time,) for the rich crown of immortality;-so shall your ransomed souls, loosed from the bonds of sin, and freed from all the cold neglect of men, enjoy communion with saints and angels; and, in the presence of your God and Saviour, "worship," with His redeemed, "before His throne, and serve Him day and night, within His heavenly temple."

And may you, my friends, whom God hath amply blessed with this world's goods,-whose "riches,” through his bounty, "have increased,set not your heart upon them." "Look ye, to Jesus; for, in Him "are hid the abiding treasures of wisdom, and of knowledge." Look at the manger, where for you, and for your sakes, the Lord of heaven and earth, was laid, in infant helplessness, feeble, and poor, and desolate:trace your Redeemer's sorrowing steps, to Calvary's Mount of agony,- behold Him there, for your iniquities, nailed to "the accursed tree:" O! gaze on Him, till every high and lofty thought be humbled; - till you can feel, and from your heart, confess, that, in the sight of God, the meanest fellow-creature is your equal;— that it is He alone that "maketh you to differ;-and that, unless you "have been faithful in the unrighteous mammon,' "He never will "entrust to you true riches." Does not your Saviour say, "how hardly shall a rich man enter into the kingdom of heaven?" Mark too, the

Apostle's sense of the many snares, spread in the rich man's paths:-hear his injunction to his beloved Timothy, to "charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who giveth us all things richly to enjoy ; that they do good, that they be rich in good works, ready to distribute; willing to communicate; laying up in store for themselves a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life." And O! may

ye, through grace, apply this warning to yourselves! and so employ the perishing treasures of this world, that when they fail, as soon they surely will, ye may be "received into everlasting habitations."

And now, beloved brethren, since we have seen, that the example of the lowly Jesus, shines forth in all the lustre of the incarnate Deity, on men of every rank, and station, and condition ; O! may it shine into our hearts by faith! and may our daily lives, our growth in grace, bear witness to its blessed influence! For remember, if we be really "in Christ," and "He in us," we shall be "doers, and not hearers only," of His most holy Word. Wherefore, rest not, I beseech you, till ye have "proved yourselves." Have ye indeed "put off the old man,-corrupt according to the deceitful lusts?" Are ye "renewed in the spirit of your mind?" And have ye "put on the

new man, which after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness?" If not, it is but self-deception to believe that "the same mind is in you, which was also in Christ Jesus.

To "give us a clean heart," and "a right spirit," can only be the work of God Himself: and he in whom this good work is begun, is, as the Apostle terms it, "a new creature; old things are passed away; and all things are become new." The vices and the follies of the world have lost their value ;—and “his delight is in the law of God." This, brethren, is the only certain test, that "the same mind is in you, which was also in Christ Jesus. "Judge then yourselves," now while there yet is time," "that ye may not be judged of the Lord." If, on a strict, impartial scrutiny, your hearts condemn you not," then humbly bless the Lord, "who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light;" pray for increased supplies of heavenly grace,and see that ye "walk as children of the light."

66

But, brethren, do "your self-convicted hearts condemn you?" Does conscience cry, "ye still are unconverted,”—still "dead in trespasses and sin?" O! stifle not her "still, small, warning voice:" but gratefully adore God's Holy Spirit, for shewing you the danger of your state, and pointing to that never-failing fount, where you may wash, and be for ever clean. Yes,-in the precious blood of Christ, behold a stream, of

power to heal a far more loathsome plague, than that from which, Jordan's pure waters cleansed the Syrian captain:-even the fatal leprosy of sin? Come then to Jesus;-wash, and be ye clean. Yet think not, the mere calling him your "Lord," will be your passport to his heavenly kingdom. No:-in the last great day, those only will the Lord acknowledge His, whose love and faith were proved by their obedience. Whilst they

who knew his will, and did it not, shall be disowned, and share the fearful doom of "all the workers of iniquity."

If then, we would attain that union here, with our Redeemer, which, though his merits, and his boundless grace, shall be complete, and perfected in heaven, O! let us turn from every evil way, follow the bright example of our Lord, revere him as our Teacher, and our Guide, and love Him as our only hope and Saviour! So shall He give us power to do his will,-so shall He give us present peace and joy,—an earnest that He will complete his work, and make us blest in scenes of future glory!

SERMON XXIX.

THE INTERMEDIATE STATE.

ECCLESIASTES XII. 7.-" Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was; and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it."

A fatal Sadducean error unhappily prevails, in but too many ill-regulated and perverted minds,—that there is no spiritual part in man: that he is constituted, like the inferior animals, of matter only; and consequently liable, like them, to perish having been endued by his Creator, with no immortal principle, which will survive the body's destruction.

But, with whatever specious arguments the infidel and the philosopher may seek to defend this cheerless opinion,-that they cannot urge the plea of high antiquity in its favour, is evident from the words of my text.