SERMON XLII. 60$ What a shining evidence of our sincerity is obtained at such a season ? What anoble proof of our supreme love to God ? And it shall be recorded in heaven for our honour, and produced in the day of the Lord Jesus ? There is nothingin all the history of Abraham, the father of the faithful, that gives him a more shining character on earth, or, perhaps, in heaven, than that he gave up his son Isaac, at the command of God, and took the wood, and the fire, and the knife, in his hand, and devoted his beloved, his only son to death; though it was in away so terribly painful and so shocking to na- ture, that he himself must be the executioner. He had offered the precious sacrifice already in his heart, when the angel of the Lord came down and stopped his hand : Now I know that thou fearest God, and I know that thou lovest him too, seing thou hast not withheld thy son, thy only son from me; Gen xxii. 9-12. Thus thedeath of the dearest relation turns greatly to our advantage, when it gives us so bright an evidence of our own graces, and assures us that we are hearty lovers of God. IV. Thedeath of a beloved relative, has often wrought for the good of a saint, when the long and painful sorrow which has attended it, has shewn us how dangerous á thing it was to love a creature too well. " O ! What a wound do I feel at my heart, says a chris- tian, since the death of so near a relation: It pains me all the day : It fill's my eyes with tears, and forbids may rest in the night : I am so troubledthat I cannot sleep : It unfits me for the present duties of life, and hangs too heavy upon me, in the midst of the duties of religion. Surely, that creature dwelt toonear myheart, and was joined in too close a union, since my heart bleeds and smarts so long after the parting stroke. Let me watch my affec- tions for time to come, and set a guard upon my love, that it never, never tie my soul so fast toa creature again. Come down, blessedSaviour, and take faster hold of my heart ; let thy own hand heal the wound that death has made, and let thy mercy pardon the guilt of my excessive creature-love : Dwell thou in my soul, my Lord and my God, and fill up all the unhappy and painful vacancy : Keep may affections for ever true to thee, and let my love to thee be supreme and unrivalled ; nor let the softer passions of my nature wander and lose themselves amongst crea- tures again, lest they contract new guilt: lest they provoke thee to repeat thesame smarting tragedy, and to renew these scenes of mourning." V. The death of our kindred is for our advantage, when it awakens us toreview our own conduct toward them, whetherwe
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