the sands upon the sea shore, redeemed from a world of trouble and tears, gathered into a land of plenty and security, clothed with all the virtues of the immaculate Jesus, all worshiping the same God, all linked together in the same sweet bonds of relationship, all singing the same song, all filled with the same spirit, each one delighting most in the other's happiness, and ascribing their united and uninterrupted praises to Him that sitteth upon the throne and unto the Lamb for ever and ever; and you may form some faint idea of the bliss and glory of the "rest that remaineth to the people of God." But after you have fancied all of blessedness which the mind of man can conceive, you will still have an extremely faint picture of the realities of that triumphant period. For "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him." The most magnificent of prophetic visions, and the loftiest touches of David's harp only afford us a slight glimpse of its heavenly grandeur.

"O scenes surpassing fable, and yet true;

Scenes of accomplished bliss! which who can see,
Though but in distant prospect, and not feel
His soul refreshed with foretastes of the joy?
Rivers of gladness water all the earth,

And clothe all climes with beauty; the reproach

Of barrenness is past. The fruitful field

Laughs with abundance; and the land once lean,
Or fertile only in its own disgrace,

Exults to see its thistly curse repealed.

The various seasons woven into one,

And that one season an eternal spring.

The garden fears no blight, and needs no fence,

For there is none to covet, all are full.

The lion, and the libbard, and the bear,

Graze with the fearless flocks; all bask at noon

Together, or all gambol in the shade

Of the same grove, and drink one common stream.
Antipathies are none. No foe to man

Lurks in the serpent now; the mother sees,
And smiles to see, her infant's playful hand
Stretched forth to dally with the crested worm,
To stroke his azure neck, or to receive
The lambent homage of his arrowy tongue.
All creatures worship man, and all mankind
One Lord, one Father. Error has no place;
That creeping pestilence is driven away;

The breath of heaven has chased it. In the breast
No passion touches a discordant string,

But all is harmony and love. Discase
Is not; the pure and uncontaminate blood
Holds its due course, nor fears the frost of age.
One song employs all nations; and all cry,
'Worthy the Lamb, for he was slain for us!""

The next point to be considered, is the condition of entrance into this rest. This I have already stated to be Faith. It is said of the ancient Hebrews in the text and elsewhere, that they failed to enter this rest in consequence of the want of faith. Faith is everywhere presented in the Scriptures as the great and only condition of salvation. The law in the Savior's own words is, "He that believeth shall be saved; and he that believeth not, shall be damned." This has been the law of salvation in all ages. It was "by faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous." "By faith Enoch was translated, that he should not see death." "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house." "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and went out, not knowing whither he went." "By faith Isaac blessed Jacob and Esau concerning things to come. By faith Jacob when he was a dying, blessed both the sons of Joseph, and worshiped leaning on the top of his staff. By faith Joseph, when he died, made mention of the departing of the children of Israel; and gave commandment concerning his bones." "By faith Moses, when he was come to years, refused to be called the son of Pharoah's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." "And time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Sampson, and of Jepthae, and of David also, and of Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises," &c. Nor was there ever a time when faith was not the great condition of Divine favor and eternal life. Whatever changes or alterations may have taken place upon the external forms and ceremonies of religion, the spirit of revolution and repeal has never touched upon the law of faith. And though it has been often lost sight of amid the multiplicity of human conceits and false philosophy, it has ever

existed in the economy of grace as a fundamental law, forever and unchangeably the same.

