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something must be done, for all around is dark and threatening. His soliloquy is, "How must I obtain relief! As heaven and hell are before me, how can I escape the one; how can I aspire to reach the other!" Then, perhaps, sins long since committed, flash upon the conscience, and he may be ready to give up all as lost. Assume, however, that he is able calmly to inquire, by what mysterious means Christ can impart rest unto the soul of a creature so guilty, so abject as himself. If the inquiry were addressed to me, I might answer, "You think your sins great, and great they certainly are, far viler than even your fears suppose them : but are you an exception to the universal offer of forgiveness? Is every mourner to be comforted but you? Did Jesus Christ endure the sharp

guished from him who sorrows after a godly manner," the inquiry is, how Jesus Christ offers even to this character repose and happiness. It is conceived, that the offer is made, inasmuch as there is no partiality, no exclusiveness, in the general invitations of the Gospel.: "Whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Bring, therefore, this disappointed, murmuring lover of the world to the Cross, which," once seen, is death," not only" to every vice," properly so called, but to every emotion of discontent. He may, indeed, ask, with the scorn and incredulity natural to an unsanctified heart," What will Christianity do for me? Tell me specifically, what are the advantages which it will confer upon me?"-I think the reply would be, "It will give you the very thing you now want,-peace of mind; itness of death, the thorny crown, the will ensure you what you have been hitherto seeking in vain,-contentment; it will take a range beyond even this, for you shall repose your self on the hope of eternal glory ;but, in whatever terms the consequence of your submission may be described, assure yourself that the Gospel brings what will quiet and satisfy your restless soul for ever; -pardon, resignation, hope, and fervid anticipations shall be yours on this side the grave: whatever may arise during the remainder of your earthly existence, there will ever be this to soothe and elevate your mind, that Jesus Christ is your guardian and friend, your confidence, and your exceeding great reward."

If this be not rest unto the soul of a worldly man, and distinct, so far, from the fulfilment of the promise to a penitent, (though every worldly man, if saved, must be a penitent), it is difficult to ascertain how the invitation of Christ may be termed universal.

I would now pass on to the more promising subject of this invitation; namely, the man of a broken spirit. .This person, whatever be his anxiety of alarm, is convinced that

scourge, the scorn, the cross itself, the curse and the punishment of sin, but not for you? Come, then,' to Calvary, make a surrender of your soul and body before Him who is there lifted up. He will teach you, by his word and Spirit, that he is able to save to the uttermost those that come unto God by him; he will assure you, that his blood was shed to redeem you from the guilt and punishment of your iniquities; he will reveal himself in all the fulness of his mediatorial character, as a Ransomer, Deliverer, Saviour;` as a Surety and a Pledge; and as having, by one offering, perfected for ever them that are sanctified; and this shall be rest unto your soul!"

We are all nearly and eternally interested in this great subject. I know not that I could select an individual, either among my immediate connections, or among such persons as the accidents of vicinity or business bring under occasional observation, whom I could not adduce as a living evidence of the general weariness which characterises this present world. An exception, indeed, is to be made with regard to those who, through the infinite

grace and mercy of Jesus Christ, repose their souls on the solid peace already in their possession, and on the glorious hopes of what is hereafter to be realized. Yet it is discernible, that whenever these persons make a déviation, not evident, perhaps, to the world at large, such deviation is followed by a proportionate return of the weariness from which they still, in the main, have escaped. If an enlightened Christian is betrayed into any thing like sin, and wanders from the direct path of holiness, his peace must be deranged, because, in deserting Christ, he turns aside from the source of all tranquillity; and, instead of finding rest among the pleasures of sin, those delights are turned into vexation, remorse, and anguish. The yoke of sin feels heavier, much heavier, than it was in the days antecedent to his illumination, and the burden is more intolerable to be borne.

Young people, to whom life is fresh, to whom "all that sparkles in the eye of hope" is as exhilarating as "all that pants in the bosom of suspicion" is hateful, will indeed listen with incredulity to the assurance, that all do labour and endure this general weariness; and they may probably urge the falseness or partiality of this doctrine, by citing their own gay feelings in evidence of the contrary. But I should not despair of convincing even them (I will not say beyond the hour of conviction), that "the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now." Inexperienced as they are, the majority of them have not escaped some practical experience of the real nature of the present state of our existence. I would ask my young fellow-travellers, whether they have lost no pa rent, brother, sister, or companion? Have they never languished under sickness, or sunk under the pressure of inferior distresses and disappointments? Oh, yes! You also have sighed and wept, and have had, at least, a minor's share in the general

