he read was this: "He was led as a sheep to the slaughter, and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In bis humiliation his judg ment was taken away, and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth." Upon hearing these words, Philip accosted him with this question, "Understandest thou what thou readest?" The other ingenuously confessed that he did not; and having, with uncommon courtesy, taken the Evangelist up into his chariot, begged to be informed who the person was whom the prophet had in his eye. "Then," as we read in the 35th verse, "Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same Scripture, and preached unto him Jesus."

Thus both the preacher and his subject were very remarkably ordered in the providence of God; and, as might be expected from such favourable presages, the discourse was accompanied with the powerful influences of his grace: For upon their coming to a certain place where there was water, the new disciple, of his own accord, modestly signified his desire to be baptized; and after professing his faith in Christ, in these few but solemn words, "I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God," the chariot was stopt, and Philip went down with him into the water and baptized him. A

3d Incident, no less remarkable than the former two, is recorded in the verse where my text lies. "When they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the Eunuch saw him no more." How admirable, how perfect are the works of God! These two were brought together by the agency of an angel, and now they are parted asunder by a miracle, but a miracle of wisdom as well as of power. For this sudden and supernatural removal of the preacher, was a powerful confirmation of the doctrine which

be taught, and had an obvious tendency to impress on the mind of the new convert this important truth, that although a man had been employed as the instrument of his conversion, yet the work itself was truly divine, and the glory of it due to God alone.

Accordingly we learn, from the latter part of the verse, that all these wonderful events had a most happy influence on his mind. He was transported with what he had seen, and heard, and experienced; his judgment approved the wise choice he had made, and he went on his way rejoicing. He went on his way, i. e. he proceeded on his journey homeward. The new persuasion be had received into his mind did not mislead him into fanciful plans of action, inconsistent with, or perhaps opposite to, the duties of his station. No, he knew that the religion he had embraced, instead of releasing him from these duties, rather bound him to a more faithful and diligent performance of them. He therefore went on his way, and he rejoiced as he went. He felt his soul enriched with heavenly grace. He had now got a treasure which he could properly call his own, even that pearl of great price, with which all the treasures of Ethiopia were not worthy to be compared.

Your condition, my brethren, is in several respects similar to the condition of this man. He had solemnly avouched the Lord to be his God: You, with equal solemnity, have this day done the same. He had just received one seal of the covenant of grace: You, this day, have received the other. He had a long journey before him: Ye also are travellers through this wilderness, toward the promised land of rest. In these circumstances I think that, without apology, I may take occasion, from the words that have been read, to address you with a twofold exhortation:

I. To go on your way heavenward. And,
II. To rejoice as you go.

I TRUST I need hardly inform you, that the spiritual repast to which you have been this day admitted, is purely intended to strengthen you in your journey to the heavenly country. God sends us these grapes from the Canaan above, not to detain us in the wilderness, but to allure us out of it, and to make us hasten our steps towards that country of which they are the natural and spontaneous product. My first exhortation, therefore, is both seasonable and necessary-Arise and go forward. Many who mistake the nature of this ordinance, are very anxious and busy for a few days, in making a sort of formal preparation for it. Then their countenances are demure, and their steps are solemn, and their conversation is precise, and their attendance upon the most protracted services of devotion indefatigable; and this they call religion, and trust in its merit to absolve them from all the dishonest, worldly, uncharitable, and ungodly practices, of which they are guilty in the other periods of their time. But I trust, my brethren, that ye have not so learned Christ, and I trust that we, who are your spiritual guides, shall never encourage you in so fatal a delusion. I address you now, as the disciples and friends of Christ. I speak to you in his name; and that his authority may be the more unquestionable in the exhortation I am to give you, I shall deliver it in the very words which his own spirit hath employed. "I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." And beware of a sinful conformity to this world, "but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of

God. As ye have this day received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him," in a manner suitable to the vocation wherewith ye are called, with all lowliness and meekness, with long suffering, forbearing one another in love, endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.-Add to your faith, virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; and to knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity." Think not that ye "have already attained; but this one thing do ye, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, press towards the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. And I beseech you, brethren, that every one of you do shew the same diligence, to the full assurance of hope unto the end; that ye be not slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience do now inherit the promises. -Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.-And let your path resemble that of the just-a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day.-Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil-having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word

of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance."

These few passages of Scripture, which speak to us directly as soldiers and travellers, who, under the conduct and tuition of the great Captain of Salvation, must force their way to the Zion above, fully express the meaning of my first exhortation; and as they are not my words, but the words of the living and true God, the divine authority with which they are marked, must necessarily imply our obligation to obey them, and consequently give a greater weight to my present address than any arguments that I could possibly devise. Let me therefore once more repeat the exhortation, and call upon you to make progress in your Christian course. Let your present attainments, instead of satisfying you, only incite your zeal and ambition to rise still higher in the excellencies of the divine life. Carry ever in your minds, that the design of the solemn and instrumental duties of religion is to beget and strengthen those principles and habits of goodness in your souls, by which they will be gradually ripened for the life of heaven. Stir up your faith to behold him who is invisible, that you may walk before him in the light of the living, having no other anxiety but to do what he commands; no other ambition but to enjoy his favour now, and to receive his approbation at last. Let your meditation on those sufferings of the Redeemer, which ye have been shewing forth to-day, instruct you what you are to expect in the present life, and how you ought to behave under all its trials and afflictions. Do not flatter yourselves with the prospect of uninterrupted ease, and unclouded enjoy. ment; but consider him who endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, when at any time ye are wea