tuousness, very far from finding it more feeble, and less warlike, will find it a thousand times more powerful and invincible. No general ever thought of sending provisions into a city which he wanted to take, or of leaving all the avenues open to the besieged, that they might receive supplies and reinforcements whenever they pleased. He presses them closely on every side, cuts off their communications, and deprives them of all liberty of ingress and egress.-You must leave the body its nourishment, and even some portion of liberty. You are not required to torment it with a cruel zeal, but to restrain it within certain limits; enjoin it, as Solomon did Shimei, never to pass beyond a prescribed boundary. Let it be restrained by temperance and sobriety. Remember that you must refuse it all excesses, all the reinforcements of ease and abundance. You must be moderate in things lawful, strict in things indifferent, and sometimes have recourse to abstinence and fasting, if you wish corruption to derive no advantage from the propensities and appetites of the body.

To this add the well-known direction, to beware of the darling sin of certain predominant propensities to which we are all subject. The strength of Samson must be discovered and destroyed in order to overcome him. Examine what is the ordinary cause of our falls, on what side the flesh most frequently triumphs. To that your attention must be directed; if the leader can be slain, the army will be easily routed. Another advice very common, but very necessary, is :-Would you conquer the flesh? resist its earliest movements.

Wait not till the rebel has formed its party, assembled the conspirators, augmented its forces, raised the standard of rebellion. Let the first efforts, even by concealed and secret instigations, to incite an insurrection of the passions, be counteracted. Check it immediately; the longer you delay, the more doubtful will be the victory. What shall I say more? Spare not little sins, tolerate not in yourselves even infirmities and imperfections. If they remain, let it be involuntarily, in spite of your efforts, and not by a peaceable and concerted connivance. You have reason to fear, lest the flesh, so expert in wiles and stratagems, make you pay dear for such unhappy tolerance, and betray you ere you are aware, by means of those sins which appear to you of no consequence, but which lead to the greatest crimes.

We proceed to remark, that as the flesh is to be weakened and mortified, the spirit must be strengthened from day to day. This is done,on the one hand, by removing what impairs, grieves, and quenches it; and on the other, by employing all the means adapted to increase and confirm our regeneration. Would we strengthen the spirit? Let us be careful to have a soul pure, chaste, tranquil, always at peace with God. The serenity inspired by pure virtue, the tranquillity derived from an assurance of reconciliation, produces an elevation of mind, a magnanimity which prepares us to overcome the flesh. Would we strengthen the spirit? Let us give it all the assistance, which pious readings, holy meditations, the hearing of the word, the use of the sacraments, are able to

supply. Let us acquire what is called the habit of devotion, which consists in inward and frequent recollections, in secret and regular communion with God, a diligent use of prayer, a perpetual desire of grace, a frequent meditation on eternal blessings. Nourished by these things, what strength does a soul gradually attain! how is the spirit invigorated, when with incessant desires and ardent supplications it implores and receives new succours from God through Jesus Christ! Would we strengthen the spirit? Let us keep our virtues always in exercise, and improve the least impulses of conscience which incite us to do good. Let us proceed to immediate action. Let us not imagine that contemplative life is sufficient; let, ours be a life of practice; let us always be employed in some good work of charity, of zeal, of piety. Let the talent be improved; it will increase by using, and we shall gain others.* "If we live in the spirit, let us also walk in the spirit."† By the constant repetition of good actions, let us proceed from the act to the habit. Nothing but habits of holiness can constitute us real saints; and when virtues have become habitual, how strong is the spirit, and how bright the prospect of a complete victory!

What a happiness, what a consolation! Thus strengthening the spirit, and weakening the flesh, we are assured of the victory. God has promised it, and his promise cannot fail. Then, O believer, who art now groaning under the body of death, take courage: yet a little while, and thy groans

will be exchanged for the song of triumph. Thou still feelest conflicts, oppositions of the flesh which justly distress thee. But if in those conflicts thou defend thyself, and consent not to the evil suggestions; if thy very infirmities cause thee daily grief; if thy falls be rare, and followed by an early and bitter repentance; if thy virtues increase and thy faults diminish; take courage: Christ hath sufficient merit to cover thy infirmities and the. sins of which thou repentest: and thy heavenly Father hath mercy enough to pardon them. Take courage; one day, and that at no very distant period, the Spirit of Christ will give thee a complete victory.

Happy period! happy state, which is yet future, what reason have we to long for thy approach! In the present state "absent from the Lord,"* always feeble, constantly combating with the world and sin, when shall we be entirely "delivered from the bondage of corruption?" Who would not prefer the triumph to the combat, peace to war, the enjoyment of the prize and glorious repose at the end of the race to the severe labour of the course and the conflict? When shall we leave the field, covered with dust and sweat and blood, to receive the crown? Christians, yet a little exertion and patience, and you shall see the salvation of God, sin conquered, death disarmed, and your glory complete. God grant us this grace; and to him who giveth us the victory through his Son and Spirit, be honour and glory for ever. Amen.

* II Corinth. v. 6.

Rom. viii. 21."

SERMON VIII.

THE ADVANTAGES OF THE GOSPEL ABOVE THE LAW.

JOHN I. 17.

For the law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.

AMONG the multitude of luminous bodies which magnificently shine over our heads, two in particular command our attention by their splendour and usefulness. The scripture, which seeks not the precision of philosophers and astronomers, but speaks of natural things according to their relation to us, denominates these, "two great lights;"* because they are, in fact, the two great luminaries which enlighten our world, and which God made on the fourth day of the creation, one to preside over the night and the other over the day. It has long been observed, and with much propriety, that the two economies of the Law and Gospel are in the church, just what those two luminaries, the sun and moon, are in nature. As the moon reigns amidst the shades, dissipating part of them by her lustre, serving by her pale glimmerings as a conductress to travellers before the appearance of the sun, and consoling mankind in the absence of the day; so the law reigned before grace, before the rising of "the Sun of righteousness." It intermingled some