Parochial and Plain Sermons

HEN our Lord was going away, IIe said tle would quickly corne again; yet knowing that bv "quickly" tic did hOt mean what would be af first sight understood by the word, He added, "suddenly," or "as a thieç." " Behold I corne as a thieç; blessed is he that watcheth, and keei)cth his 'arments'." Had IIis coming" been soon, in out sensc of" the word, it eould hot well have becn sudden. Servants who are bid fo wait for their master's return ff'oto an entertainment, couhl lmt, ouc should think, be overtakcn by that return. If was because to us I[is coming" would hot seem soon, that if w«s sudden. Vhat you expect fo corne, you wait for; what fails to corne, you give up; while, then, Christ said that IIis coming would be soon, yet by saying it would be sdden, lit said that to us if would seem long. 1 Rev. xvi. 15.

Yet though fo us fie seems to delay, yet He bas declared that His coming is speedy, I[e has bid us ever look out for tlis eoming; and tlis first followers, us the Epistles show us,,«'ere ever lookig out for if. Surely if is our dutv fo look out for if, as likely {o eome ilnmediately, tlmugh hitherto for near two thousand yem the Chureh has been looking ottt ill vain. Is if hot somethiug signifieant that, in the last book of Seripture which more than any ather implies a. lon eontinuanee fo the Christian Church,that there we should have such express and repeated assurances that Christ's eoming wonld be speedy? l':vert in the lnst ehapter we are told it three {imes. " Behold I eome quiekly; blessed is he that keepeth the sayings of the propheey of this bo«.k." " Behohl I eolne quiekly, and 3Iy rewnrd is with Me." And a,a'ain, in the text, " He that {estitieth these things, saith, Surely I eome quiekly." Sueh is the announeement; and, in eonsequenee, we are eommanded fo be ever lookiug out the grent Day, fo "wait for His Son from heaven; '' "look and haste un{o the eoming of the day of God=. '' If is trne, indeed, that in one place St. Paul cautions his brethren ag'ainst expeeting the immediate eoming of Christ.; but he does hot say more than that Christ will senti a sign immediatelv before His eoming, a certain dreadfitl enemy of the truth,whieh is fo be followed by IIilnself af once, and therefore does not stand in our way, or prevent eager eyes from looking out for Him. And, in truth, St. Paul seems rather {o be warning his brethren against being disappointed 1 1 Thess. i. 10.  2 Pet. iii. 12.

-36 ll'aiti:«z far Christ. if Christ did no corne, than hindering them ff'mn expeeting I lira. Now i may 1,e o]tieeted thnt this is u kind of paradox; how is if. possible, if mav 1,e nsked, ever fo be cxpeeting wha bas so lon been delavcd? Vha has been so long eoming, mav 1,e longer still. If was l»assible, indeed, tbr the early Christi:ms, w]m lmd no experienee of the long period whieh tle Chur«h was o remah on earth, lo look out tl,r Christ; l,u wc eanno help using ur l'eason: lhero are 1o lnl'e l'tlldS {o expee Chris now lhan at thse manv tbrmer limes, when, as the even showed, l Ie did noL corne. Christians have ever ]men expeeting the ]ast day, and ever meeting with disappointment. They have seen wlmt lhey though S)-lnlRmns «f Ilis eoming and peeuliarities in their nwn limes, which a little more knowledge of lhe world, a more enlarged experienee, wouhl have shown lhem fo be eOllllilOll {o all rimes. They have ever been fi'ig'htened without g'ood reason, fretting in their llllrrow lninds, and lmildin on their superstitious filneit.s. XVhat ae of the world has there been in whieh people did hot think the Dav of Judgmen ec, min? Sueh expeetatlm has but evideneed and fostered in&,lenee and SUl,erstitima; if is fo be eonsidered as a mere weakness. Now I shall atteml»t to say something in answer fo this objection. 