The object of the services to-day is to impress the people with a right sense, both of their personal responsibility, and also of their duty as members of the Church. The epistle insists upon the unity of the Church, which it requires all christians to promote; and to this end, it exhorts them to cherish the dispositions which tend to peace; namely, lowliness and meekness, long-suffering, and forbearance in love. The gospel condemns the tempers which break the unity of the Church; that is to say, a self-righteous and censorious spirit, busy with the supposed failings of others, but insensible to its own faults; and a vain glorious disposition, which desires, and strives for preeminence. The great benefits which we obtain in the Church by christian fellowship, and through the ministration and intercession of God's ministers, have been often referred to. But it is most important to understand, that these are means of grace to those who improve them, but not pledges of salvation to such as neglect them. The lessons warn us against presuming upon our privileges. They teach that the promised blessings are only for such as seek them with a sincere and pure heart: that no intercession shall avert judgment from the impenitent and unfaithful: that the salvation, or perdition of each soul depends upon his own righteousness, or guilt: that God's the duties He had required of them; the abominations they should avoid; the statutes they should keep, and the sufficient means of grace which he had given them to improve. Especially, and this fact is often repeated, He gave them his Sabbaths, to be a sign between Him and them, which are at once the most effectual means of promoting spirituality, and the surest test by which to try it; as we improve, or trifle with them; as we find their service a delight, or a weariness. He tells how He vainly strove with them from generation to generation; while they continued to depise his statutes, to work wickedness, and to pollute his Sabbaths; unmoved alike by God's warnings, and by the punishment of their forefathers. Since therefore they had refused instruction, He declares that he will rule over them with fury poured out, and reclaim them with the severity of judgment. The epistle applies the subject to ourselves. It affirms the completeness of the privileges we enjoy, and that we have in Jesus Christ sufficient help and grace so to improve them, that we may be blameless in the day of his coming. In the gospel, the Lord sums up our duties in the two great commandments; and directs attention to the awful consideration by which obedience is enforced :-that he is exalted with power at the right hand of the Father, who will put all enemies under his feet. LXII. Brought to the Font with holy care, And wash'd from Nature's shame, We join the flock of Christ, and bear The Christian's sacred name. Blest privilege! but all in vain Our new and heav'nly birth, If we the truth of God profane, And cleave to things of earth. Father thy holy Name we bear; To bless with power the outward sign, As As long as the spirit of the world is opposed to the temper of the gospel, the truth will remain, that "all who will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution." the gospel for the day shews that the goodness and mercy of the Saviour himself provoked the scribes to cavil, so his faithful disciples must be content to take up the cross, and follow their Master through opposition and reproach. If they are not called, like Daniel, and the three holy children, to resist even unto blood, they will find that even among those who profess, and call themselves christians, they will need courage and self-denial, if they would live up to the standard of the Gospel, instead of resting in the decencies of society. The standard of christian practice, as to what we should avoid and do, is given in the epistle, with a powerful warning to beware. how we follow the evil example of those among whom we live. The courage of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, whom the burning fiery furnace could not terrify to sinful compliance; and the constancy of Daniel, whom the den of lions could not deter from the full performance of his accustomed religious duty, nobly shew the spirit in which, under the most appalling circumstances, we should maintain, and act upon our faith. This was the spirit which animated the blessed martyrs, in whose blood were laid the foundations of our own Church. But who is sufficient for these things! Truly no man, of himself; but our confidence is in Him who giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might, increaseth strength. This is signified in the gospel. He, who by a word, could raise the sick of the palsy, and give power to his helpless limbs, still hears the prayer of faith; and his grace is sufficient to enable the most feeble to glorify God, by his faithfulness to the truth, in the most difficult circumstances, and by his constancy under the most threatening trials. LXIII. I hold the sacred Book of God: To win this word of life for me! With stedfast faith in Christ alone, which shall