speech, implies that, so far from it being his will that they should, it is his highest pleasure that they should not, perish; or, in other words, it is his will, that they should be saved.

And the occasion of pleading the cause of a Sunday School, will at once suggest the application I am about to make of the text. I shall take it then for granted, that our Saviour virtually says to us, what is no doubt the case, as much so as if he were at this moment to utter the words with an audible voice, "Even so, it is the will of your Father which is in heaven, that every one of these little ones-these very children whom he has made in some measure dependant upon you-yea, that every one of them, without a single exception, should be saved."

Let us therefore, my brethren, listen with serious attention to these words, remembering who it is that spake them. Not an earthly monarch— not a mighty ruler of a nation, an empire, a world, but of the whole universe-the King of kings, and Lord of lords--not merely a prophet, a divinely commissioned prophet, but one infinitely greater than a prophet-the second person in the Everglorious Trinity, who created the heavens and the earth, "without whom was not any thing made

that was made, who upholdeth all things by the word of his power," and who now reiterates, by the mouth of his ministers, the words of the text, saying, with an authority which demands our most serious attention, "Even so, it is the will of your Father which is in heaven, that every one of these little ones should be saved."

In discussing this interesting subject, we propose to shew what is here meant by the will of our Heavenly Father; to point out the proof he has given us, that such is his will; to state the means by which this will is to be accomplished; and to notice the urgent necessity, which arises from such a view of the case, of forwarding these means to the utmost of our power.

I.

Then, WHAT IS HERE MEANT BY THIS WILL OF OUR HEAVENLY FATHER?

It is not, my brethren, any fixed decree, any irrevocable determination, any unalterable destiny, which is sure to be accomplished, independent of the use of means, or in spite of opposition. Nor, on the other hand, is it a cold, unproductive wish. But it is something which forms a happy medium between these two extremes. It is a real, efficient desire, evidenced by the development

of a wise plan for the attainment of its object-a plan well calculated to answer the end proposed, but still not absolutely compulsory upon those for whose benefit it was formed.

We are rational beings, my brethren, and God deals with us as such. He neither propels us as mere machines, against our inclination; nor leaves us to the influence of our depraved, corrupt passions. For in the one case, he would entirely destroy our free-agency; and in the other, we should be sure to perish. There can be no doubt that the heart of man is so prone to sin, that it requires the implantation of a new principle by the Spirit of God, in order to give it a holy and heavenly direction. But still God sweetly constrains us; he does not literally drag us into the way of holiness.

It becomes us, I am aware, to speak with reverence and caution, on so deep and awful a subject as the mind and will of the Deity. But surely it can neither be derogatory to Him, nor presumptuous in us, to say that so important a thing as the salvation of men is not left, either to blind chance on the one hand, or to stern fate on the other. And he must be a careless reader of the word of God, who can, for one moment, believe that it is. This then is all we mean to assert ;

and we think we are justified in making the assertion, because of the tendency there is in mankind to run, first to one extreme, and then to the other.

Now, in a certain sense, God may be said to will that which he permits, as in the case of Pharaoh's hardness of heart; and, in an unlimited sense, he wills that which he imperatively commands, as he did when he called the worlds into being. But in neither of these senses, is the word used in the text. It is far removed from both. It is, nevertheless, a real will, a real desire, that every one of these little ones should be saved-a desire that has given birth to a plan for their salvation. But still this salvation is only provided and offered, not irresistibly imposed, either upon them, or any other human beings. Means must be used, and efforts made, to bring them to that salvation which the will of God has planned, and his mercy effected, for them.

But our subject will rise into vast importance, if we reflect for a few moments, before we proceed to the second part of our discourse, upon what these little ones are whom it is the will of our Heavenly Father to save, and what that is which they are to be saved from.

They are then

immortal beings. They have within them that

which can never die. Each of these little ones possesses a soul-a precious, ever-living soula soul endless in its duration, incalculable in its worth. What are thousands of years, or millions of ages, compared with that eternity throughout which these souls will, have to exist? a moment! What are all the treasures of the world, what the whole fabric of unconscious, perishable nature, compared with one of these souls? a mere bauble! My brethren, when the worth of the soul is the subject of our thoughts, there is no fear of our imagination exceeding the truth-we have no need to be cautioned against supposing too much--we may give full play to our mental powers in attempting to grasp it, and when we have done our utmost, all our efforts will be but like those of a feeble fly trying the extent of infinite space. The subject is too lofty for even the mind of an archangel to reach; well then may we be baffled by its immeasurable height.

It is this consideration, which attaches so much dignity and value to the humble labours of a Sabbath School. The achievements of the warrior, the statesman, or the scholar, much as they are lauded by the world and rewarded by the munificence of a grateful nation, sink into mere insignificance, when compared with the successful efforts of a zea