1. And fil'St, eonsidered as an objeetima fo a habi of eontilmal wailing" (fo use the eommon phrase), if proves too mueh. If it is eonsistently follmved up, no age ough ever o expeeL tire day of Christ; the age in whieh He shall come (whenever it is) ought not to expect IIiln;— -«-hich is the very thing" He bas warned us against. IIc no where warns us against what is contemptuously callcd superstition; but Hc expressly warns us:gainst hi'hlninded security. If if be truc that Christians have expecfed IIim when Ho did lmt corne, if is quite as truc that. when He does corne, the world will hot cxpec Him. If if be true that Christians bave fimcicd signs ()f I[is coming, when there wcre none, if is cqually true that the world will lmt see the signs of I[is coming" when thcy arc present. IIis signs arc hot so plain but you havc fo scarch for fhem; hot so plain but)'ou may be mistaken ht your search; and your choice lies bet,,een the risk of thinking you see what is not, and of hot seeing" what is. True if is, that many flirtes, many ag'cs, have Christians been mistakcn in thinling thcy discerned Christ's colning; but better a thousand rimes think Him comin when He is hot, than once think Him not coming when He is. Such is the difFercnce between Scripture and the world; judging by Scripturc, you would ever be cxpecting Christ; judging by the world, you would never expect tIim.:Now tIe must corne one day, sooner or later. Vorldly lnen have their scoff af our failure of discernment now; but whose will be the want of discernment, whose the triumph then? And what does Christ think of their present scoff? He expressly warns us, by His Apostle, of scoffers, who shall say, " Wherc is the promise of IIis coming? tbr since fhe fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they vere from the beginning of the creation. Buf, beloved (continues St.

:Peter), be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one dayL" It. should be reeolleeted, too, that the enemies of Christ have ever been expeeting the downfall of Itis religion, age after age; and I do hot see why the one expeetation is more unreasonable than the other; indeed they illustrate eaeh other. So it is, nndeterred l»y the failnre of former antieipati,ns, nnbelievers are ever expeeting that the Chureh and the-religion oI  the Chnreh are eoming fo an end. They thought so in the last eentury. They think so now. Thev ever think the light «,f truth is goin.a" out, and that their honr oI  vietory is corne. Now, I repeat, I do hot see why it is reasonable fo expeet the overthrow of religion still, after so many failures; and yet unreasonable, beeause ¢»f previous disappointments, fo expeet the eoming of Christ. 1Xay, Christians at least, over and above the aspect of things, ean point fo an express promise of Christ, that He will one day corne; whereas nnbelievers, I suppose, do hot profess any grounds at all for expeeting tlteir own trinmph, exeept the signs of the rimes. They are sanguine, beeause they seem so strong, and the Chureh of God seems so weak; yet they have hot enlarg'ed their minds enough by the eontemlflation of past history fo know tiret sueh apparent strength on the one side, and sueh apparent weakness on the other, has ever been the state of the world and the Chureh; and that this has ever been one chier or rather the main reason, why Christians havc expected fhe immediafe end of all things, because the prospects of religion were so g'loomy. So that, in fact, Christians and unl,elicvcrs havc takcn prccisc|y thc samc vicw of thc facts of thc case; only thcy have (lrawn distinct conclusions ff'oin ¢hem, according" to thcir creed. The Christian has said, " All looks so full of tumuli, that thc world is comin fo an end;" and thc unbelicvcr has said, " All is so fidl of tumult, that the Church is coming fo au end;" and there is nothing, surely, more superstifious in the ont opinion flmn in thc oflmr. Now when Christians and unbclievcrs thus unite in expeeIin substanfially the saine thilk, % though they view if different.ly, aeeordin fo their respective modes of though, there eanno be any thin very extravagant in the expeetation itself; there mus be something, ever presen in the world whieh warrants it. And I hold this fo be the case. Ever sinee Christianity ealne into the world, i has