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love to God, and gratitude for His mercies. We are not now to be tied down to the 'hard and fast line' of a legal enactment; ours is the 'glorious law of liberty.' Would to God we were governed by a principle. But it is to be feared we are not fit to be trusted with a principle. And the only idea many people seem to have of the law of liberty is that it allows them to give a "fourpenny-bit" where perhaps they could give a guinea. No, indeed, we are not, and cannot be, at liberty under any divine dispensation to be stingy and selfish. If the principle and liberty of the gospel era are given us for anything, they are surely given that we may, in the exercise of them, give more and not less than those who were governed by a law. And what is the principle of the New Testament? It is given in the discourse of our Lord to which we have already alluded. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." Has this principle ruled us in our giving to God? Have we not rather adopted the contrary course, seeking first to satisfy our own wants and desires, and then, if anything be left, it has been given to good purposes. This is not seeking first the kingdom of God, but rather seeking self first, and then the kingdom. Gifts to God should consist of" first-fruits," and not of fragments' Oh! let us learn before we touch our possessions for our own use to devote a certain portion to Him, and to say, "Whatever becomes of me and my wants and claims, I will see to it that God shall have His portion. I will not rob my God, my

Benefactor, my Saviour." The rule by which we must be guided in measuring that portion is expressed in the words, 66 as God hath prospered him ;" and also in the words, "according to that a man hath." Let this portion be appropriated as first-fruits on certain stated seasons, and solemnly dedicated to sacred uses, as the Lord's money, kept apart, to accumulate if there be need. By the adoption of this method, giving would become easier, more religious, more extensive. And the true christian will surely be thankful to learn how he may give more to Christ's cause. How easy would the work of begging become if every member of our churches kept a Lord's purse! What a revolution would such a system bring upon the church and the world if universally adopted! Very soon comparatively every part of the heathen world would be visited by the gospel messenger. And what shall be said to encourage the professed followers of Christ to devise such means for glorifying their Lord? Are not the method and principle we advocate Scriptural? Search the Scriptures, and see whether these things be so. need not to speak of motives. know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich." If we are to be saved by Jesus Christ, and to become His disciples, we must learn not only to trust in His atonement, but to imitate His example. Let us therefore "deny ourselves, and take up our cross and follow Him."

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THE prophets of the old economy, and the apostles of the new dispensation-men who spoke as they were .moved by the Holy Ghost-were often employed in the laudable work of putting new life into the languid soul's of God's people. This inciting service was sometimes described by the metaphor of "strengthening the weak hands," of "lifting up the hands that hang down, and confirming the feeble knees;" and sometimes it was expressed without any figure of speech, as the saying "to them that were of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not." When the days of David drew near that he should die, he charged Solomon his son, and said: “I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man." Referring to the great act which he was called to perform for the glory of the divine name, David repeated his parental charge; "Take heed now: for the Lord hath chosen thee to build His sanctuary: be strong, and do it." In after times, when the second temple needed to be built, the word of God came to Haggai, the prophet, charging him to speak to the Governor, and the High Priest, and the whole nation, saying, "Be strong, O Zerubbabel; and be strong, O Joshua; and be strong, all ye people

VOL. LXXI.-NEW SERIES, No. 26.

of the land; for I am with you, saith the Lord of hosts." So Paul addressed the Christians of his day, writing those monosyllabic mandates, "Watch ye; stand fast in the faith; quit you like men; be strong." And as the work of the Christian ministry was found to be especially difficult and dispiriting, he said to Timothy, "Thou therefore, my son, be strong (Grecè, strengthen thyself) in the grace that is in Christ Jesus."

These inspired addresses were written for our information and use. They have need to be proclaimed from our pulpits, and repeated in our religious periodicals. The heart of Christian people is much discouraged because of the way they have to go-the things they have to do, and the succession of ills which they have to encounter and endure. To such we offer this brief homily, based on some of the cheerful words already cited, believing them to be adapted, as well as intended, to fortify fearful hearts.

