ranks and conditions in life. We should behave with reverence towards those above us, and with courtesy and condescension towards those below us; avoiding on the one hand a proud and haughty spirit, and on the other, whatever is mean and grovelling. A favour from the rich and great should be thankfully received, and to the poor it should be easily granted. "Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee, turn not thou away.' Thus the blessing of him that is ready to perish, shall come upon us, and the widow's heart shall sing for joy. If men will praise us when we do well for ourselves, much more when we do well for others, and make their interests our own. Of the righteous it is said, "He hath dispersed, he hath given to the poor; his righteousness endureth for ever, his horn shall be exalted with honour." Psal. cxii. 9.

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2. With men of various tempers and dispositions. If masters are froward, servants should be submissive; not answering again, but endeavouring to please them well in all things. If neighbours are unkind, ye must be patient towards them, and towards all men. With the froward, God will shew himself froward; and we must leave our cause with him. He knows how to bring down high looks, and to save his afflicted people. Some of them indeed are like Jonah, peevish and fretful, and their temper may try our patience; yet it becomes us to treat them with pity, rather than contempt. The ill natured carriage of others will be no excuse for our own. Virtue of every kind shines the brighter, when contrasted with its opposite, and gains a victory over it. Even where our interests meet with com. petition, we must still be followers of peace, and bear good will to all. "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others." (Phil. ii. 4.)

3. We must follow peace with men of every character and description, let their principles be what they

may; with the righteous and the unrighteous, with both saints and sinners, in the church and in the world. The exhortation extends to "all men," be they who they may; and though we are not to make companions of the wicked, we are to treat them with benevolence and kindness, so as to attach them to religion, rather than render them more averse. It is possible to engage their attention, and gain their confidence, by an interchange of kind offices; and this may prove the blessed means of drawing them to Christ. Hence the apostle's exhortation: "Walk in wisdom towards them that are without; let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man." Col. iv. 5, 6.

4. Christians of other denominations, and of different religious sentiments, are entitled to our attention and benevolent regard. To confine our love to those who think as we do, is to love our own image, rather than the image of Christ. Difference in lesser matters should not cause any alienation of affection. Others, on this account, would have the same reason to be bitter against us, as we have against them; for they differ no more from us than we do from them; and perhaps after all, the difference is more about words than things. If christians will not love one another till they all come to be of one mind, they may even lay aside that duty till they get to heaven; yet those who lay it aside on that account, do not seem as if they were going thither. Peter calls Paul his beloved brother, though Paul had withstood him to the face; and where men are found upright and sincere before God, they require to be loved for his sake.

5. We must follow peace, even with our enemies. We must do good, where nothing but evil is to be expected in return. Dearly beloved, says the apostle, avenge not yourselves. Stephen prayed for his persecutors and murderers, crying out with his dying breath, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. Jesus

did the same: Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. The conduct of David also, in a time of persecution, was similar to that of David's Lord. False witnesses, says he, did rise up; they laid to my charge things that I knew not; they rewarded me evil for good, to the spoiling of my soul. But as for me, a when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth: I humbled my soul with fasting, and my prayer returned into my own bosom. I behaved myself as though he had been my friend or brother: I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for his mother.-Such likewise is the spirit which Jesus inculcates on all his followers: I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; that ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven. Psal. xxxv. 11-14. Matt. v. 44, 45.

To conclude: if peace be so important, and so essential to the christian character, let us labour by all means to preserve it in our families, and immediate connections. Without this, they will not be Bethels, but Bethavens, houses of vanity. If discord prevails in a family, duties will be neglected, or disagreeably performed. Holy hands cannot be lifted up, where there is either wrath or doubting. Peace ought especially to be cultivated in the church of Christ; for that is the dwelling place of the God of peace. Contention has been the ruin of many religious societies, otherwise in a state of prosperity. Strife among the professed disciples of a meek and lowly Saviour, dishonours religion, stumbles the good, and opens the mouths of the wicked. The staff of beauty will not continue whole, if the staff of bands be broken; nor can the unity of the Spirit be preserved, but in the bonds of í peace. In all our concerns, and in all our intercourse with mankind, it becomes us to be lovers of peace, makers of peace, and maintainers of peace. If this temper universally prevailed, under the influence of

christian principles, earth would soon become a little heaven, and the glory of the Lord would be revealed. Let then all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking be put away from you, with all malice; and be ye kind one to another, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you. Ephes. iv. 31, 32.

Oh bless'd society

Of saints in friendship joined;
From envy, wrath, and malice free,
In words and actions kind!

No strife but to excel,
No hatred but of sin;
A perfect harmony without,
Substantial peace within.

Each other's joys they feel,
Each other's griefs they share;

Unite in melody of praise,

And all the force of prayer.

Thus, in the world above,
Myriads surround the throne;
Hear how they sing, see how they love,
For all their hearts are one.

SERMON XVIII.

HEBREWS Xii. 14.

And holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.

VALUABLE as peace is, we are not to sacrifice truth or righteousness in order to obtain it. We are com manded to "love the truth and peace," and not one without the other. Hence, when the apostle exhorts us to follow peace with all men, he adds, "and holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord." The latter is to be the object of our ardent pursuit, equally with the former; and it is only by that means we are likely to obtain it. The more we have of the mind of Christ, and are assimilated to his holy likeness, the more we shall be disposed for peace, and the better prepared to follow after it.

The words before us, divide themselves into two parts: they prescribe to us a duty-and suggest the most powerful motive for its performance.

I. Explain the exhortation: "Follow after holiness."

Men in general make no pretension to holiness; and some who do, know not what it is. Many imagine that it consists merely in chastity, or putting a restraint upon the sensual appetite, which is only a particular branch of that purity to which we are here exhorted. Others suppose that it extends no farther than to outward decency of conduct, or general regularity of behaviour ; so that in their opinion he was a very holy young man, who said, All these things have I observed from my