strong to the last; he caused a young Indian, in his primitive ignorance and darkness, to dwell with him, and, as life ebbed away, he occupied himself in teaching him passages from the scripture, with as much ardour and diligence as if a chief of the desert was before him. A fever, with which he was attacked, compelled him to lay aside this employment, and he lay in the extremity of his sufferings. On one who had known little pain till the age of ninety, this bodily agony fell heavily; but he said that death was no more to him, than sleep to a weary man. The evening clouds are passing away,' he said; the Lord Jesus, whom I have served, like Polycarp, for eighty years, forsakes me not. O, come in glory! I have long waited for that coming; let no dark cloud rest on the work of the Indians; let it live when I am dead.' Ere his voice failed for ever, the last words it uttered were,

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Welcome! Joy!' and his toils, were finished, at nearly the age of ninety!

His death produced a powerful impression in New England; it fell like a sudden surprise and alarm on the people, though they must have long looked for it. 'Bereaved land,' says a writer of the time, where are thy tears at this ill-boding funeral?' How hard it was to find a spirit like his, was quickly seen. It is much to be lamented,' says the historian,

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that the zeal with which this work of mercy was conducted during his life, greatly diminished after his death. The distresses of the Indians, the encroachments of the English on their settlements, and several other things of a painful nature, brought the missionary ardour to a severe trial.' These things existed during his life; but his talents, his unquenched enthusiasm, and exalted faith, mastered them all.'

Heaven, who chose this eminent man for its own purposes, peculiarly fitted him for their accomplishment; it gave him many troubles and sorrows of the world, but few, very few of the soul; this is evident from the tone in which he always speaks and writes; so full of peace, of hope, of a calm and full trust in God, that nothing could shake; but his humility, like a guardian angel, ever hovered round his heart, and kept it in safety. What was the word I spoke last,' said the dying man, after a pause; I recall that word; I spoke of what I had done. O child of the dust, lie low; it is Christ that hath triumphed.'

His manner of life was simple and uniform to the last; he allowed himself very little sleep, and water was his only beverage, whether at luxurious tables, or in the midst of wilds covered with frost and snow; He was singularly improvident and careless, as to his worldly substance; and but for the excellent management of his wife, the interior of his dwelling had been as bare as that of an Indian wigram; his charity knew no bounds, but it was seldom governed by discretion. His other failings were such as are often the companions of a sanguine temperament; a hastiness of temper and impetuosity of purpose, that did not brook opposition. The former was at length mastered by his own self-command, and the troubles of his path; the latter adhered to him to the last. Baxter, when near his end, wrote thus :-'I am now dying, I hope as Eliot did; I lay reading his life in bed, and it revived me; there was no man on earth whom I honoured above him till between one and two after midnight, I continued to read it; it pleased me to find in his words my own case: my memory, my tongue, my hand and pen fail-but my charity faileth not.'

person of Christ Jesus. "The glory which thou hast given me, I have given them," saith Christ. You observe it comes by the Redeemer as his free gift! On him as Mediator, the Father hath conferred this glory, and he, in the right of his office, makes a grant of it to faithful believers. "I have given THEM," saith he. It is actually theirs. I have given it to them; dedaka avloïs-not, I will, but I have. They have it now in right, and shall have it soon in possession.

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The certainty of this title to glory, St. John expresses also in most lively and encouraging terms. Beloved," saith he, now (vvv) now, at this very time are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be." "It doth not yet appear," that is, what we shall be, in virtue and consequence of our being now the sons of God; this doth not, cannot yet appear; "but this we know, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is." Now, if any man shall say in the cowardice of a weak faith, this is a great thing, I am not worthy of it;' or, it is a distant thing, how can I be sure of it.' An answer is ready from the promises to the one and to the other of these ill-conceived objections.

1st. It is indeed a great thing! To behold God face to face, to dwell within his sight for ever, and to receive from him the eternal manifestations of his Godhead, is a thing great, beyond compare, and what neither I, nor you, nor the best of men are worthy of! But, our worth, is not our title, but the work of Christ. Is he the brightness of his Father's glory? Hath the Father given him, as mediator, his glory? And hath he made a grant to the brethren of it? What, then, possibly hath our worth to do with the matter? Be we what we will, as faithful as Abraham,

as holy as David after his repentance, as patient as Job, as devoted to God as was Daniel, our worth can never procure us the sight of the glory of God. But neither can our utmost lamented unworthiness hinder our obtaining it, if in Christ we are effectually called, justified, sanctified, It is Christ, and his merit freely imputed and given, which is the only hope of glory.

Or, 2dly. if you say it is a distant thing, how can I be sure of it? I answer, it is plain your right in it is not distant, if indeed and in truth you are a faithful believer. Hath not Christ said, "the glory which thou hast given me, I have given them?" And if he hath given it us, is it not our own? True, we can have but a little of this glory at present, and must wait the good pleasure of God for the full possession: but, I say again, if we are believers, then are we the "sons of God, and if sons, then heirs of God through Christ." And if we have not, (for flesh and blood cannot have) the full inheritance as yet, doth that at all prove that we have yet no title to it? By no means, especially, when as believers, we are not, we cannot be without some first fruits, (even the spirit of children which he hath given us) however imperfect, of this glory, suited to our present state, as being under age. Remember, then, your title; the free gift of Christ. And when you consider that, you will soon find through grace, that though the thing be distant, yet to the true believer, is it sure. Let this suffice for the first thing in the words respecting true believers. The matter of their rejoicing, “the glory of God." The second is,

