SERMON silent; wait, and be patient. Presume not

II.

to exalt thy weak reason against the revelations of Heaven, nor to give vent to thy impatient complaints against the ordinations of thy Supreme Governour. Think with awe, and speak with caution, of what is so much above thee. Wait till thy being shall be unfolded; till it shall have passed through the necessary steps that shall gradually prepare thee for beholding the secrets of the universe; for understanding the counsels of the God who made it. In the mean time, be content to submit and to adore. Let no other voice be heard from thee but this ; "Thou hast made me, O God! and I am

thine, for in thee I live and move and "have my being. Wherever thou com"mandest me to go, I follow. Whatever "thou appointest me to suffer, I bear with" out murmur. It is my part to persevere " in my duty; all the rest I leave to Thee; "to Thee, whose wisdom I revere, whose

ઃઃ

goodness I have so often experienced; in "whom therefore I repose implicit trust "that all shall end well, and the righteous "be made finally happy."Good is the word which the Lord bath spoken. Not my

II.

will, but His be done. Behold, here I am. Let SERMON bim do to his servant as seemeth good to him*.

Such are the principal dispositions which it becomes us to preserve towards God; to preserve towards Him at all times; not in the solemn hours of devotion only, but when we act in the busy world, or when we walk in retirement amidst the scenes of nature. If this union of reverence, gratitude, and submission, habitually possess our minds, they will of course shoot forth into what is termed delighting ourselves in God; thinking of him with peculiar complacency and warmth of affection; and elevating us sometimes into a sacred transport when we draw nigh to him in acts of immediate worship, in prayer and praise. Then is the season when the fulness of the soul gives rise to those sublime and pathetic effusions of piety which are recorded of saints in former times: My soul thirsteth for God; for the living God: when shall I come and appear before him? I will lift up my hands in thy name; my soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and with fatness, when I remember thee upon my

*2 Kings, xx. 19. Luke, xxii. 42. 2 Sam. xv. 26.

bed,

SERMON bed, and meditate on thee in the night watches.

Blessed is the man whom thou choosest, and causest to approach unto thee. O, that I knew where to find him, that I might come even to bis seat*! When such sentiments as these, of ardent affection towards God, chastened by reverence and submission, as well as warmed by gratitude, predominate in our hearts, and when they exert their proper influence in purifying and regulating our life, we may then be truly said to love the Lord our God, with all our heart, and soul, and strength, and mind.

Ps. xlii. 2. Ps. lxiii. 5, 6. Ps. lxv. 4. Job, xxiii. 3.

SERMON III.

On the Moral Character of CHRIST.

ACTS, X. 30.

Jesus of Nazareth-who went about doing

TH

good.

III.

HERE are two great aspects under SERMON which we may contemplate the appear

ance of our Blessed Lord on the earth. One is, his coming into the world in order to make expiation to Divine justice, by his sufferings and death, for the guilt of the human race. The other is, his coming to act as the enlightener and reformer of the world, by his doctrine and his life. The first of those views is the most sublime; as on the atonement which he made for us, depend all our hopes of the pardon of sin,

and

III.

SERMON and of life eternal. In the other view, it is also of high importance that all Christians should frequently consider him, in order to the proper regulation of their conduct: the observation of his example is no less necessary for this purpose, than attention to his doctrine; as by his doctrine he taught us what we are bound to do, so in his example he shewed us what we ought to be.

Hence the example of our Blessed Lord has been ever held up by serious writers to Christians for their instruction and imitation. It obviously possesses many advantages above any other standard of conduct. It carries peculiar obligations from gratitude, interest, and duty, to enforce the imitation of it; and it is the only example, in following which we are certain never to err. It has also another peculiar advantage attending it, which is not so commonly thought of; that is, the universality of its It evidently appears that our Lord himself had this benefit to his followers in view, from the train of living which he chose to adopt. Had he pitched upon any one station of life, the influence of his

use.