and unspotted by the pollutions of the world. But it must be confessed, and deplored, that such instances are lamentably rare; that the great majority of those who profess and call themselves Christians, have sinned, have grievously sinned, and come short of the glory of God. This, my brethren, is matter of grief and shame: but, blessed be the Father of mercies, it is not matter of despair! Our Church assures us, in her sixteenth Article, and she has the undoubted warrant of Scripture for the assertion, that the grant of repentance is not to be denied to such as fall into sin after baptism; and that, after we have received the Holy Ghost, we may depart from grace given, and fall into sin; and, by the grace of God, we may rise again, and amend our lives.'

But this consolatory assurance, affords no encouragement to a continuance in sin: far otherwise it plainly intimates, that grace and sin are incompatible; it virtually declares, that, whilst we continue in the commission of any known sin, we have relinquished the grace and privileges of our Baptism; in other words, that we are no longer children of God;' that we are out of a state of filial favour and acceptance; that we are self-estranged from the divine blessing, and protection; and are in danger of an eternal exclusion,

from God's glorious presence! If these be strict and searching truths, they are the strict and searching truths of Scripture; whose declarations are, that "the pure in heart" alone" shall see God;" that "without holiness, no man shall see the Lord."

As, then, we would be happy, here and hereafter, let us now try and examine ourselves; and that not lightly, and after the manner of dissemblers with God;' not by the deceitful estimate of our own imagination, but by the unerring standard of the divine law. Delay may be dangerous, may be fatal. The question is, have we retained the grace of Baptism, by innocence of heart and life; or, if conscience accuse us of past offences, have we recovered that grace, by deep, sincere, and universal repentance? If neither of these alternatives be our case, then, my brethren, we are unsafe; we are yet in our sins; we can have no calm resting-place within our own bosoms; we are unprepared for that great change, which awaits us all, from time into eternity.

Try and examine yourselves, therefore, by the word of God, in your Bibles; by the voice of the Church, in your Prayer-books; by the witness of conscience, in your own hearts, whether you be in the faith. That if you are happy, in the consciousness of having kept your Baptismal

covenant, you may rejoice in God your Saviour; or that, if your consciences by sin are accused, you may seek, while yet there is time, and seek successfully, for pardon, restoration, and establishment, in the ways of God's laws, and in the works of his commandments.

In our Baptism, we have been dedicated to the service of a heavenly Master; even the great Captain of our salvation: have we approved ourselves faithful servants, obedient followers, good soldiers, of a chieftain so gracious, so divine a Lord? In our Baptism, we received gifts, from this heavenly dispenser of his Father's bounties, far more efficacious and abundant, than were bestowed on patriarchs, and prophets of old time: have we employed them, to God's glory, and to the sanctification of our own souls? Which of you has thus cherished the grace, then shed abroad in your hearts by the Holy Ghost? Nay, who among you, can answer to your consciences, or to your God, that you have not often broken through those merciful restraints, which would have withheld you from all evil? That you have not frequently resisted those gracious influences, which would have drawn you to all good? You have been baptized, indeed, but what account do you make of your Baptism? In what light do you regard it? does it often, does it ever, occur to your minds, that

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Baptism is more than a mere ceremony, which accompanies the imposition of a name? Do you often, do you ever, recall to your remembrance, that it is a Sacrament, instituted and ordained by Christ himself; a Sacrament, communicative of graces, for which we must all strictly render account before His judgment-seat? There is not, I trust and believe, a single individual among you, who would accept the wealth of worlds, to say, with deliberation, I am not a Christian; yet, have you ever weighed the amount of the opposite declaration, which not one among you would hesitate to make, I am a Christian? For what is it to be a Christian? Is it not to be conformed, as far as human nature is capable of such conformity, to the likeness of God? Is it not to live above the present evil world; to mortify, and to subdue, every irregular desire; to resist stedfastly all the open violence, and guard cautiously against all the treacherous malignity, of our great spiritual foe? What is it to be a Christian? it not to die with Christ, to rise with Him, to be like Him; to know that which is true; to love that which is good, to practise that which is holy; to possess the very life and strength of inward purity, and outward virtue; to be "rooted and grounded in love!" to be, like the apostle, "able to do all things, through Christ which strength

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eneth us;" to be "more than conquerors, through Him that loved us;" in a word, to be in actual ripeness for heaven, and to anticipate its blessings, even while sojourning in the wilderness of this mortal life?

This, my brethren, is Christianity, as it is described by the voice of truth, in the language of inspiration; and as it has been drawn from the pure source of Scripture, by our venerable reformers. With this pattern it is, that you are to compare your thoughts, your feelings, your tempers, and the habitual practice of your lives.

Some of you, are yet in the morning of life; full of hopes, and full of promise; a few years only, have elapsed, since you were brought to the baptismal font; and you are, just now, approaching the most critical period of your lives. To you, then, my young friends, I would address a few words of affectionate exhortation. I trust, you are yet innocent, and unperverted; that you have not yet been seduced by the deceitfulness of sin. Consider, then, what a prize you have in your hands; and be zealous, "that no man take your crown." Consider, that, if God and angels rejoice, at the conversion of an old and great sinner, they must infinitely rejoice, to see a young person stedfastly resisting the allurements of a wicked world. Consider, that that