DISC.

IX.

III. To be exalted above others in place and power upon earth, is the too general with of all. From the parabolical difcourse of Jotham we learn, that even the bramble was not exempt from it. And during the abode of Chrift upon earth, we read of one, who defired for her two fons, that they might fit, one on the right hand, the other on the left, in his temporal kingdom, which was then imagined to be near it's establishment. Such, however, was not the nature of our Lord's kingdom, or of the promotion to be obtained in it. He himself is seated at the right hand; but it is " the right hand " of the Majesty in the heavens;" thither must his disciples look for their exaltation. We may say of the Creator, in a more elevated sense than that intended by the Latin poet,

Os homini fublime dedit, cœlumque tueri
Juflit-

This is a holy ambition, to which no bounds
need to be fet; worthy a princely progeny,
a royal race, the fons of God, those eagles,
that can afcend the heights of the sky, and

The Necessity of rising with Christ.

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contemplate the brightness of the meridian DISC. fun. " Why feek ye the living among the "dead?" Our Lord, our Redeemer, the object of all our hope, and all our delight, " is not " here; he is risen; he is gone up on high;" he is upon his throne; he "fitteth at the " right hand of God."

The attitude denotes Reft; the place, Honour. And what can we wish for more than these ?

The attitude, that of fitting, denotes Reft. Such it was to our blessed Lord himfelf. His life on earth was a life of labour; he looked not for rest till his labours were at an end. His days were passed in going about to do good among men; his nights, in thinking of them, and praying for them: often indeed he " had not where to lay his "head." By taking our nature upon him, he fubmitted to it's inconveniences and troubles, it's forrows and it's pains: he laboured, and then he rested from his labours.

VOL. 111.

In

1

DISC. In time we shall do the same: but the IX. time is not yet. The sad effects and consequences of fin are still in the world, and lie heavy upon it. "The whole creation " groaneth and travaileth in pain together " until now;" and we groan and travail with it: we ourselves, though redeemed by Christ, and favoured with his grace, that we may be enabled to support our miseries; we have, and upon earth ever shall have, miseries to support, and those miseries increasing, as we draw nearer to our diffolution. All things are full of labour and forrow, without us, and within us: without are the incessant toils of life, the hurry and the bustle of the world; within are cares and fears: business fatigues mankind much; but when they have no business, they suffer more from their own thoughts. Their pursuits are often vanity, their disappointments produce vexation; and from the confideration of both, how many daily become a prey to gloom and melancholy!

On these, and many other accounts, which

The Neceffity of rifing with Christ.

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need not be mentioned (for experience will DISC. too foon teach the youngest among you) the state of a Christian in this life is by the Scriptures represented under that of a mariner in a tempeft, longing for a fight of the haven; of a soldier in camp, defiring to hear of peace, and to receive a final discharge from his warfare; of a labourer, bearing in the field the burden and heat of the day, waiting impatiently for the cool and comfortable evening, which shall release him, and send him home to quiet and repose. Hence the great object pointed out to us is reft: we are directed to confider, and derive consolation and encouragement, during our labours, from the confideration of that reft of God himself, after his work of creation; that of his people in Canaan, after their sojournings in the wilderness; and that of Christ, after his toilsome life, and painful death. We are affured, there still remaineth a reft, the fulness and accomplishment of all others, for the people of God in heaven, when their labours likewise shall have been terminated upon earth. And we hear, un

IX.

DISC. der both Teftaments, the aspirations of holy perfons after it, complaining that they dwell * with Mesech; that their sojournings are prolonged; praying for the wings of a dove, that they may fly away to it; defiring to depart, and to be with Christ; weary of things, even the best things, below; and seeking earnestly the things above, where he fitteth.

Let us not, however, when we think of this rest, think of it as a mere negative state, as a state of dull sleep and insensibility. It is a rest attended with pleasure; the rest of a weary flock, in green pastures, befide the waters of comfort; Eden blooms anew, with it's Tree and it's rivers; the Lamb leads his followers to living fountains of waters of waters flowing from the throne of God, and consequently impregnated with all the bleffings and glories of eternity.

I say glories, as well as blessings; for as the attitude in which our Lord is defcribed by the Apostle, that of fitting, denotes Reft;