ly sympathize with those in the same situation by nature with themselves, and that their success might be ascribed only to God, yet the angels are carefully observant of our devotions. Remember then, in your approaches to God, not only the greatness and holiness of the Being whom you adore, but also the dignity of the companions who join with you; the zeal, the constancy, and the joy with which they serve their Maker. This remembrance will animate you to exertion, that there may not be too great a discordance between your praises and prayers, those of your fellow-worshippers,

and

If we thus love and reverence, we shall be careful also to imitate them: like them, we shall make it our chief delight to obey and glorify God, and shall esteem it our highest title of honour to be his ser- vants. We shall strive according to our daily prayer, to do "the will of God on earth, as it is done in hea ven." With David, we shall, from the consideration of their employments, rouse up our own souls to the same occupations; and having exclaimed, "Bless the Lord, ye his angels, that excel in strength," we shall fervently add, "Bless the Lord, O my soul!" Like these benevolent spirits, we shall make it our delight to succour the afflicted, to console the unhappy, to confirm the wavering, to direct the doubting. When so elated with pride by those distinctions made between us and others, by nature, or providence, or imagination, as to regard those beneath us with contempt, and refuse to interest ourselves in their concerns, let us think of the angels : though far more elevated above the highest of our race than any man can be above his fellow-worm, yet they condescend to minister unto us; to extend their sympathies and attention even to a Lazarus,

whom the rich man treats with disdain. Let us cultivate this same condescension and tenderness, if we would be truly great.

2. The ministry of angels demands our gratitude to God. "The Lord forgive me," says the excellent Bishop Hall," for that among my other offences, I have suffered myself so much to forget, not only his divine presence, but also the presence of his holy angels. It is, I confess, my great sin that I have filled up my eyes with other objects, and been slack in returning praises to my God for the continual assistance of those blessed and beneficent spirits, who have ever graciously attended me without intermission from the first hour of my conception to the present moment; neither ever shall, I hope, absent themselves from my tutelage and protection, till they shall have presented my poor soul to her final glory." We have all of us need with him to supplicate forgiveness for this omission: when God honours us with the attendance of his own glorious retinue, commissions the brightest orders in creation to serve as guides, instructers, and comforters to us, shall no gratitude swell our hearts, shall no thanksgivings burst from our lips for this tenderness and love? Shall not" men praise the Lord for his goodness, for these his wonderful works to the children of men ?"

We frequently speak of the power and malice of evil spirits, and of the temptations with which they assail us why then do we forget the assistance of the good angels, except that we more easily retain the remembrance of injuries than of mercies; or that we think to excuse ourselves by casting the blame of our sins upon Satan, while we would reserve to ourselves all the glory of our good deeds? Are these dispositions becoming a believer?

3. This subject should solace the believer in all his dangers and distresses. However numerous or powerful may be your foes, you may always confidently use the language of Elisha when he was encompassed with hostile troops, and without any visible means of deliverance, "They that be with us are more than they which be with them." (2 Kings vi. 16.) In the midst of your perils, if your eyes were opened like those of his servant, you would behold the angelic band surrounding you, and all your apprehensions would be dissipated. By that faith which" is the evidence of things not seen," contemplate at all times these holy beings, vigilant, benevolent, powerful, and faithful in the discharge of the office committed to them: to the reproaches of the ungodly, oppose the approbation of these witnesses of your conduct; when your heart is pained by the blasphemies of the impenitent,, think of their hallelujahs to the God whom you love; under infirmities of body, anticipate the time when "this tabernacle shall be dissolved," and you shall resemble them; when bereaved of friends, recollect that these your oldest, your most tried, created friends, still are with you; when persecuted or oppressed, recall their conduct to those who in former times were in the same situation; when about to enter into eternity, rejoice at the purity, the tenderness, the zeal of the companions with whom you shall for ever dwell.

4. Despiser of the grace of Jesus! in what manner do these angels regard you? They were innocent; for them it was not necessary that Jesus should die, that the blood of the covenant should flow; yet they treated not his atonement with indifference; they announced his birth with rapture to Zechariah, to

it;

the virgin, to Joseph, to the shepherds; they descended from heaven to felicitate the earth upon they attended the Redeemer in the wilderness, and the garden; they rolled away the stone from the sepulchre, that mortals might learn with joy that the Saviour had risen from the dead; they were with him when he rose refulgent from the holy mountain; they still make his praise their theme and their delight; and notwithstanding the extent of their powers, they see such glories and such wonders of love in the mysteries of redemption, that they constantly search more deeply into them. (1 Pet. i. 12.) If such have been their sentiments and conduct, notwithstanding they were secure without the sacrifice of Immanuel, with what mingled indignation and pity must they look at you? What must they think of the baseness, the ingratitude, the madness of your conduct? Could tears be shed by them, they would surely weep, when they beheld guilty, unhappy mortals, exposed to a misery that has no other bounds than eternity, yet despising the grace that would save them, neglecting that Redeemer who died for them, breaking through the restraints that divine mercy has placed between them and the world of torments, and wading through the blood of Jesus flowing between them and hell, that they may seize upon damnation! Oh! be not so ungrateful to your Lord, such cruel enemies to your own felicity. At last renounce your sins, and accept the offers of salvation; then the angels, who are now in the midst of us, shall rejoice over you, and shall shout, “Our brother was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found."

5. Finally: how much happier is the meanest and most despised Christian, than the most prosperous

sinner? Ye worldlings! who are surrounded with riches, with dignities and acquirements, come, and for a moment compare your situation with that of the humble followers of Jesus. Enlightened by the revelation of God, I look at invisible things: you both are surrounded by bands of powerful spirits; but the host that attends you has risen from hell; they flatter and delude you that they may lead you into the abyss; they tell you that religion is useless, or false; that there is no necessity of a strict regard to the duties of piety; that the threatenings of the gospel need not terrify you; that you may be saved without a change of heart, the application of the blood of Jesus, and the influences of the Holy Spirit: thus they whisper to you; you believe them, and charge God with falsehood, who has taught you otherwise; you follow their suggestions, and prepare to share their fate: shortly death will come; stripping you of this body, it shall remove from your eyes that veil which hides from you your present companions: they will seize upon your shuddering soul, and while they, the fierce executioners of God's wrath, exercise upon it their malignant fury, they will laugh you to scorn, because you were so foolish as to believe them, when God and his Spirit, and his people, and his ministers, warned you of your danger.

This is your situation, unhappy man; contrast it now with that of the humble Christian whom you despise the most glorious and holy part of creation daily and nightly encamp around him; feel for him the most ardent affection; guide him during all his pilgrimage; and when death comes, own him as a brother, and carry him in triumph to their Lord. Sinner, I appeal to your own conscience, which of