more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord Gode." And Job, Isaiah, Paul, yea, every real saint, in proportion as he is humbled before God, evinces precisely the feeling which was here so strongly marked: they lothe themselves in proportion as they are favoured and honoured by their God'.]

That this subject is not uninteresting to us, will appear, whilst I shew,

II. How far similar emotions become us at the present day

Certainly there is at this time great occasion for joy

[We are not, indeed, constructing a material temple for the Lord: but the whole nation is engaged in endeavours to erect a spiritual temple to him throughout the world. Never was there a period, since the apostolic age, when the exertions were so general, so diversified, so diffusive. To spread the blessed word of God, and to send to every nation under heaven those who shall impart the knowledge of it to the unenlightened, whether of Jews or Gentiles, seems at this time the one great labour of all who love and fear God. And is this no ground of joy? - But, to come home more nearly to ourselves: Is there no reason to rejoice in what, we trust, is going on amongst us? If the Gospel be "glad tidings of great joy unto all people," is it no cause for joy that it is brought to our ears; and that it is effectual amongst us, as it has been throughout the whole world, to convert men to God, and to save many souls alive?

But, not to dwell on matters of general concern, let us bring it home to our own business and bosoms: Are there not amongst you, who hear me this day, some at least who have been "turned from darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God?" Yes, I trust, there are here present some at least, who, having been taken from the quarry by the great Master Builder, are now 66 as lively stones built up a spiritual house," to be "the habitation of God, through the Spirit," for ever and ever. Speak I then too much, if I say, that not only those individuals themselves, but all who are interested in their welfare, have reason to burst forth into songs of praise, as loud and fervent as those that were uttered on the occasion which we have been considering? If even the very angels before the throne of God are not so occupied with contemplating the divine glory, but that they have derived a great

e Ezek. xvi. 60-63.

f Job xl. 3, 4. Isai. vi. 5. 1 Tim. i. 12, 13.

accession to their joy from their views of every individual amongst you that is truly converted to God, surely we, who are all looking for the same salvation, and hoping to be partakers of it, have reason to rejoice.]

Yet is there amongst us abundant occasion for grief also

[The persons whose anguish of heart forced from them such bitter lamentations, were those who remembered the former temple, which had far exceeded in glory every edifice which the world had ever seen. Now, if we suppose the Apostle Paul, who witnessed the state of God's Church in its primitive and purest age; if we suppose him, I say, to come down in the midst of us, what would be his feelings at the present hour? That he would not "despise the day of small things," or be indifferent about the salvation of ever so few, we are well assured: but what would he say to the state of this parish, this town and neighbourhood, or of the individuals who are most looked up to in the midst of us as professing and adorning the faith of Christ? Would his joy be unmixed with sorrow? Would he, recollecting what pure Christianity is, and what the preached Gospel produced in his day, and what advantages we have enjoyed; would he, I say, be satisfied with what he saw? Would he not rather burst out into floods of tears? yea, much as many are rejoicing at what exists amongst us, would not his lamentations equal in loudness and intensity the joys that are expressed by others in our behalf? I think that no one who knows what the Apostle was, and what he himself is, can doubt of this. On the occasion referred to in my text, the noise of the joy and of the sorrow could not be distinguished from each other, by reason of the intensity of both: and I am well persuaded, that, if an assembly of primitive saints were at this moment blended with us, they would equal in their wailings the joys which any of us feel, or which others can feel in our behalf. It was with "weeping" that St. Paul contemplated many of the Philippian converts: and for many of the Galatian Church he "agonized as in the pangs of childbirth, till Christ should be more perfectly formed in them." And was this from a want of charity, or from a contempt of piety in its lower stages of existence? No; but from love, and from a desire that God should be honoured to the uttermost, wherever his Gospel came, and wherever its blessings were experienced in the soul.]

SEE, then,

g Phil. iii. 18.

h Gal. iv. 19.

1. What, above all things, should interest our souls

[I say not that any one should be indifferent about the things relating to this present world: but I say, that the interests of religion in general, and in our own souls in particular, ought to swallow up, as it were, every other concern. As the rebuilding of the temple filled the minds of those at that time engaged in it, so nothing under heaven should transport us with joy like the establishment of Christ's kingdom in the world and in the soul. On the other hand, nothing should produce in us such acute sensations of grief, as a consciousness that God is not glorified in the midst of us as he ought to be. Verily, it is a shame to the Christian world, that they feel so little on these subjects, whilst every vanity of time and sense is sufficient to excite in them the strongest emotions

—— But, Beloved, learn, I pray you, what ought to be the state of your minds in relation to the cause of God; and never cease to cry unto God, till you have obtained grace to serve him as it becomes those who have received mercy at his hands.]

