field how they grow: they toil not, neither do they spin, and yet I say unto you, that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, shall he not much more clothe you, 0 ye of little faith? Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness."

How infinitely more dignified and more becoming the nature of the soul is the end proposed, and the employment here enjoined! When men labour for that which ministers only delight to the corporeal senses, which soon must perish with the body, do they seem more elevated than the irrational animals beneath them?-than the ant, or than the beasts of the forest, ranging through deserts for their prey? And when the object is attained, is the luxurious banquet, and carnal pomp, and revellings, the bliss of man? Though self-engrossed in these things, the exercises of the soul answer, No. Does she not, in thought, easily and swiftly range through all conditions of life, through all the kingdoms of the earth, through all this lower creation, and, esteeming this a trifle, does she not stand, as it were, upon the outside of the globe, taking a survey of the orbs that roll in infinite space, exhausting worlds in her contemplations, and then, untired, conceiving new? Will any one affirm that a few acres of land, or a few thousands of funded wealth, can fill up such vast capacities? The soul, if we

consider her inward workings, answers, No. Dissatisfied and repining, in the midst of all which the world calls good and great, she proves that we need some superior possession; that whilst we find it expedient to provide for the continual nourishment of the animal part that which is congenial with its nature, yet something which differs widely is requisite for the soul. The very nature of things says, that spirit cannot be satisfied with what is material; and that a spirit which grasps ages in its calculation, and looks for more, requires a happiness not limited to threescore years and ten. Hence, as Dr. Young justly observes

"A soul immortal spending all her fires,
Wasting her strength in strenuous idleness,
Thrown into tumult, raptur'd or alarm'd
At ought this scene can threaten or indulge,
Resembles ocean into tempest wrought,
To waft a feather, or to drown a fly."

Much, then, as those that see not its true import and tendency, oppose the Gospel and its great Author, Jesus Christ, in our text, and a multitude of similar passages, raises-and he only raises-the souls of men from their naturally imbruted and vile condition, and places before them a quarry worthy their ambition. He points them to the Father of spirits, as the great centre of attraction, drawing around him all the rational part of the universe, and from his fulness shedding among them infinite blessings, and calls upon us to be moving nearer and nearer towards this boundless Jehovah.

Not only on account of the great object it offers for our pursuit, an object, than which nothing can be conceived more excellent, but as it is founded upon the doctrine of a future judgment, and those other sublime and awful truths from which it may be considered an inference, we must see the necessity of following the exhortation in the text. Immortality being now brought to light by the Gospel, and its certainty rendered unquestionable,-the importance of preparing for it will impress our minds, the more we dwell upon the glories into which it will usher us on the one hand, or the miseries it may inflict on the other. From these two considerations the text derives all its impressiveness; and it is utterly impossible for the man, who regards himself as daily moving forward to a point where worldly possessions must cease to be of any consequence, and when the space he has lived on earth will bear far less proportion to that upon which he enters than a moment to a million years, and when an irrevocable and perpetual condition of unspeakable joy, or anguish and despair, will be adjudged him, according as he improved or wasted the precious hours of the present existence :-it is impossible for such an one not lightly to esteem those terrestrial enjoyments which engross the generality of our species, called the world.

If this is the spirit of the text, and of the whole paragraph of which it is a part, it goes farther, and declares, the only safe mode of preparation for

eternity is by seeking "the kingdom of God and his righteousness;” by joining that spiritual community over which Jesus Christ reigns in the sweet and powerful influences of his Spirit, enlightening their minds, subduing in them what is evil, and regulating their will, affections, and conversation. These form the kingdom which he has set up. It is confined to no one branch of the professing church, nor to any particular form of outward worship, but is an invisible kingdom within you,—in the heart. Whether we belong to it, must be ascertained by examining our sentiments, feelings, and conduct, with the criteria of a believer, laid down in the New Testament. This kingdom, both as to its members and happiness, is partly on earth, and partly in heaven; it is a constant procession of holy men, silently as to any worldly show, moving onwards towards the judgment seat, and from that to the promised rest, linked to Martyrs, and Apostles, and to Christ; each rank as it moves in, drawing the next nearer to its glory, until all shall be saved, agreeably to that declaration: “Ye are come unto Mount Zion, unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn that are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel.”

Follow on with this company, carrying with you

this righteousness as your justifying plea: "The righteousness of God, which is by the faith of Jesus Christ." In passing the great bar, a life conformable to the law, in all its spirituality and extent, will be required by the justice of God, in order to acceptance. This no one can furnish; or I understand not those passages:— "There is not a man that liveth and sinneth not;"" By the deeds of the Law shall no flesh living be justified;' -and, "He hath concluded all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all." What, then, shall the sinner do at that tribunal? The Gospel says, Present the spotless life of him who was "holy, harmless, undefiled, and separate from sinners," who, though a man, and in all points tempted as we are, sinned not, and who fulfilled such a course on earth to give the benefit of his life to all those who exercise faith on his mediation. But at that bar justice requires vengeance for the breach of the holy Law. The Saviour's righteousness answers also this demand: he died for sins not his own; "he suffered, the just for the unjust;" "he gave his life a ransom for many," and thus became the Lord our Justifier. Remember, therefore, my brethren, that which Jesus enjoins in this passage as the grand business of life, namely,-preparation for a future world; and bear in mind the plan of pursuing this that he has laid down,—that to "seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness," is the only one suited to our circumstances, as sinful men, the only one we can follow with a happy result.