tian brethren, is this! What a motive for love, and gratitude, and perseverance! And how unreasonable is it to repine at evils, every one of which is, in fact, by abridging your stay here, cutting short your trials, and hastening your flight to the paradise of God! If, on the one hand, we have reason to say, "I had fainted, unless I had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living;" on the other, the view of that land, however distant, is sufficient to calm us in trouble, and fill us with "peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Who will continue to mourn, that hopes to "see the King in his glory, and the land that is very far off?”

And now allow me, in conclusion, to urge, upon all to whom I am speaking, the words with which this promise of the text is ushered in;

He that hath an ear to hear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches." It is the Spirit of God, my Christian brethren, who speaks; and he speaks, you will observe, not merely to the church of Ephesus, but to all the "churches" of the Redeemer. Let every individual member of the church of Christ, therefore listen to the various instructions of the text.

Are you here reminded, that the Saviour "walks among the branches of light," or amidst the churches which serve him? Endeavour, then, to live habitually and constantly, as though in His sacred presence. Depend upon Him for light, for peace, for life; and say to him, "Thou wilt show me the path of life: in thy presence is fulness of joy, and at thy right hand are pleasures for evermore."

Are you here also assured that this Saviour marks every declension of the heart, and will awfully

punish the impenitent? Flee, then, from his wrath to his love-from his judgment-seat to his

cross.

Are you here also instructed that He watches over his weak and struggling servant with the tenderest anxiety, and promises him the most effectual assistance? Go to him, then, first for a disposition to contend with sin, and then for power to subdue it. "Put on the whole armour of God." Invest yourself in the righteousness and strength of your Redeemer. To-day the contest is possible, and victory, under his grace, is certain: tomorrow you may have sinned beyond the reach of grace or the hope of mercy. Take refuge in the love of that Saviour who is able to present you pure and faultless, "without spot or wrinkle," before the throne of God. "Be thou faithful unto death, and He will give thee a crown of life." Rest upon him, live for him, be content to suffer with him, and he shall "put a crown of pure gold upon your head.”

SERMON X.

THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA.-ON CONSTANCY IN RELIGION.

REV. ii. 8-11.

And unto the angel of the church in Smyrna write; These things saith the First and the Last, which was dead and is alive; I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty, (but thou art rich,) and I know the blasphemy of them which say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan. Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer: behold, the devil shall cast some of you into prison, that ye may be tried: and ye shall have tribulation ten days; be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown of life. He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches; He that overcometh shall not be hurt of the second death.

SMYRNA, the city to which this second epistle to the churches of Asia is addressed, is a city of Ionia, at the distance of about forty-five miles from Ephesus. It is called by Pliny "the second city of Asia." Of this place the celebrated Polycarp was for some time the bishop. And as, by the testimony of Irenæus, he was appointed to that high office by the apostles themselves, it is by no means improbable that he was the very angel," or president, of " the church of Smyr

na," to whom this epistle was, in the first instance, addressed. The church of this city was probably founded by St. Paul himself, by whose means, it is said," all Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus." And even to the end of the eighth century, it remained in possession of much of its original splendour and extent; and at the present moment contains many thousand professors of the Gospel of Christ.

It will be my endeavour, in dependence upon the Divine blessing, to examine the several parts of which this address is composed, and to call your attention in succession,

I. TO THE DESCRIPTION HERE GIVEN OF THE
SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD;

II. TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CHURCH OF
SMYRNA AT THIS PARTICULAR PERIOD;
III. TO THE TRIALS PREDICTED TO THAT CHURCH;
IV. TO THE DUTIES ENJOINED UPON IT; and,
V. TO THE PROMISES MADE to it.

I. And, first, we are to consider THE DESCRIPTION HERE GIVEN OF THE SAVIour of the world.

The description of our Lord in these several addresses to the churches appears to have a special reference to the object of the address. The intention of that now under consideration, is evidently to cheer and strengthen the church of Smyrna; on which it is observable that no fault is charged. And surely there are no topics more pregnant with consolation to the true servants of the Redeemer, than the two especially insisted upon in the text-viz. the divinity, and the death and resurrection of the Son of God. Observe the bearing of these truths on the circumstances and hopes of the people of God.

I," says our Lord in the text, "am the First and the Last." I am from eternity to eternity. I am the Beginning of all things, and their eternal End. I have all the attributes of the Godhead, and am "one with the Father." But, if so, fear nothing, ye troubled and suffering servants of the Gospel, for your Redeemer is your God; and if God" be for you, who can be against you?"

Again, says our Lord, "I am he which was dead and am alive." In other words, "Why should you fear? He who was God in his own nature, took the nature of man upon him. He lived, he suffered, he "died for your sins, and has risen again for your justification." What higher testimony can you possess of the sincerity and depth of his sympathy and affection? Even if every other evidence of the love of God were erased from the face of nature or the history of providence, yet, if we might contemplate the Cross-if we might listen to the prayers, and watch the dying agonies of the Saviour of the world-faith and hope could, as it seems to me, need nothing further for their encouragement. Your Redeemer is evidently as willing to suffer, as mighty to save. Go, then, thou disquieted servant of God, to the mount of Calvary; and dry your tears, and "rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory."

II. But consider, secondly, THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE CHURCH OF SMYRNA, as described in these verses. "I know thy works, and tribulation, and poverty (but thou art rich); and I know the blasphemy of them who say they are Jews, and are not, but are the synagogue of Satan."

It is, as has been already stated, the peculiar distinction of the church we are now considering, that no fault is laid to their charge. On the

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