Jesus, we acknowledge, can have no attractions; but to you who regard yourselves as strangers and pilgrims here, who require a heavenly guide to conduct you through the snares and dangers with which you are surrounded, and who, if in this life only you had hope, would be of all men the most miserable; to you, the Son of God must be infinitely precious, and you will doubtless embrace with joy the generous Friend of man, who is the Author and Finisher of your faith. Though unbelievers should ridicule and despise him, yet it is unnecessary to caution you to guard against them; for if you indeed believe that Jesus is the Christ, the ridicule, contempt, and reproach, which infidelity may throw on him, and on his gospel, will only serve to confirm your faith, and increase your attachment to him,"" who "is the way, the truth, and the life."

Christians, can you think of Christ without any grateful emotion? Can you meditate on the glory and grace of the Redeemer? Can you recollect the circumstances of his abasement, sufferings, and death, and contemplate the blessings

bestowed on you in consequence of his mediation; and not be constrained to judge with the apostle, that if" one died "for all, then were all dead; and that he "died for all, that they who live should "not henceforth live unto themselves, "but unto him who died for them and

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rose again ?" And here, let me remind you, in conclusion, that as your souls and bodies, your powers and faculties, your time and talents of right belong to Christ, so are you thereby laid under the strongest obligations to employ all in his service, and to consecrate all to hist glory. Can you be so ungrateful as to alienate from him what is his due, by denying to him the supreme affection of your hearts, and the uniform obedience of your lives; especially when you consider that he demands this from you, for your sakes, not for his own. His glory and bliss are independent of your services. But your happiness is intimately, inseparably, necessarily, connected with obedience to his will. No longer then conform to the maxims, nor indulge in the pleasures of a world lying in wickedness; but be eager to know,

and careful to practise what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Testify your gratitude for the distinguished honours and privileges conferred upon you by walking worthy of the Lord unto all well pleasing, shewing forth by your words and actions, the praises of him who has called you out of darkness unto his marvellous light. Never forget that saying of your Saviour,

Herein is my father glorified, that you "bear much fruit." Study then more and more to "let your light so shine "before men, that others seeing your

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good works may be led to glorify "your Father who is in heaven." Endeavour to live in all things as the disciples of Jesus, to keep his holy precepts, and imitate his glorious example. Thus justify your profession,-thus fight the good fight of faith, and adorn the doctrines of the gospel; "looking unto "Jesus, the Author and Finisher of your "faith; who, for the joy that was set "before him, endured the cross, despis

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ing the shame, and is now set down at "the right hand of the throne of God.”

SERMON VII.

THE LORD, THE GUIDE OF HIS PEOPLE.

PSALM LXXIII. 24.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

THESE words express the actings of a very strong and lively faith. In the beginning of the psalm, we find the Psalmist under deep agitation of mind, through the strength and violence of a particular temptation which had overpowered him. It arose from a quarter which has often perplexed and disquieted the minds of God's people, the apparently unequal distribution of good and evil which obtains on this side of the grave. The Psalmist beheld the wicked

and ungodly prospering in the world, abounding in wealth and honours, and

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having more than their hearts could "wish," while "the righteous were "plagued all the day long, and chasten"ed every morning." This gave a violent shock to his faith, and almost tempted him to envy the prosperity of the wicked; nor did he find ease and peace of mind, till he went into the sanctuary of God, and joined with his fellow saints in the delightful duties of social worship. Then the snare was broken,-he understood the end of the wicked:-he saw the danger of their situation, and looking forward to the awful consequences of their guilt and impiety in the coming world, he was rather disposed to regard them with pity, than, as at first, to covet or envy their condition.

Thus having, by the grace of God, surmounted the temptation, he became a considerable gainer by the conflict. As the sun, after it has been for some time overshadowed with a dark cloud, upon appearing again seems to shine with a peculiar brightness; so the author in the close of this psalm rises to the sublimest