ground fitted for it. Nor did the Seventy Disciples when sent out to preach use a different language. They preached every where, saying, "Repent ye, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Nor did the Apostles, after the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the descent of the Holy Ghost, deviate from the same doctrine. They testified "repentance towards God and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ." Thus also our Lord enjoined the practice of self-denial: "Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man deny not himself, he cannot be my disciple." And the Apostle inculcated mortification: "Mortify, therefore, your members which are upon the earth." These important duties are not therefore in opposition to the Christian system: they are not contrary to it; they are actually parts of it, and must be scrupulously attended to; but they are only subservient, and therefore must not be proposed as the whole end in view.

Successive ages have had their different errors. And if the retirement, the penance, the fasting of former periods have passed away, let us beware lest the substantial parts of Christianity, of which they were the symbols, do not vanish also. In the present age, the chief danger is lest our hope should be too readily indulged, our peace too slightly founded, our joy too little connected with holiness; and lest repentance, and self-denial, and mortification should be renounced as remnants of Judaism or of Popery, instead of being cherished as important and necessary branches of the Christian system.

The upright heart, a sincere devotedness to God, a supreme love of holiness, an earnest desire to be conformed to the image of Christ will carry us safely through all perils. They will teach repentance, by manifesting its necessity; they will inculcate self denial, by shewing the danger of self-indulgence; and they will suggest mortification as the necessary means of purifying our hearts. At the same time, we shall learn to trust in Him who alone is able to save to the utter

most those that come to God by him. We shall adore his grace, magnify his love, and experience peace and joy in believing.

With these high sentiments of Christ, with these just views of the nature of his Gospel, let us welcome his advent, and rejoice in the symbols of his love set before us. Let us, while we "behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world," unite all the reverent awe, the deep humiliation, the holy selfdenial of the disciples of the Baptist, with "joy unspeakable and full of glory." Let us approach his table with trembling hope and humble gratitude, whilst we receive the benefits of that salvation which fills all heaven with wonder, and all the earth with gladness. Let us push with holy violence into the kingdom of heaven, for "the violent take it by force." The languid endeavour, the heartless prayer, the formal worship, the cold acknowledgment, are unworthy of the Saviour who is given to us, and of the blessings which we derive from him. May God impart to us such sensations as become the subject and the occasion, that, with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven, we may laud and magnify his glorious name; evermore praising him, and saying, "Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Hosts; heaven and earth are full of thy glory."

SERMON VI.

ON THE NATURE AND END OF LIFE.

James iv. 14.

What is your life?

OF all misapprehensions, none are more dangerous, because none are likely to have a more extensive and constant effect, than those which relate to the nature, the end, and the proper objects of life. They influence the conduct not merely in some particular relation, or with respect to some individual duty, but in reference to every relation and every duty; for the whole course of human action is intimately connected with a just view of the real nature and design of life. It will not therefore be useless to direct our thoughts in such a train as may enable us to form correct ideas upon this momentous subject. In order to do this, it will be necessary first to notice the mistakes which prevail respecting the nature of life.

It is not intended, as many seem to suppose, to be a scene of enjoyment. I say, it is not intended; for the clue which should guide us in all our inquiries on this, and indeed on every subject, is the Divine intention. The question is not, what life is to any proposed indi

vidual: for in judging of this, our conceptions will vary with the particular circumstances of the case, or with our peculiar views and feelings; and, in one instance, it will be pronounced to be a state of great misery; in another, of great happiness; and thus a contradictory judgment of life in general would be formed: but the true state of the question is, What did our Creator intend it to be to his creatures? Now to this it may be answered, that he certainly did not intend it to be directly and principally a scene of enjoyment. Notwithstanding the comforts of life, far exceeding as they do what could reasonably have been expected, and demanding our most grateful acknowledgments, consider the constant occurrence and universal extension of human calamity and disappointment, and the law of mutual dependence, by which those evils are so strikingly multiplied and ensured. Examine the texture of our bodies, so frail and subject to disease; and even the construction of our minds, liable as they are to humiliating infirmities and corroding passions; and it will be very evident, that a world so constituted could not have been primarily or mainly designed as a state of happiness. Now if this be really the case, how exceedingly mistaken are those who are expecting to make or to find it a state of that description! Yet this is the mistake of a majority of mankind. Happiness is their chief, almost their exclusive object. This they pursue in infancy, in youth, in maturity, in old age; and though, in general, it continues perpetually to elude their grasp, yet with an unremitting ardour they are ever renewing the pursuit; sometimes varying the path of search, but never abandoning the object. Yet surely wisdom should be learned from these disappointments, which should suggest, to those who have experienced them, the question, whether earthly happiness ought to be their chief object; whether it is that which God intended his creatures to pursue; whether it is attainable. Nor are these questions less necessary to such as are yet young, and whose hopes from life are