high and holy purposes for which it has been summoned together." These are phrases which we often hear from those who are in the situations which I have described; and the thoughts from which they rise are continually occurring to their minds. Such persons are tempted then in the contemplation of their works, to forget themselves, to abate their self-discipline, and when the novelty of their employment has passed away, to fall back upon other things; it may be, to end with languor, disgust, or carelessness, if not with utter faithlessness and sin.

No doubt, brethren, this was the case with Asa; and his lamentable condition at the last, is recorded as a solemn warning, that even the highest profession, if not qualified by self-correption; the best works, if not done with perpetual reference to God, man's Great Fellow-worker, may issue in failure.

Gradually, indeed, and very slowly, such lethargy may creep over the soul; as gradually as the fumes of the chafing-dish overpower the senses of the sleeper, or as the deathlike chill of the mountain steals over the weary traveller, and lulls him into a slumber from which there is no awakening-but like these, it is subtle, silent, fatal.

But who, then, can be safe, if Asa, who began so well, ended so very miserably? My brethren, we may all be safe. We have a mighty and unseen Guardian, ever ready to watch over us. Only we must never be secure. For I would have you distinguish

accurately between safety and security. A man is safe while he walks in the light, even on the brink of a precipice, if he has considered beforehand the strength or weakness of his nerves, and so keeps at a prudent distance; or if there is a rail between him and the giddy depth; or if he leans on a strong and practised companion; and he is indebted for this his safety to his avoidance of indulging in security. But let a man warned beforehand of the great dangers of such a journey; nay, so fully and perfectly aware of them, as that he has often dissuaded others from running a similar risk, and thus succeeded in saving their lives-I say, let such a man be so confident in his own sagacity, as to attempt that mountain-path by night, with the fence broken, and with neither lantern nor guide, he is secure indeed, that is, he is careless, he is fool-hardy, but is he safe? Brethren, of course he is not. It is easy to forecast the issue; we may be grieved, but can scarcely be surprised, if some traveller on the road beneath that precipice report that he is found, on the morrow, a shattered and mangled ruin of what had been a man.

It is only sure-walking that is safe-walking. To be sure we must not be secure, we must be careful; carefulness is the earnest of safety; carefulness, whose maxim is, "Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall;" carefulness, which, in the words of our Litany, petitions the Almighty for deliverance

not merely in the "time of tribulation," but in the "time of wealth;" carefulness, which, in the words of our Burial Service, exclaims, most humbly and most continually, "Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty; O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy Judge eternal, suffer us not at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from Thee."

Examples are ever more convincing than precepts. Exhibitions of a man falling yet afterwards rising, or, erring and falling never to rise, are more graphic than abstract statements about errors and their retrieval, or errors and their consequences if unretrieved. We are thankful, oh! how thankful, that God has not merely declared that He will, for His dear Son's sake, receive and pardon the penitent, but has set before us a penitent restored, as in the striking case of Manasseh. Then let us be thankful also, that He has not merely intimated in general terms that those who stand may fall, but has exhibited, for our instruction and warning, Asa; at first, and for a long time indeed, standing upright; then declining into self-will and worldly policy; then hardened against reproof; then, Ahab-like, hating and imprisoning his reprover; then oppressing his people; then so wrapt up in himself, as not even in his trouble to seek the Lord, and thus going down to his grave not reconciled, not

42

Asa; or, Failure at the Last.

comforted, not saved. Let us not be high-minded,

but fear;

"Let us in stedfast humbleness

Kneel on to Him, who loves to bless

The prayer that waits for Him; and trembling strive
To keep the lingering flame in our own breast alive." 1

1 Thursday before Easter-KEBLE.

LECTURE III.

JEHOSHAPHAT; OR, THE DANGERS OF INDECISION.

2 CHRON. xix. 1—3. (1)

And Jehoshaphat, the king of Judah, returned to his house in peace to Jerusalem.

And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him, and said unto King Jehoshaphat, Shouldst thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord.

Nevertheless there are good things found in thee.

JEHOSHAPHAT; OR, THE DANGERS OF INDECI

SION.

Such is the subject, brethren, to which I call your attention to-day. It has not been without reflection that I have chosen the particular terms in which it is expressed. I have, on the one hand, to describe to you a man, not lost, but continually in danger of being lost; a man not wicked, but weak; a man, possessing in his character much that was good,

1 With this Lecture the following chapters should be read: 1 Kings xxii.; 2 Kings iii. ; 2 Chron. xvii. xviii. xix. xx.