Scriptures declare. Their plain and positive words are the proper standard of our faith. We are not to believe just as much as we find easy to understand, or agreeable to our own notions; but just as much as the Scriptures, that is to say, the Holy Spirit, have revealed of the great plan of redemption and of the nature of God. To acknowledge that Jesus Christ was a prophet, is not enough; the Mahometans do that. If he did nothing more than explain the principles of true religion, and die in defence of their truth, he did nothing which would enable mankind to overcome the world, while their natural sinfulness and weakness remained unatoned, and without remedy. But admit that he was the Son of God, and that he offered up himself upon the cross, as an atonement for the sins of the world, and all the motives to godliness become so strong, and the assurances of divine pardon and grace so unquestionable, that we see, as it were, one mightier than us, strengthening us for our conflict with the enemies of our salvation, and putting into our hands the means of resistance and triumph. Justly therefore does the Apostle ask, "Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?"

Before we can attempt to overcome the world, we must be assured that the sinfulness of our nature, our unavoidable deficiencies, our sins of infirmity, will find indulgence and forgiveness with God. If not, of what avail will it be to us, to labour and exert ourselves in doing good works, which cannot of themselves do away or neutralize our evil deeds, nor consequently be any satisfaction for them to the justice of God? And, therefore, unless we have some good grounds for believing that our sins will be forgiven, (which we cannot have, unless we know that some atonement has been made for them,) all our good works will be thrown away. What then, shall we go to Christ? But if he be a frail and peccable creature like ourselves, what can he do for us in the way of atonement? Can a creature appease the wrath or satisfy the justice of his and our Almighty Creator? What if he spent his life in doing good? It was no more than he was bound to do; and after all he was an unprofitable servant. If he suffered a cruel death, what effect can that have upon us? If he was a mere human person, both his actions and his sufferings terminated in himself; we are no more concerned in them, than in the life and death of any other great and good man. How then can any one, who is convinced that Jesus Christ was a mere man like himself, believe and trust in him for the pardon of his sins, and for reconciliation with God? Thus, then, the very first help towards overcoming the world, which is, the encouraging assurance that our sins of inadvertence will be forgiven, fails us, if we have not a just and adequate faith in the Son of God. Unless we are assured that we may be saved, there is no motive sufficient to animate us in a course of self-denial, and of active laborious virtue; and we can have no certainty on that head, unless we know that something has been done to save us; more, infinitely more, than all that we could do ourselves. What has been done we can learn only from the Scriptures: they inform us, that the Son of God took upon him the nature of man, and suffered death upon the cross in our behalf, thereby satisfying the

Bishop Beveridge.

divine justice, and placing man within the scope of divine mercy. They further inform us, that although Christ has purchased for us eternal salvation by his death, that is so far from releasing mankind from the obligations of piety and virtue, that it has unspeakably exalted and strengthened them, and has added an awful, yet an encouraging sanction, to all the duties of religion and morality. They teach us, that although Christ has in himself by his own infinite worthiness and power, effected the redemption of mankind from the curse of the law, without reference to their doings or deservings; yet that each individual sinner must apply that benefit to himself, by the prescribed method; that man has his work to do, without which he can derive no advantage from all that Christ has done; but that the merits of Christ have procured for him an easy access to the fountain of grace, from which he may draw abundant supplies of spiritual comfort and strength for the performance of his task. Here then are at once the motives and the means to overcome the world. Endued with this faith, the Christian applies himself with earnestness and confidence to obtain that victory over the world, which is both the consequence and the proof of his being indeed the child of God, and of the genuineness of his belief in Jesus Christ. And this brings us to consider somewhat more closely the nature and extent of that conquest, which we are expected to achieve over the world. We shall find, I am afraid, that it comprehends a great deal more than the generality of professing Christians are apt to believe. The first person who used this expression was our Saviour himself. "Be of good cheer, said he to his disciples, I have overcome the world." He overcame the world for them and us, by resisting all its temptations; by dispelling the spiritual darkness which overclouded it; by rescuing mankind from the servile bondage of sin; by disclosing to them the perishable and worthless nature of the things of the world, when put in competition with the kingdom of God and his righteousness; by obtaining for them the promise of grace and strength to resist the Prince of this world, to reject his bribes and to despise his terrors. As Christ, the great Captain of our salvation, obtained this victory over the adversary of the human race, and defeated his general purposes, so each of us, as an individual soldier under his banner, must bear his part in the conflict, always fighting under the auspices and sure protection of Christ, but using all his own endeavours to fight the good fight, and to save his soul alive. Our christian course is described by the Apostles as a state of continued warfare; and if we do not find by experience that it is, we have great reason to suspect that our condition is dangerous. That the hindrances to our salvation are strewed thickly in our path, reason and the Scriptures assure us: the Scriptures also assure us, that there is an evil principle actively engaged in presenting to us temptations from without, and fanning into a flame the spark of sinfulness within and if we can go on quietly from day to day, taking the course of affairs as it may turn up, feeling no disquietude from the struggles of conscience with inclination, no trials of strength between the flesh and the spirit, it is too certain that we are in a state of religious insensibility, the most dangerous state of all to a man's soul. The world is to be overcome; and the world, my brethren, is too

