But inordinate love of the world is prone to be the great masterpassion of our nature. It was this that brought destruction on such men as Achan, and Judas, and Demas, and obscured with clouds of bitter sorrow, the latter years of "righteous" Lot. The love of gold is that "vile idolatry" which is as much opposed to the service of God, as the worship of graven images. When it becomes the master-passion, and so long as it continues to be, it effectually excludes the love of God. Hence we have the exhortation, "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world; for if any mau love the world, the love of the Father is not in him." There is no room for the love of God, where the love of gain has asserted supreme control. It often renders men unscrupulous as to the means which they employ for the increase of wealth; that is, leads to the commission of acts entirely inconsistent with Christian morality. Or if it does not so far debase the soul, it so engrosses the affections as to leave no room for the love of God. It exaggerates the importance of the things of this world, in their relation to, or their bearing upon, the peace and satisfaction of the mind. It is an evidence that the expectations of men are misdirected, and their hopes are wrongly based. It proves that they are looking to the world for that solid, lasting good, which can come only from God. It is a perilous fascination of their minds,-a fascination which the defeat of multitudes in their golden enterprises, and the utter failure of the obtained prize, in the case of others, to afford the wished-for gratification, are not sufficient to dissolve. The glow, the splendor, the luxury which wealth throws around its possessors too often constitute a spell upon the senses of men. They walk in a vain show-by sight, and not by faith in things unseen. We need therefore such a memento mori [ Kúpcos iyyus] as the text contains, to break this fatal enchantment, to clear away the films of our darkened vision, that we may see things as they really are,—may estimate both the present and the future aright. The grave to which every man hastens utters a monitory voice to those who are devoted to the pursuit and attainment of worldly good. It bids them moderate their desires. How little difference it will very soon make whether they have possessed their hundreds, or only their tens of thousands! They can never make themselves rich enough to purchase exemption from disease, or lighten death of one of its pangs. The grave will show no more respect for their dust than for that of the beggar, who often stood at their gate. And oh! if their riches were obtained by fraud, by injustice, or grinding the faces of the poor, they will fail to make their dying bed any softer; nay, a bed "on borrowed straw, beside the leafless hedge," with an untroubled conscience and the presence of Christ, might in comparison be "soft as downy pillows are." The thought of going into the presence of the Judge, with the guilt of fraud, of covetousness, or the supreme love of gold upon their souls,-ah! it is this which makes death terrible. Hear, then, this, O ye sons of men, engaged in the busy pursuits of the world, devoting all your thoughts and time to the attainment of the wealth that perishes,-THE LORD IS NEAR: His eyes behold, His eyelids try the children of men; in your many thoughts He may seldom or never be present, but you never escape the notice of his eye. THE LORD IS AT HAND. Death is near; and you are just as near the immediate presence of the Judge, as you are to death. Death will bring your spirits before His bar, to give an account of all the deeds done in the body,-to answer for the manner in which you have employed your talents in accumulating the treasures of earth; to give an account of your stewardship, whether, when you have seen the naked you have clothed him, or the hungry you have fed him. THE LORD COMETH! Behold He cometh in clouds. The final consummation of all things is, when measured with eternity, as it were, at the very door. Soon we shall stand with all nations gathered before the Son of Man; and if on His left hand the Judge will say, "Depart from me: for I was a hungered and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me no drink: I was a stranger and ye took me not in: naked and ye clothed me not; sick and in prison and ye visited me not. Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did it not to me." 4. "Let your moderation be known unto all men :" these words certainly require a temperate use of the things of this world. It is binding alike upon the rich and the poor. It might at first be thought that the rich having abundant means to surround themselves with the luxuries of wealth, and to gratify the sensual appetites, would be more exposed to the sin of an intemperate use of the things of this world than the poor. Observation, however, does not bear out or support this opinion; but rather, if there be ground for any distinction here, the contrary. Intemperance in eating and drinking is what makes and keeps many families poor; whereas economy, and especially the avoidance of expensive vices, have made many rich. But whether men are rich or poor, it is a precept of Christianity, that they should avoid being led astray by sensual indulgence, and should maintain a strict government over all the passions and appetites. There is a lawful method and extent of indulging the appetites which God has implanted within us, and every creature of God is good and may be so used as to minister to our rational enjoyment. The exhortation of the text points to this lawful method and extent of gratifying the appetites in the use of the creatures of God. Especially is it binding on Christians to set an example of the moderate use of those things which minister to the gratification of the sensual appetites. "So run that ye may obtain. And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incor ruptible." "I," adds the Apostle, "keep under my body and bring it into subjection." He points to the temperance of the heathen combatants, whose preparatory training in a severe course of abstinence, lasted for months. They did it to obtain a corruptible crown, a wreath of fading leaves; but we have an immortal crown to win. And shall not we, by temperance, keep under the body, and bring it into subjection to the soul, to help on its work and purification? Intemperance does but aggravate the corruptions and evil lusts of the body. The visible effects of it in eating are not so soon perceived, nor so disreputable among men, as drunkenness; yet according to its degree, it is equally offensive in the sight of God. It pampers the body; it enslaves and stupefies the soul; it extinguishes and quenches the Spirit of God. The reason