doctrines which we do not think worth the trouble of attending to; precepts which we take no pains to observe?

Again; the personal character of Christ demands our attention. What benevolence filled that heart! What love and tenderness beamed from that sacred countenance! He was truly the chief among ten thousand and the altogether lovely; and as such infinitely deserves that we should earnestly endeavour to become acquainted with his gracious character.

But the chief reason why we should desire to know Christ, is, that our salvation depends upon this knowledge. It is not a subject of indifference or vain curiosity, or which we may omit to study with impunity. Life and death, good and evil, are set before us. This Saviour offers eternal happiness to those who become truly acquainted with him; and threatens everlasting punishment to those who continue disobedient and impenitent. Do we then think it too much to take the pains to think seriously on religion? Let us remember that dying thus unconcerned, we must for ever suffer the consequences of our indifference. Or are we bold enough to say, that we have determined beforehand not to take up our cross and deny ourselves; that we will act as others act; and that though we are willing to be saved, we are not prepared to give up our passions and evil

pleasures? If such be our state of mind, fearful indeed is our condition. It is against such

characters, that God has pronounced that awful threatening," Because ye despised my counsel, and would none of my reproof, I will laugh at your calamity, and mock when your fear cometh."

A time will arrive when we must see Christ. He will appear at the last day to judge both the quick and the dead; to receive the righteous into everlasting happiness, and to condemn the wicked to never-ending punishment. But with what different feelings will his appearance be greeted! To those who have loved him upon earth, who have desired to see him in the means of his appointment; in his word, his works, his providence; in prayer, in meditation, and in the ministry of the Gospel, his second appearing will be a source of inconceivable delight. He will hail such with the cheering welcome, "Well done, good and faithful servant: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." "Come, ye blessed of my Father: inherit the kingdom of heaven prepared for you before the foundation of the world." Such shall "see the King in his beauty, and behold the land that is very far off." All the clouds and shadows which concealed him from them in the present world shall be removed: they shall see him "face to face;" they shall be like him; and they

shall enjoy his presence and his favour for

evermore.

But let us turn to the awful reverse. There will be no pleasure to the sinner in the appearance of Jesus Christ at the last day. So far from it, he will call on the rocks and mountains to fall on him, to hide him from his presence. Of those who, like Herod, saw Christ upon earth, in whose streets he prophesied, and who gratified an idle curiosity by the sight of his miracles, there will be many found, at the last day, whose knowledge only aggravated their guilt in rejecting him. The case also applies to ourselves. We have all the means of grace, and the hopes of glory in our possession; but it is, so to speak, a practical and personal acquaintance with Christ that is necessary to render us true Christians. We all know something of him, as did the Jews among whom he appeared; but is our knowledge of the right kind? Does it influence our heart and conduct? Is it accompanied by the fear of God, and an earnest desire to fulfil his commands? It is very possible to understand the doctrines of the Gospel, and to remember and admire the actions and sayings of its Divine Author, without being really his disciples. Let us then examine our hearts; let us see, whether we repent truly of our sins-whether we have a lively faith in the Redeemer-whether we sted

fastly purpose to lead a new life, and whether we cultivate that most excellent grace of love or charity towards all mankind. Let us endeavour to acquire a more intimate and endearing knowledge of the Saviour, and a more eager desire to obey his laws and imitate his example. And then, though we cannot behold him, as did Herod, with our bodily eyes, we shall see him "as through a glass darkly," and enjoy his presence in the sacred ordinances of religion upon earth, and at length be translated into his immediate presence, where there is fulness of joy for evermore.

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SERMON XX.

THE JOURNEY TO EMMAUS.

LUKE XXIV. 32.

And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us while He talked with us by the way, and while He opened to us the Scriptures?

THE scene to which these words allude took place on the evening of one of the most memorable days that ever dawned upon our guilty world; a day, the celebration of which has even superseded that day of sacred repose on which God rested from the works of creation, and has given rise to the Christian Sabbath, on which the Lord of life and glory, late an expiring victim on the cross of Calvary, burst the barriers of the tomb, and completed on our behalf his triumph over the powers of darkness and grave. How many stupendous and affecting incidents were crowded together in the short circuit of that day! With its earliest dawn, we witness an angelic messenger, his countenance like lightning, and his raiment white as snow,

the