grace; but we have heard the promises of God, promises of a better inheritance than that of Jacob, promises of greater blessings than appertained to his seed: shall we not recognize the conviction of his mind, "This is none other than the house of God, this is the gate of heaven?"

If, then, the heart of any of those around me has responded to the joy of David, “I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord;" and that such is the case with many of us, I trust and believe; let us take heed that we show forth this joy, by humble and holy stedfastness in the solemn worship of our God, and by zealous and active holiness in the discharge of our christian duties. Let us begin to show more of earnestness and anxiety for the eternal welfare of our immortal souls, by seeking more fully to enjoy and improve the blessed privileges of God's house. Let us consider it truly as the gate of heaven-the place where we may learn more of God and of Christ, and discipline our souls for the state of everlasting glory. Heaven is the state in which God's service is performed, without the lets and hindrances of mortal infirmity; the employments of those who shall enter that state, are all in unison with the holiness of God: their enjoyments are all derived from the communion with his holiness. To the soul that rejoices in the worship of God here, how easy will be the more perfect service

of him hereafter! To the soul that has learned to sing the Lord's song even in a strange land, how delightful will be the privilege of partaking in the melody of heaven!-to the soul that has been accustomed to look up to God and his ordinances, and to behold him by faith as revealed in Jesus Christ, how will the entrance into his immediate presence be a source of infinite happiness, while all her services will appear to suffer no interruption, her pursuit after godliness will be still unbroken, and her energies most abundantly sustained to acquire a nearer conformity with her God!

It is this eager anxiety to be preparing for the scenes of eternity, which distinguishes the true Christian from him who says indeed, Lord, Lord, but is careless of the practical influence of that acknowledgment of Christ. It is this conviction of the reality of all that belongs to the immortal interests of man, that gives to devotion a solemnity and seriousness, and chains down the mind in eager attention to the things of God. If our services have not this habitual reference to their spiritual import; if we make not the worship and the knowledge of God the business of these hours, the special object of our attendance in this place, vain will be that attendance, as to all practical benefit to ourselves; painful will be the retrospect of our wasted hours; awful will be the account of our privileges and their improve

ment, at the day of judgment. Even if we regard the temple of the Lord as an intellectual and not a spiritual school; as a place where the imagination may be excited, or the fancy pleased, or the taste gratified, this may appear more worthy than its use merely in compliance with custom, or as the resort of a leisure hour,—but equally profitless will this be to our spiritual interests, equally void of reference to our most important concern, the preparation of the heart to meet our God. We are right in exhibiting that respect for the courts of God's house, which leads us to adorn them, as far as we can consistently, with material beauty. We are right in calling to the aid of our devotions, those means and appliances, with which God himself saw fit that his earthly temple should be adorned, and his earthly service cheered; but we must remember that this is not all which we can do, or which we must do. That God, who dwelleth not in temples made with hands, and requires no gold or silver, which he has himself made, to be lavished, as of necessity, upon the house built for him; though he dwelleth in the high and lofty place, dwells also in the temple of his own choice; and he has declared, that he will make that humble and contrite heart which is given up to him, his holiest dwelling-place and his most sacred temple. Let then the beauty of God's house remind us, that we pray to him to adorn his temple in our hearts with the beauty

of holiness: let the solemn services of his church here be regarded as the beginnings of that service, to which we trust hereafter to be admitted let the holy melody of our praises on earth be but the anticipation of that song of unbroken praise, in which we hope to join with angels and archangels round the throne: and then, when our warfare here is ended, our summons to meet our God will be but the gentle call to enter into our Father's house; and we shall welcome that call to his heavenly mansions, as we have welcomed our invitations to his earthly temple : "I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the Lord."

16

SERMON II.

THE MIRACLE AT CANA IN GALILEE.

JOHN ii. 11.

This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth his glory, and his disciples believed on him.

SUCH are the words in which the beloved apostle concludes the narrative of the first miracle of our blessed Lord a narrative as simple and unadorned, as was the miracle itself conclusive and unostentatious-a narrative well adapted to display that amiability of character for which our Lord was so remarkably distinguished; and to set forth that beautiful example of social and familiar intercourse, which the record of the more private hours of Jesus of Nazareth is intended to afford us.

Short as is the account of the transactions of our Saviour's life, previous to his entrance on his