to look onward with serenity and hope. | here, his advancement only diminishes Our personal experiences from day to day have taught us that the Lord God is a sun and shield, He will give grace and glory, and no good thing will He withhold from them that walk uprightly' -Because Thou hast been our help, therefore, under the shadow of Thy wings we will rejoice.' Innumerable difficulties having naturally arisen in the application of the principles of Christianity to the varying circumstances of social life, the Corinthians were anxious to receive direction from the Apostle Paul. He removes, in the first epistle, various doubts and scruples. In the seventh chapter, directions are given respecting the marriage institution, which must have proved eminently valuable both to the Jewish converts and those who had been recently gathered from heathenism. In conuection with these directions, the injunction is parenthetically, yet most appropriately introduced,But this I say, brethren, the time is short; it remaineth, that both they that have wives be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it; for the fashion of this world passeth away.' 1 Cor. vii. 29-31. Time is short with reference to the term of our existence on earth. The word short may be properly ren dered, contracted, drawn into a narrow space. It is applied by classic authors to the act of furling a sail, whereby it is brought into a smaller compass. The more precise meaning, then, of the apostle's words would be, time is confined within narrow limits.' No conviction is more universal than that of the brevity of man's time upon earth. It is right to cherish this conviction. It may prove serviceable to us during the whole of our probationary course, prompting us to sobriety of thought, feeling, and action, and checking all undue attachments to that which is seen and temporal.' How easy of proof is this simple proposition, time is short. Who does not know, that, as the child grows up to youth, and euters upon life's work the number of his days; that, when he has attained to full manhood, he is only approaching more nearly to the goal of his earthly course; and that, when old age draws on, the wrinkled countenance, the faltering tongue, the trembling step, are but so many indications that his removal from this sphere of action will not be long delayed. Then, who does not know that the allotted term of human life, the three score years and ten, is only reached by very few. Death performs its work in every stage of man's history. As for man, bis days are as grass; as a flower of the field so he flourisheth.' The brevity of man's duration bere may be further illustrated by contrast. Our time will appear contracted if we contrast it with the immeasurableness of eternity, or with the past duration of the material universe, or with the length of the existence of angels, or with the age of the earth on which we live, or with the continuance of some of the forms of animal or vegetable life which exist around us, or with the longevity of the patriarchs, or even with the permanence of many of those great works which human labour aud ingenuity have constructed. When we perceive it slipping away so gradually but so certainly out of our bands, we need not wonder that the inspired and other writers should choose those emblems, known to us all, common to us all, which so significantly denote its brevity and the speed of its flight. Time is short with reference to its opportunities. The word time may be properly taken here to mean 'season, occasion, opportunity.' A most important proposition is thus brought before our attention. The season is contracted, compressed.' The opportunity of working here for our own good, or the good of others, is confined within narrow limits. This thought throws a solemn significance into our work. It should teach us rightly to estimate in all our calculations, schemes, plans, and purposes, the inestimable importance of to-day.' It should invest time present with especial interest to every moral, Domestic Attachments. responsible, immortal being. Opportunities once gone can never be recalled. Let the present seed-time pass away without sowing, and the harvest will be lost without recovery. ་ 43 favourable opportunity for spiritual growth and the practice of earnest devotion; and though the persons who have practised it may be regarded as especially worthy of being called religious, or devout,' we are surely warranted in affirming that this delusive system is opposed to our social instincts; it can be proved to be contrary to the teaching and examples of Holy Scripture; and it gives its Those who are busily engaged in secular life are fully aware of this. They therefore seize time by the forelock. They take at the ebb' the tide which runs on to fortune. With what eagerness, then, does it behove us who are professedly living to glorify God-sanction to grave mistakes, with referto honour and serve Christ-to seize every occasion given us to fulfil the great ends and purposes of our redemption and salvation. Stay the present instant, Imprint the marks of wisdom on its wings, 'Tis of more worth than kingdoms, far more precious Than all the crimson treasures of life's fountain. Impressed with the truth of this brief assertion to which your attention has been directed, we are further summoned by the apostle to gird ourselves for Christian duty, and are especially warned to be upon our guard against those worldly attachments which, if unduly cherished, will check our spiritual energy and impede our right progress as the servants of Christ. We are warned against being unduly engrossed with domestic attachments – 'let them that have wives be as though they had none.' It is not the object of Christianity to warn us against entering into do. mestic relationships; to induce us to cut asunder those attachments when formed; or to urge us to repress and subdue these affections which cling to those united with us by the ties of marriage and consanguinity. Such savage asceticism is the offspring of a spurious Christianity. Though it may have been sanctioned by the ancient Gnostics; though it may have been exemplified by the strangely fanatical conduct of Anthony and the monks of the Egyptian deserts; though it may have been adopted by the Romish church, and perpetuated through the centuries as a venerable and divinely sanctioned institution; though it may have been lauded by religious teachers as affording the most ence both to the nature and the sphere of the Christian conflict. The Gospel pre-supposes, acknow. ledges, and recognizes the existence of family relations as divinely appointed, and would ennoble and improve them by its purifying and