upon earth, has been, in reality, a contest between pride and love. The success and termination of it may direct us where to choose our party. Pride, as displayed in the rebellion of Lucifer, threw angels from the height of heaven, into the bottomless pit: love, as manifested in the obedience of Christ, exalted man, from the dust, to the thrones of angels in heaven. This leads us to consider,

Lastly, the benevolence and charity of the holy angels; the love they have always shown for man, and the services by them rendered to him.

And here a scene opens, worthy of all admiration, gratitude, and praise. For never do those blessed spirits obey with greater delight the commands of their Maker, than when mankind is the subject of those commands; so deeply, from the beginning, have they interested themselves in our welfare.

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When the world was created, and man put in possession of it, these "morning stars sang together, and the sons of God shouted for joy. Angels accompanied those servants of the Most High, the ancient patriarchs, during the course of their pilgrimage. By angels was the law given on Sinai; by them were the armies of Israel directed, on their march through the wilderness, protected after their establishment in Canaan, and their enemies discomfited. By them was the Saviour proclaimed on the night in which he was born, comforted after his temptation, strengthened in his passion, testified of at his resurrection, attended at his ascension. They shall again attend him on his return to judgment, gather together his elect from the four winds, and celebrate his final triumph

over our last enemy. "Even now there is joy '66 among them over one sinner that repenteth:" and the apostle says concerning them, " Are they "not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister "to them that shall be heirs of salvation?"

Lord, what is man, that thou art thus mindful of him, and causest him to be visited by celestial spirits? But, in the person of Christ, one far above all created spirits did not disdain to visit him; and the court of heaven is only attendant on its King: " Wherefore, when he bringeth his "first begotten into the world, he saith, And let "all the angels of God worship him."

But-" are these things indeed so?" Do the holy angels take a decided part in our concerns? Let us, at length, take a part in them ourselves, and not continue wholly indifferent as to what we have been, what we are, and what we shall be. Some little time, surely, should be spent in the inquiry. Spirits above are active to save us; spirits below are active to destroy us; and we sleep, not to be awakened, perhaps, till it is too late.

At the creation of the world, did "the morning "stars sing together, and all the sons of God shout "for joy?" And do men forget to be thankful for it? In a fit of spleen, do they say, they have no reason to be thankful for it? In a fit of infidelity, do they deny both the creation and the Creator? Such men, alas! there are: shame on them-equal shame on those who have no more sense than to admire and encourage them. "Praise the Lord, "all ye works of his, in all places of his dominion;" and all ye sons of men, for whom those works

were wrought: "praise the Lord, O my soul; and "all that is within me praise his holy name."

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It is written, "When he bringeth his first be"gotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him ;" and have we lived to hear persons, calling themselves Christians, with Bibles in their hands, telling us, they find themselves obliged in conscience to quit the church, because she is guilty of idolatry in now doingwhat she always has done-in paying divine honours to her Lord and Saviour? Such men likewise there are; and they too have their admirers and followers. The more is the pity! But marvel not: "it is the last time."

To conclude-Are angels "ministering spirits, "sent forth to minister to them that shall be heirs " of salvation;" rejoicing when we do well, and, consequently, grieving when we do otherwise? Have they been, in effect, under every dispensation, the guardians of the people of God? Let us duly reverence and respect them as such. When we consider them as " encamping round about us, to "deliver us," let us no longer fear the power of the enemy; since "they that are with us are more " than they that are with them." When we reflect that they are witnesses of our actions, let us do nothing that may make us ashamed before them; nothing but what we would do if we saw them. When we remember that they are to give an account of us, upon a return to him who sent them, let us take care that they may give it with joy, and not with grief. Let not our conduct be such, as shall oblige them to quit their charge before the

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time. O terrible voice, that once heard at midnight in the temple at Jerusalem, foreboding its destruction-LET US GO HENCE! "Whoso defileth the temple of God, him shall God destroy." Our bodies are such temples. May no unlawful desires, no irregular passions, ever so desecrate them, as that conscience shall ring in our ears the same dreadful sound; but may our heavenly friends and guardians continue with us to the end, to comfort us in our last sorrows, and support us in our expiring agonies; that, when breath shall forsake the body, the soul may be "carried by angels into "Abraham's bosom."

DISCOURSE LVIII.

THE PRESENCE OF GOD IN HOLY PLACES.

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1 KINGS Viii. 27.

Will God indeed dwell on the earth?

THE Occasion of this numerous and solemn assembly calls upon us to consider well this question, and one which seems to have almost overwhelmed the vast and capacious mind of Solomon himself. Will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold "the heaven and heaven of heavens cannot con"tain thee; how much less this house that I have "builded?" Certainly, that which is without bounds cannot be comprehended within that which has bounds, whether large or small; and, therefore, in a strict and proper sense, "the Most "High"-as St. Stephen, alluding to this very passage, asserts in the seventh chapter of the Acts" the Most High dwelleth not in temples "made with hands." But it is no less certain, that there is a sense, agreeably to which it may be truly said that the Most High does dwell in temples made with hands. For this same king Solomon, in this same prayer at the dedication of the temple, has the following words: "Jehovah said, that he