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whole range of science-it is material. not life; and therefore death, in this

You take up the mysterious body of man: let it be dissected; let its anatomy be displayed to us, its mysterious structure unfolded-it is only the science of mat

ter.

What is spirit? Tell me. We have treatises on the powers of the human mind; and we are told of perception, of intelligence, of volition, and of the various attributes that distinguish spirit from matter. What is spirit? Nobody can tell. The spirit! My spirit! Why, it is the seat of thought; it is the region of intelligence; it is the throne in which all affection is seated; it is the centre whence issues all that renders man agreeable to man. It is there that the Holy Ghost takes up his abode; it is there he pours forth his light; it is there he breathes his influence; it is there he exerts his power. And, my brethren, it is the spirit, after all, that constitutes the

man.

I have told you there is something excellent in the material combination even. But what gives to the eye its force, its beaming benevolence, its charming intelligence? What renders the eye the avenue to the mind? What constitutes the eye the opening through which a thousand delightful sensations pass to the mind? What is it that forms the ear to listen to the discourses of wisdom-to the tender, and impassioned, and cheering tones of friendship-to the full melody of music? What renders the heart instinct with kindness, that qualifies the hand to impart charity, or give the expression of friendliness? What animates and nerves the feet? What breathes, and glows, and lives in this portion of dust? It is the spirit; and that spirit shall very soon quit the body. Now, this is death. We have been told that philosophy, in its attempts to define every thing, has attempted to define death. It is the negation of life, or the privation of life. Why, this is no definition. The term "death" cannot be applied to any thing which has not had life. You never think of applying it to a stone, or any thing that is not animated. So far it is clear and distinct; nothing can die that has

sense, is the privation of life. But this is a very meagre definition after all.

What is death? It is the separation of the immortal spirit from the mortal part it is quitting the lodgment; it is loosening the silver cord; it is opening the door, and letting the inhabitant go out; it is spirit leaving matter, and going to the dust; the spirit is no longer there. The spirit was there; precious was that spirit in your esteem; beloved was that spirit by your spirit; you held with that spirit the most delightful intercourse. But now lift the napkin from the dead man's face; now gaze on that countenance. It is fixed, it is settled: no blood circulates there; no sensations thrill through those nerves; no soul beams in those eyes: it is matter. You might as well talk to a marble statue: a marble statue may be beautifully chiseled, but it speaks not. You might as well expect some return from the painted picture: the canvass seems to look and breathe; it is matter. So with the dead body; the spirit is gone: and then the question is, Where is it gone? Gone to God: the spirit is returned to God who gave it.

Oh, how full of thought is this representation! The spirit is returned to God, to account to God. It is a responsible spirit: it has to deal with God: God's eye is upon every step of its progress: God's ear is listening to every thought, and every word. Oh, my brethren, where shall I find language to express the tremendous responsibility of the soul that is thinking, and feeling, and purposing, and speaking, and acting in reference to that judgment? God will call me to account; and the moment the spirit has quitted the body it passes, perhaps, to a previous judgment. I am not now going into the question of an individual or general judg ment: certain it is that the destiny of each spirit is fixed at death, and that this is an anticipation of that eternal destiny. Therefore it is I wish you to conceive of the solemnity of the spirit passing into the immediate presence of God. The spirit returns to God; and then of course all hope of mercy terminates; the probation is at an end. The present is the

probationary state; and, as a probation- The olive-branch will never more be held

ary state, it is enriched with means of grace. God is employing here all those means which he hath devised to bring our spirits back. "God so loved the world as to give his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, but have everlasting life."

The whole economy of redemption is a display of God's love to our fallen spirits. God, who hath done all in the way of propitiation, is now doing all in the way of influence; his Spirit strives with men; his holy, his benevolent, his wise Spirit, meets the spirit of man in its downward progress, meets the spirit of man in its course to the bottomless pit, and strives with him, and reasons with him, and debates the matter with him. Now is the time for conviction; now is the time for contrition; now is the time for earnest heart-examination; now is the time for prayer; now the golden sceptre is extended; the vilest sinner may touch it and be reconciled. The rainbow of mercy appears; and, however dark the storm, the rainbow is there. Now is the precious opportunity-I may obtain mercy. This probation-time will make all the difference between hell and heaven-will make all the difference between an eternity without glory, and an eternal profundity of damnation. But when the spirit is gone, it is over with it; it goes to God just as it quits the body.

Do not tell me about any thing in the article of death. Remember, the soul is the seat of sin, and the seat of holiness: the soul has the character; it is not the body-it is not the dissolution of the earthly system that can alter the character of the soul: the soul carries its own character with it. If it has a darkened understanding, a corrupt imagination, a perverted judgment, a rebellious will, and unholy affections, it will go direct to God with all these. Awful! Awful! "He that is filthy, let him be filthy still he that is unjust, let him be unjust still." It is all over. The sounds of mercy will never break on the wailing, and the yelling, and the gnashing, of the bottomless pit. The mercy of the Lamb will be changed into the wrath of the Lamb!

out for the acceptance of the sinner! The soul will go to receive its doom.

