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portunities in store to think of heaven. My brethren, it has been well said, that the Christian knows not of a to-morrow. He lives always for the present. hath to-day, but he cannot tell what is on the morrow. He feels that God is his father; why then should he forget his father? Why should he wander from home, and dislike even the thought of heaven.

Ask the aged what was, what is, the world to them? They will tell you either that they early left the world, and sought peace in him who alone can give peace; or that their days are few and evil, and that the world hath not rewarded their sins, and that it will not

yours; they will tell you of temptations, of the pain of a wounded spirit, and of the deceitfulness of this world's promises. Nay, you will yourselves be astonished and disgusted at the sight of a wicked old man.

Now, whilst you can feel the shame of

sin, and have some remaining love to the all-merciful God; now, whilst you may be moved by the love of him who suffered death upon the cross for you, ensure th only hope that is indeed full of satisfaction, the hope of heaven.

Blessed are ye, who leaving this world to the ignorant and the sinful, have risen with Christ from the death of sin to the life of righteousness; may your hearts surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; may you live now and ever above, where Christ sitteth at the right hand of God!

107

SERMON VI.

LOW SUNDAY.

ST. JOHN, XX. 19.

Peace be unto you!

In the mouth of friendship no word is without its meaning. What is only custom amongst strangers, is sincerity amongst friends. Their first and their last words flow from the heart. They feel more than they can utter. What then was the fulness of love in our Lord's address to his friends: "Peace be unto you!"

This was, from a very early period, the way in which friends expressed their mutual good will. Thus, Joseph said to his

brethren, "Peace be to you; fear not :" and so on leaving, "Go in peace." Thus our Lord said to his disciples, the night before his crucifixion, "My peace I give unto you, not as the world giveth give I unto you."

And no kinder or more significant mode of salutation could have been adopted. It well agrees with the simplicity of the ancient times; it marks a spirit of truth and affection; it is not the language of compliment, but the breathing of the soul.

This is not our rest. Therefore the church cannot but implore the heavenly comfort of peace, but sits alone in the great world as a poor and despised stranger, and cries to her Lord daily, "O Lamb of God that takest away the sins of the world, grant us thy peace!" In this prayer she presents to her Lord the sighing of the contrite hearts, and the desire of such as be sorrowful.

Peace comprehends all the enjoyment

we can have upon earth. Our joy is the joy of peace, not of strife, nor of pride, nor of vain glory; but we joy in the hope of the favour of God. Our security is inward peace; for only where there is peace can the spirit of God remain.

In tribulation, our antidote is peace. On earth we pray to the God of peace. In heaven we hope to praise the God of joy.

I would at this time desire you to consider, 1st, that without religion there can be no peace upon earth. 2ndly, That Christ is our peace, that he hath brought us near to God, who before were afar off, and that by his law in the heart, is the only solid foundation of peace laid, that can be laid under heaven. 3rdy, That the Christian being a lover of peace, is always ready and desirous to go to the land of peace, to die and to be at rest: and that with this spirit he yet joins diligence to make peace upon the earth, to reconcile the harsh sounds of this