universe beside? Do you depend on him, according to his word, to meet these desires-to guide you by his counsel, enlighten you by his Spirit, sustain you by his providence, comfort you with his presence, and save you by his grace; and, in this confidence, do you repair to him in your wants, cast your burdens on his arm, and commit yourselves to his disposing hand? Desiring him above all other objects of desire, do you depend on him to be to you what you desire? and, depending on him, do you rejoice in him above all other objects of rejoicing; and do you show that this is the case, by your serenity of mind when worldly delights fail you, and by your voluntary surrender of worldly interests when these come into competition with his will? When David said, "Thou art my portion, O Lord," he added, as the consequence of his choice and the proof of his sincerity, "I have said that I will keep thy words." Have you the same evidence of sincerity? Can you say to him in sincerity and truth, "I will keep thy words?" Here, after all, is the decisive test of our real desires. Jesus said, "If a man love me, he will keep my words. He that loveth me not, keepeth not my sayings." Whom, according to this test, have we for our portion? What object gains our active obedience-our devoted service-God or mammon? 2d. Who of you will now make the choice of David, and say, "Thou art my portion, O God?" Many persons, at one time or another, in view of such considerations as I have now presented to you, have done this-many who before had taken up with a portion in this life-and you all have the same need of doing this as they had, and are under the same obligation. And will you hesitate whether the living God or this world shall be your portion? He is willing to be yours, and his terms are not hard. Though you have rejected and offended him, still the overture is "Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord." And are you immortal beings, within a few years to take a final leave of all things below, and enter on a state of eternal retribution, and have you now the opportunity of securing in the friendship of God, a blessed immortality, and will you refuse his friendship? Think of the guilt as well as the folly of this the immeasurable guilt of treating with this neglect and ingratitude, the God who formed, and the Saviour who died for you; of turning your backs on his invitations, hardening your hearts under his calls, trampling under foot his precious blood, contemning his authority, his justice, his grace, and in this manner, not only cutting yourselves off from the inheritance of the just, but ensuring to yourselves a portion with unbelievers in eternal sorrow. Why will any of you do this? Why will you die? Most assuredly the hour is on the wing, when you will feel this world to be as fleeting and vain as you now know it to be-when God, as the portion of the soul, will appear to you to be as needful, and without him will be found to be as miserable,

I

as your consciences now admonish you is the truth of the case. Why then will you not obey the truth? Why will you not yield to this first law of heaven? "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Why will you not arise and go to your Father? Your opportunity will not always remain. To some of you it may be closed soon. Soon death may come, and then there will be no space for repentance. Consider these things, O ye who are living without God in the world have set before you this day life and death, the portion of the men of this world, and the portion of the saints. The one or the other of these will be the final portion of every one, and the choice of every one in his own case will have decided it. Now, then, compare them, and choose for yourselves. They are before you, and now let reason and conscience decide. May you know in this your day the things which belong to your peace! God is waiting Christ is interceding-the Spirit is pleading-and all heaven cries, "O that they were wise-that they understood this -that they would consider their latter end!"

GOD OUR PORTION HERE AND HEREAFTER.

GOD my supporter and my Hope,
My Help forever near,

Thine arm of mercy held me up,
When sinking in despair.

Thy counsels, Lord, shall guide my feet
Through this dark wilderness;

Thine hand conduct me near thy seat,

To dwell before thy face.

Were I in heaven without my God,
"Twould be no joy to me;
And while this earth is my abode,
I long for none but thee.

What if the springs of life were broke,
And flesh and heart should faint,

God is my soul's eternal Rock,

The Strength of every saint.

Behold, the sinners, that remove
Far from thy presence, die;
Not all the idol gods they love

Can save them when they cry.

But to draw near to thee, my God,
Shall be my sweet employ;

My tongue shall sound thy works abroad,
And tell the world my joy.

SERMON DCXXXII.

BY REV. DAVID DOBIE,

PLATTSBURGH, N. Y.

FEAR OF CONTAGION AND DISEASE.

"Every house is shut up that no man may come in."-ISAIAH Xxiv. 10.

FROM the context it would seem these words are intended to describe the state of things in a city during a famine, or the prevalence of some very fatal and contagious disease. At such times there is a state of feeling, common to all, which it may be profitable to study, that we may the better ascertain the restraints whereby it ought to be controlled. We read of those who take no precautions against the pestilence, even when it is raging with terrible destructiveness. They satisfy themselves with saying, that if they are decreed to die by the plague, they will so die—it is the will of God! But this is an exception to the common sense of the world. Acting on the natural love of life, which God has implanted within them, men are generally disposed to avoid disease, and every evil whereby their health or life may be endangered.

The wisdom of this law of self-preservation is very manifest. If it were not a law of man's nature, and if mankind were not every hour more or less under its influence, there would be scenes of woe, even in this miserable world, which, in all its wretchedness, it has never so much as imagined. The Creator foresaw this when he made man; and he made self-preservation one of the primary laws of his being-one of the most sacred, necessary, and useful laws of the human mind. It is the divinely sanctioned principle which underlies all human laws-the basis of all right enactments protecting health, reputation, property, and life in the body politic. And it is because God approves of the principle, that his approval extends to these enactments, and the authority by which they are enforced: "Whosoever resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God." Thus God throws his shield over the life and well being of his creature and whoever undermines my health, blasts my reputation, invades my property, or endangers my life-commits an offence which God will avenge. This law is also a guide in respect to pursuits in life. It teaches what to adopt and what to avoid. Any pursuit, the legitimate tendency of which is adverse to the health or morals of men, is essentially bad, through the force of this law. The trade in intoxicating liquor comes under this condemnation. It is properly of the nature of suicide; and there is no more wisdom in granting it license than there is in allowing a madman to possess the instruments by which he will take his own life, or that of his keeper. It is a trade to be prohibited and put down, as we would extinguish a conflagration and punish the incendiary. It is also worthy of remark that the law of self-preservation is the basis of all encouragements given to science-especially to the science of preventing and healing disease. Every discovery and improvement in medical skill

is so much more towards the preservation of human life, and is hailed with satisfaction by all. The same thing is true of education and the diffusion of knowledge. By these means men's minds are enlightened and aroused to avoid whatever is noxious to health and life.

