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shall talk with him; we might hope, we might rely, that the rising generation would correct their own ill tempers amidst a diseased and a fallen world-that the moral pestilence which walketh at noon-day, would fall in vain upon the breast that is fortified with the antidote of a pure and salutary joy; the simplicity of Christian practice, founded on the singleness of Scripture principle, would foil and confound the tempter Satan, and might perhaps arrest, impress, and convert the tempter man. One who had been thus early initiated into the fear of God-I allude to the chaste and pious Joseph-was thus preserved from one of the most subtle and seducing snares that ever was laid for human virtue ; but the very simplicity and singleness of heart of which I speak, was itself a buckler of truth, an impenetrable shield: "How can I do this great wickedness," he asks, “and sin against God?" The fearful idea of transgressing wilfully and presumptuously against God, with his eyes open, and his heart conscious of the sin, does not seem to have entered his mind as a possible thing. To harbour a wicked intention, knowing it to be such, was to him a moral contradiction it was as far from his thoughts as uncovering his bosom to the envenomed arrow: it was opposed to all his early habits, and views, and principles. And wherefore was this, but because-unknown, perhaps, to himself he had early made his choice, and firmly adhered to it; he had formed his decision in childhood, and acted upon it in youth: and this was the object of his choice, and this the decision of his will-(O may it also be yours!) "Thou art my portion, O Lord; I have said that I have chosen the way of truth; thy judgments have I laid before me."

But now, my dear young friends, take heed: there is a third thing necessary, that you may safely choose the way of truth; that it may be your comfort and ornament while you live-your support, your confidence, and your triumph when you die. O do not neglect this; for though we name it last, it does in reality come first; although you may not, at the beginning, be quite distinctly conscious of it; but you would be sure to see it when you look back. Every one has seen it who has entered through the portal of Christ Jesus into the kingdom of Christ, opened by him for all believers. Every one has seen it; I can answer, all confess it. They all ascribe salvation, not to their own efforts or exertions, but to Him who sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb. I will express this to you in the words of the wisest man who ever lived: "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not to thine own understanding; in all thy ways acknowledge him, and he will direct thy paths." It is, then, a continual dependence upon the help of God, as promised for the sake of Christ, and conveyed by the influence of the Holy Spirit; and not only a continual dependence upon it, but a constant expectation of it; and not only a constant expectation of it, but an earnest and frequent entreaty for it. And here, to learn a lesson from our earthly parents, do you not in common things, when you are uncertain how to act, when you cannot determine for yourselves what is prudent or what is right, do you not go to the father for direction, and repair to the mother for advice? Do you not, if you meet with unkindness or misconstruction, seek a refuge for your trouble in that true and fond bosom, which is never cold against the child of his love? Do you not, when languor steals over you, or sickness seizes upon you, if the head swim with strange dizziness, and the limbs tremble beneath their load, if the flesh be torn, or the limbs be bruised, or the nerves

unstrung-do you not seek at once for relief and remedy at the mother's prompt and practised hand? Just so should God be a refuge and strength, a very present help in every trouble that presses on the soul, a guide in every uncertainty, a shield in every distress, a strength for every weakness, and a balm for every wound. Just so, if the ungodly would mislead you, or the unthinking would pervert you, or the despiteful would persecute you, or the unkind would wound you, or the injurious would wrong you, just so should you fly from them to God and you have not far to fly; for he is ever near, ever ready to help he sees you cannot help yourselves; and he will either temper trial, or nerve you to endure it, or strengthen you to overcome it. Remember what Christ has promised his people—" Lo I am with you always:" and if any do not feel he is with them, it is only because they are not sufficiently concerned to be one with him. The youngest and least accounted of in the spiritual church (of man I mean) is just as much a member of Christ, as the saint, full of years and ripe for glory. And as the hair cannot, of its own impulse, separate itself from the head, nor the branch detach itself from the vine, so neither can the life of the little ones who are indeed joined to Christ by faith, ever be separated from him.

