the dismantling of the body, but Christ announces the soul to be his own. The king of terrors may brandish his dart, and hold up an appalling picture of the valley of the shadow of death; but the green pastures of life immortal are more broadly and visibly revealed; the spiritual Shepherd is seen with his rod and his staff, and his soothing accents fall sweetly on the ear, "It is

I, be not afraid."

And if he is so cheeringly present with his faithful ones when they are tried in the furnace of affliction here below, or when their eyes are closing on this transitory scene, how glorious will he appear to his collected saints in heaven, when they shall see him, not singly and separately, but in one vast and countless throng! "I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

Such is the magnificent prospect held out to believers. Oh, what encouragement to perseverance in our faith.

Spirit to look to the

May we all be led by the

Son of God as our hope

and our refuge. We shall find him present to our souls amid all the troubles of life, so that the fiery furnace will burn harmlessly around us. We shall behold him revealed in the fulness of majesty and glory, in the world to come.

217

SERMON XIII.

BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.

1 THESSALONIANS v. 23.

And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

WITH this affectionate salutation St. Paul closes his first Epistle to the new converts of Thessalonica, a large and important city of Macedonia. Of the several letters addressed by this ardent preacher of Christianity to the churches which he had founded, this was probably the earliest. It is full of deep and important matter. This very chapter abounds with the loftiest topics that can interest a Christian's heart,-the suddenness of the day of judgment-the as

surance of the resurrection-the duty of preparation. And the text involves several particulars worthy of our attentive consideration, and calculated to enlighten, as well as to encourage and console us.

First, The Almighty is designated the God of peace. This phrase seems to point more particularly to the third person in the Holy Trinity, whose peace-conferring property is frequently noticed in the Sacred Writings. "He proceedeth from the Father and the Son," and his office is to convey to the hearts of believers the peace and consolation promised them in the Gospel. He is emphatically termed the Comforter. Under the similitude of a dove, he hovered over the Saviour on the day of his baptism, thus testifying his character as the God of peace, the inspirer of meekness and love, and the author of all that repose of the affections, so alien from the turmoil of the world, which blesses the real Christian, wherever his lot may be cast.

But, independent of this consideration of the general influence of the Holy Spirit, there may have been an especial reason for the adoption of this phrase by the Apostle when addressing the

Christians of Thessalonica. This town was of considerable extent and importance, having been gradually increasing in commerce and grandeur ever since it was rebuilt by Philip King of Macedon, after his victory, over the Thessalians; from which event it derived its name-the import being, the conquest of Thessaly. It was, like all great towns, a scene of business and confusion. The gulf on which it stood rendered it the receptacle of merchandize and the resort of strangers. The crowds that frequented its streets, and the cargoes of goods that were perpetually finding their way to the warehouses of the merchants, presented one unvaried scene of animation and tumult. Amid all this din and turbulence, a detached society of Christian converts was springing up, whose habits and manners were as distinct from the men of the world around them, as is the gentle aspect of the inland lake from the rough and varied fluctuation of the gulf which washed their coasts with its billows.

Nor was this city a scene of perpetual disturbance, in consequence of its commercial character alone. A great proportion of its inhabitants