But I pause-but I hesitate. I honestly tell you the subject is too affecting. There is the death of the soul, as well as the death of the body. The death of the body implies the absence of consciousness: and why? Because the spirit contains the consciousness. Consciousness cannot reside in the body, and therefore the death of the body implies the absence of consciousness. But the death of the soul does not imply the absence of consciousness. It is not annihilation: no-it is a perpetuity of existence; it is consciousness rendered the source, the element, of unutterable agony. It is consciousness that fixes the eternal destruction of that individual. It is not the absence of feeling: it is the feeling of God's wrath, a feeling of absolute despair, a feeling of all that is horrible in that condition, which is the death of the soul. That soul will live to bear the wrath of the Lamb, to feel the corrosions of the deathless worm-live to endure all that mysterious punishment which is reserved for those that will not have Christ to reign over them. When you gaze on a dead body, think on the departed soul.

But, oh, how consolatory is the thought! If the spirit has been justified, regenerated, and sanctified, it will return to the eternal fruition of God in heaven-return to be for ever happy. It will be a dissolution from that body of corruption which has been a clog, a weight, a hinderance. How little we know of the disembodied spirit! How little do we know of the susceptibilities of the spirit that has emerged from this world! We have often followed in thought the flight of the spirit. But we feel that

"The dead are like the stars by day,
Withdrawn from mortal eye;
But, not extinct, they hold their way
In glory through the sky.
Spirits from bondage thus set free
Vanish amidst immensity."

They are in glory, they are with Christ; they are separated for ever from all the temptations and trials of this mortal

scene. The journeying spirit returns; | the right to do it, had I the authority to he arrives at home. Yes, after the toil, do it-if I were to summon any one in and peril, and fatigues of his journey- this congregation who durst do it, to rise for here he is a pilgrim-after the toil of and say, before God and this assembly, his journey he enters his Father's house, "I am sure I shall not die to-night"-is he takes his seat at the table; universal there one that would do it? Is there one joy circulates through the happy family: that durst do it? There is not-I am sure there is not: there is not one of all "Mortals cry, 'A man is dead!' these hundreds, there is not one of all these thousands, that dares say, before God, "I shall not die to-night." Oh, then, may we be prepared! Oh, prepare-(may God speak it home to your hearts!)-prepare to meet thy God!

Angels sing, 'A child is born!
Born into the world above,

They our happy brother greet,
Bear him to the throne of love,

Place him at the Saviour's feet."

Lord from henceforth: yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them."

AIM AT PROFITING ALL

Yes, it is the soldier, the hardy vete-Blessed are the dead that die in the ran, who has endured the fatigues of successive campaigns, who has worn his armour constantly, and used his sword manfully, and kept the shield of his faith steadfastly, and finished his course gloriously. It is the triumphant soldier stepping on the neck of his last enemy, and shouting as he rises, "O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?" He returns to God; he lays by his sword; he takes the victorious palm, and waves it before the throne; he takes off his armour, he unbuckles his breastplate, he removes his helmet, he lays aside his shield: God clothes him with a robe of salvation, and he walks with those who are before the throne.

Yes, it is the weather-beaten mariner: he has endured many hardships, many dangers now at length he has weathered every storm; he is now entering the port, no more to be dashed on the surface of the troublous ocean, no more to feel the surges beat against him. Angels welcome him; he lands on the shores of immortality to be for ever with Jesus. It is the spirit returning to God.

Oh, my brethren, why do we trifle with eternity? Why will you thus put from you everlasting life? "Then"("Then!" Oh, there is a mystery in that

word!

When will it come to me?) “Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was." Lord, when? God will not tell you when. Very soon, perhaps; perhaps very suddenly. And if I were to look on this congregation, and had I

I REMEMBER Some years ago to have heard a young minister, who was settled in a small obscure town, preach a sermon at an association meeting, which was richly adorned with the graces of finished composition. He was afterwards asked by a senior brother whether he preached such sermons at home; and having answered in the affirmative, “ And how many of your people," it was said,

do you think can understand you?" "About five or six," he replied. The avowal produced, as might be expected, among men of piety and experience, a mixed emotion of grief and indignation. Nor can we conceive of a more gross and revolting inconsistency than that of a Christian pastor and teacher pleasing himself, and a few fond admirers, by picking flowers and weaving pretty garlands, when the sheep of his flock are watched and fed. What! will a man ready to perish for want of being properly who has assumed an office of deep and strength, and his ingenuity in courting the awful responsibility spend his time, his muses, and canvassing for literary honours, when the souls of his charge are many of them rushing, unprepared, into eternity! O shameful prostitution of the noblest function!-Con. Mag. 1826

SERMON XXIV.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE LOVE OF CHRIST.

CHARGE DELIVERED TO THE REV. JOHN REID, OF GLASGOW, ON HIS ORDINATION

AS A MISSIONARY,

BY THE REV. DR. WARDLAW,

OF GLASGOW.

