of the subjects on which they are called particularly to treat, how agreeably and prettily they can trifle; how like the world they can talk without belonging to it; how dexterously they can tread the verge of the precipice without falling. It is difficult indeed to mark the literary limits within which Christians may safely range, and bigotted notions on such a subject would do serious injury; but certainly, at present, they hold an intercourse too promiscuous with the literature of worldly and irreligious meo. A valuable minister, now living, once said-" As my children have grown up around me, my copy of Shakespeare has been ascending the shelves of my library. It has now reached the highest; and I must shortly discard it wholly, Jest they should touch that mass of fascinating mischief." Modern Christians err in the spirit with which they hear their religious instructors. The day in which they "submitted themselves to their teachers and spiritual pastors," is gone by. The tables are turned; and now every experienced hearer sits in judgment upon the style, the manner, and the creed of his minister. The provision of the Lord's house is now so ample in the metropolis and some other populous towns, where this spirit most displays itself, that the spiritual taste is become pampered and fastidious. The matter, the originality, the arrangement, and the illustrations of a sermon are subjected to a conceited critical examination: the practical benefit to be derived from plain and wholesome instruction is the last consideration that occurs; and a minister who stands up before such a people feels that he is rather passing the fiery ordeal of uncandid criticism than breaking the bread of life to a hungry and expecting multitude; nay, further, that he will experience less charity from many of the professed Christians of the congregation than from the proud, the prejudiced, and even hostile hearer. If ever it should please God, in his righteousness, to cause the godly minister to cease from among us, and once more to "hide our teachers in a corner," how thankful would many conceited people be for that light bread which they now loathe and despise. Let them go, even now, where this fulness of bread has not been known, and where they see simple hearted affectionate hearers eating with thankfulness the plain and homely food of the Gospel, and thriving on an humble and unobtrusive ministry, let them blush for their own barrenness, under a richer and more lavish cultivation. These remarks have already reached beyond the limits at first prescribed, and perhaps beyond the utmost indulgence which can be shewn to an unknown correspondent; but if the importance of the subject should obtain them a place in the pages of the Obser ver, the subject may at some future time be resumed. CEPHAS. nation now is; yet, generally formalists in religion, and worldly minded in their spirit and conduct, "children of this world," not "children of the light." When the brethren of our Lord said to him, “If thou do these things, shew thyself to the world;" and when he answered, "The world cannot hate you, but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works of it are evil;" was the Gentile world, or the Jewish intended *? Again; "If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world; therefore the world hateth you +." Were the Jews, or the Gentiles, the world which thus hated Christ; and out of which he had "chosen the eleven apostles," whom it hated for his sake? Again; "When the Comforter is come, he will convince the world of sin"-;" because they believe not in me." Verily, verily, I say unto you, That ye shall weep and lament, but the world shall rejoice." Were idolatrous Gentiles here meant by the world? Were not the Jews in general, and especially the elders, priests, and scribes, intended? Again; "I have given them thy word, and the world hath hated them; because they are not of the world, as I am not of the world." Was that world which had hated the disciples of Christ, constituted of Gentiles, or of Jews? Of idolaters, or of the professed worshippers of JEHOVAH? James, when he said, "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world," was writing "to the twelve tribes that were scattered abroad," and not • John vii. 4. 7. See John viii. 26; xiv. 17. t John xx. 18, 19. John xvi. 8, 10, 20. $ Jam.i. 27. * either to Gentiles or gentile converts. And his strong language; "Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God?" « Whosoever, therefore, will be the friend of the world is the enemy of God;" was addressed to Jews: and the Jews were not much disposed to the friendship of idola trous Gentiles, or indeed of any Gentiles." When St. John says, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him;" he speaks of no other idolatry than that which is common to nominal Christians as well as heathens: "For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust of it: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for evert." All then who are lovers of money, pleasure, honour, pomp, power, and worldly things, rather than of God, belong to the world, whether called Jews, Pagans, Mohammedans, or Christians: nor can I see any ground to conclude, that, in the admonitions of the other Apostles on this subject, though addressed to churches chiefly constituted of Gentile converts, any distinction between the Gentiles and the worldly minded Jews around them was intended. In general, I