of vice potent, yet you have the means to strengthen your heart and encourage your resolution. Your triumphant Redeemer, who has led the way through the same path in which he invites you to follow him, is now raised high above all principalities and powers, as the reward of his obedience; and he thus calls upon you in his state of exaltation: "To him that overcometh, will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne." His example is thus rendered complete. He left "the glory which he had with God" before the world was, in order to show mankind a perfect model for their imitation; and he has tried all the sorrows and inconveniences of human life, submitted to be exposed to all its temptations, and to experience its most dreadful · sufferings, that he might be able to compassionate those who are his followers, and to succour them in every time of need. To all this he willingly submitted for our sakes; and he will now rejoice to assist you in the course of duty, and to support you with the aids of the spirit of grace, when, by prayer,

you implore his divine help in your neces sities.

I have repeatedly dwelt on the example of Christ, because I consider it as one of the most undoubted proofs of the divinity of his mission, and that he came from Gods as he always did those things which pleased him; and it is the ground of assurance to a sincere Christian, that, if we faithfully obey him while on earth, we shall dwell with him for ever in heaven. He is gone to prepare a place for us, that we may be with him where he is; and we have the fullest assurance of the future felicity reserved for the righteous, throughout the whole of the New Testatament.

It has not, indeed, pleased God to inform us of every particular we may be desirous to know with respect to our condition after death; but we have sufficient information to satisfy us, that the happiness of the vir tuous will be complete. We are told, that

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eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man to conceive, the things which God has prepared for them that love him." Our ideas of pleas

sure are now but imperfect, because our enjoyments are mostly connected with these frail and mortal bodies. But when we shall have left them in the grave, every weakness and infirmity shall be buried with them; and the Apostle informs us, that we shall hereafter be endowed with spiritual bodies, suited to the future employment of just men made perfect. The fleshy tabernacles which we now inhabit, are continually subject to accidents, disease, and pain; and these uneasy sensations are wisely allotted to us by Divine goodness, as a proper exercise to present virtue, and as a mean to engage cur resignation to the stroke of death. We shall be more willing to part with life, when we suffer the uneasiness of mortal anguish ; and, surely, it is a mighty consolation, both under bodily and mental afflictions, that the time is coming, when all sorrows shall be ended, and all temptations be done away. If you endure the evils of life with faith and patience, remember that, through the mercy of God, they will "work for you a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory."

Do not, therefore, my dear reader, confine

your views and expectations only to the present time; "for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal." The exercise of faith is highly pleasing to God, as it manifests our belief in his word, and our confidence that he will fulfil his promises. It has pleased him to reveal to us by his Son, Jesus Christ, the certainty of another life, and to encourage us with the assurance of eternal happiness, if we obey his commands; and although such an expectation had been entertained in all ages, yet it was never clearly made known but by the gospel. You, my young friend, have the happiness to be acquainted with this blessed institution. Everlasting misery is threatened, to

you from evil; and never-ending felicity, to encourage you in well-doing. If the pleasures of this life disappoint your expecta. tions, look forward to the end of it with satisfaction and hope, as you will then be admitted to the enjoyment "of those pleasures which are at God's right hand for evermore. The phrase of sitting at the right hand of God is a very common and emphatical expression in Scripture, and is used to signify

place of distinguished eminence and honour. The weakness of human language does not admit the full description of heavenly subjects; and all the sublimity of Eastern imagery, animated by Divine inspiration, seems insufficient to express either the attributes of the Divinity, or the felicity he has prepared for them that love him. Hence God is mentioned as having the faculties of humanity, because we cannot comprehend the existence of any being without senses. We have no idea of seeing without eyes, of hearing without ears, or of action without bodily organs. But when we have put off the incumbrance of mortality, our understanding will be greatly enlarged. Now the most enlightened can know these things but in part; but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.

If the acquisition of knowledge is delightful upon earth, what must it be to possess wisdom without study, and to make new discoveries of the power and goodness of God! If the excellence of your friends is able now to endear them to your affections, how greatly will that enjoyment be increased,