enjoying God in all the manifestations of his presence in Christ, but in obeying him. "Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.' The moment a moral and intelligent being casts off the authority of God, he departs from real good; he becomes guilty, and consequently miserable. Nor is it possible to escape this misery without returning to obedience. Hence the design of the gospel is to recall men from their wanderings, and to bring them to a cordial acquiescence in the will of God, as well as cheerful submission to it. Christ gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people zealous of good works. The purification which he works inwardly by his Spirit is as necessary as the atonement which he made for sin by the sacrifice of himself; nor can there be peace and satisfaction experienced but in connexion with holiness and moral excellence.

When we possess this holiness of our nature arising from the knowledge, faith, and love of God, in Christ Jesus, we have the true happiness of man, even the happiness of heaven, begun: and it is of little consequence what share we possess of the riches, pleasures, and honours that are but of momentary duration. The sources of our great and eternal felicity, are independent of our poverty or wealth, our obscurity or eminence, our learning or our ignorance, our worldly disappointments or successes. Is not our happiness secure in having God for our portion, in enjoying all the blessings of his salvation, in being made meet for the everlasting kingdom which

VOL. II.

2 M

he has prepared for us, and which we have the hope of so soon entering, in the certainty that no calamities can essentially injure us, that no enemies can prevail against us? Is not he the happy man who can stand on the confines of both worlds with tranquillity, and say, in the confidence of christian hope," henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me, and not to me only, but unto all them also who love his appearing?" Of what avail to me are all the sources of enjoyment to which man during his perishable existence has recourse; and what are to me all the ills which he fears?" For I am persuaded that neither life nor death, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor things present, nor things to come, nor any other creature shall be able to separate me from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

III. The complete happiness of man will be found in the world to come. God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be bad. After surveying all the things done under the sun,-after we have seen the utter incompetency of human wisdom, and of human means,—of wealth, and power, and honour, to give ample and satisfactory enjoyment,-after we have observed, as we suppose, the very unequal distribution of good and evil,-the righteous suffering under poverty and oppression, and manifold calamities, and the wicked largely sharing of the good things of this life,— we are referred for an adjustment of the matter to a judgment to come, in which God will apportion to

every one according to his character and works. I is while looking to this day of unalterable decision, and to the eternity beyond it, that we can emphatically pronounce a life of worldliness, with all its greatness and its enjoyments, to be a life of vanity, and terminating in everlasting misery. In what light will such a life appear on reflection, when the Judge of all shall sit upon his throne, and before him shall be gathered all nations; when the books shall be opened, and he shall adduce all the events illustrative of the principles and character of each ?-" Rejoice, then, O young man, in thy youth; and let thine heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth; and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."

66

In what light also will a life of faith on the Son of God, of righteousness, and godliness, appear on that great day? It will then be regarded as the only true wisdom, as the only felicity that has survived the wreck of all things, and which will endure through eternity. Then shall the righteous shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father: the light of their full enjoyment shall never more be clouded, while God shall be their glory, and the days of their mourning shall be ended. The vanity and vexation of spirit, necessarily connected with all that is peculiar to the present state, shall no longer exist; whatever is adverse, whatever is defective, whatever is mysterious, in the scene through which we are passing, shall then for ever be removed. They shall hunger no more neither thirst any more, neither shall the sun light on

them, nor any heat; for the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and lead them to living fountains of water; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes."

Behold the true and the undecaying happiness of

man.

This is worthy of his warmest affections, and unceasing efforts. Unlike the enjoyments to which he clings in youth, in manhood, and in old age, which desert him in the hour of dissolution, and leave him to those days of darkness which shall be many, the very hope of this will sustain him in afflic tion, irradiate the gloom of death, and make him feel the substantiality of the life and immortality beyond. This hope outweighs in blessedness all the ills of the world, and will make him feel under them, that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared to the glory that shall afterwards be revealed

It is in the pursuit of this that he is to strive to enter in at the strait gate-to seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness,-to believe the gospel, and to obey it-and to deny himself daily, and take up his cross, and follow the Redeemer. This is a portion which will not disappoint his expectations, which he may freely obtain, whatever may be his rank or allotments in the world, which will never occasion him vexation or sorrow, and which will increase in its eternal enjoyment. To possess this is to be wise, and safe, and happy, in time and in eternity. Happy is the man that findeth this wisdom, and the man that getteth understanding.

In the pursuit of this true happiness, are we to consider all the sources of earthly enjoyment as of

no value? By no means. If you are learned, enjoy the satisfaction of learning; or beloved, refrain not from the delights of social and friendly affection; or honoured, do nothing to lower the influence of your name and reputation; or rich, extract from wealth, by temperately participating in its pleasures, and by doing good to others, all the enjoyment which it can yield. Use the world; but use it in entire subordination to the love, and fear, and commandments of God; use it in subserviency to the high, the chief, the only true happiness of man; use it in no way as your portion, but as a means of promoting your convenience while travelling through the desert to the home of your Father. "This I say, brethren; the time is short. It remaineth that they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep as though they wept not; and they that rejoice as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abus ing it. For the fashion of this world passeth away."

"Godliness, with contentment, is great gain. For, we brought nothing with us into this world, and, it is certain, can carry nothing out. And, having food and raiment, let us therewith be content. For they that will be rich, fall into temptation, and a snare, and into many fooolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil, which, while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. Charge them that are rich in this world, that they be not high-minded, nor trust in uncertain riches, but in the living God, who