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It is not many days since I heard what had been effected by two such young disciples, in a school in the south of England. They were two of the junior boys, yet such was their sweet zeal, and such the light of their lives, that first one of the ushers became impressed, and then several of the other boys, till the character of the whole school became changed. Blessed be thy name for it, thou who out of the mouths of babes and sucklings dost ordain strength. Oh! and that we may see some such things among ourselves.

I cannot take leave of the subject without making some application of it to those young persons especially, who now have taken upon themselves, in their own person, the engagements which you have heard this day made, in the person of others, that they would be the Lord's, and renounce all other Lords that they would withstand the devil, deny the flesh, oppose the world, believe the Gospel, and continues Christ's faithful soldiers and servants to their lives' end. You are here reminded, dear young friends, by what means to fulfil the great engage

ment.

Are you in the midst of many and great dangers? Indeed you are. But, "by the words of thy mouth," said one who was in the midst of as many, "By the words of thy mouth, I have kept me from the ways of the destroyer."

We would then, with an especial application to you, who have now been confirmed, repeat what you have been already hearing. If, according to the prayer which was offered up for you, you would "continue Christ's for ever, and increase in his Holy Spirit more and more, till you come to his everlasting kingdom"if you would be "faithful unto death, and receive a crown of life”—then take these words of Him, to whom you have devoted yourselves, lay them up in your heart, bind them upon your hand, write them upon your doors and upon your gates; or, as the Apostle has it, the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom," that you may have it, to

"Let

strengthen you against every temptation, guide you in every difficulty, to sustain you under every trial, to prompt you to all labours of love-that it may be at once as the soul's compass in the perilous voyage on which you are embarked, and may be as sails to the soul also.

Dear brethren, that it were so with all of you! And why should it not be so with all of you? "Hear, O Israel," it is. All Israel is addressed. Hear, every one of this whole congregation. The promises are to you. For "to as many as the Lord our God shall call,” they are. And the Lord our God has

called you. At this moment He is calling you. "Hear, and your soul shall live," he says, be you who you may, "He that heareth my words, and believeth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life," he says, "and shall not come into condemnation, but has passed from death unto life."

And are not these words, words worth the hearing, and worth laying up in the heart, and binding upon your hand, and writing upon your doors, and upon your walls? Think, however, what they will be to those, upon the tables of whose hearts they have been written by the Spirit of the living God, when no other words will be of any value to them-what it will be, at the approach, and under the arrest of the last enemy-when you shall begin to feel the icy hand of death upon youwhen you are in the iron grasp of deaththink what it will then be to have within you, brethren, the words of eternal life.

Grant we beseech thee, Almighty God, that these thy words may be in our hearts. O write them there with the ink of the Spirit, that we may teach them effectually to our children, that our whole life may be under the government of them, and that they may give us peace at the last. O grant it, mercifully forgiving us all past neglect of thy word, whether in the bringing up of our children, or in the framing of our own lives by it, for thy dear Son s sake.

COMPARISON OF CHRIST WITH ISAAC.

Go to Moriah, and you will there find | Deity sacrificing the object of his eternal

a victim who follows the preist without
knowing at first whither he is going, and
who asks his father, where is the lamb for a
burnt-offering? Turn your eye towards
Calvary, and you will see Jesus Christ,
who exposes himself voluntarily to the
sword of his Father, and who, perfectly
aquainted with his destiny, says to him,
Lo, I come to do thy will, O God. There
angels are sent from heaven to arrest the
arm of Abraham; here devils issue from
hell to hasten the death of Jesus Christ.
In the sacrifice of Isaac, the fire, the knife,
the sacrificer, are visible, but the victim |
does not at first appear. In the sacrifice
of Jesus Christ the victim appears first,
but the knife, which is the sword of divine
justice, and the fire, which consists in the
ardour of his wrath and judgments, are in-
visible, are only seen by the eyes of faith.
Upon the mountain of Moriah, Abraham
sacrifices his son to his Master, to his
Benefactor, to his Creator, to his God;
upon the mount of Calvary. God immo-
lates his Son for the salvation of men,
who are nothing but meanness, misery,
and corruption. There Abraham re-
nounces his blood and himself, to obey
a God who can amply reward him for his
loss; here God gives what he esteems
the most precious to save men, who have
not even the means in themselves of sim-
ply expressing their gratitude, and who
could never find it in their own bosoms.
There we see one, who is but dust and
ashes, making a sacrifice to God of what
he received from him; here we see the