WHAT ARE THE THINGS WHICH EXCITE OUR FEARS? Here only a general answer can be given, because nearly all things operate variously on different persons. There is a wide diversity in our natural temperaments and constitutional tendencies. Some are brave and heroic,

stout-hearted and strong-minded; and have acquired such confidence and courage that, like the wild warhorse, they "mock at fear, and are not affrighted." Others are so timid that the least difficulty disheartens them. They are made afraid as a grasshopper." They "tremble as a bird out of Egypt, and as a dove out of the land of Assyria." They start at their own shadows, and are made nervous by harmless echoes. "Their fear of ill exceeds the ill they fear."

But allowing for these characteristic differences there are certain things which, more or less, intimidate all. Work is one of these formidable things. Not all kinds of Not all kinds of work, nor any kind of it at all times. Ordinarily perhaps labour is a pleasure. Our beneficient Creator has placed much of our happiness in appropriate action: whilst the rewards which are gained by our toil render it not merely tolerable but agreeable. Yet considered as a necessity as one of the very conditions of comfort, if not even of subsistence there is something of the primeval curse in it. But the things which make work formidable are not mainly its difficulties; they are rather the contingencies and uncertainties the risks and hazards which are inseparable from it. The business in which a man embarks his capital, or to which he devotes his time and skill may not succeed. Or after some incipient success it may suffer a reverse, and continue to decline until it becomes inadequate to his support.

But saints have spiritual work to do. They labour not only for the meat that perishes, but for that meat which endures unto eternal life. We must individually work out our own salvation; and we are divinely advised to do it "with fear and trembling." Nor is this the whole of our spiritual toil. We are called to consider one another, in order to provokę to mutual love and

to a concert of good works. Christian parents have to train up their children in the ways of God. All who are on the Lord's side are to rise up for Him against the evildoers, and to stand up against the workers of iniquity. Neither the enlargement of the church, nor the enlightenment of the world, is accomplished without the active service of those who are already saved. Hence it is needful that we should follow the example of the early disciples, who "laboured much in (for) the Lord." This Christian work is eminently honourable, but at the same time it is most arduous. As Ezra said of the reformation of Israel, "it is not the work of a day or two;' it is coeval with life itself. And those who are best qualified for this work have felt insufficient for it, sometimes doing it " in weakness and in fear, and in much trembling."

A second cause of fear is conflict. We are warriors as well as workers. We have to fight as well as to labour. While we are not devoid of friends who favour our righteous cause, "there are many adversaries" who hate and oppose it. Some are enemies to our souls who have no antipathy to our persons, and we have to guard against the sirens who entice, as much as against the lions who menace us. Brave soldiers of the cross have often quailed before that triple alliance-the world, the flesh, and the devil: and some who were the most forward to confront it have succumbed and surrendered to it.

The knowledge of their upyielding, if it has any influence upon us, must dishearten rather than embolden. Indeed the divine lesson which is grounded on the record of others' falling is "Be not highminded, but fear !"

A third source of faint-heartedness is actual suffering. The present life is fruitful in evils. Some have by inheritance weak and sickly bodies, and scarcely know what sound and

perfect health may be. Some have domestic infelicities. Their houses are haunted by misfortunes, and their homes are ruined by the setting up of certain "abominations that make desolate." Happy families are comparatively few. Or if virtue and affection, peace and comfort, pervade and comfort, pervade the inner spaces of the home circle, there is something contrary to all this which closely engirdles it. The righteous are tried by the collisions and rivalries, the injustice and general misconduct of their fellowmen. All who have much to do with mankind have also much to endure from them; and it is only by a special exemption that we can pass through the world without annoyance and injury from many, who answer to the "dogs," the "bulls," and the "lions," which sought to make David their sport and prey. Confident as he was of Divine protection, yet when surrounded by "such as breathed out cruelty," he confessed his fears, and admitted that he "had fainted, unless he had believed to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

After all the evils of this life have been endured, the "one event" will occur which, by no false personification, is called "the king of terrors." The physical act of dying is to some an easy, gentle, silent process-a passing away—a falling asleep. But no one can assure himself beforehand of this calm and quiet departure. When we shall die-where we shall die-and how we shall die, are all uncertainties; and death of any kind, in any place, and at any period, has something belonging to it which is able to make most hearts fearful. The fear of death is a very common thing and if it were said to any one of us, as it was to Hananiah, on infallible authority, “This year thou

:

shalt die," the announcement would inspire a perturbation which no strength of nature could conceal, and which grace alone could allay.

