should not let themselves down too low. How much is it to be wished that in this, as in other respects, the children of light would learn wisdom from the children of this world; that we would think of the great dignity and honor we are admitted to in being made Christians -that we would consider how ill it becomes us, “fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God," to trouble ourselves with the mean, paltry, cares of this present life-much less to entangle ourselves in evil tempers, evil habits, or evil company; thereby bringing disgrace not on ourselves only, but on "that worthy name by which we are called."

The dignities and honors of this world are but for this world, and will perish with it. The dignity and rank of the true Christian can never be taken from him: but rather, in that day when high and low, rich and poor, must stand before the same judgment-seat, and be tried by the same rules, then it will appear that all other distinctions are utterly worthless, and that the only true lasting dignity we can attain to, is to be a faithful servant of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This was the highest honor which all the holy men have aspired after since the times of the gospel. Apostles, evangelists, martyrs, saints, all have thought it the highest honor to be servants of the crucified Jesus.

This, too, must be our highest honor, if we think to be admitted with them into the land of eternal joy.

Another thing to be considered is, of the deep, sincere, and thorough humility which must be expected of those who think to be admitted into the blessed society of "the spirits of just men made perfect." Indeed, the true dignity of the Christian consists in his humility: "He that humbleth himself shall be exalted." How can we in reason expect to be "numbered with God's saints in glory everlasting," if it be not our constant study to follow them as they followed Christ, "in all lowliness and meekness, in long-suffering and loving forbearance." And these considerations will be still farther heightened, in proportion as we remember, on the one side, our own worthlessness even at the best; and on the

other, the vastness of that mercy, the boundlessness of those promises which are held out to us.

For a mind which is at all well disposed, nothing can be more touching, nothing more humbling, than to receive kindnesses from one whom we have injured.

What, then, must be our feelings when we contemplate our behavior to God, and how he has requited us! We enemies to him by wicked works-He reconciled to us by the blood of his eternal Son; and not merely reconciled to us, but bringing us near to himself, to the heavenly Jerusalem, to the general assembly and church of his first-born, to the blessed society of the spirits of the just in their perfect state of happiness and glory.

"What heart can think of these things worthily!" or how can we sufficiently bow ourselves down with humility, and self-abasement, when we thus consider "what God has done for our souls."

Let me, in conclusion, call to your thoughts what comfort and encouragement there is in this heavenly doctrine of "the spirits of just men made perfect," to be received into the eternal joy of their Lord. Comfort and encouragement in respect of ourselves, in making us patient, cheerful, and thankful; and in our conduct toward others, in making us brotherly and kind, and still looking forward to a happier meeting in a world where neither sin nor sorrow can enter.

Thus it is certainly a solid ground for inward patience and consolation, to reflect that whatever is laid upon us it is no more than "what is common to man,' as St. Paul says, that is, what human nature must be liable to: that (in the words of another apostle) "the same afflictions are accomplished in our brethren which are in the world;" that the most righteous and holy men who have ever lived have passed through the same, or greater trials. How, then, can we expect like them to be glorified, if we are not willing like them to endure.

There are also substantial reasons for sincere cheerfulness and inward peace, to be derived from this same evangelical truth. If with all our imperfections, it be

still our earnest wish and daily endeavor to " grow in grace, and in the knowledge of Jesus Christ," to draw nearer and nearer to that perfection to which the spirits of the just shall finally be admitted: if this be indeed our daily anxiety, our daily endeavor, then may we reasonably cherish an inward cheerfulness and peace of mind, in the hope that we shall not be shut out from that blessed society hereafter, whom it is our earnest wish to resemble here.

These same thoughts, too, duly cherished, will tend, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, to keep us thankfulthankful, I say, not merely for God's mercies, but also for his chastisements; to us, in fact, no doubt the greatest of his mercies, though at the same time they must of course be painful, as the apostle reasons in this very chapter.

For all his mercies, then, we may well be thankful; but above all for the means of grace, and for the hope of glory-the blessed hope of being numbered with his saints in glory everlasting. For this how can we love, bless, and adore his holy name too much or enough.

It is also what may well afford comfort and encouragement to all sincere minds, especially in the present state of things, to consider how the hope of meeting our fellow-Christians hereafter, must naturally tend to make us kind, forbearing, and brotherly toward them, all through this our life of probation.

I cannot indeed agree with those who think it a small evil, or no evil at all, that the Christian world should be divided into so many sects, parties, and varieties of opinion. At the same time it is a great comfort to think, that it is in no case our duty to be angry with those who differ from us; and that it is our duty to pray and hope, that however we may be divided or separated here, yet that we may be brought together hereafter. And then if we do pray and hope, that we may be brought together hereafter, that those who now differ from us most widely, may be admitted with us into the blessed company of "the spirits of just men made perfect:" if this be our constant prayer, and earnest desire, then

surely there will be no bitter, hostile feelings, but all will be tenderness, candor, and heavenly love.

In like manner, in our daily intercourse with each other, in the common concerns of life, if we use ourselves to look on each other as fellow-Christians, as travellers on the same perilous journey to eternity, yet hoping to be admitted at last into the same heavenly mansions: this thought must greatly tend to keep us kind, tender, and compassionate in our behavior one toward another; to lead us to make all possible allowances for each other's faults and failings, nor to bear the thought of being in malice, or any ways at variance with persons, who we hope and pray may be our companions in peace, happiness, and glory, through the ages of eternity.

Now what I have said is, I am persuaded, of great consequence, and what we should all attend to, and apply to our every-day practice. Whether we shall do so or not, must depend upon ourselves.

SERMON XVIII.

BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON THE HOLY ANGELS.

DAN. vii. 10.

"Thousand thousands ministered unto him,

And ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him."

WHEN the blessed Jesus commanded that it should be one of the constant subjects of a Christian's 's prayer, that God's will may "be done in earth, as it is in heaven :" he seems herein to have marked out (as it were) the kind of life suitable for all who aspire to be accounted his disciples.

Their work is "on earth;" in the performance of their every-day duties they "do God's will;" but the rule and measure of their conduct is not earthly-the obedience and order of angels is their pattern-they are not to rest satisfied with any worldly standard of excellence, nor ever to cease praying and striving, that so far as in them lies, "the will" of him who is Lord of men and angels may "be done on earth, as it is in heaven."

Now if this be so, in other words, if the Lord's prayer be as it were a pattern of prayers for all Christians in every age (and it is difficult to understand how it can be considered otherwise) then, this thought, viz., that the Christian life consists in the performance of everyday duties on the principles of the gospel, and with the temper and disposition of the blessed inhabitants of heaven; this thought, I say, may be of great use, by the aid of the Holy Spirit, in restraining us from two serious errors, into which from our extreme frailty we must confess ourselves but too liable to fall.

The one of these errors is, the disposition to imagine that religion is a matter of so transcendently high and