2. What use we should make of our knowledge and experience

[Many would think that the unmixed joy of the younger classes was more becoming than the grief of the elder. But if, as I suppose, the cries of the elder were a mixture of joy and sorrow arising from a more enlarged view of the whole matter, a decided preference must be given to their feelings. above those of their younger brethren. It is not the fruit which exhibits the brightest colours that will prove the most grateful to the taste, but that which, under the influence of warmer suns, has acquired somewhat of a darker and more mellowed tint. So, in like manner, it is not so much an unqualified effusion of joy that is pleasing to the Most High, as that which is moderated with shame, and tempered with contrition. In truth, as long as we are in this world, we must have occasion for shame and sorrow: it will be time enough to lay them aside, when we are got within the portals of heaven. There our happiness will be without alloy; as the prophet says: "We shall have gladness and joy; and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Cultivate, then, my Brethren, this depth of feeling, this tenderness of spirit, this humility of mind. Never forget your great and multiplied transgressions: but "walk softly before your God" in the remembrance of them; contented to "sow in tears, that you may reap in joy;" and to "humble yourselves now, that you may be exalted in due time."]

CCCCXXXIV.

SERMON ON THE KING'S ACCESSION.

Ezra vi. 10. Offer sacrifices of sweet savours unto the God of heaven, and pray for the life of the kinga.

ON the last occasion of our assembling in this place, we were called to pay a respectful tribute to the memory of our late beloved and revered sovereign, whose mortal remains were then committed to the tomb. The vision which the Apostle John beheld of the holy city, the New Jerusalem, in which Jehovah, with all his hosts and angels, vouchsafes to dwell, was then submitted to your attention, as offering peculiar consolation to us under the loss we have sustained for there "the spirits of the just are made perfect," and enter into the complete fruition of that glory, which here they apprehended only by the weak and imperfect grasp of faith. Of such as shall be admitted to those blissful mansions, it is said, "God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.' That our sorrows in this vale of tears might be alleviated, and our consolation in the prospect of that happy state be the more abundant, Jehovah, having said, “Behold, I make all things new," added, "Write; for these words are true and faithful:" and the truth of them shall be experienced by every saint in due season. Then the same Almighty Being yet further added, "IT IS DONE"." This very blessedness is already experienced by millions, who, in successive ages and generations, have been gathered to their fathers, and liberated from the pains and troubles of this mortal life; millions, who "have come out of great tribulation, having washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb, are already before the throne of God, and

This Sermon was preached on the occasion of the Accession of King George the Fourth, 1820.

b Rev. xxi. 1-6.

serve him day and night in his temple; and neither hunger any more, nor thirst any more, neither does the sun light on them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne feeds them, and leads them to living fountains of waters: and God has wiped away all tears from their eyes."

Here our minds were irresistibly led to contemplate the state of our departed sovereign. "IT IS DONE;" yes, "IT IS DONE;" to his unspeakable joy, and to the comfort of every reflecting mind. Embittered as his life has been by great and heavy trials, by the loss of a considerable portion of his empire, by the subjugation of Europe to the dominion of an insatiable and ruthless tyrant, and by having to contend for the very existence of his kingdom as an independent state; having also, during the latter years of his life, been visited with the heaviest afflictions of which our frail nature is susceptible,-with the loss of vision, not only corporeal, but mental; I say, embittered as his life has been, how sweet the thought, that now "all former things are passed away-that pain and sorrow are known by him no more-that all tears are for ever wiped away from his eyes"that, at the instant of his departure hence, "joy and gladness came forth" to welcome him as his inseparable attendants-and "sorrow and sighing," which had followed him so closely during his long and eventful life, "fled away for ever." Verily this thought may well reconcile us to a dispensation, which, according to the course of nature, was to be expected soon, and which, if it have bereaved us, has so greatly benefited and enriched him".

It seems proper now that our attention should be turned to his son and successor, our present most gracious sovereign; and that we should contemplate the duties which his accession to the throne imperiously calls for at our hands. With this view I have selected the passage before us, in which King Darius

c Rev. vii. 14—17.

d Isai. xxxv. 10. This exordium may easily be modified, according to existing circumstances.