Mark the generosity, the munificence of it. It could not be bought; all that Christ bestows he freely gives: and the wisest of men know best how to value this gift. "O send out thy light and thy truth," said David; "let them lead me, let them guide me"-Open thou my eyes, that I may behold the wondrous things that are in thy Gospel. If Christ shall give us light, there will be a new creation-an illuminated, felicitous, glorified state of mind, answerable to that description. If any man be in Christ, if any man have received Christ's Gospel, if there have been poured upon his faculties the Christian doctrine-there is illumination.

despair if you had no sin. Your sin will be your ruin. It is the last thing

"I have

what the process was preparatory to. | Oh, to have this light, to have it in the prospect of death, renders the soul I speak advisedly-the very last unburdened in the progress of life; thing in the creation to be mocked at, and to have it in the instant, at the or to be viewed with any other feeljuncture of death, transcends all ima- ings than those of jealousy, withdrawgination, surpasses all conception.ment, and alarm. Set not your affections upon worldly things. "Soul, soul," said the rich man, much goods laid up in store: eat, drink, and be merry." Thou fool-was the verdict of our Saviour and the declaration of heaven-thou fool: nothing can transcend thy foolishness, if thou art living in that way, and art not at peace with God. Be not slow to receive the verities of faith. fools," said Christ, "slow of heart to believe what Moses and the prophets have said." It amounts precisely to this-you must believe God, or you must believe the devil: there is no alternative. You must believe the infidel, or you must believe the Christian. Be not slow to believe where all the truths of illumination, and all the marks of wisdom and of purity are manifest. And having received the truth, hold it fast. "O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you should not obey the truth?" And having received it, keep to it. Be not foolish in regarding mysteries. "How are the dead raised? and with what bcdy do they come. "Thou fool"—says the Apostle Paul. Therefore avoid these points of foolishness; and be sure that the beginning, the sum, the capital thing in wisdom is, the fear of God, avoidance of sin, and faith in Christ Jesus.

Then, being so illuminated, CIRCUM

SPECT AND HOLY WALKING WILL BE

THE RESULT. “See that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise." You must walk; necessity is upon you; it is impossible but that you must advance. You cannot go backyou cannot be annihilated: you are in a system of things; you must go on; time bears you forward. It is of no use to cry out, Stop: you cannot stop for the twinkling of an eye; a strong necessity urges you on. The question is, whether you will go on like a fool -or whether you will go on like a wise man. Walk you must, unless you will be a suicide; and that is the worst death of all.

Then walk circumspectly. Where? In your closets-be upon your guard there; you are watched from on high; there are holy beings gazing upon you; there is the eye of God. Especially be circumspect in your family, in your daily conversation, in God's house. Ponder it, think over it, what thoughtless creatures we are just glittering like insects in the sunbeam. Square your movements and your dispositions by the book of God. I understand not

Well then, since you must walk, see that you walk_circumspectly. And how is this? There are many points of folly to be avoided. Be not in a hurry to judge God's providences. Job's wife did this, and said, "Curse God, and die." But he said, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh." Asaph did this, until he went into the sanctuary of God; then-positively and soberly, I understand his darkness became exploded, and he saw some thing more of the end and of the importance of the divine dispensations in the government of the world. Do not mock at sin. Fools make a mock at sin; whereas sin is the only thing to be feared. You need not be in

not, how it is those men live who go daily without prayer to God. I mean not the morning and the evening formality, but prayer for guidance in their continual goings and in all their ways. O that you would walk honestly for the sake of its intrinsic and true

means of grace, the Lord's day, and food and raiment, there is no reason why you and I should not have had a day like one of the days of heaven upon earth, unless it be our own ignorance and our own sin.

