of something stedfast and lasting: and we are struck with dismay at finding that there is no such thing,—that all the strongholds of human policy and power have given way one after the other,—that everything in which man has been wont to put trust, is blown about as it were chaff. It is a sight as though the mountains were to crumble to pieces, and to bow their heads in the dust. Is everything then thus frail and perishable? we ask in our dismay. Is there nothing that endures? nothing that bids defiance to Time? nothing that continues the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow? Yes, there is One, and only One, who continues always the same,-One, and only One, before whom Time loses its power,-One, and only One, who is now, and ever will be, such as He was in the beginning,-even the Lord Almighty.

In like manner will it be at that more awful time, when the earth itself is to be torn from its seat, and the host of heaven are to be scattered, and the heavens are to be rolled together like a scroll, and the stars of heaven are to drop from their thrones, even as a fruit-tree sheds its over-ripe fruit, when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then, in the midst of this wreck of the universe, the angels will uplift their choral cry, Hallelujah! for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth. Then it will be seen that He who is Alpha, is also Omega, that He who is the Beginning, is also the Ending. Nor will He be alone. Everything that is of God will also survive along with God: for everything that is of God, at the same moment that it became of God, became everlasting. In the same chapter of the Revelation, in which we read the sublime declaration just referred to, we also find the comfortable assurance, I will give to him that is athirst of the fountain of the water of life

freely. He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God; and he shall be My son. Hearken, dear brethren, to the words of the God of Jacob. These are the blessings vouchsafed to those whose hope is in the Lord their God. Ye have only to thirst for the water of life; and God will give it to you freely. Overcome the world; and ye will inherit all things; and God will be your God; and ye shall be His children.

SERMON XI.

LOSS AND GAIN,

PHILIPPIANS III. 8.

I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord.

It is impossible to read the beautiful Epistle from which these words are taken, without being struck by the repeated expressions of joy in it. The Apostle talks again and again of his own great joy; and again and again he calls on the Philippians to rejoice.

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manner of those who are full of joy. joy to overflow on all around them. all around them should share and join in their happiness. Thus, you will remember, our Lord says of the man who loses one of his sheep, and of the woman who loses one of her pieces of silver, that, when they find what they had lost, they call their friends and neighbours together, and say to them, Rejoice with me; for I have found what I had lost. In sorrow we mostly shut up our hearts, and shun the sight of any one, unless it be a very dear friend. But joy opens the heart, and makes us for the moment overleap the barriers, which at other times keep us apart from our neighbours.

Thus, in the Epistle to the Philippians, we see St Paul not only talking of his own joy, but calling on the Philippians to rejoice with him, to rejoice in the Lord. Again,

a little further on, he says, Rejoice in the Lord alway; and again I say, Rejoice. Now what was it that made St Paul so full of joy? Had any piece of extraordinary good fortune befallen him? Had he found a lost sheep, a lost piece of money? Had this been the case, though he might have called on his neighbours to rejoice with him, he would hardly have bid the Philippians do so, who were many hundred miles off: for his joy on such an account would have past away, long before the tidings of it could reach them. Therefore it must have sprung from a far deeper, stronger, more lasting source. If we look through the Epistle, to make out what that source was, we find that, when St Paul wrote it, he was in prison at Rome, and that he did not know for certain what the issue of his imprisonment would prove, though he rather expected to be set free. So that his joy must rather have been like that of the Apostles, who, when they were beaten by order of the Jewish Council, rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ. It must have been a joy akin to that felt by many of the holy martyrs, whose souls, in the midst of torments, were brightened by a light from heaven.

If we desire to understand the nature and the cause of St Paul's exceeding joy, the text may help us to do so. For think a little. When is it that men feel their hearts swell and bound with joy? You cannot but know that there are certain times and seasons in the course of our earthly life, when, according to the bent of our nature, we feel happier and fuller of joy than at any others. What are they? There may be many such; and in many things they may differ for one man's heart will be set upon one object, another man's upon another. But at all events

they will have one feature in common. The most joyful times in our lives will ever be times when our whole hearts and souls are fixt with longing desire upon some one object, and when we have gained it. Thus it is a glad moment to a soldier, when the battle is won. To a lover it is a glad moment, when he wins his bride. Glad too is the moment to the mother, when her newborn child is laid in her arms, and she forgets all her pains for joy that a man is born into the world. It is only when a man is thus at one, at unity with himself as well as with the world around him, when he is lit up and set aglow by one feeling, and when that feeling finds an answer in its object, that he can be said to be thoroughly happy. While our hearts are divided and distracted, as they mostly are, among a number of wishes and pursuits,-so long as we are careful, like Martha, about many things, we can know nothing like the satisfying fulness of joy. Nor can we feel any true joy, while we are living in that careless, drowsy, slothful indifference, in which so many drawl out their days. You know that, in a musical instrument, the strings must be stretcht out and braced tightly, before they will utter a sweet sound. So too must our heartstrings: they must be stretcht out at their full length, harmoniously and in unison, before they will utter the sweet sound of joy.

Hence we may learn two lessons about ourselves; first, that we are made to love one object; and secondly, that we are made to love that one object with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind, and with all our strength. This is the purpose for which we are made; and it is only in fulfilling this purpose, and so far as we fulfill it, that we are happy. Moreover we can only be happy so long as we continue to fulfill this purpose, so long