to Christ, and led on through the trials and temptations and dangers of this world, to the bright abodes that have been prepared for them in heaven. Then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, "They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness, as the stars for ever and ever." This is the event to which the Apostle refers, when he says to the Corinthian Church, "Ye have acknowledged us, in part, that we are your rejoicing, even as ye also are ours, in the day of the Lord Jesus."

So when he exhorts the Philippians, to live as the "sons of God, without rebuke, and to shine as lights in the world, holding forth the word of life, that I may rejoice," says he, "in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain." And to this church it was that he addressed the impassioned language, "My dearly beloved and longed for, my joy and

crown."

O what a scene will be witnessed, when the faithful pastor and his people shall meet together before the throne of Christ, and he shall cast his eyes upon that portion of his dear flock that followed the Lamb whithersoever he went, resisting the allurements of the world, and stemming the tide of temptations that threatened to bear them away from the cross; adhering to Christ through evil report and through good report; continuing faithful through all difficulties unto death, and overcoming at last through the blood of the Lamb!

O what transcendent joy, what ineffable delight will enrapture his redeemed spirit, as he thinks of the grace, the sovereign, matchless grace that has accomplished this work, and of the glory that will redound to Christ from it! And when he contemplates, too, the songs of praise, the hallelujahs, the rapturous hosannahs that will be shouted from this ransomed throng, and of the high delights, the pure and boundless bliss, in which they shall revel for ever, O will not the crown of his rejoicing be brighter and more glorious than the sun? Will not the cup of his joy be made to overflow?

But there is another part of this scene which he is to witness, which, were it not that he will be exempt from the imperfections and infirmities of the present state, would embitter all this joy; and that is, when the separation shall take place, and some of those for whom he had laboured and prayed and wept, and to whom, perhaps, he had even given the bread and the cup of the sacramental feast, "shall begin to stand without and to knock, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us. And he shall profess unto them, I never knew you." Retaining all the passions and weaknesses that attend the present state, no faithful pastor could survive the shock which such a scene would give. But God will make all things clear, and will bring forth his righteousness as the light.

Let me then close this discourse, by once more adopting the language of the Apostle to the Church,

and may God give you grace to realize its import. "For what is our hope, or joy, or crown of rejoicing? Are not even ye in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ at his coming? For ye are our

glory and joy."

Remember, my brethren, that this is the responsible and solemn relation which you hold to our ministry; and may all your conduct be such before an unbelieving world, that we may rejoice, in the day of Christ, that we have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

30

SERMON XIV.

THE CHRISTIAN'S CROW N.

"In that day shall the Lord of hosts be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty unto the residue of his people."-ISAIAH 28 : 5, 6.

THERE is scarcely a more striking evidence to be found of the corrupt and perverted state of the human heart, than that which is furnished in the views which commonly prevail of the distinctive features of the Christian religion. The popular current of sentiment out of the church is not commonly found to set in direct opposition to the name and the ordinary forms of religion. But to its distinctive spirit and its personal claims the popular feeling was never found, in any time or place, either to lend its smiles or yield its sanction. It has always decried, and always treated with a sort of contempt, the serious, humble, prayerful temper and deportment of the disciples of the cross. The pageantry and pomp of a false religion it will admire and approbate; but the spirit of the true it has ever contemned and repelled as a spirit of weakness, fanaticism, or bigotry.

Now, to show you how indescribably perverse

and wicked is this popular sentiment, I need only inform you that the spirit which it so characterizes and so contemns, is what God in our text styles "a crown of glory and a diadem of beauty" to his people.

In the verses which precede this passage, God denounces against Israel, under the name of Ephraim, his most terrible judgments; while under the designation of " the residue of his people," he speaks words of peace and love to Judah. "In that day," says he, i. e. when he should pour out his indignation upon Israel, "the Lord of Hosts shall be for a crown of glory, and for a diadem of beauty, unto the residue of his people."

The crown and the diadem are, in the eyes of the world, objects of great beauty and value. They are usually set with diamonds, and with the most brilliant and costly gems, and are worn not only as ornaments, but as the insignia of royal authority and power. Hence they are properly employed as emblems to represent that which God regards as the most precious and beauteous ornament of his people. He says he will be to them for a crown of glory and for a diadem of beauty. By which he means, that he will impart to them by his grace, that which shall render them more glorious in his view, and which shall be infinitely more dear and valuable to them, than the most costly crown that ever monarchs wore. He shall be their crown of glory and their diadem of beauty. The spirit which