Heaven? that I may see God, and serve him without weariness; that I may see Christ, and dwell with him in love forever; that I may have the fullness of the Holy Spirit in me, which I cannot here enjoy: a very good boy indeed. She then called Matthew, the oldest, and said, are you willing to be catechised? with a very good will: was there any thing before God? no, for God is eternal, without beginning of days or end of years: what do you think of the Bible? I think it is the word of God is there any thing in it which you do not understand? yes, a great many things: what do you do with what you cannot understand in it? I think that God is wiser than I am, and I pray that he would be pleased to let me know every thing that is for my good: do you believe in the resurrection of the lead? I believe it, because I read in the Bible that the trumpet shall sound and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and that we shall all be changed in moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump.

My dear children, you have heard how well these young pilgrims have said their catechism, can you say yours as well? if not, I hope you will try to imitate them. But it is time for me to explain the words of my text.

I. Who were the words of the text spoken to? Little children. And now little children. The evangelist John was an old man, and often makes use of the word children to men and wo

men. It is related of him, that when he was grown old and not able to stand, to preach to them; not being able to say much, he was carried in a chair to the church, and said to all, men, women and children; little children, love one another: Whether these words were spoken particularly to men and women, or to those who were but children, or babes in Christ, I cannot determine; I hope however, I shall meet with indulgence from the liberal and candid mind, as to the manner in which I have accomodated them: Therefore as the words little children are found in the text, they may mean either young in knowledge and grace, or young in years; the last of these meanings I have chosen as most adapted to the subject and persons before me.

As these words are now addressed to you, my dear children, I hope you will attend to them. There are two different kinds of children here, as well as in the world; good and bad, God is the father of the good, and he loves them. Satan is the father of the wicked children, and they do as he bids them. "He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning, ye are of your father the devil and his lusts or sins ye will do." Those children who tell lies, may be called Satan's children; for John saith, when he (meaning Satan) speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own; for he is a liar and the father of lies. But we are not all children; some are fourteen

years old and others are fifteen and sixteen, &c. I will not be called a child, I know you make a mistake. Surely, you mean you are too proud to be called a child; but what did Christ say to those who were twenty or thirty, perhaps forty years old? "Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of Heaven as a little child, he shall in no wise enter therein." You must be teachable and humble, learnt like children, sit down at the feet of Jesus, and like Mary, learn of him to be meek and lowly in heart and "ye shall find rest to your souls."

new

II. And now little children, I will inform you who you are to abide in; that is, who you are to continue to love. Can any of you tell me what Paul says? Yes sir, he says "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature, old things are passed away, behold all thing are become There are a great many children here, your faces are all new to me, and there may be some here with new clothes; but I fear there are not many children who have new hearts. O sir, you cannot tell how good we are. I know not your hearts, my dear children, and can only judge by your outward conduct; but God, who knows the heart, can tell better than I can. Are your actions better than they were? Have you left off to do evil, and forsaken your old sinful ways? If not, then you are not walking in Christ Jesus; for he is the new and living E

way. How can your actions please God if your hearts are wicked? Depart from evil and do good, all things must become new: If you wish to live in Christ Jesus, or according to his word, your hearts must be new, and then your actions will be new, your companions will be new, your joys will be new, your pleasures will be new, you will have new thoughts and they will produce new words; you will have new employments, you will make new resolutions; before, you only wished to go to Heaven; now, you have good reason to hope that you shall go there; therefore, it is, that you have new expectations; and if you have all these new things, you will be new creatures indeed; you shall dwell at last with God and Christ forever in the new Jerusalem, in Heaven, where all things will be new to you all. Remember, your hearts must be entirely changed by divine grace: God says, give me thy heart, thine whole heart. God will not bestow half a new heart; he will not be satisfied with half your love: Christ is not half a Saviour. Hear what Jesus says to you, my dear children,

"Christ. Give me thy heart, I'll not delay,
To make it clean, then child, obey.
Child. Here Lord then take a part, the best,
And tarry till I mend the rest.

Christ. Give me thine heart I have it all,
A part's a gift by far too small.

Child. Forbear, O Lord, and longer stay,
Excuse me till a future day.

Christ. Give me your hearts, now children say,
What, will you all send Christ away?

Childn. No Lord, thy Spirit's power impart,
Help us to give thee all our heart;
Had we ten thousand hearts our own,
We would unite them all in one;
And in one offering freely send

Them up to thee our dearest friend."

III. I will tell you, in what manner you are to abide in Christ. In the first place, you must be taught your need of Christ, and that if he does not save you from the wrath of God, there is no other that can, either in Heaven or in earth. You have heard that it is the Holy Spirit alone that can change the heart; and it is that Spirit for which you must pray to God. It is the Spirit alone that can teach you. What will the Spirit teach me, sir? He will not only teach you your need of a Saviour, but he will teach you that you are a sinner. I know that I am a sinner. So you may perhaps; but it is one thing to say that you are a sinner, and another thing to know that you really are one: The Spirit will teach you the evil of sin : One leak will sink a ship, and one in will sink your soul to the pit of destruction. The Spirit will teach you the necessity of a new heart, and the advantage of real and early piety; that you must love God and Christ, and that you must pray to God for the forgiveness of your sins for Christ's sake, and pray that the Holy Spirit may be your teacher..