Thirdly. This thirst is to be understood as that which has a decided ascendency over every other desire.

There may be transient wishes in the minds of most men for the blessings of religion; but these by no means correspond with the force of the expression here used. It is not some faint breathings after happiness to which the promise is made: there must be a predominant desire after spiritual blessings. This is evident from our Saviour's declarations. He would permit none to be his disciples that did not prefer Him to father and mother, brother and sister, houses and lands, yea, wife and children. He affirms, farther, "No man that taketh not up his cross and followeth me, is worthy of me." These are very serious declarations, and they will detect the vanity of those who place religion in occasional feelings. The young man in the gospel did not come up to the standard, because he refused to resign all at the requisition of Jesus. He had some sincere desires to be happy, but he had more for his possessions. The promises of the word of God are made to characters; and these characters are jaken, not from the qualities that lightly distinguish them, but from those that predominate. Thus, a man is not a learned man because he is acquainted with the first elements of language, or can read the breviary; so, according to the whole tenour of the Divine word, he is not considered a Christian who loves pleasure more than God. He is not considered a servant of Christ who only calls Him Lord; but he who has the habit of obedience. He is not considered heavenlyminded who has some occasional thoughts of heaven; but he whose treasure is there. He is not a follower of the faith by which the ancient worthies overcame the world, who loves the world; but he who renounces the world, and knows that the favour of God is greater than all its riches, honours, and ambition. It is this thirst for spiritual blessings, and this prevalence of it in the heart over every other desire, to which the promise is given; and of which, if we stop short, we deceive ourselves to our eternal ruin.

II. I shall lay before you, my brethren, some considerations which, under the agency of the Divine Spirit, will tend to produce in us these desires.

First. Reflect upon the greatness of these promised blessings. "I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life freely." Learn from the blessings themselves, that to be happy is to be in the enjoyment of God, in the presence of angels, in a perpetual calm of our passions-to be placed in a state of permanent felicity, where there will be nothing in the present to molest, nothing in the future to fear, nothing in the past to torment; but where we shall be forever near God, and like Him, where "they need no candle, neither light of the sun; for the Lord God giveth them light, and they shall reign forever and ever." Angels, who look into these things, are astonished to see the insensibility of many persons in our Christian assemblies to such promises as these. Consider, my brethren, the magnificent things by which these are represented. They are principally described in Scripture by figurative terms, taken from other objects, and

intended for other purposes. All nature contributes her portion. There is nothing in nature, and nothing which has inflamed ambition or avarice, but what is employed to aggrandize this subject, and to adumbrate the glories of it. If future glory is called a crown, it is "a crown of righteousness;" if it is called an inheritance, it is " an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away;" if it is called a river, it is "a river of the water of life, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb." In fact, it is to be a sharer in the triumphs of Christ; and, after witnessing with Him the banishment of the wicked, to be a partner in his throne, for "to him that overcometh, I will give to sit with me on my throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne." And if any thing can raise your expectations more, consider the fundamental fact of Christianity, with reference to what it cost the blessed Redeemer to procure these blessings. It was necessary for Him to descend from heaven, and become an inhabitant of this earth. It was necessary for Him to descend from heaven to become a partaker of our nature. It was necessary for Him to descend from heaven to be hung upon the cross. It was necessary for Him to descend from heaven to become our intercessor, that his intercession should continually succeed, and that He should present our prayers before the throne of God. Nor was Jesus Christ alone engaged in this work of redemption. It was the sole design of all the labours of the prophets. It was the sole design of all the communications of the Divine word. For this it was that the patriarchs walked with God; for this it was that the prophets underwent persecution; for this it was that they "wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented;" for this it was they were sawn asunder, devoured by wild beasts, and destroyed by slow fires; and all this because they asserted the liberty of walking with God. So that, after all, if the labours of Christ had not followed the labours of the prophets, they would have been inadequate to procure these blessings; which, be it remembered, my brethren, are the only blessings worthy of our pursuit.

