will be that "he that hath the Son hath life, and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life." We may be tempted to hope for results of the kind we have been considering in other ways; we may think that other machinery is necessary, that in varied modes preachers are to develope. philanthropies and humanities, are to be much. alive to the claims of modern thought, and act as guides in the foremost ranks of all popular movements, until the Church, as the pioneer of a higher civilization, shall in a moment of time behold all the kingdoms of the world, with all their power and glory, singing and celebrating the praises of her broad and comprehensive Christianity. Ah! brethren, if this result be secured by ceasing from the integrity of the word of God, or the "offence of the cross," by preaching any other than the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel, or yielding allegiance to any but Christ Jesus the Lord, then, however grand the apparent success of the Church may be, she has most terribly fallen, and in the hour of her most brilliant discoveries, and in the person of her most illustrious sons, and in the court days of her most jubilant assemblies, she will totter to her doom as a mere heathen

temple when some blind Samson, strong in the word of God and the Spirit of God, bows himself upon her faulty pillars, and proves the feebleness of her insecure foundations. But God's love in the gift of Christ in the Gospel of our salvation—this love never faileth; "but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; whether there be knowledge, it shall vanish away."

My hearers, we have sinned, and we must die, and after death there is the judgment, and a voice will issue from that judgment to all impenitent sinners, "Depart, ye cursed, into everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” I testify to every man that Jesus has died upon the cross for his sins.

"He was made sin

He is risen for our

for us, who knew no sin." justification. He is now a mediator at the right hand of God. He will give free pardon and full sanctification to those who turn to Him. He will speedily come again to judge the world. Let every man ponder well these solemn facts, and may God give unto you eternal life through believing.

My dear brethren, Christian pastor and Christian church, you have covenanted this day to

102 Preaching Aided or Unaided, &c.

assist one another, and together to beseech men to be reconciled to God; let your union be true and tender in Christ Jesus the Lord; be loyal to Him, and He will make your union holy and happy; be loving toward each other, and you will realize your oneness in Him. Stand up for Jesus. Witness for Jesus. Trust Him in every peril. Go to Him in every thought, word, and deed. Honour Him with your deepest confidences and most devout obedience. Delight in His worship; seek in thought, word, and deed to do His will; look out for His appearing, "and when He, the chief Shepherd, shall appear, ye shall receive a crown of glory that fadeth not away."

WAITING AND WATCHING.

“I will stand upon my watch, and set me upon the tower, and will watch to see what He will say unto me, and what I shall answer when I am reproved. And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith."-HABAKKUK ii. 1-4.

HERE are some truths of Divine revelation

THERE

which appear in the Old Testament like the crescent moon, and become full-orbed in the New. Here is one, the vision of the prophet Habakkuk: "Behold, his soul which is lifted up is not upright in him: but the just shall live by his faith." The writer of the Epistle to the Romans saw the same truth more clearly when he wrote: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ; for it is

the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith." And yet more was seen by him who was inspired to pen the Epistle to the Hebrews, when he wrote: "Ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and He that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him."

Each of these passages rolls the vision on unto the full; it becomes ampler and more lustrous at each stage; but it is the same vision—a vision of the life of man; and in every stage it requires the same patience, watchfulness, and thought.

Notice here how much is said about seeing, how God honours man's perceptions. A prophet upon his watch-tower is looking for a vision, eagerly, yet calmly-expectantly, yet patiently. As the astronomer watches the shifting scenery of the heavens for a new planet; as the commander from his look-out searches the horizon for a sign of the coming of his allies while the