stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong." You will perceive that there is a special urgency in these words. You see the short, pithy, expressions in which the exhortation is delivered. The apostle seems carried along by the earnestness of his spirit, to stir up the souls and persons of the Corinthian Church to vigilance and firmness of mind, and energy of action. He rests not with one word of exhortation only, nor with two, but with a quadruple reiteration of the needful call; he binds them, as it were, to a strenuous maintenance of their Christian principles and profession. The words, indeed, seem to have something of a military sound in them, as if delivered by the captain of a host to urge his men to battle: they were actually used by the leaders of the Philistine armies, when they fought against the Israelites, and defeated them. And, let me say, that the words seem not unsuitable to the times that are passing over us, and to events that may be anticipated during the present year. There has not been a period, in the memory at least of this generation, when the people of God were more solemnly called than now to watch against the insidious encroachments, and manfully withstand the more audacious assaults of their spiritual foes.

"Watch ye." There is no Christian counsel more needful than this. Our Lord himself repeatedly pressed it upon his disciples. As the vigilance of the sentinel is of the highest importance to the safety of a camp, or citadel, so is it of prime moment to the Christian, that he be ever on his guard against the enemies of his soul. These are not so feeble and insignificant as to be met with contemptuous neglect. They are possessed not only of cunning craftiness, and inveterate malice, but of great power. The emissaries of Satan are wakefully plying all their means to undermine our principles, and working their engines to shake our confidence in the Saviour and his truth. They are

numerous; they are ever on the alert, watching for the Christian's halting, that they may overthrow him The world hangs out its glittering temptations; the invisible foe lays his snares, and the nearest and most dangerous enemy, the corruption of his own heart, urges him on to forget his God, to sin, and to wound his peace. Having such enemies as these around him, and in him, he cannot slumber with impunity. No: if you, my beloved brethren, would pursue your Christian course with safety, you must watch against the devices of the grand adversary of souls, who not only goes about like a roaring lion, but can also transform himself into an angel of light to deceive the unwary. Watch against the world; walk circumspectly in it; be not conformed to its spirit, its maxims, its practice. Let not the care given to its business engross your attention, to the sacrifice of your advancement in the Divine life; neither contract a taste for its amusements and its pleasures, for there is danger in them to your highest interests. And, oh! watch with jealousy the motions of your own minds. "Keep thy heart," says the wise man, "with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Watch the tendency of your affections, the bent of your wills, the purity of your motives, the consistency of your tempers, dispositions, and desires. Keep them all under the restraints and in the direction of the spirit of your holy religion.

"Stand fast in the faith. Faith is a grace wrought in the soul by the Holy Spirit, by which the heart believes in and receives Jesus Christ, as represented, and offered, in the gospel. Through this grace the soul trusts in him as an efficient Mediator, loves him as a benignant Saviour, and serves him as a just, true, and gracious king. The vital importance of this faith, as essential to salvation, is announced to us in the plainest and most unequivocal language:-"He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life; and he that

believeth not the Son, shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him." Now, the admonition in our Motto supposes the reception of that grace; for we cannot stand fast in that which we do not possess. Cultivate, then, this holy, this heavenly grace of the Spirit within you; nourish it and strengthen it by prayer and a watchful fixedness of eye upon Jesus, its author and finisher. Watch and pray that it be not suffered to fail you; that you may be able to stand in the evil day, though Satan should seek to "sift you as wheat."

But the faith intended in our Motto may be properly regarded as the doctrine of faith, or the system of sacred truth which faith receives. It comprehends the whole of Divine Revelation, in distinction from human creeds, and especially the faith of Jesus Christ, the firm persuasion and belief of his divinity, that he is over all, God blessed for evermore, the efficacy of his atonement, and the prevalency of his intercession, together with all the other truths connected and interwoven with, or resulting from them. The apostle then enjoins you stedfastly to hold, maintain, and defend the great cardinal doctrines of justification by faith, regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the practical influence of these great truths on the life and conversation. Accordingly, to stand fast in the faith is to keep, and boldly maintain, the whole truth as it is in Christ Jesus, especially all that the gospel teaches us of his person, his work, and his offices, as the Redeemer; and all the ordinances of his appointment for promoting his gracious purposes in the world.

But let me exhort you, brethren, that, while you "contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the saints," ye would show that ye have "received Christ Jesus the Lord; and are walking in him, rooted and built up in him; and stablished in the faith, as you have been taught."

VOL. XXIX.

Again, in connexion with the tenacity of Christian principle-a firm holding of the truth; our Motto enjoins energy of action." "Quit you like men." In times of difficulty and trial, betray not the timidity of children. Show yourselves men. Enter the conflict, when called to it, with the courage of men— of men that well know the goodness of their cause; that feel they are wielding an omnipotent arm, because God is with them. In times of wide-spread infidelity and error, and when "false teachers are bringing in destructive heresies, and many following their pernicious ways," be not like mere babes in Christ; or like "children tossed about with every wave of doctrine;" but acquit yourselves as men of intelligent principle; men of God,-men of fortitude and perseverance-men who are made partakers of the Divine nature. In times of persecution for the cause Christ, should they arise, fear not tie storm; but set your faces like a flint; and abide by the truths you have enbraced, let the consequences be whit they may! Are your civil and religious liberties assailed? and will you give place to the assailants? No, not for a moment! Assert your rights, as the apostle did, and quit you like men-like men of faith and prayer — like men, who, fearing God, have nothing else to fear!

