his Maker. Such is the express testimony of Scripture, a testimony abundantly confirmed by the evidence of experience; for, though God is infinitely amiable and excellent,-though we are indebted to him for our being and all our blessings, is it not manifest that, instead of loving him with all our hearts, and instead of being inclined to render him the worship and obedience to which he has an incontestable title, we are naturally disposed to banish him from our thoughts, to disregard his holy word, and to seek our happiness in any enjoyment, however frivolous and however fugitive, rather than in his favour and service? In this state of guilty alienation, man must for ever have remained, unless he from whom they had revolted had first adopted measures for their restoration. But "God was in Christ reconciling the world to himself;" and all who return to him by Christ are assured of a gracious reception, of a free and everlasting pardon. It is only through Jesus Christ that sinners can be cordially reconciled to God; because it is only when they come by him that God will graciously receive them; and because it is only in his sacrifice for sin that there was exhibited such a manifestation of the love and the mercy of God as can effectually disarm their guilty fears, subdue the rebellious enmity of their hearts, prevail on them to return, and inspire them with affectionate and grateful confidence. As an indispensable prerequisite to fellowship with God, there must be not only some measure of love to him, and confidence in him, but also a certain degree of resemblance to him, and a commencement of their sanctification. Now it is only by the instrumentality of those considerations presented in the Redeemer's cross, that sinners are induced to choose God for the portion of their souls; and that such a transformation is produced

in their principles, and sentiments, and desires, as assimilates them to his image, and capacitates them for his intercourse.

It is evident, then, that the high privilege of communion with God can be enjoyed only by those who have been reconciled to him by the death of his Son. In the nature of things, the privilege can be enjoyed only by those who are reconciled to him; and man can be reconciled to him only through Jesus Christ. He is "the one Mediator;" "the way, the truth, and the life. No man can come unto the Father, but by him." It is true, indeed, that before the believer is reconciled, there is an intercourse between God and his soul. It may be admitted further, that there is often an intercourse between God and sinners, which does not terminate in reconciliation; for the Divine Spirit often strives unsuccessfully with men, to induce them to acquiesce in the overtures of mercy; and it may be admitted finally, that, on the part of God, that intercourse is dictated by a love and a compassion infinitely surpassing all the modifications of human affection. But that intercourse resembles the negociations of two belligerent powers, with a view to the termination of hostilities, not the delightful and hallowed communion of two friends who regard each other with sentiments of unsuspecting confidence and fervent love.

Not only is fellowship with God the peculiar privilege of believers, but whenever they indulge deliberately in sin, they become incapacitated, for the time, for this intercourse. Perhaps the holiest among you have occasionally experienced a strange inaptitude for the exercises of devotion-an aversion to come into the presence of your heavenly Father, and a terror to look him in the face. The institutions of religion have become uninteresting, if not positively offensive. Your

hands hang down in the spiritual warfare, and the spiritual life has seemed utterly to die within you. I do not say that this melancholy state may never be occasioned, in part, by constitutional weakness of body or mind; but examine yourselves, and you will probably find that there is some sinful lust cherished, or some sinful practice persisted in, that separates between you and your God. This, it is likely, is the Achan that troubleth the camp; and, if so, till this enemy be sought out and slain, matters will continue in the same unsatisfactory state. Is there not a voice within concurring with the proclamation of the word without, to assure you, that "if you regard iniquity in your heart, the Lord will not hear." Be assured, then, my friends, that, though the Almighty will not deny you his intercourse on account of those sins of inadvertence and infirmity, with which even the holiest of the saints are daily chargeable; yet, if you expect communion with him, while indulging deliberately and wilfully in iniquity, you are expecting an utter impossibility, and imposing on yourselves by a damnable delusion. "What fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? And what communion hath light with darkness? And what concord hath Christ with Belial? Or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel ?" "If we say that we have fellowship with God, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin."

IV. The exercises and ordinances of religion are the principal medium by which communion with God is carried on.

They are not indeed the only medium; for there is not a scene or an object in the material creation, but

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may be the means of leading the contemplative and devout mind to God, the Supreme Architect. And in the occurrences of providences, as well as in the works of creation, the believer sees the hand, and hears the voice of God. It is, however, more especially in the exercises and ordinances of religion, that he holds fellowship with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ." No true christian but will regularly enter his "closet, and pray to his Father, who seeth in secret;" and many of you, we trust, have experienced in this hallowed retirement, a joy which you would not exchange for all the pleasures of the world, and all the wealth of the creation. "The voice of rejoicing is in the tabernacle of the righteous;" and often has the God of all the families of the earth, answered in a manner the most munificent and gracious, the prayers and praises presented on the domestic altar. Another exercise in which we may converse with "him who is invisible,” is religious meditation: and, did we diligently improve our opportunities, we might each be able to say with David, "How precious, O God, are thy thoughts to me; how great is the sum of them? If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand when I awake, I am still with thee." The scriptures are an inestimable collection of letters from an absent friend; and they, too, may be the vehicle of infusing invigorating influence into our languishing spirits, and of attracting our affections to the splendours, and services, and fruitions of the celestial temple.

"God loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." In the public institutions of religion, there is something more elevating and gladdening, if not more sacred, than in its private exercises; for in them the people of God are admitted both to endearing fellowship with him, and to immediate com

munion with each other. In the preaching of the gospel, the Lord Jesus acts like the king who made a great supper, and bade many. There are exhibited for universal acceptation, blessings incomparably more precious" than thousands of gold and silver"-illumination for the ignorant, pardon for the guilty, liberty for the enslaved, purification for the polluted, riches for the poor, strength for the feeble, and comfort for the afflicted.

There is yet another ordinance which, if not the most important, is in some respects the most sacred and solemn of all the institutions of religion; and in which the believer enjoys a "fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ," peculiarly intimate, affectionate, and improving. Can any need to be told that that ordinance is,-the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. This ordinance is the great festival of christians, the New Testament Passover,-pre-eminently and emphatically the communion. In other religious services we enter the courts of the Lord's house, or approach the footstool of his throne; in the ordinance of the Lord's Supper we are admitted to sit at his table, and to partake of an entertainment more costly and precious, than ever the wealth of Babylon or Rome furnished for the most magnificent of her monarchs. "The bread which we brake, is it not the communion of the body of Christ; the cup of blessing, is it not the communion of the blood of Christ." If you meditate aright on the facts exhibited in the sacramental symbols, on the death and sacrifice of the Son of God; and if you cherish the emotions of gratitude, and affiance, and love, which these symbols are fitted to excite, you will rejoice at the table of the Lord with "a joy unspeakable and full of glory;" and you will depart from it armed with more than mortal might and courage for