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The children, the wife stand around weeping; but I open the Bible, and read, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints." Here the care of the most tender friend becomes unavailing. Even Abraham is heard to say, "Give me a place that I may bury my dead out of my sight." But God "careth" even for their dust. We may cherish an affectionate remembrance; the little tokens of their esteem we may fondly review; the books they scanned we may read with fresh interest; we may even go to the grave, and weep there,

upon them that fear him from one gene- | upon you;" the eyes are sunken in their ration to another.' To trace descent from sockets; the faded visage is hectic and a religious ancestry is a greater honour, a greater happiness than to be able to look up through a long genealogical line of nobles and heroes, to loins enthroned. Children of religious parents! why are you spared and blessed? Why are not some of you in hell? You had praying, holy, exemplary parents, and God "cared for" them; and as he loved the tree, he has extended mercy towards the branches. And though those branches have been long barren, when justice has threatened their excision, he has interposed, and said, "Destroy it not; a blessing is in it; for my servant's sake, I will not destroy them all." Dare you repeat the question, Why is the fruitless branch spared? A father's prayers, a mother's tears are in it.

Parents! you have perhaps wept, prayed, and waited, until you at length despond. After most consistently discharging your duty, you appear to have though your laboured in vain. But " house be not so with God, yet hath he made ordered with you an everlasting covenant, in all things and sure." What, if the principles you early implanted be effaced, and your children having plunged headlong into crime, seem callous to reproof; is their case therefore, hopeless? Behold Manasseh, immured in prison in Babylon, the iron entering into his soul! He is reflecting on the sins of his life, and the "guide of his youth;" he prays, "O God of my father!" and the Lord is entreated of him.

He "careth for" your bodies. "The very hairs of your head are all numbered." Pain may invade, sickness waste the pale frame, but "in all your afflictions he is afflicted." If the sun of your prosperity be darkened by the thickening tempest, and during the storm your friends desert you; here is "a friend born for adversity;" a friend that "sticketh closer than a brother;" a friend whose language to you is, "I will never leave thee, I will never forsake thee." But, "dust thou art, and unto dust thou shalt return." And what is so humbling as a dying scene? There the strength is prostrated, and the flesh wasted; the bones "stare

"Whilst busy meddling memory,

In barbarous succession, musters up
The past endearments of our softer hours,
Tenacious of its theme."

But they "are dead; we shall go to them
they shall not return to us." They
are dead; "we cannot bring them back."
We cannot; but God can, and he will do
it; for "he that raised up Jesus from the
dead, shall raise us up also by Jesus;" and
not a particle necessary to our identity
shall be forgotten or lost.

Our souls are his chief care; and nothing so much requires it. Its high destination stamps the soul with incalculable worth; and its moral condition designates it an object of pity. A few years only have elapsed since our souls were lit into being; but they are destined to burn on for ever; and through eternity blaze among cherubim and seraphim, or darkly twinkle amid the gloom of infernal night. The sun is but a spark of fire, A transient meteor in the sky; The soul, immortal as its sire, Shall never die."

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But every human soul is darkened by ignorance, polluted by sin, and enslaved by Satan; "shapen in iniquity." "And wilt thou turn thine eyes to look upon such a one ?" Brethren, he has done it. Already have you felt "the bright shining of his countenance" upon you. He will do it. All his other care is subservient to this. Cares he for your property, for your bodies, for your families? Their connexion with your soul raises them to

that pre-eminence. Want you more evi- | may succeed another, as wave impels dence? Behold the price at which he wave. In the misconduct of relatives, has redeemed your souls; "not corrupt- in personal sufferings, in secular embarible things, but the precious blood of rassments, you have continual cause of Christ." Recollect the pains he has solicitude. You sometimes look tremtaken to make them his own. Advert to blingly along the vale of death; but amid the precious promises on which he has all, bear this upon your mind, "He caused them to ground their trust. Look CARETH FOR YOU."—" Happy are the peoforward to that "exceeding and eternal ple that are in such a case; yea, happy is weight of glory" which he has prepared that people whose God is the Lord." for their enjoyment; and then read the This doctrine has a moral bearing, and text, "he careth for you." Yes! he will we may deduce from it our duty. I selpurify them fully to himself, and pre- dom think of the text, without associatserve them from falling. He will "keeping it in my mind with a passage in the that which we have committed to him," | Old Testament, and which forms part of and, finally, "present us faultless before a history which is soon told. The prothe throne of his glory." And, phet Elisha, in his itinerating labours,