Your Motto adds, "Be strong." That is, brace yourselves with the courage and boldness of those who are conscious of the right; who find themselves set for the defence of the truth, and are assured of ultimate victory and triumph. Man, indeed, is by nature

without strength;" but the exhortation is given to the regenerate-to them who derive strength from above; who are strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus; "strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might." The Christian may be physically weak, but mentally, morally, spiritually, strong; and if he would be prepared for all the trials,

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tribulations, and conflicts of his calling in Christ, he must seek his strength, not from himself, but from "the Spirit's might, in the inner man;" for it is He that giveth strength to the faint, and to them that have no might," he increas. eth strength."

Would you then, beloved friends, stand fast in the faith; and "in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free;" seek through the appointed means the supplies that God has promised in the Son of his love. Look out of and above yourselves; trust in,

and draw from, the inexhaustible treasures of wisdom and knowledge that are hid in Christ, and you will never be confounded. Take the present Motto in connexion with one we formerly gave you, and you will prevail; "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." Finally, brethren, “I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance among all them who are sanctified." Amen.

Jan. 4th, 1851.

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If you would effectually counteract your own attempts to do well, be a drunkard, and you will not be disappointed.

"If you wish to repel the endeavours of the whole human race to raise you to character, credit, and prosperity, be a drunkard, and you will most assuredly triumph.

"If you are determined to be poor, be a drunkard, and you will soon be ragged and pennyless.

"If you would wish to starve your family, be a drunkard; for that will consume the means of their support.

"If you would be imposed on by knaves, be a drunkard; for that will make their task easy.

"If you would wish to be robbed, be a drunkard, which will enable the thief to do it with more safety.

If you would wish to blunt your senses, be a drunkard, and you will soon be more stupid than an ass.

If you wish to unfit yourself for rational intercourse, be a drunkard; for that will render you wholly unfit for it.

"If you are resolved to kill yourself, be a drunkard, that being a sure mode of destruction.

"If you would expose both your folly and your secrets, be a drunkard, and they will soon run out as the liquor runs in.

"If you think you are too strong, be a drunkard, and you will soon be subdued by so powerful an enemy.

If you would get rid of your money without knowing how, be a drunkard, and it will vanish insensibly.

If you would have no resource, when past labour, but a workhouse, be a drunkard, and you will be unable to provide any.

"If you are determined to expel all comfort from your house, be a drunkard, and you will soon do it effectually.

"If you would be always under strong suspicion, be a drunkard; for, little as you think it, all agree that those who steal from themselves and families will

rob others.

streets.

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"If you would smash windows, break the peace, get your bones broken, tumble under carts and horses, and be locked up in watch-houses, be a drunkard, and it will be strange if you do not succeed.

"If you wish all your prospects in life to be clouded, be a drunkard, and they will soon be dark enough.

If you would destroy your body, be a drunkard, as drunkenness is the mo

"If you mean to ruin your soul, be a drunkard, that you may be excluded from heaven.

Finally, if you are determined to be utterly destroyed, in estate, body, and soul, be a drunkard, and you will soon know that it is impossible to adopt a more effectual means to accomplish your -end."-Rowland Hill.

PERSECUTION is as impious as it is cruel; for it not only opposes every precept of the New Testament, but it invades the prerogative of God himself. It assumes a right to punish those whom he has reserved for his own penal visitation; and persecution, therefore, is a usurpation of the attributes which be. long exclusively to the Most High. It is a vain endeavour to ascend into his throne, to wield his sceptre, and to hurl his thunderbolts.

And then its own history proves how useless it is. Truth is immortal: the sword cannot pierce it; fire cannot consume it; prisons cannot incarcerate it; famine cannot starve it; all the violence of men, stirred up by the power and subtilty of hell, cannot put it to death; in the person of its martys it bids defiance to the will of the tyrant who persecutes it; and, with the martyr's last

breath, predicts its own full and final triumphs. The pagan persecuted the Christian; but yet Christianity lives. The Papist persecuted the Protestant; but yet Protestantism lives. The Church of England persecuted the Nonconformist; and yet Nonconformity lives. Nonconformists persecuted Episcopalians; yet Episcopacy lives. When persecution is carried to its extreme length of extirpating heretics, Truth may be extinguished in one place, as the Reformation was in Spain and Portugal, but it will break out in another, as it did in Germany and England. If opinions cannot be put down by argument, they cannot by power. Truth gains the victory in the end, not only by its own evidences, but by the sufferings of its confessors."-James's Protestant Nonconformity.