for your love to him, by love to him, by a peace that passeth all understanding.

If we have not been happy, if domestic trials and sorrows have made our path gloomy, let us only recollect whether we called the Saviour to the wedding. Some contract marriage without thinking of their God and Saviour in connection with it; but, on the contrary, a suggestion that his guidance and his approbation are essential to happiness, is regarded as interfering with their feelings, and marring their pleasure. Religion is most unwelcome, to many, in these seasons of pleasurable acquaintanceship and the interchange of hearts. What a mistake to think that he who is called " Wonderful, Counsellor, the Mighty God," is out of place in giving us counsel about our intentions of marriage. One humble, heartfelt prayer to Christ, in connection with this important step, would, in thousands of cases, have prevented anguish of soul from which there has been no refuge but the grave.

The Saviour, whether called, or not, to the wedding, heard the vows we uttered, as we took and gave the right hand, and, calling God to witness, swore to be faithful to each other till death. Many who were witnesses of your marriage (in some instances, O, how many) have gone the way of all the earth; but Christ was there; Christ is a witness of the vows, and of the manner in which they have

been kept. His approbation of our kindness, forbearance, gentleness, faithfulness, and love unfeigned, in this relation, is indispensable to peace and happiness. There is no one who can appreciate such things like Christ.

Christ is one day to have a marriage of his own. The announcement will soon be heard, "Let us rejoice, and be glad, and give honor to him; for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and the bride hath made herself ready." She has been seen by one who has made a report of her, a messenger being sent to him to say, 'Come up hither; I will show thee the bride, the Lamb's wife.' He saw the city which the bridegroom had built for her, compared with which the city that Solomon built for Pharaoh's daughter was a dark place. There never was such a bride as this; and all the weddings of earth, should they combine their festivities and brilliancy, would not be seen nor thought of in that exceeding great joy. Jesus Christ is to be publicly united, before the universe, to this bride, and, through eternity, is to rejoice over her with joy, and rest in his love. Bunyan, when, in his dream, he saw the gates of heaven shut, after the arrival of the pilgrims, says, 'which, when I saw, I wished myself among them.' I feel the same desire. I want to see that marriage. I have been invited, and I am happy to say I have, in my hands, an invitation for each of you, which I now deliver,

signed and sealed with the Saviour's own hand. Let no man's heart fail him at the thought of having slighted Christ in the matter of his own marriage, for it is not too late, even now, to repair the injury. If the anniversary of your wedding is near, let that day be a time of special prayer, and reconciliation with this beloved, heavenly Friend. Whether it be near, or at some distance, go this day with her who, with you, neglected Christ on that occasion, and, hand in hand, kneel before him, and implore his presence and his blessing for the remainder of your way. But, if that companion be no more, seek him who knows all your history; and, in the multitude of your thoughts within you, his comforts will delight your soul.

Many a scene of joy and gladness will yet be celebrated by many to whom I have the pleasure to preach. Let me charge you to take no step in such a transaction without making Christ your Friend and Counsellor. He will be specially interested in all that you propose, and in all that is proposed to you, in such connection. Make Christ one of your guests. Send to him by special prayer, and, with your chosen friend and future companion, say to him, 'If thy presence go not with us, carry us not up hence.' We read in the subsequent history of Christ, So Jesus came again into Cana, where he made the water wine.' Can we doubt that his inter

est in that transaction, and in those friends who bade him to their wedding, led him to visit them in their abode? Thus, though your dwelling be like humble Cana, and you, like the bridegroom and bride there, may not be widely known, Jesus, being specially honored by you in the beginning of your marriage relation, will often visit your abode, turn every common pleasure of your life into a witness that his hand is in it, and seal your earthly happiness by enabling you to appropriate those words: "Blessed

ARE THEY WHICH ARE CALLED UNTO THE MARRIAGE

SUPPER OF THE LAMB.”

SERMON V.

THE TWELVE APOSTLES.

REVELATION XXI. 14.

AND THE WALL OF THE CITY HAD TWELVE FOUNDATIONS, AND IN THEM THE NAMES OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE LAMB.

THE object of the representation in the text is, no doubt, in part, to bestow exceeding honor upon the apostles of Christ. Heaven is represented as a city, with a wall great and high, with twelve courses of foundation stones, most precious; and conspicuous in those twelve stones are inscribed, here and there, the names of the apostles. It would be difficult to conceive of a greater mark of honor. The builders of cities are celebrated in history, but here are men whose names are associated with the very foundations of that heavenly city, the "new Jerusalem," "which is above all." We will consider

I. THE CALL OF THESE MEN TO THE APOSTLESHIP. The Saviour, after that John was put in prison, came into Galilee, "preaching the gospel of the