perpetuate the memory of Jesus Christ had been sent them. Now what should there, in the very place where you your-our grief, beloved, be to see souls brought self cannot go? May I beg to press this upon the attention of Christians? How much more noble, how much more durable the monument would thus be after the decease of the individual, to have a man of God publishing Christ's salvation in the spot where, perhaps, that person was brought up-in poverty, perhaps, brought up; but who came to this great city, or went to other places, and God blessed him, and caused his riches to increase: how much better would it be to have a monument inscribing his name, and telling of deeds that few, perhaps, ever saw. But I pass on to notice, in the next place, that THE TEXT PRONOUNCES OUR PUNISHMENT IF WE DELAY. "If we tarry till the morning light, some mischief will befall us." I will not detain you, my beloved, long in proving a point which I believe you will all subscribe, that some mischief will certainly fall on the heads of those who, knowing their duty, do not fulfil it. It is not doubtful, it is not chimerical but it is plain, and certain, and awful. Yet I cannot suffer this opportunity to escape, brethren, without stirring up your minds by way of remembrance. Let me just therefore remark that the Scriptures assure us, if we delay, three things shall befall us: first, our eyes shall see the destruction of our kindred; secondly, our souls shall want the joys of God's salvation; and thirdly, our conduct shall receive the condemnation of Christ. If we delay this work our eyes shall see the destruction of our kindred. When our beloved Lord had used all efforts to evangelize Jerusalem, by preaching, by miracles, by residing amongst them, by various conversations, and yet, after all, their misery affected his heart; he could not look upon them without tears. Many times he wept in his prayers; but there are two scenes only recorded where he publicly wept: the one was at the grave of Lazarus, his dear friend; and the other was when he looked over Jerusalem, and saw the people perishing-people who had discarded the prophets that every hour to the brink of hell, and know that, if they die, they must fall therein, and to reflect that we have used no adequate means to succour and save their souls! Do you believe it, my brethren, that there are five millions of your own countrymen, who either have not the means to attend public worship-that is, there are not places of worship for them to attend-or else they are not in the habit of hearing the gospel at all? Do you believe that fact? If you do, I will tell you this: that, supposing thirty years to be the duration of one generation, then there are one hundred and sixty-six thou sand of your own countrymen dying withOut Christ every year; and there are four hundred and fifty of your own countrymen dying every day without the knowledge of Christ and his salvation! This is an appalling fact, my dear brethren; but can you look calmly and coldly on this, O ye that love Christ? Is it a matter of indifference that these individuals should pass into eternity, without any effort on your part to pluck them as brands from the burning? Esther felt when the decree was issued against her countrymen; and she sighed and mourned over it; and she said, "How can I endure to see the evil that shall come upon my people? How can I endure to see the destruction of my kindred ?" And cannot you say the same? There is, however, another point to consider. The evil that shall befall us shall be this-our souls shall want the joys of God's salvation. And tell me, my dear brethren, let your consciences speak to yourselves candidly this evening, what have you ever lost by obedience to Jesus Christ? Begin your calculation in his house this evening. When have you denied yourself any of the luxuries of life, and perhaps a few of its comforts! When have you unflinchingly taken up your cross in obedience to his commands? When have you made the greatest sacrifices to his cause, and endeavoured to follow out all his commands? I ask, Has he not repaid you with his "favour, which is better than life," and made your their own perils for them. And what was the consequence? A voice from heaven said, "Curse ye Meroz; curse ye bitterly the inhabitants of Meroz; because they came not to the help of the Lord, to the help of the Lord against the mighty." They were not opponents; but our Lord has stated precisely in the same terms-" He that is not with me is against me." Neutrality, beloved, is here quite impossible: we are one thing or the other; we are Christians, or we are enemies to Christ. cup overflow with spiritual blessings? | the camp; and their oppressed brethren Has he not? And when you have neg- might fight their own wars, and endure lected his cause, and put earth first and heaven last; when you have cherished the luxuries and comforts of life in your heart, instead of Christ's cause and his service; when you have put self above Christ, and held the salvation of your souls indifferent, thinking of your business, of your activity in life, or of your family, or of your neighbourhood, or of your honour-have not the chariot wheels of devotedness and duty dragged very heavily? Have you found communion with Christ so sweet then as formerly, when your first love burned on the altar of your heart? Have you not found the ordinances of God without that refreshment which you previously had? Have you not walked in darkness, and had no light? I put it thus, beloved, to your consciences, seriously and affectionately, this evening, whether that passage is not true" He that knoweth my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me; and I will love him, and my Father will love him; and we will come and make our abode with him." All our consciences testify, brethren, that this is true and therefore this mischief shall befall us-that, if we act not up to our convictions of the pressing duties which are claiming our attention in Christ's cause, our souls shall want the joys of God's salvation. Let us, therefore, see, brethren, that we live up to these privileges. And the apostle explains, in another case, the kind of punishment such individuals often receive: "Receiving in themselves the recompense of their error, which was meet." They "received in themselves the recompense of their error, which was meet." Can there be a greater punishment than to be given up to an indifferent, covetous, hardened state of mind? O, to