of the text, much less the entire chapter from whence they are taken, without feeling assured of the disgrace and misery which must ultimately befall the transgressors. If, on the other hand, these holy commands be punctually and religiously complied with, then is the future and eternal happiness consequent upon such conduct equally certain and secure. The Rechabites complied with the injunctions of their father Jonadab, and for such compliance their conduct was openly approved by the Lord of all, the Almighty Creator of the Universe. Yet, as we have before hinted, conduct such as this, laudable and exemplary as it was, was still inferior to what the conduct of any would be who make it a point of duty to comply with the direct and explicit injunctions of the Creator himself. These are daily and hourly presenting themselves to us through the medium of our consciences, or through that of the Inspired Volume; especially when these monitors are assisted, as they at all times will be assisted, in the case of those who humbly offer their prayers to the throne of grace, by the valuable and all-powerful co-operation of the Holy Spirit. However doubtful or desperate, therefore, the case may be with the unenlightened heathen, the pious and humble Christian may at all times know and distinguish the commands which proceed from the dictates of divine wisdom and goodness.

But, after all, when discoursing on the moral

duties of the Bible, something most essential and most important would be omitted were I to fail to remind you, that our own works, however dutiful and obedient they may be, will never of themselves be sufficient to entitle us to the favour and forgiveness of God. Nature tells you, as certainly and as positively as revelation assures you, that a clean thing cannot proceed out of that which is unclean. Thorns do not bring forth grapes, neither do thistles produce figs. And so, by analogy, all the descendants of the unrighteous Adam are alike unrighteous, and born in sin. It is, therefore, by means of the new or second birth which has been procured for you by the blood of the righteous Jesus,-by this means is it, and by none other, that your earnest endeavours will be rendered acceptable to the Almighty; and for this reason is it we are exhorted, that whatsoever we do must be done "in the name of the Lord Jesus." And since, by His instrumentality and goodness, the wrath of God has been removed from you, as the offspring of disobedient and sinful parents, it becomes you never to forget that, though as regenerate children you may hereafter arrive at the kingdom of Heaven, this will not be the effect of your own efforts, however great these might have been, (and great they must of necessity have been in such a case,) but it will. be the effect of the great and disinterested mercy of God manifested unto you through his Son Jesus Christ. To him, therefore, as the anchor of our

hopes and the author of our eternal salvation, and equally also to the Father and the Holy Ghost, by the indivisible union of whom the mysterious and inconceivable Godhead is alone complete, let us unite in imputing all honour and glory, now, henceforth, and for ever!

SERMON XVII.

NATURE AND HAPPINESS OF ANGELS.

GENESIS, Xxxii. 1, 2.

"And Jacob went on his way, and the angels of God met him. And when Jacob saw them, he said, This is God's host."

THE day which is now at hand is commonly called Michaelmas Day, and by the wisdom of our church is dedicated to the commemoration of "St. Michael and all angels." On the subject of this day, and of the glorious beings connected with it, I have deemed it my duty to discourse on the present occasion, for reasons which might easily, peradventure, suggest themselves; and among others because such an occasion but rarely presents itself on the Sabbath, on which day only it is usual, with two or three exceptions, to deliver addresses in the house of God.

It would be most unreasonable to expect that we can obtain any complete information respecting the kingdom of heaven and its inhabitants, as long as we continue in this mortal and very imperfect exist

ence.

As reasonable would it be, to suppose that brutes or trees should be capable of education, and able to enter into the mysterious disclosures of philosophy and science, as to suppose or expect that miserable and imperfect mortals should comprehend things which are purely spiritual-which have no connection with matter, and which exclusively and abstractedly belong to the kingdom of heaven.

The words of our text have been selected, not because they are more adapted to our purpose than others which may be found in the service of this day, but because with these they are equally adapted to introduce the subject which is now before us. They represent Jacob on his return homeward from Padan-aram, whither he had been to form a matrimonial alliance with the house of Laban, the brother of his mother Rebekah. Having arrived at a certain point, as the text likewise informs us, "the angels of God met him; and when Jacob saw them, he said, this is God's host."

These words are sufficient to prove to us the existence of those beings commonly termed angels. The term angel is borrowed from the Greek language, and signifies a messenger or herald; a person whose office it is to make proclamations, and to transmit messages from one place to another. Angels, therefore, may be regarded as those beings whose duty and whose employment it is to transfer messages from heaven to earth, and to form a medium of communication between God and man. Such an instance do we find in the history of