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or unkindness, of impurity or idleness, but that he knoweth it altogether. Nor is even this all: for He that hath "formed the eye" and "planted the ear," not only thus seeth the works of the hands, and eǝareth the words of the lips, but also by his Spirit which searcheth all things, he "understandeth long before" even the thoughts of the heart: yea, verily, he discerneth exactly both our general dispositions, and our individual imaginations-the revengeful wish, the lustful desire, the pride and malice, the envy and hypocrisy, the love of self, and the disregard of others, the profane minding of earthly things, and the unholy indifference to things above; all these, in whomsoever they exist, though and buried deep within the innermost recesses of the bosom, lie unveiled before the piercing scrutiny of the King of Heaven. My brethren, if we know any thing of ourselves, we shall, with regard to many of these things, at once acknowledge our guiltiness; and we must also bear in mind, that in addition to these our presumptuous sins, wherein we transgress in spite of the warnings of conscience and the knowledge of God's will,-in addition to these, there are also our secret faults, that is, of which we are ourselves unconscious. There are these also, which God observes and remarks, the consideration of which, however he may be disposed to regard them as light and insignificant, called forth from the Psalmist of Israel the mournful exclamation, "Who can tell how oft he offendeth!"

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Now it is truly an appalling and terrible thing to reflect, that of our manifold transgressions by thought, word, and deed, committed from time to time against the Divine Majesty of Heaven, not one escapes observation, or remains unrecorded in the book of his remembrance: that book which shall hereafter be opened, when the judgment is set, is This, I say, and the dead, small and great, stand before God. truly a reflection which may well inspire us with alarm and terror, for who does not tremble to appear in the presence of a holy and righteous God, who remembers all the provocations wherewith he hath been provoked every day?

The communications of Scripture, however, even when most fearful, are not made in order to drive us to despair, but, on the contrary, to arouse our exertions to escape the threatened misery. The same volume which proclaims our guilt, and makes known our danger, also points out the gracious means provided by our heavenly Father, whereby we may be delivered. It makes known, that though we loved not God, yet that " he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins," in whom "he that believeth hath everlasting life;" that "the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin;" and that it is a faithful saying, and worthy of all men to be received, that "he came into the world to save sinners." When, therefore, we consider that his eyes are over all his works, that he knoweth our down-sittings and up-risings; when we reflect how impossible it consequently is for any one to be justified in his sight, for that "if he will contend with him, he cannot answer him one of a thousand;" we ought surely to avail ourselves of that only way of salvation which he hath provided. It is vain to hope that we can be justified before He knoweth them all, God for our own works and deservings. and seeth that the very best are imperfect, and partake in some measure of the nature of sin. Let us not then thus go about to establish

our own righteousness, but submit ourselves willingly and thankfully to the righteousness of God, coming with sincere repentance to the foot of the cross, and trusting only to the merits of Him who died thereon for pardon and peace.

But when we are thus at peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, we must remember that there is still a great work to be done, for which we are furnished by this truth of our Father's omnipresence with powerful and encouraging motives, even the work of our sanctification. “ I will that thou affirm constantly," says St. Paul to Titus, "that they which have believed in God be careful to maintain good works." "The infection of nature," however, which we inherit through the transgression of our first parent, "doth remain, yea, in them that are regenerated ;" and against this it must be the business of our whole lives to struggle and contend. It is on this account that we are exhorted to deny ourselves daily, and take up our cross, with the assurance, moreover, that otherwise we cannot be Christ's disciples. Is it not, then, a thought which brings with it unutterable comfort, that there is One" mighty to save" always at hand, both to assist our endeavours, and to rejoice in their success; that he witnesses the faintest desires after holiness and good that arise in our hearts, and is ready to strengthen them by his grace, until they bring forth abundant fruit; that he regards with approbation our struggles to be freed from the thraldom of sin, and looks down with pleasure on whatever progress we are enabled to make; that whatever action we perform, from a principle of love to him, notwithstanding all the imperfections wherewith it is accompanied, is nevertheless not overlooked, but received as an offering, with which he is well pleased ? Does it not, moreover, impart exceeding consolation to remember, that not only are the eyes of the Lord over the righteous, but his ears are open to their prayers; that he witnesses the humble suppliant when "meekly kneeling on his knees" in the secret chamber, and listens to the words of prayer "which go not out of feigned lips;" that "Christ watches by a Christian's hearth;" and when the two or three members of a household meet together in his name, at morning's dawn, and fall of night," there is he in the midst of them;" that he is also present in the congregation of his saints, and lends a ready ear to the supplications and thanksgivings which are there offered up? Say, my brethren, is it no source of joy to one who is "weary and heavy laden" with the consciousness of guilt, and who supplicates for pardon; to one who feels painfully the sin which strives to reign in his mortal body, and who desires anxiously to be preserved from obeying its lusts; to one who is assailed by temptation, and fears lest he should be overcome; to one passing through much tribulation, who seeks to be comforted; to one who calls to mind the goodness and mercy which have followed him all the days of his life, and who feels his heart overflow with thankfulness to his Divine Benefactor; is it no source of joy to all these, when by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving they make their requests known unto God, to know that he is always at hand to attend to the prayers of the most unworthy suppliant, to receive the adoration of the humblest worshipper? Surely, the "godly consideration" of this truth of his omnipresence, when joined with the remembrance of his gracious promises