been, in one sense, g'oing" oui of if. Il: is so uneong'enial fo the human mind, if is so spiritual, and man is so earthly, it: is apparently so defeneeless, and has so nmny strou enemies, so many false friends, t.ha every age, as i cornes, mav be eallêd "the last rime." It has ruade great conquests, and doue great works; but still it has doue all, as the Apostle says of himself, "in weakness, and in fear, and in mnch trelnbling ." t[ow it is that it is ahvays failing, 3-et always continulng, God only knows who wills it,—but so it is; and it is uo paradox fo say, on the one hand, that if bas lasted eighteen hundred years, tha i may las many years more, nnd yet thaL iL draws o an end, nay, is likely fo end any day. And God would have us give out minds and hearts fo the lat.ter side of the alternative, fo oI,en them lo impressionsj}'o», this side, riz. that the end is eoming;it being n. wholesome thing to live as if lhat will corne in our day, whieh may corne anv day. If. was different during" /he ages before Christ came. The Sviour was to corne. IIe was o bring perfection, and rdig'ion was o grow lo«ard,, thnt perfeeti,m. There was a svsem of successive revelations going on, first one and then another; eaeh l»ropheL in his turn adding to the st,»l of Divine truth, and gmdually tending towards the full Gospel. Time was measured out for believing minds belote Christ came, by lhe woM of propheey; so fhat. I[e never eould be expeeted in any age before the "fulness of rime" in whieh IIe came. • he ehosen people were noL bidden to expeet Him a once; but after a sojourning in Canaan, and a eaptivity in Egypt, and a wan&ring in the xvilderness, and judges, and kings, and prophets, at length sevenfy long weeks were deterlnined to introduee Ilim into the world. Thus Itis delay was, as I may sny, «eewcized fhen; and, d«riuy His delay, other doetrines, other rules, were given to fill the interval. BnL when tmee the Christ had eome, as the 8on over IIis own honse, and with tIis perfee Gospel, nothing remained but fo gather in lIis saints. No higher PriesL eouhl eome,no truer doctrine. The igxL and Lifb of men had appeared, and had suffered, and had risen again; and nothing more was lefL to do. Earth had had its mos solemn evenf, and sn ifs mos august sight; and therefore if was the last rime. And hence, thouh rime intervene bctwecn Christ's first and second comin, if is hot,recognizerl (as I ma.y sa),) in thc Gospel scheme, but is, as it wcre, an accidcnt. For so it was, that up fo Christ's comin in thc flcsh, the course of thins ran straig'ht towards that end, ncnring if by every step; but now, under the Gospcl, that course has (if I m;y so speal¢) altered its direction, as regards Ilis second cominç, and runs, hot towards thc end, but along if, and on the briuk of if; and is t all rimes cqually near that great event, which, did if ruu towards, if would af once run into. Christ, thon, is cver af our doors; as ncar eig'hteen hundred ycars,qg'o as now, and hot nearer now tha then; and hot ncarer when He cornes than now. Vhen IIe says that tic will corne soon, " soon" is hot » word of rime, but of natural ordcr. This present state of thing's, "thc prescnt distress" as St. Paul calls if, is ever close «q)o the ncxt world, and resolves itself into it. As when,-t man is given over, he may die any moment, yet ling'el's; as an implement of war may any moment explode, and must af some rime; as we listen for a clock fo strike, and at length if surpriscs us; as,-t crumbling" arch hang's, we know hot how, and is not sale to lass under; so creel.S on this feeble weary worhl, and one dy, beforc we know where we are, if will end. And here I mav observe in passing, on thc li,q'ht thus thrown upon the doctrine, that Christ is the sole Priest under the Gospel, or that the Apostles ever sit on twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel, or that Christ is with them always, ecen unto the end of the

