writing to the Ephesians, says, "We are his workmanship;" or, as the original may be rendered, "We are his poem"-the work of his own hands, the fruit of his own wisdom, and the blessed effect of his own love.

It may, perhaps, be a matter of perplexity to some, how that can be said to be "all glorious within," when they see nothing but defect in it-when in their love there is defect, when in their humility there is defect, when in their zeal there is defect; when they see that in nothing are they what they ought to be, and in every thing what they ought not to be. The eye of the Omniscient can discern between that which is grace and that which is nature, though you cannot. Whatever there is of good in thee, is the effect of his workmanship; whatever there is of evil in you is the effect of your own flesh. You may reason from effect, and trace up the effect to its cause; but when you are to draw the line of distinction between nature and grace, in a moment you are foiled; you see difficulty where He sees none. He sees in a moment the work of his own blessed Spirit; that desire within you that would be holy as God is holy-that light of life within thee which all the death of flesh can never destroy-that inward breathing after God which is the fruit of divine operation; these are all beauteous things in God's sight. And when we look at the world, and see man dead in his sins, or the proud Pharisee full of himself—and when we look at the poorest, weakest, feeblest believer, we see as broad a distinction as between life and death; the highest wrought effect of the most sublime nature (if I may so speak) is as nothing. We may say of every natural man that his life is, in fact, one sin. What a solemn thought is that for careless sinners, if their hearts be but open to receive it! "What! has my life been one sin?" Yes. Dost thou ever pluck grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" First of all, make the tree good, and then the fruit shall be good: but if "the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," how can its fruits be any otherwise than the parent stem by which it is produced? When we look at the weakest of God's people, and compare them with the strongest of natural men (if I may use the expression) we see as great a distinction as between life and death.

But the promise before us is that the Lord "will beautify the meek with salvation:" Shall they be more righteous than they are? Never. Shall they be more pardoned than they are? Never. Shall they be more God's children than they are? Never. Shall God love them more than he does now? Wondrous grace! he cannot his love is to them infinite, immutable, and eternal. In what, then, shall be their occasion of glory? They shall be beautified all shall be in symmetry; no imperfection, no darkness-nothing to clog, nothing to impede: they shall be beautified with full salvation, in the enjoyment of eternal glory.

Thirdly, remark THE EXHORTATION. What! do believers want to be told to rejoice and glory? Do the saints of God want exhortation to be “joyful in glory?" No, beloved: it seems as if the Psalmist were taken into the very precincts of eternal bliss; as if his eye penetrated through the curtain, and looked within the world of futurity, and beholding the people of God there, called on them to shout for joy, now they are gathered to their homes, now they are transported beyond the waves, and the billows, and the storms, beyond

the deceiver's power, beyond the inward stain, beyond the fear of the world. "Oh, lift up your heads," (as if he had said) “and be joyful in glory."

Why should they rejoice? Because they are without sin. When we reflect that there is not one moment of the day in which we do not come short of the divine glory-that if we pray, or read, or meditate—whether we turn over the page of conscience, or are actively employed in that which the Lord would have us to do this is our pang, that we still come short of the divine glory. But the prospect of being for ever freed from indwelling sin, the prospect of being delivered from indwelling corruption, presents the most tangible form of our future glory. And the saints are called upon to rejoice in it: "Be joyful in glory: ye are now safe home; you are now with Christ; you now see God; you are now with him for ever; you are beyond the region of tears-they no more trickle down your cheeks; you are beyond pain, beyond sin, beyond Satan-for ever with the Lord!" The prospect of eternal glory is, I believe, the most sanctifying contemplation that can engage the soul of man. I believe, that to a believer it is, without any exception, the most endearing, the most exhilarating, and the most blessed of all considerations.

