grieve not our Heavenly Guest, and force Him to depart from us; let us take heed to our ways, and indulge in no desires which are displeasing in His sight. Let us ever realize the presence of Christ within us, and let not our deportment pollute the abode He has graciously chosen, and thus offend that Sacred Presence. Let His Name be perpetually on our lips, and His loving-kindness the constant meditation of our thoughts. Then will He delight to continue His residence within us. Then will He speak unto us words of heavenly sweetness-words, that are spirit and life to them that hear them. Then will He be within us a well of living water, springing up into everlasting life. And when that higher, that heavenly life commences, we shall have a more intimate fellowship with Him. We shall then follow Him whithersoever He goeth. We shall then contemplate, without an intervening shadow, the brightness of His

countenance, and delight ourselves in His beauty. Reflection shall give place to vision-hope shall be superseded by fruition-seeing through a glass, darkly, shall be exchanged for seeing face to face; for we shall behold the Redeemer as He is, and dwell in His presence for evermore.

SERMON X.

CARE FOR THE CHURCH.

PSALM CXXxii. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5.

I

Lord, remember David, and all his afflictions: how he sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob; surely I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; will not give sleep to mine eyes, or slumber to mine eyelids, until I find out a place for the Lord, an habitation for the mighty God of Jacob.

THIS Psalm gives us a striking picture of the care of David for the house of the Lord. His anxiety was so great to build a temple suitable to the grandeur and majesty of God, that he would not suffer himself to rest, till he had marked out a

site for the future erection. He could not be satisfied that the ark of the Lord should dwell within curtains, while he himself reposed in a palace of cedar.

God accepted the pious wishes and zealous resolutions of this holy King of Judah. But because he had been a man of war, because his sword had been stained with blood, the Lord would not permit him to build a house unto the glory of His Name. He reserved this honour for his son Solomon, whose reign was a reign of peace. Nevertheless, because David had placed his affections upon the future temple, he took a delight in making preparations for it. He prepared gold and silver, and brass and iron, and stone and cedar, in the richest abundance. He knew that the temple was to be a magnificent structure, and therefore he provided for its erection upon a grand scale. He knew that the worship of God was an ordinance of sovereign importance, and was impress

ed with the conviction that there should be a suitable place for its due performance.

The conduct of David, my brethren, is a pattern worthy of our imitation. David, indeed, was a king surrounded with power, and wealth, and dominion. He could devise and execute schemes, which are beyond the reach of ordinary men. Το build entire temples, to cut down groves of cedar, to exhaust mines of gold and silver, does not belong to the province of many men. But the will may be equally benevolent, where the act is not equally beneficent. The man, that bestows a little out of his little, is equally worthy of praise, as the man that bestows much out of his riches. According to our Saviour's opinion, the widow, that cast into the treasury two mites, cast in more than all the rest. The intention, the motive, the principle, is every thing with God.

The charity for which I am to plead before you this day, is a charity of the