most appropriate and available. He has in his heart an unfailing fountain of sympathy and good-will for all classes and conditions of men. Deeply imbued with the Spirit of his Master, he is prepared to "rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." He does not even wait to be called, but flies instinctively to the relief of the afflicted and oppressed, the sick and the dying. It is the usefulness of correct example, of pious principle, of kindest, wisest instruction; the usefulness of sympathy, benevolence, and prayers; the usefulness of moral power, that lifts up the degraded and wretched, that relieves the distressed, and that saves the lost. It is obedience to the sacred command, "As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith." In this mode of life, then, the true mission of man may be accomplished. He may become a ministering angel to his suffering brethren; the hand of Providence to bind up the wounds and relieve the distresses of men; to point the weary wanderer to his home in heaven. 7. It is a safe life.

It is the safety of rectitude; for, in rendering his heart and life to Christ, he has but fulfilled a high obligation, founded in purchase and gratitude, and sustained by all his interests here and hereafter. It is according to universal experience, that the safety of any man depends upon his being right. It is not the array of physical force, or the strength of towering intellect, or the power of genius, that can secure safety to the soul amid the storms of life, or in the agonies of death. No force can protect the spirit that is at war with God and duty. But what power can harm the servant of Christ? The purity of his principles, the integrity of his heart, defies all assaults from his spiritual foes.

It is the safety of Divine protection. "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." He who has "all power in heaven and earth," has distinctly said, "I will never leave thee nor forsake thee." So that we may boldly say, "the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." Under the guardianship of Omnipotent power, the Christian is, therefore, eternally safe. You may wound his body, destroy his property, blast his reputation, and take away his life, but his interests are too spiritual and heavenly, to be affected by such acts of violence

and outrage. They depend upon union with a power impervious to the attacks of earth and hell. Safe, servant of Christ, for ever safe, "for ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory."

8. It is an eternal life.

The most blissful and fascinating forms of life, which we can here behold, are destined to end. Death is written upon the countenance of every living man. All the splendors of wealth, the innocence of youth, the tears of friends, and the skill of physicians, are not sufficient to bribe the monster. But life to Christ is invested with the sacred rights of immortality. It depends not upon the health of the body, or the will of enemies. Its vital source is the infinite Saviour, who has said, "because I live, ye shall live also." It must, therefore, endure when the body decays, "the stars grow dim with age," and time itself is lost in eternity. The abiding faith which connects it with the Redeemer, secures its endless existence. And this is its crowning glory. It is delightful to live in the service of Christ, to the glory of Christ on earth; to feel the power of his living grace in the soul, supported by constant union with him; to feel the warm gushings of this holy life, when all nature recedes and disappears; and it must be joyful beyond conception, to find, that after the body is dead, this life endures, in union with the Saviour, near the burning throne, amid the songs of angels, and the shouts of the Redeemer. But to feel that it is endless, leaves nothing to desire, overwhelms the soul in love, in gratitude, and joy. Eternal progression in life depending for its resources upon the exhaustless nature of God!

But all this is the judgment of love. This life from the dead, in union with Christ, cannot seem possible to a man in sin. He deems it a strange, but beautiful theory. Its reasons he cannot feel, though he may admit them. A spiritual life, he allows to be possible; but of this spiritual life, which is enjoyed by the perfect Christian-life to Christ in distinction from self--he has no conception. He has no idea of the holiness of such a life. His reason decides in favor of a virtuous and pious life; but it cannot in favor of this total deadness to the world, this burial of self, this living entirely to Christ. Honor is the last thing he would expect to find in the humble life of a devoted Christian. Happiness, as it seems to him, is in the unrestrained gratification of self; or, if in

candor it be admitted to belong to a religious life, it is not this life, nor is it this happiness. The usefulness which is paramount duty to the Christian, he knows nothing of. The safety which the power and love of Christ secure, and the endless glory that awaits his followers, are alike foreign to his thoughts and his faith. These are all revealed to love.

1. How important is correct judgment in relation to the atone

ment.

