say, how long I have to live. The compass of the night concludes your earthly race. How short the warning, and with what hasty stepts the dread destroyer advances to stop my breath! But is there no way to appease him, and engage him to hold his hand? Will he not be persuaded? He makes no agreement nor league with any. Will not pity excite him. or petitions move him? He knows no pity, and he hears no prayers. Will not my riches bribe him ? Riches are unavailable in the hour of death; nor will mountains of gold delay the awful stroke one moment. But how many wretched creatures are there, who would be glad of his friendly aid to destroy a loathed existance? Why then should he attack one who had such vast prospects of pleasure and delight before him, and gloried in the expectation of many happy years to come? He acts according to his commission from above, and the awful stroke no mortal can escape or evade a moment. Then all is over! let me think who shall be my heir. But reason failed; and, before that important point could be settled, the poor deluded mortal expired. And now, instead of a long succession of sensual delights, an awful eternity presents itself to view, and the poor soul is terrified and plunged into the depths of despair and horror, at the prospect of judgment to come. A dark night of horror, in an instant overwhelms that soul, which had promised itself so much ease and pleasure; and, instead of eating, drinking, and making merry; instead of gay scenes of dissipation, and a variety of sensual delights; eternal tortures, unspeakable thirst, weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, must be the portion of this miserable being to all eternity.

"So is he," added our great Redeemer, "that laying up treasure for himself, and is not rich towards God." Thus shall he be taken away from all that his soul desireth; thus shall he be torn from all his temporal prospects and pleasures; none of his beloved enjoyments shall follow him; naked as he came shall he depart out of the world; nor could all his riches, could he take them with him, be able to procure the least comfort or respite in this world of horrors. How should this reflection awake us from our pleasing dreams of comfort and happiness, in this world of misery, this vale of tears: how should it convince us of the uncertainty of all sublunary good, and the utter impossibility of the things of this world to satisfy the soul, ог make us truly happy : how should it alarm us, when, planning fancied schemes of worldly pleasure or advantage, without the least consideration of the great Disposer of all events: how should it reconcile us to the disposal of infinite Wisdom, when our portion of temporal things is small and scanty; and we are surrounded with difficulties and troubles without the assistance of the great King of the universe, all our promises of security are vain and foolish; he can render all our Jabours abortive; and the richest and most opulent persons, when they think themselves secure, and are planning schemes of pleasure and gratification, may in a moment, be stripped of all their possessions, and torn from all their comforts; when the soul, naked and defenceless, and clothed in all it's guilt, will enter into an awful eternity, and be brought, trembling and astonished, to the throne of it's offended Maker.

Our blessed Saviour, having delivered this awakening parable, proceeded to apply it to his disciples; and from hence took occasion to warn them of an ever-solicitous care, concern, and desire after the things of this world. He rather advised them to trust in God, whose fatherly care extends itself over all his creatures: the fowls of heaven are fed by his bounty, and the lilies are clothed in brighter hues, and more glorious raiment than the greatest monarch. If, therefore, argued the blessed Jesus, the great Governor of all things so carefully provides for the inferior part of his creation; if he feeds the ravens and clothes the lilies; surely the children of men have the greatest reason to depend on his all-preserving, and allsupporting goodness; especially those who have well grounded hopes, that

ing in the other; When ye see a cloud rise out of the West, straightway ye say, there cometh a shower; and so it is. And when ye see the south wind blow, ye say, There will be heat; and it cometh to pass. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it ye do not discern this time ?

