employment after the last conflict is over, and the chains which confined them to flesh and blood are broken? Then shall they rise to join the heavenly musicians, to sing that song which none can learn but the redeemed. Nor shall the glowing troops that surround the throne of God and the Lamb, sing more loudly than those who have been brought out of every nation, kindred, and tongue, and people, to shout for ever, "Unto Him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, and has made us kings and priests unto God and his Father, to him be glory and dominion for ever and ever. Amen."

The sweet work, the glorious theme of praise to Jesus shall occupy eternity itself, and when unnumbered ages have rolled away, yet it may be said, "They shall be still praising thee."

Such is the employment of those who dwell in the Lord's house; it is a perpetual engagement, and therefore they are truly blessed to whom it belongs. If there are any believers here in the house of God at this time, let me tell them never to be dumb in the praise of their great Lord. Praise him, christian, with joyful lips. Praise him, by reviewing and acknowledging his goodness; by speaking to those around you of his greatness; and by acting before all to his glory. Praise him in your families, praise him in the world, praise him in your closets; but more especially praise him under the sacred roof, within the temples of the living God: so shall he grant you the light of his

countenance, and the visits of his love; so shall he meeten you for the rest that remaineth for the people of God.

Having gone through what I proposed, I will close this discourse with one remark, which is this:

Regularity of attendance upon the house of God is a pleasing sign, but no decisive evidence of a man's being a real christian.

We cannot tell the motives that bring you to the temple of God. You may come, for aught we know, from custom, or because you feel a curiosity to know what is done there: we are not acquainted with the feelings of your mind when you are there ; they are only known to that God, whose prerogative it is to judge the heart. Examine yourselves to know whether your after conduct is influenced by anything you have heard from the mouth of God's servants in his temple. See whether you are the characters that dwell in God's house, and have any right to claim their privilege, or any taste for it. May God bless his word, through Jesus Christ. Amen.

THE ardour of that affection which the apostles and primitive christians felt for the Saviour, is truly remarkable, and well worthy of our imitation, upon whom the ends of the world are come. When they were addressing their fellow-mortals on the important concerns of the soul, if his name did but come under their notice, for a moment, they left their subject to speak of some of his distinguished excellences. In many instances we behold this in the discourses and epistles of the apostle Paul; and can it not be perceived in the language of Peter, which now lies before us? "The word," says he, "which God sent to the children of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ;" and then, as he had formed the highest ideas of his character, he adds that sentence which we have selected for a text, and which, in the New Testament, is enclosed in a parenthesis, "He is Lord of all."

The honour of the Saviour cannot be an unwelcome or an unpleasant subject of consideration to those among us to whom "his name is as ointment poured forth:" our hearts are inditing a good matter, when the things concerning the King are our subject: for "He is fairer than the children of men, grace is poured into his lips: therefore God hath blessed him for ever." His name shall be remembered in all generations, the people shall praise him for ever and ever. The glories of Jesus are the objects of angelic research; why should they not be the theme of our meditations? for "He is Lord of all." We will attempt then to illustrate

the honour this

text confers on the Saviour-to

prove its truth-to show its propriety—and to point out its influence. Let us then, briefly, in the first place—

I. Illustrate the honour this text confers on the Saviour, that so we may understand it.

It represents him as "Lord of all," and does not this intimate his right of creation,-possession,— and dominion over the inanimate creation, the whole church, yea, all things in heaven or on earth? When our Redeemer is styled "Lord of all," it includes

1. His creation of all things.

It is the Lord that made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is; Jesus made them, therefore he is Lord. "All things were created by him, and without him was not any thing made that

was made." "He is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature, for by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones or dominions, principalities or powers; all things were created by him and for him; for he is before all things, and by him all things consist:" so that when the believer surveys the beauties of nature, he can say, "My Jesus made them all!" The sun that rules by day, the moon that shines in the night, "that great and wide sea, wherein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts," and this earth, which we inhabit, are all the work of his fingers. The heavens declare his glory, and the firmament showeth forth his handy work. The whole universe was made by him, and formed, when as yet it was not; the glory of his perfections is displayed in the works of his hands: his power in producing them; his wisdom in arranging them, and his goodness in preserving them. But some will say, Do we not, in ascribing the work of creation to Jesus, wrong the Father and eternal Spirit? By no means: for the acts of the three that bear record in heaven, are, like their nature, one. But this doctrine is thus represented in the sacred volume, especially in the New Testament, and it is well said to be a truth which imparts an unutterable dignity to christianity; a truth which lays a foundation for the comfortable hopes of a christian; a truth which will render