affection and delight-of his treasure-
of his Son-for the salvation of dust and
ashes. In fine, in the one is a man sa-
crificed to God; in the other is a God,
who is sacrificed for the salvation of man.
Here flesh and blood must be silent, and
cease to murmur. Abraham does infi-
nitely less for God than God has already
done for Abraham. He presents his son,
he binds him to slay him; But God has
already slain His Son for the salvation of
Abraham; for this, in the language of
Scripture, is the lamb slain before the
foundation of the world. Heaven has
then anticipated the earth. And does
Abraham then exalt himself hy this ac-
tion? No; he remains profoundly abased
before his Creator. Does he not attempt
to justify himself before God? No; but
he lays himself under renewed obligations;
he receives all from God, when he seems
to give up all to God; since the father
and the son, the priest and the victim,
have no real existence but in the regard
that God already has to the sacrifice of
the cross. Had not God already sacrifi-
ced his Son for the salvation of Abraham,
Abraham would not have been in a con-
dition to sacrifice his son to God.
the efficacy of the blood which Jesus
must shed, that gives strength to Abraham
to raise his arm, that he may shed his own
blood. The virtue and the zeal which
are so illustriously displayed upon the
mountain of Moriah, have their first
source and principle upon the mount of
Calvary.

It is

DUBLIN: Published by the Proprietors, T. R. and R. DUNCKLEY, at the NEW IRISH PULPIT OFFICE, 1, ST. ANDREW-ST.; JOHN ROBERTSON, W. CURRY, JUN. and Co.; R. M. TIMS, W. CARSON, D. R. BLEAKLEY. London, SIMPKIN and MARSHALL; Edinburgh, WHITE and Co.; Cork Tract Repository; Derry, CAMPBELL ; and all Booksellers.

GEORGE FOLDS, Printer, 1, St. Andrew-st,, (Opposite Trinity.St.,) Dublin.

THE NEW IRISH PULPIT,

No. CX.

OR

GOSPEL PREACHER.

"We preach Christ crucified

"Christ, the power of God, and the wisdom of God."-1 Cor. i. 23, 24.

REV. H. IRWIN,

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CHAPLAIN OF SANDFORD CHURCH, DIOCESE OF DUBLIN,

LUKE xix. 8.

"Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold."

NOTHING is more obvious than the antipathy felt by some religionists to the preaching of morality, as if it infringed upon the great doctrine of justification by faith. If, indeed, it be a cold, heartless, philosophic morality, detached from the Gospel, and independent of its influence, let it be rejected-let it not be brought into the pulpit. Such a philosophy of morals presents erroneous views of the character of God, and the condition of man, appeals not to the revealed will of God as the standard of right and wrong, and enforces the obligations of virtue rather from the considerations of feeling, honor, and interest, than from those higher, nobler, purer motives, which Jehovah addresses to us in his word.

VOL. V.

But if it be a morality founded upon Christian principle, and looking directly to the will of God as its rule, and the glory of God as its end, it is assuredly proper for the discussion of the pulpit, and suited to the state of man as a fallen creature. Men need to be reminded that the Lord Jesus Christ " gave himself for us," not only that he might "redeem us from all iniquity," but also "purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

In the narrative of which my text forms a part, we read that Jesus was passing through Jericho-a multitude attended him and so great was the crowd, that a certain man who was little of stature, could not come near enough

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to see him.
He therefore ran before,
and climbed up into a tree, that he might
obtain a sight of Jesus as he passed by.
The Saviour noticed him in this situation,
and said to him, Zaccheus, make
haste and come down, for today I must
abide at thy house. And he made haste,
and came down, and received him joy-
fully." This man was "chief among
the publicans"-— —a class remarkable for

stances, the strongest possible proof of having become a disciple of Jesus-of having been "born again." He stood forth, in view of heaven and earth, a new man-not because he made any statement of the exercises of his mind by which he had been brought to his present feelings and determination: not because he told what is called his religious experience (for it does not appear that he

avarice, rapacity, fraud, and luxury-related anything of the kind) but because "and he was rich."