fall upon his enemies and the nominal christians, who receive his call, and profess his Name; but seek not to do his will. "Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb;" Revelations xix. 9; but upon whomsoever the wedding The threats of impious power they spurn'd; garment, which is "the righteousness of the And bold that holy faith to own, They gave their bodies to be burn'd. In heaven with palms they triumph now; O may our lips and lives avow saints," is not found, the same shall be cast out. The epistle shews what our preparation should be. We are called to be holy we are waiting for judgment: therefore we must The truth they kept through blood and flames! always be careful to cherish, and to exercise, Firm to confess the Christian name, Though Hell oppose, and earth deride, We'll keep the faith through fear and shame; circumspection in all our conduct; activity, to redeem the time; wisdom, to learn and obey God's will; moderation in all worldly enjoyment; spirituality of mind, with praise and thanksgiving; grateful dependence; holy fear, and unfeigned humility; seeking to be always ready both in body and soul, and cheerfully accomplishing those things which God would have us do. LXIV. Lo! from his place, with glorious state sur rounded, Comes forth the Lord, to judgment's dreadful hour: founded, Tremble to see the terrors of his power. The remaining services of the year are a Now shall the earth, with guilt and shame conkind of summing up of the whole; and the series begins to-day with a call to prepare for judgment, and a description of the preparation required. The morning lesson sounds an alarm to Zion, God's holy mountain, that the day of the Lord, great, and very terrible, is at hand. It describes the terrors with which his wrath shall be made known; calls every one to earnest repentance as the means of averting them; declares the blessings which shall thereby be obtained; and promises the Holy Spirit, with salvation for all who call upon the Name of the Lord. The evening lesson is very similar to the 50th Psalm; where God pleads openly with his people, convicts them of ingratitude and neglect, and shews the inefficacy of sacrifices and offerings, without holiness, justice, and mercy. The parable contained in the gospel warns two classes of characters: the openly impenitent, who reject God's gracious invitations, and so bring upon themselves that judgment Vengeance and wrath shall break her strong foundation; one is governed by the consideration of present objects, the other looks forward to superior blessings he lives by faith. fore," says the apostle; "having your loins girt about with truth;"-be confirmed in the knowledge of sound doctrine: "and having These two characters are contrasted in the on the breastplate of righteousness;"-by a morning lesson; to the right understanding holy and unblameable conduct protect yourof which it is necessary to consider the pre-selves against the shafts of malice: "and ceding and following chapters. In the first your feet shod with the preparation of the chapter of Habakkuk, the prophet is con- Gospel of peace;"-walk in quietness and founded, and expostulates with God, on the love. "Above all, taking the shield of faith; prosperity of the wicked, and the oppression wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the wherewith they devour the man that is more fiery darts of the wicked;" the temptations righteous than they; referring more especially and trials, with which the evil one may assail to the calamities which the Chaldeans should us, and which fall harmless, if we promptly bring upon Jerusalem. The second chapter oppose to them a firm reliance on the help and answers the inquiry by declaring the woes of promises of God. "And take the helmet of them who, setting their heart upon the world, salvation," or, as it is expressed, 1 Thessapursue their object by guilt and violence, and lonians v. 8, "the hope of salvation," a safetrust to that which cannot save: while it guard for the mind, when trials and sorrows affirms that "the just shall live by his faith;" would beat it down. "And the sword of the for the strengthening of which, two powerful Spirit which is the Word of God;" that considerations are offered; the supreme do- weapon with which Christ overcame in the minion of God; and the promise of the day of his temptation. Thus armed at all universal establishment of his righteous king-points, the christian stands, like a soldier on dom :-"the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' "The Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before Him." Upon this, the prophet in the third chapter breaks into a song of praise and triumph; and finishes by declaring that al-ing for them who are set over it, that they though all earthly hopes should fail, "yet I may be worthy champions of the truth. will rejoice in the Lord, I will joy in the God of my salvation." The subject is pursued in the evening lesson, which shews sinners who refused instruction, and devoted them to vanity and violence, and who are well described as fools, perishing by their own