bestow a thought on the place of worship. For almost every one has the feeling that there is a fitness in marking out the buildings dedicated to God's service, with a beauty and comeliness that shall be all their own. We know well enough that the real glory of this, or any other sanctuary, must be the true and spiritual worship offered in it to the Most High. We know that, should a day ever come when his pure word ceased to be preached in it, when Christ crucified was no longer evidently set forth here, when the simplicity that is in him, and the holy liberty that makes his people free, instead of being maintained, be prevented and destroyed, from that day "Ichabod," the glory is departed, must be written on the walls, although all its outward goodliness and beauty remain untouched. We are assured of this, because we know that it is by the Gospel preached with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven, by the Gospel "coming not in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Ghost," that this poverty of spirit, and brokenness of heart, and awe of God's word are alone produced; and so the Lord's courts, are furnished with such worshippers as he will look to and accept.

But then again we feel that the place where such great and solemn things are transacted, such holy rites observed,-where the incense of united prayer and praise goes up to the mercy seat,-that such a place should be made, as far as can be, to accord with the high purposes which it serves as a sanctuary. How worthily and well this house is now fitted to serve all those purposes-judge ye for yourselves. Who will not view with pleasure its fair proportions now laid open, disencumbered of all that used to hide and mar them, and rejoice to see it now arrayed throughout its whole length and breath for the service of God,-no part any longer useless and shut out? While I do not forget that in the minds of some of you there must be fond associations connected with this chapel in its former state,-in the recollection of the ministry of that sainted man of God, who so faithfully, and distinctly, and unswervingly, for fifty years preached here the Gospel of salvation; yet I well remember, when, just eleven years

ago, another house of God in this place was restored and renovated, and we assembled, as now, to celebrate the occasion, how readily you answered there the appeal to your bounty, and how freely and liberally you then offered your gifts for its service; so now, when it is in the same holy cause, and for the same worthy object you are appealed to again, I am encouraged by that remembrance to ask and hope for liberal things again at your hands to-day.

Preached at St. Nicholas, Lynn, 23 Feb. 1853, it is believed on the opening of the New Church.

SERMON XX.

1 John ii. 1.-"My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

OUR Lord promised to bless and serve his people in two different ways, after he left the earth. In the first place, he assured them that he would be with them always, that he would never leave them, nor forsake them;-that, till the end of the world, he would be by the side of his flock, their divine guardian and guide;-that he would accompany them through all their pilgrimage;-that they had only to call and he would hear them. And this promise he fulfils through his Spirit.

The other promise was, that he would be their advocate in heaven, at the right hand of God. He assured them that he was entering heaven as their forerunner;—He was going there before them to make ready and prepare a place for them,-to be an advocate there for them at the Mercy Seat.-"I go to prepare a place for you."-John xiv. 2.

An advocate is one who undertakes to plead the cause of an offender. When a man is tried for a crime,

his advocate defends him, pleads for him, endeavours to prove his innocence, and to bring him off unpunished. This is the office of an advocate in an earthly court. His business is, if possible, to disprove the prisoner's guilt, and to show him to be innocent.

But we learn from scripture that the advocate we have with the Father does not proceed in this way, in pleading our cause; the matter is conducted quite differently in the court of heaven. And there are peculiar qualifications in him who pleads for a sinner before the Judgment Seat of God.

This text points out to us, first, our need of an advocate; secondly, how suitable an advocate we have in Jesus Christ; and thirdly, how he conducts his advocacy.

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It shows, first, our need of such an advocate. I write unto you, says the Apostle, that ye sin not. Whoever lives in sin, willingly commits it,-refuses to leave it off, and loves the practice of it,-is no disciple of Christ's. He is not of us. By this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the Devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God." "He that is born of God sinneth not; " that is, does not wilfully, habitually, carelessly sin. "I write unto you," saith the Apostle, "that ye sin not." "But if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous." This he adds to prevent despair: for let us try as much as we might, not to sin, we should still be sinning, and coming short of our duty. "In many things we offend all." Every day would have its sins-would need its confession; even though sin be struggled against, avoided to the utmost, and deplored. Therefore, to show how we are restored when fallen,-how received back to favour when we have ferfeited it by sin,—he declares the kind and effectual provision made by our Father in heaven to meet our case.- 66 If any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous."

But it is important that we are brought to see how indispensable such an arrangement is, of what vital consequence it is to us that there should be this advo

cate at the right hand of God,—a propitiation for our sins. You know well enough that every one of us must appear, sooner or later, before the Judgment Seat of Christ;-that however long a man may live without God in the world, entirely forgetful of the existence of such a Being, and as if quite independent of Him, he and his Maker must meet at last."For every one of us shall give account of himself to God."

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Now, in the sight of God we are all criminals have broken his laws, and punishment must follow. It may be delayed long, but the reckoning time comes at last, when the deeds done in the body must be looked into, enquired about, and a strict and minute scrutiny instituted into the obedience we have rendered, the use we have made of advantages and opportunities, the service we have done, the glory we have given to God.

The man has never lived who could undergo such a scrutiny as this, and come out from it with the testimonial that he has pleased his Maker in all things, and that no fault is found in him. The investigation is so strict and searching, the terms of obedience are so rigid,—for one sin a soul must die,—that it is quite out of the question for any one to think he can endure it. Think of this, you who are pleased with your own goodness, reckon upon your own pleading,- and expect to be accepted and saved for your own prayers and merits. Are you prepared to prove a perfect obedience, to deny the charge of having ever been guilty of a single sin? For you must do this or be lost."Whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all."

Now do you see that if the matter were to lie entirely between us and God our Maker;-if He sits as Judge, and you stand before him to enter into the all-important question of your guilt, or your innocence, -to have the momentous question brought to an issue, whether you are worthy to be exalted into heaven, or only fit to be cast down into hell;-do you see that if this depends on what you can say for yourself,-on the account you can give of your life here

on earth,—that it is all up with you at once? You cannot stand the application of such a searching test as this;-" Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them." Unless you can prove yourself never to have been guilty of a single fault, and not a sinner at all, nothing but a sentence of condemnation can be passed upon you,-absolutely nothing else. Do you see this? The law once broken, listens to no excuses, -allows of no palliations, will not brook a single breach of its precepts.-"The soul that sinneth it shall die."

And thus the whole human race was hopelessly cut off from all prospect of happiness for eternity;-each human being must be sent away into darkness, with the fearful malediction Depart thou cursed into everlasting fire, prepared for the Devil and his angels." The Creator and his creature meet alone.

But hearken, we have an Advocate. He is there to plead for those who have not a word to say in their own defence;-to speak for those who stand dumb, convicted and inexcusable, obliged to put their hands npon their mouth and say, "Behold, I am vile; what shall I answer thee?" This is why we want an advocate with the Father. There is awaiting each of us, an interview with the God who made us; how soon it may be we cannot tell, or who next that is here may be summoned to it, no one knows. But this is known about it, that it is for the purpose of giving account ;of being tried for life. This each of us knows,—that he is a sinner, and that "the wages of sin is death." How comforting, then, to man, against whom the proofs of guilt are fatally distinct, when tried for life, to be told by a righteous and successful pleader,—I will be your advocate. How comforting, when he knows he has to render account, to be able to resort to him, this effectual pleader!

Now see, in the second place, how well suited is this advocate. He has an interest with the Judge, for he is his well-beloved Son,-appointed to the office he fills by the Father himself. You must take care, in thinking of God the Father as a Judge, and of God