>

are performing the drudgery of his work. The question is—are spiritual things your pleasant things? If not, you are destitute of the mark of a real christian, and you have a poor prospect before you in eternity. God will not force you into heaven to make you miserable; but miserable you would be, even in heaven, in your present state. The nature and duration of its employments-an eternal sabbath—a temple in which you shall serve him day and night-an intercourse only with those who are perfectly pure and holy-all this would be intolerable to an unrenewed mind, who is saying to God, depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of thy ways.

་

Thirdly. What an affliction do christians sustain when they are deprived of their pleasant things! This may be done two ways. First by removing these privileges from them. Thus persecution has sometimes forbidden them to assemble together, and has silenced their preachers, destroyed their sanctuaries, and banished all religious ordinances from a neighbourhood. God sometimes inflicts his judgements upon a place for neglect and abuse of gospel privileges. He can send a more dreadful dearth than a famine of bread, even a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. He can as easily

convey an evangelical ministry from one country to another, as we can carry a candle from one room into another:-I will remove thy candlestick out of his place, except thou repent. Or, secondly, by removing christians from these privileges. Thus business may call them away. from a favoured situation; accidents or sickness may detain them prisoners from the courts of the Lord. And though in these cases he does not leave them comfortless, still they feel their loss. and can say, When I remember these things, I pour out my soul in me: for I had gone with the multitude, I went with them to the house of God, with the voice of joy and praise, with a multitude that kept holiday.

Let us, fourthly, be very thankful that these pleasant things are within our reach-that we have been so long favoured with them—that we have them in rich abundance that we have liberty to partake of them, and strength to go forth, and enjoy them-surely The lives are fallen to us in pleasant places, yea we have a goodly heritage. Let us enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise.

And finally, Tet us raise our thoughts and desires after the pleasant things of heaven. Philip Henry often said when he had finished the delightful exercises of the sabbath, “Well,

"if this be not the way to heaven, I know not
"what is." Yes, these are introductory to the
glory that shall be revealed: they are foretastes
to endear it, and earnests to insure it. And
when you come to die-if you can say in sin-
cerity, Lord, I have loved the habitation of thy
house, and the place where thy honour dwelleth-
you may plead with confidence Gather not my
soul with sinners, nor my life with bloody men. No,
he will not gather you in eternity with those
you never loved in time. Being let go you shall
join your own company, and be for ever with the
Lord. And if the streams be so sweet, what
will the fountain be? In his presence there is
fulness of joy, and at his right hand there are plea-
sures for ever more.
Let us sing-

"These are the joys he lets us know
"In fields and villages below;

"Gives us a relish of his love,

"But keeps his noblest feast above."

"In paradise within the gates

"A higher entertainment waits;

"Fruits new and old, laid up in store,

"Where we shall feed, but thirst no more."

DISCOURSE XIII.

NEARNESS TO THE CROSS.

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus thereIfore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son. Then saith he to the disciple, behold thy mother. And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. -John xix. 25, 26, 27.

THIS is one of the most remarkable passages in the history of our Saviour's passion. The language is peculiarly simple and affecting. The scene is exquisitely tender. The characters are in the highest degree interesting-and the circumstances in which they are placed, altogether new and wonderful. O for a class of feelings becoming the subject!—Let us fix

our minds on three things. First. The situation of the mother. Secondly. The address of the Saviour. Thirdly. The obedience of the disciple.

Women are more than once brought forward in the gospel, and the notice taken of them is always to their honour. Thus while others have forsaken him and fled, we here find three females rising above the fears of their sex, braving the horrors of the execution, piercing through the crowd, and approaching the foot of the cross-there to testify their sympathy with their suffering Lord-to shew how willing they are to die with him-to admire his patience, and his meekness-and to secure his dying words. Now there stood by the cross of Jesus, his mother, and his mother's sister, Mary the wife of Cleophas, and Mary Magdalene. What were

the feelings of these three Marys!

But

1. The mother of our Lord in this situation demands a larger share of our notice. I admire in her the efficacy of divine grace. She is able to stand near the cross: she does not faint away, and drop down. She keeps her feelings within due bounds-here are no outrageous exclamations, no bitter complaints flung at heaven for not avenging him of his adversaries, no imprecations on his murderers, no rending of gar