Accustom yourselves, therefore-if indeed you have chosen the way of truth, and are determined to abide by the choice, which will surely lead you to life eternal in the end-accustom yourselves to expect, and to look for, and to realize, the constant presence of Christ. Remember that he is the way, as well as the truth and the life; and therefore he has said, "No man cometh to the Father but by me." Now if when first you feel the evil purpose gathering and rankling within, if when first you feel the unruly temper rising, or the forbidden desire kindling, or the allotted task and the required duty becoming more difficult and more irksome than it was wont, if you would go at once to a solitary place to seek Christ—or if that cannot be done, if you would lift up your hearts to him in the presence of the objects or the persons who are tempting you to do wrong, or restraining you from doing right—if you would but whisper (for effectual prayer is oftentimes a very short prayer)" Lord guide me, for I am now in danger of going astray; Lord strengthen me, for I am now sore oppressed with enemies; Lord now preserve the meanest of thy members; Lord now watch over the feeblest of thy sheep; Lord now lay thy judgments before my soul, and enable me to keep them, that I may not lose life eternal ;"-then who can doubt, that He who is ever true to his promise, ever steadfast in his love, would be present by his Spirit at the voice of your cry; that he would cause you not to be overcome of evil, but enable you to overcome evil with good; that he would keep you firm in the way of truth which you have chosen, and in choosing which you have chosen Him who has brought life and immortality to light, and will share its glories through eternity with you.

Now I have addressed you thus far, my young friends, either as those who have chosen "the way of truth," or are willing and desirous to choose it. But there may, I am well aware, be some here present, who have not yet made up their minds; who see in the world so much of what is pleasing to attract them, so much of what is amusing to divert them, and so much of what is trifling to engage them, and so much (they will say) of what is necessary and useful, as regards the present life, to occupy them, that they have not yet made up their minds to

choose 66 the way of truth" but if I were to ask them whether they have not yet made up their minds to choose the end of life and immortality, rather than destruction and despair, they would consider that the madness was mine instead of looking for it in themselves. "What," they would reply, if they thought it necessary to return any answer to such a question—“What, and is it possible that any one should not desire to obtain eternal happiness? Where can I seek an enduring home but in heaven? With whom can I wish to spend an endless eternity if not with God the Judge of all, and Jesus the Mediator of the New Covenant, and angels and ministers of divine love, and the spirits of just men made perfect, who are yet more lovely, and yet more glorious, than they?" Thus answering, they shew that they have chosen the better part, if the end only were concerned; for it would be madness to choose otherwise. But then, we must say to them, that if they would attain the end of peace, they must choose "the way of truth;" and if they are still unsettled and undecided as to this only important point, O let them do as the Psalmist did, and lay before them the judgments of God. The threatenings of that righteous Judge, so threatening, so appalling, shall they not be executed? The promises of that gracious Father, so great and precious, shall they not be fulfilled? Where are we to seek his promises, but in the way of his commandments? And when are we to dread his threatenings, but when we are walking in our own way ?-our own way, a way of lying through life-for it is full of false principles, and deceitful pleasures, and evil practices; a way of lying in death, if it hides from the unawakened eye the terrors of an angry God, of a slighted Saviour, of a resisted Spirit, of an impending and inevitable condemnation. O then, depart not from this sacred place without an earnest prayer, each of you, for himself or for herself "Lord remove far from me the way of lying, and enable me to choose the way of truth." Let not the warning which you have this day received, add one to the list (already too long) of those which some of you, perhaps, though so young, have in time past heard in vain. Let not wisdom call whilst you refuse, and stretch out her hand while you pay no regard. Let not the Word of God speak to you in vain, when it speaks tenderly as to children. Let not Christ extend in vain the arms of his mercy, while you turn away coldly and carelessly from his embraces. "Now is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation." Let the spring-time of life be the seed-time of the soul. Now is the season to choose your way, as in so doing you would choose your end. "The path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." While God reigns, and Christ lives, and the Spirit pleads with flesh, "the way of truth" shall ever terminate in the end of peace. "Who shall separate us from the love of God?" asks the Apostle; and who shall separate you if you begin now? Not life-for to live will be Christ; not death-for to die will be gain. While you live you will live unto the Lord, and when you die, you will die unto the Lord: so that whatever may be God's will concerning you in the year on which we now enter, living or dying you shall be the Lord's.

May God in his mercy enable you all, my dear young friends, to choose this day "the way of truth;" or, if you have already chosen it, may he confirm you in the choice, and convince you, like Mary, you have chosen "the good part which shall never be taken from you."

