not bought with a price immense? Do we not belong to the Lord? Shall we alienate his purchased property? God forbid.

"Dear Jesus, take us for thine own,

For we are doubly thine.”

The subject may lead me to address

Careless sinners. Such there are in all congregations, though professing Christianity. What a striking contrast!—a dying Lord, a thoughtless immortal. The rod of Moses smote the rock so that waters gushed out, but the gospel rod of God's strength hath not affected thine heart; still the Redeemer says, Behold me, Behold me! still are you called to "behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." May you have such a view of him by faith, as shall rend thy rocky heart in pieces, or dissolve it in tenderness. Here you may learn the worth of your soul which you have never considered here you may behold the evil of sin with which you are in amity; and here the great salvation, the neglect of which will prove the damning sin of thousands.

Do others lament the hardness of their hearts? Visit mount Calvary and behold the expiring Lamb of God between two thieves as a vile malefactor, between heaven and earth, as unworthy a place in either; but it was his love, and not his desert, which placed him there. Should it be asked, What is there in this to soften the heart? I would refer you to the rocks which rent, the graves which

opened when he died. Shall I call to your remembrance the retirement of the sun from the view of those transactions as too shocking for the light? must I remind you of weeping multitudes retiring from that scene, or the general gloom that overspread nature? The world itself put on sackcloth. Methinks, the music of heaven was suspended, and hell trembled to its centre. Shall all things show signs of feeling but the heart of man? May the Holy Spirit lead your mind to this object whom you have pierced, then will your hardness give way; your sorrow will flow freely as the course of a river, and you will experience that godly sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation not to be repented of."

66

To those who are dejected under a sense of sin, we propose the same object.

Ye mourners in Sion, who say, Our transgressions are numerous, long persevered in and attended with many aggravating circumstances, increasing the guilt and exposing to greater condemnation : ye are writing bitter things against yourselves, and think it is presumption to hope for forgiveness and eternal life. Those things call loudly for abasement before God, but they are no reasons why you should despair. The blood of this Lamb can cleanse from your every stain, and speak peace to your guilty conscience; depend then on him, plead this sacrifice as the ground of hope, and your "crimson" sins,

your

snow."

"scarlet" crimes will "be made white as

Let such as have beheld him by faith, so as to produce humility, admiration, love, zeal, and obedience, continue looking to him; that peace and joy may be maintained, and indulge the pleasing hope of that period when he shall be seen "as he is," and when they shall praise him for ever in glory.

SERMON II.

Be of one mind, live in peace, and the God of love and peace shall be with you.-2 Cor. xiii. 11.

PURE religion, as portrayed in as portrayed in the sacred volume, appears to resemble its divine Founder. It is altogether lovely. We are not, however, to confine our regard to the excellence it possesses, but extend it to that which it imparts. The real subjects of religion are "beautified" with salvation, although they were before "hateful and hating one another" they have become the excellent of the earth. This appears in part, by their rising into delight, unmixed with envy, at the spiritual endowments and attainments of others, which they truly wish to improve by their prayer to God and endeavours among men.

This amiable spirit was greatly possessed by the apostles of our Lord; it was manifest by a series of pious and benevolent exertions, and breathes in every page they wrote. We need not go from the close of this epistle to see what life and interest it conveys. Behold, the third time I am ready to come to you; and I will not be burdensome to you: for I seek not yours, but you: and I will very gladly

66

spend, and be spent for you; though the more abundantly I love you, the less I be loved. Now I pray to God that ye do no evil; not that we should appear approved, but that ye should do that which is honest, though we be as reprobates: and this also we wish, even your perfection. Finally, brethren, farewell. Be perfect, be of good comfort, be of one mind, &c." I have omitted to take the whole of the verse for a text, that we may do more justice to a part within the limits prescribed to this discourse: indeed, it was the less necessary that I should, for if this be enjoyed and practised, it will conduct us to the other. Are you truly desirous to fare well, to arrive at comparative perfection in religion, and to have strong consolations? you must then be of one mind, and live in peace, and have the God of love and peace with you. The words contain what I deem in your present circumstances to be a seasonable exhortation, an enlivening promise. The first points out your path, the other is to awaken your hope; the one relates to a dignified consistency of spirit and conduct, the other to what constitutes real felicity.

First, a seasonable exhortation. "Be of one, or the same mind." The term is used of the same place, words, and things, and here of the mind; that is, the thoughts, volitions, and affections.

It inculcates unity of judgment. We cannot expect uniformity of sentiment among Christians in every particular, but in our leading tenets it is of consequence. Do not those doctrines which refer