again to life, leaving behind them every particle of the earthly man which savours of corruption; the light ethereal frame, robed in immortality, and fashioned after the glorious body of Christ, shall again unite and be incorporate with the soul; and partaking of its incorruptible nature, shall never again be separated from it.

Weep not then, poor mourner! that you have closed the eyes which once beamed affectionately on you-that the voice is now silent, which once poured music in your ears -that you have composed the pallid limbs, which once clung fondly in your embrace— that you have followed to the silent tomb the form which once leaned tenderly on your bosom. Those eyes shall beam again with a purer and a holier love-those limbs shall again glow, not with the uncertain health of mortal vigour, but with the unfading lustre of immortality-that form, which once walked upon earth, shall learn to ascend into the air to meet the Lord-that voice shall be heard again, harmonizing with the heavenly choir, and singing eternal hymns to him that sitteth

upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for

ever.

Surely then, brethren, if the former picture we have drawn was awful and appalling, this latter is cheering and glorious. But in order to realize it, we must entertain a firm and stedfast faith in him by whom our redemption was accomplished; not a barren, unfruitful faith, but a deep-seated and a fertile principle-a faith that shall kindle in our hearts such love, such a holy, ardent, and influential affection towards God, as must produce a vigorous performance of his will, a determined perseverance in well doing. Have such a faith as this, and grace shall not be wanting to supply your deficiencies, and confirm your strength; to purify your souls, and sanctify your bodies. Have such a faith, and it shall be a shield to guard you against the fiery darts of the wicked one, and shall preserve you, though thousands fall at your side, and ten thousands at your right hand. Through such a faith, when the loud trumpet of the archangel shall break the leaden slumbers of the tomb, this mortal

Tame sul put on immortality, this corshall ble fesa shail put on incorruption. Then, ruesi, shall be brought to pass the sung hat s written, Death is swallowed in a vetery. O Death where is thy sting?" Cirst has festroyed it by the power of the Iss-40 grave where is thy victory?" First sumphed over it by rising from me tead, mi becoming the first fruits of Sem that stepc-and thanks be to God he is the victory through our Lord Jesus Chest"

131

SERMON VII.

LUKE Xxii. 42.

Not my will, but thine be done.

In considering the general application of the text, without referring to the particular occasion upon which the words were spoken, we shall find that it implies an opposition between the will of man and that of God, and inculcates the duty of making the former subservient to the latter.

Strange as it may seem, that the decrees of Omnipotence should meet with resistance from so feeble a being as man; it is nevertheless true, that, from the time when our first parents renounced their innocence, there has existed a perpetual contest between the

will of the Creator and that of the creature; God, on the one hand, striving to bring us into subjection to his pleasure, knowing that such subjection is certain to promote our happiness; while we, on the other, oppose his benevolent design, by seeking that, which, in the blindness of our hearts, we imagine to be the most gratifying to our own inclinations.

I propose

to make the three points already stated the subject of the following discourse, considering

I. The nature of the will of man.

II. That of the will of God, as far as it concerns ourselves—for so far only can we be said to comprehend it. And

III. The duty of making our own will subservient to that of God.

I. The will of man, is that faculty of the soul, by which he has the power of choosing between good and evil, a faculty which was given to him at his first creation. He was, at that time, free to range among all the enjoyments which his abode of bliss afforded, and