From this case I proceed to observe 1st. When the Gospel is cordially received and fully embraced, it subdues a man's ruling sin.

his ruling passion was subdued because Whatever might have been his views a spirit of self-denial had taken up its and feelings whether mere curiosity or lodgment in his bosom, instead of selfsome better motive prompted his desire indulgence-because he was willing to 66 to see Jesus," it is evident that the forsake that which was most dear to him, instructions of his Divine Teacher had a for the sake of Christ. And having thus, powerful effect on his mind, and produ- | by the power of the Spirit, overcome the ced a striking change in his character love of money_" the strong man armed,” and prospects. There is no doubt, that he would be able by the same Spirit, to hitherto he had been a worldling. Love subdue all the auxiliaries which had of money and desire of gain had been assisted the tyrant in maintaining a throne his ruling passion-he had made "gold in his bosom. his hope, and fine gold his confidence." His supreme object had been to "lay up treasures on earth”—and not being scrupulous with regard to the means of increasing them, he had been successful. But from the time he received Jesus into his house and into his heart, his whole character was changed. He became " new creature." Believing in Christ as his Saviour, he shewed the sincerity of his faith by a sacrifice of his former inclinations and habits. His avarice gave place to liberality-a benevolent spirit entered his bosom and dethroned selfishness and from the promptings of his changed heart, he said, "Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken any thing from any man, by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Jesus who saw that this statement was made in single-hearted honesty, immediately added, "this day is salvation come to this house."

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In adopting cordially and effectively this determination, Zaccheus gave, considering his previous habits and circum

The particular disposition in Zaccheus, which presented the greatest obstacle to his becoming a follower of Christ, was the first that was met and overcome by the influence of religious principle. Gospel had made a conquest of the man, when it had slain his covetousness.

The

The principle here brought to view is exceedingly important, and should be kept in mind whenever we enter on an examination of the evidence of our Christian character. When a man yields himself sincerely and cordially to the influence of the "truth as it is in Jesus," his strongest and most prevailing sinful propensities will be held in check—they no longer give laws to the man, and domineer over him they are as prisoners bound by one stronger than they. True they may struggle for liberty and power, and in their struggles may sometimes cause the man to stumble. But he is no

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longer their slave. He serves another master, "who will not suffer him to be | tempted above what he is able to bear, but will with the temptation make a way to escape. Too often, in forming an estimate of Christian character, is this important truth overlooked. Too often in judging of ourselves and of each other, "the sin which most easily besets" is spared and tolerated, almost justified. As a kind of apology for the indulgence of some sinful habit or passion, it is said to be natural, constitutional—and there- | fore it is taken for granted not only that it will always adhere to the character, but that it is in some degree excusable. One man is extremely irritable, on the least provocation, and sometimes, without any, his angry feelings get the mastery of him. This man, while professing to be a disciple of Jesus Christ, often pleads the strength of his passion as an excuse for its indulgence. Another man is avaricious he cherishes a strong desire for wealth, and makes this the all-absorbing business of his life—his friends apologize for this worldly spirit as having been his natural turn of mind, or he himself perverts the language of St. Paul respecting the duty of providing for one's own house, and says that he is only attending to his duty! Now all this is wrong, deceptive, ruinous. If the Gospel does not exert its influence over the man who professes to believe its doctrines and discharge its duties, it is not in his case "the power of God unto salvation.”It is not denied that the true Christian may be more beset and harassed with what in his unregenerate state was his peculiar and predominating sin than with any other. But it is true also, that at this point of watchfulness and contest, the principles of religion will afford him their most efficient aid, for here he most needs their assistance. In such circumstances of warfare and trial, St. Paul heard the Saviour say, "my grace is sufficient for thee." And the same

cheering promise is made to every faithful Christian in all ages of the world.

2nd.-Evidence of Christian character is to be sought, not merely in what a man SAYS, but in what he DOES.

It does not appear that Zaccheus related any of the exercises of his mind, by which he had been led to become a disciple of Jesus. No doubt he had mental exercises, was convinced of sin, and found peace in believing. But instead of coming forward with a statement of the feelings which agitated his bosom, and of the mental operations from which he cherished the hope of a Christian, he simply said, “Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor, and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." He thus gave the strongest possible proof, in his own case, of the subjection of his whole soul to the influence of the Gospel. He renounced his idol, and resolved to honour God. He sacrificed at once his love of the world, on the altar of Christian benevolence.—This is the test.— Instead of living for this world, or for ourselves, we must live for Christ.-To him belong our time, our influence, our talents, our property.

3rd. On the disposal of property, there is a wide difference between the opinions of men, and the instructions of Christ.

Instead of supposing that it would be for the “salvation” of his house, for Zaccheus to give away his property as he did, most men would think it the ruin of his family. Were an event of this kind to take place at the present day, the many would exclaim, what a foolish man!-give away half his property at once !—why, the man is beside himself!— he is plunging into poverty! he is injuring his family-bringing destruction on his own house!' But what said Jesus Christ on this occasion?" This day is salvation come to this house." Zaccheus became a follower of the Lord Jesus, and trusting in Him he obtained "the

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