enlivened in a more than common degree by those ordinances of social and public devotion, which He has established in His church. Released, by the weekly return of the Christian Sabbath, from the turmoil of business, and from the toils of secular life, the faithful gladly repair to the sanctuary of God, and there hold communion with Him, and with each other. There they find a refuge from the cares of the world, an asylum in which their spirits are refreshed and tranquillized after the perplexities and conflicts by which they have been exercised. From this "6 commerce with the skies their emotions catch somewhat of a celestial ardour and blessedness; their joy approaches in its nature to that which seraphs feel before the throne; and, while every devout and every benevolent affection is called into delightful activity, they exclaim, "This is none other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven."

If such be the pleasure which you, my brethren, have often derived from your ordinary attendance on the public worship of God, how greatly must that pleasure be heightened by the peculiar circumstances of the present occasion! With desire have many of you desired to see this day; and you now see it, and are glad. Your gladness is both proper and seasonable. So far am I from condemning it, that I largely participate in it, and would readily be a helper of your joy. I congratulate you on the completion of a place of worship so spacious and convenient. I congratulate you on those kind and gracious dispensations of Divine Providence, by which this house of God has been prepared for the solemnities of this day; and that, without material accident or injury to any of the workmen that have been employed. I rejoice with you, not only in the grateful review of what is past, but in the pleasing hope of future blessings. It is impossible not to anticipate, with lively satisfaction, the great and manifold benefits which you may reasonably expect to realize, within these walls, from the promised presence of God in His ordinances. Here you will often experience the blessedness of

and that on scriptural authority, as manifesting toward their Maker the most profound veneration:

"Dark with excessive bright His skirts appear;

Yet dazzle heaven,-that brightest seraphim

Approach not, but with both wings veil their eyes."

Now, were you naturally as holy as angels, it would become you to be as humble as they are in the presence of God. But how profound, then, ought that humility to be, when you recollect that you are, by nature, not saints, but sinners; children of wrath, even as others; dead in trespasses and sins, wherein in time past ye walked ;—and that you are even now but brands plucked out of the fire, and by grace ye are saved!

(3.) But consider more particularly your present character as saints. How came it to pass that you were made such? In order to remove from you the curse of sin, and to procure for you the Spirit of grace, God was manifest in the flesh,-nay, God incarnate died! That you, who had deserved everlasting banishment from your Creator's presence, might again have the privilege of being " about Him," and be indulged with free access to Him in these religious assemblies, the precious blood of Christ was shed. The chastisement of your peace was upon Him, and it is by His stripes that you are healed. Salvation is, in itself, a joyous thing; but the means of procuring it, though wise and glorious, were most painful and terrible. The mercy which, appears in its conception ought to excite our gratitude; but the terms of righteous severity, upon which it has been dispensed, should inspire us with penitent awe. Our pardon is written, as it were, in the blood of God's dear Son; on which account we see strict propriety in that saying of David, "There is forgiveness with Thee, that Thou mayest be feared." And as it is only while we look to Jesus crucified that we can scripturally rejoice in God, or worship Him with acceptance and comfort, it follows, of course, that all Christian joy is tempered with reverence and godly fear. If our rejoicing be genuine, it is "with trembling." For it is connected with

He hath desired it for His habitation." "The Lord loveth the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob." Yet, while we adore His condescension, we ought to feel our great unworthiness of it. His august presence should excite not only our joy, but our reverence and godly fear. For "God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about Him." These words suggest to us,

I. The nature and design of those religious assemblies, to which this house is now solemnly devoted.

II. The reverence which it becomes us to maintain whenever we attend such assemblies.

I. Their nature and design.-They are described in the text as assemblies of the saints-about the Lord. Let us examine this description.

1. Meetings for public worship are termed assemblies of the saints.

This expression does not mean, that a mere attendance on public ordinances is sufficient to prove that we are saints, or holy persons; nor that all are saints who mix in such assemblies. He who searcheth Jerusalem with candles, and whose eyes are as a flame of fire, well knows, alas! that this honourable character does by no means belong to all the members even of Christian churches. Though the discipline of the Gospel be ever so faithfully and vigilantly enforced, yet, since it is administered only by fallible men, there will be some tares among the wheat, some spots in our feasts of love, some who have only a name to live, and are dead. And, if our churches contain some of this description, it cannot be doubted that our congregations include many. Nevertheless, such assemblies as the text mentions may be properly called assemblies of the saints, for two reasons:

(1.) To intimate, that by saints in all ages the obligation and authority of public worship have been uniformly and prac

tically recognised.-The true servants of God have always accounted it a duty and a privilege to frequent such assemblies. Even heathens, however erroneous their notions of the proper Object of worship, have seldom been so blind as not to see the fitness of the act of worship. Such as their gods were, they deemed it right to approach them with expressions of homage and adoration. And do not we owe to the true GOD manifestations of regard and reverence as public and solemn as those which they directed to fictitious deities? "All people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the Lord our God for ever and ever."*-That Divine revelation, moreover, in the light of which we rejoice, explicitly enjoins the exercises of public worship. Its language is, “O come, let us worship and bow down: let us kneel before the Lord our Maker." "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto His name: bring an offering, and come into His courts."+ Our great Master Himself, while on earth, confirmed these dictates: of reason and of revelation by His authoritative example. "And He came to Nazareth," says the evangelist Luke, "where He had been brought up: and, as His custom was, He went into the synagogue on the sabbath-day." His primitive disciples, the first Christians, full of faith and of the Holy Ghost, trod in His steps. "They continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."§ And from their times, down to our own, those who have excelled in virtue have been foremost to say, with David, "Lord, I have loved the habitation of Thy house, and the place where Thine honour dwelleth." Such, therefore, as wilfully and habitually neglect public ordinances have no legitimate pretensions to the name or character of saints. We need not hesitate to say, indeed, that they who thus absent themselves from the house of God give proof that they belong to the synagogue of Satan. If they mix not in the assemblies of the saints, those assemblies which all holy persons do * Micah iv. 5. + Psalm xcv. 6; xcvi. 8. Luke iv. 16. Acts ii. 42.

being left us of entering into His rest, any of you should seem to come short of it."

(5.) I observe, lastly, that reverence and all kindred habits are demanded by the very terms of access and acceptance, which God in His word has connected with the promises He has made to His worshippers.-"Thus saith the Lord, The heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool: where is the house that ye build unto me? and where is the place of my rest? For all those things hath mine hand made, and all those things have been, saith the Lord: but to this man will I look, even to him that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at my word." "God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace unto the humble." "The Lord taketh pleasure in them that fear Him, in those that hope in His mercy." In this spirit, therefore, you must necessarily draw nigh to God; for only in that case is He pledged to draw nigh to you. Reverence, seriousness, and contrition, with lively faith, are essential to secure those covenant blessings of which religious ordinances are the appointed channels. While mere triflers, after many years' attendance on God's house, remain the same sinful and miserable beings as ever, those who thus worship Him in spirit and in truth, and who give earnest heed to His holy word, shall infallibly receive the most substantial benefits. In His light shall they see light. They shall be made wise unto salvation. They shall be favoured with the delightful assurances of pardoning mercy. Their souls shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness. Thus shall they go from strength to strength, till in that Zion which is above every one of them shall appear before God.

Briefly, in conclusion:-Let us all endeavour, when we come together to the house of God, to keep in view the great objects of our assembling. Some attend a place of worship from curiosity, some from custom, some for intellectual entertainment, some to meet and salute their friends. Now, it is better to come from such motives than not to come at all. You have already heard, that these assemblies are not exclu