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than it has been for many a day. And what now? Why, Jesus says, "Rise up my love, my fair one, and come away." To each denomination of his Church he sends this message, "Come away." He seems to speak to Episcopacy and say, "Come away; cut out of the liturgy that which is not according to my mind, leave the State, be free." He speaks to the Calvinist, and says, Come away: be no more dead and cold as thou hast been; let not thy sons hold the truth in unrighteousness." He speaks to each denomination according to its need, but to the same import, "Rise up and come away; leave deadness and coldness and wrong-doing and hardness and harshness, and bitterness of spirit; leave idleness and slothfulness and lukewarmness; rise up and come away. Come away to preach the Gospel amongst the heathen; come away to reform the masses of this wicked city; come away from your little heartedness; from your coldness of spirit, come away: the land is before you; go up and possess it." Come away, your Master waits to aid you: strike! he will strike with you; build! he will be the great master builder: plough! he himself shall break the clods; arise and thresh the mountains, for he shall make you a sharp threshing instrument having teeth, and the mountains shall be beaten small until the wind shall scatter them like chaff, and you shall rejoice in the Lord. Rise up, people of God, in this season of revival, and come away! "Why sleep ye? arise and pray, lest ye enter into temptation."

II. Methinks the text has a very SPECIAL VOICE TO US AS A CHURCH. We must use the Scripture widely, but yet personally. While we know its reference to the universal Church, we must not forget its special application to ourselves. We, too, have had a season of refreshing from the presence of the Lord. The day was with this Church in the olden times when we were minished and brought low through oppression, affliction, and sorrow; when we could not meet more than twenty in a place, and sometimes not more than five, without fine and persecution. Then the Church had its elders, who could meet the few in private houses, and cheer their hearts, bidding them abide in patience, waiting till better times might come. Then God sent them a pastor after his own heart, Benjamin Rider, who fed them with knowledge and understanding, and gathered together the scattered sheep during the times of peace. Then there followed him a man worthy to be pastor of this Church-one who had sat in the stocks at Aylesbury, had seen his books burned by the common hangman before his face, and who counted not even his life dear unto him that he might win Christ, that man was Benjamin Keach, the opener of the parables, and expositor of metaphors. On old Horselydown, then a great common, a large house was built where he preached the word, and his hearers were very many. The flowers then appeared on the earth, and the time of the singing of birds was come to this Church. He passed away and slept with his fathers, and was followed by Dr. Gill, the laborious commentator; and for some time during his sound and solid ministry it was a good and profitable season, and the Church was multiplied and built up. But again, even under his ministry the ranks were thinned, and the host grew small. There was doctrine in perfection, but more power from on high was needed. Then after a space of fifty years or more of

Dr. Gill's ministry, God sent Dr. Rippon, and once more the flowers appeared upon the earth, and the Church multiplied exceedingly, bringing forth fruit unto God; and out of her there went many preachers who testified of the truth that was in Jesus and were the parents of Churches which still flourish. Then the good old man, full of years and of good works, was carried to his home: and there came others who taught the Church, and ingathered many souls, but they were not to the full extent successors of the men who went before them, for they tarried but a little season. Much good they did, but they were not such builders as those were who had gone before. Then came a time of utter deadness; the officers mourned; there was strife and division; they looked upon empty pews where once there had been full congregations; they looked about them to find one who might fill the place and bring together the scattered multitude; but they looked and looked in vain, and despondency and despair fell upon some hearts with regard to this Church; but the Lord had mercy on them, and in a very short space, through his providence and grace, the winter was passed, and the rain was over and gone. The time of singing of birds had come; there were multitudes to sing God's praises. The voice of the turtle was heard in our land; all was peace and unity, and affection and love. Then came the first ripe fruits. Many were added to the Church. Then the vines gave forth a sweet smell. Converts came, till we have often said, "Who are these that fly as a cloud, and as doves to their windows?" Often has this Church asked the question, "Who has begotten me these?" And now these eight years we have had a season, not of spasmodic revival, but of constant progress. A glad period of abundant increase in which there has been as many converts as we could receive, till every officer of the Church has had his hands full in seeing enquirers, and we have only had time to stop now and then and take breath, and say, "What hath God wrought?" The time came when we erected this house, because no other place was large enough for us; and still God continues with us, till our Church-meetings are not sufficient for the reception of converts; and we know not how large a proportion of this assembly are believers in Christ, because time fails to hear the cases of conversion. Well, what ought we to do? I hear the Master saying, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." I hear Jesu speaking to this Church, and saying, "Where much is given, there much shall be required." Serve not the Lord as other Churches, but yet more abundantly. As he has given you showers of love, so give him your fertile fields. Let us rejoice with thanksgiving; let this Church feel that she ought to be more dedicated to Christ than others; that her members should be more holy, loving, living nearer to God; that they should be more devoted, filled with more zeal, more fervency, doing more for Christ, praying more for sinners, labouring more for the conversion of the world; and let us be asking ourselves what can we do, as a Church, that shall be more than we have ever thought of doing: inasmuch as he feeds us with the bread of heaven, multiplies our numbers, keeps us in perfect concord and makes us a happy people; let us be a peculiar people, zealous for good works, showing forth his glory among the sons of mcn. It is a solemn