All true faith is compounded of knowledge-confidence-and obedience. In the first place there must be a revelation communicated from God, as the subject of faith; then that revelation must be confided in and proceeded on as true; and finally that confidence must produce such a lively impression of the truths revealed, as to lead to the diligent observance of the duties enforced. The text speaks of a hearing of the word, a belief of the word, and alludes to some action for which that word furnishes the motives. The great condition then of our salvation, and what is comprised in an acceptable compliance therewith, is the study of the truth-the belief of the truth-and obedience to the truth. And unless these three elements unite in the constitution of your faith, my brethren, you need not hope for a peaceful death, or for an admission into the promised rest. Faith there must be, and faith too of this specific sort. If either of these features be wanting, it is powerless. Your speculative belief of the truth, and your cold assent of the intellect merely to the leading doctrines of the Bible, whilst those momentous facts do not affect your hearts, or the character and complexion of your conduct, will profit you but little. There is such a hearty consent of the whole soul required, and such an enlistment of all the deep sources of action, as to acquire for revealed truth a controlling power equal if not superior to all external influences. In short, it is a taking into our calculations, temporal and eternal, all the imposing facts presented to us in the inspired volume. And if such be your mode of procedure, and it be persevered in unto the end, "an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the "rest which is promised to the people of God.

Lastly, consider the failures of others to enter into this rest, as incentives to fear and exertion, lest we also should come short of it. "Let us labor therefore," says the apostle, "to enter into that rest, lest any man fall after the same example of unbelief." The misfortunes of others should always furnish us with lessons for improvement. This world is one vast laboratory, in which time and Providence are daily developing new phenomena of truth; and it becomes all seriously to consider and practically to apply each new development. The peculiar operation of the truth among the unbelieving Israelites instanced in the text, places in our possession

two important facts. The first is, that the mere hearing of the word or Gospel furnishes no guarantee for the certainty of our salvation. A man may hear, and hear gladly, and understand what he hears, and yet be finally lost. The Jews heard the Gospel, (that is in its typical form,) yet it did not profit them, but through their unbelief were excluded from the promise. Herod also heard the teachings of John with gladness, "and did many things," but afterward died in the hopelessness of unpardoned guilt. And there are many now, I say many who are going down to the fiery caverns of hell with the very words of life ringing in their ears. Nor is it certain, my hearers, that you shall be saved merely because it is your privilege to sit under the droppings of the sanctuary, or to have the promise of a future rest circulated in your hearing. Far from it. And if you do not believe, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment than for you.

But we learn secondly from this matter, that nothing but the utmost care and diligence can screen us from the sore misfortunes which befel the unbelieving Jews. We must fear--we must labor. There must be an anxiety concerning the certainty of our salvation which never rests with mere suppositions and probabilities, and a spirit of activity and perseverance which never stops short of the crown itself. There must be solicitude-a restless solicitude lest our piety should in the end prove to be spurious and our souls be cut off from the covenant of promise. Ever remember, brethren, that salvation is a difficult work, and that it is only by the most strenuous exertions that the rest can be attained. If you have any doubt as to your favorable standing in the sight of God, I beseech you to search out the cause, and from this moment set out afresh for the kingdom. By indulging a habit of negligence in reference to this matter, like the careless Jews, you must inevitably fall short. And if any before me have until now been standing off in impenitence and unbelief, take warning from the fearful curses which fell upon those in ancient times who did not receive the Divine word with faith and obedience. As God dealt with them, so also, and much more severely will he deal with you. Yours is a similar sin, but committed under more aggravated circumstances-against greater light and greater mercy. And if he that despised Moses' law died without mercy, of how much sorer punishment shall he be thought worthy who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath

counted the blood of the covenant an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace! If those unfortunate Israelites were cut off from the promise and consigned to eternal despair, how can your sins fail to sink you to the darkest realms of perdition? Permit me affectionately to exhort you to beware, and let this subject have some weight upon your minds. You are sailing over the same dangerous seas, and running into the same dread whirlpool in which many before you have been ruined and overwhelmed. From the deep darkness of their infernal prison the voice of warning addresses you. Your souls with all their deathless interests charge and challenge you to take heed. And your Savior with all his compassionate tenderness, in modes and phrases diversified and abundant, beseeches you to "fear lest a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it." And may the Holy Spirit, whose office it is to impress our hearts with the truth, so help us to see our exposure, and to perform our duty, that in the end we may find a triumphant entrance into that glorious rest which remains for the people of God.