of which were sown in you by God's good Spirit, and have been gradually and mysteriously evolved by the sun, the air, the dew, and all the genial influences of heaven! "Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. For who are we, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort? for all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee! O Lord our God, all this store that we have prepared cometh of thine hand, and is all thine own!"

But then consider next with what a happy feeling we should rejoice in the Dignity of serving God, to which, by this opportunity of knowing him, we have been raised! We have had unveiled to us the Holy One, not merely that we may gaze with adoration on his splendour, but that we may approach and offer service to him. God has proclaimed to us his law, that we may be the ministering priests thereof. He has opened the door into his presence-chamber, that we may come and bow before his throne. He has called us to the general assembly and church of his first-born, that we may join the thousand times ten thousand who serve him in his temple, and rest not day and night saying, Holy, Holy, Holy! All that Israel was in shadow and prefiguration, the Christian is in reality. All that they offered to God in bodily and ritual service, we are to offer to him in spiritual and moral service. And therefore

the very same titles of dignity which the Jews enjoyed in a lower sense, are transferred by the Apostles to the Christian Church, in their highest sense. "Ye have seen," said God to Israel, by Moses, "what I did unto the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagles' wings, and brought you unto myself. Now therefore, if ye will obey my voice and keep my covenant, ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people; and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests, and an holy nation." Exod. xix. 4—6. And ye too, says St. Peter to the Christians, in our text, with evident reference to that passage of Exodus,-ye as well as, nay much more than, the Jews around you who dispute your privileges and despise your service,-"ye also are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." There is a majesty thrown over you, from your connexion with the Lord, which you possessed not in yourselves there is a dignity not your own, to which in Christ you are exalted. He is the Son of God, and ye, in him, become God's children. He is the Servant whom God upholdeth, the elect in whom his soul delighteth; and ye, in him, become a chosen generation. He is God's own King, a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek, uniting both the royal and the priestly dignity; and ye, in him, are made kings and priests to God, to offer up spiritual sacri

fices acceptable to him by Jesus Christ. He is the Holy One of God; and ye, in him, are made a holy people,-a people of inheritance, a peculiar people, zealous of good works!

Brethren, forget not this your high calling of God; that your whole temper of mind, your whole course of conduct, may be elevated into consistency with your spiritual dignity in Christ. Shall the man of birth and education be characterized by that indescribable something which exhibits itself in every movement, but which never can be imitated; and shall not the Christian show in all his character that heavenly mien which evidences his creation by the Spirit of God to a divine nobility, and his enrolment with the thrones, dominions, potentates, and powers of the eternal kingdom? Shall every man, whatever his position, feel that he is called thereby to corresponding temper and demeanour; and shrink, therefore, from every thing that would dishonour his family or friends; and shall not the Christian feel that he is called into the service of the Holy One, and therefore shrink from, hate, despise, whatever is beneath the honour and the majesty of God his Father, and his Master, Christ? "It is not so mean a thing," says Archbishop Leighton, "to be a Christian, as we think. It is a holy, an honourable, a happy estate. Few of us can esteem it as we ought; or do labour to find it so.

No;

we know not these things. Our hearts are not on them, to make this dignity and happiness sure to our souls. Where is that true greatness and holiness of mind to be found, that becomes those that are kings and priests unto God?-that contempt of earthly things, and minding of heaven, that should be in such ? But sure, as many as find themselves indeed partakers of these dignities will study to live agreeably to them, and will not fail to love that Lord Jesus Christ who hath purchased all this for them, and exalted them to it; yea, humbled himself to exalt them!"

This, then, brings us to that other feeling-or that other element, rather, of the one complex feeling with which I would entreat you to approach God in Confirmation; that HOLY FEELING OF CHRISTIAN OBLIGATION, which will issue from, and flow together with, the happy feeling of Christian privilege. As we recollect our baptismal standing, we shall press forward to fulfil our baptismal duties. As we experience the filial love which cries, Abba, Father! we shall exercise the filial obedience which breathes forth, in the very same movement of the heart, "Father, not as I will, but as thou wilt !" For the end of all privilege is the production of obedience. The very object for which we are vouchsafed the opportunity of knowing God, and the

dignity of serving God, is that we may advance the glory of God. "Ye," says our text, "are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people;"-why? To what end? for what purpose ? what induced God thus marvellously to bless you? why did Christ thus rescue you, and raise you to such dignity? "that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light." This is the vocation to which the Christian is called; this the profession into which he is initiated; this the office, place, and dignity to which he is raised. His consecration to God connects him with the name of God. God's honour is thenceforth involved in his character. The excellencies of the Father are to be copied out and exhibited in the person of his children. The worth of his gospel-the efficacy of his grace-the sufficiency of his whole scheme of salvation are to be demonstrated by their effects in our heart and conduct. We are to manifest to all men what God has wrought in us. We are to let our light shine before men, that they, seeing our good works, may glorify our Father which is in heaven. We are to have our conversation (i. e. our whole behaviour) honest (i. e. amiable and becoming) among the Gentiles, that they may, by our good works which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. O how much does God expect from his people! O