hear him say, "Eat, O friends, drink, yea, drink abundantly, O beloved!" and where you are abundantly satisfied with his presence, and drink of the wine of the kingdom. Sentiments of gratitude are then excited in your mind to the Founder of the feast; you feel thankful to him, and you rise from your seat animated by his favor, and sensible of his love. You evidence that you are not only refreshed by his bounty, but determined to execute his commands; and when you have enjoyed the most, you say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do ?" So much life and vigor are imparted, to our minds by a firm belief of the glad tidings of the gospel, that no duty appears too. hard for us to discharge, no trial too heavy to bear; but our triumphant exclamation is, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me!" Hence follows a cheerful acquiescence in the duties we owe to one another, to God, and to the world.

Our tempers, by those frequent and solemn interviews with which we are indulged, become spiritual, heavenly, · and divine; admiring spectators see that we have been with Jesus like Enoch, we walk with God, and, like him, shall be wafted away to the world of purity and peace.

And are these the triumphs of the gospel? Does it indeed produce so divine a change in the moral world? Then surely it is worthy of its Author; of him " for whom are all things, and by whom are all things." Is it any disgrace to the wisdom that devised it, or the love that gave it to the nations? No: for in the gospel God has declared the glory of all his perfections, and particularly does his holiness shine in it with radiant lustre.

Is it the tendency of the gospel to refine and exalt the character; to make the temper and conduct such as God requires? Then who would not long for its general diffu

sion? Who would not exclaim with ardor, "Fly abroad, thou mighty gospel ?" Who would not love those noble institutions which have in view its wider circulation, and which God has honored for the conveyance of its blessings to the children of men?

But oh! are there not many who profess to love the gospel, and to feel its power, who are filled with envy, malice, and all uncharitableness! Yes, there are! But O thou blessed Jesus, are these thy disciples! Most glorious gospel! are these the men in whose hearts thy truths have made a deep impression? The Saviour and the gospel alike disown them; and, Depart from me, I never knew you," will hereafter be uttered to them by God the Judge of all.

I dare not persuade myself to leave this pulpit without asking my hearers, What has the gospel done for you? In the presence of God and all his holy angels, I would put this question to you, and leave you with all solemnity to consult God and your own consciences on the subject. But O, do remember that you may hear the gospel; you may avow your attachment to it; you may liberally support its interests, and yet die after all without experiencing its blessings, and have a neglected gospel rise up in judgment against you to aggravate your condemnation.

Here, however, allow me to turn from man to God; suffer me to express my wishes for all who compose this congregation; and, looking around you, permit me to say to the God of purity and the God of the gospel," Sanctify them all through thy truth-thy word is truth."*

* This Sermon was preached at the Anniversary of Hoxton College.

SERMON XVIII

CHRIST AT EMMAUS.

"And they said one to another, did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures ?"-LUKE Xxiv. 32.

THE Connection of this text shows us, that after the death and resurrection of the great Messiah, two of the disconsolate disciples, who knew not that he was raised from the dead, went to a village called Emmaus; that on their way thither they conversed, as was likely they would do, upon the wonderful events that had lately transpired in Jerusalem, and spake of him they loved. His person-his actions-his sermons-his prophecies-and, above all, his most extraordinary exit occupied their solemn attention, and afforded a subject for the most interesting discourse. Whilst they were thus engaged in conversing about him, with whom they had before been familiar, and from whom they had learned most excellent lessons, a third came up and joined them; this indeed was Jesus of Nazareth, who had been raised from the dead by the glory of the Father. But he chose, for wise ends, to conceal himself from them, and to cause that their eyes should be holden, that they should not know him, appearing to them as a stranger de

sirous of knowing the subject of their conversation, and the cause of their grief, and to sympathize with them under their sorrow-weeping with them that wept. They intimated to him their wonder that he, even supposing that he were but a stranger in Jerusalem, should be unacquainted with the things which were come to pass there in those days; then proceeding to tell him how Jesus, a prophet, mighty in deed and word before God and the people, was condemned to death and crucified; giving him to understand at the same time, that the hopes they had entertained of him were most sanguine, for they trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel; and, finally, they informed him of some peculiar phenomena that had been wit nessed by certain women of their acquaintance at his sepulchre, where his body could not be seen, though they saw a vision of angels, who said that he was alive. The courteous and mild fellow traveler then began to speak and detain them with delightful converse; for he showed them "that Christ ought to suffer these things, and then to enter into his glory." He spread before them the mysteries of the inspired page, and showed how they were illustrated in the life and death of their best friend. Sooner than they thought they arrived at their journey's end, where he made as though he would have gone further; but they prevailed on him, by their great importunity, to go in and tarry with them with them he took bread, blessed it, break it, and gave unto them-then first their eyes were opened to behold him as the same Jesus who was crucified, and to discover in him the lovely features of their Lord who had done all things well-when, lo! he vanished out of their sight, and was seen no more. After which, we may reasonably suppose to have taken place-a solemn silence;

and then they used to each other the admirable expression we have selected as a texta text-" Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the Scriptures ?" Having, then, taken a slight glance at the whole account of this wonderful circumstance, in confining our attention more particularly to the words of the text, we shall view them as leading us to reflect on-the conversation of our Lord with his disciplesand the effects it produced upon their minds-" their hearts burned within them, while he talked with them by the way." Behold

I. The conversation of our Lord with his disciples.

And here the passage presents us with the kind familiarity which he displayed, and the lustre that he cast on the divine word—the first remarkable thing in our Lord's conversation with the travelers to Emmaus, is

The

1. The kind familiarity which he displayed-their own expression is, "He talked with us by the way." It is condescension in the Son of God, to notice the concerns and accept the worship of his holy angels; how much more must it be so to sojourn with mankind-to go where they go-and freely to tell them the secrets of his heart. Saviour was now, you remember, even on earth, a most dignified character-he was now no longer to suffer and be cruelly entreated-he had now finished the work his Father had given him to do—and had shortly after to ascend to claim his high seat in glory. He now showed himself to be the Christ, the Son of God, and confirmed the reality of his appointment and mission, by his bursting the bars of the tomb. He would not now be viewed by any as a common character, but as the most wonderful being that had ever appeared in the world-as such even his enemies