Thirdly, WHAT IS THE IMPROVEMENT visited Shunem. Here he was heard by THAT SHOULD BE MADE OF THIS DOCTRINE?" a great woman," whose heart became I cannot enter into this inquiry at any penetrated with the truth; and nothing length.

could more naturally follow, than the deIt is highly important that we ascertain sire to entertain the honoured messenger of whether or not we are interested in this doc- salvation. In concurrence with her hustrine. We have said, many are careless band, she immediately prepared a little about God; we have restricted the text chamber for the prophet's accommodation. to those who have attached themselves One day, when he visited there, he said to his interests; who "know God, or to his servant, "Go call the Shunemite," rather are known of God." And should who presenting herself at the prophet's not your first improvement of this sub- door, he addressed-"Seeing thou hast ject be a serious inquiry into the concern cared for us with all this care, what shall you have in it? Are you illuminated? be done for thee?" She had looked for Born again? Have you "obtained mer- no remuneration, nor would she accept cy?" Are you sanctified by the Spirit any. I admire this; but I also admire through belief of the truth? To such the prophet's gratitude" Seeing thou who can satisfactorily reply to such ques- hast cared for us with all this care, what tions, I would say, "Hail! ye highly shall be done for thee?" Who is not favoured of the Lord." "He careth for applying, in this language, to God? you," who is infinitely wise, knowing the Come, my brethren, shall I humbly, in end from the beginning, and what, among your name, propose the question, “Seeall possibilities of occurrence, is best for ing thou hast cared for us with all this you who is infinitely powerful; doing care, what shall be done for THEE?" He "according to his own will among the replies, "My son, give me thine heart." armies of heaven, and the inhabitants of You say he has it. What, every corner earth;" making "the wrath of man to of it? Let us put the question again— praise him, and restraining the remain-"Seeing thou hast cared for us with all der," and who, therefore, cannot be this care, what shall be done for thee?" thwarted in his attempts to serve you; He answers from the excellent glory, who has already manifested his beneficence" Cast all your care upon ME"-" Cast thy in a thousand acts of kindness, and embol-burden upon the Lord; he will sustain dens the expectation of future mercy, by thee." Ask you again, what shall be the recollection of past. Your circum- done? stances may be afflictive; your comforts may have been shed around you like the leaves by the winter's frost; one trouble

He has "left us an example that we should do as he has done." He hath "cared for you"-cared for your fellow creatures; he has cared for your bodies,

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and the poor ye have always with you, and when ye will, ye may do them good." Here is the orphan,

"For whom no mother's bosom Throbs to soft sympathy, and fond alarm." And yonder,

The wretched widow forc'd in age, for bread,
To strip the brook with mantling cresses spread ;
To pick her wintry fagot from the thorn,
Then seek some nightly shed, and weep till
morn,"

"Make to yourselves friends of the mam-
mon of unrighteousness." And "when
the Son of man shall sit on the throne of
his glory, the King shall say unto you,
Inasmuch as ye did it to the least of
these my brethren, ye did it unto me."
He has cared for your souls, and by the
character of that care, presented this as
the noblest, best charity. Away with
your sickly sentimentality, your "phi-
lanthropy born in a dream, bred in a
novel, and living only in profession."
Brethren, souls are perishing, and we
must endeavour to save them. We have
"freely received," we must
"freely
give." We must sigh and weep, but we
must also pray and act. The gospel must
be preached, and we must aid its promul-
gation. We must "join hands with God"
to make a miserable world live. And,

let it be known, that "he which convert-
eth a sinner from the error of his way,
shall save a soul from death, and shall

hide a multitude of sins."

you to drop your opposition, and apply to him for mercy!, And why not now? For now is the accepted time, now is the day of salvation? Trifle, and you are undone. . . . . . But I must conclude May God add his blessing!

