epistle" Be sober, be vigilant; because the Holy Ghost, we may hope in God's

appointed measure and time, to obtain the blessing; and as the angel came down at the movement of the waters, so will the Spirit of Christ descend as our souls move towards Him. And if all the churches of God were more imbued with this ardency of spirit, we might expect a revival and a time of refreshment from the presence of the Lord. "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die, for I have not found thy works perfect before God." Nothing can be more appropriate than the every Lord's-day acknowledgment of the Church of England, "We have left undone the things we ought to have done." And even in things that have been attended to, there is such an abominable mixture of short-coming, so much defect of character, that you feel you can do nothing but fall down and pray for pardoning mercy, and for quickening grace. Who, with such thoughts as these, would propagate the doctrine of sinless perfection? Dr. Owen has this striking remark, "God Almighty most likely sees more sins and more imperfections, in what we call our holiest duties, than we can see in ourselves, apart from religion, any day." Remember, "the eye of the Lord is as a flame of fire." Well; these are the things with which our Lord meets this church, and with which He meets us.

your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour." The world, the flesh and the devil are combined to injure the Christian. Watchfulness-how desirable! The Redeemer here says "Be watchful, and strengthen the things which remain that are ready to die." Had we been trained in the school of some teachers, we probably should have fixed on such a passage as this in support of the possibility of falling from grace. That we may lose the lively exercise of religion in the soul, none will dispute. But the grace of God is a living and an abiding root, in those who have it. The water the Redeemer gives, is "the water of life," and springs up to everlasting life. The good seed sown in the heart takes its root, and grows till it becomes a tree of life in glory. What, then, are the things here referred to, "ready to die?" Three things are implied. There are three constituent graces, without which no man can be a Christian; and he who has one, has the whole. But the Christian has his seasons of danger, depression, and declension, until at times he may ask the question, Can there be a particle of grace in me? Grace may be low in exercise; and if it be so, we are low too. Do we not move in spiritual enjoyment, in the same proportion as the love of God is influential in our souls? Do we not run in the ways of God, as we have the ex-sel here. "Remember, therefore, how ercise of a lively hope, that abounds in us through the power of the Holy Ghost Let but these graces sink into langour, and every thing else becomes languid too. But we are to strengthen the things that are languid and ready to die, in connection with the things in society. "We should" (as the profound Dr. Gill observes)" be found in all God Almighty's appointed means of grace, with the desire, under the dependence of the Holy Ghost, that the Lord may meet us there and bless us." This seems to be founded on the nature of things; the promise is, "Those that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount upon wings as eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." A man may be in God's house all day, and experience no benefit, though he be as regular as the clock. But if we be there with the ardent desire after spiritual blessings, and with a sweet reliance upon

Further; we are to consider the coun

thou hast received and heard, and hold fast and repent. If therefore thou shalt not watch, I will come on thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know what hour I will come upon thee." Repentance presupposes a conviction of something wrong; "While I live," said a late minister in London, "no man can bring me to concession, till he has brought me to convic tion." Repentance presupposes lamentation before God, and a desire, and a determination, to pursue a different path.

Let us now proceed to the means our Lord uses to excite attention and alteration. "Remember, how thou hast received and heard." It may be well for you to ask, How was it with me in former days? and how is it with me now? We should look more intently into these matters; it is sometimes good to look back, not only by way of pleasure, but also if it brings us into humility of spirit before God. There are those, who to

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tinued to preach and to warn, and at length the deluge came at a time when they did not expect it. God has exercised His longsuffering, but here the thing is certain. The Lord help us to lay these things solemnly to heart.

compared to virgins; five were wise, and five foolish. They all had lamps, some with oil; but "while the bridegroom tarried, they all slumbered and slept." At this time, at midnight, when all was secure," Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him." It is a solemn In conclusion, I refer once more to the thing to have God come upon us in this wise and foolish virgins. Remember unexpected way, whether it be by afflic- they all had lamps; but what would the tion or by death, by His personal appear- foolish not have given for the oil in that ance or otherwise. Ought not these day, easy and comfortable as they had words to impress us in the bearing they been without it? What would they not have upon the great and final day? "Of have given? But all they felt was the times and seasons, brethren," says unavailable. Behold the awful state of the apostle, "ye have no need that I write unto you; for you yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh, as a thief in the night; for when they say, Peace and safety, then sudden destruction cometh upon them. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief."

an empty lamp then. The cry was, "Behold the Bridegroom cometh, go ye out to meet Him. And they that were ready went in with him to the marriage, and the door was shut❞—shut never to be opened again. Then let the hearer be what he may, professor or not, if destitute of Divine grace when the Son of Man cometh, all is over here, and such are eternally shut out of heaven!

