have been admonished to remain ; and by the mere force of a consistent deportment, he may have borne down much of the opposition to christianity, till at last, though he prevailed not to the bringing over the bloody emperor himself, he was surrounded by a goodly company of believers, and a church of the Redeemer rose in the very midst of the palace of the Cæsars. And whether or not it were thus, through the influence of a solitary convert, that the religion of Jesus established itself in the most unpromising scene, the great truth remains beyond controversy, that a post is not to be forsaken because it cannot be occupied without peril to personal piety. Let, therefore, any amongst yourselves, who may be disposed to abandon the station in which God has placed them, because of its dangers and trials, consider whether they may not have been thus circumstanced for the very purpose of being useful to others; and whether, then, it does not become them to persist in hope, rather than to desert it in fear. For very difficult would it be to show that any can have more cause to seek a change of service, than men converted from amongst the courtiers and domestics of Nero; and, nevertheless, these christians, with an apostle for their immediate instructor, adhered steadfastly to the employments in which conversion had found them; so that they were to be known by the striking description, The saints that are of Cæsar's household." ९९ But we have not yet exhausted the instructive truths which seem fairly deducible from the simple statement of our text. We felt, as we insisted on the last lesson-the lesson as to the duty of remaining in a perilous position-that some might feel as though we required them to injure themselves for the benefit of others; and when it is the soul which is at stake, there may be doubts whether a sacrifice such as this can be lawful. We maintained it to be right that Cæsar's household should not be deserted by the saints, because those saints, by remaining there, might be instrumental to the conversion of others to christianity. But, surely, it is a christian's first duty to give heed to his own growth in grace; how then can it be right that, with the vague hope of benefiting others, he should continue amongst hinderances to his own spiritual advancement ? Brethren, of this we may be certain, that, wheresoever God makes it a man's duty, there will he make it his interest to remain. If he employ one of his servants in turning others from sin, he will cause the employment to conduce to that servant's holiness. Is there no indication of this in the words of our text? We lay the em phasis now upon chiefly," Neither do we feel any surprise at this: it is just the result for which we might have naturally looked. Is it the absence of temptation, is it the want of trial, which is most favorable to the growth of vital christianity? is it, when there is least to harass a christian, to put him on his guard, or keep him on the alert, that he is most likely to become spiritually great? If so, then men were right in former times, who fancied it most for the interest of the soul that they should absolutely seclude themselves from the world, and, withdrawing to some lonely hermitage, hold communion with no being but God. But this we believe to have been an error. The anchorite, who never mixed with his fellow-men, and who was never exposed to the temptations resulting from direct contact with the world, might easily persuade himself of his superior sanctity, and as easily deceive himself. He might suppose his evil passion subdued, his corrupt propensities eradicated, whereas, the real state of the case might be, that the evil passions were only quiet because not solicited, and that the propensities were not urged because there 1 was nothing to excite them. Had he keeping him associated with those who been brought away from his hermit- hate good, and employed on what tends age, and again exposed to temptation, to increase worldly-mindedness? It it is far from improbable that he, who will probably be from situations such had won to himself a venerated name as this, that God shall gather into the by his austerities, and who was pre-kingdom of heaven the most eminent sumed to have quite mastered the appetites and desires of an unruly nature, would have yielded to the solicitations with which he found himself beset, and given melancholy proof that the strength of his virtue lay in its not being tried. And, at all events, there is good ground for reckoning it an erroneous supposition, that piety must flourish best where least exposed to injury. The household of Cæsar may be a far better place for the growth of personal religion than the cell of a monk in the one, the christian has his graces put continually to the proof, and this tends both to the discovering and the strengthening them; in the other, there is comparatively nothing to exercise virtue, and therefore may its very existence be only a delusion. Why then is the courtier to think, that, by