good things in this life. heaven-no Saviour to go to.

They have no title to

How gloomy the state

of such an one on a dying bed. He has spent all his life in sin, and the day of salvation is now drawing to a close.

ment.

"The work, the mighty work

Of life, so long delayed,
Repentance yet to be begun,
Upon a dying bed."

On the other hand, how happy the man who delights in those things which God commands-who can say, "O how love I thy holy law." Religion is his amuse"Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." He is pleased with the Biblewith its doctrines and precepts. He is pleased with the people of God. They are the excellent of the earth. He is pleased with the Sabbath, and with the ordinances of God's house. "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord."

How happy the state of those whose sins are pardoned. "Blessed is the man whose transgressions are forgiven, and whose sin is covered."

How happy the man who has God for his friend. Let all the world be against him, if God be for him, it is enough.

How happy the man who suffers all his evil things in this life. A few more pains, and his sufferings will be over. He may say, "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord the righteous judge shall give me at that day."

"What matter whether pain or pleasures fill
The swelling heart one little moment here;
From both alike how vain is every thrill,

While an untried eternity is near.

Think not of rest, fond man, in life's career,

The joys and griefs that meet thee, dash aside
Like bubbles; and thy bark right onward steer,
Through calm and tempest, till it cross the tide,
Shoot into port in triumph, or serenely glide."

The last enemy is about to be slain. "O death where is thy sting? O grave where is thy victory?"

"E'en now before we rise

To that immortal state,

The thoughts of such amazing bliss,

Should constant joys create.

The men of grace have found
Glory begun below,

Celestial fruits on earthly ground,

From faith and hope may grow.

Then let our songs abound,

And every tear be dry,

We're marching through Immanuel's ground,
To fairer worlds on high."

We come then to the conclusion that religion is not a gloomy subject, and that the reason why it appears gloomy to you, is a consciousness that you do not possess it; and that, if you were to die in this state, you must be lost forever. This is proved from the experience of all under conviction of sin. The distress of those who were pricked in the heart on the day of Pentecost, was not owing to their religion, but to the fact that they had no religion. But when their hearts were changed, and they found the Saviour, O how happy they were. They gladly received the word.

And so it was with the trembling jailor. He rejoiced in God. And so when Philip preached in Samaria, "there was great joy in that city." And so it is in our day. We have the testimony of thousands of youth, that religion is not a gloomy subject, but that it is awfully gloomy to be without it.

But suppose it were not so. It is absolutely necessary to the salvation of the soul; and what are the trials of a short life compared with a miserable eternity?

SERMON XXVII.

The Backslider Restored.

Restore unto me the joy of thy salvation, and uphold me by thy free Spirit. Then will I teach transgressors thy ways; and sinners shall be converted unto thee.PSALM li: 12, 13.

THIS passage of Scripture reveals to us the method which God usually employs in commencing a revival of religion. He first revives his work in the hearts of his people, and thus prepares them to pray, and to labor successfully for the salvation of their fellow men.

This prayer of David carries back our thoughts to that period in his history, when, after having seen his lost condition, he was brought up out of the horrible pit and the miry clay, and his feet were set upon a rock, and a new song was put into his mouth, even praise unto our God. It was then that he first experienced the joy of God's salvation; and having lost it by falling into sin, he penitently and earnestly prays that it may be restored.

In treating of this subject it is important to discriminate between that joy which is spiritual, and that which is natural. All religious joy is not the joy of God's salvation. There is the joy of the hypocrite, which is but for a moment. Job xx: 5. The stony

ground hearers received the word with joy. They rejoiced prematurely, and having no root in themselves, they endured only for a time.

Sinners may flatter themselves without any good reason, that their sins are pardoned, and be filled with joy. Their joy may arise to a high degree, and be accompanied by the warmest expressions of gratitude, and by great zeal in the external duties of religion. Thus a criminal, under sentence of death, understanding, through mistake, that he is pardoned, is filled with transports of joy, and cannot find words to express his gratitude to his sovereign for his kindness and mercy. But when he discovers his mistake, his joy vanishes, and all his love and gratitude to his supposed benefactor, disappear at once. In like manner, the selfdeceived sinner, who rejoices only in his own fancied safety, has no love to the character of God, no delight in holiness, and no joy in the contemplation of divine objects. All his regard centers in self. If he only can be safe, he cares not what becomes of God, or his glory, or the interests of his kingdom. But the joy of God's salvation is not a selfish joy. It results from the exercise of the Christian graces, and consists in the delight which the renewed soul takes in contemplating the objects of holy affection, without reference to self, or self interest.

God's salvation, is not a salvation from punishment merely; but a salvation from the power and dominion of sin. Christ was called Jesus, because he should save his people from their sins. "Out of Zion shall come a deliverer, who shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob." "Unto you first, God having raised up