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Make them our meditation by night, and our practice by day; that we may be like trees planted by the rivers of water, which yield their fruit in their season, and whose leaf is ever green. Let not the course of days, and months, and years, which we enjoy, pass over us in vain, to rise up against us in sad remembrance at the evening of life, and to fill our departing hours with terror and remorse. Let not the time of our pilgrimage in this world be one vast blank, barren of improvement, and blotted with conscious guilt; but may we pass the time of our sojourning here in thy fear, daily abounding in the graces of Christianity, and the fruits of holiness, adding to our faith virtue, and one grace to another, till we arrive at full conformity to thy blessed image, and be partakers with the saints in light. May we be translated from the kingdom of darkness, to the kingdom of thy Son, and entitled to all the privileges of the children of God.

"Bestow upon us that faith which purifieth the heart, and worketh by love. Grant unto us that repentance from dead works, to serve the living God, which leadeth unto life, and is not to be repented of. Fill our hearts with that charity which is the bond of perfection, which suffereth long, and is kind, which beareth all things, which hopeth all things, and which endureth all things. Inspire us with that wisdom which cometh from above, which is pure, peaceable, gentle, full of mercy and of good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. May we exercise at all times a conscience void of offence towards God and towards man, and have the testimony of our own hearts, that in simplicity and godly sincerity we have had our lives and conversations in the world.

"For these purposes, O God, inspire us with thy Spirit, and strengthen us with all might in the inner man, that we may press forward to perfection. May we acquire that humility which afterwards shall be exalted; that mourning which shall be comforted; those penitential tears which shall be changed into eternal consolations; that contempt of the world to

which belongs the kingdom of heaven; that purity of heart which shall fit us to see God; and perform all those works of mercy, and labours of love, for which the kingdom of our Lord was prepared before the foundations of the world were laid. Grant that neither the splendour of any thing that is great, nor the conceit of any thing that is good within us, may ever withdraw our eyes from looking upon ourselves as sinful dust and ashes; but that we may persevere with patience, and humility, and zeal, unto the end. Grant that when we shall depart from this life, we may sleep in the Lord, and when the morning of the resurrection dawns over the world, we may lift up our heads with triumph, and rejoicing, receive the blessed sentence of those who having done well, are called upon to enter into their Master's joy.

"And now, our waiting eyes, O God, are towards thee. May the words of our mouths, and the meditations of our hearts, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord our strength and our Redeemer. All these our humble prayers, we offer up in the name and through the intercession of Christ, to whom with the Father, and Holy Spirit, be all praise and glory. Amen."

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EVENING SERMON.

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MATTHEW xxviii. 6.

Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

HEN our Saviour expired upon the cross, the cause of Christianity seemed to be lost. jected by that nation to whom he was sent, condemned under the forms of a legal trial, and crucified as a malefactor before all the people, an effectual bar seemed to have been put for ever to all his designs. It then seemed that all was over. A people whom their prophets taught to look for a king, did not look for him to come down from a cross; a nation who expected the appearance of a Messiah, did not expect him to appear from the grave. His followers were few in number, and feeble in spirit. Although he had frequently foretold his death, the idea of a temporal prince was so strong in their minds, that they could not reconcile themselves to the thought of a suffering Saviour; and though he had also on various occasions foretold his resurrection, they were so much under the power of prejudices, deeply rooted, that they either did not understand, or did not believe, his predictions. When he was apprehended by a band of soldiers, they forsook him and fled; they had not courage to attend him in the last hour of his life; to go with him to the tribunal and to the cross: Afar off only, they followed with their eyes, and beheld with tears, him whom they expected to behold no more. Then they gave up all for lost. The sun, which was soon after darkened by a preternatural eclipse, and the rock which was rent asunder by an

earthquake, appeared to be the sad tokens of a kingdom that was to be no more.

Dark and dismal were the shades of that night which descended on the Saviour's tomb : The hearts of the disciples were troubled, and their Comforter was gone. All the scenes of their past lives, the miracles they had seen, the discourses they had heard, the hopes they had entertained, were like a dream; they abandoned themselves to despair, and as we learn from the Evangelist Luke, they were about to leave Jerusalem, and betake themselves to their old employ

ments.

While the enemies of Jesus triumphed, and his friends lamented, the counsels of heaven were executing, and the operation of the Almighty was going forward. We read in the Gospel of Matthew," In "the end of the Sabbath, as it began to dawn to"wards the first day of the week, came Mary Magda"lene, and the other Mary, to see the sepulchre. And "behold, there was a great earthquake; for the angel "of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and "rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. "His countenance was like lightning, and his rai"ment white as snow. And for fear of him, the keepers did shake, and became as dead men. And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye: for I know that ye seek Jesus which was cruci"fied. He is not here: for he is risen, as he said: "come see the place where the Lord lay."

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The nativity of our Lord had been announced by an angel to the shepherds of Bethlehem. "While

they were abiding in the field, and keeping watch "over their flocks by night, Lo, the angel of the "Lord came unto them, and the glory of the Lord "shone round about them; and the angel said unto "them, Fear not, for behold I bring unto you glad tidings of great joy, which shall be unto all people; "for unto you is born this day, in the city of David, "a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." In like manner, his second nativity, his resurrection to a new

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life, was here announced by an angel. What emo tions would arise in the minds of these ministers of heaven, who had attended him through his life, we cannot tell this only we know, that "into these things they desired to look." Much more then doth it become us to contemplate the life, and death, and resurrection of our Lord; for he took not on him the nature of angels, but of the seed of Abraham. Christians! you have this day beheld your Saviour set forth crucified among you; let us now contemplate him as arising from the dead, and appearing in glory you have already sat at the foot of the cross, and I hope reaped benefit from the commemo ration of your Redeemer's passion; let me now carry you to the tomb, to behold the place where the "Lord lay."

Behold, then, in the first place, in the resurrection of your Lord, the proof that the redemption of the world is accomplished.

Our salvation is everywhere ascribed in Scripture, to the death and passion of our Saviour. As our great High Priest, he made an atonement for the sins of the world upon the cross; his death was our redemption, and his blood the ransom that was paid for his soul; but his resurrection was the proof, that the sacrifice which he offered up was accepted by God, and that the price which he paid, was available for our recovery. By his suffering unto death, we were freed from condemnation; but our freedom was not made manifest till he arose from the grave. His resurrection then is the basis of the whole Christian institution, and the ground of our faith and of our hope in him. That Christ appeared on earth as a Great Prophet; that he passed his days in instructing and reforming the world; and that after a life of eminent and exemplary goodness, he died the death of a malefactor, was common to him and others, whom God had raised up to be the lights of the world, and patterns to mankind. Thus the prophets of old were persecuted and destroyed by sundry kinds of death:

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