principle, of doing to others as we would others should do to us. To indulge in the humanity that is natural to man by imitating the good Samaritan as frequently as misery and helpless, hopeless destitution claim our aid, would be to court indigence and beggary for ourselves, and to get paid for our humanity by the loud laughter of our acquaintances and the scorn of the world. Besides which, the Impostor is sure to make capital out of our charity; and the unscrupulous Rogue, who is utterly bankrupt in virtue himself, is certain, if we will permit it, to make a profitable harvest out of ours. As long therefore as our contemporaries who, whilst calling themselves Christians, set all practical religion at nought, continue to be so overwhelming a majority against us ;—to reduce Christianity to practice, without which it is not Christianity at all—is a task which millions are almost compelled to shrink from (especially if much dependent on their fellows) and that purely in selt defence.

These, my dear friends, are large admissions for a minister to make but you will perceive I am more inclined to blame the System-and those Ministers whose name is "Legion" that preach up the System-than I am to blame the congregations who take these really unorthodox teachers for their guides. But whilst I do this and I do this because I think the justice of the case demands it at my hands—whilst I admit that under present circumstances the sincere practical follower of Jesus has a hard battle to fight, it is my duty to tell him that, as a true soldier of the cross, he must buckle on his armour, as his large-hearted Master did, if he would gain that Master's commendation; and the

weapons he combats with must be selected from that Master's armoury too; not uncharitable Denunciation, not Bigot Zeal; but Gentleness, and patient endurance, and heroic Sacrifice, and all-conquering Love. The spirit of Jesus the Messiah, must animate him; and he must, in some sort be a Jesus,--a Messiah, too. Thank God! all creeds, all countries and all conditions of men, have supplied these Messiahs hitherto, and will continue to supply them until the work is done.

The Howards, the Fenelons, the Channings, and the JOHN POUNDS, may be named as types of men by whom the Messiahship of Jesus is continued in the world-by whom his divine spirit is propagated and extended for the regeneration and redemption of our erring race. It is a succession of warriors of this divine stamp that must bring about the Millennium the Prophet predicted, that good men strive for, and for which all men with more or less distinctness, hope.

My dear friends, I have spoken of Sacrifice as necessary to be made by us in the cause of Humanity, Righteousness, and Truth; but in strictness, there is no such thing as Sacrifice in such a cause. In doing God's work, there might be there generally will be-loss of friends (so misnamed), of property, of many worldly advantages, of liberty, of life: but believe me, God is just, and sends us ample compensation for if we lose fair-weather friends, we gain others, from whom, no storm can separate us; for things hollow and temporal, we gain substantial and eternal ones; for a slavery to custom, which we call liberty, we obtain com munity with heaven, which is Liberty indeed; and for sensual life (which is spiritual death) we obtain an emanci

pation from evil-a nearer approach to that oneness with God, which is Life that is Life indeed.

No! suffering in such a cause is not Sacrifice: the sacrifice is with those, who smitten by the false glitter of wealth, and the emptiness of Power,-halt in the way of righteousness ;—who are blind to spiritual Truths, deaf to its Angel dictates, and dumb and doleful when the Spirit of Great nature (which speaks not to them) is one loud Pean of harmonious joy-one Hymn of gratitude and gladness! The SACRIFICE is theirs! The GAIN is his who devotes himself to HUMANITY, to RIGHTEOUSNESS, to TRUTH, regardless (so far as they concern himself) of the temporal and transient consequences.

This must be the temper of the Millennium pioneers. In the meantime, my Christian friends, we must catch what we can of this same temper, and carry as much as we can of it into the affairs of our daily life. There is an earthly paradise possible for individuals, as well as the greater one which in the womb of the Future, is destined for our race. Millennium may create it for him

He who yearns for the self. We need not wait. blessedness must be won.

But heaven must BE TOILED for: The germ of Goodness within us must be encouraged in its growth: The Soul, our immortal part, must be fashioned by ourselves. We cannot do our religion by deputy. The "Talent" that is given us must be self-improved.

From the lips of Jesus we hear of no other Saviour; neither from the voice of Reason, which is the voice of God.— And sure I am—or the Gospel is a deception, and its echo within the Soul a lie-that all who struggle manfully, trust

fully, hopefully, against the chilling circumstances we have just now glanced at,—to make Christianity—not a faith— but a life; not a complicated pretence, but a living reality, will be of those of whom our text declares-"The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose."

THE CHURCH OF THE FUTURE.

“Therefore seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty; not walking in craftiness; not handling the word of the Lord deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the Truth, commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God. But if our Gospel be hid, it is hid to them that are lost: In whom the GOD OF THIS WORLD hath blinded the minds of them which believe not, lest the light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image of God, should shine unto them."-2 COR. iv. I-4.

M

Y FRIENDS, I shall need all your attention, all your forbearance, all your sympathy-to-day.—The author of Christianity, whom Paul denominates the "image of God," desired of all things-this perhaps the most-that his "Glorious Gospel" should be preached to all men, but especially to the poor. One of the most beautifully expressed, and most pathetic of all his injunctions to his Disciples was- -"Feed my Lambs." In our text to-day, Paul commands us to be faithful to these injunctions. "Seeing we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we faint not; but have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty; not walking in craftiness; not handling the word of the Lord deceitfully; but, by manifestation of the Truth,