there are many persons who do really and conscientiously believe that they cannot profitably encourage them; yet, as to the majority of cases, where objections are made to prayer-meetings, it is because lukewarmness has clothed herself in the mistaken garb of orthodoxy and regularity. But take the matter further, and apply it to the solemn services of the Church. "The lively Christian," as one most eminent of the number observes, "the lively Christian says, "I was glad when they said unto me, let us go into the house of the Lord.-O God, thou art my God, early will I seek thee; my soul thirsteth for thee; my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land where no water is, to see thy power and glory as I have seen them in the sanctuary. One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and inquire in his temple. Hence you see him anticipating the opportunity of waiting upon God, as a man expects any season of pleasure and delight; and making preparations, lest any thing should deprive him of the satisfaction he expects. He suffers not a trivial hindrance to prevent his attending on religious duties; and if he cannot break through intervening obstructions, he finds it then most difficult to be resigned. He does not then inquire how often he is bound to attend the house of God, but rejoices at every opportunity, and embraces all." On the contrary, the lukewarm, if they come not reluctantly, they come with indifference to the ordinances of divine worship; and they are secretly pleased, if some excuse, just sufficient to satisfy their own consciences, can be made for absenting themselves. Some trivial excuse; some slight indisposition; some little unfavourable

aspect of the weather, all interpose. Yet the secret is "because thou art lukewarm." Saith the Scripture, "He that regardeth the winds, will not sow; and he that observeth the clouds, will not reap ;" "the sluggard will not plough by reason of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest and have nothing." Lukewarmness not only extends to the subject of attendance on the house of God, but it follows the individual there is there observed in his demeanour. You will find a measure of carelessness and inattention in the exercises of the house of God; you will hear no loud response; you will perceive no bended knee; you will not hear his voice in the song of thanksgiving. His body is present in the Church, and he pays some little regard to the sermon; its sounds fall upon his ear, but they reach not his heart. Why is all this? "Because thou art lukewarm."

I take another branch of this great subject. Lukewarmness lays its paralyzing hand on the opinions entertained, and it is often characterized by an indifference to evangelical truth. A lively Christian prizes nothing so much as the truth as it in Jesus, because he knows that nothing but the truth can prevail to the overthrow of all the enemies of the Lord Jesus Christ. And yet how often is it found, that those who call themselves Christians, do not think it important to acquaint themselves with the great distinctions which are found to exist in what is called the religious world on the subject of doctrine. Religious opinions are apt to be considered as matters of indifference; and many an individual is in this loose way satisfied with all that he hears. This would not be a matter of very great importance, if the application of the principle was confin

ed to the minor particulars of the Christian faith; but it operates indiscriminately, and is thus prejudicial to the eternal interests of men. The great and distinguishing doctrines of the Gospel are of grand and paramount interest, because they lay at the foundation of every thing, and nothing can be expected to have a warm and spiritual principle of life which is not founded on them. The total depravity of the unrenewed mind; the doctrine of justification by faith only; not as sometimes explained away, but as set forth in the epistles of St. Paul-the absolute necessity of a changed and converted heart-these are among the fundamentals of Christianity, and where there is lukewarmness in relation to these, there is a worm at the root of the tree. It is observed by the celebrated, and justly celebrated Scott, in a sermon on this subject, that "many call their lukewarmness candour; they contend for no doctrine or peculiarity, and this they call moderation. Every sentiment is with them a matter of indifference; they allow every man without disturbance to hold his own opinion, hoping that all or most of them will be found right at the last; this they call charity, the principal grace of the Gospel. But in fact, such men do not value the truth, and they impose on themselves by fair pretext, while they prefer ease, credit, and interest, to the glory of God and the spread of the Gospel. This way of thinking dignifies lukewarm with the name of candour and charity."

Again: Lukewarmness is discernible in the interest with which the great evangelical operations of the age are contemplated. The spirit of the age is a spirit of high and zealous endeavour in the advancement of the cause of Christ. I mean not as to

mere sectional interests, but on the elevated ground of general effort. It does not surprise me when I see the worldly man refuse to devote either time, or talents, or money, to help along the grand designs of evangelizing the world. There is in his heart no chord which has ever yet been tuned to harmonize with this design. It does not surprise me to see worldly men zealous to build up the interests of party, because zeal here coalesces with the world, and it makes religion so secular, that being divested of its spirituality, it is divested of that to which they object. But what is surprising is this, that there are many who call themselves Christians, and yet refuse both their time, and their talents, and their money, in the advancement of enterprises, the magnificence of which fill the angels of heaven with astonishment and delight. Yet how often does it happen, that in relation to those who call themselves Christians, there is a total coldness and indifference on these subjects. The claims of the Bible, and the Missionary, and the Sunday-school, and the Tract associations, present themselves each with the image and the superscription of the great God upon it, and each confessedly marching to the victory over ignorance and superstition, and crime and death. The rest of the story may be imagined. And why are not these things laid hold on by those called Christians, with an energy proportionate? Now, brethren, deceive not yourselves; I know that a thousand things can be said, and that the devil will furnish any man with some flattering unction to lay to his soul; but if ever the true secret was revealed in relation to those who call themselves Christians, it is in the language of my text-"Because thou art lukewarm."

Again: Lukewarmness is most dreadfully exhibited in those called Christians, as it relates to their want of separation from the world. How many are there who wear the external badges of the Christian profession, and yet who, in no other things, are distinguished from the world about them. There is observable in their character no holy peculiarity; they swim with the current; they appear like the world in all that they wear, and in all that they say, and in all that they do. You will find them ready to engage in the same trifling conversation; you will find many of them in the same idle and unprofitable company, and in some cases you will find them in the same round of foolish, and vain, and undignified amusements. I grant that a Christian of this description is a moral phenomenon for which nothing but the utter deceitfulness of the human heart can possibly account, for he is certainly among those who hope to find the essence of Christianity between the extremes of hot and cold. Why is it that there are any who think that they can wear the Christian name and yet not be Christians to the full extent of the Gospel's requisitions? It is because they are lukewarm; they dare not, for fears of hell, give themselves altogether to the world, and they will not, for love of the world, give themselves wholly to Christ; and they thus vacillate between the two, sometimes a little inclining to the one, and sometimes to the other; afraid to be either, and hoping to be both; desirous of being the friends of God and the friends of the world; practising upon the very principle which is so expressly reprobated by our Saviour when he says"Ye cannot serve two masters; he that would be the friend of the world is the enemy to God." Such is the lukewarm Christian.