have it said to a man, "Let him alone," must, of all the terrors which God can pour upon an individual on this side hell, be the worst. See it exemplified in Judas; see it exemplified in Saul; see it exemplified in Demas. Let us dread the brink of such a precipice, the approach to such a fearful state as this. "From all hardness of heart towards our suffering, miserable brethren, good Lord deliver us." Again: our conduct shall receive the condemnation of Christ. I refer now to the last day. That is so plainly spoken of, But, beloved, we hope better things of that it needs no illustration: "Inasmuch you, and things that accompany salvaas ye did it not to one of the least of tion, though we thus speak. Your very these, ye did it not to me." But I now presence here this evening intimates a advert to the state of mind which indiffer- contrary spirit. You have come, it is ence to Christ's cause brings; and to the true, with the earnest desire to hear what dishonour which even now it casts upon might be said, relative to the various God. The inhabitants of Meroz did not openings which are about to be made, or help the enemy; they did not oppose the which are making, or which are already enemy; but they stayed at home: while made, for the spread of the gospel of their brethren were engaged in war, and Jesus Christ. In many cases, perhaps, were going out against the enemy, they the want of the knowledge has been the quietly looked on. There was no oppo- result of the want of liberality on your sition, there was nothing directly oppo- part. The subject, perhaps, has not site in their conduct. No; they indiffer- been sufficiently presented before you, ently looked at the war; they neither and you have not therefore thought of it. sent supplies of money nor treasures into You are saying this evening, "Jesus, what shall I do to show how much I love thy charming name?" The text would, in the last place, suggest THE CONDUCT WHICH YOU OUGHT TO ADOPT UNDER PRESENT CIRCUMSTANCES. "Let us go," the text says, "and tell the king's household.” And, brethren, let us go and carry the gospel to our poor brethren and sisters in England that are perishing for lack of knowledge. Beloved, our brethren are perishing; and will you be kind enough this evening to look steadfastly at their condition. I do not wish you to look merely at the exterior; their drunkenness, and their vices, and their prodigality, are, perhaps, very distressing: but I wish you to look further than these things; I wish you to look at the cause of all this and the cause of all this is, that they are without God, and they are without Christ, and they are without hope in the world. If they would go, as they should go, to Christ, the cause of all their evils would instantly be banished. They are famishing not for bread made of the finest of the wheat; our flax, our wool, and our wine they want not: and if they were dying of famine, if they had but Christ's love in their hearts, why famine would only be a nearer road to immortality: it would be like going across the field, instead of going the long way round by the road. But they are perishing for lack of the bread of life; are dying for want of the water of life; are thirsting for pardon, and they know not where it is to be had. And though some of them, perhaps, reject it; and when your missionaries go to their doors, and say, "We come to tell you about the Saviour," they say, "We do not want to hear it; we want neither you nor your doctrine:" will you say, "Let them alone in their ignorance?" That be far from you. Look at that maniac: does he ask you to come and help him? Does he beg you to take off his fetters? Does he say, "Set me at liberty?" No: he dances in his chains; he calls his fetters his ornaments; he looks out of the window of his cell, and he talks about his inheritance; he lifts up his walkingstick, and tells you it is a sceptre; he points to the seat on which he sits, and tells you it is his throne. Do you pity him the less because he is under a deluSion; because he is ignorant? O no; the very circumstances of the poor maniac awaken your tender sympathies, and you pour over him, on account of his ignorance and his delusion, your warmest and most tender feelings. I have sometimes been at a funeral, where the dear infants have lost their dearest earthly relationtheir tender mother; and I have seen them pleased with their black clothes, and playing with them, and running about the room with apparent delight that they had got these new habiliments: and many a sigh from the company present had issued from the mouth as they said, "Ah, dear little children! you do not know what you have lost." Do you pity them the less because they are ignorant, because they do not know the value of the person they have lost? No: you sympathize with them, and pour out your souls in prayer for them. And this is the very case with our countrymen; many of them reject the truth, and despise the truth: and that very consideration should awaken the tenderest sympathies of your heart, to send them more fully the gospel of our God. O beloved, they are perishing; they are perishing for lack of knowledge; and that should awaken your sympathy. Why, you have sixty agents in your work; and you have four hundred villages; and you have about thirteen thou sand hearers; and you have four thousand Sabbath-school children. I bless God that you have: but when you think that there are many villages, and many stations, where, for the compass of twenty miles round that station, it is impossible to hear the word of life preached, let it awaken your sympathies, and your earnest desires, and your liberality too, to send them the gospel. O let us tell them that the victory is gained; that the pardon is offered, that salvation is presented, and that Christ bids every sinner come and partake of the bounties of his love and his salvation for ever. have, dear hearers, "the blessing of them that were ready to perish" come upon you. So shall you Dear hearers, when you think, then, that success is certain, that every guinea you give to the cause of God shall be, as it were, a seed dropped-the very mite given into the treasury, shall go towards furnishing the gospel of God to the poor and the miserable among your own countrymen whilst you think Christ has bound himself, by oath and promise, to bless every effort made; let this stimulate you again to renew your efforts, again to desire that the glory of the Lord may be revealed, that all