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all to search and pry into the intricate folds of our deceitful hearts. We are all apt to think too highly of ourselves. Pride is a poisonous weed that we can never perfectly eradicate. It is a very serious and a very important question to resolve, whether we be real practical believers, or not? Too much pains cannot be bestowed on the subject, whether we be not only hearers, but doers, of the word of God; whether we be Christians in heart and life, as well as in head?

If the question, upon the most mature deliberation, cannot be answered affirmatively, it is high time to set about seeking the Lord in good earnest: now is the accepted time, now is the day of salva tion. If we be hypocrites and unbelievers, and continue so to the last gasp of our lives, we are certainly not the children of God, but the children of the devil; and the lot of our inheritance will be in the regions of darkness and eternal death.

If the question can be satisfactorily

answered, and we have Scriptural reason to conclude that we are both hearers and doers of the word of God, we are in gratitude bound to give God all the glory, who hath made us so; and to pray to him, both to increase our faith and purify our hearts, that we may walk as children of the light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. And as we pray for an increase of faith and holiness, so should we pray for an increase of hope, that, as the sons of God by faith, we may steadfastly look forward for the inheritance which our Father who is in heaven has reserved for all his dear children.

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SERMON XXXII.

ISAIAH, XXVI. 3.

Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on thee; because he trusteth in thee.

THE person spoken of in the text is Jehovah. Jehovah, the self-existent, independent Being, the Lord Almighty, will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon him and trusts in him. All who trust in God shall never be confounded; they shall have peace here, and peace hereafter for ever in the regions of light, life, and glory. "Lord, thou wilt ordain perfect peace for all such; for thou hast wrought all our works in us."

Jesus is Jehovah; all therefore whe trust in him shall have perfect peace.

To trust, is to believe. All who believe shall have peace here and hereafter. Believing, trusting, relying, depending, looking unto, are expressions of the same meaning, and may therefore be used with propriety for each other.

Is peace desirable? Peace here and

for ever? How is it to be attained? What must we do to possess it? Let us stay ourselves upon God; let us believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and we shall have a peace that passeth all understanding; a peace that exceeds the powers of language so fully to express as to convey an adequate idea of it: we shall have a perfect peace, to which nothing can be added to make it more complete.

When we are at peace, all our enemies are still; they are either reconciled or subdued. This may fairly be said to be the meaning of being at peace. And is not this a happy state to be in? to have a mind at peace, to be under no apprehension of any fierce attacks from dangerous foes? They who believe in God

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are in this happy condition. wilt keep him, O God, in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee, because he trusteth in thee."

Are there many of you to whom I now address myself, who possess this peace, this perfect peace? If you do, it is because you put your whole trust and confidence in the Lord Jesus Christ your Peacemaker; for it is he that has wrought all your works in you: it is he who hath given you your faith; and it is he who continually preserves it in you, from which you desire your peace.

There are many of you, however, it is too clear to be contradicted even by yourselves, who have no peace here; and consequently can have no reasonable grounds to expect peace hereafter. "The wicked are like the troubled sea :" billows of uneasiness and disquiet are continually rolling over billows. Nothing is so tumultuous as the "troubled sea;" and to this are wicked persons of all descriptions compared in the word of

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