4OE IKaitiz for Clris[. world. Do you uot sec the force of these expressions? The Jewish Covenant, indeed, had "sundry rimes,'" whieh were ordered " in divers mmmers;" i had a lon arny,,f 1,riests and a rations hist,ry; one p«rt of tle series h,,lier thau another, md ne,rcr beaven. But when Christ hnd corne, suflç.red, and nsconded, IIe was henc«.forth ever ne,r us, ever at hand, even though Ile was hot actually returned, ever scareelv g'one, ever all I»nL emne 1,aek. lle is the ¢,nly lhder and Pricst in l[is Çhurch, dispensing" giçts, and has appointed none to superscdc llim, 1,ee:msc lle is deparIed only fir a brief seas.n. Amn Io,»k lhc place of Christ, and had 1Mestho,,d of ]Iis own; but Christ's priests lmve no priesthood but Ilis. They arc merely Ilis shadows and t, rg'ans, thcy are t[is outward signs; and what they do, llc does; when they baptize, fie is baptizing'; when they bless, Ile is blessin, tic is in ail aets of Church, and one of its acts is hot more trulv His than auothe; for all are tIis. Thus we arc, in ail rimes of the Gspel, broug'ht close fo tIis Cross. We stand, as if wcre, under it, and rcccive ifs blessings fi'esh ri-oto it; only that since, historieally speakin, rime has gone on, and tlm I[«»ly One is away, certain outward forms are necessmç-, by way of bring'ing, us ag'ain under His shadow; and we cnjoy those blessins through a mystery, or sacrmnentally, in order t» enjoy them really. All this witnesses to the duty both of remembering" and of lookin ouL for Christ, teaehin us fo neglect the prescnt, fo rely on no plans, fo form no expectations, for the fitture, but so fo lire in lhith, as if Ho had hot left us, so in hope, as if He had returned fo us. We must try to live as if the Apostles were living, and wc must trv to muse upou our Lord's liçe in the GospcIs, hot as a history, but ns if I reeollcetion. . This leads me fo remarl upon t second aspect under whieh the objecion in question may be urgcd; riz. that this waiting for Christ, is hot onlv extravagant in its very idca, but ]ecollles fl superstition and weakncss whenever carricd into eilèet. The mind, intent upon the thoug'hk of an awful visitation close ai hand, beffins fo faner sigs oç it in the nahral and moral world, and mistakes (he ordinarv eveuts of God's providence Ftr miracles. Thus Christiaus are brouht into boudaze, and substitute for the Gospel a fond religion, in vhich ima$inati.n tales the place offhith, aml thiu's visible and earthlv tale the place of Seripture. This is le ol»jeetion; yet the text, on thc other hand, while iL sanctions the expeetation, in the words "Surely I eome qtiekly," surelv sanetions the temper of waiting" also, by adding, " Amen, even so, corne, Lord Jesus." I observe, then, that flmug'h Christians might be misalen in wllat they tool fo be sig'ns of Christ's coming', yet they wcre not wronff in their sate of lnind; they were hot mistaken in looldng" oui, and that for Chris. XVhether eredulous or hot, they onlv acted as one aes towards sonle person beloved, or revered, or admired on earth. Consider the mode in which loyal persons looI up to a good prince; you will find stories current, up and down the country, in his favour; people delig'ht in believiug" tha they have fallen in wifl tokens of his bencficenee, nobleness, and paternal kind- ness. Mm.)" of these reports are false,:}-et others are true, and, on the whole, we should hot think hig'hly of tha m;m who, instead oç being' t,,uehed at this mutual syml,athy 1,etween soverei'n and people, oceupied himselt" merelc in earpin af whnt he ealIed their eredulity, and sifling" the aeeurae 3" of this or that. partieular storv. A g'veat thing, trul-, after all, to be al,le fo deteet a. few mis-statements, and to expose a tk'w ff,tions, and fo be withut a he:rt! And fi,rsooth, on the other hand, a sad deficiency in that people, I suppose, lnerely fo be rig'ht,m lhe whole, hot in everv partieular, and fo lmx'e the hert ria'ht  Who would envy sueh a man's knowled'e? who would hot l'ather have that people's i'm, rance? And, in lil;e manner, I had rather be he, who, ti'om 1,»ve of Christ and want of science, thinls some strang'e sig'ht in the