see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."*

4. Let the cheerful in heart be exhorted to be grateful to God who is their joy. It was he that turned for you your mourning into dancing, who put off your sackcloth, and girded you with gladness. Had it not been for him you might still have been sitting in ashes, and the spirit of bondage might have been stirring up distracting terrors within you. See that you console others with the same comforts wherewith you are comforted of God. This was one end of your being made so happy; and the richer your stores of consolation are, the more diligent should you be in solacing the feeble mind. You will find in this dispensation that it is as blessed to give as to receive. Grieve not the generous Saviour who hath blessed you, and who taketh pleasure in the prosperity of his servants. Cultivate an increasing acquaintance with those statutes of the Lord which rejoice the mind; with prayer which relieves the heart; and with those fruits of righteousness which are sown and reaped in peace. Let your cheerfulness be kept pure from every tincture of carnal and foolish mirth; and show that the more happiness you feel, the stronger is the impulse within you to active goodness, and to the crucifixion of the flesh.

Finally, Let me address those who are blessing themselves in a false mirth. I know not whether the despairing mourner or the jovial sinner is the greatest object of pity. The jovial sinner's mirth is

* 1 Peter i. 6-8.

Be af

like the laughter of the maniac, or like the singing of the patient whose brain a fever hath disordered. The broken spirit may lead to that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, but the audacious mirth of the sinner is most likely to end in weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. In hell sorrow crushes and remorse tortures the heart; and yet the power of an avenging God sustains it, that it may suffer for ever the misery which it chose, and the wrath from which it would not flee. flicted then, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to sorrow, and your mirth to heaviness. It is thus only that you will feel the need of the Balm of Gilead, and thirst for the water of religious comfort. Come unto me, saith the blessed Jesus, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, toiling in the vain pursuit of happiness, or crushed under the load of guilty fears; come unto me and I will give you rest. He will say to you, as you approach him in fear and trembling, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;" and this will be the sentence with which he will raise you from the dust, and send you away to walk in newness of life, and to rejoice in his mercy for ever. "Thy sins are forgiven thee; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."+

DISCOURSE X.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES DEPLORED.

JEREMIAH Viii. 20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

In this chapter the Prophet describes, in a most powerful and striking manner, the miseries of the Jews, during the siege of their capital by the Chaldeans, and the horrors brought upon his unhappy country by its fall. In the text the people are represented as stating the vain hopes which they had entertained of deliverance. Day after day they had expected some friendly power to appear for their rescue, or some interposition of Heaven in their favour, but no relief had come. Their hearts were now sick through hope deferred, and disappointed, and they saw nothing now before them but captivity or death.

Though the prophet felt the strongest abhorrence of the crimes of his nation, and though he saw that the calamities which had befallen them were the due reward of their deeds, and the fulfilment of the threatenings which he had denounced against them, he deplored, with the bitterest sorrow a patriot can feel, the ruin of his country. It was not in exultation over its fall, but in deep regret, that he poured forth these strains. He had another object in view in doing so, which was worthy of his character as a prophet of the Most High; and it was this, to warn

like the laughter of the maniac, or like the singing of the patient whose brain a fever hath disordered. The broken spirit may lead to that godly sorrow which worketh repentance to salvation, but the audacious mirth of the sinner is most likely to end in weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. In hell sorrow crushes and remorse tortures the heart; and yet the power of an avenging God sustains it, that it may suffer for ever the misery which it chose, and the wrath from which it would not flee. Be af flicted then, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned to sorrow, and your mirth to heaviness. It is thus only that you will feel the need of the Balm of Gilead, and thirst for the water of religious comfort. Come unto me, saith the blessed Jesus; all ye that labour and are heavy laden, toiling in the vain pursuit of happiness, or crushed under the load of guilty fears; come unto me and I will give you rest.* He will say to you, as you approach him in fear and trembling, "Son, be of good cheer, thy sins are forgiven thee;" and this will be the sentence with which he will raise you from the dust, and send you away to walk in newness of life, and to rejoice in his mercy for ever. "Thy sins are forgiven thee; thy faith hath saved thee; go in peace."+

Matt. xi. 28.

+ Luke vii. 48. 50.

DISCOURSE X.

LOST OPPORTUNITIES DEPLORED.

JEREMIAH viii. 20. The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved.

In this chapter the Prophet describes, in a most powerful and striking manner, the miseries of the Jews, during the siege of their capital by the Chaldeans, and the horrors brought upon his unhappy country by its fall. In the text the people are represented as stating the vain hopes which they had entertained of deliverance. Day after day they had expected some friendly power to appear for their rescue, or some interposition of Heaven in their favour, but no relief had come. Their hearts were now sick through hope deferred, and disappointed, and they saw nothing now before them but captivity or death.

Though the prophet felt the strongest abhorrence of the crimes of his nation, and though he saw that the calamities which had befallen them were the due reward of their deeds, and the fulfilment of the threatenings which he had denounced against them, he deplored, with the bitterest sorrow a patriot can feel, the ruin of his country. It was not in exultation over its fall, but in deep regret, that he poured forth these strains. He had another object in view in doing so, which was worthy of his character as a prophet of the Most High; and it was this, to warn