII.

SERMON nexion with Virtue, and God, and Heaven. By them let his conduct be regulated, and his constancy supported. So shall he use this world without abusing it. He shall neither droop under its misfortunes, nor be vainly elated by its advantages; but through all its changes shall carry an equal and steady mind; and in the end shall receive the accomplishment of the promise of Scripture, that though the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, he that doeth the will of God shall abide for ever*.

SERMON XIII.

On TRANQUILLITY of MIND.

PSALM XV. 5.

He that doeth these things shall never be

TRA

moved.

XIII.

RANQUILLITY of mind, or, in the SERMON words of the text, a mind not moved or disquieted by the accidents of life, is undoubtedly one of the greatest blessings that we can possess on earth. It is here mentioned as the reward of the man, whose character had been described in this psalm, as leading a virtuous life, and discharging his duty towards God and his neighbour. It is indeed the ultimate aim, to which the wishes of the wise and reflecting have ever been directed,

SERMON directed, that with a mind undisturbed by XIII. anxieties, cares, and fears, they might pass their days in a pleasing serenity. They justly concluded that, by enjoying themselves in peace, they would enjoy, to the greatest advantage, all the comforts of life that came within their reach.

This happy tranquillity, the multitude conceive to be most readily attainable by means of wealth, or, at least, of an easy fortune; which they imagine would set them above all the ordinary disturbances of life. That it has some effect for this purpose, cannot be denied. Poverty and straitened circumstances are often inconsistent with tranquillity. To be destitute of those conveniencies that suit our rank in the world; to be burdened with anxiety about making provision for every day which passes over our head; instead of bringing comfort to a family who look up to us for aid, to behold ourselves surrounded with their wants and complaints, are circumstances which cannot fail to give much uneasiness to every feeling mind. To take measures, therefore, for attaining a competent fortune, by laudable means,