After setting before your view such things as these, is it possible that you should seriously determine to barter these benefits for those pleasures that are but a moment in duration? Is it possible that you should barter these things for the sordid cares of avarice? Is it possible that you should barter them for the pursuits of ambition? Is it possible that you should barter them for mere intellectual pursuits, of which the wisest in human estimation have been so fond? Yet, even in these, the seeds of disquietude are too plentifully sown. What darkness attends the pursuits of learning at every step! How narrow are the bounds of knowledge-the solution of one question producing another, and suggesting other difficulties! They who have cultivated their own minds with most success, know this too well, for they are always uneasy, and are haunted by subtle distinctions and endless gradations; but, in the pursuit of the blessings here promised, there is all that s satisfactory in certainty, all that is enchanting in hope, and all tha: is sweet in possession. If you ask the meanest Christian

in this assembly his opinion of them, he will say, "Doubtless I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord."

Secondly. Consider seriously, my brethren, for this is a subject on which it is impossible to use too much reflection; it is to the want of seriousness of mind, and manly reflection, that there is any secret ridicule of these subjects; but recollect, that the blessings promised are the only ones you are sure of obtaining. There is an uncertainty in every other pursuit. We are continually exposed to change and disappointment in the present state; and we find that "the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor riches to men of understanding" for accident sometimes directs fools to prosperity.

Those who expect to secure for themselves some worldly advantage, pursued in well-laid schemes for a distant period, may never realize their purpose; for no one can say what he will be in a year or a day, much less at any distant period of life. It is here only that God has excluded uncertainty. He has purposely mingled it in all other pursuits, for the very reason that we may not confide in them; but here is certainty, that we may glory only in the Lord. The humblest, the weakest, in this assembly-every one contrite in heart-may be assured of entering into felicity. The poorest and weakest person, who sees and feels the importance of the Divine favour, and who thirsts after spiritual blessings, may attain them; for they are the promises of Him that cannot lie-they are the true and faithful promises of God. Whether success may attend us in other pursuits depends upon a variety of natural causes; but when God has been pleased to promise us, we rest on a sure basis, He makes all things certain. And this is the case with all the promises of the gospel; for thus says the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, I will give unto him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life frecly."

Lastly. Consider the eternity of these blessings. Eternity is, my brethren, an abyss in which all our thoughts are lost; but Christianity has made us familiar with the sensations it excites. It is the peculiar object of the word of God to set before us the never-perishing things of eternity, to call us off from the fugitive vanities of time; hence it is called "the words of this life." How far any thing here has any pretensions to be considered as life, and as durable, the experience of every one will testify. The more agreeable the verdure, the more transient it is found. None are so much exposed to vicissitude as persons exalted in life, for the storm blows with most fierceness on those who are the most elevated. The footing on which you stand, let me say to such, is slippery; your bodies are crumbling into dust; and "What will it profit a man, if he gain the whole world and lose his own soul?” But the happiness of heaven has been enjoyed by the patriarchs for thousands of years; yet they look forward to an eternity to come, free from anxiety or fear lest it should depart. This is the fountain of life to them. Let each of us, my brethren, secure this happiness, if we have any regard to our souls. I adjure you, by that grandeur of the soul that makes it restless everywhere else but in piety; by all that is

awful in death; by all that is serious in the approach of judgment, to secure an interest in eternity! Never imagine any thing here to be suitable to you, nor think yourselves unworthy of eternal life. From the moment you cherish these thoughts, you will begin to live indeed, and when this world is dissolved, you will have “an inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, and that fadeth not away."