why there is so little hope of the conversion of a drunkard, and why drunkards can not enter into the kingdom of heaven, is because no man can be filled with the Spirit of God and with wine, at one and the same time. Intoxication from wine is wholly inconsistent with the presence of that Spirit, in his renewing, sanctifying power. There is an opposition in being drunk with wine and being filled with the Spirit. Our Saviour, in warning the men of His generation of his advent at the destruction of Jerusalem, says, " And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." Surfeiting and drunkenness would render them peculiarly liable to overlook the signs of that coming, would becloud the understanding, harden the heart, brutalize the passions, call off the watchmen of the soul from their towers, and make them despise warning and reproof. And intemperance has not changed its nature; if it would blind men's eyes to the signs of that approaching day, signs which should be in the sun and in the moon and in the stars, and cause the hearts of observing men to fail with fear, it will now just as effectually blind their eyes to the evidences of the near approach of that advent referred to in the text, THE LORD IS AT HAND. We may not see "the clouds like burning billows flash and burn beneath his feet"-we may not see attending spirits "brandish their glittering banners round His throne"-we may not see His car of lightning, "rolling from the unfathomed depths of heaven;" but lo! He cometh. He is just as near at hand as the day of our death. The hearts that are overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness may not notice the flight of years, the gradual decays of nature in themselves,-the ravages of disease around them, the falling of one after another of their companions; they may seldom come to the house of God, and listen to the warnings of His word. Alas! how true is it that such persons are prone to disregard both the admonitions of Providence, and the warnings of the Gospel, and the day of their death cometh upon them as a snare. "As the fishes that are taken in an evil net, and as the birds that are caught in a snare, so are the sons of men snared in an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them." The rapid flight of time, my hearers, the passing of one year after another, should admonish us how fast our lives are drawing to a close. Each closing year cries out to us, "The Lord is at hand." Let then our moderation be known to all men. Let the world see in us meekness under provocation; a readiness to forgive injuries; gentleness of disposition; uprightness in all our dealings with our fellow-men; moderate desires after and a temperate use of the things of this world; such holy living will prepare us for a peaceful, holy dying. Blessed is that servant whom his Master when He cometh shall find so doing. He can not be taken unawares; he can not be surprised by the advent of his Lord. SERMON DCCV. BY REV. JOHN BERG, WILLIAMSBURg, n. y. THE CHRISTIAN'S PRESENT AND FUTURE. "For now we see through a glass darkly, but then face to face."-1 Cor. xiii. 12. However greatly some men may pride themselves on the extensiveness and variety of their attainments, certain it is, that in the present state of being, the mind of man can acquire comparatively but a small portion of knowledge. All his stores of information must be exceedingly limited, when contrasted with the ocean of knowledge in the worlds of matter and of mind. True it is, he may obtain an acquaintance with the science of the heavenly bodies; their majestic forms, and wondrous revolutions; may know something of the earth with its mysterious strata and vast treasures. He may have learnt something of the material and immaterial natures of man, and of the numerous laws which govern creation. He may have travelled in the multiplied and diversified fields of science, and philosophy, but if he has become really wise, he will be willing to confess, that his knowledge is as nothing, and that now he sees through a glass darkly." he The same reasoning is applicable to the student in divine mysteries. He may have passed through a series of years in the school of Christ, made some attainments in the divine life, and have become ripened for heaven. Yet notwithstanding all his gifts, and graces, he feels that he knows but in part, for now he sees through a glass darkly." But if it is true that our knowledge is so imperfect now, and all our views of divine things so clouded, it is equally true in reference to all true believers in Jesus Christ, that a period is rapidly approaching, when their knowledge shall be perfect, and their mental vision undimmed. by any dark cloud. "When that which is perfect is come then. that which is in part sha.l be done away." To understand the subject more fully we may consider, first, some of the objects which are now seen through a glass darkly: and secondly, the things which will be seen hereafter perfectly. I. In the present state of being God has invested His creature man with organs of vision, through which he discerns objects in the material world. How exquisitely adapted is the eye to light and light to the eye! Objects and images are impressed with singular precision on the retina, through which they are conveyed to the soul. What living forms of beauty and grandeur are let into the soul through this material window. Who has not been charmed, and even transported to extasy, whilst beholding earth's magnificent scenery, the rich landscape, the lofty mountain, the emerald valley, the ponderous rock, the transparent lake-the mighty ocean, the fleecy cloud fringed with gold, and all the pleasing variety nature presents? If that window be darkened how great is the darkness. The plaintive strains of him who felt it are singularly expressive: "Seasons return but not to me returns, Day, or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn, "Truly the light is sweet and a pleasant thing it is for the eyes to behold the sun." Man however is not dependent on material organs for the discernment of immaterial subjects; the soul can look at these without its material window, and frequently when that is quite obscured, it requires a greater power to behold and contemplate; perception is more vivid, imagination more alive, and judgment more correct. But for the quenched vision of the immortal bard, it is questionable whether the sublimest poem in the English language would have existed. How wondrous, then, must be the power and capacity of the soul when stripped of its encumbering clay. The medium through which we perceive heavenly things is faith, and with it, "we now see through a glass darkly." But the defectiveness of vision does not alter the grandeur and reality of the |