REFLECTION AND PRAYER-FOUNDED ON THE PRE

CEDING DISCOURSE, AND TO BE USED OCCASION

ALLY BETWEEN SEASONS OF COMMUNION, FOR THE PURPOSE OF RECALLING AND STRENGTHENING SACRAMENTAL VOWS.

PSALM CXXXIX. 24.-Lead me in the way everlasting.

REFLECTION.

HAVE I not vowed by the holiest of all tokens,with the symbols of the body and blood of my Redeemer in my hands,—at his holy table,—and before God and Man, that I would "count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord,"-that as I have sat down as his friend at the table which he consecrated, I would count it my highest honour, during my future life, to be his disciple,—and that, as the true badge and proof of my discipleship, I would take

his example in acting and suffering,—his love to men and submission to God,-his high and steadfast looking to the will of God in all that he did, and purposed, and endured,—his utter freedom from all subjection to worldly pleasures,-his resolute perseverance in the path marked out for him, notwithstanding all the opposition it was his lot to encounter,-his willingness to descend even to the lowest depths of shame, that he might not fail in "the work that had been given him to do,"-have I not sworn before God, and by the holiest of all ceremonies, that, in all these respects, I would take the example of Christ as the model according to which my conduct in life is to be fashioned?

Are not piety to God,-purity of sentiment and of conduct,-good-will to men,-meekness and gentleness in all things,-a steadfast pursuit of that plan of life which Divine Providence has marked out for us, and entire submission to the divine will, the very essence of that religion which the Son of God has given to mankind, and of which, by sitting down at the Sacramental table, I have professed myself a voluntary and devoted disciple?

Have not the true followers of Christ in all ages been distinguished by those graces ?-do not

these his followers now form that illustrious band to whom we look as "the excellent ones of the earth?"—and is it not by them that those glorious mansions are peopled, amidst the splendours of which the Redeemer is now seated, and where he is directing all things for the final establishment of his kingdom upon earth?

And, oh! how grand was the triumph of the Redeemer !—of him to whom I have willingly attached myself, as my Pattern and Forerunner,— when, for the steadfastness and submission which he displayed," God raised him from the dead,” -took him visibly to heaven," set him at his own right hand,”—“ committed all power to him in heaven and on earth,"-" and gave him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus knee should bow, and every tongue every confess that he is Lord, to the glory of God the Father!"

And did not God thus signify to all the followers of his Son, that such is the honour and the triumph for which they too are destined, if, like their blessed Master, they walk patiently and steadfastly along the road of life,-faithfully performing the part pointed out to them by the

course of Providence, and by just consideration of their own powers and opportunities,-rejecting every allurement that might lead them from the "perfect way of the commandments of God,"-fearing no opposition which the malice or ignorance of mankind may make to them in that course of duty which they have determined to run,—and willing even, if God should so call them, to submit to any extremity of suffering or of humiliation, that they may give evidence, even amidst the most inauspicious appearances, of their implicit trust in the final rectitude and benevolence of those plans which God has established for the conduct of his works?

And, oh! what a perspective is thus opened up to my ambition, if I fail not in the course that has been marked out for me! True; I am now surrounded by many causes of error, and by many temptations, that may seduce me from duty;it is true, that, like my Redeemer, I must contend with difficulties, and pass through long years of endurance,—and faithfully occupy my small trust, in the hope and belief that my faithful occupation of it will lead me to a greater trust.—I must even bear with the injustice and malice of my fellow-men, and it may be have many of my

days imbittered by their opposition and contempt -and at last I may even be called to show my trust in the goodness and presiding providence of God, by submitting to long or to severe afflictions of body or of mind;-but what are all these, when compared with the great " hope that has been set before me,"-with that "eternal life" in the kingdom of God, after which, as the follower of Christ, I have been invited to aspire? Are not the longest-continued labours and endurances of this shortlived existence "but for a moment," when compared with those eternal joys which are "at the right hand of God?"—and ought I not to rejoice with a "joy unspeakable and full of glory," that God has permitted me, even though it should be through the severest of all earthly trials, thus to attain to "an exceeding weight of glory?"

Yet, oh! how apt am I to forget both this glorious hope, and the solemn vow I have taken of walking through life, as one who has this prospect before him?-how ready am I to walk unworthy of "the high vocation with which I have been called,”—and to permit the low passions, the vile pleasures, the contemptible opposition of this world, to destroy in my soul that glorious ambition by