sky, cornet or lneteor, tobe the sign of llis eoming', than the man, who, ri'oto more 1;novledge and from laek of love, laughs af the mistake. Before now, religious persons have taken appearnnees in the heaven for sig'ns of Christ's eoming', whieh do n,t now t¥ig'hten us at all. Granted, but what then? let us eonsider the state of the case. Of old time it was not d'o,z generally that certain heavenlv bodies moved and appeared af fl.'ed rimes and l,'a rule; now if is known; that is, ow men are acerstomed to see them, then thec were hot aeeustomed. We lcnow as little now as then oze tbey corne, or whc; but then men were startled when the- saw them, beeause the 3" we;'e strang'e, and now the 5- are hot strang.e, and therefore men are ot startled. But how was if therefore absurd and r[dieuJous (for so it is that persons now-a-days talk), why was if a tbolish fond thing in a man fo be imprcssed by whaL was rare and strange  Takc a 1)arallcl case: travellin is COIIllllOII now, iL was hot common tbrmcrlr. In COllSC(ltlOllCC  we now travel withouL any serious clnoti«m af parting' ff'oto out fl'iends; but thon, because iL was uneommon, even when risks were the saine ami the al}sente as long, persons did hot,o ff'oto hoirie without mueh preparation, mnnv prnyers, and mm.h leave-taking. I do hot sec any thing 'ery eensural,le in being more impressed af unemumon thing's than at eommon. And you will observe, that. in the case of whieh I ara speaking, persons who are looking out for Çhrist are hot only, iz ¢a,,e thev look out, aeting in obedienee fo Ilim, lmt are lol,king out,in their very «'«y of looking out, through the very sizns through whieh they look Oll{,ill obedienee fo Ilim. Ahvays sinee the first, Christians have been looking ont for Çhrist;» the signs of the natural and moral wm'ld. If {hey have been poor and meduented, strange sights in the sky, or tremblings of the grotmd, stonns, thilure of harvest,,,r disease, or any thing monstrous nnd unnatural, hns ruade them think that He was af hand. If they were in a ;av fo take n. view of the social and politieal world, then the troubles of stateswal'S, revolntions, nnd the like,—have been ndditional eil'cumstnnees whieh served to impress them, and kepf their henrts awake for Christ. N,,xv ail these nre nothing else but those very things whieh IIe tlilnself has told us fo dwell upon, nnd has given ris as signs of Itis eoming. "There shall be sin " IIe says, "in the sun, an(l in the moon, and in thc strs; and upon the en'th distress oç nations, with perl)lcxity, the sea and tle waves roarig; mcn's hearts fifilig flcm fi)r iar, and fi)r h)olin al'ter thosc thig's wh{ch a'c comin on the earth; thc powcrs o ]ca'en sha]l be shalccl...... knd when these fiin's ]»eg'i fo c(,mc t,) l)aSS, t]en ]oo1 u l) and lit't. 1) your hc:ds, t)r vour redemption draweth nih .'" Ont dav the lights ot" hcavcn c'i// 1)c signs; ,ne dav the:fllhirs o1' mtions also «i// be sig'ns; why, then, is it supcrstiti,)ua to [oo" towards thcm? It is hot. may l)e vr()ng in the 1)articulars we test Ul)On, and mav show oto" ig'norance in d,)in' so; but thcre is nothing" 'idicuh)us o" v,m{Cml)til)le in out ig'orance, and there is mueh that is religious in out wat.hing'. It is-bettcr to be wrong" in out watt'hbg', than hot to watch at ail. Nor does it follow that ('hristians were wrong, evcn their l)aieular anticip:tions, thoug'h Christ did hot corne, whercas thev said, thcv saw ]Ils signs. Perhaps they 'ere IIis si's, and fie withdrew them again. there no such lhing as countcrmandinô? Do hot slilfll mon in matters of this world sometimes form anticipations which turn out wr,)ng., and ver. we sav that they o[ to bave ]cen rig'ht? Thc slçv thrcatcns and thc cle:a's ag'ai. Or somc militarv lc:der ordcrs his men forward, aml thon çor some rcason rec:dls them; shall xve sav that. infbrmants wcre wron" vho brou'ht the news tlmt he -as moving? Ycll, in oc sente Clrist is evcr moving forward, over checling', the armies of heaven. Signs oç the white horses are ever appearing,  Luke xxi. 25, 26. 28.

