least, as is the house, so is the heart of the owner thereof. If the house be not swept of sinful and worldly ways, it is to be feared, that there is no real religion in the heart of him who lives therein. This woman likewise

Sought diligently. How many foolish and ignorant persons are there in the world, who seem to expect to go to heaven, without any trouble; in short, to reap the harvest, without sowing the seed! And how many others, more serious and better disposed than they, fail in diligence; are careless and lukewarm in religion; rest satisfied with a little; and never think of the danger there is of being almost yet not altogether christians, and falling short of the kingdom of God. Be it observed too, this woman sought the lost piece diligently,

Till she found it. Here observe her patience and perseverance, and let it teach a lesson to those whose religion ebbs and flows like the tide; lasts but for a time, and then vanishes away.

But the parable in the text teaches us another practical lesson:

To be comparatively indifferent as to all other things, so that we may win Christ, and be found of Him in peace. The woman in the parable left the nine pieces of silver, to search after the one. Her mind was intent upon finding that which was lost. The rest she thought little or nothing about. So let it be with us. What said our Lord? "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all other things shall be added unto you."

ye

Indeed if we are diligently seeking the one thing needful-if we are in earnest pursuit of the

crown of glory, the world and the things of the world will give us little care and concern. We shall not give our hearts to its pleasures, nor all our minds to its pursuits. We shall keep the chief seats and the best places, in both our heads and our hearts, for God; and we need not fear, but that He will keep a seat and reserve a place for us, in His everlasting and glorious kingdom.

SERMON III.

JONAH iv. 5—9.

"So Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made him a booth, and sat under it in the shadow, till he might see what would become of the city. And the Lord God prepared a gourd, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shadow over his head, to deliver him from his grief. So Jonah was exceeding glad of the gourd. But God prepared a worm when the morning arose the next day, and it smote the gourd that it withered. And it came to pass, when the sun did arise, that God prepared a vehement east wind; and the sun beat upon the head of Jonah, that he fainted, and wished in himself to die, and said, it is better for me to die than to live. And God said to Jonah, Doest thou well to be angry for the gourd? And he said, I do well to be angry, even unto death."

JONAH seems to have been a very extraordinary person. We have but a short account of him in Scripture, and that points out to our observation a man with some excellencies and many failings-a religious and converted character, yet one who neglected plain duties, and gave way to very wicked tempers. His history commences with an act of open disobedience to God's commandments,

and ends with an instance of his wilful and rebellious spirit. Yet this man was a prophet of the Lord

-one specially chosen for the purpose of going to Nineveh, and preaching repentance to its inhabitants. And hence we may learn, that gifts are different things from graces; for Jonah had many gifts, but, I fear, little grace; and that a man may employ himself in speaking about other people's sins, who fails in the examination of his own heart, and the well ordering of his own conversation. We shall,

I. TAKE A BRIEF REVIEW OF JONAH'S
HISTORY.

II. MAKE SOME REFLECTIONS UPON THAT
PART OF IT CONNECTED WITH THE
TEXT.

III. APPLY THE SUBJECT.

I. LET US REVIEW JONAH'S HISTORY. Nineveh was a city, the inhabitants of which were very many, and very wicked. Chapter i. 2. it is said, that their wickedness came up before the Lord. Yet God, being gracious and long-suffering, was pleased to give this wicked people space for repentance, and warning of the consequences of impenitence, before His rod descended upon their heads. So he commanded Jonah to go to Nineveh, and warn the people of the coming storm.

Now Jonah did not like his errand, and instead of going to Nineveh to preach repentance, went or set out to go to Tarshish, perhaps on some trading expedition, to fetch gold.

Jonah being now on his voyage, God sent a great storm to stop him. The ship was in danger of sinking; and the men finding out by the casting of lots, that the prophet was the cause of their

own and their ship's danger, after prayer, and at Jonah's own command, threw him overboard into the sea, which was immediately calmed.

Meanwhile, a great fish was prepared by God, which swallowed up Jonah as soon as he fell into the water; and in the belly of that fish he was miraculously preserved alive three days; at the end of which he was thrown out, and reached the dry land in safety.

After this, at the second command of God, he proceeded to Nineveh―preached to the people, and with such effect, that a general fasting and humiliation before God was proclaimed, and the Lord repented of the evil that He had said He would do unto them, and He did it not.

This made Jonah very angry. He did not like to have his credit as a prophet called in question; he wanted his predictions to be verified, and his honour and influence promoted thereby. So he was much displeased, when he found that Nineveh was not destroyed at the end of forty days, as he had foretold. Accordingly he left the city, where for some time he had been in much request and reputation; but where the tide was turned against him, and perhaps he was laughed at as a false prophet, and in his wrath gave vent to a very murmuring and rebellious spirit.

Having done this, he constructed for himself a hut or booth, most likely of branches of trees, to keep off the rays of the hot sun and the cold dews of the night from his head.

And God caused a gourd (a very fast growing plant, with large leaves,) to spring up and grow over the prophet's hut; which was a great comfort to him, and completely sheltered him from the sun