consequences, which I would engrave on the walls of our churches, on the walls of your houses, on the frontispieces of your doors, particularly on the tables of your hearts. The consequences are these, That this is not the place of our felicity; that this world is a valley of tears; that man is in a continual warfare on earth; that nature with all its treasures, society with all its advantages, religion with all its excellencies, cannot procure us a perfect felicity on earth. Happy we! if the endless vicissitudes of the present world conduct us to rest in the world to come, according to this expression of the Spirit of God, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord, they rest from their labours, and their works do follow them, Rev. xiv. 13. To God be honour and glory for ever.

Amen.

SERMON VII.

Christ the King of Truth.

JOHN Xviii. 36, 37, 38.

Jesus said, My kingdom is not of this world. Pilate said unto him, Art thou a king then? Jesus answered, Thou sayest that I am a king to this end was I born, and for this cause came 1 into the world, that I should bear witness unto the truth.Every one that is of the truth heareth my voice. Pilate saith unto him, What is truth?

HAVE you ever considered, my brethren, the plain conclusion that resulteth from the two motives which St. Paul addresseth to Timothy? Timothy 'was the apostle's favourite. The attachment which that young disciple manifested to him entirely gained a heart, which his talents had conciliated before. The apostle took the greatest pleasure in cultivating a genius, which was formed to elevate truth and virtue to their utmost height. Having guarded him against the temptations to which his age, his character, and his circumstances, might expose him; having exhorted him to keep clear of the two rocks, against which so many ecclesiastics had been shipwrecked, ambition, and avarice; he adds to his instructions this solemn charge, "I give thee charge,

" in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and "before Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate wit"nessed a good confession, that thou keep this com"mandment," 1 Tim. vi. 13, 14. God quickeneth all things. Jesus Christ, before Pontius Pilate, witnessed a good confession. From the union of these two motives ariseth that conclusion which I would remark to you.

The first may be called the motive of a philosopher: the second may be called the motive of a christian. A philosopher, I mean a man of sound reason, who finds himself placed a little while in this world, concludes, from the objects that surround him, that there is a Supreme Being, a God who quickeneth all things. His mind being penetrated with this truth, he cannot but attach himself to the service of the Supreme Being, whose existence and perfections he is able to demonstrate. He assures himself, that the same Being, whose power and wisdom adorned the firmament with stars, covered the earth with riches, and filled the sea with gifts of beneficence, will reward those, who sacrifice their inclinations to that obedience which his nature requires.

But, let us own, my brethren, the ideas we form of the Creator are, in some sense, confounded, when we attend to the miseries to which he seems to abandon some of his most devoted servants. How can the great Supreme, who quickeneth all things, leave those men to languish in obscurity and indigence, who live and move only for the glory of him? In order to remove this objection, which hath always formed insuperable difficulties against the belief of

a God, and of a Providence, it is necessary to add the motive of a christian to that of a philosopher. This motive follows, that God, who quickeneth all things, who disposeth all events, who bestoweth a sceptre or a crook, as he pleaseth, hath wise reasons for deferring the happiness of his children to another economy; and hence presumption ariseth, that he will give them a king, whose kingdom is not of this world. St. Paul joins this second motive to the first. I give thee charge, in the sight of God, whọ quickeneth all things, and before Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession. What is this good confession? It is that which you have heard in the words of the text, Verily, "I am "a king, to this end was I born; but my kingdom "is not of this world."

The first of these motives, my brethren, you can never study too much. It is a conduct unworthy of a rational soul, to be surrounded with so many wonders, and not to meditate on the author of them. But our present circumstances, the solemnity of this season, and particularly the words of the text, engage us to quit at present the motive of a philosopher, and to reflect wholly on that of a Christian. I exhort you to-day, by that Jesus, who declared himself a king, and who at the same time said, My kingdom is not of this world, to endeavour to divert your attention from the miseries and felicities of this world, to which the subjects of the Messiah do not belong. This is the chief, this is the only point of view, in which we shall now consider the text. We will omit several questions, which the words have