faith and love, seek to strengthen the golden bond which unites you to him. Cleave to him; and then, am I authorized to say, "No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper:" "A thousand" may "fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand, but it shall not come nigh thee. "- Glorious indeed, my Christian brethren, are these promises. Bright is the inheritance to which they call us. God grant that all to whom I am addressing. myself may be brought within the sacred enclosure even in this world-that even here you may feel the "lines" to have "fallen to you in pleasant places," and that you "have a goodly heritage "-and that, finally, you may be translated, on angels' wings, to the immediate presence of your God, and to the unutterably joys of his kingdom!

SERMON II.

CRUCIFIED WITH CHRIST.

Good Friday.

GAL. ii. 20.

I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live : yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

How peculiar, my brethren, and striking, is the language of the text! We here find the living man speaking of himself as “crucified." And this crucified man again says of himself, "nevertheless I live." And then, as if repenting of the apparent presumption of his declaration, he adds "yet not I, but Christ liveth in me." He next proceeds to trace the source of this life of the Re

deemer in his soul, to a principle which he denominates "faith." And this faith he describes as mainly founded on the great event to which this solemn day peculiarly calls our attention, the death of the Son of God for the sins of the world: He "loved me, and gave himself for me."

Let us, my Christian brethren, in dependence on the Spirit of God, endeavour to enter upon the devout consideration of the highly important truths to which the text, by images and expressions at once so peculiar and so forcible, directs our attention; and may their great Author bless the

examination of them to our souls!

I. In the first place, then, it is affirmed by St. Paul of himself in the text, “I am crucified with Christ.”

The crucifixion to which the Apostle here refers is obviously that of the mind or heart; and the change of mind to which he adverts is plainly the same with that described in other passages of the same Epistle: "They that are Christ's have crucified the flesh, with the affections and lusts:" "God forbid that I should glory,

save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."

The figure which is thus employed by the Apostle is of the most powerful nature. In order to obtain a just conception of its force, conceive a crucified body to be fastened to yonder wall. Convey to that mutilated body, the most engaging objects of hearing and sight: endeavour to attract it with the sweetest melodies, or the most delightful pictures: it does not bow down its ear to catch the melody, or open its eyes to contemplate the breathing and living pictures ;—and this, because it is "crucified." And such are the consequences which the Apostle, in the figurative language of the text, represents as having in some degree taken place in himself. "I am crucified with

Christ." In other words, The crucifixion of my Saviour has had the effect of crucifying, or putting to a violent death, the affections and passions of my own soul. The world which once charmed me, charms me no longer. My eye is comparatively closed to its attractions. My taste is no

longer seduced by its allurements. My ear is no longer soothed and misled by the strains of its flattery and applause.'

My Christian brethren, how entire is the change of mind and character which is described in this image; and of what immeasurable importance is it that we should dwell attentively upon its nature and extent! Those who are merely trifling with Scripture, or who are anxious to devise some mode of escaping from its high and holy demands, would indeed persuade us that the only difference between the servant of God and the man of the world, upon the subject of religion, is "a difference as to a few subtle and mysterious questions in theology." Our answer to such persons is, "The secret things belong unto the Lord our God; but those things that are revealed, to us and to our children, that we may do them." It is not with these intricate points we would now busy ourselves. Let us endeavour, my brethren, as we value our immortal souls, to draw off our minds from every unprofitable speculation; and let us together enter upon an inquiry of the simplest nature indeed, but of the most

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