kind offices, and also the exercise of unfailing sympathy. The Church, then, is a family, of which the Lord Jesus Christ is the Head; and, with regard to this world, all His faithful people are its members. "Now, therefore," says St. Paul, "ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow-citizens with the saints, and of the household of God." We wish you to meditate on that expression, "the household of God," until you see the glory and dignity, the beauty and loveliness, the tenderness and affection which it describes. Nor fail to remember, that, in addition to this, it teaches us what manner of persons we ought to be in piety and holiness as to God, and in patience and forbearance, in love and unity, as to each other. But,

2. Let us consider who compose this family. St. Paul speaks of "the whole family in heaven and earth." A part, then, of this family is, as to us, invisible; for it is in the world of glory and happiness. Another part of it is, in a certain manner, visible to us; for it exists in this world of sorrow, sin, and darkness. We might speak of two families; of one in heaven, and of another upon earth; and thus indeed we often speak of the Church militant and the Church triumphant; but both these are only parts of one whole which exists in different circumstances. The saints and angels which rejoice, praise, and triumph in the light, purity, and glory of the upper world; and all true believers who weep, and pray, and struggle here among the mingled elements of this lower world; are not two Churches, but one Church; not two bodies, but one body; not two families, but

one family. The visible and the invisible worlds are but different parts of one vast arena: and we who are in the visible exist in a lower state; and those who are in the invisible exist in a higher state. We are in the years of our minority, and they rejoice in the possession of the inheritance that belongs to those who are of full age. This is precisely the idea which St. Paul gives us of the Church in that splendid passage which we have in Hebrews xii. 22, &c. "But ye are come unto mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; To the general assembly of the Church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, And to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." It has been justly observed on these verses, that "the economy of Christ's Church on earth, with all its promises and ordinances, is intimately connected with that which subsists in the holy abode of God and Christ in heaven, to which it is continually transmitting fresh inhabitants." And if, my brethren, you meditate on this subject in the light of Scripture, you cannot fail to see the unspeakable grandeur of the whole Church. You readily admit the glory and beauty of the Church above; for with heaven and its inhabitants you are justly accustomed to associate notions of sublimity, magnificence, and loveliness. But if you recollect, that "the whole family in heaven and earth" is one, you must see that the attributes of

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that part of the family which is above must belong to that part of the family which is below, however they may be enfeebled, and tarnished, and obscured by the sinfulness which belongs to mortality. If you enter into the consideration of this fact, you will discover its ennobling and animating tendency: for although you are weak and sinful and imperfect creatures, yet, if you be true followers of Christ, you are most intimately in alliance with heaven, and there is a sense in which you are one with heaven. But,

3. Is all this a reality? And we reply, It is a reality. "Of whom," says the Apostle, "the whole family is named;" an expression which may be viewed as a common hebraism. "They shall be called" signifies "they shall be." To say, therefore, "they shall be called the children of the living God," is in fact to say, 66 they shall be the children of the living God." And thus to say that "the family is named" is to say that "the family is, or really exists." The Church above exists; and the Church below also exists it has had a real existence in patriarchal times, in Jewish times, and in Christian times. It exists at present; and it shall exist till the purposes of God are accomplished; for "the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." When the design of God respecting man in this world shall have been completed, the whole Church shall exist in the same glorified condition through the ages of eternity. The Church on earth has wheat and tares; sound and unsound Christians. But the day of separation will arrive and what do we read in Scripture respecting true and faithful souls? "And they shall be mine, saith the

Lord of hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels; and I will spare them, as a man spareth his own son that serveth him. Then shall ye return and discern between the righteous and the wicked; between him that serveth God and him that serveth Him not." We are compelled to admit, by the dictates of reason and conscience, that two descriptions of character exist in the world: and this admission is in fact the acknowledgment of the real existence of the Church. There are those, through all ages, who constitute the world, the impenitent, unbelieving, and disobedient multitude and there are those, through all ages, who constitute the Church of the living God;-the penitent, believing, and obedient children and servants of the Most High.

In this manner, then, St. Paul teaches us to think of the Church. We are to view it as a spiritual family, partly in heaven and partly in earth, one body, possessing a real existence.-If we now recall to mind what has been advanced, we see that we are here taught, (as I have already stated,) How to think of

God, and How to approach Him;

and also, How to think of the Church, and, therefore, How to think of ourselves as members of it.

I will not detain you, in concluding my discourse, with any of the reflections which the subject obviously suggests, but merely observe, that you ought to be led by what you have heard to the most serious and faithful self-examination. Are you acquainted with yourselves as depraved, transgressing, guilty, and lost creatures? Do you, in the light of the Gospel, really know God as "the Father of our Lord Jesus

Christ," and "bow your knees" to Him? Are you persons of prayer, who are in the habit of daily approaching God in the name of the one and only Mediator, imploring Him for the communication of all spiritual blessings? Do you see that He stands in an especial manner related to the Church, and that your salvation depends on your being true, living, and faithful members members of it? Do you properly study the unity of the Church, and guard against all confusion and division? Aware that the Church in heaven and earth is one family, do you rejoice in this; and is it your constant prayer and study so to believe and live, through divine grace, that, when you lay the mortal tabernacle aside, you may join the Church which is above, that host of glorified spirits who shall rejoice and triumph in bliss and perfection through eternal ages? Such, my brethren, are the questions which I entreat you to propose to yourselves, and to answer with all possible fidelity.-I can only add, May the Holy Spirit so influence all our minds and hearts, that we may have right apprehensions of God and of His Church; that we may worship Him in spirit and in truth according to the Gospel of His Son; and that we may order the whole of our conversation as His faithful children and servants! And thus, when we are removed from the part of His family which is on earth, may we be accounted worthy to be numbered with the family in heaven!