thee a new garsol. I have broth goods, eat, drirk Das they may thus pain

the serm doré ani sveria the ind bones and oneness within. bus is le a vals presss, ther vidi pemst to their deceivings, and tõent strils so touected to them firal, this provision, shall ty-andhastat aman ge that whoes. The son brutal= the soc. a zvano tre son a debauchee, the soul molded : the soul lost the soc damned! The soul which was made dz by and for holiness: the sont dissatisfied the sand witch should rise and commune with God, and sing with angels, to be cheated and mocked with a discourse about hams and eating and drising and car using! My hearers, do 21 live a spimmal or do you live a sensual life? You need not be rich in order to take thought only for the body. The rich and the poor, the high and the low, may debase their immortal natures to a condition of shame and disgrace; and in that shame and degradation are all found who fix their desires and terminate their hopes on the pleasures of sense, who labor in vain to satisfy their immortal spirits with created good. There is in reserve for such folly and sin an awful retribution. It maketh haste;-for, in the sixth place.

6. The rich man was a DYING MAN,-a serious attribute of his nature which he seemed to forget, as if his riches were a shield against the shaft of death. His ground was productive, and he decided to enjoy the fruits of it for a long time," many years." But his new barns were not built, he had only time to plan them. His fruits and goods were not bestowel,-he had only time to consider where he should put them. He had not eaten and drunken

and made merry; he had only time to decide that he would do so. He said, "Soul, a long life is before thee." God said, "This night thou shalt die." Thou wilt not pull down thy barns, but death will take down thine earthly tabernacle. Thou wilt not build greater storehouses, but the house of the grave will be made for thee to-morrow. Thou wilt not eat, drink and be merry on that which is prepared for thy table, but the worms shall banquet and revel on thy body. That soul which thou didst sensualize is about to be required by the Father of Spirits. Whose those things will be which thou hast provided, thou canst not tell; but be sure of this, they are no longer thine. Thy days are numbered, thy purposes are extinct, the grave waits for thee, death is at the door; this night thou shalt die.

7. He was a FOOLISH MAN. He lived as a fool, and died as he lived. This is not an uncharitable opinion of ours. It is the character given him from heaven. It is the decision of the throne. GOD said unto him, "Thou fool." A covetous fool; an anxious fool; a selfish fool; an atheistic fool; a sensual fool; a dying fool; ruined, because he laid up treasure for himself, and was not rich toward God. He has gone. We leave him, my friends, and turn to you, and ask, are there any in this assembly like him? any possessing his character, and hastening to his destiny? Are you laying up treasure for yourself, while yet you are not rich toward God? Thou art the man! Thy ground may be fruitful, but thy heart is ungrateful. Thy house may be built, but the family altar is not erected; or, if erected, the acceptable sacrifice is not offered. You may have a reception room for mortals, but no closet nor audience chamber where you meet the immortal Creator. "Not rich toward God!" Toiling till weary for love of money; never resting in the love of God. Affluent in sorrow for temporal losses; not rich in repentance toward God. Anxious for earthly possessions, but not at all anxious to lay up treasure in heaven. Rich in the fruits of the flesh, but poor and destitute in the fruits of the Spirit. Worldly and irreligious. Dying, but unprepared for death. You have seen the rich man of whom Christ spake. If so, you have seen yourself. You have seen his end. See there your own. "So is he," of this assembly, "who layeth up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God." A fool in life, a fool in death; a fool lost and ruined to all eternity.

SERMON CCCCXXXVI.

BY THE REV. GEORGE A. CALHOUN,

COVENTRY, CONNECTICUT.

THE STONE ROLLED FROM THE DOOR OF THE SEPULCHRE.

Who will roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ?

MARK XVI. 3.

THE chamber where a companion endured the pangs of death, and the spot where his remains were deposited, are places of peculiar interest to surviving friends. They are cherished in long and affectionate remembrance, and are visited with mournful pleasure. They call to recollection many sacred associations, on which the mind inclines to dwell, and with which the heart is disposed to sympathize. You see the widow, or the mother, repair to the grave of her beloved husband, or to the lonely place where reposes in silence the body of her affectionate child; there she stands in sober reflection, gazing on the green grass which waves over the sacred deposit, till nature finds a sad relief; then she slowly passes

away.