But yet some men will say that the days are evil. I answer that they are evil in this way-infidelity is mightily abroad and prodigiously abounding. And what then? Why, it will do away and destroy every thing that is infirm and defective in what is deemed the Christian system; every thing that is earthly and human which has

dignity! Walk as "redeeming the time." We cannot understand this literally. It is not posssible, in the strict sense, to redeem the time; you cannot bring it back the action is done; it cannot be undone : the word is spoken; it cannot be withdrawn ; it is done; it is not in the power of Deity to render it undone; it has transpired, it is of no use to call out, the thing is done. Therefore it is a maxim with me, not to look back at all, except for the purpose of gratitude for God's mercies on the one hand, and humiliation for sin on the other. Let our maxim be, Onward and up-gathered round the book of God: and ward. The question is, not what I did an hour ago, but what it is right for me to do at this moment, at the juncture, at the instant, in the perpetual progression of things. Redeem the time, then. You must rightly use it, or you must be indolent and do nothing -you must be a drone, or you must be industrious-you must be doing something valuable, or you must be doing something which is pernicious. Which will you choose? Young persons, now is your opportunity: seize the time seize the instant: keep rectitude, get knowledge. And you who are just on the decline of life, and going out of the world, grasp the fragments, and make the best use of them.

"The days are evil." THIS IS THE

STRONG CONSIDERATION BY WHICH TO

ENFORCE IT all. We are to understand by these words, that in the Apostolic times there was a fury of persecution, intolerance, and superstition directed by the pagans against the Church in that day; and that their desire was to exterminate the comparatively small body of Christians then existing. The days were evil by reason of the frenzy of the mob. They shouted for three hours-how worthy of them!" Great is Diana of the Ephesians:" and they would have killed Paul and destroyed the believers, had it been possible. They were evil days. It may fairly be said, that in this land we have no paganism, we have no persecution. Perhaps we have much more superstition, in the strict sense of the word, than is usually imagined. At present we have neither famine, pestilence, nor war within our borders and I speak soberly when I say, that having the word of God, the

:

the book and the authority of God will
have free scope and full ascendency
after it. Some men will say, these are
days of intolerance, of violence, and
insubordination. And I answer, What
then? Violence and insubordination
will do away with some things that
ought to be done away-I mean, the
scandalous grinding and oppression of
the peasantry of this land; and that
it will conduce, sooner or later, per-
haps most speedily, to a kind, gen-
tle, wise interference and observation
of the affluent, upon the case and suf-
ferings of those who are in want.
These things ought to be altered; and
I confess, that, as far as this is con-
cerned, I am not in any great terror.
Some one will say, the unprecedented
troubles are yet to come. I answer,
Perhaps it may be so; I partly believe
it. The greatest triumphs of truth and
holiness in the world cannot happen
without overturnings and commotions,
and the destructions of the obstacles
which stand in the way. But I say
this that one day of the milennial
blessedness will compensate for all the
anarchy and disorder in the height of
which it may be introduced. Prognos-
tications without end of national evil
have I seen come to an end. As long
as I have lived, and at least for one
hundred and fifty years before me, as
we may find by reading history, ruin
was said to be at the door, ruin lay at
the door, and was all but come.
here we are; and our posterity will be
after us. Be not, then, unbelieving;
and as believers, be not needlessly
alarmed. It should be your aim, and
it is your privilege, to set the example
of equanimity, of noble and elevated
confidence in God.

Yet

But there may be evil days in another | the consolations of Christianity will sense, which comes more closely home. be required. If you are prepared for There may be a very bad government; that day-if it be the sober decision of and, in the state of my mind, I may be your judgment, guided by God's reveluminous, free, and happy. There lation, that whenever and wherever may be a very good government; and you may die, it will be an important I at home may be spell-bound of sin, and joyous day for you, then be at infected by temptation, and overcome peace; death cannot injure you, of evil. Men, see where your happiness lies; mark that which touches you most nearly; and be not foolish, but be wise. I say that the day of temptation and of affliction is the evil day. I say that the day of death will be the evil day-I mean, the day when all the supplies, all the succours, all

Then let us all awake and walk circumspectly; for God is not mocked. Let us be decisive, let us be resolute; and may we have grace given us to continue to the end, steadfast and immoveable, filled with wisdom, replenished with joy, and abounding in the work of our Lord.

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY THE REV. J. MORRISON,
AT CHELSEA, DEC. 26, 1830.

1 Thessalonians, v. 6.—" Therefore let us not sleep as do others; but let us watch and

be sober."

