"When the unclean spirit is gone out of a man, he walketh through dry places, seeking rest, and findeth none. Then he saith, I will return nnto my house from whence I came out; and when he is come, he findeth it empty, swept, and garnished. Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself; and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first" (Matt. xii. 43—45).

This, then, is repentance. It is thus, and thus only, that the church is formed in man. Proceed we now to some considerations of a

practical nature connected with this important subject.

With such a view of repentance, how very solemn are the circumstances in which all men are placed! "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." "Repent, or I will remove thy candlestick out of its place." These are words of eternal truth. If they are duly hearkened to, all is gained; if not, all is lost for which man was brought into existence. To do them is true wisdom; to neglect them is folly indeed. They enjoin a great duty; yea, it is the duty of duties with man. "I was born," said a father of the church, "for nothing but repentance."

Can any thing be urged which should induce a man to neglect the great duty which we have described? Will it lessen his happiness? No, it will increase it; it will fill it to the full. Will it deprive him of his riches? It will not; it will teach him how to use and enjoy them. It will deprive him of nothing but what he may afford to relinquish with every kind of advantage. Does any one say that he can spare no time for repentance? Is he oppressed with worldly cares, with toils, with business? We reply, It will not rob him of time, nor take him out of the world." It will teach him order, method, and the best use of time. It will help and strengthen him : it will relieve him in trouble, support him in duty, and guide him in every work. It is often objected, that repentance lays on man a heavy cross. But does the world lay no crosses on men? Does he who pursues pleasure, greatness, fame, or riches, meet with no crosses, no troubles in life? O yes, it is known that the loves of self and the world are cruel taskmasters indeed. The Lord's "yoke is easy" and his "burden light." The cross of the Christian is not so heavy as is thought, and it is made lighter as he bears it, until he, at length, lays it down for ever. The ways of religion are inviting and encouraging to man. The Lord calls and intreats him : angels wait to assist him, and guide his steps to heaven. He is urged by every consideration of duty, of gratitude, and of interest, to

hear and obey. It is a duty, a privilege, a blessing to repent. Why, then, "why will ye die, O house of Israel?"

When is the time for repentance? We reply, It is now.

Now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation." Are you young and in health? There is no time, no state, so favourable as this. Are you old and infirm? Then hasten to repent; hasten, and tarry not. This duty is to be done when man is in freedom of mind: if left to a dying bed it will not save him, because at such a time he acts from compulsion, arising from the fear of death. When man is in any way constrained, or compelled, he does not act of himself, or of his own free determination. He is gifted with the faculties of liberty and reason; by which the Lord and the life of heaven may be received into his soul; and it is only when these are in exercise that he can do saving work. O how great is the folly of procrastination! Against this, man needs to be especially warned. He is led by the wiles of his great adversary to lose the precious hours which are passing over him. He is induced to put off repentance: to-morrow will be better than to-day; there will be ample time in the coming future. But alas! he knows not what shall be on the morrow; he knows not what a day may bring forth. To-day he may labour, but to-morrow it may be too late. His great Exemplar said, "I must work the works of him that sent me while it is day: the night cometh when no man can work" (John ix. 4). Even if man knew that his days would be prolonged, it would still be folly to procrastinate, for his work becomes the more difficult by delay. As evil is cherished, it increases; just as a tree grows from year to year, and extends its roots in the earth. It is like the disease called gangrene, which, if not cured in time, spreads all around its infection, and causes inevitable death. It is like a fire, which, if not extinguished, will soon consume a whole city or forest. Repentance should not be delayed, no, not for an hour. To think that to-morrow will be better than to-day, is quite a delusion. Felix waited for a convenient season, but we are not informed that such a season ever came. It is folly, it is worse than folly, to delay;

a fatal security of life is induced.

When repentance is begun, there must be no supineness of spirit. The soul must be kept in a wakeful state. The Christian is to regard himself as engaged in an active, yea, a busy work. It is a race which is set before him, and he must lay aside every weight, and run it with patience. He must salute no man by the way. He must not turn either to the right or to the left, but walk unmoved in his Saviour's steps, and look steadfastly to him, as the Author and Finisher of his

faith. He must be sober and vigilant; for the "devil walketh about as a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour" (1 Peter v. 8). "There is a perpetual endeavour from the hells to do evil" (A. C. 6477). The Psalmist said, "I will not come into the tabernacle of my house, nor go up into my bed; I will not give sleep to mine eyes, nor slumber to mine eyelids; until I find out a place for the Lord" (cxxxii. 3,4,5). And the Preacher said, "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest" (ix. 10).

We have said enough on repentance. It was deemed useful to consider this subject on commencing a new year. We have said that this is a time for serious meditation. How silent, yet how rapid, is the march of time! How quickly our past years have glided away! They are now as a tale that is told; they are past as the vision of a drean. We are hastening forward on the stream of time, and shall soon be numbered among the things that have been. The place that now seeth us shall soon see us no more for ever. We are strangers and pilgrims, as all our fathers were. We are as guests in a strange place, who tarry but for one night. And it is thus with all the joys of earth. The hopes and promises which allured us when life was young, have not been realized. If, perchance, they put forth and blossomed, they perished before they were grown up. Our pleasures are never satisfying; they pall upon the sense. Our treasures make themselves wings and fly away: a breath of wind scatters them, and they are gone. Fame, fortune, honours, power, and greatness, are things that tempt, and then deceive us. Where are the friends of our youth? One by one they have dropped into the grave; and soon we shall follow them. Death, like a rushing wind, sweeps daily the earth, and scatters as leaves its ephemeral inhabitants. It is thus we endure for a little while, and then pass away. We have no continuing city here; this world is not our rest.

