ties, than with a meek and quiet spirit to fulfil their own; then, instead of harmony and peace, there will spring up envy, discord, and confusion; then the name of God and his doctrine will be blasphemed; then Christians, instead of taking example from the angels of heaven, will be more like those lost spirits whom pride and envy have sunk in irremediable ruin.

As it is the employment, so is it the supreme happiness of those glorious angels to be ever in the presence of the Almighty, to stand before him, to minister unto him, to hold ineffable communion with him that sitteth on the throne and with the Lamb.

But now we should consider, if we think to be admitted to that blessed society hereafter, it is even necessary that here, in this evil world, our happiness should be like theirs in the contemplation of God's perfections, especially of his love, and in holding communion with him-that high privilege to which we are entitled through the mediation of his Son, and the sanctification of his Spirit.

And, if this be so, then we should consider, all of us who have any serious care for ourselves or our friends, how dangerous it must be to lead any but a strictly religious life-how dangerous, I say, must be our spiritual condition, if it be not our highest satisfaction to cherish a sense of God's love and compassion, to hold communion with him in prayer, in thanksgiving especially in the feast by himself appointed of his own body and blood.

If these things are what we have little or no relish for, then we must be told that our hearts are not right in God's sight; that our having a good, respectable character in the world will be of no avail; that if it be not our prayer and endeavor, our comfort and happiness, in all things to act as in God's presence on earth, surely we must expect, at last, to be excluded from the society of saints and angels in heaven.

These are matters deeply to be laid to heart in these unhappy days, when the Lord's house and the Lord's day are so openly profaned, when (as of old) the table

of the Lord is contemptible; and when in an evil and adulterous generation, the most of those who bear his name, are ashamed of him and of his words. For, indeed, this does seem to be no more than the truth.

We are born into this world to live to eternity; but, as Christians, we have been new-born into Christ's church, to an eternity of happiness and glory; we are entitled to call God our Father, and the angels our brethren.

Heaven is now our home; and, as every one will allow, it is of far more consequence whom we are to spend our lives among in daily familiar intercourse, than whom we chance to meet with in a short journey-just so much more does it concern us to think who are to be our companions in eternity, "our home in heaven," as St. Paul calls it-than with whom we are to spend this brief and transitory life of trial.

I mean, that even now it should be our great object and prayer to be made fit for the society of angels-this is of far more consequence than to study the rules of this world, even if they were ever so harmless. How, then, shall we be fit to enter that heavenly home, if our hearts be polluted with earthly or sensual lusts, with covetousness and ambition, with pride and self-confidence!

How will that tongue which has been used to the language of filthiness and blasphemy, of slander and falsehood-nay, even to the utterance of vain and idle words-how will it be able to give utterance to angelic hymns of glory to him that sitteth on the throne and to the Lamb!

How will it be possible that they should be admitted into the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and to that innumerable company of angels, the general assembly and church of the first-born, which are enrol led in heaven-they, I say, who by their unchristian lives have, in a manner excommunicated themselves from that heavenly society, and have indeed, disgraced the doctrine of God our Savior in all things!

We, no doubt, flatter ourselves that we are not so

172 BENEFITS OF MEDITATION ON THE HOLY ANGELS.

bad as this-that such hard things cannot be said of us. If so, it is well; and we have, indeed, reason to be thankful. Yet, believe me, the present state of things in the Christian world is such as may reasonably excite the apprehension and alarm of all thoughtful persons; on this account especially, because the very principles of Christian faith and holy practice are now so openly assaulted, worldly principles of false morality are substituted for those of the everlasting gospel, and heaven and heavenly things are, in fact, put aside, as of small consequence compared with some question of politics, or some other matter of present business or amusement.

For these reasons, I say, it is of great consequence for serious minds, I mean for all persons who really believe in the truth of Christ's gospel, to withdraw their thoughts frequently from these temporary trifles, to raise them to high and heavenly realities; especially to the thought of that innumerable society of good angels, who, day and night, sing on high their hallelujahs before the throne, and never rest. And the more we cherish these happy thoughts, the more we shall, by the aid of God's blessed Spirit, become like those exalted inhabitants of Heaven; and, in the end, through the blood and mediation of our Redeemer, we shall be even accounted worthy to obtain that world and the resurrection from the dead, and shall be indeed, and for ever, the children of God, equal unto the angels.

That this may be our lot and portion at the end of the days of this our earthly trial, may he grant, our adorable, compassionate, heavenly Father, to whom, with the Lord Jesus Christ, and the sacred Spirit, one God blessed for evermore, be ascribed all honor, glory, and adoration, by men and angels, for ever and ever. AMEN.

SERMON XIX.

CHRIST'S LAMENTATION OVER JERUSALEM.

ST. LUKE xix. 41, 42.

"And when he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it, saying: If thou hadst known, even thou—at least in this thy daythe things which belong unto thy peace-but now they are hid from thine eyes!"

THIS most memorable and affecting passage of our Lord's history, must suggest to the thoughtful mind so many considerations of the deepest interest, that it is difficult to select one as more than others suited to afford us instruction, edification, and comfort.

However, as no one can deny that the chief use of Scripture knowledge in general is, that we may apply it to our own particular case, so in this instance it may be well for us, and especially suitable at this holy season,* to inquire into some at least of the various respects in which the Savior's lamentation over apostate Jerusalem, seems but too applicable to ourselves. For as when the holy Jesus groaned and wept at the grave of him, whom in his unspeakable condescension he called "his friend," Lazarus, we may well suppose the tears he then shed were at the thought of the little effect all that he had done and was about to do, would have on the obdurate hearts of the children of men; so, when from the Mount of Olives he beheld the city of Jerusalem and wept over it, the grief he felt was not at the thought of the bitter sufferings he was so soon to undergo in that very place, but at the obstinacy and blindness of God's chosen people, and the terrible

* Lent.

destruction to which that obstinacy and blindness would too surely bring them.

"If thou hadst known, even thou"-God's elect chosen peculiar people-if not sooner at least in this thy day"-this thy last space of trial and repentance-if thou wouldst but know, in this thy eleventh hour, "the things which belong unto thy peace-but now they are hid from thine eyes!"

And here let me take occasion to urge on your thoughts, what seems certainly of great importance for us to bear in mind, in order to our right understanding of scripture warnings, as well those contained in the Old Testament as in the New-that under the name and type of "Jerusalem" the Holy Spirit in numberless instances has prefigured to us the condition (whether good or evil) of the Christian church, in the latter days-that is to say (and it is a point which chiefly concerns us), in the very times in which we live.

The subject is one of great magnitude and interest, and might be illustrated by many passages, especially from Isaiah and Jeremiah; but at present I only just touch upon it with a view to impress on thoughtful minds the solemn consideration, that when our blessed Lord beheld Jerusalem and wept over it, it is to us in the way of a prophecy, as if it were written that when he beheld his church in this country or in this parish, he wept over it-saying, "If thou hadst known, even thou, at least in this thy day-the things which belong unto thy peace!"

I have occasionally offered to your thoughts some reflections on the cruel unfeeling manner in which most grown-up people treat children and young persons, I mean, with reference to their spiritual and everlasting condition-for with respect to worldly matters, I do not say that the charge would hold good: but as to what is beyond the grave, if it be true what a very wise and good man has observed, that "the majority of men grow more profligate and corrupt with age"-then there is no question but that if children and young persons wish to have God for their friend, and to go to