the beginning of wisdom. Seek unto Jesus Christ for life and light, and "Christ shall give thee light." We must go to him by an active faith; consent to the gospel proposal of salvation by him. Say, Whither shall I go but to Christ? The sense of danger should drive us to him with all speed. We are never truly awake and up, till by faith we have "put on the Lord Jesus Christ." 4. Seek the grace and help of the Holy Spirit, and set yourself, with all diligence, to do the work for which you were sent into the world. Awake to righteousness. Up, and be doing. Your work is great; your journey beset with dangers; your enemies many; opposition powerful; strength small; time short and uncertain: Son, go work to-day in the vineyard. Dost thou not see how it is grown over with thorns? 5. Take heed of delays. They have ruined thousands. "Yet a little sleep," said the ancient slumberers. Men are roused and disturbed a little, but they only turn and go to sleep again, and so become conviction-proof-can sleep in the midst of a thousand calls. Take heed of putting by conviction; it is bad freezing again, after a thaw. Let not this call be lost after all the rest. Finally, take courage from the gospel of Christ. The Son of man was lifted up, "that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil. For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made manifest, that they are wrought in God," John iii. 15-21. Why will you lavish out your years Almighty God, thy power impart, And makes the haughtiest scorner wise. A NEW YEAR. A NEW year is the opening of a new leaf in life's short book. On its pages you have been daily and hourly writing lines which can never be effaced, and which, as they flow from your actions, words, and thoughts, are being recorded in heaven. Now a new leaf unfolds;-there it lies; and you must write. What will you write? A new year is the beginning of a new voyage in life's bark. This season may be regarded as a port, to which you annually return, and then set sail again; for life's bark tarries nowhere, but is ever in motion. Over time's broad sea, sometimes calm and sometimes rough, sometimes bright with sunshine, and sometimes dark with storms, it sweeps along with surpassing swiftness. Some make the annual voyages mere trips of pleasure while others visit gold coasts in quest of wealth. There are those who are bent on making discoveries; and there are those who think only of capturing the prizes of ambition, fame, and glory. There lies the ocean, and your vessel is just sailing out of harbour. Where will you steer ?-what is the purpose of this year's voyage? A new year is the beginning of a new portion in life's building. Time is so much ground, which you are ever covering. Busy builders are the sons of men, carrying out some sort of edifice, raising story on story, adding wing to wing. Some build simply with reference to present convenience. They consult their own immediate ease and comfort. They just strive to provide for themselves a comfortable habitation, which will last out their continuance in this world. Others build more wisely. The future is to them vastly more important than the present. They seek to provide for themselves a habitation that faileth not. While some are saying, "I will pull down my barns, and build greater; and there will I bestow all my fruit and my goods;" others are laying up for themselves in store a good foundation against the time to come, that they may lay hold on eternal life. You are now about to set to work afresh. How will you build this year?-for the present world alone? or also, and chiefly, for the next? These are most important questions. They are founded upon the knowledge which we have of man and of his destiny, of time and of the life to come, derived from the word of God. You are an accountable being. You are gifted with intelligence, reason, and conscience. You have a double nature—a body and a soul-both the wondrous work of God, and mysteriously related to each other, but the latter infinitely exceeding the former in value and importance. You have a double life—a life connected with the world here, and a life to come connected with the world yonder. Hence the unutterable importance of the inquiries we have proposed. What will you, this year, write in life's book? Whither will you, this year, sail in life's bark? For what For what purpose will you, this year, make addition to life's building? This year may prove one of great difficulty and trial; you may be placed in circumstances which will greatly perplex you. Emergencies may arise in reference to yourselves, or your families, or your affairs, which may leave you full of doubt and hesitation as to what you should do. You may reach a difficult passage in life's book; what to think, to say, to do, you may be unable to tell. But One stands by who is infinitely wise; who is excellent in counsel and knowledge; who is acquainted with all the exigencies of every man's life; whose eye is ever upon us; who speaks not only to the ear, but to the heart; who guides not only the hand, but the will; who gives light in darkness, and mysteriously directs man's thoughts and purposes. This year may prove one of temptation and sorrow; the soul may be dreadfully endangered; you may be lured on to spots where the water is calm and shining, but beneath there may be rocks, whose sharp-jutting points will assuredly strike and pierce your vessel, if you go there. Or storms may arise; afflictions may