But he proceeded to let them know that their blindness, obstinacy, and rebellion, should be severely punished, and that he would come in as unexpected a manner, as a thief in the night; he therefore exorted them to a speedy reformation, telling them that they ought to consider well what way their peace was to be expected, and diligently attend to those things which would preserve them from the consequences of their rebellion. When thou goest with thine adversary to the magistrate, as thou art in the way, give diligence that thou mayest be delivered from him; lest he hale thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and the officer cast thee into prison; I tell thee thou shalt not depart thence, till thou hast paid the very last mite.

ces

Some of his hearers thought proper to confirm this doctrine, by giving what they thought an example of it; There were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices s; thinking that these persons had been guilty of some extraordinary crime for which Providence had permitted this dreadful punishe ment to befall them, but our blessed Saviour expressly told them, that they were mistaken in this conclusion, for this deplorable calamity was no indication that these Galileans were greater sinners than their countrymen. At the same time he exorted them to improve such instances of calamity and misery, as incitements to their own repentance, assuring them that if they neglected so just and necessary a work, they should all perish: And Jesus answering, said unto them, Suppose ye that these GalIleans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, Nay; but, except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish."

He further illustrated this doctrine, by remarking, that this way of interpreting the dispensations of providence, would lead them to erroneous conclusions, whenever they heard of unexpected and dreadful evils falling on the sons of men; and instanced the case of the eighteen persons on whom the tower of Siloam fell, and crushed them to pieces: "Or," said he," those eighteen upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, Nay :

but except you repent, ye shall all likewise perish." Our Lord also endeavered to rouse them to the consideration n of their state, by the parable of the fig-tree, which the master of the vineyard, after finding it three years barren, ordered to be destroyed, but at the earnest request of the dresser of the vineyard, it was spared one year longer: "A certain man," said he, "had a fig-tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. Then said he unto the dresser of the vineyard, Behold these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig-tree, and find none; cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground ? And he answering, said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I dig about it, and dung it; and if it bear fruit, well; and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down."

By this parable, our Lord represented the goodness and forbearance of his Almighty Father, manifested towards the Jewish nation, where his Son had now been about three years, preaching the kingdom of God; and though they might be justly destroyed for their obstinacy and perverseness, yet the awful stroke was delayed, and space was given them for repentance; but he gave them strong intimations, in this parable, that if they hey persisted they must expect that vengeance will not always sleep, but after all the divine forbearance had been abused, would awake to their udden and dreadful destruction,

When our Lord was teaching teach in one of the synagogues in Perea, on the Sabbath-day, he observed a woman, who for the space of eighteen years, had not been able to stand upright. A person labouring under so dreadful a disorder, could not fail of exciting the compassion of the benevolent Saviour of sinners, he beheld this affecting object of pity, and he removed her complaint; she came to the synagogue bowed down to the ground with an infirmity; returned to her house upright, being by the all-powerful Son of God restored to perfect health.

This benevolent action, which surely deserved the thanks of the whole congregation, so highly offended the master of the synagogue, that he openly testified his displeasure, and reproved the people, and represented them as Sabbath-breakers, because they came that day to be healed: **There are six days," said this surly self-conceited ruler to the people, " in which men ought to work; in them therefore come and be healed, and not on the Sabbath-day.”

But our Lord soon silenced this self-conceited Pharisee, by observing that he had not deviated from their own avowed practice; they made no scruple of loosing their cattle, & leading them to the water on the Sabbathday, because the mercy of the action sufficiently justified them for performing it; and surely his action of loosing by a single word, a woman, a rational creature, a daughter of Abraham, who had been bound by an incurable distemper the tedious space of eighteen years was abundantly justified; nor could this bigotted ruler have thought otherwise had not his reason been blinded by his superstition. Such was the sentiment of the Son of God, who answered him with this severe rebuke, thou hypocrite, doth not each one of you on the Sabbath, loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to water watering? And ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound, lo, these eighteen years, be loosed from her bond on the Sabbath-day? And when he had said these things all his adversaries were ashamed and all the people rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.

From this instance we remark the evil effects of superstition, and a bigotted attachment to custom and ceremonies, which have no foundation in reason nor the revealed will of God; these pernicious principles oppose the use of the faculties, root compassion out of the heart, and destroy the feelings of humanity.