Their joy in the hope of that glory, "we rejoice in hope of the glory of God." And we actually do so as faithful believers, in opposition to all worldly privileges, or earthly enjoyments. I say, the

hope of the glory of God is the believer's present joy; and that in opposition to all carnal and earthly enjoyments. That which peculiarly distinguishes the believer's joy is, that it is of a spiritual nature. A true believer cannot supremely rejoice in the things of this world: he can be thankful for them as a duty; he can use them with cheerfulness; but the old relish he found in the pleasures, the interests, the wealth, the honours of this world is in a manner worn off; since he hath experienced a grant, and a view of the glory of God through faith, he can no longer rejoice supremely in them. But, he can exult and triumph in the expectations of approaching glory; and therefore, he can also rejoice in whatever hath a tendency towards it, brings him nearer to it, or makes him fitter for it. If he gains any ground upon sin, any increase in faith and grace; especially any comfortable approach towards God in prayer, meditation, church, or sacramental ordinances, he hath his heart's desire, and only laments still that he cannot have more of it. In this respect he can always say with David, in answer to the question, "Who will shew us any good?" "Lord lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon us.

For by this, "by the light of thy countenance,' "thou hast put gladness in my heart, more than in the time that their "corn, and wine, and oil increased," i. e. above the joy of harvest, which is a time of general and great rejoicing. He cannot, indeed, rejoice in the hope of the glory of God, as he shall in the full possession and enjoyment of it, but yet the joy his heart is set upon, is of this spiritual nature. If he cannot rejoice in God as he would, yet he hath no heart supremely to rejoice in anything else. But now,

On the other hand, put an unbeliever to this work, a child of this

world, and let only the question be asked, Can he rejoice above all things in the hope of seeing, serving, enjoying, and being with God? He will tell you, perhaps, that he can, but at the same time he very well knows that he rejoices far less in this prospect, than in any of the things you can name besides: he can rejoice exceedingly in the prospect of pleasure, gratification, amusement, company, abundance, distinction, pre-eminence, which are found in the world; but at heart, I say, as he very well knows, he hath no taste, no relish, for spiritual joy and rejoicing. Nay, so little hath he of this spirit, that should he even be ever so much persuaded that his interest and happiness depended upon it, yet could he not in the least sort bring his heart up to it: still spiritual joy would be irksome, distasteful, and his soul would turn away from it to the things and to the joys of this world. But here again also,

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When we speak of this rejoicing in the hope of the glory of God, one of weak faith may be thinking in his heart, If believers rejoice thus, as saith St. Paul, in the hope of the glory of God, I fear I am yet in unbelief, for it seems to myself, that I cannot rejoice in that hope.' Will you who object this, resolve me this question, If you could be sure that you had an interest in the glory of God, would there be any thing you should at heart so much rejoice in, as in the hope of the glory? Now, if a believer, you readily answer, 'No, could I be certain God were my God, and his glory my inheritance, there is nothing would give me such abundant joy as the prospect of seeing and being for ever with him; there is nothing at heart I should desire in comparison of it.' Now therefore you see, or through grace may see, that your doubt arises not from the want of a heart to rejoice in God, but from the weakness of your faith (belief in

and dependance upon) God's pardoning mercy through Christ. Wherefore labour to get this removed by a clearer and more distinct knowledge of the Covenant of Grace, and of that full and free redemption from death, as well as grant of endless glory which there is in Christ Jesus; all freely purchased, freely offered, freely bestowed, freely given; not to your worthiness, but to your faith in him, who "by one offering of himself, hath perfected for ever (or done all that was necessary for their perfect acceptance with God) them that are sanctified." As you advance in this knowledge through grace, you will find the objection removed, and that you shall be able to rejoice with continual thankfulness, in the hope of the glory of God. And, surely, you cannot be ignorant, that it will be worth all your pains to grow in this faith; when assuredly, "that rejoicing in hope of the glory of God," to which it leads, is neither more nor less than heaven upon earth.

And now-as many of you as have been taught and enabled (or at least whose heart's desire it is) to "joy in God through our Lord Jesus Christ," and therefore are coming to remember that Lord at his table, who is the author and finisher of your faith and salvation you see what a wonderful blessing yours in Christ your Lord, even

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to rejoice in the hope of seeing, serving, and knowing God as he is known in his glory, in the face of Jesus Christ. And that consequently, though all other hope may, nay must and shall perish, yet that yours is surer than the heavens; sure, as your belief that Jesus is the Son of God—that you believe "he died and rose again, and is exalted a Prince and a Saviour at the right hand of God to give repentance to Israel, and remission of sins." What then will you think of this feast, but as the seal and confirmation to you, of this your hope of the glory of God? And such indeed it is-for it is the blessed communion of the saving benefits of the body and blood of Christ to all faithful believers, by which and in which, Christ communicates himself and his grace to them, and they communicate their souls to Him-" In whom all the promises are yea and amen." So then receive it and strive to see God in it, as your reconciled

Father at peace with you, and an eternal portion for you. Such a sight will be a feast indeed! And by the blessing of the Spirit, accompanying, will enliven your graces, mortify your corruptions, remove your fears, and quicken you to run with new courage your appointed raceappointed race-" Rejoicing still to the end in hope of the glory of God." Amen.