and the LIFE that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me!"

But what is the reception-the gracious, condescending reception, of those servants who have labored for their Master, to increase his goods, to further his purposes, to be good stewards of the manifold grace of God? Hear his words of approbation:"Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things; enter thou into the joy of thy Lord!" You have administered your lower charge with zeal and diligence; I raise you higher in my service! You have labored for me in my absence; partake the joy and glory of my presence! Brethren, here is your encouragement to work for Christ, that your Master notices your diligence, and blesses your endeavors-that nothing you can do for him can be without results; and that the more you serve him in the use of those advantages which he has entrusted to you, the more shall those advantages be multiplied upon you. All that you are doing is not for yourself but for your Lord, and your Lord's blessing, therefore, must rest upon it and give to it success. Every seed you sow is for eternity. Every thought of piety, or faith, love, or holiness, that you can lodge within another's mind, is a living and a germinating and an everlasting one. You are not to judge of it by its manifested efficacy only; you are not to estimate it by its immediate effects. Eternity must be ever taken into the account, before we can attempt to estimate the value of one single effort for our God in time. What has not Christ done already by the ministration of his servants, and what will he not effect at last! Heaven is receiving fresh accessions to its population every day -the number of God's elect is filling up-and his kingdom is hastening on. And for this filling up the number of his elect, and for the hastening of his kingdom, he has used, and he will use your exertions brethren, and mine, and those of every servant of the Lord. Say not therefore, what can I do in this disappointing world! Ask not where have I been able to effect a single good result-what influence can I exert upon my fellow men? It is not by great and sudden impulses that God works, but by the 'gentle, gradual, repeated, imperceptible touches of the smallest instruments. It is not by his own majestic arm thrust forth in solitary majesty; but by employing yours and mine, so feeble, worthless, withered as they are! And therefore, stretch forth that VOL. II.-18

arm-withered though you fancy it; pursue your several works of influence hopefully and happily; speak a word in season; set out a winning example; repress evil; encourage good; be as sons of God in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation; shine as lights in the world; hold forth the word of life,-and verily your labor shall not be in vain in the Lord!

For we know not what awaits the faithful servant of Christ when his Master shall return. We know not all the dignity and usefulness to which he may be raised in His eternal kingdom.It is God's procedure in this world, it is God's promise for the next, that as we have sown so we shall also reap-that in the very path of our particular diligence and zeal, there shall spring up the reward of that diligence and zeal-that he who improves his opportunities, his influence, his powers, for God, shall have those opportunities increased, that influence enlarged and strengthened a thousand fold. He who has here been the center of a constantly expanding sphere, widening out to all eternity; he who has here profited the church of Christ, and been a channel of his Spirit to it, shall enjoy the same exhalted privilege in glory. He whose vocation here has been doing good, shall exercise that vocation increasingly in the kingdom of his Lord. We arc, I think, to look for God's maintaining and increasing the holiness and happiness of his redeemed ones mediately, and by the help of those redeemed ones themselves, in the world to come, even as in the world that now is; in the society of glory, even as in the society of grace. For mark the terms of reward--"Thou hast been faithful over a few things; I will make thee ruler over many things." And again, to every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance."-He shall enjoy, not simply and alone, the joy of his Lord," "being with him where he is, to behold his glory which the Father giveth him;" but he shall enjoy, moreover, among his fellow saints the luxury of doing good-the blessedness of ministering unto; of sanctifying and being sanctified, of rejoicing and being rejoiced, of constantly receiving fresh accessions to his blessedness, and as constantly diffusing those accessions through an ever-widening sphere of beings as blessed as himself.

SERMON XIV.

ASSURANCE OF READINESS FOR HEAVEN.

By the Rev. JAMES HALDANE STEWART, A. M.

2 PETER, i. 10, 11.

Wherefore the rather, Brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure. for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: for so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

THIS Epistle of St. Peter is one which should be particularly studied in these latter days; for it was written by him in the last days of the Jewish Church, just previous to the destruction of Jerusalem, and it has special reference to the last days of the present dispensation. I would now refer to it as containing an important part of our conduct in relation to that day, namely,— that we should seek a state of ASSURED READINESS, OR AN ABIDING WELL-GROUNDED SCRIPTURAL CONFIDENCE, that we are ready to meet the Lord.

