it is their pleasure, and they have in themselves his blessing resting upon them.

This is the last point, relative to the attentive and practical hearer, which was to be considered. "He being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer of the work, THIS MAN IS BLESSED IN HISs deed, or in his doings. Here the secret spring of all success in preaching or in hearing the word is discovered to us: THE BLESSING OF GOD! It is this alone which makes the difference between the two classes of hearers. "When the Lord opens their hearts, they attend to the things that are spoken;"* and when left to themselves, "they turn a deaf ear to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely!" "Paul may plant, and Apollos water, but God alone can give the increase." If any be fruitful in good works, through the hearing of faith, it is because they are "trees of righteousness, THE PLANTING OF THE LORD, that he might be glorified."† The excellency of the power rests not in him that speaks, nor in them that hear, but it is "by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts!" When that Spirit descends in gracious dews upon the sterile hearts of men, then believers spring up as "willows by the water-courses;" and then are "added to the church daily such as shall be saved.'

But the blessing here spoken of seems to refer especially to that gracious favour of God which

descends upon his believing people in the performance of these works of faith and labours of love. He blesses them in their deeds; he sweetens their toils, he helps their infirmities, gives success to their feeble efforts, mingles consolation with all their afflictions, guides them in all their difficulties, and brings them to a state of child-like dependence upon him. They often exclaim, "From thee is our fruit found!" "All our fresh springs are in thee;" and many a thorny way is thus beguiled, many a heavy burden lightened, and many a cup of bitterness sweetened and sanctified by an abiding sense of the presence, and favour, and smiles of their God. His blessing is upon them, His peace is in their consciences, and in His favour they find life, and light, and holy joy and love.

And as 66 THE WORD OF GOD" is a mirror of truth, to detect the real character of the hypocrite and of the ungodly, so is it daily consulted by the believer, in order to discover his own faults and inconsistencies, and to regulate and improve his own conduct. Hither he comes, in order to adjust his spiritual garments, to improve his graces, and to perfect himself in the beauty of holiness. Here he becomes skilled in the knowledge of himself and of his own heart; he does not "go his way, and straightway forget what manner of man he is;" but the features of his manifold corruptions are deeply impressed on

his mind, and he learns to distrust himself, to use all vigilance, and to watch unto prayer. Indeed, he would be in danger of depression of mind and ultimate despair, through the discoveries which he thus makes of the evils of his own heart, were it not that in this glass, this mirror of God's word, he beholds other features besides his own, even those of the perfect Saviour. This idea is suggested by St. Paul,* in a somewhat similar metaphor, where he says, "But we all, with open," or unveiled "face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image, from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord." The glass which reflects back upon the humble penitent his own deformities, presents him at the same time with a revelation of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. And as by daily meditation, he discerns more and more of his own insufficiency and guilt, so he becomes more and more absorbed in the contemplation of the beauty and all-sufficiency of his Saviour. THIS fills him with hope, and joy, and peace, THAT with humility and self-abasement; he weeps at the remembrance of the one, and his eyes glisten with delight at the thought of the other. And there is a transforming efficacy in such meditation. They who thus "look into the perfect law of liberty, and continuing therein, being not forgetful hearers, but doers of the work;" who thus contemplate,

* 2 Cor. iii. .18.

in the mirror of truth, at once their own unworthiness and the all-sufficiency of the Saviour, are, by God's blessing upon their work, “changed into the same image, from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord." This is God's appointed method of perfecting his saints; they gaze on his image in the face of his dear Son, till they catch something of his likeness-his holiness, his meekness, his faithfulness and zeal, are reflected on them; they continually lose their resemblance to the first man, as they become more assimilated to the character of "the second man, the Lord from heaven." And though they continue sinners, weak, helpless, and guilty, until the hour of their death; and are continually reminded of this by indwelling corruptions and outward temptations, yet by holy converse with God, and sweet communion with Christ, they advance in the exercise of spiritual affections and heavenly graces: sin grows more hateful and holiness more lovely in their eyes; until "they are made meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in light;" that effectual blessing of God, which first called them into the fellowship of the gospel, and has hitherto kept them therein, transplants them from the church on earth to the church in heaven, and they pass from the contemplation of the reflected image of their Creator here below, to the effulgence of His glorious and immediate presence above. Surely such "hearers are blessed in their deed."

In conclusion, let each one retire within the secrecy of his own heart, and endeavour to ascertain what effect has been produced upon him by the preached or written word of God. Let us remember that the issues of eternal life or eternal death hang upon this solemn investigation. We have seen that the preaching of the gospel is an ordinance of God, the channel of communicating his mercies or of denouncing his judgments; and therefore that to trifle with it, is to trifle with the majesty of God. Of what avail, then, has this divine ordinance been to us? with what ears have we listened to the truth? with what hearts received it? what change has it wrought in our opinions, feelings, and conduct? are we conscious to ourselves of any deep and abiding convictions of sin, any longing after holiness, any waiting upon God for mercy through the blood of Jesus? have we been moved either by fear or by love to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, to lay up treasure in heaven, and to relax our grasp of things earthly and temporal? Or have we, alas! been forgetful hearers, careless hearers, who listen with indifference and unconcern, as though these truths were all cunningly-devised fables, ingenious sophistries of man's invention, idle tales, that may be disregarded without fear or danger? Oh, what anguish of mind will one day come upon such persons, when they shall be called to meet their Judge, and he will ask them,