It is a blessed thought that even in this vale of tears, the Lord takes pleasure in us in you and in me. Have we not fled to Jesus for salvation? Have we not betaken ourselves to his cross? Have we not had the sentence of death written upon ourselves? Have we not been disciplined into the confession, "Other refuge have I none?" Have we not stood where the poor publican stood? Have we not travelled where the poor prodigal travelled? Have we not been made willing to acknowledge, "To him that worketh is the reward not reckoned of grace but of debt: but to him that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for righteousness." Is it so? Then God taketh pleasure in us at this moment: we have the mark of his seal, the sealing mark of being his people. Whatever other evidences there may be, faith is the great evidence; it is the great work of God the Spirit in our souls. Whatever may be accomplished, whatever in our hearts may be won over to God, be assured of this-the great step of all was, when we stepped out of ourselves and took up our hopes in the Lord Jesus Christ. The truth applied by the power of the Holy Ghost, pours balm on every wound; it will be a healing balsam in every disease, it will cheer us in every trial, and comfort our hearts in every despondency. Does the Lord take pleasure in me? Oh, to realize at this moment "Thou God seest me in my sin; and thou beholdest me in Christ, and thou passest by my innumerable transgressions, and thou rememberest them no more: thou seest me in his righteousness, and thou hast given me a name better than that of son and of daughter: thou art well pleased with me for His sake; and thou dost rest in thy love over me, and rejoicest over me with singing." Is it so? Then behold the "strong consolation" that belongs to the child of God. Oh ye poor lovers of the world, ye poor lovers of pleasure, what an empty poverty would yours appear to you, if you could enter into this truth, when you kneel down by your bedsides: for you may, perhaps, have a form of prayer; you may bend the knee, and take the name of God on your lips: oh that you could for a moment realize the difference between that formal bend of the knee, and the inward consciousness that that God taketh pleasure in you in his Son! Then would you start up, like a man awakening from a dream,

and confess the emptiness of all created good, and Christ to be the fountain of real blessedness.

Let the subject prove a word of sweet encouragement to you, as ye pass ́ through the vale of tears, ye saints of the Most High God. There are seasons when we feel like men forlorn-nothing can touch us: we feel that we mourn in our own circles. We may have had tender and sympathizing friends; but we are forced to tell them, that in the secret recesses of our hearts, there are a thousand springs that they cannot touch; that we are alone; that no one entereth into our orbit but the Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of Righteousness. The world wears out: we find unkindness; we find ourselves mistaken, a little misunderstood, a little misinterpreted; we find others forming a false judgment of us; even our fellow Christians know us not; we find ourselves, in a sense, strangers in a strange land. And it may be, that with the outward current, God permitteth the inward current to run against us; we seem almost as if our shattered bark were left alone; faith seems to droop, corruption to be strong, the world a mighty foe, and Satan a cunning enemy. But oh, how pleasant when the Holy Ghost gives us to know, that God takes pleasure in us. Though it be a hard fight, a difficult struggle, a continual wrestling; though it be a strait way, and we know it; though it be no little matter to walk with God, and we feel it; yet he takes pleasure in us; he stirs up our souls to seek after him; he encourages us to hope in his mercy; he keeps us still travelling on; he assists our weakness, and enables us to persevere in his way; cast down, yet not forsaken-persecuted, yet not slain; though often oppressed, yet still alive-though often wounded, yet still preserved in the midst of all our nothingness: the Lord still takes pleasure in us. What a reviving cordial is this consideration to the poor solitary, who thinks his or her case unknown, uncared for, unfelt, and unsympathized with! His pleasure can make up for the loss of all other things. But hi frown!-think of it ye poor Christless sinners-his frown is hell; but his smile is heaven. Oh, to have him as a God that taketh pleasure in us, accepting us in his Son, and blessing his own work. This is the material of happiness. "He that commandeth me," says the Apostle, "is the Lord."

There are many things in this blessed prospect that ought to animate us. This may be the last sermon I may preach within these walls. Do you say this is an appeal to the feelings? I hope the spirit of darkness did not suggest that to your soul. I speak as a dying man, and I ask you as before God, What has been my preaching to you? Oh that there were a searching of heart to-night! Oh that there were an inward investigation in every one that hears

me.

