preach in one place, in another to direct some society; business and labor are heaped upon him, and he is expected to undertake whatever is offered to his management. He submits; though it may often be more from a carnal than a sanctified spirit: for how can he refuse the brethren, particularly as their requests are confined to sacred things. His occupation begins and ends but with the day; he is so active, so clever, does every thing so well, that he is praised and encouraged from all sides, till it becomes his delight. Thus he is incessantly engaged in the work of the Lord. He preaches, exhorts, expounds the Scriptures to the brethren, prays with them, relates to them the passing events of the kingdom of God, superintends their societies, and does a thousand other things. That all this is good and praiseworthy in itself, who will deny? Yet, before he is aware, his own heart, with its wants, has been lost sight of; his secret, healthful intercourse with the Lord is interrupted, and the desire for it gradually extinguished; as if the soul had been satiated with this external employment: but when God in his mercy restores light to the mind of the believer, he is constrained to join in the complaint of the Shulamite: "They made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have I not kept.'

But it is asked, was it in this way that Shulamite likewise forgot her vineyard? I answer No. She found herself in very different circumstances; and I will endeavor to describe them. The sun has burnt us, when we have lost the sensible tokens of God's grace, and feel ourselves deprived of the consolation, peace,

and hope which had been our confidence and rejoicing, and cast into a barren land. What the love of God designs by such seemingly hard dealings with his faithful people, is well known. Our associates mark the change; they are displeased that our glory has passed away, that our beauty is so faded. They are angry with us, and even apprehensive that we have fallen from grace. Our mortification is deep, we cannot bear the suspicion; and consequently, strain every nerve to re-instate ourselves in our former condition. We again put ourselves forward, but the Lord has not called; we again attempt to prophesy, but the Spirit is not with us; we seek again to appear as one of the anointed, but our oil is consumed; we wish to warm others, but our own fire is extinguished. In short, instead of bowing before the Lord, and awaiting, in prayerful submission, the return of his pentecostal breathing, we try to sail with an adverse wind; we try the oars of our natural strength, and resolve to supply the deficiency of Divine inspiration from our own resources; to take again upon our own shoulders the work which Christ reserves for himself alone; and, instead of drawing water from the Rock that follows us, to force it from the barren sandy waste of our own nature. Our state is lamentable; we are separated from the Lord, and have strayed into, and lost ourselves in, a maze of presumptuous self-will and self-prescribed performances. And if the Lord again open our eyes, we must judge ourselves, and complain, in the language of the Bride, 'They have made me keeper of the vineyards; but my own vineyard have I not kept.' Instead of abiding in union with

the Lord, enjoying his favor, and participating in the abundant fulness of his vineyard;-instead of remaining at the Fountain of life, and surrendering myself like a child to the guidance of Jesus, I have lost myself in the dark wilderness of self-prescribed duties, estranged from God.

Let us here conclude. My brethren, when after the Babylonish captivity the city of Jerusalem had been rebuilt, Nehemiah gave this command; 'Let not the gates of Jerusalem be opened, until the sun is hot!' This command is spiritually in force to this day. Jerusalem is opened to no one, till the Eternal Sun of the universe has shed his heat upon him; till he has become black in his own eyes. Oh that each one amongst us, who now accounts himself fair and beautiful, may soon, from a deep and thorough conviction of his misery, be able to declare with Shulamite, 'I am black, O ye daughters of Jerusalem! Not that he should then attempt to purify himself: the Ethiopian cannot change his skin, or the leopard his spots; but may he experience the royal purifying power of Him who clothes all his children in white robes. May the Eternal King be with us all; may He encircles us in his golden mantle, and make us comely as the tents of Kedar. Amen.

SERMON IV.

SOLOMON'S SONG VIII. 6-7.

Set me as a seal upon thy heart, as a seal upon thine arm : for love is strong as death; jealousy is cruel as the grave: the coals thereof are coals of fire, which hath a most vehement flame. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it.

THE words we are about to consider, are not those of the Bridegroom, Christ; but of the Bride, the awakened believing soul. She begs her heavenly Friend to preserve her still in his love; and at the same time relates, in few but in expressive terms, the nature of Christ's love.

Let us then consider, in reference to the text, the love of Christ to sinners. Let us contemplate it :I. As a great and free love.

II. As a strong love. III. As a jealous love.

IV. As a faithful love.

I.-Set me as a seal upon thine heart, as a seal upon thine arm.' These aspirations of the Shulamite appear, indeed, to be lofty; but in what do they exceed, in extent or magnitude, what the Savior. continually does for sinners without their solicitation? He sets them as a seal upon his heart, as a seal upon his arm,

The Savior's heart is the inexhaustible source of all love. If but the smallest drop from this fountain enters the human heart, it immediately dilates and overflows with love. Witness its surprising effects on Abraham ; the love of God in him absorbed the love of nature, and stretched his arm to offer his beloved, his only son, a sacrifice to the Lord. What a noble display of it in David !—when with a love contrary to nature, and elevated high as the heavens above it, he wept the death of Saul, his mortal enemy, and broke out in bitter lamentations, that the shield of the mighty had been cast vilely away, as though he had not been anointed. Behold it in Moses!-when in the desert he cried unto the Lord: Oh this people have sinned a great sin; yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin-if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.' What amazing love! Hear the prayer of Stephen !— stoned by his enemies, and prostrated on the earth, with his last breath, he cries to heaven: Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.' Behold a Paul!-renouncing joyfully all the advantages and pleasures which the world has to offer, suffering ignominy and persecution, scourging and stoning, imprisonment and chains, and not even counting his life dear unto himself, that he might bring the Balm of Gilead to his brethren, who were sitting in the shadow of death. The love of these men was astonishingly great! Who can utter all the purity and faithfulness, the height, length, breadth, and depth of such love? And yet it was but a small drop from that ocean of love which flows in the heart of Christ.

But who can declare the love of Jesus? By what