ERRATA.

Page 6, line 1, for desarts, read deserts

5 from bottom, for that be ye not, read that ye be

not

2, for words, read declaration

13, for passess, read passes

5 from bottom, insert to before repent

60,

61,

1-18,

151,

166,

173,

13, for desarts, read deserts

202,

256,

261,

5 from bottom, for had, read have

15, for multidude, read multitude

10 from bottom, omit us

4 from bottom, for unditiful, read undutiful

291, in the Text. for covenant (twice occurring), read

Testament

313, last line, insert; after righteousness, instead of.

SERMON I.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CHRISTIAN'S PORTION AND THAT OF THE MEN OF THIS WORLD.

PSALM CXIX. 57.

Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.

HAPPY is the man to whom these words of the Psalmist are applicable! Yea, blessed is he who is able to say from his heart, "Thou art my portion, O Lord." The habitual feelings of such a man must be the most comfortable that it is possible to imagine; seeing that no matter what may be his situation or circumstances in this world; no matter how poor or contemptible he may seem in all outward appearance; he yet possesses within his own bosom a never-failing source of peace and satisfaction, to which the people of this world are strangers; the consciousness, namely, that he has "God for his portion, and the Holy One of Jacob for his inheritance." These words of David suggest to us,

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my Beloved Brethren, two subjects for devout meditation: First, the enquiry, What it means to have God for our portion; and, Secondly, What kind of a portion He is. And may He Himself be graciously pleased to bless the subject to the edification of all our souls!

In the first place I say, the words of our text suggest to us the enquiry,-What it means to have the Lord for our portion: and this the very words themselves assist in explaining to us. The term 'portion,' we know, signifies a possession; or, more strictly, that share of a parent's property which falls to the lot of each of his children. Thus the prodigal son, when about to leave his father's house, said to him, "Father, give me the portion of goods that falleth to me; and he divided unto them his living." Now it is declared in the 32d chapter of Deuteronomy, (ver. 9.) that "the Lord's portion is His people;" that means, He hath chosen them unto Himself through faith and the sanctification of His spirit unto obedience,' to be His own property, His own "peculiar people," in whom He takes delight, and in whose lives He will be glorified: according as it is written in Psalm iv. 3. "Know ye not that the Lord hath set apart him that is godly unto Himself." And this, be it remembered, He had a right to do; forasmuch as not -only their creation, but also their redemption, were altogether His own work; and He had, as Immanuel

or God in Christ," purchased them unto Himself "with the price of His own precious blood;" as St. Paul says to the Corinthian Christians, "Ye are not your own, but ye are bought with a price; therefore glorify God with your bodies and spirits, which are His." Hence we learn, my Beloved Brethren, that if we are true believers in the Lord Jesus Christ we are His own special property by right of redemption or purchase—“ He having given his life for us, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God." And not only so, but in this case the Lord is also our portion. It is our privilege to be assured of this, though we may sometimes feel tempted to doubt it. · Our faith working by love' to our covenant God and Saviour, gives us a mutual interest or property in one another, according to the terms of the new covenant, as revealed in Jer. xxxii. 38. " They shall be My people, and I will be their God:" and this mutual property which the Lord and His faithful people possess in one another, is best illustrated by the favourite comparison of a husband and wife. God in Christ is, we find, repeatedly set forth in Scripture as the husband or bridegroom of His believing people. Thus in Hosea ii. 19, 20, He is represented as saying to them, "I will betroth thee unto Me for ever; yea, I will betroth thee unto Me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in loving-kindness, and in mercies; I will even betroth thee unto Me

in faithfulness, and thou shalt know the Lord." And again, in Jer. iii. 14. "Behold I am married unto thee, saith the Lord of Hosts." It follows, therefore, that as on the one hand we are His property, in the same sense that the wife is the property of her husband, so on the other hand, He is our property, in the same sense that the husband is the property of his wife. And this is beautifully signified to us in the language with which the church is represented as a bride addressing her spouse, in Canticles ii. 16. where she says, "My beloved is mine, and I am his;" which assurance it is the privilege of all to experience, whose consciences testify that they are sincerely trusting to the Lord Jesus Christ alone for salvation; that they have made choice of His love and His service in preference to all other objects; and that they are following him in the way of cordial though imperfect obedience to all his commandments.

Having thus discovered in what respects it may be said, generally, that the Lord is the portion of his faithful people, let us next, my Beloved Brethren, proceed to consider what kind of a portion he is. In demonstration of which I shall endeavour to shew you, first, that the Lord is an allsufficient portion; secondly, that He is a sure portion; and thirdly, that He is an eternal portion,

First, we shall find that the Lord is the all-sufficient portion of His people; that is, He is all-suffi