the Lord, " allay my anxieties" in Christ. "As a christian, gratify my heart in this matter?" Think not, then, I would also say, of the sin of the offender against thee, but when thou art most incensed, withdraw his image from the place of the offender, and put thine own in his stead, withdraw thyself from the place of the offended and aggrieved, and put Christ there in thy stead, and think—If thou wouldst be forgiven-forgive.-Is there no Philemon here?

Are there any here to whom this scripture may come home? Is there one who has thus departed from you for a season? Look for him, even for his return, even as we are told the father, in the parable of the prodigal son, was looking out for his son, and when he was yet a great way off, he saw him. Pray for him also; let prayer be made unceasingly to God for him, even in His blessed name, who came not only to save, but to seek. Perhaps he who departed in his pride and self confidence, may return humble, broken-hearted, and repentant; and perhaps but for his fall and his misery, he might have remained in self-righteousness and confidence, afar from God. At any rate, let no door of hope be closed upon him, no fear of your reproaches, no doubt of your willingness to forgive, for "perhaps he therefore departed for

a season, that thou shouldest receive him for ever."

Oh, most High and Holy Lord Jesus, who inhabitest eternity, and dwellest in the high and holy place, but art gentle and compassionate and kind to every returning sinner! in Thy love and pity, seek and save us, and deliver us from all pride and hardness of heart, even for Thy loving mercy's sake. Amen.

SERMON XVII.

YOUTHFUL

MANHOOD.

66

ECCLESIASTES XI. 9.

Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth, and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thy heart, and in the sight of thine eyes: but know thou that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment."

I HAVE seen with deep interest the number of young men who frequently attend this evening service. I have blessed God, when I thought of them; and most earnestly do I pray that they may not attend these means of grace in vain. I am sure that He who has brought the earnest and honest enquirer into this assembly, will cause His holy word to accomplish His gracious work, for He himself hath told us, that even "as the rain cometh down and the snow from heaven,

and returneth not thither, but watereth the earth, and maketh it bring forth and bud, that it may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall His word be that goeth forth out of His mouth it shall not return unto Him void, but it shall accomplish that which He doth please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto He has sent it."*

If there is one class of persons for whom we feel that their path is beset with difficulty and danger, it is the young men of the church of God, called as they are into a constant warfare with those fleshly lusts which war against the soul. If there is a noble and cheering sight on earth, it is that of a young man in the fire and fervour of his age, and in the midst of the fierce fires of temptation, upright and steadfast before God from high christian principle; with modesty upon his open brow, and ingenuousness in his full, honest look; with pure words upon his lips; loving truth, and speaking and doing the thing that is true-true, indeed, to his manhood; shewing in his looks, and words, and actions, that he has been brought to a deep sense of the surpassing love, and the holy calling of the most blessed and most holy Son of Man, faithful and steadfast to Him, who has redeemed and sanctified him both from the curse and the

* Isaiah lv. 10, 11.

degradation of sin. And alas, if there is a sad and humbling sight to the thoughtful christian, it is to behold the too common sight of youthful manhood prostituted to the debasing slavery of sensual lusts, and low, fleshly appetites; weakly yielding to the commonest snares of satan, the wretched dupes of satan's promises,-promises which are broken every day before his face : led captive by him at his will, following the lust of the flesh, and the lust of eye, and the pride of animal life, "and giving himself over unto lasciviousnes, to work all uncleanness with greediness."*

I. First, consider the writer of these remarkable words.

They were the words of Solomon in his own repentant old age; they were the bitter fruit of his own wretched experience; the outbursting of a heart full of the sad, assured conviction, that "the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eye and the pride of life," can only bring a man to disappointment and misery at the last. Youthful manhood is perhaps the most trying season of a man's whole life in his state of probation. If ever he is thrust into the furnace fire, it is then. Nay, at that season, it may almost be said that the burning fiery furnace of temptation is heated one seven times more than it is wont to

* Ephesians iv. 19.