doctrine of the blessed God! Here then is a certainty of perpetuity of good; no preacher (if one could be found wicked enough) can alter the doctrines delivered here.

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I have been deeply interested in this; it is an era in my pilgrimage; and I am so delighted that I can truly say, "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." You who have co-operated with us in this good work, accept our thanks, and may the God of peace bless you with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus.

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You have kept the best wine, I hope, to the last; pour it out; do it cheerfully. Now choose for yourselves how much God shall bless you.

SERMON II.

BE CAREFUL FOR NOTHING.

Philippians, iv., 6, 7.-Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

Sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, and yet possessing all things, was Paul's motto. No man knows this in theory. Great were the troubles and sorrows he had to encounter. They increased upon him; but if he had increase of sorrows, he had increase of joy. Jesus Christ always caused him to triumph in every place, and hence he could say to his dear Philippians, "Rejoice in the Lord alway," in every trial. With the eye of his faith contemplating the yet greater sufferings they should be called to endure, he says, "Let your moderation be known unto all men." It is difficult to express in one English word the force of the original, "the yielding up of yourselves." The sturdy oak, which has stood the shocks of two hundred years, meets at last with a tempest unusually violent; refusing to yield to the storm, it is

shivered by the lightning or torn up by the tempest; but the gentle willow bends to the blast and is saved; this is the idea as though the apostle had said, now do not be stubborn under your persecutions; it will but increase the fury of your enemies; but bend, yield yourselves; let all your enemies see it; it will be the most effectual way; the storm will blow over you, you shall not suffer by the blast. "The Lord is at hand;" he is just at the door, waiting to avenge his own elect. Stubborn resistance has always fed the monster persecution. But they might reply, " Is not suffering, suffering still? Can we be insensible under it? We cannot but feel." Now the apostle says, "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." In these words we have pointed out to us one of the greatest evils of the human heart, and also its cure. The evil is an incessant concern for our temporal affairs; that overthoughtfulness which our Lord so pointedly condemns in his Sermon on the Mount. "Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you, by taking thought, can add one cubit unto his stature? And why take ye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you that even Solomon, in all his glory, was not arrayed like one of these."-The Greek means, "tear your heart from it;" rend your heart from these earthly tendons which bind it; loosen these bands. This is one of the greatest evils of the human heart, and most difficult to extract. (Was it not the greatest sin of the Israelites ?) Its evil consists in three things.

1. The dishonour it reflects on God as the moral governor of the universe. It distrusts his care of his own; and the

man who cannot trust his God as the God of Providence, will not trust him as the God of grace. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father."

2. In its effects on yourself. Though it is certain it can produce no good effect nor add a cubit to the stature, yet it is indulged in, and it corrodes in the mind; having its seat in the heart, the centre, it spreads its influence over the system; and I believe ninety-nine out of one hundred of unhappy maniacs were produced by this; not to speak of the thousands cut down in their eagerness of worldly pursuits, destroying soul and body together.

3. In its effects towards others. The passion of envy is excited by this; I envy in others something which my covetous heart desires. I hate the person possessing it, and am therefore a murderer in my heart, and accounted as one by Him who searches the heart. Thus it leads to suicide and murder, as well as dishonouring God.

Now, blessed be God, there is a cure for this.

II. Be careful for nothing. As if he had said, look within; abstract yourself from the creature; retire from the world and into yourself; let the matter lie between God and you; let no third person be concerned; call not in the world as the umpire; you will need none; you will both be of the same mind; "joined to him, you will be of one spirit with the Lord;" nay, instead of calling in the world as the umpire, you shall overcome the world, put your neck on it, and slay your dire, indwelling enemy. What, then, is the remedy prescribed by him who daily proved it? "Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your request be made known unto God." Your heavenly Father careth for you.

"Let your request be made known unto God!" Oh! how often have you refused this advice; you have scattered your cares to the four winds, or you have hid them in your own heart; you have permitted the worm to feed upon the bud; perhaps you have thought, I can do nothing else. The wife has said, oh! if I had a religious husband, how would I

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blend my soul with his; but, alas for me, he has no religious sympathy! or the husband says, oh! if my wife were a helpmeet, what solace should I have! while the child exclaims, oh! if my parents were but godly! But if you have not found sympathy in the domestic circle, probably you have unbosomed yourself to a friend; it may be he was a worldly friend, and he suffered you to show him your bleeding heart, and yet refused you any sympathizing balm! You leaned on earth, but the reed broke! You leaned on earth, but the spear pierced you more and more, making a deeper and yet deeper wound. But suppose your friend be sincere, yet he cannot go with you far enough; he may walk part of the gloomy path, but as the clouds gather he leaves you. There is a point at which all human friendships terminate: "I can go no farther with my friend." There is none you can get to enter into your soul; the workings of secret anxiety and its sorrowful forebodings are too big for utterance; you have apprehensions which you cannot explain.

But, thank God, "there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother," and he allows you to come to him when all human joys have fled. There is a wonderful effect produced by human sympathies; and shall not a greater effect be produced by Divine? He can be "touched!" the Godman, your brother! "His bowels melt with love." He sees the whole soul naked and open; he hears the inexplicable groan, and enters into all your feelings, for he knows whereof you are made. I fear we do not sufficiently value a throne of grace; we rather tell our sorrows to any one than Him! and yet see his love! "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee;" and see how great the condescension; he stoops to ask your friendship! and it is the very nature of Divine friendships to have no reserves.

"In prayer." No other way of approaching him; no other means will do; it is only prayer that throws off the load. Prayer, says Chrysostom, is the flight of the soul into the bosom of God! Yes; the dove is pursued, dangers increase, no possibility of escape is left; but she flies into the

breast of her Lord; there she is safe. It is in this exercise alone the Christian is conqueror. Satan can blind in any other way, but a soul engaged with the Deity, talking with him face to face, presents a sight which Satan shudders to behold; he can throw no cloud between, nor any mound to eclipse his glory: the soul at audience with the Deity! here it is strong! here it is conqueror! Jesus sympathizes, and carries the cross with him. Strong in the Lord, we rise from our knees, saying, we will not fear what man can do unto us, for the Lord God is our strength.

"And supplication." Prayer brings the plea, supplication urges it; the soul brings the request to God, and refuses to withdraw it; though it may not be immediately granted, yet it is urged again and again. God often permits this; he will try your faith; he will appear as though he heard you not; he will put you off a long time. "But shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them?" He will often bear long, and perhaps your faith begins to fail and hope expire while you cry," O Lord, how long?" Yes; he may suffer you to collect the wood, to ascend the mount, to build the altar, to lay the wood in order; nay, to bind your Isaac, and even stretch forth your hand to slay your son! he may try you to the uttermost! But though he bear long, he will avenge them! when your faith is unshaken, even "though the figtree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vine; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls; yet I will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation;" he will deliver. He may refuse the widow's cry for a long time, but he will deliver her at last; his name is yet Jehovah-jireh: when the last extremity was come a ram was caught in the thicket:

"God hears their sighs and counts their tears,

And shall lift up their head."

"With thanksgiving:" gratitude in the heart. This should always accompany our prayers; indeed, the very privilege of addressing him ought to inspire this! it is implied in prayer; prayer has always for its foundation the promises of