strong to be overcome without a struggle. If we are not sensible of any such struggle, it is not, that the world has not come into conflict with us, but that we have yielded to it at once without resistance. That must indeed be a happy and rare temperament which can enable a man calmly and quietly to pass by all the temptations of the world, and to persevere in a course of self-denying righteousness without a single pang or mental struggle. By far the greater number of cases, where no such inward conflict is felt, are those, where there is no principle of resistance; no faith in Christ; no deliberate choice of religion; no self-examination; no reflection upon consequences; no comparison of the pleasures of sin with its penalties; no seeking for the grace of God; no desire to become his children and servants: cases, in which the persons concerned, far from having overcome the world, have never thought of resisting it; but move on with it, and take its complexion, and find all smooth and agreeable; as the vessel, which is borne along with the stream, when out of sight of the shore, seems to the mariners to be at rest, while in fact it is wafted rapidly along they know not whither.

We are saved by faith in Jesus Christ-but it is by such a faith as enables us to overcome the world. He, therefore, that overcometh not the world, has not a saving faith. No argument can be more conclusive none ought to be more awakening than this.

You profess the Christian faith: a belief that Jesus is the Son of God. Is it a true faith; a stedfast belief? You ask, how am I to know? We reply, see whether it has induced you to resist, and enabled you to overcome the world. The world persuades you to follow one line of conduct; religion commands you to pursue another;—which do you obey? Sensual pleasure solicits your appetites, the customs of the world sanction the indulgence of them:-the Gospel says, No:-it is inconsistent with your Saviour's precepts. You are a child of God. What is your conduct? Perhaps you have courage to resist, and you feel a natural complacency in the victory, which in this instance you have obtained over a deceitful enemy; but beware of confidence and conceit. You are now assailed in a different way. Worldly pleasure now attempts you under the specious name of amusement. You are told there is no harm in such and such diversions: there is no direct prohibition of them in the Gospel; that you see every body joining in them; that no good results from over strictness; and that, therefore, you may as well add one to the number. On the other hand, religion whispers,-Use this world as though you used it not; beware of contracting a taste for frivolous and unprofitable pleasures, which will give you by degrees a disrelish for higher and purer enjoyments. Take care that you love not the world, neither the things that are in the world, better than the improvement of your own mind and heart. How often do the occasions recur on which these counter representations may be supposed to take place. To which of the two do you attend? Again, God commands you to keep holy the Sabbath day: the practice of the christian church, the law of the land, and the language of sound philosophy, enforce the observance of the precept. The ministers of the Gospel admonish you of its sacredness, and invite you to the public sanctification of the Lord's day. On the other hand, you are

tempted by the customary intermission of business to take a little relaxation as it is called; a ride, or a drive into the country to see your friends; a few morning calls; an hour or two spent over a newspaper or an amusing book; or perhaps to take the opportunity of making up your week's accounts; or clearing arrears of correspondence. And convenience and inclination suggest that there is no great harm in all this. But God says, Sanctify my Sabbaths. Humanity, as well as religion, requires that you should both spare your dependents time to attend to the duties of piety, and set a good example yourself. -Which do you obey?