Are there any persons here who feel desirous after these blessings? Do not, my friends, be discouraged. I cannot promise them in connexion with languid, transient wishes; but let your desires not be dismissed, and, however unworthy or feeble you are in yourselves, remember Jesus Christ has declared that He will not break a bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax. Cherish those movements of the Spirit which you now feel. Cherish the suggestions of that inward monitor which frequently admonishes you. Let the world show you its vanities; your conscience will then remonstrate, and remind you of spiritual blessings. Cherish that conscience; for if her admonitions are to be regarded, it must be in the house of God: in the house of pleasure she is sure not to be rigid. Let me congratulate those of you, my brethren, who feel these to be the prevailing desires of your heart and of your life. Happy, happy are you, though poor in this world! This poverty of spirit enriches and ennobles you; for it brings you within the promise of our Lord, "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." It matters not if the world favours you less than others: you have fewer pursuits and fewer temptations. Yes, your happiness is secure; you are safe for eternity. Neither life, nor death, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate you from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Let each of us cherish these desires, and secure the promised blessings by continuing to seek them; for the promises of salvation are made to those only who persevere and endure. "He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”

LXXIV.

CHRISTIANITY THE TEST OF CHARACTER.*

LUKE, ii., 34, 35: Simeon said, Behold, this child is set for the fa.. and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against; that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed

[Preached at Broadmead, Bristol, Lord's Day evening, Feb. 3, 1828.]

It was on the occasion of Mary's visiting the temple, to make the offering appointed by the Divine law for a mother after childbirth, that Simeon uttered these words. That offering was properly a lamb; but in cases of poverty, a pair of doves was accepted as a substitute for the costlier oblation, and the poverty of Mary

From the notes of the Rev. T. Grinfield.

induced her to make the humbler offering. The text intimates that the gospel would meet with various and mingled success; it would be rejected by some, embraced by others. God permits the rejection of Christianity, as well as ensures its reception, with a view to his glory; and the purpose is marked in those words: it is "that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." In general, the present is a state of trial, adapted by God to bring into action and view the latent principles of his creatures. Christianity is the grand trial of character; its rejection evinces the evil, its reception the rectitude, of the human heart beyond all other tests. We shall briefly consider in what respects Christianity proves itself the grand test of men's dispositions.

1. It puts to the proof whether or not men love truth. All profess this; hatred of truth is too monstrous to be avowed by any. Christianity ascertains the real state of the heart in this respect its rejection is the greatest test of hatred, its reception, of love, to truth of the most important kind. The gospel is styled the truth; Jesus Christ says that He came to bear witness to the truth, and declares that every one that is of the truth heareth his words. And the gospel is attended by sufficient evidence; to suppose it to be otherwise, is to cast a reflection upon its Divine Author. Those, then, who reject it may have merit of a speculative kind; but they fail in love to truth. God might have overwhelmed us with evidence; but He has been pleased to temper evidence with a degree of obscurity. Those that seek stumbling-blocks shall find them; those who have a guilty satisfaction in hoping that the gospel is false shall fall by their own delusions; but "My sheep," says Jesus Christ, "hear My voice." "Wisdom is justified of all her children." The apostles could see the glory of the only-begotten Son of God; the Scribes and Pharisees could not. And so it is in every age: Jesus Christ is set for the rise and fall of many.

2. The gospel is a test of men's hearts as affected with regard to God. Most profess to revere and love the Author of their being; the contrary expression is too monstrous to be admitted. But whether men do or do not love God, is best evinced by the touchstone of Christianity. For in the gospel God is far more fully manifested than in any other way; Jesus Christ is so perfect a transcript of the Divine character and perfections, that He declares, "Whoever hath seen Me hath seen the Father;" "I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me." The moral nature of God is made visible in Jesus Christ, consequently those who dislike Jesus Christ dislike God. Hence our Saviour told his enemies, "I know you that you have not the love of God in you: he that hateth Me hateth My Father also." The whole circle of creation and the whole course of providence do not exhibit the character of God with any thing like the clearness and completeness with which it is revealed in the doctrine of Christ, and especially in his atonement for sin; "for therein," as the apostle