There is no desire of the human mind which is not implanted there by the Creator's hand, and intended by him for his own service. The present world, through sin, hath become all unworthy of these the innate desires of the human mind; wherefore God requireth us to satisfy ourselves with the enjoyment of him, and to abstain from worldly delights, until, having purified both the flesh and the world, he shall restore them to the soul as her fit habitation and rightful possession. As if the son of a holy father, educated in all virtue, should be cast upon a land of savage people, who delighted in pursuits of cruelty, sensuality, and lust; which abhorring he would with strong resolution abstain from, and if he could not profit the people, at least not destroy himself, but patiently wait until the providence of God, which cast him into such bad company, should deliver him thence; yet would he not cease the less to cultivate within himself those high capacities of enjoyment which for the present lay reserved within his own bosom. Even so, man's regenerate soul abideth alone, in this unregenerate world, living on hope, its life hidden with Christ in God, its high capacities waiting for high objects on which to exercise themselves; and, because it knows of a glorious body, and a holy kingdom about to be revealed, preserving itself in this waste howling wilderness of its pilgrimage, unpolluted from the world; according as it is written, "Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless" (2 Pet. iii. 13, 14). But the time is coming, believe me, when every faculty of the soul of man being served by every member of the body of man, shall exercise itself with diligence and with enjoyment, on every object within the dominion of man, which is the outward world; and from the sweet harmonies between creation and flesh, between flesh and spirit, between spirit and God, shall grow that ineffable peace, and joy, and holiness, wherein consists the blessedness of the saints in glory. I do therefore look upon this counsel of Christ to the Laodicean minister, as containing in it the promise of full enjoyment to that desire of possession which he was

now bestowing upon the unworthy dust of this earth. 'Come, come and trade with me,' saith Christ, and I will furnish thee with the true riches. Come, come and buy of me; for I am the Beginning of the creation of God. All is mine, all that the Father hath is mine, and I will give it unto thee. Why spendest thou thy money for that which is not bread, and thy labour for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat that which is good, and let your heart delight itself in fatness.' Gracious Lord! these treasures we will seek; we will forsake all and follow thee. And when we are poor, then are we rich, for all things are ours: whether things present, or things to come, all are ours; for we are Christ's, and Christ is God's.

If any one now do ask of me, And how are these better riches to be purchased, and what is the price? I answer in the language of the Lord, "Sell all that you have, and give alms, and provide for yourselves bags which wax not old, treasure in the heavens that fadeth not." They are to be purchased in the way of barter and exchange. Give to Christ now, in order to receive from him hereafter. But where is he, that we might give to him? "Inasmuch as ye did it unto one of these my little ones, ye have done it also unto me. He that shall give a cup of cold water unto one of the least of these, shall not lose his reward;" but be that shall feed them when they are hungry, and give them drink when they are thirsty, and clothe them when they are naked, and visit them in prison, and comfort them when they are sick, shall enter into the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world, for Christ the poor one, and for the benefactors of Christ's poor companions. It is not that I would prescribe voluntary poverty as a law of the Gospel; nor is it the base doctrine of purchasing heaven by our good works, which I would commend, but it is that truth which is at the bottom of both these errors ;-the truth that, according as we serve God and Christ with our minds, our bodies, and our substance here, shall be our degree of honour and power hereafter. This is God's manner of enforcing self-denial; and therefore I make it mine, that I may walk in his footsteps. It is not profitable to God that a man should deny himself any enjoyment, but it is profitable to him

self. God is not inquisitor-general over men's minds, nor the torturer over their bodies, a hard master over their worldly estates, as if he had need of us, and of our services, and of our goods; but he is our benefactor, he wisheth our dignity and honour, and enjoyment for ever and ever he desireth not that we should lose ourselves and our faculties in the whirlpool of time: and for this reason it is, that the doctrine of rewards and punishments is a doctrine of all religions, and a leading doctrine of the Christian faith.

