of these pages so to set forth the teaching of the Church in each successive service, that every member of the Church may find in it a sermon addressed to himself. In doing this, the writings of the most eminent Divines of our Church have of course been consulted, and their doctrine strictly adhered to. It now only remains for the Editor to suggest that every part of the service for the day should be always carefully studied by teachers and young persons previously to using the following chapters; and to add, that if they are the means of bringing any fellow member into church with a mind more prepared to profit by the instruction provided for him there, the object in writing them will have been fully answered. W. F. Hook. LEEDS, 1ST DECR., 1847. THE CHRISTIAN TAUGHT, &c. Advent Sunday. Epistle, Rom. xiii. 8. Morning Lesson, Isa. i. WE were baptized into Christ's Church that we might be made inheritors of the kingdom of heaven; God mercifully placed us in the ark of His Church that in it we might be trained and prepared for the kingdom of God. It is, therefore, the object of the Church to set before us in order, out of Holy Scripture, the great truths which concern our salvation; and it is this office which she fulfils in the course of her yearly services. From Advent to Trinity she sets before us the great work of our redemption through our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. This period, which is called the doctrinal part of the year, is devoted to commemorate, by fast and festival, the several passages of His most holy life. Each of these His glorious actions, which we thus remember, is made to teach us some lesson or duty which may be carried out by each one of us in our daily lives. Particular portions of Scripture are selected to help our meditations at these seasons, and proper prayers are chosen to assist our devotions. Thus by little and little is every part of Holy Scripture brought before us for our learning, and Christ's members are taught to be holy, even as He Which hath called them is holy. The present season of Advent, with which the Church opens her year, proclaims the approach of our Lord Jesus Christ. The very name, (which signifies coming,) speaks to us of the two comings of our Blessed Saviour,-the first, in mercy to save, the second, in terror to judge. By thus having the two Advents of our Lord placed before us at the same time, we are both warned and encouraged; while with awe and trembling we look forward to the awful day of our Lord's coming to judgment, we are taught, that if we learn to love and obey Him as our Saviour, we shall be prepared to meet Him as our Judge. The terrors of the Lord are brought before us this day in many ways. The epistle rouses us from our sleep of sin and sloth, telling us that "the day of the Lord is at hand;"* that "our salvation is nearer than when we believed; that is, we are every hour making a nearer approach to that final day, to prepare son. us for which is the peculiar office of this seaEach evening finds us one day nearer to it than the preceding one left us,-each Advent brings us one year closer to the coming of our Lord. In the gospel for this day, the awful moment is brought before us by type and figure,--in the lessons by more direct prophecy. Christ's solemn entry into Jerusalem leads our minds onwards to the awful day when He shall come again to visit His Church. He then came "in great humility"* "riding upon an ass, and upon a colt, the foal of an ass ;"+ but at the last day He shall come again "in His glorious majesty" "riding upon the wings of the wind." (Psa. xviii. 10.) Then He "came suddenly" (Mal. iii. 1) to His temple, to cast out from thence the profaners of the holy place. At the last day He will come at a time when we look not for Him, and at an hour when we are not aware, to cast out from His heavenly kingdom, all things that offend, and all that work iniquity. (St. Matt. xiii. 41.) Still more clearly does the prophet Isaiah speak to us of Christ's second Advent. He, of all the other prophets, is the one whom God chose to teach His people Israel, of the coming and kingdom of the Messiah. His writings may, therefore, be considered as addressed to Christians no less than to Jews, and are appointed to be read at this season, to prepare the Christian Church for the coming of her Lord. The lesson this morning opens with a loud call to repentance. The heavens and the earth are aroused to listen and give ear while * Collect. + Gospel, verse 5; + verse 12. Morning Lesson, verse 2. the Lord pleads with His people, setting before them their sins and His mercies. To awaken us still more effectually, the evening lesson brings before us as in a picture the terrible day of the Lord of hosts, when men shall "hide themselves in the holes of the rocks, and in the caves of the earth, for fear of the Lord, and for the glory of His majesty.* But if one part of this day's services would thus lead us to cry out with fear, "Who may abide the day of the Lord, and who may stand when He appeareth?"--the other reminds us that Christ has "come into the world to save sinners." If Isaiah speaks to us of the kingdom of glory, he speaks to us also of the kingdom of grace, which is to prepare us for it. To establish this kingdom and to draw men into it then it was, that "our Lord Jesus Christ came at this time to visit us in great humility. In His Blood it is that we are washed and made clean, and in His house that we are taught His ways and made to follow His paths.‡ 66 Let us then "arise and walk in the light of the Lord." To enter into the full force of this expression, we must turn to the collect and epistle for the day. The latter teaches us how Christians who would be prepared to meet their God, must now cast off the works of darkness," and put on the armour of light; and the former prays for grace to do so. The word "darkness" is used in Scripture to represent that state of ignorance and wickedness which prevailed in the world before the coming of Christ, (Isa. ix. 2; Eph. v. 8.) and in which * Even. Less. verses 19-22. † Morn. Less. verse 16. Collect. Even. Less. verse 3; verse 5. |