The death of Christ, its nature, cause, and object, must transcend, in interest to a race of sinners, all other events in the history of time. That some dread calamity has befallen us, is evident to all. Fearful guilt preys upon our spirits here, and dreadful penalties threaten us hereafter. Our time is brief to settle the question of remedy for these evils. By a voice from heaven, we are called to repentance, faith, and a holy life, as the only hope of our fallen spirits. What can divert us from an effort to know the power of this remedial scheme? How can we be led into the divine mysteries of redemption? How can we know him "whom to know aright is life eternal ?" is a question urged by all the susceptibilities of mind; by all the hopes and fears, the joys and sorrows of the race. 2. The method of the apostle is the only true one.

It is the method of experience. He had exhausted all the ordinary modes of investigation, and without success. Reason and authority had been alike unavailing, in their influence upon his judgment. But no sooner had he been thoroughly converted, and filled with love, than the glories of redemption burst upon his vision, with overwhelming power and, amid the revelations of mature experience, he exclaimed, "The love of Christ constraineth us to judge thus, that if one died for all, then were all dead: and that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again." Here, then, is the true mode of studying this wonderful theme. No mind can thoroughly adopt it, without reaching the same exalted conclusions. To this sure test we invite the world. Let them learn all they can from the highest efforts of reason, from strict attention to the lives and instructions of others, and from the authority of Revelation. They will learn enough to justify effort, and create responsibility. But if they pause here, their opinions will inevitably be speculative, superficial, and inadequate. Let them yield their hearts to the subduing power of

the Gospel; cast themselves upon the merits of the atonement, and, with the apostle, they shall reach the judgment of love; "even the mystery which hath been hid from ages, and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in" them" the hope of glory."

3. Let us fulfil the object of the Saviour's death.

Life to Christ, in distinction from self, is our true, our only mission. Mistake at this point, is the reason of all our weakness, all our failures. The experience of conversion has not been matured. Worldly principles have been allowed the ascendency, and self, instead of the glory of Christ, has become the absorbing object of our affections and efforts. Shall we continue thus recreant to our holy trust? What shall prevent our living wholly to Christ? It is a possible, a holy life; a reasonable, honorable, and happy life; a useful, safe, and eternal life. What further inducement can we require? Life to any other purpose, defeats the special end of the Saviour's death. The church must inevitably choose between life to self and the world, with disgrace and the ruin of souls; and life to Christ, with triumph on earth, and glory in heaven.

SERMON LXXXIX.

HEAVENLY MANSIONS.

In my Father's house are many mansions. John xiv. 2.

THE annunciations of the blessed Saviour, in the preceding chapter, concerning the treachery of Judas, and his own approaching death, had filled the hearts of the disciples with perplexity and grief. These were startling facts; and they were overwhelmed

with the perfidy of the one, and the irreparable loss they should sustain in the other. In their esteem, the sun of their most cherished expectations was about to set in a starless night; nor did they dream that morning could dawn beyond it.

Here was their great error, which Jesus corrects and dissipates, in the beautiful language and enrapturing revelations which open the fourteenth chapter. "Let not your heart be troubled,"-because, first, "ye believe in God" now, which is right-important -but not sufficient; "believe also in me." Second. Hearken to what I say "In my Father's house are many mansions," and I am going to "prepare" them for you; and when this work is accomplished, I will return and receive you to myself, etc. What thrilling thoughts are here presented! The immortal existence of the saints, the character of their heavenly inheritance, and the period of its essential development.

I. The immortal existence of the saints. "Where I am, there ye may be also. "Because I live, ye shall live also." This is mainly proved from Revelation.

1. The Saviour's general promise in the passages quoted, and in the following-"Where I am there shall my servant be."

2. His particular promise to the penitent thief-" To-day shalt thou be with me in paradise."

3. The developments on the Mount of Transfiguration. Moses and Elias were there! Moses had been dead fourteen hundred years; and nine hundred years had elapsed since the transfiguration of Elijah! And yet Peter, James, and John, beheld them on the heights of Tabor when Christ was transfigured.

II. The character of their heavenly inheritance-of heaven. I. It is a real place; and thus stands opposed to the imaginary paradise of Mahomet, or the elysium of the ancient heathens, or the immortal hunting grounds of the American Indian.

2. It is a "prepared" place. 3. It is a place of purity and from troubling," etc.

"I go to prepare," etc. peace. "There the wicked cease

4. Of unalloyed friendship. Mutual recognition-fellowship of saints-general assembly of the church of the first-born-"a multitude which no man could number"-coming from the east and the west-gathered on the plains of heaven-not for strife or battle-but harmony and love, etc.

5. Of repose and reward." There the weary be at rest.".