Another disposition naturally consequent upon that I have been describing, is a sincere and lively faith in the Redeemer, which, if we believe in the scripture, is the indispensable condition of our acceptance with God, for there is no other name whereby we must be saved, We must walk in his steps and be animated with his spirit. If we are risen with Christ, we must seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God, But how rare are these evidences of the christian faith in the world around us! How can the avaricious, the worldly-minded, and the sensual, bless heaven for the resurrection of Christ and the prospect through it of life eternal? The earth they live upon is the centre of all their hopes and desires; they feel no interest, no affection, no inclination, but for the things of the earth. Their love of the world is enmity with God, their hearts resist him in secret, because his pure and holy laws demand the mortification of their inordinate lusts, the sacrifice of their darling indulgences. To such persons who assume the christian profession without a spark of christian faith in their hearts, this day which the Lord hath made, is a day not of rejoicing but of rebuke and condemnation. To such de

generate professors well might the Saviour say, "What have ye to do to rejoice on my day, to join in my worship or take my covenant in your mouths, seeing ye hate instruction and have cast my words behind you?" That we, my brethren, may look forward with pleasure to the unseen world, and through the grace of God in our Redeemer may entertain a cheerful wellfounded hope of that resurrection unto life, let us, as instructed by the words and example of his chosen Apostle, make it our daily exercise to maintain in the whole tenour of our lives and actions, a conscience void of offence towards God and man. The same Apostle declared that if in this life only we had hope in Christ, we should be of all men most miserable. Yet with this hope we may be very miserable. An immoral christian is the most wretched of beings, for what but the aggravation of his wretchedness is it to him to know that there is a life hereafter, if he must rise from the grave to the resurrection of condemnation. He that hath this hope must first purify himself, and then it will be the anchor of his soul both sure and steadfast. The Saviour, at whose voice the dead body was recalled from the corruption of the grave to motion and life, is still invested with the same

power, and can raise us from the death of sin to the life of righteousness. Let us implore the aid of his sanctifying and renewing grace with humble and contrite hearts, and with steadfast resolutions of repentance and newness of life. "In the midst of life we are in death." The king of terrors lurks in ambush about our paths and about our beds; he sends his arrows among the sons of men, and who can resist his power? Before, behind, on the right hand and on the left, we see our fellow travellers, one by one, struck and falling to the earth. The companions of our early days, the friends whom we loved as our own souls, drop by our sides, and leave us solitary in the land, with the certain knowledge, that we ourselves in our turn must yield to the order of nature. "But thanks be to God that giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Now we know that our souls are independent of death, and in the tomb of the Saviour we discover the pledge of heaven that they shall be again embodied. The desolation which sin introduces into the world is destined to meet entire redress from him who finished transgression. The revocation of the sentence of death, the reunion of the immortal spirit with its material reception in the glories of perfection and

immortality, is that final restitution of all things, of which God hath given assurance to men in that he hath raised up Jesus from the dead. Our "Redeemer liveth and shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though this tabernacle of flesh must be dissolved, we have a house not made with hands eternal in the heavens." Steadfast in this faith, let us await our summons into the world of spirits, and when our souls shall depart from the body, may we be enabled to say, "O Death, where is thy sting? O Grave, where is thy victory?" Already indeed is death swallowed up in victory, already the graves are opened, already our mortal dust is reanimated, already our flesh is redeemed from corruption, our frail nature is vivified and glorified in the person of our risen Lord and Redeemer. "This then is the day which the Lord hath made, we will rejoice and be glad in it." Let us celebrate this holy festival with praises and thanksgivings. Let us approach his altar, there to raise our devotion and increase our faith, and to confirm our resolutions to live to him who died for us and rose again. And may the glorious hope and prospect which this day inspires, animate our hearts, and carry us firmly and cheerfully through every duty, every difficulty, every temptation;

yea, through the dreary valley of the shadow of death.

Finally, is this "the day which the Lord hath made?" That we may have eternal cause to rejoice and be glad in it, may we be marked with a memorial of the divine mercy towards us, even our return to him who made and who redeemed us! Turn us, good Lord, and so shall we be turned; direct, sanctify, and govern henceforth our hearts and lives, in the ways of thy laws and in the works of thy commandments; that through thy most mighty protection both here and ever, we may be preserved in body and soul, through our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Amen.