blessedness of the christian. He shall be received to everlasting glory, out of the reach of all pain, all sorrow, and of all anguish of spirit. He shall be finally and completely delivered from sin, and shall spend eternity in the enjoyment of pure and unmixed happiness. Then shall his hope be fully realized. Nay, more large as are the blessings to which his hope now aspires, he will then find that "eye "hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have "entered into the heart of man, the things "which God hath prepared for them that "love him." 1

In concluding this subject, I would beg of you, my brethren, to apply it to yourselves, for the purpose of self-examination. You have seen the nature and the excellency of the hope of the christian. Beware of resting satisfied with merely acknowledging that it is a good hope; but look to yourselves, and see whether you are partakers of it! There is, no doubt, some object for which each one of you is hoping, and from the possession of which you expect to derive happiness: but does your hope refer to the vanities of this world; or, convinced that all things here below are unable to afford you such a happiness as you

1 1 Cor. ii, 9.

need, are you turning your eyes from them to look for solid enjoyment in heavenly things? And if these are the object of your choice, how do you expect to obtain them? Do you hope for them, because of what you can do to deserve them? or are your hopes fixed solely upon what Jesus has done and suffered? Do you expect salvation as what you can merit, or as the gift of God through Jesus Christ? Is your hope a holy hope? Is it such as causes you to mourn over your sins, and to forsake them? Does it lead you to desire to obtain more holiness? Does it excite you to be watchful over your conduct, to love the word and the ordinances of God, and to be zealous of good works? By putting such questions as these to yourselves, you may judge how far your hope is the "hope that maketh not ashamed," and how far you possess the character of the christian.

And are there not among us those, who know and feel, that they have never so much as endeavoured to attain such a hope as this? Are there not those whose thoughts and affections are fixed upon things below; or who, when they do turn their minds to another world, entertain a very different hope from that which the word of God approves? Oh! my brethren, suffer me to address to you the

voice of warning. The time is coming, when "the earth and the works that are therein "shall be burned up." How vain then is it for immortal creatures, to fix their desires upon what is in itself insufficient while it lasts, and which "passeth away as a shadow!" How vain, how presumptuous is it, when God has revealed one only way in which he will bestow salvation upon man, for any to venture to hope for it in another! Be assured that such a hope is vain; and learn to forsake all false confidences, and to fix your expectations upon things capable of satisfying your minds; and seek them in the way in which God offers them to you, that thus you may be made partakers of a "hope which maketh not ashamed."

And, finally, if on diligent self-examination, you find reason to believe, that you are partakers of the hope of the christian; let me call upon you to remember, that the only way in which you can retain this hope, and enjoy the comfort which it is capable of affording you, is, by diligence, by watchfulness against sin, by earnestness in the use of the means of grace, by care in the cultivation of all those dispositions which are well-pleasing to your God. Learn then, gratitude to that gracious Saviour,

to whose tender love you owe every hope which cheers your soul; and endeavour to lead others to seek a share in your blessedness, by shewing that your hope raises you above the trials of this mortal life, and gives you a calm satisfaction and peace of mind, such as the world can neither give nor take ' away.'

And, that you may not lose the comfort of your hope, follow the direction of the Apostle, -"Giving all diligence, add to your faith "virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and "to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." And thus " give diligence to make your calling and election "sure; for if ye do these things ye shall never "fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered "unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus "Christ."1

' 2 Pet. i, 5-7, 10, 11.

SERMON XVI.

ENVY OF SINNERS FORBIDDEN, AND THE FEAR OF GOD ENJOINED.

PROVERBS Xxiii, 17, 18.

Let not thine heart envy sinners; but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

THERE is an essential and very striking difference, between the standard by which the sacred writers judge of happiness, and that by which the generality of men estimate it. By the almost universal consent of mankind, happiness is considered as connected with the possession of a large share, of what are deemed the good things of the present life-of riches, applause, health, and a confluence of external enjoyments: while the want of these things, is regarded as being inseparable from misery. But what is the