ever vanishing'. "Clonds return after the rain;'" and IIis servants are not wron, iii 1,ointing fo them, and sayin that the weather is bl-eakil, lhoug'h if does hot break, for if is ever unsettled. And another thin should be observed, that thouR, h Christians hlve ever ],een expeeting Christ, ever lointin fo Iris siR'ris, they lmve never said tiret IIe was corne. They have but snid that lle was.iust eolning, all b»t corne. And so IIe was and is. Enthusiasts, seetal'ies, wild presnmltuons men, theff have said that Ile was actaal@ t.me, or they llare lminted out thc exact vent md day in whieh He would corne. Not so tlis humble followers. ]'hev havc neither announeed nor soug.ht Ilim, either in the desert or in the secret «hambers, n,w bave they attempted to determine "the rimes and seasons, whieh the Father line put in llis own power." Ïhey have but waited; vhen IIe aetually cornes, thev will hot mistakc Ilim; and belote then, they pronounee nothing. Thev do but sec Ilis ff)rertlnners. Surelv there ean be no great harm, and nothing vea T ridieulous, where lnen are relig'ious, in thus thinking the events of their daw more than ordinary, in fimeying that. the world's matters are winding" up, and tha.t events are thiekening" for a final visitation; for, let it be observed, Seripture snnetions tts in interpreting ««11 that we sec in the world in a reliR'ious sense, and as if all things vere tokens and revelations of Christ, His Providence, and will. I mean that if this lower world, whieh seems fo go on in ifs own way, independently of Hiln, governed by fixed laws or swayel by

248 IUai[iç for Christ. lawless hears, will, nevertheless, one day in an awfifl way, herald IIis eominto judg'e it, surely if is hot imlossible ha the saine world, both in ifs physieal order and ifs temporal course, speaks of 1 lira also in other manners. At first, indeed, one might arue that this world did but spcak a lang'uagc contrary to Ilim; that in Scripturc-it is described as opposed fo G,,d, fo truth, fo /tith, to hcaven; that it is said fo be a deeeitfifl veil, misreprcsentia thiug's, and keeping lhe soul from God. How then, it nmv bc asked, can this world bave upon if tokens of llis lwesenee, or lwing us near fo film? Yet certainly so it is, tiret in spire ,f lhc world's evil, after all, IIe is in it and speaks through it, thoug'h hot loud]y. Vhen lIc came in the tlesh "Ile was in the world, and thc worhl was ruade by llim, and the world knew Ililn hot." Nor did IIc strivc nor cry, nor lif up Iris voice in the strects. So it is now. He still is here; tle still whispers fo us, IIe still makes signs fo us. But His voice is so low,,nd the world's din is so hud, and IIis sig'ns arc so covcrt aml thc world is so restless, that if is difticult fo dctermine when IIe adtlresses us, and what He says. Rcligious men cannot but feel, in various ways, that IIis providence is 'uiding them and blessin them pcrsonally, on thc wholc; yet when they attempt t,» put their finger upon thc rimes and places, the tqccs of tIis presence disappear. Who is there, for instance, but has been favoured with answers to lwayer, such that, at the rime, ho has felt ho ncver eould again be unbelieving? Vho has hot had strange coiucidences in his course of lire which broug'ht beforc him, in an overpowering way, the lmnd of God? Vho has not hatl thoughts cmnc npon him with a sort of" m-sterious force, for his warning" or his direeti,m? And some persons, perhaps, expcrienec strang'er things still. 'ondertkfl providences have befin'e now l«en brought al»out, by lneans of dreams; or in other still more m- usual ways Ahnighty Goal lu, s at rimes interposed. And then, a'ain, things which eome lefore out eyes, in such wise take the form of types and omens «,f thin's moral or fiture, that the spirit within us cannot but reaeh forward and presag'c what if is hot told fl-(,m what if sees. And sometimes these prestiges are remarkably fulfilled in thc event. And then, a'in, the fbrtunes of men are so singularly various, as if a law of suecess and prosperity embraeed a certain mnnber, and a eontrary law others. AI1 this l»eing" s,, and the vastness md