and sympathy, and joy, are nothing less than preposterous. But if, on the contrary, religion is such a service as that rendered by St. John to his Lord; if one of its main features is a readiness to discover and acknowledge the presence and the bounty of our Redeemer; if it is to adore Him whom our soul loveth; if it is to draw nigh to the tenderest of all friends; to hear his voice, to feel his hand, to rest upon his affection, to fulfil his will; to know that he watches over, and guides, and pardons, and loves, and sanctifies us; that all our peace, hope, and joy, are his free gift, are tokens of his present compassion, and pledges of his future love ;-then, coldness and lifelessness in religion are obviously unnatural, and even monstrous; and we may believe that the angels of God contemplate with astonishment and awe the depth of that corruption which allows of insensibility or tameness in the midst of such blessings, and in the service of such a Master. Justly, therefore, may we say, to those who refuse to take a scriptural view of the character of God, If the Lord be such a Being as you conceive, it is not enough merely to serve him with coldness-serve him not at all; treat his altars with neglect, and his name with contempt;-for such a Being can have little claim upon your homage and affection. But if the Gospel be true; if our God is the "Father of mercies and God of all comfort;" if our Redeemer is the "good Shepherd," who" laid down his life for his sheep;" then renounce all coldness and neutrality; bend your knee and bow your heart before your Father and Friend; and let every corner in the temple, and every chamber of your dwelling resound with hymns of gratitude. "O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things; with his own right hand and with his holy arm hath he gotten himself the victory:" "He hath visited and redeemed his people:" "This is our God; we have waited for him: this is the Lord; we will rejoice and be glad in his salvation."'

2. Lastly, Let me urge upon the servants of God the assiduous and devout cultivation of that spirit of love, and of intimate union with him, by which the religion of St. John is characterized.-It cannot be questioned, that the tenderness of our Lord, of which you have so striking a display in the text, is felt and exercised towards his church in all ages. What, then, I would now ask for, is the same promptness to recognise the presence, the hand, the love of our Redeemer, which is here manifested by the disciple whom he loved. We readily enough, perhaps, discover the hand of God in the gift of great and peculiar bounties; in the deliverance from powerful temptations, or from awful and appalling dangers. But do we also recognise it in our every-day blessings,-in the exemption from trials; in the gift of health, of competency, of kind friends, of a free government, a scriptural church, a liberty to seek God and to benefit his creatures according to the dictates of our own conscience? Do we discover his power and his presence in the splendour of the heavens and the verdure of the earth, in the music of the woods and the fragrance of the flowers? Do we also recognise the love and power of God where the task is still more difficult,-in scenes of trial and of sorrow; in the tempest which strips the fair branch of family happiness, and leaves us in silence and solitude to pursue the pilgrimage of life; in the sudden extinction of our worldly expectations, and the dissipation of the thousand day-dreams with which fancy or enthusiasm had surrounded us? Are we prompt to say, amidst the crush and tumult of disaster, "It is the Lord?" I hear his voice even amidst the 'rushing of the whirlwind. I see him riding on the 'storm, and subduing all things by the energy of his

love, and causing them to work" together for my "good." Happy, thrice happy, the heart which is thus quick to discover and acknowledge the mercy of great Benefactor, and which maintains this intimate

the

communion with him! Cherish that intimacy, my Christian brethren, with the deepest anxiety, by constant vigilance, and by earnest prayer. Avoid every thing which may weaken or interrupt it. And to this end, remember, that the feast at which your Lord cannot preside, is no feast for you; the friend whom your Lord cannot take to his bosom, is no friend for you; the amusement which, by its opposition to a scriptural rule or spirit, would have cost him tears upon earth, and which now "crucifies" him "afresh," can be no amusement for you. Say, to all who taunt you with the discomforts of a life of faith and love to Christ, "We have bread to eat ye know not of." Say, to those who would withdraw you from your allegiance to Christ, and subject you to any other master, To whom should we go? He has the words of eternal life.' And, thus simply and faithfully cleaving to him, may his blessing prevent and follow you! May his promise to the church be fulfilled to yourself: "Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness."

SERMON V.

THE YOUNG RULER.

MARK x. 21, 22.

Then Jesus beholding him loved him, and said unto him, One thing thou lackest: go thy way, sell whatsoever thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;

and come, take up the cross, and follow me. And he was sad at that saying, and went away grieved: for he had great possessions.

Ir may have happened, to some of those to whom I am addressing myself on the present occasion, to have been introduced into the society of an individual calculated, in every way, to fix the eye and to attract the affections; to have gazed upon him with admiration and delight; but to have had that delight suddenly checked, by the intelligence that he carried about with him the seeds of some disease, which was conducting him painfully and rapidly to the grave. The pang with which such a case would be contemplated, is nearly allied to that with which we read the history of the young person in the text. So lovely and attractive, in many points, does he appear to have been, that it is said, "Jesus beholding him loved him." Nevertheless, he was the victim of an inward disease, so deep and destructive, that, unless a cure was wrought, of which we have no account in Scripture, it appears probable that he sank to his grave under the displeasure of God, and suffered the awful penalty of unpardoned transgression.

The facts of his history are at once so interesting and instructive that I feel anxious to enter into a somewhat particular examination of them; and, with this view, to consider,

I. His APPROACH TO OUR LORD.

II. The COMMUNICATION OF CHRIST WITH HIM. III. HIS DEPARTURE FROM CHRIST.

1. In the first place, we are to consider the APPROACH OF THIS YOUNG PERSON TO CHRIST.

And here, perhaps the very mode of his approach, as indicating the earnestness of his desire to come to Christ, may not be thought altogether unworthy of notice. Although" a ruler," and therefore a person of some rank, it is said, "he came running" towards him. It is also stated, that, when he came nigh to Christ, he bowed himself in deep humility before him. It is likewise observable, that he addressed our Lord by the title of "good;" a title never applied in the Talmud, or any of the Jewish expositions of Scripture, except to God; and that he approached him, not, like too many of his countrymen, with some question of idle curiosity or ensnaring subtilty, but with an earnest application for instruction on the most important of all subjects. These circumstances bear a decisive testimony to the serious and reverential mind with which he accosted our Saviour. There is another, in which he stands favourably distinguished even from some sincere disciples of Christ. He did not, like Nicodemus or Joseph of Arimathea, honour him only in secret, or visit him under the veil of night; but drew nigh to him frankly and openly, as a man in search of truth, and neither afraid nor ashamed to be seen in the pursuit of it.

Observe the nature of the question which he asks: "What shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?" This inquiry, far from being unreasonable, is the first and chief question which ought to be found upon the VOL. II. I