responsibility to rest on any man's mind to be the pastor of such a Church as this, numbering very nearly two thousand in Church fellowship. I suppose such a Baptist Church has never existed before. If we be found craven in this day of battle, woe unto us! If we be unfaithful to our charge and trust, woe unto us! If we sleep when we might do so much, surely will the Master say, "I will take the candlestick out of its place, and quench their light in darkness. Laodicea is neither cold nor hot, but lukewarm, I will spue her out of my mouth." And there shall come a dark day to us, with Ichabod on the fore-front of our house of prayer, and with darkness in our souls, and bitterness and remorse in our spirits, because we served not Christ while we might. I will cry aloud to you and spare not to admonish and encourage you, my brethren and comrades, in the conflict for truth. Men, brethren, and fathers; young men, maidens, and mothers in Israel, shall any of us draw back now? O Lord, after thou hast so richly blessed us, shall we be ungrateful and become indifferent towards thy good cause and work? Who knoweth but thou hast brought us to the kingdom for such a time as this? Oh! we beseech thee, send down thy holy fire on every heart, and the tongue of flame on every head, that every one of us may be missionaries for Christ, earnest teachers of the truth as it is in Jesus! I leave these thoughts with you. You can feel them better than I can express them; and I can better feel their might than I can make you feel it. O God! do thou teach us what our responsibility is, and give us grace that we may discharge our duty in thy sight.

III. WHEN THE TIME OF THE BRIDAL OF THE SOUL HAS ARRIVED TO EACH CONVINCED SINNER, THEN ALSO THERE ARE SPECIAL DUTIES.

Can you not remember, dearly beloved, that day of days, that best and brighest of hours, when first you saw the Lord, lost your burden, received the roll of promise, rejoiced in full salvation, and went on your way in peace? My soul can never forget that day. Dying, all but dead, diseased, pained, chained, scourged, bound in fetters of iron, in darkness and the shadow of death, Jesus appeared unto me. My eyes looked to him; the disease was healed, the pains removed, chains were snapped, prison doors were opened, darkness gave place to light. What delight filled my sou!!-what mirth, what ecstacy, what sound of music and dancing, what soarings towards heaven, what height and depths of ineffable delight! Scarce since then have we known joys which surpassed the rapture of that first hour. Oh! do you not remember it, dear brethren, and was not it a spring time to you? The winter was passed. It had been so long, so dreary-those months of unanswered prayer, those nights of weeping, those days of watching. The rain was over and gone; the mutterings of Sinai's thunders were hushed; the flashings of its lightnings were no more perceived; God was beheld as reconciled unto you; the law threatened no vengeance, justice demanded no punishment. Then the flowers appeared in our heart; hope, love, peace, patience sprung up from the sod; the snow-drop of pure holiness, the crocus of golden faith, the daffodil lily of love, all decked the garden of the soul. The time of the singing birds was

come, all that is within us magnified the holy name of our forgiving God. Our soul's exclamation was,

"I will praise thee every day,

Now thine anger 's turned away;
Comfortable thoughts arise,
From the bleeding sacrifice.

Jesus is become at length,
My salvation and my strengh;
And his praises shall prolong,
While I live my pleasant song."

