for comfort, for strength, for victory, or for hope, must necessarily turn. But, notwithstanding this, man's proneness to forget his highest mercies is a principal feature of his history, a chief element of his character. Now all these ancient provisions, and their counterpart in the New Testament, are intended to prevent this forgetfulness. Moses has laid down the doctrine of this subject in the following Scriptures: Exod. xii. 4; Num. ix. 12. Four things are prominently to be kept in mind: human suffering, because of sin; Divine compassion for the sufferer; deliverance flowing from that compassion; and, consequent obligation on the part of the delivered. This is the economy of redemption.

These feasts to the Jews were confirmatory of their faith in the Divine mission of Moses, and in all the wonders of power and grace performed on their behalf through his instrumentality. Thus, too, it is with the death of Christ, the foundation of all our hopes. While the trumpet of the Gospel is to be kept continually sounding, the table of the Lord is to remain continually covered, that there the symbol of his sufferings may address the soul through the eyes, the eye and the ear thus uniting to keep alive the knowledge and remembrance of the glorious truth that "Christ died for the ungodly." It is a fact which admits of no dispute, that in apostolic times the Lord's Supper was observed every Lord's-day, and in every church of every country throughout the three subsequent centuries. At length, however, lukewarmness crept in, and superstition followed close upon its heels. Popery arose, and then the Supper of the Lord was displaced from its true position, and from being a symbol it became a sacrifice. But even in this sacrifice we see a relic of the ancient truth. Every Lord's-day, at least, in every country, there is a mass; and throughout most countries, provision is made for daily masses. In this matter, Protestantism has still a great deal to learn, or rather to unlearn. The Word of God knows no more of annual communions than of centenary communions; half-yearly, quarterly, monthly communions are in the same category. A lively piety will never be satisfied with such a state of things. The history of great revivals of the work of God, and the biography of its principal

instruments beautifully and impressively illustrate this principle. We may cite the case of the great evangelist, George Whitfield. Referring to his conversion, and the few young men, his associates at Oxford, he says: "I now began, like them, to live by rule, and to pick up the very fragments of time, that not a moment might be lost. Whether I ate, or whatever I did, I strove, like them, to make a conscience of everything. Like them, having no weekly sacrament-although the Rubric required it at our own college, I received it every Sunday at Christchurch; I joined with them in keeping the stations, by fasting Wednesday and Friday, and left no means unused that I thought would lead me nearer to Christ." This bespeaks a man in the deepest earnest about working out his own salvation. As to the fasting on Wednesday and Friday, it is a thing without authority, and, therefore, not binding on the conscience; but we doubt not that God approved the deed as flowing from a desire to please him.

The ancient feasts, by assembling the people, furnished opportunity for public instruction. To some extent, they always went together; the feast itself was in fact a lesson. Just so it is now in the Christian Church: whatever preachings, exhortations, or prayers there might be at other times, the observance of the Lord's Supper, in the early Church, was always connected with such exercises. The leading object, nevertheless, was not then to "hear preaching," but to "break bread." When "the disciples came together on the first day of the week, to break bread, Paul preached unto them." He waited for the purpose of the gathering, that he might fall in with the established arrangement; and the faithful came together not even to hear him, but to observe the appointed ordinances. Early history testifies that subsequently, and everywhere, when the people met on "the first day of the week, there was public reading of the Scriptures in the houses of prayer, where there was a conflux of all sorts of people. The canonical books of Scripture being read everywhere, the miracles therein recorded were well known to all the people."

These ancient feasts promoted intercourse and friendship; furnishing occasion for the cultivation of the social

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF HEARERS OF THE GOSPEL.

"Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only."--JAS. i. 22.

NEVER was there a time when the exhortation of the Apostle was more needed than the present; and for this reason-there never was a time when preachers and hearers of the Gospel were so numerous. It is an undeniable fact that a small proportion of those who hear the word are "doers of the word." Reader, are you a hearer of the word? Let me say to you, as Christ said to those he addressed, "Take heed how ye hear;" for, remember, you are hearing for eternity; therefore see to it that you are "doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves." The Apostle exhorts us to "lay apart all filthiness, and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."

All hearers of the Gospel may be divided into two classes:

He

I. THE CHRISTIAN HEARER. II. THE UNCONVERTED HEARER. I. I shall first describe the CHRISTIAN HEARER." Be ye doers of the word." What does the Apostle mean? means that hearing the word is not sufficient, but we must receive it to the salvation of our souls. Thus we see, it is the application of the word by God's Spirit that saves the soul: "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul."

"Ex

Reader, are you converted? cept ye be converted," says Christ, "and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven," Matt. xviii. 3. Are you converted? I do not ask, Are you a professor of Christ? But, in the name of Jesus Christ and in the prospect of eternity, I do ask, Have you received the Gospel to the salvation of your soul? Let me invite your earnest attention while I endeavour to show you what "God the Lord

hath spo

ken concerning the responsibility of Christian hearers.