Weary and discouraged workers must be told not to fear. Secular labour is a necessity, but there is nothing degrading or dishonourable in it; and it should be done diligently, vigorously, and cheerfully. Business ceases to be base when we are "not slothful" in it; and the work which the hand finds to do is no longer servile when it is done. with all thy might." Equally essential is this industry and hopefulness in doing our spiritual work. The proper qualification for serving the Lord is fervency of soul-gladness of heart—a mind trusting in God to help and prosper us. Nearly all the illustrious men mentioned in the Scriptures who glorified God by their works, were forbidden to be afraid or despondent, such as Abraham, Joshua, Jeremiah, and Paul.* So also he who brought good tidings. to Zion and Jerusalem was commanded to lift up his voice with strength, to lift it up, and not be afraid.

The spiritual warfare must be fearlessly conducted. Every soldier in Christ's army must "be strong for the battle." If we contend against sin and Satan, it may be truly said, "The battle is the Lord's, and he will give them into our hands." This battle, unlike the conflicts fought with carnal weapons, 66 is ever to the strong."

All sufferers have something to console them, if when they suffer according to the will of God, they commit the keeping of their souls to Him in well doing. Their trials are not strange all are partakers of them.

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* Gen. xvii. 1. Jos. i. 9. Jer. i. 8. Acts xviii. 9.

They are not accidental, coming not from the dust, nor springing out of the ground: God appoints or permits them. They are not penal in all instances, but disciplinary: for our profit, and not our destruction. In the suffering which is caused by our fellow creatures we may find a divine solace. Suffering wrongfully" is still quite usual; and it is certainly better, if the will of God be so, that we should suffer for well doing than for evil doing. Happy indeed are ye, if ye suffer for righ

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teousness sake. "Be not afraid of their terror: neither be troubled."

In the prospect of death we may be fearless. To die is gain. To depart and be with Christ is far better. Those who die in the Lord are blessed bevond all others. The righteous hath hope in his deathand sometimes he has exultation and triumph. Ungodly men have not only a dread of dying, but of something after death. But the saint's hereafter is nothing but happiness, and consequently is the object of nothing but hope. This hope

"Of all passions most befriends us here.
Joy has her tears, and transport has her grief.
Hope like a cordial innocent, though strong,
Man's heart at once inspirits and serenes."

WAS born at Derby, Feb. 24, 1810. His parents were pious, and were connected with the Established Church; but, at the request of a relative, who was a Baptist, he was permitted to attend with her at Brook Street chapel, where he was favoured with the earnest and powerful ministry of the late Rev. J. G. Pike. He was admitted into the Lord's-day school there, and the instructions he received led him to feel the importance of religion; but, like many others, he resolved fo defer for a time a serious and practical regard to the claims of the Lord Jesus. His impressions were deepened by the death of his mother, and more especially by a funeral sermon preached by Mr. Pike for the wife of the late Dr. Sutton, of Orissa; but Mr. C. himself states, "A thought was suggested to me about this time, that such had been my conduct, so moral, and free from all that was offensive in the view of the world, that even if I were to embrace religion, no change would be observable in my deportment; and I therefore resolved that I would throw off all restraint, and indulge in all iniquity. To a certain extent I acted out this resolution, but not fully. I could

COTTON

not. I had been brought up in a Sabbath school. I knew that it was wrong, and I was aware of the consequences. I shortly afterward was again the subject of serious impressions, and, I trust, of that repentance to salvation not to be repented of. I hated sin, and loved holiness. I thought on my ways, and turned my feet unto the testimonies of my God." Having given satisfactory evidence of his conversion, Mr. C. was baptized, with about twenty others, in Brook Street chapel, on June 8, 1828, by Mr. Pike, who also received him on that day into the fellowship of the church. He engaged in Sabbath school teaching and in other forms of Christian labour, being earnestly desirous of doing good. At his suggestion, three other young men and himself, all teachers in the school, met periodically for mutual edification. I find the following notice of these meetings in Mr. Cotton's handwriting:-"We agreed to meet together one evening in every week for prayer and religious conversation. After a time it was thought that we might with advantage, each of us in turn, give some observations on different portions of the