But O, YE PARENTS AND HEADS OF FAMILIES, who are what are called Christians, O bethink you of your own solemn and weighty responsibility in regard to the dearest interests of your immortal charge, of whom you know well, that they can only obtain salvation by choosing "the way of truth;" but to whom you will be the most grievous offence, the most formidable and fatal impediment, if you have not chosen it for yourselves. How can any say without a pang of the heart, even without a blush of the cheek, "Come ye children hearken unto me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord;" who show but too plainly by their conduct, that they have never learnt it for themselves. What is such practical inconsistency of the parent, but a millstone around the neck of the child, which may drag it down to the depths of destruction? How can any exhibit God as gracious, who have not tasted of his grace? How can any represent Christ as precious, who have not partaken of his love? How can any trace the work of the Spirit in the hearts of others who have never been conscious of it in their own? You know that the eye of the child turns instinctively to the parent as the visible representative of God; are you then careful to shadow forth the moral attributes of the divine nature-justice, and holiness, and mercy, and love, in your conduct towards those to whom in a certain sense, you are what Moses was to Aaron, in the place of God? O, my Christian friends, there are,we acknowledge, unnumbered and unmeasured motives in the excellency of the way itself-in the loveliness of Him who hath opened it for us, and preceded us in it—in the glories which are brightening at its close, to lead you to choose, and to choose unalterably, "the way of truth." You desire and love heaven, and therefore choose it: you desire to die hopefully, and therefore choose it. But though these be the strongest arguments-for nought can be given in exchange for the soul-we would entreat you on this special occasion, to choose it, not only for your own, but your children's sake. Shall they receive everything from you, except the one thing needful? Shall they learn everything from you, except the way of salvation? Shall they expect every enjoyment at your hand, but that which is the purest and the best? Will you leave them unprovided with the only wealth that is incorruptible, and the only treasure that shall abide? Shall the father and the mother forsake them in the path of life, and cast them out to perish in the wilderness of this world, except the Lord had taken them up? O that you may be concerned to spare yourselves and them the inexpressibly bitter pang which must ensue when those are separated at the gate of heaven who have been companions through the wilderness of life; and still more that pang-of which it were a mockery to make mention of the woe in terms which human language can employ-when both, consigned to the place of punishment, shall wish with unavailing anguish that they never had been born: but they will wish that they never had been born of you; and the terrors of hell, the weeping and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, will be multiplied ten-fold by the bitter upbraidings-"It was thou my father, it was thou my mother, whose example and interest brought me to this: and now I am shut up for ever where the worm cannot die, and where the fire is not quenched."

O that the judgments of God, thus faithfully laid before you, might compel every one who now hears me, to choose for himself, or for herself, the " "way of truth." And such would be the result if every parent, or head of a Christian

family, would depart hence with the solemn conviction, “And I, too, must be to my children in the place of God: I must represent Him to them, if I would prepare them for Him. My watchfulness, my tenderness, my solicitude, my selfdenial, my travailing with them in birth again till Christ be formed in them, must be to them an emblem of the care with which Christ watches over them, and the tenderness with which Christ regards them, and the love which Christ displayed in the price at which he ransomed them, and of the holiness which Christ demands, and the service which he requires from them. I cannot lead them to the throne of grace, and remain myself afar off: I must go with them; if I would that they should go with me. I cannot plead with them to choose "the way of truth," till I have removed the way of lying from myself. If our counsel is to profit, we must take it together; and if we would be planted in the courts of our God, we must go to the house of God in company. There must be one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one fellowship of holiness, one brotherhood of love, the unity of the Spirit which is the bond of peace. Thus, and thus only, can I hope, that when the earthly house of this tabernacle is dissolved, I shall inherit with them a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens; and present myself before the judgment-seat, with the living evidences of duty performed, and of talents improved;-" Behold I, Lord, and the children whom thou hast given me."

And now, my dear young friends, before you quit this place, take with you a last lesson of solemn warning; one which shall appeal to your senses: may it find through them the avenue to the heart. You observe the symbols of mourning in which this pulpit is arrayed. They are placed there as a memorial of respect to one whom we have very lately attended to his last long restingplace; one who had attained man's utmost limit of four-score years, and who had walked for many of those years in "the way of truth." He was one of whom those who knew him best bare witness that he had kept innocency, and taken heed to the things that were right; though his own humility was continually deploring that he had not known God sooner, nor served Christ better. For he looked back, and (incredible as you may think it) four-score years to him was but as a dream; for he acknowledged in my hearing, that the words of the patriarch were but too fully his own: "Few and evil have been the days of the years of my pilgrimage;" evil, though not unprosperous; few, though verging on four-score. But now he hath passed away, and he is gone. was worshipping among us on the last occasion of this special service; but he is now, we trust, adoring with the spirits of the just made perfect. His body is deposited in the dark and gloomy vault; but we doubt not his soul is with his God and his Saviour, in whose blood alone he trusted to cleanse him from all sin. May we thus die the death of the righteous, and may our last end be like his!

He

"But where," you will perhaps ask, "where is the especial lesson for us? He came to the grave full of years, as a shock of corn cometh in its season. His was no hand-breadth of life, swifter than a shuttle, and shorter than a span." No; but he is not the only one now in the sepulchre, who on this day last year, was, as you are, in the sanctuary. The scythe of the great reaper, Death, mows down the blade and the ear, as well as the full corn in the ear. There are others who have passed into the world of spirits, not only in the first

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