have a hand in a work like this, and ought to take up his abode in some place where churches are never to be built. But these, I know, are not the views and feelings entertained by the members of this congregation. You have generous and liberal hearts, every way equal to the emergency, should God prosper you; you need only to be warned against the spirit of division and disunion, which can defeat the best intentions of the most cheerful and large-hearted liberality.

5. But I remark, finally, that the condescension of God, in recording his name in temples made with hands, and in permitting himself there to be sought and worshipped, by his sinful creatures, ought to excite our highest wonder, and gratitude, and love, for ever. Well may we adopt the language of the divine poet, and exclaim

"Thy favours, Lord, surprise our souls;
Will the Eternal dwell with us?
What canst thou find beneath the poles,
To tempt thy chariot downward thus ?

"Still might he fill his starry throne

And please his ears with Gabriel's songs;
But the heavenly Majesty comes down,
And bows to hearken to our tongues."

Can we witness this condescension, and not hasten with eager and delighted hearts to give to God the strongest testimonies of our gratitude and love? Shall we witness this condescension, and not furnish to our glorious King the best abode which our poor hands can build for him? Shall we know this

truth, and not feel it to be a privilege above all price,-never to be slighted or misimproved,—that we may go to God's house, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple? Well might the king of Israel exclaim-"How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord God of hosts, my soul thirsteth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord." It was here that he received the council of God, and saw the visible glory of the Shechinah.

Ah, this it is that constitutes the highest beauty, and the best adorning of the house of God. It is his glorious presence; the pervading energy of his quickening spirit. O then, let us seek this as our highest joy. Then shall we be prepared to say of any and every place where we may worship God: "Surely this is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

SERMON IV.

THE GOSPEL TESTED BY EXPERIENCE.

“If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."-JOHN 7 : 17.

THE great question whether the gospel of Christ be a divine revelation or only an imposture, is one of infinite importance. It equally concerns the high and the low, the learned and the ignorant, to have satisfactory proof of its character. Although the teachings of Christ embrace ideas of incomprehensible magnitude and depth, yet, they are invariably characterized by a clearness and simplicity that adapt them to the minds of all. The most ignorant find in them no obscurity, but what is inseparable from the nature of the subject. Yet the preliminary question, of the divine authority of the record, would render useless and void this beautiful adaptation of style, were not the evidence by which it is to be decided, equally accessible to all. Now, in this respect, the gospel is distinguished from every other work of antiquity. Their authenticity can be ascertained only by the most learned and elaborate investigations. To these the great mass of mankind are wholly incompetent.

But the Author of the gospel rests the truth and the divine authority of his doctrine with the experience of men. There is no test so satisfactory or of such universal application as this. It is the evidence of consciousness, of personal knowledge, of profound personal experience; and any man that possesses an honest heart, and a mind capable of comprehending the simplest truth, may at once put himself in possession of this evidence.

It is, then, to every man's experience that Christ commits the question of the truth and the divine origin of his doctrine. "If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself.' How admirable is this feature of our divine religion, rendering its adaptation to all classes and conditions of men perfect and complete. It is in itself an evidence of the divine origin of the Scriptures.

My object in this discourse will be, to show you

THE DECISIVE AND SATISFACTORY NATURE OF THE TEST TO WHICH OUR SAVIOUR HERE APPEALS FOR THE TRUTH OF HIS DOCTRINE.

Now, what is it "to do the will of God" but to yield an honest and profound obedience to all his sacred demands? What is it but to act and live under a supreme regard for the authority, and love for the character of God? It is a merging of our will in his, and a subjection of all our powers and faculties to his supreme control. There can be no obscurity upon this point. Men know what it is to

do the will of God. They know they cannot yield to every impulse of habit, or self-love, or popular sentiment, and yet be obedient to God. In short, they cannot be ignorant, that to render their experience a faithful and accurate test of the divine authority and power of Christ's doctrine, they must concede to it the authority of an imperative law, and render to it a sincere homage and obedience. If they will do this, they will certainly ascertain,

I. First: Whether the gospel be adapted to their constitutional susceptibilities and wants. If it be, it is, in this respect, distinguished from all human systems, and shows its author to have had such a knowledge of man as man never had of himself. It is of the rational and moral nature of man that I now speak. As a being endowed with intelligence and reason, we find him for ever aspiring to overleap those barriers of knowledge to which the circumstances of his present condition confine him. He is restless to survey the future; eager for a minute acquaintance with the persons and scenes that may have an existence in another state; and anxious especially to know what is to be the condition of his own being after death. These are the spontaneous and irrepressible aspirations of his nature. They are common to man, and are therefore part and parcel of his original constitution.

Now, where is the human production that meets these peculiar tendencies and workings of our nature? that discloses to our view future scenes and