Let us, with the opening year, set out afresh towards Zion. Let the folly and negligence of our days which are past be a salutary warning for those which are to come. Let us think, and think often, on the value of time. Time is not a gift, it is a trust-it is a talent for which we must render account. Eternal consequences are involved in our use of the present time. The hours now on the wing are fraught with woe, or with blessing, for ever. And there is no standing still; he that would stand still will fall. As time advances, we progress: we are filling up our states of good or of evil. Time, then, how precious! It cannot be estimated-we cannot say its worth. Let us improve the

it may

be very

time which is left us: perchance it is a remnant; short. Let us redeem it; let us die daily. Let us use each day as if it were the first of our repentance, and the last of our stay on the earth. Let us be aroused; let us trin our lamps; let us no more slumber nor sleep. Let us be ever engaged in an active preparation for heaven.

And let us put on all the armour of God. Let us add the duties of piety to those of repentance. Let us study the Word, be attentive to prayer, receive the holy supper, fulfil our sabbath duties, and all things required of those who are members of the Church. Let us have respect to all the commandments. Let our obedience be an integral work: let its duties be as a golden chain, whose links are made for each other, Let our new life be as a web which is entire; the length and breadth equal, the texture perfect.

Thus must we live; thus must we repent. We shall in this way ripen, day by day, for heaven. We shall prepare for the Son of Man when he cometh. We shall be as servants waiting for their Lord. If he come at even or at midnight, at the cock-crowing or in the morning, we shall be ready. With loins girt and with lamps burning, we shall welcome the bridegroom, and enter into the joy of our Lord.

X.

ON CHARITY AND FAITH.

WHEN the sacred Word of Divine Truth is strained to make it teach that faith, regarded by itself alone, is the one thing needful,-that salvation depends on it, that it secures the blessings of forgiveness and a title to eternal life,-that good works are only evidences of salvation, and not conducive thereto; and when the evil consequences of such a doctrine are so visible in the universal reign of self-love over religion itself; we cannot be too careful, in marking with clear and well drawn lines, the true distinction between charity and faith, those essential principles of all true religion, and in observing their relation

and union.

Nothing can more strongly prove the tendency of evil to turn truth into error, and make it favour its own propensities, than the fact, that, while the plain letter of scripture is maintained as being the all, or nearly so, of divine revelation, a doctrine so opposite to the obvious declarations and precepts abounding throughout the Holy Word, should be able to stand upon any thing having the least appearance of scripture testimony.

Evil, being opposed to good, can never be favourable to its consort, truth; it finds nothing, however, more agreeable, than to prostitute the truth by falsifying it, and then subjecting it to its own vile purposes. This is proved to be the case, by the use which has often been made of the Sacred Scriptures, to countenance and support every atrocity of lust and cruelty of which fallen nature has been capable. How necessary, therefore, is it for every one to be continually on his guard, lest an evil affection should at any time incline him to pervert the instruction of Divine Truth. Nothing can be more evident to the truly obedient mind, searching the Scriptures for solid wisdom, than the subserviency of all truth to the purposes of goodness. This is the test to which we are instructed to bring all doctrine. The Lord, in cautioning his disciples to beware of false prophets, by which are signified doctrines, said, “By their fruits ye shall know them." A doctrine may look very much like truth; it may even appear to us as sublime and beautiful truth; we act unwisely, however, if we receive it as such, while it fails to yield to the affections an influence of goodness, and to produce a corresponding righteousness in the life. We may be right in looking at it, in examining, and even in admiring it; but not in embracing it, until we discover the marks of its genuineness in the goodness to which it leads: until we have put it to this test, we should not suffer ourselves to be fascinated by the beauty of its form or the splendour of its aspect: for how can we know? it may be a satan in an angel's garb. However harmless it may seem, its proper disposition,-its natural appetite, should be first ascertained; lest we be deceived with a wolf in sheep's clothing. If charity be not its life, good works will not be its fruits: and we know that a good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, any more than an evil tree can produce good fruit. Thus, then, we see that charity is the essence of true faith, and that the faith which has not charity as its soul is a false faith. To set up faith, therefore, except for the sake of the charity of which it is the form, as the one thing needful, as the grace that saves, is to set up as the chief good the very essential form of hell itself: for what are the subjects of the infernal kingdom, but so many forms of reception failing to receive the influence of heaven, and consequently filled and distorted by influences of an opposite character, by evil, that is, instead of good.

We may not only learn the superiority of goodness to truth, and, therefore, of charity to faith, in the instructions of the Holy Word, but, when enlightened by its truths, may see this same principle exemplified in other things: that truth instructs, but goodness vivifies.