But what is He coming for? We have no idea of a thief coming, but in con- May the children of God listen to the nection with the loss of those he visits. injunction. It is your Lord's. Behold Our blessed Lord says, "The thief His kindness in the advice He gives; "Be cometh not but for to steal and to de- watchful." "Giving all diligence to stroy"-"I have come that ye might have make your calling and election sure, life, and that ye might have it more that ye may be found of Him in peace.' abundantly." I have no such idea, that How very solemnly our Lord winds up the coming of our Lord will be to the these things in one of the Gospels: loss of those who have oil in their ves- "Watch ye, therefore, and pray always, sels with their lamps. Yet even to that ye may be accounted worthy to them it will be sudden and alarming. escape all these things that shall come But what will be the final result, the to pass, and to stand before the Son of overthrow and destruction of His Man." Not in a meritorious state, but enemies! Here then is that threatening in a state of grace and readiness to and solemn certainty connected with it. receive His smile and approbation. But our Lord warns before He strikes. Amen. He did so in the old world. Noah con

AN INDIAN ILLUSTRATION.

"An Indian, having experienced a change of heart, was asked by a white man to describe how it was done. He replied that he could not tell, but if the inquirer would go with him to the spot where the work was effected, he would show him. They went. The Indian, after going some distance into the woods, stopped, gathered a quantity of leaves, and made a circle of them. He then put a worm in the middle of it, and set it on fire. The worm feeling the heat, ran to one side and then to another-it was on fire! After thus going from side to side in unavailing efforts to escape, he returned to the centre of the circle, and stretched himself out, apparently in despair, to die. At that moment the Indian caught the reptile in his hand. There,' said he, 'that was the way God did to me. found myself a sinner; I felt myself in danger; I saw the angry eye of God flashing upon me. I tried to escape on one side, but I met fire. I ran to the other, it was on fire. At last, in hopelessness, I gave up to die. Then Jesus Christ take my soul right up.'"-Anecdotes (Miscellaneous). Religious Tract Society.

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Mr. Editor:

London, April 25, 1840.

I was glad to find in your last number a summary of Mr. M'Neile's Lectures; the price of his volume places it rather beyond my reach, and I was anxious to know the line of argument adduced. Attention to the subject being anew excited in my mind by the perusal of that article, I attended at the Weigh House Chapel last night to hear Mr. Binney's Lecture upon Church Extension in reply to Mr. M'Neile; and if you can make room for a few observations, I wish to communicate some thoughts, which then (and since) have occurred to me.

I must premise, that the general tone and spirit of the Lecture were too bitter; with many appeals to Christian principle there was withal very much, that seemed only to stir up feelings in the hearer's heart, which need to be checked, not excited. It is a great fault in Mr. Binney's preaching, that he is so fond of the sneer and the sarcasm; they are powerful weapons, and he wields them very skilfully, but I do not think they befit the hour of worship. Last night they might be thought more appropriate; and certainly, at the time they told; but I always find, that the impression produced by this style of attack is followed by a re-action; the mind, reflecting when the excitement has subsided, is suspicious that it has been misled. And indeed I apprehend, if facts be appealed to, it will be found that this weapon has been much oftener used for the defence of a bad cause than of a good.

In marking out the field of discussion, Mr. Binney observed, that he should not touch the question, whether it is wrong to extend Christian institutions by means of a tax laid upon all (whether they care for Christianity or not); this he left to Dr. Chalmers on the one hand and Dr. Wardlaw on the other. But Mr. M'Neile having come forward in defence of the particular method adopted in this country, the Established Church of England, Mr. Binney proposed (in answer) to show that the extension of that system would rather tend to retard than to promote real religion. And this he maintained to be so, not merely viewing the system as an Establishment, but even viewing it as a Church.

The subject being thus defined, Mr. Binney proceeded to state three objections to Church extension.

I. "His painful apprehension, that according to the showing of its own advocates what is contemplated would not amount to the extension of anything like a Church at all." The Church of England, he observed, makes no attempt to ascertain the truth or falsehood of a man's profession of religion, but allows any applicant to partake of Christian ordinances, and treats and addresses him as a true Christian. "And this," said Mr. Binney-" and this is a Church!"