success, and destroyed by their prosperity; too late lamenting their folly, and vainly imploring the help which they once despised. Their miserable end is contrasted with the safety and peace of those who hearken to the voice of wisdom. The christian, living in a world whose pursuits and character are so opposite to his own, and who is moreover exposed continually to the wiles and assaults of spiritual enemies, must sustain, as long as he lives, a conflict in which he cannot overcome by himself. He must stand and combat in the strength of the Lord, and in the power of his might. He must put on the whole armour of God. "Stand, there the enemy's ground, watchful, firm, always obedient to his leader, contending, and praying; and that, not for himself only, but also for his brethren, the whole of Christ's Church militant, whose interest and duty are one with his own; and especially seeking a bless In the gospel, we have an illustration of the goodness of Christ in bearing with the weak, and confirming their faith. The nobleman who besought him to heal his son, appears to have acted rather from having heard or known of our Lord's ability to cure diseases, than from assured faith in his divine character and power. Accordingly, the first answer is a kind of reproof. The repeated request of the father, "Sir, come down ere my child die," stands in unfavorable contrast to the faith of the Centurion," Speak the word, and my servant shall be healed." But he received the assurance, "thy son liveth," and went his way; and when he learnt from his servants that at the very hour when Jesus so spake, the disease left his son, he was convinced that the power which thus commauded diseases at a distance could belong only to the Christ, the hope of Israel; "and himself believed, and all his house LXV. Arm, Christian, arm! the foe's abroad! The World, and all its hosts oppose, But heav'nly strength is ours. Let faith prevail; let hope abound; Not feeble hopes, and faint desires, With Christ to live and reign. Strive with the World, with Sin,-with Death! Rise, and receive the victor's wreath; That it is possible for the evil spirit to regain possession of the heart from which he had been cast out that we may begin the christian course, and yet draw back to perdition: that we may again be entangled and overcome with the pollutions of the world from which we had escaped: nay, that the very chief of the Apostles, after he had preached to others, might himself become a castaway, we have the plain testimony of our Lord, and of his Apostles. So vain and dangerous therefore is that dream, which imagines that a man, once in a state of grace, shall infallibly be kept to the end; a fancy invented to prop the dogma of irresistible grace, and unconditional personal election, as one error requires others to support it. The true nature of christian perseverance is shewn in all the services for the day. It depends on the blessing and help of God, striving with us by his Spirit; putting into our mind good desires, and giving us grace to bring the same to good effect; prospering our exertions; giving more grace to him who duly improves that which has been already imparted; but not irresistibly quickening the negligent, and keeping the unfaithful. God deals with us, in short, as reasonable, and accountable creatures; not as passive machines. St. Paul in the epistle declares his confidence of the Philippians, that He who had begun a good work in them, would perform it unto the day of Jesus Christ; why! because to persevere is the sure privilege of all who are once renewed in Christ? No! It is in the first place, a hope prompted by affection; "it is meet for me to think this of you all, because I have you in my heart:" and secondly, it is a confidence reasonably founded upon their past conduct; inasmuch as they had been honourably distinguished for constancy in persecution, and for the warmth and liberality of their christian love. Their conduct had filled the apostle with affectionate admiration; and we observe the overflowings of his heart towards them, not only in this epistle, but also in the second to the Corinthians, to whom he offers them for an example; 2 Cor. viii. Yet he urges upon them to press forward, increasing even to the end, in all things to which they had already attained. The lessons follow out the principle to its practical details, and shew the great blessings of perseverance in the ways of wisdom. They call to such fervent desires, and strenuous efforts, as though every thing depended upon ourselves, as the means and condition of obtaining that divine help, by which we shall secure strength and wisdom, safety and happiness. The gospel shews in a very striking manner the conditional nature of the promises and blessings we enjoy. When the servant whose vast debt had been forgiven, unmindful of the mercy he had experienced, oppressed his fellow-servant, their common Lord, moved with just indignation, revoked his forgiveness, and delivered him to the tormentors. "So," continues our Saviour, "shall my heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother their |