morally elevating influences. What then is meant by the apostolic monition, let them that have wives be as though they had none?' We accept the explanation of OlshausenThese words are, of course,' he says, 'merely to be understood inwardly, keeping the spirit so free in the love of the creature, as not to be impeded by this in the fulfilment of the duties connected with our relations to the kingdom of God.' cares The apostle here teaches, we think, that conjugal and domestic ought not so to absorb our attention as to afford us no time, nor scope for responding to the claims made upon our service in the various departments of Christian life and labour. It cannot be denied that domestic relationships, with their urgent and pressing calls, have hindered Christian enterprise and effort in the church and the world. Family attachments, family aggrandizements, family alliances, the unceasing endeavour to secure unnecessary additions to family comforts and luxuries, have been too frequently regarded as matters of primary importance, to the neglect of the urgent summons from on high to 'gird up our loins,' and to enter vigorously into the sphere of evangelistic toil and conflict to which our Lord points us. Many who are numbered with the professing church, hindered by domestic attachments and solicitudes from following Christ fully, resemble in spirit and conduct, the man who, when of multitudes with whom we come in contact from the service of the Lord Christ. entire consecration to the service of Christ was demanded, once said to him 'Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.' 'Let not my attachment It would be impossible, in fact, to to my father be interfered with for the point you to all the sources whence present. I love him dearly. I can grief of heart may arise. Who on respond just now to no claims but his. earth has not at sometime been comLet me wait till his end approaches. | pelled to be sad? Let me follow him to the tomb; then, when he has departed and my domes tic anxiety has ceased, I will follow Thee.' Let us impress on you this thoughtthat, whilst the duties of religion are by no means incompatible with conjugal, filial, and fraternal obligation, you must not allow the freedom of your spiritual action to be so fettered by the bonds which unite you to home, as to be thereby unable or unwilling to respond to the calls of Christ. There are temptations connected with domestic life, which, if we would prove ourselves true soldiers of the cross, it will be necessary to resist. He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. And he that taketh not his cross and followeth not after me, is not worthy of me.' We are warned by the apostle against being unduly engrossed with our sorrows and joys. And they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not.' It is as natural to grieve as to rejoice when occasion calls for the expression of these emotions as it is to live. Sorrows come for our chastening, and joys to be attendant angels to cheer us along the rugged pathway. How numerous too are the sources of our joy! The ever happy God' intended us to be happy. Joy is our sunlight. Sorrows are only the clouds which interpose, flitting hastily across our heavens, gathering ofttimes thickly and sometimes threatening us with a succession of terrible and disastrous outbursts; but the godly man clinging to the word of promise, knows that in his future history, a time will come when the last cloud will break and disperse, and only joy will succeed. Our joys as creatures of God and members of the moral government under which he has placed us arise from innumerable causes. But the joy of the believer, springing as it does from conscious reconciliation with God, from the assurance of the love of the Father and the Son, from the assimilation of his character to the Divine will, from communion in one spirit with God and with all those who bear his moral image, and from active labour in the vineyard of Christ, impelled by heaven-approved motives, is incomparably purer, more stable, and more spiritually ennobling than that which has a secular origin. We have reason to adore the goodness and grace of Him who has made us capable of sorrow and joy, wisely designing to render them subservient to our present and everlasting good. How numerous and various are the The apostle nevertheless teaches us occasions of grief! Man is born to that neither of these two states of trouble.' Personal affliction, the cares emotion should have absolute dominion of business, the severance of friendships, over us. As the servants of Christ, as the rending by death of earthly ties, the free boru sons of God we must not felt alienation from God, conscious be held in bondage thereby. Neither want of harmony with the will of Christ the summit of the Mount of Transin character and life are so many figuration, nor the banks of the rivers occasions of mental distress. In the of Babylon, his harp hanging upon the Christian life we often discern reasons willows, must be the Christian's perfor grief and sadness in our own manent dwelling place whilst on earth. spiritual coldness, deadness, or tardy His Master calls him forth to labour progress; or in the unpromosing as incessantly in fields of holy toil. The pect of the church which we are con-all-constraining motives of the Gospel nected; or in the continned alienation of Christ lose none of their power, Worldly Possessions. 45 principles, appear to yield, without reserve, to the authority of Mammon, and fall victims, imperceptibly, to the indulgence of a sorded and avaricious spirit. Running the exciting race for riches, they are frequently guilty of a course of action contrary to the precepts of Christ, and the teachings of an enlightened conscience. Their children, their apprentices, their shopmen, their servants, their customers, know this. Hence their prejudices against the religion of Christ are fostered and matured, and the progress of the work of God impeded. whatever may be the peculiar emotional | conducting their daily business under phase of our spiritual history. Neither the pervading influence of Christian sorrow, nor joy, therefore, must tempt him to abate the ardour of his pursuit. May we be permitted to illustrate the pressing nature of Christian_duty from the scenes of the battle field? In the midst of the conflict many fall around the earnest soldier. Near him he sees his comrades, with whom he has associated through successive campaigns, lying in the agonies of death. A tear of regret gushes forth as he gives them immediate help, but so urgent is duty that he must obey at once his commander's call. He weeps as though he wept not. The affecting scenes