It is a grave matter to unchurch the millions in this land, who adhere to the Established Church. I think it is here done upon very slender and insufficient cause. I do not know, that the apostles refused any applicant, or subjected him to any trial of the truth of his profession; what I do know is, that when one of them addressed "the church of God which was at Corinth," he testified that there were among them nominal Christians, living in such sin, that one may not unreasonably draw an inference, somewhat at variance with Mr. Binney's conclusion. The Church of England no doubt admits to the Lord's Supper any, except the openly ungodly; and Mr. Binney allowed that some might go to the opposite extreme; but where Scripture has no specific rule, it seems a bold thing for him on that head to say, as he did say "I think there is every reason to question whether what Mr. M'Neile calls his church' is a church at all."

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Mr. M'Neile had said, that if Dissenting ministers made their discipline harsh, any one of their people could leave the place, and find himself (equally with the veteran Churchman)" entitled to a seat in the parish church, a place at the parish font, and access to the parish communion table." Aye," added Mr. Binney, "be he a Socialist, or what he may; and this is a church!" That is a very uncandid interpretation; all that had been said was, that the Church of England was open to the Dissenter as well as to the Churchman; but "an open and notorious evil liver," come whence he may, is to be excluded from "the parish communion table." Is the supposed case of a Socialist or Infidel a case that ever figures any

where but in an argument? The Church system of discipline has been framed to meet the cases that in practice may be expected, caring little for those which a fertile imagination may fancy; and perhaps it is nearer Scripture that every professing Christian be admitted, than that there should be an arbitrary power of exclusion. No Church system is perfect; but I repeat, that this seems a weak ground for denying that the Church of England "is a Church at all."

2. " Supposing what is sought was the extension of a Church, and that Church in doctrine and order pure and apostolic, we should feel bound to resist the measure even then, believing that it would prove as pernicious in practice, as it is unjust in theory."

He thinks "it would build out Dissent;""the sanctuaries for them would be sepulchres for us ;" and without the check of a large body of Dissenters, the Church would become careless. As I cannot see any chance of this result (even supposing Dissent not to have the permanent character of truth), I will not stay here; when all shall be done that is ever likely to be done in our time, there will still be more than room for pious Dissenters-there will be numbers of the population neglected both by them and by Churchmen. I think we may hand this part of the discussion over to posterity; only certifying them that one of us, a man "before the times," foresaw the difficulty with which they would have to grapple. He holds Church Extension to be unjust in principle, because Dissenters are thus compelled to pay a tax, devoted to support an Institution, "which in their opinion, whether right or wrong, God and truth compel them to condemn." Of course, if taxes are devoted to an improper object, a good subject will endeavour to induce the legislature to alter the law in that particular. I did not understand Mr. Binney to say, a man ought to refuse to pay the tax because it is by the government devoted to an object which he deems wrong. If he adopts that notion, I humbly contend that upon this principle there can be no such thing as government at all. For the rule cannot be confined to the case of taxes devoted to religious objects; if it be sound at all, conscience must be concerned in the payment of every tax applied to any other than purposes perfectly agreeing with the mind and will of God. Let me add here, that though there are many cases mentioned in Scripture of kings devoting the public money to very wicked objects, there is no instance of conscience being pleaded as a reason for non-payment of

taxes.

I think, however, that Mr. Binney's meaning was not this. I understood his argument to rest on the fact, that Dissenters support their own churches and ministers; and I thought there was weight and force in his observations. The following case occurred to my mind; if there be a rate upon a whole parish for lighting it with gas, and some inhabitants (preferring oil lamps) light their neighbourhood in that way at their own expense, though they might have no claim to be let off the rate altogether, yet they would have a fair claim to an abatement proportioned to the expense they thus save the parish. I know there may be other questions such as whether the oil light which they voluntarily provide is a good light, whether the mixed glare of gas and oil may not dazzle or confuse the passenger, and so on; still I thought there was strength in this argument, so far as the details of the mode of collecting the tax are concerned.

Some observations were here made upon Lord John Russell's recent remark, adopted by Mr. M'Neile, that the Establishment cannot be justified unless it be for the good of the whole. Mr. Binney said it was not for the good of the whole, because there would always be Dissenters, who would not be benefited by it. It may be doubted whether in the sense thus proposed any institution in any country can be for the good of the whole.

3. The last reason was-" The painful conviction we entertain, that the English Establishment never has been, and never is likely to be, as an institution, mainly instrumental in diffusing that specific truth, on which depends the 'righteousness,' that 'exalteth a nation;' I mean, evangelical religion."

Here his main reasons were, that "the official services of the Church, and the views which she sanctions of the Christian ministry and of the nature of the sacraments, are at variance with the Scriptures, and operate most injuriously on