come; losses, bereavements, sickness, calumny, the strife of tongues, may make the day dark But with these possibilities before you, there is One at hand who will be your pilot, if you will accept him as such, and put in his hands the helm, and leave him to guide you. He will steer you out of the way of rocks, and shoals, and quicksands, or bring you safely through them all, and throw over you his Divine shadow by day and by night. This year may be your last. Another first of January you may never see; another Christmas festivity you may never celebrate; another pleasant home-gathering at that cheerful season you may never witness. Next year, at this time, you may be where multitudes are now, who twelve months ago began afresh building for this world, adding house to house, and field to field, and have now nothing left but the narrow grave. But One there is who will show you how you are to build, so that the building shall not fail you, even though you die. Christ, the brightness of the Father's glory. and the express image of his person; the image of the invisible God; the blessed Son, through whom the Father speaks to men; he through whom God redeems the world; through whom he saves the soul of the believer; through whom he governs the universe; who is Head over all things to the church; who gives the spirit of wisdom, and affords protection, and imparts eternal life to his peoplehe will teach you how to write on the new page, where to sail on the new voyage, and what to erect for the new building. Begin the year with Christ. Have faith in Christ; look to Christ, as the Saviour and Lord of the soul, as able to save to the uttermost all who come unto God by him. Depend on Christ for mercy and acceptance. Trust to Christ for wisdom. Seek of Christ his own purifying Spirit. Live day by day consciously in the presence of Christ. Make him your righteousness and rest, your guardian and guide, your portion and pattern. On looking back upon life's book, how many pages are there full of vanity, foolishness, and sin! You have been writing down things for many years, which you would be afraid to read at the last day-which sadly trouble you now, as memory turns over the pages of the past. Do you tremble as you think of their being written down in the books to be opened when the "great white throne" shall be set? Christ can efface the writing, so that though your sins be sought for, they shall not be found: "There is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus ;" "Being justified by faith, we have peace with God," Rom. viii. 1; v. 1.-As you review past voyages, they fill you with sorrow and shame, while you think of their having been employed in seeking the things of this world, instead of going after what would have yielded a revenue of honour to Him to whom the human soul, and the infinite future, and all time and thought, all you have and are, belong. Do you fear the Divine As you ever liveth to make intercession for us," Heb. vii. 25. survey the work you have been doing so long, you see that it has not been meant for eternity, but for time; not for the soul, but for the body; not for God, but for self. Him who gave you the materials wherewith to build, and showed you in his word how you ought to build, you have irreverently neglected. His authority you have set at nought; his rules you have violated. Does this excite compunction, and arouse a dread lest the Great Master should say, "Thou wicked servant!" Christ is the Mediator between God and man: "God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them," 2 Cor. v. 19. In anticipating the future, it is plain from past experience, and from what you learn in the Scriptures, that you cannot write in the book, nor sail in the bark, nor erect the building as you ought, without Divine teaching, wisdom, and grace; without an inward change; without Divine illumination, renewal, and holiness: "Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again." You need the renewal of the Spirit day by day. Spiritual life is the endowment needed; understanding, reason, conscience, will not suffice; and spiritual life must come from the Father of spirits, and the God of grace, through Jesus Christ our Lord. He who gave life at first must quicken us to newness of life. He who renews in us natural strength from day to day, must also continuously renew in us spiritual strength. Not from a force existing within us, as some would teach, are we to look for the change needed by the soul. They suppose that what man needs is, to have the power and beauty within his soul already, brought out and perfected. Development is all they think of: the Bible teaches us another doctrine. It shows that what man needs is, to have a new life imparted to him, which at present he has not. Regeneration, Christ insists upon : "Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit," John iii. 5, 6. "According to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost," Titus iii. 5. a And now go thy way, reader; and may this year's page be written in sentences such as shall give thee joy to read in thy death hour, by the light of eternity.-May this year's expedition over time's uncertain sea be crowned by the in-gathering of much precious knowledge, wisdom, grace, and holiness: freightage thou shalt carry with delight into the harbour of eternity. May this year's work be not that which shall be burned with fire, but that which shall be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ. |