Contemplating these operations of sympathy with the dead, it is not strange, that the place where Jesus was crucified, and the tomb where his body was laid, have been considered as sacred by his friends, and by some employed in a superstitious and idolatrous manner. Calvary, and the tomb of Joseph, must have been places of peculiar interest to the disciples and early Christians. They doubtless often visited these places. And we are informed, that at the end of the Sabbath, immediately after the crucifixion, Mary Magdalene, and the other Mary, resorted to the tomb of Joseph. In visiting the tomb at this period, their design was to embalm the body of Christ. Hence, an entrance into the sepulchre was neces sary; but they knew not how to accomplish it. A great stone had been placed at the door of the sepulchre; this stone had been sealed by the enemies of Christ, and a guard, as is supposed, of sixty men stationed around the tomb, to prevent the removal of Christ's body. While these pious females were on the way to the sepulchre, and were desirous of thus manifesting their respect and affection for their Lord, they saw in prospect a serious difficulty in the way of accomplishing their purpose. Hence they said one to another, "Who will roll us away the stone from the door of the sepulchre ?" But when they arrived at the place, they found the difficulty re

moved. God had sent his angel from heaven, whose countenance was as lightning, whose raiment was as white as snow, whose descent was attended with an earthquake, and whose presence caused the keepers to become as dead men. This angel had rolled away the stone from the door of the sepulchre; and the body of Jesus, instead of needing sweet spices for its preservation, had burst asunder the iron bands of death, assumed a celestial and incorruptible nature, and departed from its place of confinement.

Prospective difficulties in the path of duty, persons often find removed, when they come to the place of meeting them.

Before illustrating and confirming this sentiment, I would observe, that we are not to be reckless of the moral consequences of our conduct; nor are we to be inattentive to difficulties in the way of discharging duty. Indeed, many persons err, and fail in accomplishing a good object, in consequence of not duly considering the obstacles in the way of its accomplishment. "A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself; but the simple pass on and are punished." In the way of accomplishing any great and good object there are difficulties which must be removed; there is a stone at the door of the sepulchre which must be rolled away. And there is often a failure in doing good because this fact is not recognized. And some of the most serious obstacles in the way of accomplishing a good design, result from the indiscretion of those who are in heart benevolent. They do not contemplate and shape their conduct in view of existing difficulties, and hence they are defeated and the more discerning embarrassed. If we look at the way in which the most useful succeed in their works of faith and labors of love, and the difficulties which they successfully encounter, we shall perceive, that not only the harinlessness of the dove is required, but the wisdom of the serpent. If we look at the example of Christ and the Apostles, we shall perceive, not only the necessity of action, but of caution in directing our conduct. And if we would serve our Lord and master faithfully and successfully, we must be in the exercise of all that discretion and prudence which shall enable us to discover what is fit to be done under existing circumstances. But in the path of duty there will be difficulties in prospect, which may appear to be insurmountable; and my design in this discourse is to encourage persons to go forward in the discharge of duty notwithstanding these apparent obstacles in the way. For prospective difficulties in the path of duty, persons often find removed, when they come to the place of meeting them.

This may be inferred,

I. From the experience of God's people. Abraham, in obeying a divine command, saw serious difficulties in prospect. God had promised to make of him a great nation-to bless those who blessed him, and curse those who cursed him-to multiply his posterity as the stars of heaven-and, by causing him to be the progenitor of the Messiah, to bless all the nations of the world in him. More

RUNS NIA 15.5, away from the door of the sepulchre. The angel of God was there to stay the Land which was about to inflict the Uroze of death, And Abraham was more richly blessed in conse4 core of this tria of his faith.

Horn Mones was caused of God to deliver the children · f Israel from Foryprian bondage, he saw many difficulties in prospect. "Bind," sud he, "they will not believe me, nor harken to my ༡༧༨,!,5? And when he was assured, that he would meet no embeesement from that quarter, Moses said, O, my Lord, I am not elequent .... but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." But the difficulties which Moses saw in prospect were all removed, when he came to the places of meeting them

The spies, who were sent out to examine the land of Canaan, enused the children of Israel to tremble in view of difficulties in the way of possessing the promised land. They could not obey