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adoption, whereby they may cry, Abba, Father." What will it be to present ourselves, at length, and our offspring, whether after the flesh, or after the spirit, or both in one, with joy unspeakable and full of glory, saying, "Behold, I, and the children which God hath given me !" Let this prospect direct our wishes, dictate our prayers, animate our exertions, till, with Israel, we have power with God and with men, and prevail.

5. Finally, In the presence of that God with whom we have to do, and of Jesus, "who is God over all, and blessed for ever," all space shrinks into a span, all duration into a moment. "Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and not a God afar off? Do not I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord ?" Realize that awful omnipresence as a guard upon the heart, upon the tongue, upon the life; as a ground of hope and a source of joy in every dark and trying hour. "God is a very present help in trouble.” "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil; for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me." He is faithful who hath promised, to his Israel whom he hath created, whom he hath formed, whom he hath redeemed, whom he hath called by name. "When thou passeth through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee; when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burnt; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Are "a thousand years in his sight but as yesterday, when it is past, and as a watch in the night?" And do "we spend our years as a tale that is told?" "See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil." There is no commodity which men trifle with so sadly, when they have it at command, as time; and no one the loss of which they so bitterly deplore, when it is in their power

no longer. Account every instant critical and decisive, for undoubtedly many are so. Remember that ye are the disciples of him who saith of himself: "I must work the work of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work."

HISTORY OF JESUS CHRIST.

LECTURE XXII.

And when Jesus was entered into Capernaum, there came unto him a centurion, beseeching him, and saying, Lord my servant lieth at home sick of the palsy, grievously tormented, and Jesus saith unto him, I will come and heal him. The centurion answered and said, Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof: But speak the word only, and my servant shall be healed. For I am a man under authority, having soldiers under me, and I say to this man, go, and he goeth, and to another, come and he cometh; and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard it

he marvelled, and said to them that followed, verily I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. And I say unto you, that many shall come from the east and west, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven : but the children of the kingdom shall be cast out into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. And Jesus said unto the centurion, go thy way, and as thou hast believed, so be it done unto thee. And his servant was healed in the self same hour.Now when he had ended all his sayings in the audience of the people, he entered into Capernaum. And a certain centurion's servant, who was dear unto him, was sick, and ready to die. And when he heard of Jesus, he sent unto him the elders of the Jews, beseeching him that he would come and heal his servant. 2 R

VOL. IV.

And

when they came to Jesus, they besought him instantly, saying, that he was worthy for whom he should do this: for he loveth our nation, and he hath built us a synagogue. Then Jesus went with them. And when he was now not far from the house, the centurion sent friends to him, saying unto him, Lord, trouble not thyself; for I am not worthy that thou shouldest enter under my roof: wherefore neither thought I myself worthy to come unto thee: but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed. For I also am a man set under authority, having under me soldiers; and I say unto one go, and he goeth and to another, come, and he cometh; and to my servant, do this, and he doeth it. When Jesus heard these things he marvelled at him, and turned him about, and said unto the people that followed him, I say unto you, I have not found so great faith, no not in Israel. And they that were sent returning to the house, found the servant whole that had been sick.-MAT. viii. 5-12, and LUKE vii. 1—10.

THE various orders of men which exist in society are a demonstration that society is in a very imperfect and corrupt state. Restore everlasting and universal peace to a troubled world, and the profession of a soldier is at an end. There were then no "battle of the warrior with confused noise, and garments rolled in blood." While injustice, violence and cruelty are in the world, there must be tribunals, and prisons, and scaffolds. The ravages of disease, and the thousand accidents to which hunian life is exposed, render necessary the interposition of the healing art. When the time of the restitution of all things shall come the office of public instructor shall cease. "They shall not teach every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, know the Lord; for all shall know me, from the least to the greatest.'

To this blessed consummation we are encouraged to look forward, when the spirit of love shall absorb the flame of discord, and make the sword drop from the hand of the man of war; when the courts shall be shut and the prison-doors thrown open, because fraud and violence are no more; when, in the beautifully figurative language of the prophet, "The wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion, and the fatling together, and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together: and the lion shall eat straw like the ox. And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice den. They shall not hurt nor destroy in all my holy mountain; for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea."

Certain professions, it has been alleged, have in their very nature a corruptive quality. That of the military man is supposed to be of this number. The vulgar associate with it the ideas of insolence, ferocity, licentiousness, and of other hateful qualities. Like every other general censure, this too must be taken with many grains of allowance, and candour must admit that there are excellent men of every profession; and, in the case of illustrious exceptions from the generality of the stigmatized orders, higher praise is undoubtedly due to those who have the courage to resist, and strength to overcome the temptations to which their manner of life, and the very means of earning their subsistence expose them, than to persons who had no such difficulties to encounter. Of this description are the nobleman, and the Roman centurion of Capernaum. The history of the former, as far as connected with that of our blessed Lord, was the subject of the last lecture, that of the latter is now to be the ground of our meditation. The two person

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