THE MATTER, MANNER, AND SPIRIT OF A
SERMON.

LET the matter be weighty and grave, the method plain and clear, the expression neither soaring on the one hand, nor too familiar on the other. Some men are not aware what contempt they draw on religion by their coarse and homely allusions, and the silly and trivial proverbs they make use of.

Nor should our

expressions be too soft or effeminate, nor our pronunciation affected or childish.

Religion is a rational and manly thing;

and we should strive to recommend it

with the greatest advantage. But, above all, let us study a zeal and fervour, as, flowing from the deep sense of the thing we speak, and being regulated with prudence and decency, may be fittest to reach the hearts of the hearers. “The vulgar, that commonly sit under the pulpit, (as the excellent Herbert speaks,) are generally as hard and dead as the seats they

dle them." The best way is, to preach the things first to ourselves, and then frequently to recollect in whose presence we are, and whose business we are doing.-Scougal.

sit on, and need a mountain of fire to kin

ASCRIBE ALL SUCCESS TO GOD.

Before we part, may I speak a word to you who are not fully interested in this subject? How great your loss! how dangerous your condition! But there is yet hope. God has watched over your infancy, and brought you to manhood. He has raised you out of afflictions, and daily supplies your wants: and shall not "his goodness lead you to repentance?" "As I live, saith the Lord, I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth." He has done more than swear it. "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life." O that this love might constrain unto thy name give glory."—Parsons. VOL. I.-42

THOUGH We had the tongues of angels; though we had strength of intellect to grapple the most sublime and mysterious topics; though on the wings of meditation we could spring from the boundaries of this world, and hold converse with the skies; though with the most commanding eloquence, we could roll like the thunder, or be soft and sweet as the music of the spheres; still we must disclaim all praise ;-still we must say, "Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but

2E2

SERMON XXXVI

MINISTERS, AMBASSADORS FOR CHRIST.

PREACHED AT ST. BRIDE'S CHURCH, LONDON, FOR THE CHURCH MISSIONARY SOCIETY.

BY THE REV. H. BUDD, M.A.

“Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God."-2 Cor. v. 20.

Six thousand years of anguish and of groans are rapidly rolling away, and every Missionary Anniversary becomes more interesting. The world is rising from a state of torpid neutrality as to the effect of Missions. The Bible is producing a decided and universal impression. The three great divisions of the Christian church, the Greek, the Latin, and the Protestant; the Jews, yet beloved for the Father's sake; the Mohammedans, Ottoman, and Persian; and the immense population of the pagan world;—all these fields of spiritual culture prove that the share has not been applied in vain. The produce, indeed, has not been in all cases alike encouraging; but all demands a decided advance, and a fearless and persevering application of the remedy which God has so eminently placed at your disposal, for the restoration of a lost world. But "is not the Lord gone out before us?" What, then, has the minister to do but to stimulate your energies to corresponding exertions; and to urge you by a more ardent faith, and a more active charity, to the application of the great remedy God has provided for the healing of the nations? May He by his Spirit reveal its power to us! May we have a revelation of "the righteousness of God from faith to faith!" May it be a word of life to our own souls, and to those who dwell in the remotest regions of the earth! In the text are contained,

I. The Christian minister's designation.

II. The dignity of his character. III. The subject of his embassy. IV. The application of the subject to our present purpose.

And now, "Be thou exalted, O Lord, in thy strength! so will we sing and praise thy power." Here is

First, THE CHRISTIAN MINISTER'S DESIGNATION.

He is an ambassador of mercy; "we are ambassadors for Christ." An ambassador is the representative of his prince, sent to negotiate his affairs. He has chiefly to consider two things.

