the power of his presence. If it was enough to allay the fear of the disciples, to hear the words, "It is I," what a consolation is it to hope that we may be "with him where he is!" Who shall describe the joy of the trembling servant of the Lord, when he first opens his eyes upon the judgment-scat, and discovers in his Judge, not some stern and indignant minister of the Divine Justice, but this very Saviour; and sees the throne he has prepared for the contrite and believing! In this world of change and decay, my Christian brethren, we can hardly form a conception of a state that "changeth not," and of a Friend who, considered in his nature, his laws, and his love, is "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever." And yet such is the state, and such the Friend, to whom the text introduces the real Christian: "where he is, there you shall be also." Your happiness shall be bound up in that of your Lord's. It shall be lasting as the glory and perfections of Him, of whom it is said, "Thou art the same, and thy years shall not fail."

But I must here close this examination of the text, in order to make a brief application of it to several classes, of which every congregation may be conceived to consist.

1. And, in the first place, I would speak to any profligate or impenitent sinner, who may chance to be in this assembly.-What then, have you, I would ask, in the present life of pollution or folly you have chosen, to compare with the joys offered in the text to the lowly and affectionate disciple of Christ? And what are your hopes as to the future? You, alas! in your present circumstances, know nothing of this Sa

viour, and he knows nothing of you. It is true, you also have a Master; and (though I make this application of the text with awe and reverence) he too is "preparing a place for you;" that, if unchanged," where he is, there you may be also." But, oh the horror of such a state! of standing from hour to hour on so fine an edge, with the pit "whose smoke ascendeth for ever and ever," enlarging its mouth beneath you! Awake, awake, poor lost creature, to a sense of your miserable condition! "Press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus." Escape for your life! Look not behind you!" See if the kind and tender Saviour, who speaks to us in the text, will not even now have mercy upon you-will not still welcome you to his arms-lead you to his crosspardon and bless you throw wide to you the golden gates-snatch you from everlasting burnings, and seat you upon the throne, where He himself is seated for evermore.

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2. I would speak next to the thoughtless and worldly. It cannot, my brethren, escape your observation, that all the encouragement of the text is founded upon the conception that our happiness is derived from communion with Christ, from dwelling in his presence, and delight ing in his love. If, then, in opposition to all this, your happiness centres in this world; if the stream of your comforts rises on this side eternity; if to hear of Christ, to think of him, to speak of him, to pray to him, are not delightful occupations to you: then, to take any comfort from the text, and other passages of a similar import, is to usurp privileges to which you have no possible pretension, and to lay a flattering

unction to your poor deluded soul. Would to God that any thing I could urge upon you to-day -the shortness of life, the astonishing reverses of this state of being, the certainty of judgment, and of the eternal misery of the unconvertedmight prompt you to call upon the Redeemer for pardon, and grace, and everlasting compassion! The text speaks also to you; and it offers you, if penitent and renewed in the "image of God," a place in the world of spirits, in the bright chambers of heaven, in the happy region where the Saviour presides. And, as yet, He waits to be gracious, and calls upon you from "heaven his dwelling-place." O hasten, my brethren, to take refuge in his arms. Plead his own dying love to sinners. Relinquish the world, ere it abandons you, and leaves you to wither like a garland in the grasp of the great enemy of souls. Call upon the Saviour, that he may "plant you, as a tree of righteousness," in the paradise of God for ever.

3. Lastly, I would speak once more to that class of persons to whom the text is especially addressed, the doubting or sorrowing servant of the Lord Jesus Christ. Whilst I would continue to press upon you, my Christian brethren, the rich consolations of the text, I would also urge upon you one additional consideration. If the Saviour of the world is gone into heaven, not to repose after the work of redemption, not simply to receive the homage of admiring worlds, but to

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prepare a place in heaven for you;" how obvious and paramount is the duty that you also should, by the power of the Holy Spirit, labour to obtain a "meetness" for that "new heavens, and new earth, wherein dwelleth righteous

ness?"-Beware, my brethren, of the unsanctifying influence of the world, of its pleasures, its pursuits, its principles, and its cares. Gladly welcome every event of which it is the tendency and design to wean the heart from this world, and to fix it upon another. "Yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry." Walk, therefore, amidst the scenes of the world, as men waiting for your Lord, and to whom he can never come too soon. Listen to him, as he speaks from the circle of the heavens on which he sits: "Behold, I come quickly." And let every mouth and heart reply, Amen, even so: come, Lord Jesus.”

SERMON XIV.

THE BOOK OF JOB.

JOB xlii. 5, 6.

I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.

THE Book of Job must be considered as one of the most striking parts of the sacred writings. Its lofty eloquence, and its interesting story; the grandeur of the character whose history it records; his sufferings, his reasonings, his general integrity, his errors, his humiliation, his final tri

umph-all conspire to render it an invaluable legacy to the church of God. But, however important when understood, and however intelligible when closely examined; its plan and argument do not at once present themselves distinctly to the mind. So much that is right mingles itself with the false reasoning of the friends of Job, and so much of defect shades the excellence of the Patriarch, that we are almost startled, in the conclusion of the work, to discover the nearly unmixed approbation bestowed on the one, and the unqualified censure inflicted on the other. On these grounds, I have thought it might be useful to take a general survey of this interesting book; and to endeavour, under the Divine blessing, to draw from it some of those lessons it is calculated to convey.-May that Spirit who breathed these lessons of heavenly wisdom into the mind of the author of this history, be present with us in this inquiry!

It is my intention, in pursuing this examination,

I. TO TAKE A BRIEF SURVEY OF THE CONTENTS of the book of JOB; and,

II. TO STATE SOME OF THE PRACTICAL LESSONS

WHICH FLOW FROM IT.

I. In the first place, we are to take A BRIEF

SURVEY OF THE CONTENTS OF THIS SACRED BOOK.

The history opens by giving us some account of Job-that he was a man "perfect and upright;" one that "feared God," and "eschewed evil;" and that he was the "greatest of all the men of the East." The enemy of souls could not behold such a man without desiring his destruction. Accordingly, he ascends to the tribunal of God; at once denies that Job has any