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Heathenism places little value on human life. The same thing has been observed in reference to infidelity, whose reign was the reign of murder. To the praise of Christianity be it recorded, that one of its invariable influences, in all lands, is to throw around life a sacred inviolability, not to be removed, save in the most desperate extremity. He that attacks life, attacks the very foundation on which society is built. Life ranks first among things to be protected. Every man feels that there are good reasons for this from the very instincts of nature. Both reason and revelation show that life is man's most sacred interest; and this is the ground on which precautions against contagion and disease are justifiable. instruction or persuasion is necessary in such circumstances; an intimation that men are in danger is enough; you need not persuade them to "shut up the house that no man may come in." Let them know that contagion is in their path, and they will quickly flee. The very face of their friend will be a terror to them. They will not inhale the faintest breath. It was imposed upon lepers in ancient times, on approaching any person not afflicted with their disease, to cry, "Unclean! unclean!" as the condition of their being permitted to live. Men are everywhere alive to the instincts which enacted that ancient law. Let the plague break out, and what a sensation is produced. What trembling at the bare possibility of being exposed! What abstinence from former gratifications! What suspicion in every look! What scrupulous precautions, such as at other times would hardly be endured! It is necessary to see this state of things, to know the full extent of what men will do. Business is suspended. The once thronged streets are still as the grave. Music ceases in the halls of the rich. Mirth is reproved, where once it was a virtue. Every man thinks how he may for a certainty preserve himself from the breath of the destroyer. The precious bonds of society verily seem on the eve of dissolution. How thankful we ought to be that such seasons visit us but very seldom. Yet they do come, and we are compelled to know what it is to dread contagion. As this dread may easily become inordinate, and lead to the very evils which it seeks to shun, it is the object of the present discourse to point out some of the principles by which it should be controlled.

I. The fear of contagion and disease should never be indulged without the distinct recognition that disease and all its causes are under the immediate and all-wise superintendence of God. Unless we bear this in mind, our fear will certainly overstep its proper limits. If we lose sight of the great fact that God reigns and rules over all that pertains to life and its continuance, we must of necessity do wrong, by rushing into conduct and sentiments also, wholly at variance with the honor of God and hurtful to our own peace. A sense of His presence and an assurance of His protecting hand is especially needful when death has entered our windows; when the pestilence is abroad, destroying its thousands-filling every house with fear, lamentation and woe. Our fear of contagion is instinctive, and springs from the law of self-preservation implanted within us, and it is

therefore not to be wholly suppressed, but it should always be moderated with the assurance that all the resources of wisdom and power are at God's command, and that he can defend and save us from disease and from all its causes. On this point we ought not to entertain a moment's doubt. "I will say of the Lord, He is my fortress; my God, in him will I trust. Surely he shall deliver thee from the snare of the fowler, and from the noisome pestilence. He shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness, nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee."

II. The fear of contagion should never interfere with the duties of humanity. The infirm should be cared for; the aged and the young protected; the sick should be ministered to; the dead buried; and those in danger, faithfully warned. All this is required by the golden rule, of doing to others as we would they should do to us. When exposed to disease, we would wish those acquainted with the fact to warn us of our danger; when attacked with sickness, we would wish some friend to come to our aid; when sinking into the grave, overcome and vanquished by the great enemy, we would even then desire to be comforted-if but with the kind look of a fellow mortal; all this therefore ought we to render others in the day of their extremity. Life itself must be sometimes, not only offered, but actually sacrificed, on the altar of benevolence; for God has made it our duty to live, only in the discharge of duty. Life, indeed, is not to be recklessly thrown away, where there is no prospect of good being accomplished; but where disease is raging, every dictate of humanity demands that we attend the sick at every hazard. The case is the same where our friends are perishing in the waters, or in the fire; humanity requires that we make every exertion to save them, even at the risk of our own lives.

III. When the fear of contagion exceeds the fear of sin, then it is certainly inordinate and wrong. This must be manifest on a moment's reflection. Sin is the most dreadful evil in the universe. There is in truth no evil but itself. Sin alone provokes the wrath of God. But for sin, we might bid farewell to all our fears—all our sorrows would be but for a moment. Free from sin, we might welcome disease and death itself with joy. How glad the message, by which we are called into the presence of God and all the realities of eternity! If on the other hand we are still involved in its guilt and condemnation, how dreadful beyond expression is everything connected with the day of our death-since we are in danger of eternal ruin. But on what ground can we justify ourselves in being more afraid of disease than sin? in trembling at the thought of being exposed to sickness, while the breaking of the commandments of God gives us comparatively no concern? in shutting up the sick that they may not go out, and yet not standing in any dread of doing that which deliberately provokes the wrath of God? Let us treat things according to their merits. If sin is the greatest of all evils, then let us so regard it, and conduct ourselves accordingly. Let us ascertain from the most patient in