God, speaking by the Apostle Paul, says, "By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory" (or hold fast the truth), "that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures," 1 Cor. XV. 2. This was spoken to those who heard the Gospel; and it is plainly stated that those only who hold fast the word are saved; that is, those who receive the word into their hearts, and speak, and act, and live accordingly. Paul enforces this same truth upon the Romans: "For not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified," Rom. ii. 13. These passages, and many others I might quote, prove that only those who act in accordance with God's word "are doers of the word," and will be accepted of God. Let us further hear Christ on this subject. In concluding his Sermon on the Mount, he said, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in the last day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity," Matt. vii. 21-23.

Dear Christian reader, pause a moment, and ask yourself, "Am I doing the will of God? Is it true that I may name the name of Christ, and yet at last be shut out of heaven?" Yes, it is a solemn fact. You may be a preacher of the Gospel, a Sabbath-school teacher, a tract distributor, a sick visitor; yea, you may do many great and wonderful things for Christ in the eyes of the world, and at last hear Christ say, "I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity." Observe, "many" shall hear

this awful declaration, "I never knew you." At that day, one will be heard saying, "What, Lord, not know me! I taught in thy name." Christ will reply, "I never knew you." Another will say, "What, Lord, not know me! I contributed largely to thy cause, and was zealous in extending thy kingdom." "I never knew you." A third may say, "Lord, I sat at thy table, and partook of the memorials of thy dying love and shed blood; receive

me!" "I never knew you." And with one united voice they may exclaim, "Why, Lord, why not receive us?" "Why!" Christ will reply; "because ye did not do the will of my Father who is in heaven." My dear Christian reader, what solemn language! What awful truths! Remem ber they are the words of Christ, spoken to those who professed to be Christians. I beseech you, in the language of an inspired Apostle, "Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove yourselves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?" 2 Cor. xiii. 5. In this and other passages, Paul declares that the doers of the word have Christ dwelling in them: "Christ in you the hope of glory;" "He that is joined to the Lord is one spirit;' "Ye are not in the flesh, but in the spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his." Nothing can be plainer than this. If you have not the "Spirit of Christ," you are none of his. What says the world about the spirit you manifest? your influence like that of Peter and John's, compelling even the enemies of the cross to take knowledge of you that you have been with Christ. For, be it remembered, if the Spirit of Christ has taken possession of your heart, it will be seen in your conduct and practised in your life; for, says Paul, "if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit," Gal. v. 24; "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God,' Rom. viii. 14. From this we learn that the true Christian has Christ's Spirit dwelling in him, and exemplified in his life. He is "led by the Spirit;" he lives and walks in the Spirit; for no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." It is only to such God has promised to answer prayer; for, says Christ, "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you," John xv. 7.

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Is

We often hear professing Christians say, "I do not know how it is; I am continually asking God for blessings, but I get no answer." The reason is plain enough; your prayers are not answered because you do not "abide in Christ," neither do Christ's words "abide in you." Let me exhort you

to enter into your closet, and in the presence of a heart-searching God, ask yourself, "Does the Spirit of Christ dwell in me? Am I a doer of the word? Is the work of sanctification progressing in my heart? Am I growing in grace? Is the love of Christ constraining me?" If you cannot answer these questions in the affirmative, you may conclude you are not a doer of the word, but a hearer only, "deceiving your own selves;" for Christ says, "Every tree is known by its fruits." Christians are called "trees of righteousness," Isa. lxi. 3; that is, persons bringing forth the fruits of righteousness. These fruits are described by the Apostle Paul as the fruits of the Spirit. They are "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance." The Christian doer of the word is like a fruitful tree, having love for its roots, faith for its stem, and a holy life for its branches, bearing the fruits of peace, longsuffering, gentleness, etc.

How great is the responsibility of the Christian hearer! He professes to be one of the adopted children of God, and living under the Divine influence of the Holy Spirit; therefore he is responsible to God for the use he makes of this influence, and for the fruit he bears in a life of holiness and devotedness to him. This is fully set forth by the Apostle Peter: "According as his Divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him that hath called us to glory and virtue: whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust. And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ," 2 Pet. ii. 3-8.

:

Dear Christian reader, think of your awful responsibility, and the denunciations of God against you if you are not a doer of the word. What Christ

said to the Pharisees who professed to be doers of the word, but were hearers only, he says to you: "Woe unto you, Scribes and Pharisees! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" Matt. xxiii. 27, 28, 33. What awful declarations! God forbid that such should be said of any of my readers. "Take heed how ye hear,' and how ye act; that, with the Apostle Paul you may say, "Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place. For we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish: to the one we are the savour of death unto death; and to the other the savour of life unto life," 2 Cor. ii. 14-16.

Christian reader, pause a moment here, and ask yourself, "What influence am I exerting in every word I speak, in every conversation I hold, in every action I perform? Is it true that I am exerting an influence for good or for evil-an influence that will bring glory to God or a reproach upon his cause? that I am, every day I live, a 6 savour of death unto death to them

that perish,' or a savour of life unto

Yes,

life to them that are saved?'" and for this influence you are responsible to Christ, who hath said, "That every idle word that man shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment. For by thy words thou shalt be justified, and by thy words thou shalt be condemned," Matt. xii. 36, 37.