your kindred may see his gospel. It suggests, in the second place, that ard of the cross upon the soil, and claim we should go and tell of these glad tidings, it for me?" Why, because our hearts because success is certain. Success is cer- are cold; and because our souls do not tain. What though many of your dear listen to the glorious tidings of the conmissionaries, who toil night and day in quests of that Saviour, which are now to the work, have not had the extended en- be presented upon the earth. couragement of their heart's desire which you could wish-will you give up? Brethren, the London Missionary Society spread the table of the gospel, with all its provisions, for fifteen years in Otaheite, and not one soul was converted by the preaching of the gospel, as was known to the missionaries, during that time. But the day of Christ's power was to come: lo, a nation, as it were, was born in a day: a revival took place; God came down, dispersed all the mists of darkness, and pointed the sinners' conscience to the salvation. "He must increase:" not only his kingdom shall come; but he must increase: " he shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied:" he "will pour out his Spirit upon all flesh, and all flesh shall see the salvation of our God." If we had been entirely defeated in this cause, defeat in this would be better than success in any other. But we are not defeated. It is true that now and then a little drop of divine influence descends on the congregation, and our brother is pricked to the heart; and our sister feels the power of the truth; and our mother is awakened to seriousness; and our father comes home with conviction on his conscience; and our neighbour is alarmed for his state. But presently a greater work than this shall be seen: when the Spirit of God shall be poured out from on high, then numbers shall wake and cry out, "What must we do to be saved?" Brethren, your heavenly Leader has gone up before you: he has taken all the principal places, all the forts and towers of the enemy; and he bids you, "Follow me:" he says, "There is much land yet to be possessed;" and he calls on you, and says, "Why are ye slack to go and partake of this land; why are ye slack? Why do ye not go up and plant the stand- Spend and be spent in service so divine." Finally, brethren, let us furnish this gospel to our countrymen, for our oppor tunities are vanishing. Time is hastening on; health is inconstant; the fashion of the world passeth away. This, this is the only time we can use our strength, and talents, and time, and money. Give, therefore, this evening, as if this were the last act of your lives; as if you were about to stand at the bar of Jesus Christ, and to be judged for the deeds done in the body. Let the truths that you have heard impress your mind: and now, at the cry of this one hundred and sixty thousand who are annually dying, and of the five millions who are without the gospel, and the four hundred and fifty daily who are waking in eternity without God and without hope; now, while their cry is ringing in your ears, and while the Spirit of God is speaking through his word, now arm yourselves against all selfishness, and against all covetousness, and let the love of Christ take an entire hold of your spirit, while you say, "Awake, my dormant zeal; for ever flame all, SERMON L. THE MORAL INFLUENCE WE EXERT AFTER DEATH. BY THE REV. J. CUMMING, A.M.* "He being dead yet speaketh."-Heb. xi. 4. THERE can be no question that the text, | Every churchyard speaks often far more in its primary import, refers to the faith thrilling accents than the senate house of and accepted sacrifice of Abel; and that the congregations of the living. the Holy Spirit conveys the important truth, that the departed son of Eve proclaims a useful and healthful lesson, even from the chambers of the tomb-namely, that the blood of Jesus our sacrifice is the ground of all our hopes and acceptance, and that by him alone, as the living way, is there access to the Father. But we may fairly depart from the personal and specific idea involved in the text, and present it as one of those general and great principles which have a bearing on all a lesson to the living, and a truth concerning the dead. Every son of man, as well as Abel, "being dead yet speaketh." Every man that plays a part in the great drama of human life, leaves, at his departure, an impress and an influence, more or less extensive and lasting. The grave of the peasant and the mausoleum of the prince, are alike vocal. The sepulchral vault in which the scion of royalty was laid the other day, as well as the cold, wet, opening of the earth in which the way-side beggar was buried, utters audible and actuating oratory. From every one of the dead a voice is heard, in some circle of the world's inhabitants, which the knell of their departure does not drown-which the earth and the green sod do not muffle-which neither deafness, nor distance, nor any thing that man may devise, can possibly extinguish. *Occasioned by the death of the Rev. Edward Irving, A.M. No fact is more self-evident, or more universally admitted, than the text; and no fact withal is more generally disregarded by the living. Do not the sayings and doings of your departed relatives often arrest you in the busy stir of human life, and, according to their tone and character, supply you with fresh incentives to holiness and religion, or to godlessness and impiety? Do not their words often echo in the cells of memory? Do not their features and their forms start into bright contrast with the darkness of actual absence, and light up the chambers of imagery with early recollections? Do not the sounds of the one, and the sight of the other, reach your hearts, and tell upon your resolutions, your actions, and your hopes? And, just in proportion to the width of the sphere in which the departed moved, and the strength of intellectual and moral character they possessed and developed, will be the duration and the plastic power of that influence they have left behind them. A son, for instance, trained to maturity under the affectionate superintendence of a religious mother, breaks loose in the days of his manhood from all the restraints and ties that bound him to the ways of pleasantness and peace, and wounds the heart of his parent, and brings her gray hairs with sorrow to the grave. In after years, and in the far-off land of his prodigality and guilt, early impressions look forth from his memory, |