came in a company and did him reverence; that wise men from the continent of Europe made a pilgrimage to his feet? But the Saviour was subject to his parents, and worked at his trade as a carpenter. When he began his public ministry, and selected his first apostles, did he choose Magi for his ministers? No, but Andrew, and Peter, and Philip, and Bartholomew, and the sons of Zebedee. With what truthfulness and beauty, then, does that gracious invitation to each of us proceed from his lips: "Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest to your souls." There is only one instance in the New Testament in which the Man of Sorrows is said to have rejoiced; and this was in connection with the truth that God had hid the things of his kingdom from the "wise and prudent," and had revealed them unto babes." It gratified the benevolence of Christ to think that the humble, unlettered poor of our race were specially the objects of divine compassion, while those who were wise in their own conceit, in consequence of their human learning or gifts, were passed by. When the Saviour, who had had the wise men of the east at his feet, stretches forth his hand, and says, Blessed are ye poor, for yours is the kingdom of God, he excites the confidence and joy of every one

whom he honors with being his ambassador, and he should draw all men unto him.

6

The title, Friends of Christ,' naturally leads to the inquiry, Am I a friend of Christ? Perhaps every one will readily answer, Yes. Mention some proof of it. Take time, and see if you are a friend of Christ by any such proof as commonly evinces friendship. How much do you pray to Christ? what communion have you with him? how often do you repeat with yourself his precious name? on whom of his disciples have you ever bestowed a gift, a kind word or look, for the reason, and for that reason only, that you believed him to be a friend of Christ? what have you ever done for that cause which is all in this world that Christ holds dear?

It is a truth to which every minister of Christ testifies from personal experience, that every thing which man can do to influence his fellow-men is easier than to make them love Him who is "the chiefest among ten thousand," and "altogether lovely." Amid unsuccessful efforts for this object, saying, Who hath believed our report? and mourning that we can persuade so few to love and honor the Saviour, it is always refreshing and encouraging to look into the New Testament and contemplate the instances of love to Christ as there recorded. It reassures us of the Saviour's infinite excellence; it shows us how the human heart has responded to his

claims upon its love and homage, while the prophecies and promises of the Bible come to our aid, showing that He, whom, having not seen, we love, shall yet be loved and adored on earth and in every land, and by myriads of our race in heaven.

This series of discourses on the Friends of Christ in the New Testament, is begun, therefore, with the view and in the hope of assisting every one, by example, to love and honor the Saviour of the world, to become his friend, and to secure the friendship of Him whose loving kindness is better than life. You will find the question constantly recurring, Are you a friend of Christ? The answer to this question will, at the great harvest of the earth, determine whether the reaping angels shall place us with the wheat or with the tares. The Judge himself will assign, as the reason for the sentence which he will pronounce upon us, the evidence which our present lives afforded whether we were, or were not, his friends.

SERMON II.

SIMEON.

LUKE II. 25, 26.

AND BEHOLD, THERE WAS A MAN IN JERUSALEM, WHOSE NAME WAS SIMEON AND THE SAME MAN WAS JUST AND DEVOUT, WAITING FOR THE CONSOLATION OF ISRAEL; AND THE HOLY GHOST WAS UPON HIM. AND IT WAS REVEALED UNTO HIM BY THE HOLY GHOST THAT HE SHOULD NOT SEE DEATH BEFORE HE HAD SEEN THE LORD'S CHRIST.

THOUGH the world that was made by Him knew Him not, there were those who, by the Spirit of God, were moved to honor and welcome the Redeemer, at his entrance upon earth.

One of the first that we read of was an aged man, distinguished for the uprightness and piety of his life, by the name of Simeon. It is nowhere asserted that he was an old man, but when we find that a passage of Scripture, and especially a narrative, has made a certain impression, we should be slow to call it in question; for we may suppose that the Bible has had, among its millions of readers, minds as shrewd and critical as any at the present day.

Though the old age of Simeon is nowhere asserted, it may be easily inferred from the brief account of him before us. It was revealed to him by the Holy Ghost that he should not see death till he had seen the Lord's Christ. This makes the impression that, in the course of nature, he had reason to be expecting death, and that a special exemption from it had been assured to him until he should see Christ; so that, when he saw him, he regarded it as the sign of his speedy departure from the world, which he would not have done had there not been reason, in his condition, to feel that his continuance in life was not long to be expected.

We may, therefore, regard him as an old man, and full of days, with those infirmities and sorrows which are peculiar to advanced years; and yet, in the midst of them, there was an earnest hope and expectation to see that promised Lord, and this desire was like a staff to him while he daily waited for the tidings of the Saviour's birth, which his own great age, and the near approach of death, in the natural order of things, convinced him could not be far off.

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He was "a just man," of blameless life, "a devout man,” living under the influence of religious contemplations, and performing his duties to God, in public and private, with sincerity and in an exemplary

manner.