language of Scripture, "the Lord Jesus 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.”1

How blessed, how glorious shall be the portion of those who do now obey the Gospel; who, having fled for refuge to Christ their Saviour, and daily depending on the influences of the Holy Spirit for strength for his service, are now living the life they live "by the faith of the Son of God," and bringing forth fruit to his praise and glory. What, though the way to life be narrow, thorny, and difficult-what, though Providence may sometimes wear a dark and frowning aspect, and the path to glory lead through a wilderness of toil and trouble, and your dearest earthly comforts be removed, or unexpected trials arise to shake your faith and constancy: remember, it is still the hand of a Father, chastening you, not for his pleasure, but your profit. It is an Almighty Saviour who guides and upholds your steps; it is an infallible Pilot who has undertaken to conduct you through all the rocks and shelves of this

2 Thess. i. 7, 8.

dangerous ocean, and to bring you at last in peace and safety to the haven where you would be. There, after your short struggles and conflicts here, you shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of your Father; and be the everlasting companion of angels, and the spirits of the just made perfect. You shall behold your Saviour face to face (that Saviour, who went before you, and was made perfect through suffering); be with him, be made like him, and share his glory through the never-ending ages of a blissful eternity.

SERMON XII.

2 PETER iii. 10-14.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless.

WE live in a world where all that we see around us and all that we experience in ourselves serves powerfully to remind us of its vain and transitory nature. The succession of time, the close of days and

weeks, months and years; the labour and bustle of the day, followed by the stillness and repose of the night; the ruins of the grandest and strongest works of art; the weakness, frailty, and decay of our own bodies; the death of relatives or friends; the constant tolling of the solemn bell, the funerals which we daily meet in merely passing our streets;in short, the constant tendency of all things here to decay and perish-might teach the most thoughtless and inconsiderate that this isnot the final abode of man.

By the providence of God we have entered on another year;-another year of our course has begun; but who can tell what shall happen to any of us before the close of this year. A year, brethren, is a large portion in the life of any one,-of the longest liver, as the life of man on earth is now appointed and determined; three score years and ten, or at most four score years, are the appointed bounds which few, very few indeed, comparatively, are permitted to reach, and still fewer ever to pass; and if they should, what is their strength then, what is the body, what the mind, but labour and sorrow, so soon is it "cut off and we fly away."

In looking back on the past year, how many are there, even in the circle of our acquaintance, some perhaps very near and dear to us, who commenced it just as we are doing this, with every human prospect, not only of living to the end of it, but of

a long continuance in life,-who are now gone into eternity. Could the book of the divine decrees be opened, many of us who are little thinking on it, might see there our names written- "This year thou shalt die." God, in equal wisdom and mercy, has concealed the future from us; and amongst other reasons, for these;-first that we might thereby learn our constant and entire dependance on Him in whose hands alone are the issues of life and death; secondly, that not knowing the time when our summons shall come, whether "at midnight, at the cock crowing, or in the morning," we might, through grace, live in a constant state of preparation for our great change. But this merciful intention of our Almighty Father is entirely defeated when we make the uncertainty of the future a reason for thoughtlessness, indifference, and neglect, instead of constant watchfulness and prayer, and, because the time when we may be called out of life is hidden from us, therefore live on careless of the concerns of our souls till that time' actually overtake us. To think, brethren, that before the end of this year your eyes or mine may actually be closed in death-that we shall bid a final adieu to all the concerns of this world, which perhaps now so occupy and engross us

1 St. Mark xiii. 35.