THESE words are an inference from the awful and solemn doctrine which the Apostle had just stated. That doctrine was simply this-that "the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night; for when they shall say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye brethren are not in darkness,” an unbelieving state of darkness, an unrenewed state of darkness and impenitence, of carelessness of these great truths—" that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness." Then follow the words of the text, "Therefore let us not sleep as do others: but let us watch and be sober. For they that sleep, sleep in the night; and they that be drunken are drunken in the night. But let us, who are of the day, be sober, putting on the breastplate of faith and love; and for an helmet, the hope of salvation."

Now the doctrine of Christ's coming is a doctrine upon which the Apostle is here speaking, for the edification of the Thessalonians. He tells them,

that that day, whenever it shall come, will come in such a manner as that an impenitent and unbelieving world shall be taken unawares; that it shall come, as we find elsewhere in other illustrations of Scripture, as the flood came upon the warned but impenitent antediluvian world; and here, in the impressive imagery of the Spirit, as a thief cometh in the night. For the idea is just this, that when the eyes are locked in deep sleep, the thief breaks into the habitation; and the first feeling of the awakened individual is, that he is in the hands of his enemy without the means of defence. And again, we have the image of the woman overtaken in travail, who knows that her time is come, who is overtaken amidst the ordinary avocations of life, amidst the ordinary scenes and occupations to which she addresses herself, and knows that she cannot escape. In like manner shall the last great scene of judgment break forth, to astonish and fill with dismay an unbelieving world. And the Apostle undoubtedly in this chapter goes further in his doctrine than even what I have already stated. He brings unquestionably sentiments like these to bear on every means indi

The only principles of preparation for this event are those of acceptance in the Lord Jesus Christ, the justifying

such sanctifying grace upon the heart and upon the character as, even in this present state of things, constitute a meetness for the inheritance of the saints in light. We only wish to stand fairly in our own views of truth, and not to have other views put into our lips than those which we have expressed and which we hold. We do not agree, as I have before said, with many excellent friends on the subject referred to; but we say, we stand firmly by the doctrine of cur Lord's coming, and we wish every day, more and more to be so habitually under the influence of this heaven inspiring theme, that the glory of this world may pass away beneath its sanctifying influence, that heaven and heavenly things may become every day and every hour dearer to our hearts.

vidual destiny, in every age of the Church; for he tells the Thessalonians that the Saviour was not literally to come at the time at which they ex-righteousness which that involves, and pected him; but still they were to be under the influence of the awful figures of speech of which I have been speaking; and therefore they come home to every mind in this simple way. We know not what a day, what an hour, what a moment shall bring forth. The Lord may be at the door knocking for me, knocking for you; and it becomes us, therefore, to have our lamps burning and our loins girt, that our Lord, when he cometh to call us hence, may not find us among those who are sleeping and slumbering when we should be up and doing the will of God, and preparing for the coming of the Master. Do not think that we hold aught from you because we never scruple to tell you, that we hold not the doctrines of modern millenarians. The doctrine of Christ's coming is a doctrine which all sound divines have used as a most powerful argument against sin; and if we were to be deprived of this doctrine, merely because we do not see evidence, as we think, that Christ is to leave his heavenly kingdom and come and reign on this earth, it could only be by a species of sophistry by which, in fact, certain friends of the school to which I have referred, though perhaps they know it not, are peculiarly distinguished. For unquestionably it is a part of every believer's creed, in consequence of his being a believer, and there is no man a believer of whose creed it is not a part, that he is looking for the coming of his Lord, that he is waiting for the coming of his Lord, that he is watching for the coming of his Lord, and that he is daily seeking that state of habitual preparation for the appearance of his Lord, which will be found the only sure preparation, when these heavens and this earth shall pass away. For the very preparation, be it remembered, (and let not mystification drive simple truths from your minds) the very preparation that every man, woman, and child in this assembly is bound, every instant of his or her being, to seek for the coming of Jesus, is that very preparation which alone will be found valuable when the visible heavens shall be rolled up as a scroll, and when this earth and the elements thereof shall be dissolved.