desolation of mankind. I sympathize with you, as with all sufferers beside'; but I am not sure that, had your earthly destinies been controuled by my wishes, I would have permitted you to reach maturity without a sigh or a tear. A youth of uninterrupted gaiety is purchased at too costly a rate. It furnishes no preparatory discipline for future days; and there is no heavenly wisdom in that popular philo, sophy, which teaches us not to destroy the paradise' of young persons by warning them that their Edén must quickly be lost, or rather by the assurance that no paradise can be opened in the wilds of this world but by the grace of God in Christ Jesus. The invitation of the Saviour of mankind to the weary knows no distinction of age; and is indeed peculiarly worthy of the acceptation of immortal creatures in the morning of life; when they are soon to enter the world; a period requiring decision of conduct, and a spiritual hardihood or inflexibility of soul. When they have once entered, the choice cannot be long sus◄ pended: and there is no neutral territory between the kingdoms of light and darkness.

It might be well for young probationers (whose minds are so far at least illuminated as to be able to discern the sanctifying effects of religion in some, and the entire absence of those effects in others), to select, as a kind of spiritual study, an example of irreligious old age. If ever compassion be called to its fullest exercise, it must surely be summoned to the contemplation of a man who is weary and heavy laden on the verge of the grave, with no bright prospects beyond it. Strange and melancholy as the expression may appear-this man has lost both time and eternity! By his own confessions, complaints, and retrospective upbraidings, the promises of the world have ended in disappointment; and by his insensibility, or silent alarms, he has secured no celestial reversion in the

life to come. The sight of such an accumulation of ruin as this, might, for a moment, persuade even the libertine to forget his pleasures in sympathy or terror; and how much more may it strengthen the convictions, and awaken the exertions of those who view in this painful spectacle the consequences of a wasted day of grace!

Although Jesus Christ introduced his invitation by that awful address, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent, it is yet very credible, that he wept tears such as he wept over Jerusalem, when contemplating the characters and habits of the wise and prudent sages of the world; and particularly when he witnessed any individual among them who had reached hoary hairs in the prejudices of a Pharisee, or in the sensuality of the Sadducees; in either case weary and heavy laden, without hope, and beyond conviction. Not that old age is universally impenetrable by Divine grace; for instances are to be found where the loiterers of a long life have laboured in the vineyard during the eleventh hour; but the examples are few, although numerous enough to forbid despair, and too rare to flatter indolence.

I have frequently been struck, when attending at the Holy Communion, with the indirect commentary prefixed by the Church to the passage which forms the basis of the present paper:-Hear what comfortable words our Saviour Christ saith unto all that truly turn to him; "Come unto me," &c. The precaution here is very observable. The invitation is termed comfortable; but to such, and such only, as turn, and truly turn, to Christ. It is thus, as it were, guarded from the touch of those who remain in an unconverted state. example of the Reformers in confining the consolations of the Gospel to penitent and self-condemned souls calls for our imitation. I have myself been distressed, and indeed CHRIST. OBSERV, No. 146.

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confounded, by witnessing the apparent self-congratulation and confidence with which notoriously irreli gious persons have appropriated encouraging and highly spiritual passages of Scripture; passages, in truth, which many exalted believers have either been too humble to apply to themselves, or, when they have applied them, have received them as a self-convicted traitor would receive favours from his sovereign. I appeal to any clergyman conversant with the religious state of the majority of his parishioners, whether he has not been frequently embarrassed and pained by misapplication of the promises. The error indeed is sufficiently natural; for we are all ready to come for the wages before we have doue our work: we are expert in selecting what will bring pleasure at no expense of suffering, and would waste the children's portion at the table of strangers. But the symmetry of the Gospel is not formed by human rules of proportion. If there are "exceeding great and precious promises," there are also the threatening "terrors of the Lord." Jesus the Saviour will quickly assume the severe attributes of a Judge; and they who now slight or reject the offer of salvation, will find no shelter in the unreal peace which they imagine themselves to have derived from the consolations of the Scripture,-no shelter from "the wrath of the Lamb" in the day of his final appearance; " and these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal."

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sons who are led to speak of themselves; because the world is ever ready to ascribe to vanity, the offerings which the humble minded are anxious to devote to God. But the Christian, more especially if he be a minister of religion, cannot be silent, when the Great Lord of the vineyard blesses his labours. He loves to recount the mercies of Omnipotence. He asks no praise as the instrument in the hand of God: his sole object is to magnify the name of the Lord.

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I have been led to make these preliminary observations, from recollection, that so long ago as the month of March, 1812, a correspondent of yours, signing himself PHILALETHES, proposed several questions respecting the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper; which questions have not, I think, received an answer. Your correspondent lamented the slow and unwilling movements of his flock towards that Holy Table where the true believer receives the symbols of the body and blood of Christ, and, with them, an inward and spiritual grace to strengthen and refresh his soul. Ilow, and in what manner, asks Philalethes, are the poor and ignorant people in a parish to be persuaded to come to the Lord's Supper? Hoping that some more experienced shepherd would have given the desired information to his inquiring brother, I have been hitherto silent: nor will I now venture to advise; but will merely state the plan which I was led to adopt, some years ago, in a country village, with the happy effects which have resulted from my unworthy labours.

