state; but they shall see Him face to face. Their contemplation of his adorable attribetes shall not be transient and variable; but fixed and constant. Their fellowship with him shall not be limited and restrained; but free and familiar. And in the exercise of these high privileges, they chal possess a fulness of joy, a satisfying and superabundant degree of beatitude, to which we are now unable to stretch our thoughts. Such will be the final lot of those, concerning whom our gracious Master expresses himself thus-Blessed are the poor an spuite for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

And now, brethren, who would not wish see counted in this truly honourable class? Who would not be content to become poor allow, insignificant and despicable in the present world, with such a termination of choir course in view? But the blessedness of these chosen ones begins long before the tomination of their earthly course. Even while they continue in this house of their pilgrimage, they are inexpressibly dear to God. And lest, from occasional appeargroes, we should ever entertain a doubt of ahig, our Heavenly Father hath repeatedly

asserted it in the most absolute terms-Thus saith the Lord, the heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: but to this man will I look, even unto him that is poor, and of a contrite spirit, and that trembleth at my word. Of all the interesting sights which the world can afford, that of a man evangelically poor in spirit is especially calculated to attract and fix the divine regard. The glorious God will pass by the thrones of kings and the palaces of princes, that he may intently gaze upon such a man, as a spectacle of wonder and a monument of his richest grace: to this man will I look, saith the Lord, and he shall be mine in that day, when I make up my jewels.

Be persuaded, then, my brethren, to cast in your lot with this little band of choice and excellent spirits, lightly indeed esteemed among men, but rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom. We read of some, in the days of our Lord, who made broad their phylacteries, and occasionally wore them as frontlets between their eyes: but these happier men have the name of God engraven in their foreheads, and bear continually about them the marks of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As pilgrims and strangers they are peacefully journeying through the wilderness of this world, to a better inheritance reserved for them in heaven; whither they are hastening to sit down at the marriage supper of the Lamb. Let us join their company, and go with them; for they will assuredly do us good, and help us forward in the way everlasting till we joyfully take our places, with them, in the presence of their Father and our Father, their God and our God.

Finally, men and brethren, Let that mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus, who made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: and, being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient to death, even the death of the cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name; that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

SERMON XIV.

REV. XIV. 2.

And I heard the voice of harpers harping with their harps.

As the Revelation of St. John forms the concluding portion of the sacred volume, so we find it containing what such a portion of holy writ might reasonably be expected to contain—the closing scenes of the church militant upon earth, together with vivid representations of the glory that is to follow. These are the only subjects treated of in the Apocalypse; and they are treated in such a way as to render this book, perhaps, more deeply interesting than any other part of the sacred Scriptures. Every thing is here delivered with an energy and an unction, which we may look for in vain about the ablest writers either of ancient or modern times: while to these qualities may be added an unexampled mixture of plainness and sublimity, which must ever distin

guish the Revelation of St. John as a divine production. For more than these seventeen hundred years, the followers of Christ have read and studied this inestimable part of the word with a peculiar degree of interest; and not without an evident enlargement of their views, a vigorous increase of their faith, and a solid confirmation of their immortal hopes.

Some men, when they commence an acquaintance with the history of the world, and begin to know something of the usual habits and manners of mankind, are very apt to consider themselves as persons of enlarged views and considerable information; while the very outermost limits of their knowledge take in only a few of the petty concerns of this poor and perishable state of being. But the contemplative Christian finds it impossible to rest satisfied within the bounds of so strait a confinement. His views stretch away beyond, and his desires rise far above the best and greatest things of the present world; a place which he considers as nothing better than a desolate country, through which he is rapidly journeying to a divine inheritance.