making it his duty to remain in the dangerous atmosphere of a court, we require him to sacrifice himself for the benefit of others? or the servant, that, by bidding him stay in the irreligious family, we doom him to the being hindered in the spiritual race? Far enough from this. Let the remaining be matter of conscience, and the advantageousness shall be matter of experience. "The God of all grace," who has promised that his people shall not be tempted above that they are able, will bestow assistance proportioned to the wants. The constant exposure to danger will induce constant watchfulness: multiplied difficulties' will teach the need of frequent prayer the beheld wickedness of others will keep alive an earnest desire, that the earth may be "full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea." And why, then, should not personal piety flourish? why should it be stunted? why, rather, should it not be more than commonly vigorous? Oh, let no man think that he cannot be expected to make great progress in religion, because he is obliged to be much in contact with wickedness, because his calling in life is one of great moral danger, of his servants. It may not be from cloistered solitudes, where piety had but little to contend with, that the distinguished ones shall advance when Christ distributes the prizes of eternity-it may rather be from the court, where worldliness reigned; from the exchange, where gold was the idol; and from the family, where godliness was held in derision. Not that there may not be exalted piety where there has not been extraordinary trial. But the extraordinary trial, met in God's strength, which is always sufficient, will be almost sure to issue in such prayerfulness, such faith, such vigilance, such devotedness, as can hardly be looked for where there is but little to rouse, to alarm, and to harass. Therefore, let those be of good cheer, who, if pious at all, must be pious in spite of a thousand hinderances and disadvantages. Let these hinderances and disadvantages only make them earnest in prayer and diligent in labor, and they will prove their best helps in working out salvation. Witness the chiefly" of our text. There were none in Rome, in whom the flame of christian love was so bright, as in those confined to the most polluted of atmospheres. God appointed them their station: they submitted in obedience to his will: and the result was, that the lamp, which you would have thought must have gone out in so pestilential an air, burnt stronger and clearer than in any other scene. Look, then, upon your enemies as your auxiliaries, upon your dangers as your guardians, upon your difficulties as your helps. Christian men, and christian women, ye of whom God asks most in asking you to be his servants, for you he reserves most, if, indeed, ye be "faithful unto death." The " chiefly" of the text may be again heard; they who have been first in godliness shall be first in glory: and when Christ is saying, "Come, ye blessed of my Father," it may be with this addition," chiefly they that were of Cæsar's household." SERMON VI. THE SLEEPLESS NIGHT. "On that night could not the king sleep; and he commanded to bring the book of records of the chronicles; and they were read before the king."—Esther, 6: 1. It will be necessary for us to enter | somewhat minutely into the circumstances connected with what is here mentioned, that you may be prepared for the inferences which we design to draw from the passage. The Book of Esther is among the most interesting of the narratives contained in the Old Testament, furnishing proofs, as remarkable as numerous, of the everwatchful Providence of God. The king of the vast Persian Empire, of which Judea was at this time a province, had put from him his queen, in a moment of caprice and indignation, and advanced to her place a Jewess, named Esther, remarkable for her beauty, and, as it afterwards appeared, for her piety and courage. This Esther, who had been left an orphan, had been brought up as his daughter by her cousin Mordecai, who, having been "carried away from Jerusalem with the captivity" under Nebuchadnezzar, had obtained some appointment in the royal household at Shushan. The relationship, however, between the two was not generally known; and Mordecai instructed Esther not to avow herself a Jewess, lest the circumstance might operate to her disadvantage. This very concealment appears to have been ordered of God, and had much to do with subsequent events. The king had a favorite, named Haman the Agagite, a man of boundless ambition and pride, who acquired complete ascendancy over the monarch. Honors and riches were heaped on this minion; it was even ordered, as it would seem, that he should receive the same reverential prostrations as were rendered to the king, and which appear to have gone beyond mere tokens of respect, and to have been actually of an idolatrous character. Mordecai, whose religion forbade his giving, in any measure, to man what appertained to God, refused to join the