the consolations of the Gospel are withdrawn? Can they rejoice in the weakness of their faith, and in the languor of their love? in the wanderings of their affections, and the coldness of their hearts? in their distance from God, and faint and indistinct views of his glory? Are they to rejoice in the dishonors which the profane are heaping upon his blessed name, and the awful amount of wrath which they are treasuring up for themselves against the day of wrath? Are they to rejoice when they are beset with temptation, or are actually overtaken with iniquity? These are circumstances which call for weeping, and lamentation, and mourning.

But, at the same time, every believer ought to be on his guard against the presence and the power of these evils; to stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ has made him free; and to give all diligence to increase his joy in the Lord, and to rejoice in the Holy One of Israel. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ; and he is graciously calling us into his eternal glory, through a life of faith upon his Son, and of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.

Many indeed entertain the most base and dishonourable ideas of the blessed Gospel, and of the adorable God who gave it. They suppose that Christianity is a severe and gloomy system, that crushes the spirits of those who embrace it, and subjects them to a life of perpetual toil and unenlivened sadness. They imagine that God is a harsh and rigorous master; who wrings from the hard hands of his people the utmost measure of service which they can render, and in return furnishes them with the most scanty and miserable supplies. They seem to apprehend that he would be alarmed and offended were they to discover any symptoms of liveliness and joy; that he has called them to bondage and suffering; and that, though in heaven they shall be permitted to spend their existence in happiness and bliss, they must pass the time of their sojourning in perplexity and pain, and serve him with slavish despondency and overwhelming terror.

But do these ideas correspond at all with the character of that God, who is the Father of mercies and the God of

love? of that God who takes pleasure in his people, and rejoices in the prosperity of his saints? After he has so loved the world that he has given his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life; after he has sent down the Holy Ghost to lead us into all truth, to shed abroad his love in our hearts, to bear witness with our spirits that we are the sons of God, and fill us with all peace and joy in believing; is it credible that he can have any delight in our fears and troubles, or any desire to prolong our sufferings, or multiply our sorrows?

When we hear the advent of Jesus celebrated as a cause of exultation and of gladness; when we hear the prophet crying, "Sing, O ye heavens, for the Lord hath done it; shout, ye lower parts of the earth; break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel;" when we find the faithful longing for his appearing as the consolation of Israel; and the celestial inhabitants clustering around the place of his birth, and singing, "Glory to God in the highest, on earth peace and good will to men;" when we hear the Son of God himself declaring, "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound,-to comfort all that mourn;" when we hear him opening his mouth in blessings, and inviting all the labouring and heavy laden to come to him for rest; is it credible, is it possible, that he can have any wish to lengthen out the sadness of his children, or to involve them in deeper affliction and distress?

When he has enjoined his ministers to comfort his people; to strengthen the weak hands; to confirm the feeble knees; to say to them of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not, for your God will come and save you; what other inference can we draw from these precious facts, than that he loves the peace and felicity of his followers, and is delighted with their serenity and cheerfulness? Unless he is set upon our welfare, and solicitous to ad

vance our present happiness and improvement; why has he given us all things richly to enjoy! why has he crowded into the promises of his word, and the provisions of his grace, such an inexhaustible fund of hope and rejoicing? why has it pleased him that in Christ should all fulness dwell; and that out of his fulness we should receive even grace for grace?

But

When the brief pilgrimage of life is closed, he has prepared a heaven of purity and of bliss; where his servants shall see his face; where they shall serve him day and night, and spend the long range of their eternity in one uninterrupted jubilee. In his presence is fulness of joy; at his right hand there are pleasures for evermore. who are they who are counted worthy to obtain a part in these exalted services, and in these ineffable and neverending triumphs? Are they the angels of light? the tenants of other worlds? creatures of a superior rank and of nobler powers, whose natures were never stained with sin, nor their souls wrung with anguish? No: they are the sons and daughters of Adam who are in Christ Jesus; the men and the women who, from a discovery of their guilt and wretchedness, have fled to the Lord Jesus Christ; have embraced him as all their salvation and all their desire; and who, from love to his name and gratitude for the matchless condescension and kindness which he has shewn them, are actively and unreservedly devoted to his interest and honour.

