comes selfish, proud, impious. He learns to regard his God with indifference, and his fellow-creatures with contempt. He tramples on the regulations of society, evades the laws of his country, and neglects the ordinances of religion. He makes himself his God. Are these, my fellow Christians, the circumstances in which we should desire to find ourselves? What kind of a preparation, think ye, would this be for the proceedings of that great day, when all the distinctions of human society will be levelled in an instant, and when every man shall stand before the judgment seat of Christ, and shall be called upon, by a power which no strength can resist, and a wisdom which no artifice can deceive, to give an account of the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or evil?

Adversity, on the other hand, subdues the heart of man, and bends him before the throne of the Almighty. The miseries of life may be compared, in this respect, to the convulsions of nature. The sceptical philosopher, when seated in proud security upon some majestic promontory, or wandering beneath the grateful shade of some overspreading grove, can speculate, presumptuously enough, about the causes of natural changes, and reason against the exist ence of his Creator; but no sooner does the

distant howling of the tempest meet his ear, than his heart sinks within him. When the wind rages, and the sea roars, and the thunder rolls, and the lightning flashes around him, he falls prostrate upon the earth in trembling adoration, and supplicates the protection of that tremendous power whose command alone the elements obey. Similar to this, my friends, is the effect produced upon the mind of man by the misfortunes that befall him. They open his heart, in an instant, to a sense of his entire dependence upon the Deity, and cause the conviction of his utter helplessness to flash upon his mind. They prepare the mental soil for the reception of that good seed which is to grow up into virtuous habits and dispositions, and to bring forth the fruits of righteousness. Surely, my Christian friends, if these be the results of their afflictions, "blessed are they that mourn."

Let me now, in conclusion, point out some of the practical results of the preceding reasoning.

You cannot fail to understand, from what has been said, that the faith which can comfort those who mourn, must be something more than a nominal one; that it must be real, and practical, and habitually acted upon. If you

really believe the doctrines of which we have been speaking, they cannot fail to influence your conduct. "Examine yourselves, therefore, whether ye be in the faith: prove your own selves." If you find that you are really possessed of a true faith in these consolatory doctrines, blessed are ye; and blessed shall ye be likewise in the day of affliction, for ye shall be comforted. If, on the other hand, my beloved brethren, you have reason to fear, from the general tenor of your conduct, or from the manner in which you have been disposed to conduct yourselves under past afflictions, that you are deficient in this faith, I would respectfully, but earnestly, call upon you to look to yourselves ere it be too late. So sure as you feel yourselves to be men, afflictions are in store for you. Before another Sabbath shines upon you, you may be called upon to endure them. Are you a husband? The wife of your bosom may be snatched from you. Are you a father? The fairest promise of your offspring may prove deceitful. Are you a son? A dying parent's blessing may await you. Are you men, my brethren? Dangerous diseases may be lurking within you at this moment, which, on their developement, may baffle the skill of the most experienced and sagacious. The bed of death may speedily be spread for you, and your faith in Christ may

be put to its last great trial. If you are desirous of being enabled to pass through every trial that may await you with fortitude and resignation; if you wish for courage in every danger, and comfort under every affliction; if you aim at peace of mind through life, and joyful hope in death, labour, I beseech you, with diligence to strengthen your convictions of the truth of the important doctrines to which I have been directing your attention, and study to convince both yourselves and all around you of the reality and sincerity of your faith, by walking in the world as becomes disciples of the Lord Jesus, and heirs of immortality.

SERMON XIX.

REST IN HEAVEN.

HEBREWS iv., 9.

There remaineth, therefore, a rest to the people of God.

WE cannot be surprised, my fellow Christians, if, amongst the various methods employed by the sacred writers of illustrating the sublime and momentous subjects of which they were commissioned to treat, we sometimes find them introducing allusions to the history of their nation. Distinguished as that history is by continual and most extraordinary interpositions of Divine Providence, it was peculiarly fitted to suggest such allusions; nor could they be otherwise than deeply interesting to the descendants of those whom it had pleased God to separate from the rest of mankind, and to make the subjects of a national discipline. We have an allusion of the kind referred to in the passage from which the text is taken. The writer reminds his countrymen, to whom the epistle is particularly addressed, of the manner in which