suppose, that all who are not of the true church, "the church of the first-born whose names written in heaven," are of the world, whether called Gentiles, Mohammedans, Jews, or Christians; and, under one form or other, are the servants of the god of this world‡;" and that * Jam. iv. 4. are we must know who are not of the world, and who are, not by names, or titles, or profession, but by the spirit which they manifest, and the conduct which they adopt, connected with the doctrine of God our Saviour, which they profess, and adorned by the spiritual mind and the fruits of the Spirit. Of these we must judge, as well as we can, with fairness, candour, and humble cautiousness, according to the sacred Scriptures. And wherever the spirit, maxims, fashions, and conduct of "a world lying in wickedness," are predominant, thence we must separate ourselves, avoiding all needless intimacy, and having no further intercourse than that of relationship and necessary worldly concerns, or such as appear to us, on mature consideration, more likely to benefit them than to injure ourselves or mislead our brethren. Indeed, I cannot conceive that any thing, except a mind greatly imbued with love of the world, can induce a man to go, except at the call of duty, into any company or place of concourse, for the sake either of good cheer, or agreeable, or genteel, or learned company, or more recreation, where it would be deemed an outrage on decorum to introduce a peculiarly Christian topic, even in the most prudent and unexceptionable manner. (2 Cor. vi. 14-18. We are here on our trial for eternity, in the view of the all-seeing God. From him we have received all our talents; to him we must ac count for their use; and he has appointed a day for this express purpose. For this day it is that we are to be ready, ready as servants to account to their masters for any trust reposed in them. In this state of readiness several things are implied. 1. That we have seriously attended to the reality and infinite importance of this event. Before we can feel much concern about the coming of Christ, we must be deeply convinced of the infinite worth of our souls, of the awful nature of the eternal state, and of the necessity of being prepared for it. This conviction will lead us seriously to examine how our past lives have agreed with the word of God, and how far our hearts have been formed and ruled by it-and whether our habitual temper and conduct be such, as will bear the test of that great and terrible day of the Lord when every man's work will be tried of what kind it is. It seems impossible that we should think of our souls which never die— of a state of exquisite happiness or misery which will never end-of a day of judgment when our final doom shall be unchangeably fixedand not seriously inquire into the state of our souls, and into the consequences of Christ's coming with regard to ourselves. If then we are strangers to such inquiries, we may be assured that we are not ready for the coming of Christ, and therefore have the greatest reason to be alarmed at the idea of the suddenness of his coming to judgment, when he will condemn, all whom he shall find unprepared for it to endless and inconceivable misery. 2. Being ready for Christ's coming further implies, that we have used our best endeavours to prepare for it. We cannot be sensible of the worth of our souls without desiring that they may be safe in the great day of the Lord. A very slight examination will convince every reflecting person, that neither the state of his heart, nor the course of his conduct, has been such as to deserve His approbation in whose sight the heavens themselves are not clean; and that he has in innumerable instances deviated from the just and holy law of God, and has thus become liable to the penalties of disobedience. He will be humbled, therefore, on account of his past sins, and alarmed for their consequences. He will see the necessity of a change of heart, the necessity of that godly sorrow for sin which worketh repentance uuto salvation. His inquiry will be, What must I do to be saved? And he will gladly embrace any method, however painful and humbling by which salvation may be obtained. Things now appear to him in a new light. Perhaps his great concern in time past was, What shall I eat, or what shall I drink, or wherewithal shall I be clothed; or perhaps, How shall I most effectually make provision for the flesh to fulfil its lusts? His main concern now is, how he may escape from the wrath to come and lay hold on eternal life. Thus brought to a sense of his guilt and misery, he sees at once the necessity of such a Saviour as Jesus Christ to deliver him, not from the punishment merely, but from the love and power of sin. Into his hands he willingly commits his soul, in a firm persuasion that he is able and willing to keep that which he has committed to him until that day. On him, as the Lamb of God, slain to take away the sins of the world, he cheerfully rests his entire hope of salvation; to his instructions and government, as the great Prophet and King of his church, he resolves, through Divine grace, unreservedly and universally to submit; His example he determines steadily to follow; and yet, when he has done all, he regards himself as an unpro fitable servant, and looks for the mercy of the Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life, as the free and unmerited gift of God in and through him. In short, before we can be