Next to riches, the Lord counselleth his unworthy steward to come and buy of him white raiment, that he may be clothed, and that the shame of his nakedness might not appear. From this we may well believe, that robes of office were an object of gratification to this hireling and worldly minister, as they always have been in the church, according as the robe of righteousness and salvation ceased from her ambition. As our first parents discovered not that they were naked, until the white robe of righteousness had departed from them, so their children, in proportion as they become naked of truth and holiness, do seek to adorn themselves with the raiment of ostentation and pride. And to this, in a remarkable degree, the ministers of religion had come to be addicted, insomuch that the vestry of a church was almost as variously and fantastically furnished with garments, as the chamber of a fashionable woman; and even now, in these reformed lands, there exist by far too many relics of this foolish and fantastical vanity. The Lord would withdraw his 'servant's mind from all such outward ornaments, and direct it to that inward adorning which, in the sight of God, is of great price. The white garments, as we have already explained in our Lecture on the church of Smyrna, are significant of that panoply of holiness in which the believer should walk invested, and which is derived from Christ, the only Holy One, who, of God, is made unto us righteousness and sanctification. In addition to what we formerly said upon this subject, we have now to add, that while our personality is looked upon as holden from God our Creator, and ever responsible to him, the investments of the same, which are the various powers of reason, and the various members of the flesh;

are looked upon as derived from Christ, in whom they reappeared in their original beauty and brightness. A man is not reason, neither is he flesh; but he is a person endowed with reason, and responsible to God for the right use of the same. Reason and flesh, or, to use the Scripture language, a living soul, first appeared in Adam; and though now existing in parts, in time and place, and divided amongst many persons, it is still the same one substance, with common properties and common responsibilities unto God; which may well be entitled the clothing of men. This our blessed Lord found all sullied and vile, and by his use of the Holy Ghost, did restore to its original excellence, holy as it came from the hands of its Creator, and having this accomplished, he became the possessor and sole proprietor of holy flesh and holy spirit, to bestow them upon every one, who should receive him as the messenger of God, and believe in his message. For though Christ by his own work did earn to himself from the righteousness of God, eternal life and glory for human nature in his own person, it lay with the Father to determine whether this should be extended to the guilty persons of the children of men. And Christ came with the Father's grace, to make known unto the children of men, that what he was doing, he was doing, not for himself, but for all who should believe upon his name. Through faith therefore in God's grace, and through faith in Christ's work, we obtain robes of righteousness meet for appearing in the presence of the Divine Majesty; that is to say, we receive power to become sons of God, to cleanse the heart, to purify the affections, to enlighten the mind, to sanctify the whole being of man, to be clothed upon with the beauties of holiness. I labour much to express the completeness of this change, which is effected in the soul by the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a change from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to the service of the living God. And whereas the conscience was full of accusations, it is full of approbation; and whereas it was full of palsied fears, it is full of unshaken trust; and whereas it was vexed with continual aversion to God, and his holy service, it now is blessed with continual inclination thereto and delight therein.

There is a beautiful illustration of this subject in the

vth chapter of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians, where the Apostle, having spoken of the glorious hope of the resurrection; which filled his mind, and enabled him to speak out fearlessly, whatever he believed; doth, in reference to the things unseen and eternal, thus speak: "For we know, that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven; if so be that being clothed, we shall not be found naked: For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life" (2 Cor. v. 1-4). In this passage, the idea of clothing is carried still further outward than we have ventured to express, being applied to the habitation as well as to the bodies of the risen saints; for from the context, we cannot doubt, that both the glorified body and the new Jerusalem are referred to in this beautiful passage. The new Jerusalem I take to be "the house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," "the house which is from heaven." In which apparel the church shall then be arrayed, as a bride for her bridegroom; according as it is written, "Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem." And again; "To her was given to be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white; for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." In this the custom of the Holy Ghost, to speak of our habitation as a part of our clothing, is conveyed to my mind a very beautiful moral; which is, That all nature, and all art working with nature's gifts, are but the right efforts of man to surround himself with those habiliments, that God hath provided for our being. His eye hath need of its clothing; and its clothing is whatever is beautiful in nature, and whatever is congenial in art; and the ear needeth its clothing, which is whatever is harmonious in melody, sweet and tender in expression; and every other sense hath its appropriate furniture provided for it, in the elements of nature, or prepared thence by the skilfulness with which God hath endowed the master mind; and for all these God will have Christ to be inquired at, and all beauty, and all order, and all deco