mystery of the world bcin" borne in upon u, wc lnaV well beg'in to think that there is nothing" here below, but, tl,r what we know, has a connexion with everr thinç else; the most distant events mav yct be unitcd, the lncanest and hig'hest, lnay be parts of one; nld God nuw be teaehing" us and oflring" us knowlcdg'c of IIis ways, if we will but open our eyes, in all the ordinarv matters of the day. This is what thoughtfil 1)ersons eome to belicve, and they bcg'in to have a. sort of fiith in the Divine mcaninff of the ccidents 0s they arc ealled) of litkb and a readiness fo take impressions fl-,)n them, which nnv easily beeome excessive, and which, whethcr excessive or hot, is sure fo be ridiculcd by the world af lin'ge s snperstitiOll. Yet., eonsidering Seripture tells us tlmt the very hairs of out head are all nulnbered by God, that all things are ours, and that al! thing's work together our good, it does certainlv encoura.e us in thus lookinff out fi)r I[is presenee in everv/hinR" that happens, however trivial, and in h¢.din" tlmt fo l'eligi,us ears even the b:.l w«,rhl i,r,,1,hesics of l lira. Yet, I say, this reli'ious ua.itinff upon (;od throuh the day, which is so like that sl,irit ¢,f watching" whieh is under e,,nsiderfi,,n, is.ius as ,pen to ol,jeetion and scofling" fi'oni the worhl. (l«tl does hot so speak fo us through the occurrences of lilb, that you eau 1,ersuade others that fie spe:flcs. I[e d,»es hot act upon sueh exl,lieit laws, tlmt s'ou eau speak of them with eertainty. lh. g'ives us sullicient tokens of llimself fo raise out minds in awe towards l lira; but l le seems so tYequently fo undo what lIe has d,ne, and to suffit eountertits of I[is t,_,kens, that a. conviction of I[is wonder-working" lwesenee ean but. exist in the individual himself. It is hOt a truth that ean be taug'ht, aud reeog'nized in the face of men; it is hot of a nature fo be urg'ed upon the woBd af large, nay, even on rclig'ims lel'sons, as a prineiple. God g'ives us enough to make us inquire and hope; hot enou'h to make us insist and arg'ue. I have all along been speaking" of thoua'htful and eonscientious persons; those who do their duty, and who study Seripture. It is quite certain that this reffard fo outward occurrences de,es beeome superstiti,n, when if. is fi,und in men of irreliious lires, or of slender knowlede of Seripture. The g'reat and chier reveltion whieh God has ruade us «,f IIis will is throug'h Christ and His Apostles. They have ffiven us a knowledge of the truth; they have sent forth heavenly prineiples and doetrines into the world; thev have aeeonpanied that revealed truth by Divine sacraments, whieh eonvey fo the heart what otherwise w,mhl be a mere outward and barl'el knowledge; and they lmve told us fo 1,raefise what wc know, and ol,ev what wc are taug'ht, lhat the Vord of Christ may bc forlned «md dwcll in us. Thcy have been inspircd, moreover, fo write l[.,lv Seripturcs fin" out learning" and comfbrt; and in those Sel'il»- turcs we fiml the hism'v of this world interpretcd us bv a heavenly rulc. Vhen, then, a man, thus formed and fortified within, with thcse livin prineiples in his lleart, with this t1"111 hohl md sight {f thins invisillc, wiIh liking's, opinions, vicws, aires, moulded ulmn God's revealed law, looks ahroad into thc worhl, he docs hot corne fo the world for t revclation,he lins ont ah'catir. ]le docs not takc his relig'ion ff'oin/ho orld, nor does he set ai1 ovcr-vahm upon thc tokcns and l}resg'es which he sees therc. But fir diflkn'ent is the case whcn a man is hot thus enlig'htcned and ilfOl'med by revealed truth. Then he is but a prey, he becomcs the slave, of the occurrences and cvcnts, thc sig'hts and sounds, thc omens and prodigies, which mcet hiln in thc world, natural andmoral. IIis religion is a bondag'e fo things perishable, an idolatry of the creature, and is, in thc worst sense of the word, superstition. I[cnee if is a eommon rcmark, that il'rcligious men are most open fo superstition. For they have a mis£'iving that there is somethin reat and Divine smncwhere: md since thev have it hot within them, thcv haro no diNeul/v in believinz that if is anwvhere clsc, wherever men pretend fo the possession of if. Thus vou find in history men in high pkee practising" unlawful arts, eonsulting" professed

