He who took upon himself the form of a servant, and though possessed of all the attributes of Deity, bound himself in our nature to humiliation and death upon the cross. He who came to earth, and made his appearance here, and spent his youth in poverty, and encountered the scorn and the reproach of man, and the malice and the buffetings of Satan, the agony of the garden, the anguish of the cross, the solemnities of the tomb. He who did all this is the same that called you first to the knee of penitence, touched the spring of feeling, brought the tear of sorrow to your eyes, and said, Behold me, I am thy friend and thy salvation. He is the same; he speaks now as then he spoke; he feels now as then he felt; he marks your spirit now as he then marked it. Shall we then shrink back from the path we have entered on, and become cold and weak in the conflict to which we are summoned by such a leader, and by such a friend? Surely all the considerations of this nature that the word of God presents to us, are adapted greatly to enable us to realize the promise, which the words before mentioned contain.

But look beyond this. Multitudes have been made partakers of all that you feel to be needful in your case, in order that these glorious predictions may indeed be accomplished in you. It would be your duty to trust in God, doubtless, if he had merely promised that these things should be revealed, and if you could look to no one instance in which these promises had been carried into effect: but you know you are surrounded by thousands of instances; many are before you on your right hand and upon your left. There is upon earth and in heaven a cloud of witnesses, to testify that God can do for beings weak and guilty as you are, every thing which his most glorious mercy sees fit for them. Whence come that multitude who have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb? Out of much tribulation. And how did they endure amid much tribulation? They endured seeing Him who was invisible; they endured under the influence of His faithful promise who said, "My grace shall be sufficient for thee, and

weakness." These things did not fail to have their influence upon you at the first, ye disciples of the Son of God. These things did not fail to affect you at the first, when you uttered the cry for mercy, and entreated God to help you. Why should they not affect you now. Why should they not fill you with shame and self abasement, at the thought that they have not affected you more deeply and practically than they have?

I would offer now a few remarks, with a view to guide you in the pursuit of this high good, being anxious to produce within you the spirit of the Apostle, who said he forgot the things which were behind, and reached forward to those which were before.

Endeavour, then, to become intimately acquainted with the ground of your faith, with the foundation upon which God by his own word has called you to build. Let this be done, not merely that you may be able to convince gainsayers, but for the satisfaction of your own mind; that you may be sure you have not followed cunningly devised fables, that you may have all that conviction which a rational creature claims, when reposing your soul on the promise of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We urge this upon you, because unless you are attentive to it, your adherence to the religion of Jesus Christ may be the mere effect of education; you may be right and you may be wrong. The Son of God requires of those who would become his disciples, that they should look carefully, narrowly, and closely, to the work to which they apply themselves; that while they form a proper estimate of the danger and the difficulties which belong to the career they have entered upon, they should, at the same time, have a proper interest in the sources of strength and help which the Gospel presents to them.

We know there may be instances in which men may be able to express themselves very imperfectly, as to what they consider the Gospel to be; when at the same time there shall be, in their spirit and in their life, much which indicates that they know and taste and feel what it is. But we are not adverting to those whose understandings are visibly weak, and whose memories

are treacherous, and who are not at all capable of receiving much in the way of instruction; we are speaking of those who possess good understandings, who are capable of making calculations on other things, but who do not apply themselves to the study of religious truth, as they apply to the study of any other truth. We must say with regard to those persons, that, pretend what they may, they have yet to learn the value of religious truths. Men surely would bring their understandings and their hearts to these matters more than they do, if they had impressed upon them a feeling as to the importance of these things. We have no hope of perceiving that stability which ought always to belong to the profession of the Gospel, apart from this concern to have the mind properly grounded in the doctrines of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now you are aware, that multitudes are to be found who would be offended in not being called Christians; yet if you were to question them with regard to the doctrines of the Gospel, they possess scarcely any definite apprehension with relation to it. How many go to the very table where the memorials of the Saviour's cross and passion are received, without having any clear apprehension of that work of atonement which is there represented. Wherever these things occur we are not surprised that there should be haltings in the way, that there should be a weakening of the energies instead of a strengthening of them.

