hearing that he is Christ's servant, an instrument in his master's hands; who meets with this from the Dan to the Beersheba of our Israel? "Cease

ye from man." If ye hope to be profited by preaching; if ye would become-and this is a noble thing-independent of the preacher; strive ye diligently to press home upon your minds, as ye draw nigh to the sanctuary, that Jesus Christ is the "minister of the true tabernacle." Thus shall ye be always secure of a lesson, and so be trained gradually for that inner court of the temple where, sitting down with patriarchs, and apostles, and saints, at the feet of the great preacher himself, you shall learn, and enjoy, immortality.

SERMON III.

THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF CREATURE-MERIT.

1 CHRON. xxix. 14.

"For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we "given thee."

FULL of years, and of riches, and of honours, David, the man after God's own heart, is almost ready to be gathered to his fathers, and to exchange his earthly diadem for one radiant with immortality. Yet, ere he pass into his Maker's temple of the skies, he would provide large store of material for that terrestrial sanctuary which, though it must not be reared by himself, he knew would be builded by Solomon. The gold and the silver, the onyx stones, and the stones of divers colours, and the marbles, these, and other less precious commodities, the Monarch of Israel had heaped together for the work; and now he summons the princes of the congregation to receive in trust the legacy.

Yet it was comparatively but little to bequeath the rich and costly produce of the earth; and David might have felt that a devoted and zealous spirit outweighed vastly the metal and the jewel.

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He indeed could leave behind him an abundance of all that was needful for the building in Jerusalem a house for the ark of the covenant; but where was the piety, where the holiness of enterprize, which should call into being the fabric of his wishes ?

He will not then lie down in his grave without breathing over the rare and glittering heaps a stirring, yea almost thrilling, appeal; demanding who, amid the assembled multitude, would emulate his example, and consecrate his service, that day, unto the Lord? It augured well for the kingdom of Judea that its great men, and its nobles, answered to the call, as a band of devoted warriors to the trumpet-peal of loyalty. He who had provided rich garniture for the temple's walls, and glorious hymns to echo through its courts, had cause to lift up his voice with gladness and bless the Lord, when the chief of the fathers, and the heads of the tribes, offered themselves willingly, and swelled, by the gift of their own possessions, the treasures already devoted to the sanctuary, He had now good earnest that the cherished promise was on the eve of fulfilment; and that though, having himself shed blood and been a man of war from his youth, it was not fitting that he should rear a dwelling-place for Deity, one who sprang from his own loins should be honoured as the builder of a structure, into which Jehovah would descend with the cloudy majesty of a mystic Shekinah.

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But, whilst glad of heart and rejoicing, David felt deeply how unworthy he was of the mercies which he had received, and how marvellous was that favour of Deity of which himself, and his people, had been objects. The nation had come forward, and, with a willing heart, dedicated its treasures to Jehovah. But the king, whilst exulting at such evidence of national piety, knew well that God alone had imparted the disposition to the people, and that, therefore, God must be thanked for what was offered to God. Now, therefore," saith he, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name. But who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort?" Two things, you observe, excited his gratitude and surprise-first, that the people and himself should have so much to offer; secondly, that, over and above the ability, there should be the willingness, to make so costly an oblation. He felt that God had dealt wondrously with Israel in emptying into its lap the riches of the earth, and thus rendering it possible that piles of the precious and the beautiful might be given, at his summons, for the work of the temple. But then he also felt that the land might have groaned beneath the accumulations of wealth; but that, had not the hearts of the people been made willing by God, no fraction of the enormous mass would have been yielded for the building which he longed to see reared. God had given both the substance, and the willingness to consecrate it

to his service. And when David felt the privilege of a temple being allowed to rise in Jerusalem, and, at the same time, remembered how entirely it was of God that there was either the ability, or the readiness, to build the structure; he might well burst into the exclamation, Who am I, and what is my people, that we should be able to offer so willingly after this sort ;" and then add, in the words of our text, "For all things come of thee, and of thine own have we given thee.”

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You may thus perceive the connection between the words on which we are to meditate, and those which immediately precede. David, as we have shewn you, expressed surprise on two accounts, each of which is indicated by our text. He marvels that God should have blessed the people with such abundance, and explains why he ascribes the abundance to God, by saying, "All things come of thee." But he is also amazed at the condescension of God in giving willingness, as well as ability, to the people. God needed not to receive at the creature's hands, and, therefore, it was pure love which moved him thus to influence the heart. Nothing could be presented to Him which was not already His; and might not then David be justly overpowered by the graciousness of God, seeing that, however noble the offering, "of thine own have we given thee" must be the confession by which it was attended ?

There will be no necessity, after having thus stated the occasion on which the text was deli