the various offices of Christian love should always commence with those whom Providence has placed under your more immediate care; and because I am fully persuaded that such offices are best discharged by those persons who are content to dwell among their own people. There is, in the present day, much of that feverish excitement, which is symptomatic rather of the moral disease under which we are labouring, than of the remedy which has been in mercy provided for us; and there is much of that loud and vehement profession, which exhibits more of Pharisaic ostentation, than of the quiet and gentle spirit of the Gospel of Jesus. And it is this which has laid some persons open to the accusation of neglecting the duties of their own stations, in order that they may rush unbidden into other fields of labour. But we are bound to remember, Brethren, that the zeal of the Christian is to be a "zeal according to knowledge h;" and sure we are that, if our hearts are really under the constraining influence of the love of Christ, we shall desire to speak of that love, first to those with whom we are more nearly and dearly connected, and then to all, be they rich or poor, whom Providence has placed within the sphere of our influence. And, when employed in this labour of love, we shall not desire to "sound a trumpet before us, as the hypocrites do'," that we may h Rom. x. 2. 1 Matt. vi. 2. "have glory of men;" but, as our blessed Lord says, we shall desire so to" let our light shine," steadily but quietly "before men," that is, we shall desire so to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour by the light of a pure, and holy, and consistent conversation, that men-not by the blaze of the works themselves, but by the clear and steady light which that conversation daily and hourly sheds around us-may "see our good works and glorify our Father which is in heaven." The light in which Christians are commanded to walk is not merely an occasional and transient blaze, resembling the "crackling of thorns under a pot'," but it is that clear and serene, that pure and peaceful light which beams from the Sun of Righteousness, and which enables all who walk in His light, to walk like him of old, with the law in their hands and brightness in their faces", shedding around them all those rays of love and joy and peace which are daily streaming into their own hearts from the Fountain of light and life! Let it be our endeavour, Brethren, each according to our measure, thus to win over souls to Christ, and so to fulfil His law of " love;" and if any shall charge us, as some charged the Apostles, with being "beside ourselves ""-with acting under the influence of madness or fanaticism, let us say to them, as we point to the dark records of guilt and shame which are now prepared for investigation: Is it madness, or is it fanaticism, to endeavour, with the blessing of God, each in our several stations, to stem that torrent of wickedness which threatens to deluge this sinful world? Is it madness, or is it fanaticism, to attempt to teach those lips the language of prayer and praise, which might otherwise be "full of cursing and bitterness "," or to guide into the way of peace those feet which might otherwise be "swift to shed blood?" Is it madness, or is it fanaticism, to endeavour, under the Divine blessing, to remove that " carnal mind," which is "enmity against God "," and which, when unrestrained, generates "hatred, variance, wrath, strife, envyings, murders, drunkenness, and such like "," and to point fixedly to Him who only can " renew us in the spirit of our mind'," and give us that spiritual mindedness," which is "life and peace?" Surely, if we have a particle of love for the souls of men, or of zeal for the glory of God, we must desire to diffuse around us the blessings of the Gospel, and to make our respective neighbourhoods abound in all those delightful fruits which the Gospel yields! Surely, if the love of Christ does constrain us, we must desire that ourselves and all around us may continually walk in that 66 • Rom. iii. 14, 15. Gal. v. 20, 21. Rom. viii. 6. Rom viii. 7. love, remembering how it was said of the followers of Jesus in former days," See, how these Christians love one another!" May this be the spirit in which we may all return to our several homes, desiring to be " followers of God, as dear children, and to walk in love, as Christ also loved us!" and when we meet with difficulties and obstructions in our path-whether from the infirmities of ourselves or others—let us seek to remove these difficulties, and these obstructions by prayer. Yes, my Brethren, in the midst of all our difficulties and trials, let us always remember that we have to do with Him who hears and answers prayer, and who only is able to help our infirmities; and let us ever regard prayer, therefore, as our highest privilege and our sweetest consolation. Let us deem it our highest privilege thus to hold intercourse with the Most High, in those devout aspirations which have been so happily described as the breath of God in men returning to its original". And let us deem it our sweetest consolation frequently to be employed in those holy exercises which are at once the sign of spiritual life in the soul, and the means of its continuance, and through the right performance of which we shall assuredly find the strength of our corruptions weakened, and the power of Divine grace increased within us. To encourage us in this high and sacred intercourse with our Father which is in heaven, our Saviour assures us that "whatsoever we shall ask the Father in His name, He will give it us." Relying on this gracious promise, let us continually approach the throne of grace in the name of Jesus, entreating the Father of mercies to open our hearts to the humbling and sanctifying influence of his life-giving Spirit, and praying that "Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith," that so, being "rooted and grounded in love, we may be able to comprehend, with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height; and to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that we may be filled with all the fulness of God." So shall we experience the transforming power of the love of Christ: so shall we experience the efficacy of that divine grace, which brings to the soul righteousness and peace, pardon and salvation, and which, by constraining us to love God with all our heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, and our neighbour as ourselves, is, of a truth, the "fulfilling of the law." |