tious, or worldly lives, you will become careless of the manner in which other men conduct themselves; and even though you should feel some anxiety for their virtue, and endeavour to secure it by the inculcation of saving truth, all your anxieties and all your endeavours will be frustrated by the practical contradiction which your instructions receive from your demeanour. You will pull down with the one hand more than you can build up with the other. But if you sincerely love what is holy, and if you diligently practise what is holy, you send along with the Gospel an argument for its truth, which cannot easily be resisted-an illustration of its power, which can scarcely fail to excite admiration and esteem-a recommendation of its excellence, which promises to obtain for it an unchallenged admission both into the understanding and the heart. Be but " living epistles of Christ, to be read of all men ;" and in this way you will do more for multiplying the number of penitents, and believers, and righteous men, than all the logic of the schools, and all the declamations of the eloquent, have ever been able to accomplish. Let your light-the light of a holy example-the light of a conversation becoming the Gospel-let this "your light shine before" the world; and those who "see your good works" will " glorify your Father in heaven,” by the humility and the vigour of their faith in

his word, and by the extent and the cheerfulness of their obedience to his law.

Now, my friends, thus offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord, that he will bless your efforts and give them success. Even though you should be disappointed in your anticipations of much fruit, still you have performed your dutyyou "have done what you could"-and verily you "shall not lose your reward." But you may count upon a prosperous issue, inasmuch as you may count upon the wisdom and the faithfulness of God. He has appointed certain means to be employed for effectuating the particular end we have been considering: and beyond all controversy these means, if properly used, and connected with prayer for his efficient energy to accompany them, must be productive of the end for which they were divinely instituted. And then he has given repeated promises that they who labour wisely and conscientiously in this mighty enterprize, shall not find their labour in vain; they shall succeed sooner or later-in one degree or another, in bringing down the reign of iniquity, and leading sinners to acknowledge the authority, and to yield obedience to the law, of that Great Being, who is high, and holy, and everlasting. We may be often mortified and discouraged to see our best instructions, and our most winning examples, frustrated by the perversity, the obduracy, the

determined wickedness, of those for whose reformation we exert ourselves. But there may be good done, though we see it not. The holy purpose may be formed, though it is not to ripen into execution till we have no opportunity of observing it. Impressions of duty may be produced by us, though it will require the aid of others, and the repetition by them of those lessons which we have given, to mature these impressions into a consistent and righteous practice. There may be numerous trophies to the renovating grace of the Spirit, operating through our agency, which will not be known till the judgment of the great day shall reveal them. And O how animating to be assured that, for the divine glory and for the happiness of mankind, many shall be rescued from the captivity of sin, and shall be prepared for the felicities of a future world, by the godliness and the good works in which they have abounded in a present world! And how delightful to look forward to the period when we shall meet, in the sinless kingdom that is above, those redeemed souls, to whose purification and happiness we had here been instrumental in contributing-when we shall unite with them in the song of unceasing praise to Him, to whom all the honour of our common salvation belongs-and when " they that be wise shall shine as the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and

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SERMON IV.

THE COMMUNICATION OF CHRISTIAN EXPERIENCE.

Psalm lxvi. 16.

Come and hear, all ye that fear God, and I will declare what he hath done for my soul.

THERE are three principal points suggested by these words, which it is our intention to illustrate in the sequel of this discourse. In the first place, Such as fear God take an interest in his doings to the souls of men, and are those, therefore, to whom Christians will chiefly communicate their experience of the divine mercy. In the second place, Those to whose souls God has been gracious are desirous to speak to such persons, of their sense and experience of the mercy God has shown them. And in the third place, They have many things that are interesting, important, and useful to declare, as to the workings and effects of that mercy which they have experienced.

I. Such as fear God take an interest in his doings to the souls of men, and are those, there

fore, to whom Christians will chiefly communicate their experience of the divine mercy.

Those who fear God, have obtained just apprehensions of his character. Their minds have been made alive to its perfection and its glory. And they feel towards Him, as possessing that perfection and glory, the mingled sentiments of love, and reverence, and devotedness. They take delight in thinking of him,—in meditating on his attributes,-in pondering on the works which he has made, on the ways in which he operates and manifests himself, on all the events by which his decrees are fulfilled, and on all the results which follow from his doings, throughout the universe.

But of course they feel a peculiar concern in those expressions of his will, and in those departments of his administration, which relate to the human species, which come very close to their own business and bosoms, and to which, in a particular manner, he has been pleased to call their earnest and devout attention. They must therefore be much occupied with what he does to the souls of men. The soul of man was made at first after his own imageformed so as to show forth his honour, and enjoy his presence for ever. And when it fell from that high and blessed destiny, and became corrupt, and was doomed to destruction, so precious still was it in his regard, that he devised a scheme for its redemption from the mighty evils