on the soul of the self-accused and self-convicted sinner, that this gracious beckoning falls, like the dew of Hermon on the hill of Sion. What tongue shall tell, what language describe, the gratitude of the returning prodigal, when the best robe is brought forth, and the fatted calf is slain? Bartimeus cast away his garment, and ran to meet Jesus. So must you cast off the filthy rags of your unbelief and presumption; you must wash you and make you clean from their defilements, ere you come before your Redeemer's throne. When the nuptial feast was prepared, and guests from the highways and hedges were bidden to the banquet, remember the fate of him who appeared in unseemly clothing. Take warning by his example; it is recorded for your instruction: and forget not, that, at the marriage supper of the Lamb, you will also be cast into outer darkness, if you come there without the wedding garment of penitence and faith.

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And if, my brethren, you obey this summons

your Saviour; if, when your hearts are melted within you, and the memory of your past transgressions becomes a burden too heavy for you to bear, you turn to his promises, and trust in his mercies, great will be your comfort, sure and abiding your joy. If the narrative before us has in any degree, by God's blessing, been made a lamp to our feet and a light to our paths, the con

cluding scene of the history, will afford us a never failing consolation, through all the chances and changes of the world. Though our lot in life be destitute, as was that of Bartimeus; though we sit by the way side begging; yet will the comforts and encouragements of religion, cheer the darkest path, and heal the deepest wound. He received his sight; yes, the poor blind beggar, unnoticed and unknown by all his brethren, who lived and moved around him, was yet heard and relieved by him, who bath numbered the very hairs of our heads, and without whose knowledge not a sparrow falls to the ground. And so, my brethren, will your cry be heard, if you cry with faith, nothing wavering. If you put your whole trust in God; if you strive to keep his commandments, and to direct your lives by his unerring laws, he will put away the blindness of your souls, and illumine them with the full effulgence of the gospel light.

But once more, ere we part, suffer me to remark upon the importance of the lesson, contained in the words of my text. You must rise and go to Jesus. Even now he passeth by; he is yet willing to hear you; he offers you pardon and salvation. But the time of acceptance may soon glide away; the door of mercy, now open to receive you, may soon be closed for ever. it your part, then, to seek the Lord while he

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be found, to call upon him while he is near. Your sins have, indeed, bowed you to the dust; you cannot in your own righteousness enter your Maker's presence; but if you do but acknowledge this guilt; if you do but mourn for it with sincerity and remorse of heart; if you raise your thoughts from man's imperfections and errors, to God's eternity and holiness; if you rise when Jesus calls you, and leave behind the mouldering garment of your evil ways, you will find pardon and peace, if ye seek it" carefully with tears." If there be one among you, who has listened to the exhortations he has this day received; who feels anxious to embrace his Saviour's promised mercies; may that gracious Saviour be his shield and support; may he, in his goodness, cherish the seed of holiness in his heart, until it bring forth fruit with increase. And though great was the joy of Bartimeus when he received his sight, yet will thy joy be greater far, when, at thy Saviour's second coming, thy ears are greeted by the blessed sounds of welcome and forgiveness, "Be of good cheer, thy faith hath made thee whole."

SERMON V.

EPHESIANS V, 14.

Wherefore he saith, awake thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.

THESE blessed words of the apostle were undoubtedly spoken, in reference to some of those sublime effusions of the ancient prophets, in which the inspired lips of these messengers of God, had declared the blessings which were to be conferred upon mankind, when the Lion of the tribe of Judah should break the bondage of sin. Their divine annunciations seem to have made a deep impression upon the apostle's heart; they were interwoven as it were with his thoughts, and he brings them forward, on every opportunity, to enlighten, to comfort, or to admonish, his hearers. Well, my brethren, would it be for us, if we thus studied and thus delighted in the sacred word of God; if, as God commanded Moses, we made it a token upon our hands, and as front

lets between our eyes; not like the Pharisees of old, by transcribing it on slips of parchment, and wearing them on our persons, but by writing it on the tablets of our hearts, and making it, as it really is, the tidings of salvation, and the record of eternal life.

St. Paul had just been commenting on the heinous nature of sin; on the certain misery and destruction, which will be the portion of all, who indulge in its licentiousness and impurities. He had named some of these vices-vices perhaps, to which the Ephesians were particularly addicted, and which are, alas! but too common in our own land. The solemn declaration with which he enforces his warnings, "For this ye know, that no whoremonger, nor unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God," may strike terror into the heart of many a hearer now, as it did into the souls of the profligates of Ephesus. It is probable, indeed, that libertines of this class, were held in no particular disesteem in that celebrated city; that their guilt was considered as affecting neither their integrity nor their principle; as the result rather of youthful excess or want of prudence, than of a depraved and vicious heart. It is for you to judge, my brethren, whether the same spirit does not too widely prevail at the present day; whether there are not too many