g2
will he possess all the glory and felicity of heaven. Could we but follow him into the presence of his God, and behold him in the full enjoyment of all that he here desired and pursued, methinks we should every one of us adopt the Psalmist's deter- mination, and say, " As for me, this shall be my one desire, my uniform endeavour, and the one great object of my whole life" ]
Observe,
1 . How wise is the Christian's choice !
[The world may deride it as folly, if they will : but I ap- peal to every man who possesses the least measure of common sense, whether he do not in his heart approve the very things which with his lips he ventures to condemn? Yes; there is not one, however averse he may be to live the Christian's life, who does not wish to " die his death;'''' nor one, however he may dislike the Christian's ivay, who does not wish, if it were possible, to resemble him in his end. Let it be a fixed prin- ciple, then, in all your minds, that " the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom ; and to depart from evil is understanding" ]
2. How happy is the Christian's way!
[Because the Christian renounces the vanities of the world, those who have no other source of happiness than the world, imagine that he is deprived of all his pleasures. But we might as well represent a philosopher as robbed of his happi- ness, because he has ceased to amuse himself with the trifles which pleased him in the years of childhood. The Christian has lost his taste for the vanities which he has renounced : " Whilst he was a child, he occupied himself as a child : but when he became a man, he put away childish things." He now has other pursuits, and other pleasures, more worthy of his advanced age, and more becoming his enlarged mind. When the question is asked, "Who will shew us any good?" His answer is, " Lord, lift thou up the light of thy countenance upon me!" Know ye then, Brethren, that, however deeply the Christian may mourn over his short-comings and defects, and however ill he may be treated by an ungodly world, he is incomparably happier than any ungodly man can be. What says our blessed Lord to " the poor, the mourners, the meek, the pure, the righteous ? Blessed, blessed, blessed, are ye all." On the contrary, upon " the rich, the full, the gay, he denounces nothing but woe, woe, woe," Be assured, then, that they only are blessed who seek the Lord; and that " in keeping his commandments there is great reward" ]