a congregation of the children of the reformation, how few disciples do we find of this Jesus, whose kingdom is not of this world?

I freely grant, that kingdom which is not of this world, engageth us to so much mortification, to so much humility, and to so much patience; and that we are naturally so sensual, so vain, and so passionate, that it is not very astonishing, if in some absent moments of a life, which in general is devoted to Jesus Christ, we should suspend the exercise of those graces. And, I grant, further, that when, under the frailties, which accompany a christian life, we are conscious of a sincere desire to be perfect, of making some progress toward the attainment of it, of genuine grief when we do not advance apace in the road, that our great example hath marked out, when we resist sin, when we endeavor to prevent the world from stealing our hearts from God; we ought not to despair of the truth of our christianity.

But, after all, the kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world. Some of you pretend to be christians; and yet you declare coolly and deliberately, in your whole conversation and deportment, for worldly maxims diametrically opposite to the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world. You pretend to be christians; and yet you would have us indulge and approve of your conduct, when you endeavor to distinguish yourselves from the rest of the world, not by humility, moderation, and benevolence: but by a worldly grandeur, made up of pomp and parade.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world. You pretend to be christians; and although your most profound application, your most eager wishes, and your utmost anxieties, are all em

ployed in establishing your fortune, and in uniting your heart to the world, yet you would not have us blame your conduct.

The kingdom of Jesus Christ is not of this world. You pretend to be christians, and yet you are of fended, when we endeavor to convince you by our preaching, that whatever abates your ardor for spiritual blessings, how lawful soever it may be in itself, either the most natural inclination, or the most innocent amusement, or the best intended action, that all become criminal when they produce this effect,

The kingdom of Christ is not of this world. You affect to be christians; and yet, you think, we talk very absurdly, when we affirm that whatever contributes to loosen the heart from the world, whether it be the most profound humiliation, poverty the most extreme, or maladies the most violent, any thing, that produceth this detachment, ought to be accounted a blessing. You murmur, when we say, that the state of a man living on a dunghill, abandoned by all mankind, living only to suffer; but, amidst all these mortifying circumstances, praying, and praising God, and winding his heart about eternal objects; is incomparably happier than that of a worldling, living in splendor and pomp, surrounded by servile flatterers, and riding in long processional state.

But open your eyes to your real interests, and learn the extravagance of your pretensions. One, of two things, must be done to satisfy us. Either Jesus Christ must put us in possession of the felicities of the present world, while he enables us to hope for those of the world to come; and then our fondness for the first would cool our affection for the last, and an immoderate love of this life would produce a disrelish for the next: or, Jesus Christ must

coufine his gifts, and our hopes, to the presentworld, and promise us nothing in the world to come, and then our destiny would be deplorable indeed.

Had we hope only in this life, whither should we flee in those moments, in which our minds, glutted and palled with worldly objects, most clearly discover all the vanity, the emptiness, and the nothingness of them?

Had we hope only in this life, whither could we flee when the world shall disappear; when the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, when the elements shall melt with fervent heat, when the earth and all its works shall be burnt up? 2. Pet. iii. 10.

Had we hope only in this life, whither could we flee when the springs of death, which we carry in our bosoms, shall issue forth and overwhelm the powers of life? What would become of us a few days hence, when, compelled to acknowledge the nullity of the present world, we shall exclaim, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity?

Ah! I am hastening to the immortal world, I stretch my hands toward the immortal world, I feel, I grasp, the immortal world; I have no need of a Redeemer, who reigns in this present world; I want a Redeemer, who reigns in the immortal world! My finest imaginations, my highest prerogatives, my most exalted wishes, are the beholding of a reigning Redeemer, in the world to which I go; the sight of him sitting on the throne of his Father; the seeing of the four living creatures, and the four and twenty elders, falling down before him, and casting their crowns at his feet, Rev. iv. 9, 10. the hearing of the melodious voices of the triumphant hosts, saying, Glory be unto him, that sitteth upon the throne, chap. v. 1S. The most ravishing object, that can present itself to my eyes in a sick-bed, especially in the agonies of death,

when I shall be involved in darkness that may be felt, is my Saviour, looking at me, calling to me, animating me, and saying, To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne. But what would all this be? Jesus Christ will do He will give me power to conquer, and he will crown me when the battle is won. May God grant us these blessings! Amen.

more.

SERMON VIII.

THE RESURRECTION OF JESUS CHRIST.

Psalm cxviii. 15, 16.

The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tabernacles of the righ teous: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly. The right hand of the Lord is exalted: the right hand of the Lord doth valiantly.

WOMAN! why weepest thou? John xx. 13,

15. was the language of two angels and of Jesus Christ to Mary. The Lord had been crucified. The infant church was in mourning. The enemies of christianity were triumphing. The faith of the disciples was tottering. Mary had set out before dawn of day, to give vent to her grief, to bathe the tomb of her Master with tears, and to render funeral honors to him. In these sad circumstances, the heavens opened, two angels clothed in white garments descended, and placed themselves on the tomb, that inclosed the dear depositum of the love of God to the church. At the fixed moment, they rolled away the stone, and Jesus Christ arose from the grave loaden with the spoils of death. Hither Mary comes to see the dead body, the poor remain of him, who should have redeemed Israel, Luke xxiv. 21. and finding the tomb empty, abandons her whole soul to grief, and bursts into floods of tears. The heavenly messengers directly address these comfortable