This is, in effect, the meaning of the Apostle's words, when he says, "Make your calling and election sure." It does not signify, Make the things themselves sure--as if your calling depended upon your diligence; these blessings arising from the free grace of God, irrespective of any act on your part;--but, make your calling and election sure to yourselves; or, Seek, in the appointed mode, that good hope of being partakers of the grace of God, that you may have a Scriptural assurance in your mind that you are possessed of the precious faith mentioned by this Apostle. For the terms "calling and election," are only other modes of expres sing true believers. They are probably used in this passage to excite, in the minds of those who obtained this blessed assurance,

a more fixed remembrance, and a more devout feeling, that they were indebted for their distinguished privileges to the rich and free and superabounding grace of God;-that if they were partakers of precious faith in the kingdom of Christ; if to this faith they added the "Chorus" of graces (as in the original they are beautifully styled) mentioned in the fifth and following verses; and if they obtained an assurance of their being in the favor of God; let Him have all the glory. Let believers ever remember, that it is to his free choice and his effectual vocation they are altogether indebted.

That such an assurance is attainable, is plainly declared in Scripture. It was a privilege generally enjoyed by the faithful followers of Christ in the first ages. Not only do the Apostles speak of their own personal hope of the divine favor, but, referring to the church of Christ generally, St. John says, “This we know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him." We "know it:" we have an assured confidence that this shall be our happy privilege. So St. Paul declares, "we are persuaded that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The advantages of this assurance are many, especially in seasons of trial and in circumstances of which the issue is unknown. St. Peter particularly recommends the believers to seck after it, when about to set before them the comming of the Lord. To induce you to press towards it, let me a little unfold, first, the BLESSEDNESS OF ASSURANCE; and secondly, THE MEANS OF ITS ATTAINI commence with the first of these.

MENT.

1.

One part,then, of the blessedness of assurance is this; that it relieves the mind from those tossings and anxieties to which it is exposed from doubts of the divine favor.

There are, indeed, many who never entertain a doubt on this subject. For, thinking very little, if at all, upon their eternal wellfare, they do not trouble themselves with anxieties regarding it. They take it for granted that they are in favor with their Maker, and that when they depart from this world they shall fare as well as others. It is one of the devices of Satan to keep men in this torpid state. All particular attention to the subject of religion is considered as dangerous. Self-examination, inquiring

into the real state of the soul, comparison of the principles and conduct with the word of God-all these things are viewed as gendering melancholy, and are therefore to be discountenanced; for the strong man armed keepeth his goods in peace:" he disturbs not the sinner at present, that he may more effectually distress him hereafter. When, however, men are by the grace of God awakened from this lethargy of soul; have risen to that state to which it is so important for an immortal being to rise, to a state of inquiry into his relation with God-whether God is reconciled to him or not, whether he may consider him as friendly or adverse; a state of doubt becomes a state of great anxiety. For what is included in these doubts? The most momentous subjects with which we can have to do-the favor of God, or his displeasure; everlasting happiness, or eternal misery—are involved in these uncertainties.

They are considered, also, in such a manner that the truly serious mind cannot set itself free from them. For the effects of the Lord's displeasure may come into operation in a single hour: not only pain and sickness may come, but that great change, which is unalterably to fix the state, may overtake us without a moment's warning. The mind, therefore, cannot shake off the subject as of little consequence. Hence these doubts, according to their extent, are most distressing. We have only to read some of the Psalms of David, which are written in a state of mental anxiety, to be convinced of their afflictive nature. "Out of the depths have I cried unto thee, O Lord:" "My soul doth wait upon the Lord, more than they that watch for the morning; I say more than they that watch for the morning:" "I am bowed down greatly; I go mourning all the day long." These are some of his

sorrowful feelings. Now one part of the blessedness of scriptural assurance is, to put these doubts to rest. Hope is " Hope is "an anchor sure and steadfast, and entereth into that within the veil." "We that do believe," says the Apostle, "enter into rest." They come within the quiet haven; the waves of uncertainty, which are rolling without, do not press upon them: the Lord hath stilled the tempest: his word, accompanied by the influence of the Holy Spirit, has said "Peace;" and by his blessing they enjoy a calm. The Lord has granted them a hope of his favor: His "Spirit, bearing witness with their spirits," has given them the privilege