around him do not abate his ardour. He presses on till the battle is won. He Consider that soldier again. and his fellow combatants are exultant at every advantage gained, at every banner taken, at every post secured, at every indication of yielding, or retreat-but such are the urgencies of his position, that 'He rejoices as though he rejoiced not.' His joy is no bindrance to his aggressive work. He rests not until the victory is complete. As you are sent forth by Christ to labour for the world's advancement and to mould your characters into God-likeness, in accordance with this redemptive purpose, beware lest you be turned aside from the accomplishment of your work either by the clouds or the sunbeams. The apostle further warns us against being unduly engrossed with our worldly possessions. And they that buy as though they possessed not.' We speak thus with no desire to step into the censor's chair. We allude to the subject, sorrowfully, convinced that this unscrupulous trade spirit exerts a withering and blighting influence in many instances upon the inner life, that it is a great hindrance to the successes of the church, and a powerful obstacle to the revival of religion. The apostle here warns us against sordid and avaricious tendencies. We must buy as those who possess not.' He would thus lead us away from all mammon worship; he would warn us against being unduly hampered with and restrained in Christian action by the burdens with which many of the thriving and the rich are bound down; he reminds us that we are stewards who will be called to give account of our goods, tenants at will, who must leave all that is temporal behind, when our Lord shall command our habitation here to be broken up. There is need of this apostolic warning. There is great danger lest our desire for accumulation should interfere with our spirituality of mind, with the needful preparation of our souls for eternity; with the work to which we are summoned as the witnesses of God and the servants of Christ; and with that self-sacrificing liberality which every member of the kingdom is enjoined to exhibit. Christianity is not opposed to the trade spirit. It does not frown upon those who buy and sell and get gain. Whilst acknowledging and recognising the importance, nay, the necessity of exchange in marketable commodities as essential to the temporal well-being and advancement of society, the Gospel of Christ demands that all our trade transactions shall be regulated and conducted in accordance with the infallible precepts, and the just and equitable spirit of the Divine lawgiver.ality We are compelled, however, to make the sad admission that many even of those who profess godliness, instead of Looking merely at the stinted liber of many professing Christians who are prospering in secular business, we cannot conclude, if we must decide by their fruits, but they recognise and daily act under the prevailing conviction that they are stewards for God.' Though accumulating from year to year, in vain do we look for increased liberality. The funds of our churches, our College, our Home and Foreign Missions, and other important Christian agencies receive no additional support as the result of their temporal advancement. We are not our own; we have surrended ourselves and all that we possess to Christ. Let us buy, then, as those who possess not; ever on our guard, lest we be fettered, entangled, and impeded in Christian action by the temporal possessions. This question,' says Dr. Wayland, 'is not at all between man and man, but between man and his Maker. Christ declares that the possessions of his redeemed ones are his, and are to be used only in obedience to his will; if they assert that their possessions are their own, and they will use them as they please, we have no controversy with them on this matter. We leave the servant to settle this account with his Master.' our talents up to the very moment our Lord shall come and reckon with us. We are summoned to use the world as our school of discipline, our battle field, our spiritual mart. If we thus reverently and prayerfully obey the apostle's injunction, we shall assuredly find that the intellectual powers which have been diligently improved on earth as a trust which has been committed to our keeping; the affections we have so well placed and so dutifully cherished; the friendships we have happily formed and faithfully maintained; and the spiritual principles and habits which have grown with our growth and strengthened with our strength, will accompany us into another state of existence, as surely as the soul in that state will retain its identity and its consciousness. But with the injunction a warning is linked. Christianity says, 'Do not abuse the world,' you are called to rise above all thought of making it minister exclusively to your sensual gratification, your secular advancement, or even your intellectual progress. Abusing it, you are no longer free. You are a We are further admonished by the miserable slave under the galling yoke apostle from the consideration adduced, of an oppressive taskmaster. to use the world as not abusing it.' The transitory nature of earthly obHe does not say time is short,'jects is urged as an additional_motive therefore indulge in an epicurean spirit, plunge at once in the midst of worldly pleasure, indulge every craving propensity and inclination, yield to the sway of everything likely to minister to the gratification of sensual appetites. Nor does he say time is short,' therefore yield to stoical stern indifference, regard yourself as a bubble irresistibly borne along the stream of fate, unconcerned whither time or chance may carry it. Let temporal things receive no attention. Be entirely unconcerned about conduct or its results. to enforce this exhortation. For the fashion, of this world passeth away.' (The word fashion is a dramatic expression drawn from the Grecian stage.) The aspect of this world, the whole scheme of human affairs, and all the busy pursuits, and engrossing interests of time resemble the shifting scenes of a theatre, a glittering pageant got up for a particular season, and gradually receding from the view. This is true of all things by which we are surrounded. The material world is perpetually assuming new aspects. In social life old ties are being perpetually severed and new ones formed. The aspect of the nations in respect of manners and customs, the arts of life, civilization, the state of literature and laws is continually undergoing important modifications. In the religious world, though the essential principles of revealed truth may be firmly and strenuously maintained, the various sections of the evangelical community |