and steal. They should teach us to regard the highest honors and the richest gifts and the sweetest enjoyments within the power of this brief and chequered existence to bestow, as too mean, too interrupted, too uncertain, too short-lived to satisfy us; too imperfect, in a word, either to engage our strongest desires, or to stimulate us to make use of our most strenuous efforts for their attainment. There is but little danger, my friends, of feelings of this kind being carried to excess. We have all of us, it is true, duties to perform as members of society, which ought not to be neglected. Desires and fears arise within us, which will not readily suffer themselves to remain unattended to. Their impulses may be obeyed to a certain extent, consistently with religion; and when it declares war against them indiscriminately, its power is abused, and its very existence endangered. But with all this we are not immediately concerned at present. We speak merely of the effects, which the contemplation of the brevity and uncertainty of human life, may be expected to produce upon the mind. And surely, my friends, it ought to give rise within us to what may be called a magnanimous indifference to temporal concerns. It should teach us, in the words of the apostle Paul, to "use this world, as though we used it

not."

Thirdly, as the preceding reflections have an evident tendency to render us in some degree dissatisfied with a life so brief and imperfect as the present, so they may be expected to excite within our minds the most ardent desires after another and a better. Believing in the existence and perfections of the Deity, we are encouraged to hope, that a more glorious destiny and

a more durable abode await the virtuous hereafter; and we hail with delight the discoveries of a well authenticated revelation, by which hope has been converted into certainty, and life and immortality clearly brought to light. What a new and dignified attitude, my fellow christians, is man now enabled to assume! What a divine brightness does this discovery shed upon his heaven-directed countenance! He becomes a new creature. He seems to tread the earth with a statelier step, as conscious of his immortal destiny. He recognizes in himself his Creator's image; and aspires to vindicate by his virtues his claim to the heavenly inheritance.

And this leads us to remark, lastly, that, in our present circumstances, as christians, reflections such as those in which we have been engaged, should contribute greatly to confirm our resolutions, to improve to the best advantage the time with which we may be favored here. The present life assumes a new and most important character, when viewed as a preparation for eternity. In this point of view, brief as it may be, we must acknowledge it to be inestimable. We may be unable indeed to determine in what precise degree our eternal happiness will be affected by our conduct here; but, surely, no reasonable being can entertain a doubt, that conduct, by which his eternal condition may be even remotely affected, must possess a degree of importance unspeakably greater than any that can attach itself to temporal concerns. Let our minds then, my fellow-christians, be deeply impressed by this awfully interesting view of the present life; and let us endeavor to regulate our conduct accordingly. Let us

resolve, with the Divine blessing, henceforth to "walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time." May God confirm our resolutions and bless our efforts, so that our conduct during this brief existence may be the means of obtaining for us, through his mercy in Christ Jesus, an everlasting reward! Amen.

PRAYER.

Eternal God, the author and supporter of life, we humble ourselves in thy sight, impressed with a sense of our frail and transitory nature. O teach us, we im

plore thee, so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. Teach us to withdraw our affections from things on the earth, and fix them on things above. Teach us to prepare ourselves, and ever hold ourselves prepared, for that great change which may come as a thief in the night. Lead our feeble and wavering hearts to fix themselves firmly on Thee, that while we are of the earth earthy, we may feel ourselves allied with heaven, and look forward in satisfaction to the time when mortality shall be swallowed up of life: Merciful and gracious Father, grant us thy aid in all our duties; and since we, by reason of our sinfulness and frailty, are too weak to rely upon ourselves, may we be so directed by thy holy spirit and animated by the example of our once suffering but now triumphant Lord, that we may pass the short time of our sojourning here in peace, and finally, be made partakers of the heavenly inherit

ance.

With devout confidence and joy we cast on Thee

our own cares and the cares of our kindred and friends, only entreating Thee, that whether or not Thou lengthenest out the period of our present endearing union, Thou wilt not withhold from us the felicity of meeting again, all happy, all redeemed, in that world where will no longer be found the anxieties and pains which mingle with our present delights. For the disclosure of the bright prospects of the eternal world, and for the redemption which is in Jesus Christ, may we ever as now hallow thy name and reverence the Saviour; through whom to Thee, Eternal God and most gracious Father, be ascribed supreme and endless honour. Amen.

SERMON IX.

THE ACT OF CREATION AN EMBLEM OF THE CHRISTIAN'S DUTY.

"AND GOD SAW EVERY THING

Genesis i. 31.

THAT HE HAD MADE, AND BEHOLD, it WAS VERY GOOD.'

In the act of creation, the mightiest attributes of the Great First Cause are implied; but it is in the feeling with which the glorious work was contemplated, that we recognize most distinctly the God "whose name is Love." That feeling is shadowed out in the sublime simplicity of the text. Stage after stage, as the majestic work proceeded, the historian of the infant world represents the Divine Artificer as pausing to review the successive emanations of his power, and as contemplating them with divine approval. The whole was now completed. The "six day's work" had been concluded; and the Deity is again represented as lingering over the young creation, and gazing upon it (if we may compare human feelings with divine), as a father gazes upon the sleep of his child: "and God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good." It is in vain for human feelings to dream of shadowing out what