vizards, or g.ivin heed fo astrol«,gy. Others have had their hleky and unlut'ky days; others have been the sport of drt, ams, or «,t' othe.r idlc fimeies. And 'ou have had others bowin th«msclves down fo idols. For they hax'e had no prheil,le, no foot in themselves. Thev have been ignorant, too, of Scripture, in whieh God has most mert.iflll" removed the veil oll' a portion of this world's history, in ordel" that we may sec aoe fie works. Seril,ture is the key 1,y vhieh we are given fo interpret the world; Imt thev who ha'e if hot, l'Om amid the shadows of tle world, and interpret things at randOlll. The saine wanL of inward religious prineiple is sho'n in the light, senseless way in which so manv ad«,pt wrong forms of religious profession. I[e who has the ligh ot" Chris within bim, hears the -oice of enthusiastie, lnistaken, self-xvilled, or hypoeritieal men, eallin him fo follow them, withou being moved. Bu when a man is eonscious he is a wilt'ul slnner, and no a peace with God, when his own hearç is aR'ainsg him, and he has no principle, no stay withh him, then he is the prey of the firs person who cornes to him xvith stronRlang'uag'e, and bids him 1,elieve in hiln. Ilenee -ou find numbers running' eaR'erly affter men who profess fo wor miracles, or who denounee the Chureh as apostate, or who maintain tlmt none are saved but those xvho aree with themselves, or an" one who, withou an" warr:mt of his being" right., speaks confidengly. I[enee the multitude is so open fo sudden alarlns. You hear o their rushing ou of a. eitv in nmnbers a some idle predietion that the Day of Judgment is eoming. Henee so many, in the private and lower ranks of lire, are so flfll of small superstitions, which are too lninute fo mention; ail because they have hot the lig'ht of truth lmrning iu their heart. But the truc Christian is hot of these. To him apply St. Paul's words, '" All thiugs arc lawful nnto me, but all things are hot expedient; M1 thing's arc lawfifl for me, but I will hot bc bronght nnder thc power of any ." IIe knows how to "' use this worhl as lmt abttsing if." IIe delemls on nothing in this world. IIc trusts hot ils sights against thc rêvcaled XVol'd. "Thou wilt keep him in perFcct peacc whose ntind is stayed o Thce, becausc ho trustcth in Thce." Such is the promise lnadc to him. And if he looks ont into the world to seek, if is hot fo sêek what he does not kno% but what ho docs. IIe does hot seek a. Lord and Saviour. IIc bas " round thc Mcssias" long since; and he is lookin" out for ]Iim. tIis Lord Himself has 3id him look for Hiln in the signs of thc world, and therefore ho looks out. His LoM Himsclf has shown him, in thc Old Testament, how He, the Lord of Glory, condescends to hunble IIimselF to the things of heaven and earth. He knows that God's Angels arc about the earth. He knows that once thcy wcre even used to colne in human shape. IIc knows that the Son of God, ere now, bas corne on earth. He knows that Hc promised fo IIis Church the presence of a miraculous agency, and has never reealled His promise. Again, he reads, in thc Book of the Revelation, qui{e enough, hot to show hhn what is êoming, but to show him flat now, as heretoforc, a secret s,,pernatural systcm is going" on nmler this visible scene. And therefi)re he looks out fi»r Christ, fi)r tlis present 1)rovidenees, and f,,r Ilis comin; and, tllough ot'ten de«eived in his expeefiaion, and fimcying" wonderfifl things are comin' on the earth, when they still delay, he uses, and eomforts him with the Prophet's words, " I will stand upon my watch, and set nie UpOll the tower, and wil] wateh to see what I[e will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I ara reproved. And the Lord answered me.... Ïhe vision is ver for an al, pointed rime, but af the end it shall speak and hot lie; thoug'h it tarLv, wait for if., because if will snrelv et,me, it will hot tan3". Behold, his sou], whieh is litted up, is nog upright in him; but the jusg shall lire 1,y his fidth ï'