who will solve these doubts? Who will give me that light and certainty, without which I cannot here be satisfied?

This also, my christian brother, this also can Jesus do and will; he who promises to give thee life, and more abundantly. Even this thy want he powerfully supplies, the conqueror of death and the grave, the restorer of life and felicity. Authentically to certify thee of this, God sent him from heaven upon the earth, to die upon the cross, and to rise again from the dead. "I, says he, I am the resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, shall not die eternally; he shall pass through the gate and grave of death to a better life. No; this life is not the whole of thy appointment; it is only the first, the lowest step of thy existence. No; thou art not wholly dust; thy spirit is of divine descent, it is immortal, will rise above the dust, and need not dread corruption.

No; the night that surrounds thee in death. will not eternally, will not long endure; the morn will come, and a glorious day arise. No; the loss thou sufferest then is not irreparable, the friends thou then wilt lose are not for ever lost; infinitely more joys and blessings await thee in the future world, than thou couldst enjoy in the present. Therefore shudder not thou at the presence of death, tremble not thou at the grave, be not thou dismayed at the darkness and gloom of the valley of the shadow of death, nor at what will be the portion of thy heritage for ever. Be faithful to God and to thy duty; think and live constantly as befits a christian: And then will thy death be a passage into a better, a supe rior life; then wilt thou, with confidence, see before thee the resurrection of the dead; then wilt thou enter the abode where thy chief, thy lord, thy redeemer is and take part in his glory; and he, who now is thy precursor and guide, will also be thy lead

er though the valley of death, thy guide for eternity. There wilt thou reap the fruit of every good thought and action, and a constantly increasing perfection and happiness will be the reward of thy fidelity. What hopes, what prospects, my dear brethren! Animated by these, how confidently may we meet futurity! How calm and resigned behold all that is visible and earthly, changing, revolving, sinking hence, and vanishing away!

Thus are all our wants supplied by Jesus. Thus do we find light to our understanding, rest for our heart, courage and ability to goodness, comfort in sorrow, hope in futurity; thus do we find life and more abundantly with him. Thus does he free us from every kind of misery, and lead us to the highest felicity whereof we are capable. Oh let us, then, rejoice in him and his advent into the world and his great business on earth; let us adhere firmly to him, and resign ourselves entirely to his guidance and direction! Replete with affection and gratitude, let us draw from the sources of knowledge, of wisdom, of virtue, which he has opened to us. They are no less pure than inexhaustible. "He that drinketh of this water shall not thirst for ever." He that draws from these sources, will draw joy and felicity, both for the present and the future life. Oh may we all do so, and thus assuage our thirst after truth and certainty, after peace of mind, perfection and feli eity!

Advent Sunday, 1781.

SERMON XVIII.

The Value of Christianity, in regard of the General Advantage it has procured to Mankind, and still procures.

O GOD, our most loving and benefigent father, what a joyful salutary event calls us this day into thy presence! Of what benefits, of what advantages, of what blessings and comforts of the present and of the future life does it not remind us! Yes, the commemoration of the nativity of Jesus in the world, and his great work on earth, is the commemoration of our deliverance and our felicity; the commemoration of the happiest revolution that ever took place in the state of mankind in general, and also in our's! Yes, that light which first shone upon the world at the rising of the sun of righteousness, lightens and rejoices even us! The comfort and the hope which this great benefactor by his doctrine diffused among mortals refresh and restore even us! Even among us has virtue acquired numerous votaries by this its grand promoter ! Yes, by him we enjoy as men and as christians, innumerable advantages of which otherwise we should be destitute, and of which we could not be destitute without being wretched! Now we know thee, our Creator and Father; we know thy gracious, thy compassionate dispositions towards mankind; we know the way that leads to thee and to supreme felicity. Now

we need not wander in the dark mazes of superstition or doubt, but may fulfil our destination on straight and luminous paths. Now we are deficient neither in motive nor ability to do good, and by doing good to attain to the perfection of which thou hast made us capable. Now we have grounds enough for tranquillizing ourselves in life and in death, Oh happy we, that thou hast so highly favored us in thy son Jesus, that thou hast blessed us through him with such various and inestimable benefits! Thanks, heartfelt eternal thanks be to thee, the Gracions, the Merciful, for this proof of thy grace and love! How far does it not exceed all our deserts, all our expectations! How happy are we not thereby become, and how much happier may we not still be! Ah let us never forget it; let none of us receive thy grace in vain! let us rather feel the whole worth of the benefits which thy goodness has conferred upon us; let us study to understand their magnitude, their intimate connexion with our happiness ever more and more by our own experiece, and so constantly to use them, as is conformable to thy will and our salvation. Bless to that end the med. itations we are now about to enter on concerning the things that relate to our peace, and let them fill us with pious gratitude and joy. All this we implore of thee in the name of thy son our savior, and in full confidence address thee farther in his words: Our father, &c.

IL CORINTHIANS, v. 17.

Old things are paft away; behold, all things are become new.

WE all rejoice in the advantages accruing to us from the appearance of Jesus among men, and his great work upon earth. Why otherwise VOL. I.

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are we wont to celebrate the festival of his birth? why hail this day more gladly than others? Our joy is undoubtedly very proper and becoming; it rests upon the most solid foundations, on events superlatively desirable and joyful. But is our joy likewise rational? Do we know, do we rightly consider what a blessed influence christianity has had and still has on our welfare, and in general on the welfare of mankind; and is this the reason that the consideration of the birth of Jesus, the founder of christianity, is so joyful to us?-I shall endeavor, my pious hearers, to advance this knowledge, and promote these reflections in you, by my present discourse, and thus render more rational and lively the joy the return of this festival excites. We are naturally furnished with an ocasion hereto by the words of our text. "Old things are past away," says the apostle, " behold, all things are become new." Judaism, would he say, Judaism, with all its burdensome ordinances and ceremonies, is superseded by the christian doctrine; the wall of separation between the jews and heathens is broken down; christianity has produced a great and happy revolution in the sentiments, in the manners, in the religion and worship, in the whole state of mankind; it has contributed much to the advancement of their perfection and happiness. Let us, therefore, from these words, consider the general advantage that christianity has procured to the human race in general, and still procures; advantages which even they who deny or doubt of the divine origin of the christian doctrines, must allow to be highly valuable and important.

We may reduce these advantages to four chief heads. The first concerns knowledge; the second virtue the third peace of mind; and the fourth, the outward welfare of mankind.