soul to leave my body till I should be suf ficiently contrite, and make confession of my sins. He spoke thus, and having entreated the attendants to pray for him, he passed from this life into one more happy and glorious." See Free Thoughts, &c. with the authorities cited. Such, it seems, is the religion of those who make an outcry against the doctrine of salvation by faith, without good works; that they can save the greatest criminals without either faith or works, if they will only fast on Saturdays, in honour of the Blessed Virgin.

"A holy woman named, Reine, suffered martyrdom about Alise, a little village near Flavigny. When she was beheaded, at the very place where the head lighted on the ground, a spring bubbled up at that very instar, for a perpetual miracle, in witness of God's approbation of the confession of faith made by his handmaid." This spring is also remarkable for its healing qualities; and the monks of St. Francis have a chapel beside it, as St. Wenefride had for ages at her holy well.

HYMN.

RELIGION is the chief concern

Of mortals here below,

May I its great importance learn,
It's sov'reign virtue know!
More needful this than glittering wealth,
Or aught the world bestows;
Not reputation, food, or health,
Can give us such repose.

Religion should our thoughts engage,
Amidst our youthfal bloom ;
Twill fit us for declining age,.
And for the awful tomb.

O may my heart, by grace rcnew'd,
Be my Redeemer's throne!
And be my stubborn will subdu'd,
His government to own.

Let deep repentance, faith, and love,
Be join'd with godly fear,
And all my conversation prove
My heart to be sincere.

Preserve me from the snares of sin,
Thro' my remaining days;
And in me let each virtue shine
To my Redeemer's praise.
Let lively hope my soul inspire;
Let warm affections rise;

And may I wait, with strong desire
To mount above the skies!

N6.

CHRIST'S NAPKIN:

SERM ON.

PREACHED IN

KIRKCUDBRIGHT,

AT THE COMMUNION.

By that Famous Flower of the Church,
Mr. SAMUEL RUTHERFORD.

From Rev. xxi. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

KILMA ideak:

PRINTED BY HCRAWFORD.

181
Tist

5.8-1809

LIBRARY

CHRIST'S NAPKIN,

A COMMUNION SERMON.

Rev. xxi. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their

eyes,

and

there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor cry

ing, neither shall there be things are passed away.

any more pain: for former And he that sat upon the

throne, said, Behold I make all things new. And he said unto me, Write: for these words are true and faithful, Sc.

THIS Tate of the glorified, ver. 4. Secondly, A HIS text contains four things. First, The part of Christ's office, ver. 5. Thirdly, A description of his Nature. Fourthly, The Promises. As, 1. Drink to satisfy the thirsty. 2. An inheritance to the Overcomers, or overcoming soldiers. The 3. Is a threatening of eternal wrath to offenders against the first and second table of the law, And God shall wipe away all tears. When friends meet they give the stranger.le welcome home. Here is the Pilgrim's weldne hone that our Friend Christ gives us this as given from heaven, and therefore, it is true do rine. Then we see that

the sufferings and tears of the saints shall be wiped away and removed, but not fully, while the life to come: for here is Christ's welcome home to poor sinners; for they come all to him with wet faces, and bleared with tears for sin, and the manifold troubles in this life; and Christ meets them at the door with a fair soft Napkin in his hand, and puts ⚫ up his hand to their faces, and says, Hold your tongue, my dear bairns, ye shall never weep again. And indeed, in my judgement, it is a speechborrowed from a mother that has a bairn with a broken face all bloody, and a!! bleared with tears, and it comes to her, and. woes her heart to see him so, and she sits down and wipes the tears from his eyes, and lays her hand softly on the wound, and lays his head in her breast, and dights away the blood, and lays her two arms about him, and there is no end of fair words, So when Christ and we shall meet in heaven, he will huss us up, and wipe away all tears, and lay our heads in his bosom. See how he alludes to this place, Isa. liv. 11. O 'thou afflicted, tossed with tempest, and not com'forted: behold, I will lay thy foundation with 'sapphires,' &c. It is there, to speak so, our Lord is ruing that ever he had handled his saints as he did, Isa. lxv. 17. Be glad and rejoice for evermore in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem a rejoicing, and her people a joy,' verse 19. And I will rejoice in Jerusalem, and joy in 'my people, and the voice of weeping shall be no more heard in her, nor the voice of crying' If ever there was a blithe meeting between two, it must be between the bridegroom and the bride in the marriage day. And what a meeting there is of joy betwixt such a bridegroom and bride cannot be conceived: For Christ that day will have on all