MY DEAR YOUNG FRIEND, You have this evening been set apart to the most responsible duty which can devolve upon you. We trust the divine presence has been with us now; and, in answer to our united prayers, we hope his blessed presence will be with you. You may well say, as did Moses of old, "If thy presence go not with me, let me not go hence." The work to which you have devoted yourself requires the exertion of all your mental and intellectual, of all your moral and spiritual powers. It is one from which an angel might shrink, and yet one, the duties of which may, through the divine agency, all be performed. You may confidently rest assured that though impotent in yourself, you shall yet be mighty through God.

On such a subject the field is so ample, and the variety so great, that there is some difficulty in fixing. There is one topic, however, very appropriate, and which will, I trust, be in full harmony with the feelings of your own mind-I mean that which is contained in the words of the apostle Paul, when assigning a reason for the zeal and perseverance of himself and his colleagues in the work of the ministry, he says, "For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead; and that he died for all, that those which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which VOL. I.-29

died for them, and rose again." (1 Cor. v. 14, 15.)

"THE LOVE OF CHRIST CONSTRAINETH us!" Deeply did this ambassador for Christ feel this motive! To him to live was Christ; and he had no wish to live another hour but as this was the case. His one desire was that Christ might be magnified both in his life and in his death.

What I now wish to impress on your mind is this: THE INDISPENSABLE NECESSITY OF Love to Christ in ORDER TO A FAITHFUL DISCHARGE OF THE DUTIES THAT DEVOLVE UPON YOU. The love of Christ-love to the divine Saviour in all the characters in which the gospel reveals him-love to him for all he is, for all he has done, for all he has promised; this love belongs to every Christian. This is most plainly taught in such passages as these, "He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me he that loveth his own life more than me is not worthy of me." "Grace be with all that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity." any man love not the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema maranatha." Master whom you serve is pleased with no service but that which springs from love. It is not, however, to this love to Christ, in general, that I would now call your attention, but to that which is peculiar to the office of the Christian ministry which you have now taken upon you.

225

"If

The

Without love to Christ, all its services | glorious in your eyes, and you will do are worse than worthless; disgusting as all you can to make him glorious in the the zealous professions of a hollow friend- eyes of others. ship, and incongruous as the outward whitening of a sepulchre full of rottenness. This love to Christ is important on a variety of accounts.

I rejoice in the great progress you have made in those literary qualifications which will enable you to interpret the word of God: not that these will do alone; if you would interpret that word with success, you must have this sacred

word delighteth to honour. The genius of different dispensations, the gradual unfoldings of the divine mind, the relation which one part of truth bears to another, the connexion between the privileges and duties of the gospel, the grand design of the Holy Spirit in the entire communica

regarded, and will become, as it were, a facility to you in translating the Scriptures into any new language. In this

with whom you are now associated have spent much of their time in preparing the instrument they have met with much success ;-may you, my dear young friend, meet with the same success in using it!

I. THIS WILL RENDER STUDY PLEASANT. Your sentiments and habits show that you consider study as necessary to a mission-stimulus of love, love to Him whom that ary in India as to a minister in Britain. The great object of study is the word of God; all else is valuable only as it enables you to explain and understand this. Of this word Christ is the chief subject, the sum, and the substance. This is like a golden thread running throughout the whole of revelation. Now, love to Christ | tions of his will; all these must be duly will lead you to trace out this thread in all its various parts. Let me not be mistaken: I mean not to recommend that poor, though well-intended mode of inter-department of labour the men of God pretation which finds Christ in every page and in every line of Scripture; this argues weakness rather than love. I would allow no rule of interpretation but that which leads to ascertain what is the mind and will of the Spirit, and which will not allow to go beyond it. And II. LOVE TO CHRIST WILL ENDEAR TO especially as a translator of the Scriptures YOU THE MEMBERS OF HIS FLOCK.-You into foreign languages this must be borne cannot love Christ without loving his in mind by you; you must make your people. All these are the purchase of translation say what the Spirit of God his agonies, the objects of his dying love, says in the old language. To preach the and they are all precious in his sight, truth is to set forth the mind of Christ; He has shown his love to them by the and you must have a general and correct price which he gave for them:-"I am acquaintance with the whole, in order the good shepherd: the good shepherd that you may properly explain any part. giveth his life for the sheep." "How You will do this with delight when you think ye? If a man have an hundred love him whose name has become to your sheep, and one of them be gone astray, own soul "as ointment poured forth." doth he not leave the ninety and nine, and Wherever the word does admit of it, you goeth into the mountains, and seeketh will be delighted to find Christ; and even that which is gone astray? And if so be the most distant glimpse of him will give that he find it, verily I say unto you, any part of it deep interest. The histo- he rejoiceth more of that sheep, than of ries, the institutions, the doctrines, the the ninety and nine which went not precepts, the promises, the predictions of astray." Love to Christ will make you the word, will all have a zest in propor-earnest in your endeavours to contribute tion as you find them have reference to him; as they speak of his coming, as they explain his truth, as they illustrate his salvation, as they reveal his glory. If you love Jesus Christ, all that relates to him will have a charm: he will be

to the joy of the good Shepherd in the recovery of those that are lost. You will constantly bear in mind, that every member of his flock, however lightly esteemed by some, is redeemed, not with "corruptible things, such as silver and gold, but

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