I. The Christian minister has to consider the character of those to whom he is sent. He is not sent to kings or princes; to the noble and rich, the refined or prudent; neither is he sent to the poor, the labourer, or the slave. He is sent to them all, as the general subjects of his charge; but he says with Paul, "We know no man after the flesh." It is the soul, the immortal soul, that is the subject of his charge; and whether it be found in the palace or the mansion, the streets or the highways, the night cellar or the peasant's cot, all need to be alike told-You have a soul to be saved! Neither is he sent to men as exhibiting the nicer distinctions of character. One man is civilized, another is learned; one is respectable, another is less so; one is

is sent to benefit, and what wonder if his embassy be unavailing? Here, then, is the firm foundation of all useful efforts on the part of the gospel minister; a deep conviction that man is a sinner against God. History, experience, the word of God, the character of Christ, and the feeling of the plague of his own heart, all go to prove to him that he is a perishing sinner, and that he is sent to perishing sinners with this embassy-"Be ye recon

amiable, another is repulsive: these may | his embassy vain. He has mistaken the all be alike destitute of Christ. If the disease, and what wonder if the remedy man be decidedly "in Christ," he is "a fail? He is ignorant of the character he new creature ;" and now his distinction is, "Old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new!" Nor yet is he sent to men as exhibiting the broader distinctions of character: whether civilized or savage, learned or illiterate, in this state of society or the other, in this climate or the other; not to the elder son, proud in comparative innocence; or the younger son, lost in profligacy and misery: the natural disposition of both is alike enmity to God; there is no inhe-ciled to God!" rent spirituality in either. "All things" that tend to spiritual life "are of God," who by a method of his own, suited to every variety of human character, "hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ."

If, then, he be sent to no particular condition of men, to no peculiar distinctions of character; under what character is he to address mankind? simply as SINNERS. This is the universal character of

man.

It is evident, then, that such a minister cannot be the ambassador of the LAW. The law demands strength, and the sinner is weak; the law demands unceasing obedience, but the sinner disobeys in all; the law never did, nor can, make the imperfect perfect. In paradise, it proved that man could not stand in his own strength; and it was not given on Sinai because man was holy, but to restrain "God hath concluded," shut up unholiness: its numerous precepts multitogether, "all under sin." "All have plied sin and aggravated the offence. sinned, and come short of the glory of" By the law is the knowledge of sin,” God." All are rebels, guilty of foul revolt, found in open warfare against their God. "There is none that doeth good; no, not one." Neither natural, nor moral, nor artificial distinctions make any difference here: man, everywhere, at all times, under all circumstances, is found a sinner against God. You may collect specimens of earth from different countries; you may decompose them; but though they may differ in certain properties, they all agree in one, they are material and perishing. In an army of rebels there may be every variety of character, but they are all rebels. Find man where you will; shape him as you may, by the line and plummet of civilization; yet no perfection of art, or attainment of science, can make him less than a sinner-a rebel against his God! It is to sinful man, then," dead in trespasses," corrupt and impotent; to man, "without God in the world;" to man, the Atheist; that this ambassador is sent; and if he address man in any character short of this, he fails of his purpose, and makes

for "sin is the transgression of the law." Apply the rule of the law to a rebel in arms, and it is the exhibition of his offence, and the occasion of its repetition; or if he be conscious of the majesty of the authority he has violated, and the perfection of the law he has broken, this consciousness, without any idea of mercy, will only plunge him into despair, and terrify him with the justice of his punishment. Let the law act as a pioneer to prepare the way; but let the minister remember that he is not the ambassador of the law, but of Christ; to restore the love of the law, and to make its service "perfect freedom." He is not the magistrate, with his politic rule; he is not the statesman, with cabinet devices; he is not the legislator, with his civil code; he is not the prudent man, with his subtle schemes; he is not the orator, with his powers of suasion; he is not the poet, with sublime imagination; he is not the man of feeling, with his tenderness and melting sympathy; he is not Moses himself, fresh from communion with God, his countenance

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