other servants of the king in thus honoring Haman, and drew remark upon himself by remaining standing whilst they fell to the ground. Mordecai had been unjustly treated: he had claim to some portion, at least, of the honors conferred upon Haman, though there is no reason to suppose that anger, or envy, had anything to do with his conduct towards the favorite. He had been unjustly treated-for he had discovered a conspiracy, on the part of two of the royal chamberlains, to assassinate the king, and by apprising Esther of the bloody design, had prevented its execution. For this eminent service, however, he had obtained no reward; his merit was overlooked, and he still sat in the gate of the king. But it sorely displeased Haman that Mordecai refused him the appointed tokens of reverence. It was nothing to this haughty man that he had reached the highest point to which a subject could aspire, so long as he had to encounter a Jew who would not fall prostrate before him. He must have his revenge-but it shall be a large revenge: it were little to destroy Mordecai alone; the reasons which produced the refusal from the individual might operate equally on the thousands of his countrymen: Mordecai then shall perish; but with him shall fall also the whole nation of the Jews. It was a bold, as well as a bloody scheme, such as could not have been thought of except under an eastern despotism. Haman, however, knew that the lives of subjects were at the disposal of the king, so that if he could but possess himself of a royal edict against the Jews, he might compass his stern purpose, and exterminate the people. He sets, therefore, to work: but he will be religious in his wholesale massacre; he betakes himself to the casting of lots, that he may ascertain the day of the year most favorable to his project; and the lots-for "the 'whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" -fixed him to a day eleven months distant, and, by thus delaying his atrocious scheme, gave time for its defeat. He had no difficulty in obtaining the iniquitous decree from the luxurious and indolent monarch: he simply told him that there was a strange people scattered about his empire, whom it would be well to destroy, and offered to pay a large sum into the royal treasury, to balance any loss which their destruction might occasion. The king, without making the least inquiry, gave Haman his ring, which would author. ize any measure which he might choose to adopt; and Haman immediately circulated the sanguinary edict, to the great horror of the Jews, and the consternation of the whole empire. On this, Mordecai took measures for communicating with Esther, apprised her of the ruin which hung over her nation, and urged her to attempt intercession with the king. And whilst Esther was doing all in her power to arrange a favorable opportunity for pleading the cause of her people, there happened the singular circumstance recorded in the text: his sleep went from the king; and in place of sending for music, or other blandishments, to soothe him to repose, he desired to hear portions of the chronicles of the empire. Amongst other things, the account of the conspiracy which Mordecai had discovered, was read to him; this suggested inquiry as to whether Mordecai had been recompensed; this again produced an order for his being instantly and signally honored-an order which, as intrusted to Haman, was but the too certain herald of that favorite's downfall. Things now went on rapidly in favor of the Jews: the vil lany of Haman was disclosed to the king: immediate vengeance followed; and very shortly the people, who had stood within an ace of destruction, had gladness and light in their dwellings, and were all the more prosperous through the defeated plot of their enemies. Now who can fail to perceive, who can hesitate to confess, the providence of God in the occurrences thus hastily reviewed? From the first, from the advancement of Esther to the throne, a higher than human agency was manifestly at work to counteract a scheme as distinctly foreknown as though God had appointed, in place of only permitting, the sin. The conspiracy of the two chamberlains; the subsequent neglect of Mordecai; the distant season determined by the lot-these were all either ordered, or overruled, by God; and had a part, more or less direct, in frustrating a plot which aimed at nothing less than the extinction of the Jews. But perhaps the most memorable of the evidences of God's special providence is that narrated in the text. There is nothing, indeed, surprising in the mere circumstance that the king passed a sleepless night; it may have arisen from many natural causes; and we are not at all required to hold that there was any thing miraculous, any thing out of the ordinary course, in his finding himself unable to sleep. But if there were nothing .expressly done to banish slumber from his eyes, we may safely say that advantage was taken of the sleeplessness of the king, and that it was suggested to him to do what he was