Seek not only to become acquainted with the letter of the word, what the truth is, and the harmony of the various truths constituting the Gospel; but, above all things, seek that these things may be experimentally known. It is possible to contend for religious truth, as men contend for various points of natural science; the mind being unaffected in a spiritual manner by the things which it contends for. The Christian will find it his chief blessing to seek the truth by which his heart is impressed and transformed. He does not believe the man who tells him, when he has tasted a bitter thing, that it is not bitter, but is very sweet; he will smile at the simplicity of the individual who will try to argue him out of his senses. He will say, You will

excuse me, I have tasted it, and I know it is bitter. So with regard to this Gospel-men will tell him it is a fable: he says, I know it to be otherwise; it found me a rebel against God, and it has made me a friend of God—it found me the slave of many lusts; it has set me free from them-it found me a worshipper of this earth; it has taught me to seek yonder glorious heaven— it has made me the opposite of my former self-it has done for me the great and glorious things which it claims to have the power of doing. Tell me not it is an unreal thing; I bear about me the witness of its reality, its power, and its benevolence, in my own character; and shall bear it always. You must perceive the importance of this kind of aid with a view to the realizing of the blessing that is promised to you. If you would become" stronger and stronger," seek to become more possessed of these experimental promises, of the truth as it is in Jesus. Be concerned not only to believe that there is an atonement, but so to believe it, that the mind which was in Jesus Christ, and disposed him to become the Saviour of men from sin and from pollution, may be in you.

I would urge you still further, to watch the state of your heart; not to be satisfied with merely avoiding the external inducements to transgression; not to suppose that if you were at a distance from the means of carrying into effect any of the unhallowed propensities of your nature, that therefore you are safe. Satan will be with you even at such seasons. Let the heart be kept with all diligence; for one who knew it well has declared, that "out of it are all the issues of life."

Cherish also a spirit of humility. God does not bestow his blessing on the proud. To such it is like the water which falls from a fountain upon a vessel which is already full. It is like a lofty rock, on which the rain may come, and the sun may shine, but there is no fruitfulness on it. And if you would possess that grace which is to make you strong in His ways, seek to become partakers of that humility of mind which the Gospel is intended to produce.

Avoid the society of wicked men. You cannot do this entirely, unless you go out of the world. Avoid all un

necessary intercourse with ungodly men. Do them all the good you can; but as soon as you find that their ungodliness is employed in any way to the injury of your religious motives, consider seriously how far it behoves you to expose yourself to the risk of temptation. Seek the society of the people of God. "Woe to him that

fleeth when he is alone," is the language of Holy Writ. The people of God associated together, what have they not been able to do? Standing alone they have often been overpowered; but bound together they have been like the trees of a thicket, no one of which would have stood the blast if it had stood singly; but all of which have stood it because they have been together, and the one has supported the other. Let not, therefore, your religion be a thing that rests in your own heart. It is a duty incumbent on you, to seek to communicate good to others, and to seek to obtain good from others. The Christian is not to be a sullen, selfish man; he is rather to be a frank, generous, and humane man. His heart is to be as large as the Church of God, and wide as the world, embracing all that believe in the Gospel, and all that breathe the air of this earth. If the Gospel does not these things for us, it fails to do all that it should do.

I would urge upon you further, as a source from which you would derive much strength, to cultivate an intercourse with your fellow-travellers. Be careful that you use the means of grace which your God has given you in the Bible, which shall be a lantern to your path and a light to your feet. Why has he appointed sabbaths, but that they should be a foretaste of the sabbaths

above? Why appointed ordinances, but that in waiting upon them you should renew your strength? Let these things be carefully borne in mind, and surely you will not go away from this service without being strengthened, and prepared to meet the difficulties which you may have to encounter in your various paths of life.

But I speak to some who have not entered on this joyful enquiry, who are pursuing the things of the world and of time, in perfect carelessness to the things of God and eternity. What shall we say to these? If Christianity be a dream, why even then it is a miserable life you are living. You must know, that the men who live under the influence of the high hopes and the commanding motives which we have this night adverted to, have in their lot an element of happiness that you have not. You must know, that the man who enjoys the blessings of this world, and has his heart filled with the glorious anticipation of a better, has in his lot something, even here, which infinitely transcends every thing that is yours. But on the other side, taking the Gospel, as we verily believe it to be, the word of God in truth, oh, what a state of mind is yours! How fool-hardy are you now, and what will be your state hereafter? Here buffetted and disappointed in a thousand scenes, and hereafter cut off from all that is great, all that is good, and from all that is happy, in the universe of God for ever and ever. Oh, put away the thought that would keep you from your Maker's presence

implore his mercy-call on his name while it is called to-day, that your souls may be saved.