Entering upon the discharge of my clerical functions in a venerable parish church, where two or three were literally gathered together in God's name; I shortly gave notice that the Sacrament would be administered to all those who were seriously and devoutly disposed, and in my sermon endeavoured to enforce the expression used by our Re

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formers, who term it, the most comfortable Sacrament of the body and blood of Christ. A very thin attendance marked the ignorance and religious indifference of the congregation. At this moment I felt exactly what Philalethes and many valuable pastors have pathetically lamented; but how to produce a change, was the great point of inquiry. The first step which I took was, to converse with the aged persons in my parish, judging that with many of them the shades of evening must be drawing towards that solemn hour of night when the labourer can no longer work. A spirit of grateful inquiry was raised;-several of these venerable travellers on the road of life resorted to my study; and there, with the Bible open before us, we conversed upon the nature, the importance, and the privilege of attending the Sacrament of the Lord's Supper. From this period our communicants gradually increased. They who attended the holy ordinance found inuch spiritual comfort and refreshment: others who hesitated, on account of their unworthiness, could not be satisfied, until at length they were assured, that Christ, who died for the ungodly, would receive them. By prayer and self-examination, they gave themselves to God. Thus the good leaven diffused itself; and from very few communicants, the Lord's Table is now attended by sixty persons, who have made these holy mysteries the subjects of prayer and much humble inquiry.

In a country village, every step which is taken by a minister and his parishioners is soon known and publicly canvassed. The attendance of many persons at the Sacrament, their serious deportment, and careful manner of life, quickly became the subjects of conversation: and I should not, in justice to three valuable Societies, forget to mention, that I believe much good arose from the distribution of the following books:

1st, The pious country Parish ioner instructed how to spend every Day in the Year; and Bishop Wilson on the Lord's Supper; sold by the Society for promoting Christian Knowledge.

2dly, The Homilies, which were read to the communicants every Thursday evening, and then distributed amongst them, in single tracts; with many Common-prayer Books, obtained from the Prayer-book and Homily Society; and,

3dly, Bibles and Testaments, procured at a very moderate price, from the British and Foreign Bible Society.

It is inconceivable the good which may be effected by public explanation and private reading. If, for instance, on the Sunday before the Sacrament, the minister preaches on that holy ordinance, bis sermon will, by the Divine blessing, do more than the same sermon preached on the sacrament Sunday; because a week is given to the awakened conscience to reflect and meditate upon the truths proclaimed by God's ministring servant. If again, on the evening, in the week before the Sacrament, the Exhortations in the Prayerbook are read and explained, with the account given by each Evangelist of the institution of the Sacrament; taking occasionally St. Paul's 1st Epis. to the Cor., ch. xi., where he delivers to his converts the instructions which he himself had received: -If thus employing our time in necessary preparation we draw down the blessing of Him who alone giveth wisdom to the simple, we shall have reason to rejoice when we partake of a still more spiritual banquet in the kingdom of God. Conversing with these communicants, I have been curious to know, how and by what means they were awakened to see the importance and the duty of frequent communion. The result of my inquiry has always proved the truth of the Apostle's words, "that there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord." One has simply told me, that a sermon led

him to consider his ways, and to turn to God; another, that the private perusal of a book on the Sacrament brought him to the Lord's Table; a third, that his faith came by hearing the conversation, of his pious neighbours. Many attributed their serious impressions to advice received in time of sickness; whilst one young person, who is now a constant communicant, dated her serious impressions from the day on which she took upon herself, in confirmation, the vows and promises which had been made for her at her baptism.

Sensible that every good and perfect gift cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning; and that God, who giveth grace to his ministering servants, can alone pardon their manifold imperfections, and accept their unworthy labours, for the sake of the Great High Priest of our profession; and wishing to ascribe all praise to God, I remain, &c.

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Matt. xiii. 3.-Behold, a sower went forth to sow; and when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the fowls came and devoured them up.

In this parable, our Lord represents the effect which the preaching of his Word would have on several different kinds of hearers; whom he compares to several different kinds of soil, in which seed is sown. The first kind of hearers are those whom he compares to the way-side or road; that is to say, those careless hearers on whom the Word of God makes no more impression than seed would do on hard road, which, not being broken by the plough, would afford no lodgment to the seed scattered upon it; and therefore, the fowls of the air would soon come and devour it. Of this class of hearers there are some in every assembly, who, either from habit or a regard to character, continue to come to the house of God;

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