this, the most exalted field of usefulness, let us make conscience of seeking to be found faithful, and let us ever be on our watch tower, lest opportunities of furthering our Master's cause pass unimproved. Oh let us take heed, lest on a day of reckoning the barrenness of some neglected corner of the field committed to us should rise up in judgment against us, and of that spot it be said, "there a plenteous harvest might have been gathered in, but the labourers would not rise from their ease to reap it." Let us take heed, lest now, any straying sheep of our flocks may still be within reach of our warning voice, and we raise it not to call them into the fold.

And let the Christian people of this land be also mindful of their responsibility and their duties, as members of a Church that has such precious privileges. Let them especially keep the word of Christ as the foundation of their hopes, the charter of their Christian rights, and the light that alone can guide them through life's pilgrimage onwards to heaven's glories. Let them take heed lest they deny their Saviour, either by their refusal to follow him, or by shrinking from the reproach of his name. Cleaving to him with purpose of heart as their all in all, let them follow the good Shepherd, and shew that "they have not known the voice of strangers." Then shall the door of the fold of Heaven be opened to receive them at last, by Him who openeth, and no man shutteth.

Let us all find, in the words of our text, a call for deep humiliation before Him whose servants we profess to be; a call to ask of the days that are past, if we

have been careful to improve the talents entrusted to us. Let us ever bear in mind, that even the little strength that is in us, is not our own, but his who worketh in us every thing that is good. The strength in which Christians go forth to their Master's work, is not in the arm of flesh, it is the Lord's own right arm that must uphold them. The strength of Christian ministers is not in the enticing words of man's wisdom, there must be the voice of God's word and the might of his grace, to make the truth triumphant. The strength of Christian churches lies not in the number of those who rally round their standards, or in the gifts poured into their treasuries, but in the faithfulness with which they follow Christ, and the confidence with which they lean upon his arm, and repair to his fulness for every needful aid.

Let us all look upon it, not only as our bounden duty, but as our highest honour, to do what in us lies to serve Christ in our several spheres. Let us pray for prosperity to our Zion, that the light of her candlestick may burn yet more and more brightly, and the door which her living Head has opened may never be shut till latest posterity; that the Church of our Fathers may prove the honoured instrument of adding to the triumphs of the holy cause of truth; that her ministers may ever be characterised by zeal and Christian humility; and her members be kept beautified with salvation, and fruitful in every good word and work. And may the Lord answer our prayers, by ever abiding in our Zion, her bulwark and her glory. Amen.

SERMON XVII.

LUKEWARMNESS IN RELIGION.

BY THE

REV. JAMES BELL,

ONE OF THE MINISTERS OF HADDINGTON.

REV. III. 14, 15, 16.

"And unto the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the beginning of the creation of God; I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

The Church of Laodicea was one of the seven which the immediate Apostles of our Lord established in Asia Minor. At first, she enjoyed the most exalted privileges. But, proving false to her great Head, inasmuch as she grew languid in her efforts to extend abroad the blessings of the Word of Life, and perverted the rich and abundant grace of heaven, which ought to have actuated her with deepest gratitude, and most unbounded zeal in "well-doing,"-to spiritual security, listless aspirations, and sinful indifference to the cause of the Gospel throughout the world; her "golden candlestick" was, in divine judgment, removed. And, thus degraded from her proud position in the Christian community, in consequence of the religious declension of her members, her very city itself, which stood, like imperial Rome, upon seven hills, encompassed by a vast wall, and containing-striking proof of the civil and political splendour, as it was thought in those days, to which it had attained-three large amphitheatres and a circus, was at length buried in ruins by repeated earthquakes; and the utmost difficulty is now experienced by modern travellers even in ascertaining its ancient site, from the Mahometan idolators who at present people the country: awful monument this, of "the wrath of the Lamb," and of the terrible and enduring doom that awaits, in like manner, every other church in Christendom, which, abusing or neglecting her advantages, continues "slothful in business"-not "fervent in spirit," nor "always abounding in the work of the Lord!"

I would here call your attention, for a few moments, to the character of the Laodicean Church, to whose

dreadful doom we have just adverted, as that character is given by him who is the "Amen—the faithful and true Witness."

He says, "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot." It would hence appear, brethren, that the members of the Church of Laodicea had all assumed, at least the name and badges of Christianity; and that they confessed the doctrines, and owned the laws of, their Divine Master, and the various obligations resulting from them. Thus, then, they were not absolutely "cold." But neither, on the other hand, were they entirely "hot ;" for there was no spirit-no flame of zeal in all their religion. There was no substance in their profession, and no vital influences animated their hearts. Religion and the concerns of immortality wielded only a nominal or speculative sway over their minds, and roused them neither to vigorous exertion, nor to ardent thoughts. Their whole habits of soul were worldly and carnal. They "had the form of godliness; but its power they denied." Their principles of faith were not active and lively. They "followed" Christ as "the Captain of their Salvation;" but, like Peter, on a most memorable occasion, it was only "afar off;" for they loved him not with any degree of affectionate warmth. They "served neither God nor mammon;" but partly both. Their religious character was a composite, at once of the frigidity of the hardened and thoughtless transgressor, and of the hallowed fire and burning devotion of the genuine disciple. It stood at a medium temperature between the

T