III. It is now, my brethren, when our minds are in this frame of trust and dependence that they are, in the third place, prepared to feel the force of the great truths of the Gospel; and although the words, which were uttered by the Prophet, afforded consolation to many a pious soul that had then but an imperfect presage of their final application; yet, to us who are born under the sheltering wings of that Gospel, they come with a much more powerful efficacy. We feel more distinctly what are those waters of consolation and refreshment which are so liberally opened to us, and what are those means of strength which are so bountifully supplied

us!

In no condition of the mortal pilgrimage of man, indeed, hath God left himself without a witness; yet it is our peculiar happiness to know, that there has been going forward, from the earliest cradle of our race, a method of Divine Instruction and Restoration, which, from apparently the most unobserved beginnings, has gradually widened and opened upon mankind; confined at first in a particular family, then deposited with a whole nation, and at length revealed, and still revealing, to all the nations and fami

lies of men. All this has gone on so much from the successive progress of events, and so little from any design or interference of man, that it is impossible to contemplate it with any steadiness, and not be sensible of that Mighty Hand by which it has been conducted. In the Books, then, which contain the accounts of these wonderful transactions, we are admitted, in a more peculiar manner, into the presence of the Deity. He, in them, indeed, seems in a manner the most condescending and familiar to converse with man; in every page of their exhortations or entreaties, He, indeed, opens fountains of living waters to refresh us in the wilderness, and training on his human offspring in the manner which his Wisdom saw was most suited to the varieties of their condition and character, the beams of his revelations ever become more distinct as they are more fitted to receive them. It is, as we acknowledge with thankfulness, under his last and greatest demonstration of himself, when he spoke to man by his Son, that it is our blessing and salvation to have been reared; and we are now preparing at his Altar to call down upon our souls the influence of those great truths which to us

have been clearly revealed. What then are these truths, and in what respect are we advanced in the knowledge and consolations of religion beyond those who were left to the discoveries of nature, or were enlightened by more imperfect revelations ?

In the first place, we have the advantage to know, that an image of Divine Goodness and Perfection appeared upon earth in the familiar form of man, that this Heavenly Messenger lived with man as with a brother, that he sympathized with all the sorrows of our nature, was most compassionate and forgiving on every appearance of penitence, and, mingling with all ranks and conditions of human creatures, called upon every one alike, whatever might be his present views, or prejudices, or sins, to feel that he was yet an object of the utmost and most affectionate concern, to that great and glorious Being who made Heaven, and earth, and all the infinity of worlds! Is there, in this homely, yet most sublime, picture of Divine Condescension, nothing to rouse, to console, and to invigorate the weary pilgrims of the world who are fainting on their way? Can affliction so overpower us, that we will not attend to the

kind sympathy of Him who pours oil and wine into our wounds? Or can sin itself render us so debased and desponding, that we will not draw from that Well of living waters which His Compassion has opened to restore us!

The second great advantage which we derive from our Faith, is the full assurance that sin will be forgiven. It is, in fact, the consciousness of internal disorder which has, in all ages of the world, obscured to the eye of man the benevolence of his Creator, from the sense of the little claim he could make upon its exertion. Yet, even in the lowest state of human knowledge, there seemed to be a feeling that the Goodness and Mercy of God were to be found,—that there might be expiations which would cleanse the soul and render it a fit object of Divine Forgiveness; and it was in this dark and obscure hope, that the instincts of nature themselves seemed to point to the mysterious ritual of sanguinary Sacrifice. The Gospel has met these feelings of nature, but has met only to purify and to satisfy them. It likewise has its Victim, the sacrifice of the same pure and holy Being who came to be the Companion, the Friend, and the Instructor of man, and who,

having past his life in "going about and doing good to men," at last laid it down for them to reconcile them for ever to the Father!-Why should we vitiate the religious purity of our Faith, by investigating too closely the reasons of these Divine proceedings? Does the fainting pilgrim, when a fountain rises before him in the desert, stop to inquire by what means its waters can allay his thirst? And when we are called to draw water from those Wells of Salvation which spring from the foot of the Cross, what other sentiment ought to be ours but the profound and grateful feeling, that they are, indeed, full of the unmerited Mercy of our God!

One other great discovery is made to us by the Gospel. He "who died for our sins rose again for our justification." Having plucked out the sting of death, he became the Conqueror of Death for ever,-ascending up on high, he led captivity captive, and has gone to prepare a place for us, that where He is there we may be also.

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Are not these truths such as must, indeed, refresh our souls when they are weary and heavy laden?" What "money" or what "price"