little likely to have thought of. How improbable that, as he tossed from side to side, and could not find rest, he should have fancied the being read to out of the. chronicles of the empire, a dry narrative it may be, of facts with which he was already well acquainted, and which had little to interest a voluptuary like himself. When Darius had allowed Daniel to be cast into the lions' den, and was sore displeased with himself" for what he had done, we read that "instruments of music were not brought before him :" as if, under ordinary circumstances, some such means as the cadences of melody would have been used to cheat him into slumber. But Ahasuerus, though the whole history proves him to have been a thorough sensualist, the disturbed and broken rest of a sinsent not for music, but for the chroni- gle individual should have aided the cles of the kingdom; indeed, it was at reconciliation of the whole world to the prompting of another spirit than God! Let us contemplate the fact his own, or, if it were but the whim of with yet closer attention. We wish to the moment, God made it instrumental impress on you a strong sense of the to the most important of purposes. ever-watchful providence of God, of his power in overruling all things, so that they subserve his fixed purposes, and of the facility wherewith he can produce amazing results, through simple instrumentality. Whither then shall we lead you? Not to any strange or startling scene, where there are clear tokens of Divine interference and supremacy. Come with us merely to the couch of the Persian king, on that night when sleep went from his eyes; and remembering that his sleeplessness was directly instrumental to the defeating the foul plot of Haman, let us consider what facts are established by the exhibition, and what practical lessons it furnishes to ourselves. Then, when the chronicles were brought, it was not likely that the part relating to Mordecai would be read. It might have been expected that the reader would turn to portions of the records which were not so well known, as better fitted to divert and interest the king. Besides, it is evident enough that Mordecai was no favorite with the other royal servants; they were disposed to pay court to Haman, and therefore to side with him in his quarrel with this refractory Jew. It was probable, then, that the reader would avoid the account of what Mordecai had done, not wishing that the king should be reminded of his signal, but unrequited, services. Yet, notwithstanding all the chances-to use common language-against the recital of Mordecai's deed, the narrative of this deed was brought before the king, and its effect was an inquiry as to the reward of the man who had been so eminently useful. And thus, by. a succession of improbabilities, but not one of those improbabilities so great as to seem to require any supernatural interference, was a result brought round, or at least advanced, which mightily concerned, not only the Jewish nation, but the whole human race; for had the plan of Haman succeeded, and that people been exterminated whence Messiah was to spring, where would have been the promised redemption of this earth and its guilty inhabitants? My brethren, examine your notions of God, and tell me whether you are not apt to measure the Supreme Being by standards established between man and man. The Divine greatness is regarded as that of some very eminent king: what would be inconsistent with the dignity of the potentate is regarded as inconsistent with the dignity of God; and what seems to us to contribute to that dignity is carried up to the heavenly courts, or supposed to exist there in the highest perfection. We do not say that men are to be blamed for thus aiding their conceptions of Deity by the facts and figures of an earthly estate. Limited as our faculties are, and unsuited to comprehend what is spiritual-confined, moreover, as we are to a material worldit is, in a measure, unavoidable that It is hardly affirming too much, to we should picture God in human shape, affirm that on the sleepless night of the or rather, that we should take the standPersian king was made to depend our ards which subsist among ourselves, rescue from everlasting death; at least, and use them in representing, or setand undeniably, the restlessness of the ting forth, our Maker. But we should king was one of those instruments often gain a grander and a juster idea through which God wrought in carry- of God, by considering in what he difing on his purpose of redeeming our fers from men, than by ascribing to race through a descendant from David him, only in an infinite degree, what is "according to the flesh." Wonderful, found amongst ourselves. You may that so simple, so casual a circumstance picture God as a potentate with boundshould have had a direct bearing on the less resources at his disposal, possessdestinies of men from Adam to the ed of universal dominion, and surroundvery latest posterity! wonderful, thated by ten thousand times ten thousand |