CATHERINE B

PSALM CXviii. ver. 23.

This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our cyes.

SALVATION is of the Lord, every part of it is His work; and in every stage it is, or ought to be, marvellous in our eyes. Behold the eternal Jehovah, in the unsearchable riches of his grace and wisdom, devised the plan in the counsels of eternity, and in the fulness of time executed it, by sending forth his only begotten Son Jesus Christ, to be made flesh, and to be born of a woman. He, even the Son of the living God, for us men and for our salvation, came down from heaven; became a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief; and that for a world which hid its face from him. He was smitten for those who esteemed him not; yea, while bearing our griefs, while carrying our sorrows, and healing our souls, by the stripes which he bore, he

was set at nought by sinful men, as a stone is set at nought by the builders when they cast it away as useless and vile. Yet this rejected Saviour was chosen of God, elect, and precious: was set up by his eternal Father as the head of the corner, far above all principalities and powers, above every name that is named, not only in heaven, but in earth, and under the earth. Yes; he whom man despised was appointed to be the wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption of sinners; was appointed to be the only Saviour from the wrath to come; the only way by which a sinner could approach God and live!

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Marvellous, indeed, ought this first great act of our offended God to be in our eyes-whether we consider it in its mercy, or in its wisdom, as making a way for justice and truth, for mercy and peace to meet together, it is wonderful in the extreme! Angels themselves are lost in admiration;—they contemplate, they desire to look into these judgments, these ways of the Almighty, which, in their full extent, are (to a creature) unsearchable and past finding out!

But not only is it a marvellous thing that the eternal Father should thus lay the plan of human

redemption in his own eternal counsels, and give up his own dearly beloved Son to die; the just for the unjust: but every stage, every part of the work of salvation, as carried on in the life of the Christian, is also marvellous, is also the Lord's doing! For instance:-The first calling of a sinner out of darkness into the light of the Gospelthe quickening of a soul dead in trespasses and sins-this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes!

The grace and strength which enables him to separate himself from a world that lieth in wickedness, and to follow Christ through evil report; the grace which enables him to bear the envy, hatred, and malice of wicked men, and to persevere unto the end: this, all this, comes from God; it is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes.

The comfort and spiritual light which the soul often experiences under the afflictions and sorrows of a sickly body, or an exercised mind; the joy and peace which oft-times fills the spirit of the Christian, when death is dismissing it from the body; this, all this, comes from God! it is the Lord's doing; it is marvellous in our eyes.

The completing of the work of grace thus

begun on earth, and finishing it in glory above; this also is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes. In short, throughout the whole, it is evident, that the salvation of a sinner is a most marvellous work; it is evident this is the work of the Lord, and not of man.

For man hath no power to quicken his own soul when dead in trespasses and sins; nor can he call himself out of darkness into light, or deliver himself out of the power of Satan, and turn to the living God. He cannot find strength in himself to enable him to come out and to be separate from an evil world, or to take up a daily cross and follow Christ.

He cannot comfort and enlighten" his afflicted or departing soul, either in the day of sickness or the hour of death. Much less can he place the crown of celestial glory on his own head, either by the power of his own arm, or the merit of his own actions! No!

For no man can ever merit this great salvation by any thing he hath done, or can do. He is a sinner: in his best performances he falls infinitely short of the glory of God.

Salvation is therefore of the Lord. It is wholly from first to last. It comes to us freely,

of grace

though it was purchased at no less a price than the sufferings and death of the Lord Jesus Christ himself; and he often bestows it when and where we least expect, making the first last, and last first; hiding it from the worldly wise, and prudent, and revealing it to babes; oft-times choosing the poor, the weak, and the despised, to confound the wise and the mighty, to the end that no flesh should glory in his presence; to the end that all men might see and own it to be the Lord's work, and marvellous in their eyes.

I will now call your attention to the character of Catherine B, late one of our school children, who departed this life last Sunday evening, in the 11th year of her age; and in her little history and dying experience, I trust, we shall see the foregoing doctrines illustrated,

It is probable that many of you did not know this dear child, and, it may be, that most of you who did personally know her, never took any particular notice of her; for, indeed, there was nothing in her outward appearance to strike the attention or engage notice. She was a child of much natural reserve, had little to say on any occasion, and being fond of retirement, and quiet, she kept within doors, and much out of notice.