In the words which I have read as a text, and which I cannot help thinking, in the general sentiments they contain, are suited to the concluding sabbath of the year, you have, FIRST, the implied character and condition of all worldly men. As it respects the high interests of eternity, of God, and of the soul, they are asleep. Yon have, SECONDLY, the dissimilarity between them and true Christians, when the privileges and obligations of Christianity are fully felt and acted upon. "Let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober." May these serious thoughts be found salutary to the mind, in producing a solemnity suited to the season, in awakening that reflection without which little advance of a spiritual kind can be made in the minds of rational creatures, by leading us to that prayerful self-examination, to that watchful state of life and character, which will be connected, I am persuaded from the testimony and promise of God, with all that peace and joy and happiness which the word of God, as a seed growing and thriving and prospering in the soul, cannot fail to produce.

First, THERE IS THE IMPLIED CHARACTER wORLDLY MEN. They are, according to the Apostle's image, wrapped in the arms of spiritual sleep.

AND CONDITION OF ALL

Sleep is a time when the reason has no control over the human being. This is the very state of every sinner living without God and without hope in the world, however many outward moral decencies may settle down on the surface of his character. Boast as he may, and idolize as he may, his reason, reason never can assume her seat, and give that kind of dictation to the rational and accountable creatures which it was destined to do in our fallen race, till the power of Christianity, and with the powers of Christianity the powers of the world to come, are consciously and powerfully felt in giving light to the understanding, whose perceptions are bewildered, in producing a state of affections contrary to that which is prevalent, in turning the whole current of a man's mind and character, and I would almost say, his being, into a channel of holiness and happiness. Most men are in a state in which it is obvious they are not acting with a proper view to their future well-being. Though they are hastening to eternity, they are making no provision for it. Though they may die this night they are not thinking of it. They are not asking themselves in good earnest the question, Am I prepared to die? Am I in that state in which, if God should call me, I should pass into heaven, or sink into hell. These are questions which men in the bustle, the busy engagements, the pleasures, the intercourse, and the enjoyments of life, in the farm, in the merchandize, in the delights of social intercourse there are views of the future state of destiny which men are shutting out from their view. What is this the proof of, but that we are fallen creatures, that sin has drawn off the affections from the chief good, that there must be a rectifying principle, the rectifying principle of the grace of God, to produce a right state of heart and a right state of feeling, that the grace of God comes by the operation of that Spirit, whose work is indispensible to that regeneration, without which none of us shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Sleep is the time when all the powers, both of body and mind, are withdrawn from their active and useful labour. It is true there is a species of activity still belonging to the human being

when he is wrapped in sleep; but to all useful purposes, the activities, both of body and mind, are in a state of subjection. Is not this the image that fairly represents the state of the carnal man, that fairly represents the mind that is not reconciled to God, that fairly represents the mind that is not renewed by the Spirit of God, that fairly represents the man that is daily living to himself, and not living unto God? True, he has a thousand activities, the mind is incessantly active; but is it active about the chief good, about the glory and honour of God? The body is incessantly active, but what are its powers wasted upon? Are they not instruments of unrighteousness unto sin," as the Apostle distinctly tells us? Yes, and although men in this condition may not be sunk in the grossness of vice, it does not follow that their powers are consecrated to God. It is possible for a man of refined sentiments, a man of letters, a man who lives in the atmosphere of science, in a scene of imaginary enjoyment, that that man may be entirely wasting his energies; as it may be in the case of a man who is drawing down on himself the frown of his country's laws, and who is sunk in the most depraved iniquity and vice that disgraces the human race; for if his choicest affections are not given to God, if his love is not an element in the character, if the work of prayer and praise is not engaged in, day by day, by the thoughtful, intelligent, and accountable creature, think you, my friends, that there is any thing rendered to God that he will accept at our hands?

Sleep is a time at which danger may be very near without being perceived. I think this is the principle idea of the Apostle here. How correctly does this image, drawn from sleep, represent the condition of every unregenerate sinner, of every man who is not pardoned, who is not justified, who is not accepted in Christ Jesus, who is not living a holy life, who is not living a life of prayer, who is not consecrated and given up to the service of the blessed Redeemer-every moment in danger, and knowing it not. He is like a man asleep whose house is in flames; he is like a man asleep, in whose house the midnight robber has made his entrance; he is like a man