to the righteous, as bringing salvation, shall be the night to the wicked, as bringing destruction. On then, still on, lest the morning break, ere hoping and waiting have wrought their intent. Who will sleep, when, as he slumbers, bright things glide by, which, if wakeful, he might have added to his portion? Who will put off the armour, when, by stemming the battle-tide, he may gather, every instant, spoil and trophies for eternity? Who will tamper with carnal indulgences, when, for the poor enjoyment of a second, he must barter some everduring privilege? Wrestle, strive, fight, as men who "know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord." Ye cannot indeed merit advancement. What is called reward will be the reward of nothing but God's work within you, and, therefore, be a gift most royal and gratuitous. But whilst there is the strongest instituted connection between attainment here and enjoyment hereafter, we need not pause upon terms, but may summon you to holiness by the certainties of happiness. The Judge of mankind cometh, bringing with him rewards all wondrously glorious; but, nevertheless "one star differeth from another star in glory." O God, it were an overwhelming mercy, and a magnificent portion, if we should obtain the least; but since thou dost invite, yea command, us to "strive for masteries," we will struggle-thy grace being our strengthfor the higher and more beautiful.

SERMON XI.

TRUTH AS IT IS IN JESUS.

EPHESIANS, iv. 20 and 21st.

"But ye have not so learned Christ; if so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus."

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THERE is a singular verse in the Book of Ecclesiastes which appears directed against a common, though, perhaps, unsuspected error. Say not thou what is the cause that the former days were better than these? for thou dost not inquire wisely concerning this." We believe that there exists a disposition in persons, and especially in old persons, to set present years in contrast with past, and to prove, from the comparison, a great and ongoing deterioration in the character of mankind. And it is quite certain, that, if this disposition were observable in Solomon's days, as well as in our own, it must pass ordinarily as the mark of a jaundiced and ill-judging mind. If it have been true in some ages, it cannot have been in all, that the moral aspect of the times has grown gradually darker. We must be warranted, therefore,

in ascribing a disposition which has subsisted through days of improvement, as well as of declension, to a peevish determination to find fault, and not to a sober sitting in judgment upon matters of fact.

But the workings of the very same disposition may be traced under other and less obvious forms. We believe, for example, that men are often inclined to compare the religious advantages of the earlier and later days of Christianity, and to uphold the superiority of the past to the present. It is imagined, that to have been numbered amongst the living when Jesus sojourned upon earth, to have been permitted to behold the miracles which he wrought, and to hear from his own lips the truths of redemption—it is imagined, we say, that there must have been in this a privilege ampler in dimensions than any which falls to men of later generations. And from such imagining there will upspring often a kind of excusing, whether of infidelity, or of lukewarmness; our not believing at all, or our believing only languidly, being accounted for on the principle, that the evidence afforded is far less than might have been vouchsafed. Thus, under a specious, but more dangerous aspect, we are met again by the question, "What is the cause that the former days were better than these ?"

Now we believe the question to be grounded altogether on mistake. If there be advantage on one side as contrasted with the other, we are persuaded that it lies with the present generation,

and not with the past. It is true that the exhibition of miraculous energies, which was made in the cities of Judea, gave what ought to have been overwhelming attestation to the divinity of the mission of Jesus. If we possessed not the records of history to assure us of the contrary, we might be disposed to conclude, with much appearance of fairness, that they who beheld diseases scattered, and death mastered, by a word, must have instantly followed Him who wrought out the marvels. Yet we may easily certify ourselves that the Jew was occupied by prejudices which must have more than counterbalanced his peculiar advantages. He had before him, so to speak, a sketch of his Messiah, whose accuracy he never thought of questioning; and if a claimant of the Messiahship presented not the features which were foremost in this sketch, then, almost as a matter of course, his pretensions were rejected with It is nothing to say that ancient prophecy, more thoroughly investigated, might have taught the Jew the error of expecting, on the first advent of Messiah, a temporal prince and deliverer. The error was so engrained into his spirit, that it was easier for him to refer miracles to the power of the evil one, than to suspect that he harboured a false expectation. So that, when we compare our own circumstances with those of the Jew, it behoves us to remember, that, if we have not his advantages in supernatural manifestations, neither have we his disadvantages in national prepossessions.

scorn.

We are not to argue the effect produced upon him, from that which might now be produced upon us, by the working of miracles. In his case every feeling which results from early association, or from the business of education, was enlisted against Christianity; whereas it may almost be affirmed that, in our case, every such feeling is on the side of Christianity. If, therefore, we allowed that the testimony, which we possess to the truth of our religion, wears not outwardly the same mightiness as that afforded in the days of the Saviour, we should still contend that the predisposing circumstances in our own case far more than compensate the sensible witness in that of the Jew.

We may yet further observe, that not only are our disadvantages less, but, on a stricter examination, our advantages will appear greater. We may think there would have been a vast advantage in seeing Jesus work miracles; but, after all, we could only have believed that he actually worked them. And if we can once certify ourselves of this fact, we occupy, in the strictest sense, the same position as though we had been spectators of the wonder. It would be altogether childish to maintain, that I may not be just as certain of a thing which I have not seen, as of another which I have seen. Who is in any degree less confident, that there was once such a King as Henry the Eighth on the throne of these realms, than that there is now such a King as William the