then it is vouchsafed. They who have frequently access to the beds of dying believers, can bear testimony, as eye witnesses, to the faithfulness of their Lord. How often have we seen them triumphing in the prospect of immortality! as happy, in defiance of pain and sickness, as we can well conceive it possible to be while in the body, and as sure of heaven, as if they were already

before the throne.

Such is the character of MESSIAH! This is the God whom we adore; our almighty unchangeable Friend! His greatness and goodness, his glory and his grace, when once known, fix the heart, no more to rove, and fill it with admiration, gratitude, and desire. From hence spring a cheerful, unreserved obedience to his commands, and a deliberate voluntary submission to his holy will. For his people do not serve him, or yield to him by constraint; at least, it is only the pleasing constraint of love, which makes their duty their delight; and their burden and grief is, that they can serve him no better.

May we be all thus minded. I dare not hope it is so with us all at present. But this is the day of his grace. For this cause he came into the world, that he might draw many hearts to himself. And for this purpose he favours us with his Gospel, by which he still says, "Look "unto me, and be ye savedt;" "Come unto me, and I "will give you restt." To be found among his faithful followers, in the great day when he shall come to judge the world, is the one thing which, above all others, deserves our solicitude.

Hear then his voice to-day.

Perhaps you are ap

prised of the necessity of a change of heart and life, at some future period, in order to die safely. Such a

* John xii. 32.

Isa. xlv. 22.

Matt. xi. 28.

change is equally necessary, if you wish to live comfortably. While you are unfit to die, you can have no true enjoyment of life. It were easy to prove at large that procrastination is highly dangerous. Admitting, that, according to your present feelings, you really think yourself determined to seek the Lord at some future time, do you consider how many uncertainties you presume upon? Are you sure that you shall not be suddenly cut off, by an unexpected and unthought of stroke; or visited by a fever, which may quickly bring you into a state of delirium or stupefaction, and render your projected repentance impracticable? Yea, it will in any circumstances, be impracticable, unless God is pleased to influence your mind by his good Spirit. If you grieve this Spirit now, by resisting his operations, what reason have you to expect that he will then return? Do we not see many instances of what the poet, with great propriety, calls, " A slow sudden death?" How "A many people, while pining away under the power of incurable disease, amuse themselves with the hope of recovery to the last gasp; and though their acquaintance read death in their countenance for weeks or months, in defiance of such repeated and long-continued warnings, they die as suddenly, with respect to their own apprehensions, as if killed by lightning. Tremble lest such be your last end, if you trifle with God, who now calls you, by his Gospel, to seek him to-day, "while it is called to-day."

But I would lead you to consider your delay, not only as dangerous, but as unreasonable. Why are you afraid of being happy too soon? What strange and hard thoughts have you of God, if you suppose you can find more pleasure in living according to your own wills, than in obedience to his commands? Can the world give

you such peace and satisfaction as I have attempted to describe? Do you think a real persuasion that God is your friend, and that heaven will be your home, will spoil the relish of your earthly enjoyments, or make your lives uncomfortable? What hard thing does the Lord require of you, that you are so unwilling to comply? If we set aside, for a moment, the consideration of a future state and a final judgment, yet, even in a temporal view, you would be a great gainer, if your spirit and your conduct were regulated by the Gospel. What heart-breaking troubles, what losses, contests, pains of body, and remorse of conscience, would some of you have avoided, if you had believed and obeyed the word of God! What distresses may your headstrong passions soon plunge you into, if you presume to go on in your sins! For that the way of transgressors is hard, is not only declared in Scripture, but proved by the history and observation of every day. Forsake the foolish, therefore, and live. And, while the door of mercy is still open before you, pray to him who is able to bless you indeed, by delivering you from the guilt, and from the power of your iniquities; lest, if being "often reproved," and still "hardening your hearts, you shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy."

* Prov. xxix. 1.

SERMON X.

THE ANGEL'S MESSAGE AND SONG.

LUKE ii. 8-14.

There were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them; and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you: Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swad dling clothes laying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest; on earth peace, good-will toward men.

THE gratification of the great, the wealthy, and the

gay, was chiefly consulted in the late exhibitions in Westminster-Abby. But, notwithstanding the expense of the preparations, and the splendid appearance of the auditory, I may take it for granted, that the shepherds who were honoured with the first information of the birth of MESSIAH, enjoyed, at free cost, a much more sublime and delightful entertainment. How poor and trivial is the most studied magnificence and brilliancy of an earthly court, compared with that effulgence of glory which surrounded the shepherds! The performers of this Oratorio, if I may be allowed the expression, were a multitude of the heavenly host. And though I do not suppose that the angel delivered his

message in

the cadence which we call Recitative, I have no doubt but the chorus was a song, sweetly melodious as from A song which the redeemed and the

We

blest voices. angels of the Lord are still singing before the throne. A new song*. A song which will be always new. are made acquainted with the subject, yea, with the very words of this song. May our hearts be suitably affected by the consideration of them to-day! The melody and harmony of heaven are far above our conceptions. The music of that happy land has no dependence upon the vibrations of the air, or the admirable structure of the human ear. But we have reason to believe, there is, in the world of light and love, something analogous to what we call music, though different in kind, and vastly superior in effect, to any strains that can be produced by the most exquisite voices or instruments upon earth; as we readily judge the glory of an angel to be unspeakably more excellent, both in kind and degree, than any thing that is deemed glorious among mortals.

To consider this passage at large, would require many discourses. I shall confine myself at present to a few brief reflections on the circumstances of this heavenly vision, the message of the angel, and the concluding chorus or song.

I. The circumstances.

1. "Lo, an angel came upon them," &c. Suddenly when they had no expectation of such a visit, without any thing that might previously engage their attention, all at once, like a flash of lightning, a glory shone around them, and an angel appeared. We do not wonder that they were impressed with fear.

*Rev. v. 9.

We live

We live near, perhaps