to answer the prayers of those that call upon him, and with the assurance of his supreme ability to succour by the help of his Holy Spirit all them that are tempted, "is full of sweet, pleasant, and unspeakable comfort to godly persons," and such as are striving to work out their salvation with fear and trembling.”

When, too, we remember in the midst of how many and great dangers we are placed whilst we dwell upon earth; in what numerous ways sickness, want, or woe, may come upon us; in what unnumbered forms we may every hour be visited by death; what can impart to us satisfaction and peace, like the thoughts that we have a God at hand to protect us, and not afar off? With this comforting assurance, we may "lie down in peace, and take our rest, since it is the Lord who keepeth Israel, and himself neither slumbereth nor sleepeth, that maketh us dwell in safety." We may go forth to our work and to our labour, fearless of the noontide heat and of the evening chill; of the "terror by night, and the arrow that flieth by day; of the pestilence that walketh in darkness, and the sickness that destroyeth in the noon-day;" assured that no evil can happen to us but by his permission and whilst we take care to follow only where duty leads us, and tempt not the Lord our God by neglecting the means of preservation wherewith he hath furnished us, whilst we give way neither to sloth nor presumption, rashness nor despair, we may with stedfast confidence leave ourselves in his hands, knowing that all things, whether they be for health or sickness, for wealth or poverty, for life or death, shall "work together for our good." Accordingly, when in obedience to the apostolical command, "to be diligent in business," we engage in any worldly speculation, we may remember that he is alway" about our path," and can, if such be his pleasure," make all that we do to prosper." Or if he see fit to blast our schemes, and bring us down to the dust; to visit us with disease, or give us up to the persecution of the ungodly; to suffer us to be evil spoken of, and things that we know not to be laid to our charge; we may rest satisfied that it is for some wise and holy purpose, though, peradventure, we may be unable to discern it; and, therefore, we need not be cast down, and imagine that God hath forsaken us, but may still confidently trust in him, even though he slay us. And when, again, we call to mind the subtle operations of our spiritual enemy, and remember how at one time "as a roaring lion he walketh about seeking whom he may devour," whilst at another he endeavours to effect his designs by arraying himself in the garb of "an angel of light;" when we reflect on the "principalities and powers, and rulers of the darkness of this world," who are ranged in various ranks, under the command of the prince of the devils, and prepared to fly, with all alacrity, to accomplish, as far as they are able, his purposes of destruction; what can quell our apprehensions of evil, like the recollection that we are ever in the presence of Him, at the thought of whom even the devils "tremble." We know that whatever power they possess, is only enjoyed by his permission; that he observes all that they attempt, and all that they perform, and is ever at hand to counteract or to restrain their cruel designs against such as trust in him. For the trial of their faith, or their improvement in holiness, or to make manifest to the world the glorious triumphs of his grace, he may, indeed, sometimes,

as in the case of the patriarch Job, give up his servants to be grievously buffeted by Satan or his messengers; but still, though he appear for a time to hide his face, yet will he not leave nor forsake them, neither "suffer them to be tempted above that they are able;" nay, he will send forth his angels-the "ministering spirits to them that shall be heirs of salvation," who shall secure the objects of his care from the ruin and destruction meditated by the adversaries of their souls! Thus, then, shall the Christian, who really loves his Lord, and studies to keep his commandments, thus shall he be safe in his continual presence, "kept as the apple of an eye, and hid beneath the shadow of his wings;" supported, moreover, by the thought, that greater, far greater is "He that is with him, than all they that are against him!"