Once more, my Christian friends; your Saviour says, Do this in remembrance of me. The world neglects that last injunction of its Redeemer, and beckons you away from the Table of the Lord, and tells you that if you refuse his gracious invitations, and reject his proffered means of grace, you will only do as other people do. Which of the two gains your attention? Alas! not your Saviour's; you slight him, whom you profess to believe and honour; and you go with the world, which you promise to overcome and despise. What is such religion? what are its foundations, and its end?" He that heareth my sayings and doeth them not, the same is like unto a man that without a foundation built an house upon the earth, against which the stream did beat vehemently, and immediately it fell, and great was the fall thereof."

The chief test then, by which we are to determine whether we have in effect overcome the world, is the strict conformity of our conduct to that spirit of piety, and to those rules of holiness, which the world would persuade us to undervalue and neglect.

Wheresoever the least question arises between the strictness of our duty as Christians, and our behaviour as children of this world, there we must sacrifice the world to our duty without hesitation or reserve. Nothing short of this, added to all the duties of practical piety and holiness, and a continued vigilance over the purity of our heart and affections, can justly be entitled, overcoming the world. There is one other sense in which the world is to be overcome by means of faith in Jesus Christ; and that is, when by the strength and efficacy of that faith we are enabled to bear up against all the sorrows and distresses of life, and to take all things patiently, knowing that it is a Christian's lot in the world to have tribulation, but that Christ has overcome the world. It is by faith in him, that we are assured of the forgiveness of our sins, and of the rest which is reserved for the people of God. We know that " as Jesus died and rose again, so also them which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." Assured that the patient sufferer here is to be the glorious saint hereafter, who will not willingly act the former part for a time, that he may be finally translated into the latter? That it will be so, we have the certificate of an Apostle : "If we suffer with him we shall reign with him."(Rom. viii. 17.)

Lastly, our victory over the world is not obtained once and for all. The contest is perpetually renewed: although if we once get the better, it will be every successive time more and more to our advantage. But we must never relax in our vigilance, nor think ourselves

secure.

The chief cause of men's religious negligence is the too great security of their consciences and love of the world. But it may arise from mistaken views of religion; from an assurance built upon personal feelings, and a partial interpretation of God's word. There is no moment in a man's life, except the last, when he can assure himself that his conquest over the world is final and conclusive. That he will finally and effectually overcome it, he may indeed believe, but it will be by unremitting vigilance and continued seeking for grace. If at any time he considers himself to be in perfect security, he is then in great danger: "for pride ever goeth before a fall." Then, and not till then, shall we indeed have overcome the world, when we are ready to leave it without a pang of regret at the summons of our Lord; when we can behold it fading away from before our eyes without casting one longing lingering look after its vanities; when it will appear as nothing in the contemplation of that glorious prospect which religion unfolds to the faithful Christian; of another world, a glorious and eternal world, the world of spirits and of just men made perfect; where faith shall terminate in knowledge; and those who have believed in Christ and suffered with him, shall see him as he is, and receive the fulfilment of his promise," To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne; even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."-(Rev. iii. 21.) C.

MISCELLANEOUS.

REMARKS ON THE REVIEW OF MR. HOOK'S CONSECRATION SERMON.

IN entering on a dispassionate discussion of the objections brought forward by the author of the Review of Mr. Hook's Sermon in the Christian Remembrancer, for December, 1825, we think it best to commence with the consideration of those circumstances with which the author has brought his objections to Bishop Luscombe's mission to a conclusion; for in this way, we believe, that the question of the expediency of the measure may be brought to issue most easily.

The author of the Review, towards the conclusion of his article, comments most pathetically, on the deserted state of our country-seats, and of the vacant halls and desolated castles of Ireland,-and expresses an earnest hope, which, strange to say, he appears to consider wellfounded, "that every Englishman, now in France, will before long be convinced of the propriety of returning to his own country, and diffusing his expenditure among his own countrymen;" and, consequently, the author infers, that as the residence of British subjects in France, will be merely temporary, that their spiritual interests might have been sufficiently attended to by ministers of the Gospel, temporary visitors like themselves.

Had the author of the Review himself visited the continent of late years, or sought for information from those who could have afforded it to him, we think that he must have come to a conclusion widely diffe