Every meal seemed now to be a sacrament; our clothes were vestments; the common utensils of our trade were "holiness to the Lord." We went out abroad into the world to see everywhere tokens for good. We went forth with joy and were led forth with praise; the mountains and the hills brake forth before us into singing, and all the trees of the fields did clap their hands. It was, indeed, a happy, a bright and a glorious season. Do I speak to some who are passing through that spring-tide now? Young convert, young believer, in the dawn of thy piety, Jesus says, "Rise up, my love, my fair one, and come away." He asks thee to come out from the world and make a profession of thy faith in him now: put it not off; it is the best time to profess thy faith whilst thou art young, while as yet to thee the days come not, nor the days draw nigh, when thou shalt say, "I have no pleasure in them." Make haste and delay not to keep his commandments. Arise, and be baptized. Come ye out from among the world, be ye separate, and touch not the unclean thing; follow Christ in this perverse generation, that you may hear him say at the last, " Of you I am not ashamed, for you were not ashamed of me in the day when I was despised and rejected of men." In this your early time, dedicate yourselves to God. If you do not draw up a form and subscribe it with your hand, yet draw it up in your heart and subscribe it with your soul-"Lord, I am thine wholly thine: all I am, and all I have, I would devote to thee. Thou hast bought me with thy blood. Lord, take me into thy service: thou hast put away all thy wrath and given my spirit rest. Let me spend myself and be spent-in life and in death let me be consecrated to thee." Make no reserves. Come altogether away from selfishness from aught which would divide youe chaste and pure love to Christ, your soul's husband. Rise up and come away. In this the beginning of your spiritual life, the young dawn of marvellous light, come away from your old habits; avoid the very appearance of evil; come away from old friendships which may tempt you back to the flesh pots of Egypt. Leave all these things. Come away to higher flights of spirituality than your fathers as yet have known. Come away to private communion. Be much alone in prayer. Come away: be diligent in the study of God's Word. Come away, shut the doors of your chamber, and talk with your Lord Jesus, and have close and intimate dealing with him. I know I speak to some young babes in grace, beginners in our Israel. Oh! take care that you begin aright by coming right away from the world, by

being strictly obedient to every divine command, by making your dedication perfect, complete, unreserved, sincere, spotless.

"While from your newly-sprouted vines

Whose grapes are young and tender, choice and rich,
The flavour cometh forth.-Beloved one, rise!
Rise from this visible engrossing scene,

And with affections linked to things above,

Where Christ, thy treasure is, be soaring still!"

IV. But in the next place our text deserves to be used in another light. It may be that you and I have had winters of dark trouble, succeeded by soft springs of deliverance.

We will not enlarge much on our sorrows, but some of us have been to the gates of death, and, as we thought then, into the very jaws of hell. We have had our Gethsemanes, when our souls have been exceeding sorrowful nothing could comfort us, we were like the fool who abhorred all manner of meat; nothing came with any consolation to our aching hearts. At last the Comforter came to us, and all our troubles were dissipated. A new season came, the time of the singing of birds was once more in our hearts. We did not chatter any more like the swallow or the crane, but we began to sing like the nightingale, even with the thorn in our breast; we learned to mount to heaven like the lark, singing all the way. The great temporal affliction which had crushed us was suddenly removed, and the strong temptation of Satan was taken off from us. The deep depression of spirit which had threatened to drive us to insanity was on a sudden lifted off, and we became elastic in heart, and once again like David, danced before the ark, singing songs of deliverance. I address some who this morning are looking back to such seasons. You have just reached the realm of sunlight, and you can look back upon long leagues of shadow and cloud through which you have had to march; the valley of the shadow of death you have just traversed, you can well remember the horrible pit and the miry clay, and hark! we can hear still the rushing as of the wings and feet of crowded miseries, and still we can remember the terrible shadow of confusion; but we have come through it-through it all: the winter is past, the rain is over and gone, and we can rejoice now in covenant faithfulness, and renewed lovingkindness. Now, have we our assurance back again; and Christ is near to us, and we have fellowship with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. Well, then, what are we to do? Why, the Master says to us, "Rise up, and come away." Now is the time when we should mount up to be nearer to himself. Now that the day dawns and the shadows flee away, let us seek our beloved amid the beds of spices, and by the lilies where he feeds. I would we had more in the Church,-more in this Church-like Madame Guyon, who loved the Lord as that woman did who had much forgiven, or like Mrs. Rowe, who in England was what Madame Guyon was in France; or like Dr. Hawker, or like Samuel Rutherford, who could pant, and long, and sigh, for nearer fellowship with Christ. If there is ever a season when we ought to follow hard after the Lord, and not be content until we have embraced him, it is when we have come up from the wilderness, leaning