ready for Christ's coming, there must be a conviction of our undone condition, a solicitude about the way of salvation, a persuasion of the suitableness and sufficiency of Christ as a Saviour, a deliberate acceptance of his salvation in the way he proposes it to us, and a full purpose of renouncing whatever is inconsistent with it. If we be not convinced of our sinful and ruined state by nature; if we have not heartily repented of those sins which were the cause of Christ's first coming; if, in dependence on his grace and Holy Spirit, we be not willing to part with every sin for his sake, and to devote ourselves to his service, we are not yet meet for the inheritance of the saints in light. No pretensions to correctness of moral conduct, however specious; no acts of benevolence, however useful; no degree of worldly reputation, however distinguished, will be of any avail in the day of judgment, except as they are the fruits and evidence of our faith and love which are in Christ Jesus our Lord. 3. The being ready for the coming of Christ implies that we keep this event habitually in view;-that we are in the habit of measuring our actions by the test of that great and terrible day of the Lord, often asking ourselves what we shall think of them when we stand at his bar stripped of every disguise;-that we set the Lord always before us as acting under his eye, making his glory our end, and his word our sole rule in all we do;-and that by that standard we frequently examine and ascertain the actual state of our souls. And were all who are called Christians thus prepared for the coming of Christ, what an improvement would it produce in their temper and conduct! How cautious would it make them in word and deed; how temperate in all things; how just in their dealings; how fervent in their devotions; how zealous for God; how careful to redeem their time; how dead to the world and its enjoyments! In a word, how becoming the Gospel would their conversation then be! Men would no longer live as without God in the world; but they would be habitually and effectually engaged in denying all ungodliness and every worldly lust, and living soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world; and thus be prepared for the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. In these particulars, then, does readiness for the coming of Christ consist. Let us apply them to our selves, in order to ascertain whether we be ready. Have we seriously examined into our state with respect to eternity? Are we con vinced of its importance, and of our unfitness to partake of its happiness? Has this shewn us our need of Jesus as our Saviour, and of the Holy Spirit as our Sanctifier, and made us willing humbly to re ceive the salvation of Jesus Christ in his own way and on his own terms? Do we frequently review our actions, weighing them in the balance of eternity; and are we enabled, on such a review, to rejoice in our growing conformity to the word of God? Do we earnestly and constantly apply to the blood of sprinkling, for the pardon of our numerous sins and imperfections; and to the Holy Spirit, for grace to preserve and sanctify us? And are all our hopes built on Je sus Christ, the only foundation on which they can safely rest? If this be the case, then are we ready for the coming of our Lord. If not, then are we still in the bond of iniquity, and we have just cause to look forward with terror to His approach who will render to every man according to his works. II. I now proceed to illustrate the motives by which the exhortation in the text is enforced: "For CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 184. in such an hour as ye think not the Son of Man cometh." 1. These words imply that the Son of Man will certainly come. This, indeed, is plainly and expressly asserted in many passages of Scripture. "God hath appointed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness by that man whom he hath ordained." At that great day the Judge will come in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God and obey not his Gospel, who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from his presence; but, at the same time, to be glorified in his saints, and admired in all them that believe. We may refuse to prepare for his coming, but we can neither prevent nor delay it. The event is unchangeably fixed. And what an event will this be! What a view will it give of the charadters of men! How will the fair professor, whose hypocritical pretences, have deceived the most discerning, be stripped of every disguise! How will those who have set God and his laws at defiance call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them, and cover them from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb! Happy then will those be who are interested in the salvation of Jesus, however undervalued they may have been on earth. Let us acquaint ourselves with Him, that we may be at peace; and that good may come to us, and not evil, in that great and terrible day of the Lord. 2. The text further implies, that the coming of Christ will be unexpected. And of this also we are expressly assured in various other passages of Scripture. As in the days before the flood, all men, the good and the bad, were pursuing their ordinary employments, and knew not till the flood came and swept them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be; so shall it be to all. There will be no particular alarm, no extraor 2 G |