nature, and are permitted to discover his glory in the heavens, and his handy-work in the firmament. They are finding out, by his permission, secret after secret in the vast scheme of the universe; and are taught how he guides the sun in his course, and ordains her journey for the moon; for what purpose he made the stars, and how he upholds them aloft, and makes them his servants; and thousands of mysteries, of which we never dream, are they discovering in his works; and at every discovery they fall down and cry-" Holy! holy! holy !"

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But more especially do they study him in his work of Grace and Redemption; (" for "these are things which angels desire to look

into;") they remember that he forsook his throne and left his glory to look for a guilty and outcast world, that had wilfully plunged into darkness; they remember that he took upon him our vile and loathsome nature, bearing our sins and carrying our infirmities; they remember that " he was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with

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grief; that he was wounded for our sins, "and bruised for our iniquities," and tasted

the bitterness of death for our sakes: they see him afterwards ascending up on high, and leading captivity captive, and bestowing gifts on man; and behold him seated at the right hand of the Father, and making intercession for the transgressors; and all this for beings who had deserted his pleasant pastures-who had flung away his rod and his staff, and leaned upon broken reeds; and (what is most astonishing) had actually lost their taste and relish for immortal things; and yet talk of hoping to go to heaven, without waiting to inquire what heaven is, or what it means. This work of mercy do the blessed inhabitants of heaven study for ever and ever: for it is inexhaustible as the works of creation itself. New beauties and fresh glories are discovered at every view. Effects, which perhaps never occurred to the human imagination, may be developed from time to time; and at every new discovery of love the whole heavenly host brighten with immortal gratitude, and lay down their golden crowns before the throne, saying; Holy! holy! holy!"

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But this devotion to the one great source of happiness only serves to bind them to each

other in ties that are delightful and everlasting: stronger than all the confederacies of sin; stronger than the affections of parent and child, brother and sister, husband and wife, are the affections of these immortal spirits to each other.

It is true they all turn their faces towards the throne; but their love and their regards all meet in him who sitteth upon it. Jealousy and envy, malice and revenge, are far away, chained down in the lake that burns for ever. Truth, clear truth, that needs no concealment, shews them each other's hearts; and there they find Eternal Love written in living characters by the finger of God.

Delightful beyond all the pleasures of the earth is the sweet counsel that these blessed beings take with each other, and the converse in which they indulge: it always binds them closer than before; for the subject is still--the one good God, the good and great Redeemer, who brought them together and still holds them in eternal union. Is this the heaven you - hoped for? Do you find yourself capable of that happiness in which it consists?

SERMON IX.

LUKE, ix. 23.

And he said to them all: If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me.

THESE are fearful words! It is true, they contain an invitation: it is true, they are written by the mildest, the gentlest, and the most gracious being that ever moved upon the earth; who loved us more than we have ever loved each other, or ourselves; and they invite us to follow him, who leads the way to all that is good, and pure, and holy, and delightful: but they speak of self-denial, and suffering, and mortification. There is not a single human passion to which they condescend to appeal ;not one of our vices, our frailties, or prejudices, or our infirmities, not one even of the kind and generous affections of our nature, which they deign to conciliate or solicit for their support; for in the same breath it is declared—

"Whosoever loveth father, or mother, or sister, "or wife, or his own life, more than me or the gospel, is not worthy of me."

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These are fearful words: they need only be uttered in order to prove how we disobey them. If, instead of reading them in this place and on this day, when our minds have attained something of a serious and a solemn cast from the service in which we have just been engaged, we were to meet them in the course of our daily occupation; if they were to cross us in the midst of active life, while we were pursuing some of the dearest objects of our desires,they would sound something like the toll of a death-bell in our ears, and lead us to ask ourselves this simple question,-Am I now following my Redeemer, or am I following my own imaginations?

And yet there was a time when it was obeyed by thousands and ten thousands: there were men who rejoiced to bear their cross; to many he had only to say, "Come, follow me," and they followed him: many of them rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name; "they were troubled on every

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side, yet not distressed; perplexed, but not