so great, either for time or for eternity, as to have him for your Saviour, your advocate, your friend. Whatever your station, high or low, rich or poor, nay, whatever your difficulties or your troubles, if you are owned by Christ, you are happy. If then you have any hope of possessing, in however limited a degree, his Holy Spirit, be careful that you do not grieve him, but cherish his gracious influences, and watch over the thoughts of your heart, that you may be worthy of being accounted a temple in which he may dwell. Show your gratitude by constant watchfulness to preserve a holy life; and the more you honour him by your pure, consistent, humble walk, and by your trust in him, the more will he enlighten your mind with heavenly peace, divine light, and holy love. Our Lord has said, "If ye love me, keep my commandments ;" and,—that is, if ye love me,-I will pray the Father, and he will give you another Comforter that he may abide with you for ever. And this is that

Holy Spirit whom we must have, a Comforter as well as a Sanctifier. It was by the internal supports and overflowing consolations of this Holy Spirit that the apostles could rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ's sake; that they could be happy, when, with the exception of a few persons, the whole world derided them, frowned upon them, and persecuted them. By the same Spirit, the army of martyrs feared not death. And I pray and trust, that God may so endue us with this Spirit, that being found in Christ, we may not be overcome by temptation, and be supported through affliction. May we have the Spirit of Christ in this world, and by him be owned and blessed both in this world and in that which is to come!

SERMON II.

MATT. v. 16.

"Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

THERE are passages in the sacred Scriptures which seem at first sight to oppose each other. Such, for example, as our text, and some of our Saviour's precepts concerning prayer and almsgiving: "When thou doest thine alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." "When thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret" or again,

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Thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head and wash thy face, that thou appear

not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret." There is, however, no real opposition: we are but presented with different views of the same object; all equally tend to the same point,-to that point which is the aim of every christian doctrine and precept. They tend to destroy selfishness, the vice of corrupt human nature, and to substitute for it the principle of the Gospel, love to God and love to man. The word here used to express this great truth is of peculiar beauty and propriety, and is connected with that immediately preceding: "Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost its savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is, thenceforth, good for nothing, but to be cast out and trodden under foot of men." Then follows, "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick, and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine be

fore men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The light here spoken of as an emblem of Christians, and as existing in them, is light derived from Christ, wisdom and holiness, or, in other words, the graces of the gospel. It is light from heaven, bestowed for the benefit of mankind, and those to whom it is given must act accordingly. They must use their best endeavours to dispel that darkness which is both the sin and the misery of the world, and which obscures the glory of its Creator; and they must not hide and seclude themselves. This was a mistake into which many fell in the early ages of the church, thinking it their duty to retire into solitary places under the impression that apart from the world they could serve God better. Hence originated monastic establishments, which have proved one of the greatest evils to society.

Yet, though we must not hide our light,