My dear readers, Are you in Christ Jesus? Are you living on him by faith? Do you count all things but loss for his sake; and determine to know nothing save Christ, and him crucified? Then, were death to cut you down this moment, where would you be the next? In heaven; before the throne; in the presence of God and of the Lamb; and in full possession of all the dignity and blessedness that encircle the presence of the Eternal. For blessed are the dead who die in the Lord: they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them. They are absent from the body, and present with the Lord.

Now have all the dead, who have died in the Lord, been instantly admitted into heaven; and if you are in

.

Christ; were death now to strike you down, would you also, in a moment, be translated from earth to heaven, from your present employments, to the full blaze of celestial glory, and all the ecstacy of its elevated and enraptured adorations? Then, where is the decree or mandate that prohibits you just now from tasting your sacred and religious joys, and dooms you to dejection and distress? Had the last saint, who entered the golden gates of the new Jerusalem, any better right or firmer claim to its felicity and honour than his union to the Lord Jesus Christ? And, joined to him in the bonds of an everlasting covenant, loving him with your whole heart, and cleaving to him with all your strength and mind; your plea is just as strong and your title as valid as his. Were death, therefore, this instant, to snap asunder the frail thread of life; without the slightest accession to your right, would you, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, clear all the distance betwixt the throne of grace and the throne of glory, betwixt the society of the saints on earth, and that of the general assembly and church of the first-born in heaven? Then, granting that your pilgrimage were yet to extend to threescore and ten, on what ground can you believe that you are debarred from the immediate, full, uninterrupted enjoyment and use of all the riches of redeeming grace; and all the unsearchable loving-kindness of an infinite God?

The bare gift of God in creation and in providence, without any additional security, completely warrants us to apply and use the precious benefits which he confers. And is any thing more than his free gift requisite to authorize and encourage you to rest on the Lord Jesus Christ; and, from this day and onward till you shall see him as he is, to appropriate and use all the promises of his word, and all the provisions of his love? Yet to you God gives his Son, his righteousness and strength: to you he gives his grace and Spirit. All things are yours. He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Is the man entitled by the gift of God to the en joyment of his life and health? the philosopher, of his rea

son and learning? and the industrious, of their skill and success? And is there any thing more than this free gift necessary to imbolden you forthwith to convert, to all the purposes of your own holiness and comfort, the immense and invaluable provisions of the everlasting Gospel?

Do I say that this is your right? I must go farther; and affirm that this is your duty. For what more than the commandment of the great and eternal God is needful to render any exercise, whether pleasant or painful, your obvious and indispensable duty? Why was Abraham bound to offer up his Son? Why are you obliged to deny yourselves, to take up your cross, to follow Christ? to give yourselves to reading, meditation, and prayer? to practise honesty and charity? to fight the good fight of faith, and lay hold on eternal life? Because such are the plain and express commandments of God. And is his simple commandment sufficient to enforce the performance of these duties? And is any thing more necessary to bind you to live on Christ; to walk by faith; to be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might; to rejoice in the Lord alway, and again to rejoice; to abide in him; and to cultivate that peace which passeth all understanding, and that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory?

When such are the privileges and duties of Christians; let me entreat all who are reconciled unto God by the death of his Son, and who are laying up your treasure in heaven, to avail yourselves of your advantages. Endeavour to rise superior to disquietude and fear. Labour to realize the things that are freely given you of God. Live on your inheritance. Leave no part of it unoccupied and unemployed. Gather more and more of the first-fruits of the Spirit. And strive more and more to maintain and establish that peace and joy which arise from faith in the Saviour and close communion with God; and which are a foretaste of future glory.

By conduct such as this,

I. You will greatly promote the honour of God.