II. The responsibility of the UNCONVERTED HEARER OF THE WORD.Am I not addressing many who have heard the Gospel many years, and yet are unconverted? You have heard only with the external ear. You know what we speak, but take no trouble to understand its meaning. You may have felt some anxiety at the time of hearing, but when the service was over, paid no more attention. You may understand the literal meaning of what you hear, but you do not apply it to your hearts, nor practice what you hear. You can, perhaps, look back

You

upon the time when your hearts melted, and your tears flowed, while listening to the sound of the Gospel; but now you sit unmoved, as if your consciences were seared as with a hot iron. are "like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass; for he beholdeth himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was." I have but few words to say to show you your responsibility.

Unconverted hearer, Have you not felt the Spirit striving in your heart, convincing you of sin? Have you not many times resolved to amend your life? But you have gone into the world, stifled your convictions, and broke your resolves. "You are like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass;" he sees a blemish in his face, but as soon as he turns aside it is forgotten. So, while you are hearers only of the word, though you may be convinced of sin, though you may pass for a good moral man in the world; yet you forget if you are not a doer of the word, you are an heir of hell, a child of the devil, and in danger every moment of dropping in "the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone." You may say, "I shall read no further; I don't like such hard language as this." Stop! stop! I beseech you! I want to affect your heart. Think before you turn aside, and ask yourself, "Whose words are these? Are they the writer's or God's?" They are God's words, not mine. Listen: "The wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget God," Psa. ix. 17; "Upon the wicked he shall rain snares, fire, and brimstone, and a horrible tempest; this shall be the portion of their cup," Psa. xi. 6; "Every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand and the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell and great was the fall of it," Matt. vii. 26, 27.

Unconverted reader, how great will be your fall if you die as a hearer only of the Gospel! When the wrath of God is poured out, and his voice is heard saying to you, "Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels," Matt. xxv. 41, where will you fall? Can I tell you? Must I tell you? Yes,

I must. You will fall into the pit of hell, where there is "weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth." How great and awful that fall will be!

"Sinner, stop! O stop and think
Before you further go!
Will you sport upon the brink
Of everlasting woe?
On the verge of ruin stop;
Now the friendly warning take;
Stay your footsteps-ere you drop
Into the burning lake."

Awake! awake! unconverted reader! Listen! The voice of mercy calls upon you: "Put away the evil of your doing from before mine eyes. Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord; though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool," Isa. i. 16-18.

You may appear well in the eyes of the world, as a mere hearer of the word; but how will you appear before God, "when the Lord Jesus Christ shall be revealed from heaven with his mighty angels, in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the Gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ: who shall be punished with everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord, and from the glory of his power," 2 Thess. i. 7-9.

This leads me to notice, in the last place, the awful consequence of being hearers only, and not doers of the word, deceiving your own selves. "Be not deceived, God is not mocked." "He searcheth the heart, and trieth the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings; "bringing every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." How important, dear reader, is the life you now live; when you remember your eternal happiness or misery depends upon it. You may refuse to obey God now, but you will be compelled to obey him when he comes in judgment, "to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches, which ungodly sinners have spoken against him," Jude 15. You may reject Christ's words now, but that word will judge you at the last day; for, says Christ, "He that rejecteth me, and receiveth not my

words, hath one that judgeth him: the word that I have spoken, the same shall judge him in the last day," John xii. 48. How will you stand the fiery trial of that day? God asks you, "Can thine heart endure, or can thine hands be strong, in the days that I shall deal with thee?" "I the Lord have spoken it it shall come to pass, and I will do it I will not go back, neither will I spare, neither will I repent: according to thy ways, and according to thy doings, shall they judge thee, saith the Lord God," Ezek. xxii. 14; xxiv. 14. Oh, ye who have long listened to the preaching of the Gospel, beware of neglecting the salvation of your soul; beware of resisting the strivings of the Spirit; lest God should say to you, as he did to Israel of old, "They refused to hearken, and pulled away the shoulder, and stopped their ears, that they would not hear; yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which the Lord of hosts hath sent in his Spirit by the former prophets; therefore came a great wrath from the Lord of hosts. Therefore it is come to pass, that as he cried and they would not hear, so they cried and I would not hear, saith the Lord of hosts," Zech. xii. 11-13; read also Isa. xxviii. 15-18. Such is the condition of all those who are "hearers of the word only, and not doers," and such will be the results. Unconverted reader, now the voice of God speaks to you. To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts; his exhortation to you is, "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money, come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price," etc., Isa. lv. 1-3; Rev. xxii. 17. What is your reply? Your present conduct says, "No, I shall not come; 'Who is the Lord, that I should obey him?'" Remember, there is a day coming, when the archangel's trumpet shall summon you to appear before God, to render an "account of the deeds done in the body;" then, if you die as a hearer only, you will be heard crying to the "rocks and to the mountains to fall on you, and hide you from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb: for the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?" Rev. vi. 16, 17. But the only reply you will

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