What has the ministry been to my soul? Are you and I travelling on to God? Have you and I the inward witness that we are going to God? With what distinctness of vision can we look upon the glory to come, if the point remain still to be decided that our names are written in the Lamb's book of life? How many there are living at a perpetual uncertainty on a matter of all others, requiring the greatest certainty! Oh live not upon peradventures. Think of those, who, when the Lord their Master comes, open to him immediately think of those who, when the bridegroom came, were found not sleeping, but watching: "Blessed is that servant whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching."

:

The saints in glory have their joy; we have ours: and it would be well for us to enter more, while we are here, into the anticipation of the songs of eternal blessedness. To have much of God upon earth is the best recipe for a close walk with him; the more our hearts are subdued by his love, the more we shall yield ourselves to him in our walk and conversation.

The saints are "joyful in glory;" "they sing on their beds." Are any of you on beds of affliction? You know not how soon you may be laid on the bed of death. We have had warning on warning: God is dealing with us as a congregation; and it is a blessed thought that those who have been taken from among us are gone to heaven; we have no doubt but that they are accepted in the Beloved that they are now tasting the sweetness of those truths which they only sipped by the way, but found unutterably precious to their hearts. To live for God, to live for heaven, to live close with God on earth, to live in the anticipation of eternal blessedness-this is living; thus we shall say, "To live is Christ, and to die is gain."

One favour, let me ask-and I ask it earnestly as before God-Do you bear me upon your hearts? Do you find the word made a blessing? Does it ever come home with special application to your conscience? Does the Lord speak through me to your hearts? Does the Lord ever condescend to make use of my sling and my stone, and apply the word to your cases and circumstances? Give God the glory; but let me have some of the blessing. Bear me in your hearts in prayer to God. Pray that the great truths which it is my desire to lay before you I may have the inward testimony and experience, and live habitually on them. May this be the case with us all; so that if cholera come, or death in any other form, we may have nothing to do but to die.

May the God of heaven bless you and bless me with these upper-spring blessings; and the praise, and the glory, and the honour, shall be his to all eternity.

THE FREEDOM AND DIGNITY OF THE CHRISTIAN.

REV. J. STRATTEN.

PADDINGTON CHAPEL, AUGUST 31, 1834.

"But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life."-ROMANS, vi. 22.

I THINK I may say that I have had sympathy with the Apostle Paul in the language he employs at the beginning of this epistle: "I long to see you, that I may impart unto you some spiritual gift, to the end that ye may be established; that is, that I may be comforted together with you by the mutual faith both of you and me:" that in the exercise of Christian graces, and the manifestation of holy and heavenly tempers and dispositions in the midst of one another, we may promote each other's faith, and hope, and peace, and purity, and joy. And I have no doubt but another part of this epistle has been exemplified by you: "I am sure," says the Apostle, "that when I come to you, I shall come in the fulness of the blessings of the Gospel of Christ: and I beseech you, brethren, for the Lord Jesus Christ's sake, and for the love of the Spirit, that ye strive together with me in your prayers to God for me, that I may come unto you with joy by the will of God, and may with you be refreshed." If we begin in prayer and in lowliness, we shall go on in comfort and in harmony, and terminate our course, whenever that may be, amid the light and brightness of the countenance of God, and in the immediate prospect of a glorious immortality.

And now to speak to you the same things, and to unfold in your presence and your hearing the same doctrines, which I have been used to do, to me, indeed, is not grievous, and for you it is safe: and the passage which I have presented to your notice this morning, contains a noble and striking view of the freedom and dignity of the Christian, emancipated from sin, brought out into the glorious liberty of the Gospel and of the children of God; we become servants to the Deity: our fruit-the effect and manifestation of our principles-is holiThere is a beauty, and a splendour, the truest honour and joy, in holiness: and where holiness is the fruit, the end and the issue, in the order of means, as in the way of nature, is everlasting life.

ness.

The text is so simple, and so naturally and necessarily divides itself, that I have no more to do than to take the several clauses as they stand. First, we are "free from sin;" secondly, we are "servants to God;" thirdly, we bring forth holy fruit; lastly, heaven is in our eye.

First, WE ARE "FREE FROM SIN." The expression here, of course, is not to be taken in its absolute and complete sense: it is not intended that we are,