Hence it appears of what a precious source of consolation do those individuals deprive themselves, who, though introduced by the washing of regeneration to the privileges of the christian covenant, and thereby entitled to look upon the Sovereign of creation as their reconciled God and Father in Christ Jesus, yet in spite of all their advantages, live unmindful of "the lively hope to which they have been begotten again," "judge themselves unworthy of eternal life," and go on walking after "the devices and desires of their own hearts," in the broad way of everlasting perdition! Not only, however, do they thus deprive themselves of support and encouragement, but they render what might be an inexhaustible source of comfort and satisfaction, a fruitful cause of gloomy and fearful apprehension. For if they think at all upon the subject of God's omnipresence, they cannot but remember that he witnesses their grievous alienation of heart and sinfulness of life, and therefore it must needs be that instead of looking upon him as a gracious Father, and an almighty Friend, ever at hand to listen to their prayers, to succour them in temptation, and to preserve them from evil, they can only regard him as their righteous Judge, who shall hereafter bring them to account for all those violations of his holy will and commandments which he now continually beholds. Alas! for the corruption of human nature, when that truth which is calculated to impart such precious consolation and joy, is rendered by man's wickedness and folly the source only of terror and alarm!

If, however, we desire to "live godly in Christ Jesus," and thereby to reap from this and every other doctrine of Christianity that consolation with which they are so richly fraught, we must "take diligent heed" that we use the consideration of our Maker's omnipresence as a motive for our constant and unremitting endeavours to "Whither shall I go from thy advance towards moral perfection. Spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence?" By the help of this reflection, we ought to be upon our watch against those temptations which continually occur to transgress the commandments of God, especially such as may be violated without the knowledge or inspection of our fellow-mortals. Let us then bear in mind the fact of which I have already made mention, that God is in the secret chamber, as well as in the public assembly. His eye regards the deeds of darkness as clearly as those which are perpetrated in the full blaze of day. Let this consideration be always before us, lest we be tempted to the sinful gratification of passion, or give way to the unholy suggestions of

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malice or revenge. Let it operate to render us "true and just in all our dealings," knowing, as we do, that a false balance is abomination to the Lord," and cause us to shun the very idea of enriching ourselves by the wages of iniquity, or the gain of deceitfulness, even though we be at the same time sure that our unrighteous acts are now unperceived, and will remain without detection even to the end of our days. Let this consciousness of our Maker's presence restrain us, moreover, in a matter wherein, alas! we are all too liable to transgress-the use of idle and unprofitable conversation, since every word we utter enters the ears of the Lord of hosts; and although we may regard them as things of nought, and they may be effaced from our remembrance like the mark of the vessel from the bosom of the ocean, nevertheless they remain fixed in the recollection of our Almighty Judge, and will hereafter be brought to our charge. Let it again preserve us from all impure and unholy thoughts, which are not only sinful in themselves, but most destructive in their effects, inasmuch as they grievously aggravate the natural corruption of the heart, and so prepare it for a more abundant production of those evil things which proceed therefrom. Thus let us strive, my brethren, in all we do, or say, or think, to abstain from whatever is evil; and in grateful return for the boundless and inconceivable mercies which we have received from Him who is ever "about our path," let us take heed that as far as the frailty and imperfection of our nature render it possible, our whole conduct may be void of offence before him, and exhibit nothing to arouse against us his holy indignation.

But more than this: seeing we are ever in his presence, let us endeavour with every energy wherewith he hath furnished us, not only to become thus free from sin, but also to advance in the practice of holiness. Let us be devoutly given to all good works, ministering, as far as we are able, to the necessities of those around us, and whatever we would that men should do to us, doing even so to them. Let our "conversation be always with grace, seasoned with salt," taking care that "no corrupt communication proceed out of our mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace to the hearers." But as the foundation of all, let us strive to be pure in heart,” suffering no earthly object to usurp there the place that is due to God alone, cultivating towards himself the dispositions of humility, gratitude, and love, and directing our thoughts by every means in our power to those glorious revelations which he hath imparted in his holy word. Thus shall we not only "joy and rejoice" in the consideration that God seeth us, but we shall ourselves be brought, in a certain sense, even whilst we continue here below, to "see God." We shall behold him in the glorious theatre of creation, in the earth of which he hath laid the foundations of old, and in the heavens, which are the work of his hands. We shall discern him in the dispensations of his providence, and shall perceive more and more clearly, that all the affairs of the world are overruled by him. Above all, we shall distinguish him in the record of his gospel, and shall learn to trace therein, as though they were written with a sun-beam, the glorious attributes and perfections of his character; and so shall we be prepared for seeing him in heaven, where the mists which now becloud our vision shall be rolled away,