loved. They are not few who will finally be gathered into that heavenly fold; John saw them "an exceeding great multitude, which no man can number." Notwithstanding all their original departures from God, and all their backslidings, when once brought to him, they shall then come in the perfection and beauty of holiness, and be presented a glorious Church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing. A vast and delightful scene of contemplation will then be opened to the view of those who love to think of the ways of God to man. The original design of recovering, and saving such multitudes of frail and sinning men, the several steps by which it was accomplished, its progress, and final completion, will all show forth the "riches both of the wisdom and the knowledge of God!" They will show forth his power, who, from creatures thus abject, forms minds that shall "shine as the brightness of the firmament, and as the stars forever and ever!" They will show forth his truth and faithfulness, which could not be provoked, nor vitiated by all their unfaithfulness. They will show forth his love and mercy, always the worker of wonders, now "glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe!" Well did God say to his ancient people, even in view of lesser mercies, "Not for your sakes, do I this, O house of Israel, but for my great name's sake!" And well does he utter the same truth in our ears. Innumerable are our transgressions, grievous is our unfaithfulness. But where we have multiplied offences, God has multiplied pardons. How patiently has he borne with us, restored our souls, and healed our backslidings. Forget not how often he has delivered you from evil, and kept you from falling; how graciously he has assisted you

in your duty, supported you under sufferings, and brought your trials to a happy issue. Forget not how he has defeated the plots of his and your adversaries to ensnare you; nor how punctually he has fulfilled his promises; nor how amply he stands pledged for all that remains to be accomplished in order to secure your final salvation. What he thus performs for his name's sake, is your hope. We have no hope but this. Blessed hope it is! "If God be for us, who can be against us?” He must have all the praise. His love is everlasting and immutable. He has no desire to change his mind. O let us admire and adore the Lord our Shepherd, and acknowledge our obligations to his matchless grace, and give him all the glory.

In the conclusion of these remarks, let the subject admonish all of the sin and danger of wandering from God. It is natural for us, my friends, to "go astray." The natural tendencies of our minds are evil; they are all on the wrong side; and though, in varied, and often opposite and contradictory forms, there is a leaning within us to what God has forbidden. Our sources of exposure may not be all alike; but they are all real, and unless closely watched, they will all be found to have great power. Temptation yielded to, unfits for present duty, and takes away the heart from God. And then, when once the heart is taken away from God, it is prepared for every sin; and it will be wondrous mercy if we are preserved from perdition. The day of the Lord is at hand. "Take heed to yourselves." Watch and pray. Seek the supply of the Spirit of grace, to mortify every sinful propensity, to regulate every internal desire, to preside over all your conduct, and to keep your heart fixed on God. It is

easier, safer, and happier, more useful and more honorable to yourselves and to God, to live habitually near to him, than it is to return to him when you have once wandered.

Let those, then, who are now wanderers from the fold of Christ, return to him in this, their day of hope and mercy. It is a fearful thing to be a wanderer from the fold of God. It is a fearful state of mind, and the

way of the wanderer is dark. You cannot lay your hand upon your heart and say you have a clear conscience; nor can you say that you are a happy man, so long as you wander from God. It is a dry and thirsty land where no water is-no living water, no wells of salvation, nothing to satisfy the cravings of the thirsty, perishing soul.

Are there none of you, my friends, who would fain belong to the flock of Christ? Perhaps you feel exiled from it, here on the great ocean. But his flock is

found on the sea, as well as on the land. You may sing here as truly as David did on the mountains of Judea, "The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want; he maketh me to lie down in green pastures, he leadeth me beside the still waters; he restoreth my soul; he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake." He is the Good Shepherd, who gave his life for his sheep. To those who follow him, he will give eternal life, and they shall never perish, neither shall any pluck them out of his hand. He gathers the lambs with his arm, and carries them in his bosom. God grant, that when this divine Shepherd houses his flock at the Last Day, you may all be found within his fold!

SERMON XX.

GOD'S CALL REFUSED.

PROVERBS i. 24-31. Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my connsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you: then shall ye call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but shall not find me; for that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord: they would none of my counsel; they despised all my reproof: therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices. For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of fools shall destroy them,

THIS solemn and affecting passage is from the lips of Eternal Wisdom. It is the voice of God heard everywhere, speaking in public and in private, in the house and by the way, on the land and on the ocean. The persons addressed are the simple ones, who love simplicity, the ignorant, unwary, and careless, who love to continue thoughtless and dissipated, and turn away from all those thoughts which interfere with their present pursuits of pleasure, reputation, or worldly gain. They are the scorners who delight in their scorning— those who deride and revile the truths and precepts of the Gospel, and glory in their impiety and unbelief. They are the fools who hate knowledge,-persons who have had some acquaintance with religion, whose con

sciences have been awakened and convinced, but who have broken these bonds, who sin in defiance of these convictions, and set at nought all counsels, and despise all rebuke. The consequences of their folly are here portrayed in glowing and mournful colors. They are the most dreadful calamity and terror;-fear and destruction, like the impetuous and all-prostrating blast of the whirlwind-distress and anguish seizing upon them -every hope and comfort fled-and every helper, human and divine, neglecting and disdaining their distress. The object of this discourse, therefore, is to point out some of the ways in which God thus expostulates with men, and to show that when they disregard his expostulations, they have reason to expect that he in his turn will disregard theirs.

I. I am to point out some of the ways in which God calls the children of men. He calls them,

1. In the first place, by his Word. Here, he opens to them the sources of divine instruction, the counsels of his infinite mind, the fountains of eternal Wisdom. Here he reveals to them truths which the lights of nature and reason could never disclose, which angels could not reveal, and which none but God knew. Here he makes them acquainted with the sublimest objects in the universe, his own infinitely great and divinely glorious character, government, and method of mercy by his well-beloved Son. Here he shows them the rule of duty, and the great end of their existence. Here he uncovers the depth of their moral depravity, and, if possible, the deeper abyss of woe and wrath which await all the impenitent workers of iniquity. Here he supplies the strongest motives which the universe contains, and which his own infinite mind