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for ever; the Ancient of days, who is, and was, and is to come.

In the last place, to shew you the value of the soul still more, after death its state is unalterable: This is our state of probation, and now is the time to fix the character for eternity. This is the spring-time of everlasting life; according as we now sow, hereafter weshall reap; on our present conduct, depends our happiness or misery for ever. There is neither repentance nor apostacy beyond the grave. The righteous can never fall away, and to the wicked there remaineth no more sacrifice for sin. From the judgment seat of the Immutable, the voice is heard, "He that is righteous, "let him be righteous still; and he that is unjust, let "him be unjust still."

But even here, too, appears that goodness of God which is over all his works. For while we know not of any addition to the torments of the wicked, the happiness of the righteous shall be for ever on the increase. That capacity of improvement which we formerly ascribed to the soul, is a capacity of improvement without end. The progress which begins here; is carried on hereafter. Heaven is indeed the resi dence of the spirits of just men made perfect; but it is not to be imagined, that they are all at once advanced to a perfection which they shall not to eternity exceed. They will indeed find their state happy, when they are taken from this world; they will all be presented without spot or blemish in the presence of God with exceeding joy; but still there is room left for their improvement in perfection and happiness. It cannot, indeed, be otherwise. For the more we know of the Divine perfections and works, our veneration and love of God will increase the more. Now, it is impossible that we can ever know so much of God, and his works, but that we may know more. As our knowledge of God, there fore, and our views of the Divine glory, will be enlarged without end, our love and admiration of him will also increase for ever. And in proportion to our

love, our assimilation to the Divine nature, and our joy in the Lord, will be. What a prospect, O Christian, does this open up to thy mind! Here thou art at liberty to expatiate at large! Here is a noble field for thy contemplation! There is a time appointed when thou shalt occupy that station which is now occupied by the highest angel in heaven. Not that we shall overtake the angels in their course, or, in the career of immortality, press upon natures of a superior order; but that we shall make advances in moral perfections, and improve in the beauties of immortality. God shall behold his great family for ever brightening in holiness; for ever drawing nearer and nearer in likeness to himself. The river of their pleasures increases as it rolls. The fulness of their joy grows more and more full. Throughout all the ages of eternity, there is still a heaven which is to come; still a glory which is to be revealed.

If the soul then be of such infinite value, how inexpressibly great must the loss of it be! Over the mansions of utter darkness, the Scriptures draw a veil which does not authorize our conjectures. What is comprehended under these awful emblems, the worm that never dies, the fire that is not quenched, everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and the glory of his power, we do not know. May the Almighty forbid, that any of us should ever know! But of this, the Scriptures assure us, that from these mansions there is no return; that the gates of the eternal world shut to open no more, and that when the soul is once lost, it is lost for ever and for ever!

SERMON XV.

PSALM xliii. 4.

I will go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding

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joy

HRISTIANS, as we are next Lord's day to go to the altar, and approach unto God, it may be proper for me now to explain the nature, and set before you the advantages of such an approach.

The pleasures of devotion have been the theme of good men in all ages; and they are pleasures of such a kind as good men only can feel. In what I am now to say, therefore, I must appeal to the heart, to the hearts of those, who, in times past, have felt the joy of spiritual communion, and who will again feel that it is good still for them to draw nigh unto God.

This is the time when Jesus prepares a banquet for his friends; when the Spirit saith, Come; when the church saith, Come; when he that is athirst is invited to come; and happy will it be when the friends of Jesus prepare to meet with their Lord, if those who have hitherto been strangers to the holy hill, shall be attracted with the beauty which is in true holiness, also to come, and to take the waters of life freely. For thus runs the gracious promise of Heaven: "The strangers who join themselves to the "Lord, to love him and to serve him, even them will "I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joy"ful in my house of prayer." In further treating on

this subject, what I intend at present, is, in the first place, to explain the nature of that approach which the devout make to God; and, in the second place, set before you the advantages which accompany such an approach.

I am, in the first place, then, to explain the nature of that approach which the devout make to God.

This earth is not the native region of that spirit which is in man. It finds not objects here congenial with its nature, nor a sphere adequate to its faculties. It wants room to expand to its full dimensions; to spread so wide, and stretch so far, and soar so high, as its immortal nature and unbounded capacity will admit. Descended from heaven, it aspires to heaven again. Created immortal, nothing that is mortal can satisfy its desires. Made after the image of God, it

tends to that God whose lineaments it still bears. When we approach to God, therefore, we find objects suited to our nature, and engage in the employment for which the soul was made. Here we are at home in our Father's house. Here, our spirits aspire to hold communion with the everlasting Spirit; and we tend to heaven with exceeding joy, as to our native country.

The sense of deity is a-kin to the perception of beauty, and the sensibility of taste. We are formed by the Author of our nature to feel certain movements of mind, at the sight of certain objects. Even inanimate things are not without their attractions. The flowers of the field have their beauty. Animal life rises in our regard. Rational excellence, and moral perfection, rank still higher in our esteem; and, when expressed in action, and appearing in life, awake emotions of the noblest kind, and beget a pleasure which is supreme. Let any person of a right constituted mind, place before his view a character of high eminence for generosity, fidelity, fortitude; let him see these virtues tried to the utmost, exerted in painful struggles, overcoming difficulties, and conquering in a glorious cause, and he will feel their effects in his

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admiring mind: he will be actuated with respect and love to such illustrious virtues. We account that faculty of the mind which gives us a relish for these pleasures, a perfection in our nature, and a high one; we look upon an insensibility to such enjoyments as a radical defect. Let us apply this principle to religion. Who can behold the vastness and magnificence of the works of God without emotion; and infinite perfection without wonder and awe? Can our thoughts be fixed upon infinite goodness and everlasting love, without affection and without gratitude? Can we behold Divinity in a form of flesh; the Son of God extended on the cross for the salvation of the world, and our hearts not burn within us with love to him who loved us unto the death? Can we behold the veil drawn aside from the invisible world, the heavens opened over our head, and the treasures of eternity displayed to view, and after all continue cold and dead; cold to the beauty of the heavens, dead to the love of immortality? Where there is any sensibility at all, where there are any affections that become humanity, they will be excited to their most lively exercise by the presence of spiritual and divine things.

Under the influence of these objects, and the impression of Deity, the devout enter into their chamber and shut the door; they turn aside their eyes from beholding vanity; they charge their passions to be silent, their minds to be still; and pour out their hearts to Him who made them, in all the fervency of prayer. Thus prepared to seek the Lord God of their fathers, they come to his temple to meet with him there. They are seized with a religious awe in the presence of the sanctuary, and approach to the altar wondering and adoring, as Moses to the burning bush, and as the High Priest of old to the holy of holies. They look beyond the externals of a sacrament, and, under the symbols in the communion, they discern the mysteries of redeeming love. Notwithstanding the veil with which a greater than Moses covers himself on this holy mountain, they be

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