Endeavour to show practically that you value that superiority. But do it from better motives than that; do it for God's glory in dependence upon God's strength, and do it for the welfare of your own soul. Why, I ask, should you not begin this night? I look to my Bible, and I find others who could make up their minds at once, and why should not you? I find that one of old said to others, "Choose ye this day whom you will serve ;" and while he called upon others to choose he made his own choice, for no sooner had he addressed them than he confessed himself, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Why not you? My brethren, who can tell whether a visit for worldly pleasure may not end in a season of eternal pleasure for you If providence is pleased to carry to the heart and the conscience of any unconverted persons these simple truths which I have put before you, it may be that in that great day before which probably we shall never all of us be found together again—in that day when you and I shall stand before the judgment-seat of Christ, we shall recollect that we resolved on this day to walk each of us in our own house with a perfect heart, and solemnly dedicated ourselves to God, to be his for ever. God grant that it may be so, for Christ's sake. Amen. 656 Paris Exhibition Sermons. Delivered in the Church of the Oratoire, Rue St. Honoré, under the sanction of the Right Rev. the Lord Bishop of London. No. 1, Rev. J. Sinclair, M.A.-On the Beautiful in Creation. 8, G. R. Gleig, M.A.-The True God, and Life Eternal. R. Bickersteth, M.A.-Redemption, the Ground for Anticipating every Blessing. The Difficulty of Salvation. The connection between sin and suffering. J. S. M. Anderson, M.A.-The Ministry of John the Baptist. Ditto J. Murray, M.A.-The happiness apart from the hope of the resurrection. 9, Hon. & Rev. H. M. Villiers, M.A.-The benefits derived from drawing near to God. PARIS EXHIBITION SERMONS. NO. XI. HEAVENLY MANSIONS. A Sermon DELIVERED ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, JULY 29, 1855, BY THE REV. W. WHEWELL, D.D. (Master of Trinity College, Cambridge.) IN THE CHURCH OF THE ORATOIRE, RUE ST. HONORÉ, PARIS. "In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you."-John xiv. 2. In a certain sense the earth is God's house, and in it we know that there are many mansions. The circumstances under which many of us now meet here remind us that this is so; for men are assembled in this city from the many mansions which they habitually occupy in various parts of the earth. These mansions, these dwelling places, are distributed far and wide, in the north and in the south-in the east, the earliest home of man, the cradle of his race, the scene of patriarchal history, the birth-place of arts and laws, of letters, and of religion; and in the remote west, the last and worthy inheritor of the arts and civilization of the more ancient world, the region where law and religion derive new vigour from the youth of the society in the bosom of which they are nursed: from all these corners of the earth men are now assembled; they are in this great city, and, it may be, even here in this congregation; and they are here assembled in evidence not only how wide is the earth which God has given to be the dwelling of the children of men, but also how varied are the gifts with which the goodness of God has blessed the various scenes of man's habitation. Men are gathered here to show the multiform treasures which Providence has bestowed upon them in their respective regions, and has enabled them to produce by their powers of body and mind, by their ingenuity and invention, or their energy and perseverance ; or probably the greater part of those who are now here were brought, not to show what they themselves possess or produce, but to admire the rich gifts, and examples of skill, and works of beauty which others have contributed to the great display of the bounties of nature and of the works of man which we have been invited hither to witness, and which, I trust, we look upon as a manifestation, not of the pride and power of man, but of the goodness and glory of God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy from all climes, and from all quarters; and who giveth man the spirit of invention and skill, of hope and trust by which he is enabled to benefit and adorn his condition here on earth. But while we are thus reminded of the many mansions occupied by the inhabitants of the earth, it is most important for us all, from whatever quarter we come, and whatever may be our errand here, to recollect that such blessings and such splendours are but poor and small things compared with the higher blessings, and greater glories which men ought to aspire to partake of, when our earth shall no longer be their home. It is most important that we all of us should recollect this, and that we should turn our thoughts even in the midst of this terrestrial splendour to the brightness of the celestial kingdom, to the blessedness of the heavenly habitation. We who address you, in this place, from week to week, have been invited to utter a few words, to put you in mind of these better things, even while your thoughts are solicited, and it may be, in danger of being captivated and bewildered, by the many forms of earthly power and magnificence, and we gladly invite your attention for a few brief moments to the consideration of that gracious assurance given us by our Lord and Master-that in that house of his Father to which he invites us "there are many mansions." In the whole treasury of Scripture there is no portion more precious and gracious than those chapters of the gospel of the beloved disciple which contain the discourses of our blessed Lord to his followers and companions, delivered on the eve of the mournful day of his cross and passion. All that is there recorded is full of the tenderest friendship, and of the most Divine condescension. We see how deeply John himself felt that this character was stamped upon these discourses by the solemn and pathetic manner in which he commences his report of them. In the preceding chapter, the 13th of the Gospel, he had begun, by saying, "Before the feast of the passover, when Jesus knew that his hour was come that he should depart out of this world unto the Father, having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." He had loved them through privation, and opposition, and persecution; he had loved them through their season of blindness and error, foolish expectations, and ill-regulated feelings; he knew that their time of fear and flight, of desertion and denial, of unbelief and hardness of heart, were at hand-that his time approached when there awaited him contamely and popular fury, a mock judgment and a bitter death; and yet "to the end," to such an end he loved them. He "loved his own;" he still held in his heart, as his own, those who were thus wavering in their faith to him. He was to go out of the world, but they were to him still "his own which were in the world," and in that capacity and character he still loved themloved them as those who remained in a scene of trial and temptation which he was leaving far below him-loved them as those who needed comfort and consolation, which he, though on the verge of a despised death, alone could give-loved them knowing, that while his hour was come, they had before them in waiting for their appointed hour, years of labour, and toil, and grief through which his love alone could support them; and thus, when his hour was come," having loved his own which were in the world, he loved them unto the end." And how did he show his love? In the first place, by speaking to them of their duties of mutual humility and mutual love, by marking in vivid map the large and practical meaning which they were to give to those instructions, by warning them of their weakness to resist the temptations of fear and shame, and by addressing to them, even while foreseeing this impending weakness, his promise, that though he might be separated from them for a time, they should at last be united to him again. Little children,' he said, 'yet a little while I am with you,' and then he implied, 'I shall be taken away from you, ye shall seek me, but whither I go ye cannot come, ye cannot yet come,' for the whole strain of the words of comfort and encourage. ment which he thus addressed to them, is to let them know and to make them trust that they shall hereafter come to him; but for the present "whither I go ye cannot come." Peter, eager and ardent as always, and confident of his own love, and faith, and strength-Peter said, "Lord, whither goest thou?" And still the Lord replied, but marking this time that their separation was for the present only, "whither I go thou canst not follow me now, but thou shalt follow me afterwards ;" and still Peter pressed his inquiries, seeing, at least, in some measure, that it must be death which was to separate him from his Master, “Lord, why cannot I follow thee now? I will lay down my life" for thee. So he confidently thought he was ready to do; and so at length in his appointed time he did; but he had to learn that he had not yet attained to that power and to that privilege—that he was not yet willing to part with that life which he thought he could so readily lay down, and that it was only by employing it long in the laborious and painful service of his Lord, after he was taken away from them that he could earn the blessing to which he so ardently aspired-the being with himEven within a few short hours thou shalt deny me. Instead of being willing to die with me, thou shalt declare that thou dost not know me; instead of showing a constant and unswerving adherence to my fortune, thou shalt repeatedly and vehemently assert that thou hast no concern with me at all.' What was thus said to one of the earliest and most zealous of our Lord's disciples, who had ever been constant and diligent in his service, who had on all occasions been treated with special regard and friendship by his Master, must have been said in a great measure to all of them. The rebuke to strong protestations of fidelity, the check to ebullitions of self-satisfied zeal, all the disciples would necessarily in some measure lay to heart. They had felt, perhaps all, or many of them, an impulse to say what Peter had said; he, prompt and ardent, had been but a moment before them in uttering what they also felt their Lord's words, therefore, would fall heavily on their hearts as well as his. The promise which had just been given to Peter, and through him to the rest, that he should follow his Lord, not now, but afterwards, would seem to be interrupted, defeated, almost retracted. It was difficult for the disciples to feel clearly at that period of their spiritual progress, that to prevent their following their Lord, through danger, and pain, and death, there were obstacles internal as well as external-that it was not that the way was not opened, but that they were not ready to walk in that terrible path. Besides, the difficulty of attaining to the kingdom of heaven, of which they had always been aware, there were brought before their minds other difficulties which they had not dreamed of; they had to learn that there were not only "fightings without," but also "fears within," which were to be overcome. The glimpse which had been opened to them of a blessedness which they had looked to enjoy in the company of their Lord was again clouded over and darkened. He was to be taken away from them; and how should they again find him? He was to go to the Father; but how were they to go the Father! He was to re-ascend to the glory which he had from the beginning; but were they to be partakers of that glory? He was to return to his Father's house; but was not that house the Palace of the King of heaven, and no habitation for man at any time? He had dwelt with the Father from eternity, and was about to resume his peculiar place at the right hand of God; but was there in that region, place for them also? With the rebuke of their self-confidence, their hopes of their own future blessedness, were also rebuked and struck down, their spirits were chilled, their hearts were troubled. To this state of feeling it is that the discourse contained in the chapter before us is addressed. Their Master loving to the end his own, even though he had to speak words which troubled them, again takes up the strain of com"Let not your hearts be troubled," he says; in fort and encouragement. this aspect of your future, which thus disturbs you, there are sources of hope and joy which you do not yet see; "you believe in God, believe also in me." You believe that God is the Creator, Ruler, and Judge of mankind, that he will establish among men the kingdom of heaven, "believe also in me," that my coming is a beginning of that kingdom-that my going is but another step in the progress of that kingdom-that the establishment of that kingdom requires my departure, because it requires my return; and believe in me, that I shall return as I now depart; believe in me that my separation from you is not permanent but temporary; believe in me that though I go to my glory, the glory which I had with the Father from the foundation of the world; I go not where ye cannot follow; I go in order that ye may follow; I go not where there is place for me alone, and no place for you; I go to the house of my Father, but the house of my Father can receive you "In my Father's house are many mansions." There is room as well as me : there for those whom I have chosen out of the world, room for those who shall follow me in the world when I have departed out of it, room for those who are to follow me hereafter, though they cannot follow me now, room for those who shall hereafter be really and truly willing to lay down their lives for my sake, though their belief that they are at present in that state of readiness be premature and presumptuous-room for all who are true believers; who, as they believe in God the Father, Lord of heaven and earth, believe also in me, the Son of God, the Son of man, the Mediator, and about to be the Redeemer of mankind. For all such there is room; for "in my Father's house are many mansions." That such is the meaning of this expression is evident to one attending to the strain of thought and feeling conveyed by this passage. The declaration, that in the house of their Father there were many mansions, was addressed to the disciples, in order to support their trust; that though their Divine Master was then to be taken away from them, they would be received afterwards into those mansions into which he was to return so soon. And that this is the purport and object of the passage is rendered still further evident "If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare by what follows: a place for you." If the hopes of the kingdom of heaven on which your hearts have been fixed during the time that you have been with me, were to receive their completion in any other way than by your coming to the Father, as |