guilty. Let us seek to be sprinkled with this pre cious blood; let us with this plea in our mouths draw near to God for pardon; let us continually look for grace and glory, for forgiveness and salvation, to that "great Shepherd of the flock," who was offered as a sacrifice to God, who was hated, persecuted, and murdered by his brethren. Though for shedding this blood they were accursed, scattered, and made a monument of divine justice; yet let our souls be washed in it and they shall be purified, forgiven, and prepared for heaven.

SERMON XII.

HEAVEN.

MATTHEW xxv. 34.

"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

THE moralists and divines of every age have made frequent lamentations on the shortness and misery of human life. Man rises into being, enjoys some happiness, experiences much sorrow, and then sinks into the "house of silence." But shall the light never dawn upon the dreary cearments of the tomb? Shall corruption forever prey upon the mouldering carcase? Shall death hold his victims in bonds that shall never be broken? No: for as "it is appointed unto all men once to die," so "after that cometh the judgment;" at the sound of the trump of God, the dust so long inanimate shall spring into new life; and at this second advent of the Redeemer, the tenants of the grave shall appear before his sacred tribunal.

My text is taken from a description of the events subsequent to this resurrection: to this resurrection

so terrible to the wicked, since to them it is the commencement of eternal perdition; so joyful to the righteous, since it secures to them endless felicity; so interesting to all men, since it irreversibly fixes their destinies. All nations being gathered together before the judgment-seat of Christ, the actions of their past lives being accurately examincd, their true character being displayed, and the most concealed motives of their conduct being exposed to the view of the assembled universe, the Judge with infinite benignity, shall address the pardoned and redeemed sinners whom he acknowledges as his children, and shall say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world."

My sole object in discoursing from these words, is to point out the constituents of that future felicity, which is here promised by the Saviour; the expectation of which is the prop and support, the consolation and triumph of every christian. Such a subject is of immense consequence. It is necessary to know the nature of our future enjoyment, that we may see the propriety of those self-denying duties enjoined by the gospel as means for its attainment, and be thereby induced sincerely to perform them; that the hopes of it may teach us to purify our souls, and may comfort us amidst all the trials, the agitations, and afflictions of life; and that the frequent contemplation of it may prompt the ardent tribute of

gratitude, thanksgiving, and praise to that God who has provided it for us, to that Saviour who has poured out his most precious blood to remove those obstacles to our salvation which were otherwise insuperable, and to that Holy Spirit who sanctifies and prepares us for heaven.

It is almost unnecessary to premise that whatever I can say on this theme, will fall infinitely below my subject. The painter who should essay to display upon his canvas the brilliancy and lustre of the sun, would be certain of failing in the attempt; how much weaker, when compared with the bright original, must be the most elevated description of those felicities, which even Paul, who had been caught up to the third heaven, declared to be unutterable, and of which the beloved disciple who had lain in the bosom of the Saviour asserted, "It doth not yet appear what we shall be." Nevertheless, some idea may be had of this glory to be revealed, by considering that it includes the renewal and glorification of the body; the expansion of the understanding, with proper objects for its employment; the perfection of holiness with a sufficient sphere for its exertion ; the removal of every species of misery; the blissful society of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect; the vision and fruition of God and the Redeemer; and the certainty that these enjoyments shall be eternal.

1. In heaven the bodies of the saints shall be renewed and glorified. Corruption may prey upon them after they are laid in the dust; the particles which compose them may be scattered over every part of the earth, yet the Almighty will re-assemble these particles, and our bodies will rise essentially the same as they were when laid in the grave. But as they will be reared again by the Lord, in order that they may partake of his mercies throughout eternity, it will be necessary, lest they should be overborne by the abundant communications of his love, that certain changes should take place in them, which, without destroying their identity, will infinitely ennoble them. As in the spiritual resurrection, God does not create a new soul, but sanctifies that which was dead in sin, and gives it new principles, desires, and affections; so in the natural resurrection he will not create a new body, but will give to that which has lain dead in the tomb, new qualities and more exalted properties. Natural reason, unaided by revelation, cannot establish the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead; much less can it teach us the precise changes that shall then take place in the bodies of believers. The scriptures, however, are sufficiently explicit on this subject. St. Paul tells us in the 15th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians, the body "is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption; it is sown in dishonour, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised