thy works, that thou hast a name, that thou livest and art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things which remain, that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God. Thou sayest, I am rich and increased with goods, and have need of nothing, and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. Remember how thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come upon thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee. Thou hast a few names which have not defiled their garments: and they shall walk with me, for they are worthy."

Were our Lord thus to come, how few would he find unreprovable in his sight! To one he would say, "Thou art cumbered about many things, but one thing is needful." To another who is immersed in dissipation, "If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever." To the rich he would say "Trust not in uncertain riches:”—to the poor, "Labour not for the meat which perisheth, but for that which endureth to eternal life." The formal worshipper he would require to worship in spirit and in truth: the lukewarm he would charge to be zealous and repent, lest he should be utterly rejected.

It is too evident that our blessed Lord would refuse to own many who now bear his name, and would say to them, "I never knew you." He would point out the many vices which prevailed in the days of his flesh, as still demanding reformation. He would ask, "Why call ye me Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I have told you? Why are ye baptized into my name, and promise to renounce the pomps and vanities of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh, while you suffer yourselves to be enslaved by them? Why

are ye of the world, when I laid it down that the contrary spirit was the very mark of my true disciples?" And the transformation of such persons into true disciples would be as striking now, as the change from Jews to Christians was in the primitive ages. Covetousness, dissipation, vanity, frivolity, the waste of precious time, would cease. No longer would men endeavour to serve two opposite masters. No longer would be found preposterously united a worshipper of God and of mammon. No longer would all the truths of religion be speculatively held, and yet practically denied; but a general conversion of character and change of conduct would be every where visible.

But is the personal presence of Christ necessary to produce this spirit of holiness? If we wait for that, we shall wait in vain. No other light will be vouchsafed to us than that which already shines forth, with brightness, from the Word of God; no other help than that which proceeds from the ordinary influences of his Holy Spirit. Christ has, in some sense, withdrawn himself from the world: he has left us in a state of trial, by which our hearts may be made manifest. They are his servants who take up their cross and follow him. These he will acknowledge at the last day. The world will not always appear in in its present colours: there is an enchantment in it which deceives our sight, but the illusion will be one day dispelled, and then the worth of the Divine favour will be made manifest.

My brethren, let us take heed to ourselves. In the name of God, let us trifle no longer: let us delude ourselves no more. The characteristic marks of the true disciples of Christ, given us in Scripture, are clear. Let us, then, search the Scriptures, that we may fully know what manner of persons Christ and his apostles were: for we must be like them.-I conclude with repeating, once more, the words of my text: "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple."

SERMON XXIII.

HOW TO USE THE WORLD SO AS NOT TO ABUSE IT.

1. Cor. vii. 29-31.

But this I say, brethren, the time is short: it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy as though they possessed not; and they that use this world as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.

IN compliance with the will of a former inhabitant of this parish, who, having lost a wife he affectionately loved, requested that a sermon might be preached upon the Sunday following the anniversary of her deathwith the intention, probably, of giving the preacher an opportunity to moralize upon the loss of friends, and by Christian consolation, to moderate and sanctify the grief it produces-I have chosen the subject which my text presents. It teaches us at once how to enjoy our friends and domestic connexions, and how to bear

their loss; how to rejoice, and how to weep. It lays down the true Christian principle which should influence our conduct upon such occasions; a principle by the influence of which I am bold to say, that a person will be enabled both to enjoy true happiness and to glorify God, amidst all the various changes and chances of this mortal life.

Here, then, is the direction: "Let those that have wives be as though they had none; and those that weep as though they wept not; and those that rejoice as though they rejoiced not." And the reason is added which should influence us to adopt such a conduct: "For the time is short, and the fashion of this world passeth away."

I begin with remarking the wisdom of the Apostle in teaching us how to bear the loss of friends, by first teaching us how to enjoy them. These two points are very closely connected. If a man has enjoyed prosperity in a proper Christian manner, he will be prepared to suffer adversity with the least degree of distress. As he will not rejoice, like one intoxicated, with an insolent and extravagant joy; so he will not be depressed by a grief that overwhelms him with intolerable anguish. All people think they know how to rejoice, though they may not know how to suffer aright: but to do this has more difficulty in it, and requires more of the Spirit of Christianity; than many may be aware. Few people bear prosperity well; and one reason is because they see no difficulty in bearing it. They do not examine themselves upon this head. They do not treasure up rules for the occasion. They do not pray to be taught how to use their happiness. In consequence of this want of a true Christian principle of rejoicing, their grief in the hour of adversity is immoderate; or at least it is restrained by such considerations as tend rather to divert our thoughts from it than to enable us to bear it. Now the excellence of Christian principle is this-that it is of universal operation. It extends its influence to all the various states and cir

cumstances in which a man can be placed, and teaches us to act properly in them all. And we may depend upon it that the same causes which tend to make us bear prosperity well, will teach us also to suffer well. On the other hand, I would remark also, that the proper use of adversity teaches us to bear prosperity aright. When we are deeply afflicted by the loss of an affectionate relative, we are so strongly impressed with the vanity of all things below, or, to use the words of the Apostle, we feel so strongly that "the fashion of this world passeth away," that even the most careless and thoughtless acquire something of a Christian view. The imperious pressure of calamity forces upon them a measure of what they ought to have learned from the lessons of the Gospel. And thus in grief there is often found a disposition very favourable to religion; and they who have been greatly afflicted are generally able to bear prosperity in a much better spirit and temper than they possessed before they were instructed and made wise by the pressure of their affliction.

The Christian principle, then to which I have alluded as equally enabling us to bear prosperity and adversity, is Faith. By this we are taught to feel the vanity, the shortness, the emptiness of every thing in this world; and to realize the views of eternal things which are given us in Scripture. "The fashion of this world passeth away;" that is, this world, with all its varied appearances, its pleasures and its pains, its sorrows and its joys, passeth away quickly. The scene will soon be shifted. The time is very short. In a little while, a new order of things will arise. A great and glorious state is at hand, even an eternal state, the contemplation of which will enable us to look with a holy indifference upon all things here below. A Christian is one who looks not at the things which are seen, but at those which are unseen. He is represented as being dead to the world. His life is hid with Christ in God. He sets not his affections on things below, but on