We have been endeavouring, my fellow Christians, to form such conceptions as we can of the happiness that awaits the virtuous. May God enable us to derive from these conceptions of it, consolation under the afflictions of life, and encouragement to the diligent and persevering discharge of duty! Amen. SERMON XIII. THE FRUITS OF RIGHTEOUSNESS. PHILIPPIANS i., II. Being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are, by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God. THE apostle, having commenced this interesting and affectionate letter with his usual form of salutation, and expressed his gratitude to God for that sincere and steadfast faith, on the part of the Philippian Christians, which had remained unshaken by the persecution to which, in common with himself, they had been exposed, proceeds with a depth of feeling, which exhibits itself in the solemnity of his language, to assure them of the warmth and sincerity of the love which he bore to them, as his fellow disciples. "For God is my witness," says he, "how greatly I long after you all in the bowels of Jesus Christ;" that is, with the tender affection of Jesus Christ,-such affection as he himself bore to us, and commanded us to bear towards one another. He then proceeds further to give expression to his feelings in an earnest prayer that they might receive from heaven, in rich abundance, those blessings which he considered as the most valuable. "And this I pray," he continues, "that your love may abound yet more and more in knowledge and in all judgment,"—that is, as it has been well expressed," that you may persevere and improve in that amiable, benevolent and generous spirit by which you have hitherto been distinguished, and that your Christian benevolence may be combined with proportionable improvement in Christian knowledge, and in a capacity to form a right judgment concerning the doctrines of the gospel ;" ;"" that ye may approve," or, more accurately, that ye may distinguish "the things that are excellent,"—that ye may be sincere and without offence, sincere in yourselves, and an example to others,-" till the day of Christ; being filled with the fruits of righteousness, which are, by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God." It were well for us, my fellow Christians, did we both desire for ourselves, and pray for for others, with the greatest earnestness, such blessings as those here enumerated. For the present, let us confine our attention to the last clause of the petition, and endeavour to derive some improvement from meditating on the nature and value, on the origin and des tination of those "fruits of righteousness," here spoken of by the apostle. We find St. Paul praying, on behalf of his Philippian correspondents, as the best of blessings, that in which all others were to terminate, as the crowning gift of heaven,-that they might be "filled with the fruits of righteousness." By this expression, it seems most natural to understand him as meaning that they should bring forth in abundance the fruits of righteousness; that is, exhibit in their conduct, in full perfection, all the virtues and graces which Christianity enjoins. The word righteousness is evidently employed by the apostle, in this instance, in its most comprehensive sense, as synonymous with goodness in general; and the bringing forth of fruit is a metaphorical expression, by which the performance of virtuous actions, as the natural result of sound principles, is very frequently described by the sacred writers. And surely, my friends, there is much propriety, as well as beauty, in the description. When we observe a man maintaining a character unstained by intemperance or sensuality, preserving at all times both his body and his mind, as far as possible, in a state of purity and healthfulness; in a word, conscientiously discharging all his personal duties, when we see him, again, adorning by his conduct all the various relationships of life, diffusing happiness around him in the domestic circle, performing with fidelity and effect all that can be expected from the friend, the citizen and the man, abounding in works of kindness, sympathy and beneficence; when we behold him, in fine, dignifying and sanctifying, and, as it were, completing his character, by unfeigned and habitual piety, by a sense of dependence upon his Creator, as well as by feelings of reverence and affection for him, appearing not merely in the regularity of his attention to such religious exercises as lie within the reach of general observation, but still more strikingly and unequivocally in the general thoughtfulness and sanctity of his demeanour, and in the spirit of genuine, unaffected piety that breathes from every part of his conduct; when we observe such a character as this, my brethren, combining, though imperfectly, perhaps, all these various excellencies, can we avoid recurring with delight to the Psalmist's beautiful description of the virtuous man,-" he shall be like a tree, planted near to the channels of water, that bringeth forth its fruit in its season"? Can we refrain from representing to the imagination some fair and goodly plant of Paradise, having its branches covered with foliage and |