Our Lord having silenced the proud ruler of the synagogue, and received the acclamations and applauses of the people, he reflected with pleasure on the truth, reason, and divine power from above, which supports his kingdom; and on this occasion, he repeated the parables of the guain of mustard- seed, and the leaven, to shew the future success of the gospel, and the power and influence on the hearts and lives of men and it's rapid progress through the world, notwithstanding the opposition of the great men of the earth, and the fury of the unthinking multitude.

Our Lord having thus sown the seeds of the gospel in the country of Perea, he crossed Jordan, and proceeded by slow and short stages towards Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in every village, and publishing the gladtidings of salvation to the inhabitants of the countries he passed through.

While he was thus prosecuting the great work of instructing mankind, one of the persons who accompanied him, inquired, Lord, are there few that be saved. Probably the person who proposed this question had heard our Lord describe the success of the gospel, by the parable of the mustard seed, and the leaven; and had no further views of the kingdom of the Messiah, than the setting up a temporal dominion. These notions were entertained by the Jews in general, and induced them to conclude, that CHRIST hereby meant no more than a temporal salvation. JESUS, to convince this curious inquirer, and the rest of the Jews, that he had no intention to erect a secular kingdom, answered his question in a spiritual

1

manner, by which he gave the Jews to understand, that very few of them would be partakers of the honour and happiness of his kingdom; and he exorted them to use their utmost efforts to know the truth, and to become members of the church and heirs of glory, by improving the means which were offered them; for the time will soon come, he assured them, when the means which they now enjoyed would be taken away, and they would perceive their state to be finally and irrevocably determined, and then, however earnestly they might desire such opportunities as they now enjoyed, they should not be able to attain them: "Strive" said he, "to enter in at the straight gate; for many, I say unto you shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the Master of the house is risen up, and hath shut the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he shall answer and say unto you, I know you not whence you are." This sentence our Lord informed them would be final, and not to be altered by their most earnest expostulations; "Then," added our great Redeemer, "shall ye begin to say, We have eaten and drank in thy presence, and thou hast laught in our streets. But he shall say, I tell you, I know you not whence you are depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye shall see Abraham, and Isase, and Jacob, and all the prophets, in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thrust out. And they shall come from the East, and from the West, and from the North, and from the South, and shall sit down at the right hand of God. And behold, there are last which shall be first, and there are first which shall be last."

Soon after our blessed Saviour had delivered these sentiments, some of the Pharisees thinking to intimidate him, and cause him to depart out of the country, came to him and pretended that Herod had a design against his life. It is not likely that Herod, who had suffered so much remorse on account of his having put John the Baptist to death, should so soon attempt the life of one whose works declared him to be a greater prophet; perhaps, that prince might wish Jesus to depart out of his territories, though he durst not use force against him; nor is it unlikely that the Phar isees were desirous of his departure out of the country, because his disciples tended to expose their hypocrisy, and lessen them in the opinion of the people. The answer which our great Redeemer made to this message is contained in the following words: "Go ye, and tell that Fox, Beheld, I cast out devils, and I do cures to-day, and to morrow, and the third day, I shall be perfected. Nevertheless, must walk to da to-day, and to-morrow, and the day following; for it cannot be, that a prophet perish out of Je rusalem."

Having returned this answer to the Pharisees, and considering the treat ment which the prophets had met with from the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and well knowing the wickedness of that unbelieving city, and their de signs against his life, he pathetically lamented their obstinacy and perverse ness, and terrible desolation which would soon overtake them for their sins; "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem" said he," which killest the prophets and stonest them that are sent unto thee; how often would I have gath ered thy children together, as a hen gathereth her brood under her wings, and ye would not Bebold your house is left unto you desolate; and verily I say unto you, Ye shall nat see me until the time come, when ye shalt say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."

One of the chief Pharisees, soon after our Lord had made this pathetic exclamation, invited him to his house to take a repast; JESUS well knew that this invitation did not proceed from hearty good will; but as he nes ver sbunned an opportunity of doing good, even to his most implacable enemies he thought fit to accept it. It was the Sabbath day and when he had entered the Pharisees house, a man was brought before him who was