world and the pride of nations; for the world itself shall pass away, and no place be found for it. Nature herself shall yield her dying groans, and all the things that are therein shall be burnt up; but the abodes of the Redeemed of the Lord are eternal in the heavens.

But say you, what assurance have we of these things? If it had not been so, said Jesus, who is the true and faithful witness, I would have told you. And what security have we of entering into those blessed mansions? This leads us to the

Third source of consolation which we mentioned, viz. our Lord's presence there now. He is our forerunner, and has for us entered into the possession of the heavenly inheritance. It is our Lord's design to bring many sons to glory. As our surety, he has put himself in our stead and borne our sins, that he might ransom us from hell; and by his resurrection and ascension to glory he prepares the way for all his followers. There would be no admission there but for Jesus. Say not, but will Jesus remember the low estate of his servants? O when shall we cease to doubt of the love of Jesus! How much proof do you ask of his most ardent affection? Did he leave the bosom of his father-for us give himself to shame and spitting-to scourging and crucifixion; and can we imagine that he now forgets us?-No, no, Christians, you are engraven on the palms of his hands,-you are ever before him. Honour the Lord by leaning much upon him, expecting much from him. Realize then, my Christian brethren, your interest in Jesus; realize the work in which he is engaged for you, worthless creatures; and the believing consideration of it will dispel every gloom, and afford a most powerful argument for the exhortation-"Let not your heart be troubled."

But will Jesus return when those mansions are prepared? Yes; the words of our Lord are, "I will come again;" and this is the

Fourth source of consolation which we mention-our Lord's second coming. Now in his absence he has sent the Holy Spirit, the Comforter, to abide with us.-You

feel, I trust, though you cannot explain, his happy influences; but still you look forward, and hasten to the coming of the day of our Lord Jesus Christ. When he will come he has not told us; but he says, "Lo! I come quickly." -He will come at the hour of our death, previous to which the time may be but very short. I do not mention five, or ten, or twenty years, which will most assuredly bring many of us to death and to the house appointed for all living;-but I mention a hundred years, which will bring us all to death, and introduce us to our Lord.

But we stop not here: direct your prospect onward still to the great and notable day of the Lord, when he shall come in flaming fire in his glory-in the glory of the Father and all the holy angels with him; and by his allcreating voice, that spoke the universe into existence, shall rouse thy dust from the slumbers of death, and transform thy body; and in the audience of an assembled world shall bid thee welcome to his Father's house, and to those mansions which were prepared for thee from the foundation of the world.

But are we sure that Jesus will come again? where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers slept, all things continued as they were. My young brother, suffer not Satan to whisper into thine ear such an insinuation. The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness, but is long-suffering to usward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Know ye not that a thousand years are with the Lord as one day, and one day is as a thousand years? You have seen the promises of Jesus fulfilled in other instances, and these furnish a rational evidence that this also shall be fulfilled in its time. But what shall succeed my Lord's coming? shall I see him whom my soul loveth for a short time, and again be separated from him? No;he will receive us to himself, that where he is, there we may be also; we shall be ever with the Lord. And this is the

Fifth and last source of consolation offered in our

In this distant land we for a short time ascend the mount to converse with God in his ordinances, as I trust ye this day did in a peculiar manner at his holy table; but soon we must again descend into the world, and engage in its cares and pursuits. But when we have seen the temple of God above, and entered into the possession of those mansions in our Father's house, we shall go no more out. Jesus says, "Father, I will that those whom thou hast given me may be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory." We behold his glory now, but it is through a glass darkly; whereas then we shall see him face to face, and know even as also we are known. The object will be the same, but the perceptive faculty will be infinitely improved, and with steady eye we shall behold the glories of God and of the Lamb; enlarged discoveries of the love and grace of God in the person of the Son; which have been gradually unfolded to us, and exercised on our behalf to the day of our admission into glory, will fill our astonished souls with gratitude ineffable, and our tongues with never-ceasing praises. O with what delight shall we "sit on every heavenly hill," and talk of our Saviour's love to us, poor sinful mortals. The only matter of debate will be, who owes most to sovereign grace. With joy unfelt by angels, we shall join the ransomed millions round the throne, and sing the hymn of endless praise to Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in his blood, and made us kings and priests to God. O thrice happy state of all who believe in Jesus Christ! all the perfections of God are on your side; on the dissolution of the body there are mansions in heaven to receive youJesus is now preparing for your reception-Jesus will come and receive you to himself, that where he is, there shall you be also, and be ever with the Lord. Amen! The Saviour says,

So let it be!

I to my Father's house return,
There numerous mansions stand,
And glory manifold abounds
Thro' all the happy land.

I go your entrance to secure
And your abode prepare ;
Regions unknown are safe to you
When I, your friend, am there.

Thence will I come when ages close,
To take you home with me:
There shall we meet to part no more,
And still together be.

DISCOURSE XXVI.

delivered at the REV. J. CLAYTON, JUNIOR'S, CHAPEL. FEB. 26, 1826.

THE POWER OF CHRIST RESTING ON HIS PEOPLE AND SERVANTS, THE ONLY TRUE CAUSE OF GLORYING.

2 COR. xii. 9.

"Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

'It is recorded of the Apostle Paul, (I determine not how truly,) that he was of low stature, crooked and bald; some add that he had an impediment in his speech, that his voice was shrill and unpleasant, and his delivery ungraceful." (Scott, in loco.) He himself tells us, in a paragraph of his second epistle to the Corinthians, that his enemies represented his letters as indeed weighty and powerful; but his bodily presence as weak, and his speech contemptible. This accusation was probably exaggerated, but still, had he been a man of commanding appearance, and had he excelled in the eloquence of the day, they would not have brought against him such an accusation.

The infirmity which he calls a "thorn in the flesh," and "a messenger of Satan sent to buffet him," some have considered to arise from his "personal defects, of which he was conscious, and which gave his enemies, especially the false apostles, a colour of reviling and derid