thing, in the third place, to lead us to be ashamed of Christ, if we look at the means by which it was promoted? Mahometanism was promoted by force; the Koran or the scymetar was the dread alternative; I should be ashamed of a religion promoted by such means as these. Popery has been propagated by lying wonders, by fraud, by auto-da-fés, inquisitions, and anathemas. I should be no less ashamed of a religiou promoted by these means. But the Gospel speaks thus: If the sword is to be unsheathed, it must be by the foes, not by the friends of Christ; if the fagot is to be gathered, it must be kindled by another hand than that of a Christian. "The weapons of our warfare are not carnal;" and therefore, says the Apostle, they are "mighty." Christianity gathers its laurels from the glories of Jesus, from the sorrows it heals, from the temporal and eternal blessings which it showers upon mankind; and proves itself to come from the God of all light, by its shining as the light of morn, alike through the poor man's casement and the noble's oriel window. "I am not ashamed of the Gospel :" we have no reason to deny it, but every reason to glory and to rejoice in it. If we look again at the effects of the Gospel, what do I see but everything to lead me not to deny it not to be ashamed of it? It has everywhere made the wilderness rejoice; it has made the desert to blossom as the rose; it has removed all that poisons society, and implanted all that sweetens it; it has made the churl liberal; it has transformed all it has touched into its own beautiful likeness; it has placed the hopes of glory within the reach of all; it has turned sinners into saints, and the bondsmen of Satan into the sons of God. "I am not ashamed of the Gospel :" I have no reason to deny it, but every reason to glory and to rejoice in it. Nor have we any reason to deny this Gospel if we look at the success with which it has been crowned, and with which it is more and more followed every day. I see indeed the true Church become more intense, distinct, defined; the world become more distinct and defined also. As I have told you before, the time comes when all "shams" will be broken up, and all things will find their polarity: everything is gradually becoming more earnest, real, intense; and soon, very soon sooner than you dream-we shall have real Papists, real infidels; and, blessed be God, real Christians also: and then, when the sifting time comes, the chaff will take its flight, the living seed alone will remain. My dear friends, each man right soon will take his place. All things are drawing nearer and nearer to their respective centres; the world is becoming more worldly; the Church is becoming more Christian, and therefore more distinct from the world, not by mechanical separation, but by moral superiority; not by leaving this section and joining that, but by being more detached from sin, and more alive to God; and that blessed day draws nearer and nearer when Christianity shall reach her culminating glory, and under its bright and blessed influence war shall cease, disease shall depart, death shall be destroyed, and all nations who now seize upon each other, and are exasperated against each other, and drawn into a state of unnatural and horrible antagonism, shall then become one lovely and beautiful sisterhood, and all the kingdoms of the world one holy, happy family, singing a new song, ever new, because never exhausted, "Hallelujah, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth!" I have said, all are taking their places; let me ask you, have you taken yours? Let every man ask himself, What am I? what is my place? My dear friends, there are but two consistent men-the man who rejects the Bible, and deliberately treats it as an imposture; and the man who takes it to his heart, and loves it, and prizes it as the very word of God. There is no spot on which you will stand long between evangelical Protestant Christianity, and downright cold, freezing indifference. There is no point between. On which side do you stand? Is it a reasonable thing to settle every question, and leave this question unsettled, What shall be the state of my soul with God? There is no man in this assembly who can insure his life for to-morrow; there is no man in this assembly, let him have a heart that beats without a wavering pulse, who is sure to stand within these walls another Sabbath. Then, my dear friends, if it be true that, when this heart shall give its last beat, and these eyes shall become fixed, the soul, capable of agony, and susceptible of joy, shall only unfurl its long-folded wings, and soar to the judgment-seat, gazing into that eternity which is to be a blank, which I cannot describe, or a blessing, of which language can convey no idea,— is it rea sonable, is it consistent with common-sense, that we should leave such a question for one single hour unsettled and undetermined? I fear that, when one makes such an appeal to a congregation, they treat it as men treat a heavy burden; when a great many shoulders bear up a load, each one feels it very light; and I fear, when I ask you so solemn a question, it is, as it were, spread over so many hearts, that each one feels very little of it; but just suppose that you and I were alone, — nay, rather, that God and you were alone, the only beings in the whole universe, and in that clearest light, and in that secret, solemn sequestration, ask yourself, Is my soul safe? am I still a sinner by nature, or am I a saint by grace? All else will little interest you in comparison with this; all disputes will dwindle into insignificance beside this; it will make great things appear of little worth, and great men look very small indeed. Let me ask, then, are you faithful even where Satan's seat is? Do not attempt excuses. Do not say, I am so involved in business, I am so tired,-so troubled,—so vexed,-there is so much to irritate and annoy me,-that surely God will make allowance for me. Do not say, I am placed in such a high position,—I am a prime minister, or a member of Parliament, or I am a great general, and what will such a great man say if I were to be a Christian? or what would such another great man say if I were to become a saint? or what would such another one say if I were to preside at a Bible Society or a Ragged School? My dear friends, it is a light thing to be judged of man; but He that judgeth us is God. Do not think that your circumstances, while they provoke Christ's sympathy, will excuse your unfaithfulness. For does not Christ himself say, "How hardly shall they that have riches enter into the kingdom of God!" He does not say, Because you have riches I will deal more tenderly with you; but he tells you that riches are a snare to their possessor, and therefore you must be on the watch against delusion and misconception. There was Antipas, "a faithful martyr, where Satan's seat was." Antipas was in trying circumstances; but he preferred to die rather than to compromise the truth, to meet death in its most formidable shape rather than to conceal his love to his Saviour, to be ashamed of the sure Gospel of the blessed God. - Suffer me, in conclusion, to say, that wherever God's truth is faithfully proclaimed, and fully exhibited in the life, there opposition will be provoked. You may judge of the purity of your creed, and of the faithfulness with which that creed is embodied in your life, by the opposition that you meet with. I do not say that in these days we shall be burned at the stake; but this I do say, that wherever you are faithful, uncompromising, consistent, you may expect opposition: there are martyrs in drawing-rooms, martyrs in palaces, martyrs in garrets; martyrs for whom the trumpet of fame does not sound, and whom the records of martyrology do not mention, but who suffer and sacrifice, and live and die for Christ's sake. My dear friends, it is easy to die like a martyr; the great thing is to live like a martyr. To die a religious death is not so difficult a thing as to live a religious life: this is the duty that devolves upon you; and by God's grace I hope that we shall be able to live such a life; and then, whether we live or die, it will be well with us. LECTURE XV. UNFAITHFULNESS. "But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. So hast thou also them which hold the doctrine of the Nicolaitanes, which thing I hate."-REV. ii. 14, 15. LAST Lord's-day evening, I addressed you from the previous verse. I explained the meaning of the excellency here predicated of the Church of Pergamos, that "she held fast Christ's name." I also explained the peculiar circumstances under which she held it fast, in a place where Satan's supremacy was almost undisputed, and under circumstances when martyrdom was the penalty for faithfulness to God. I may here briefly allude to the individual who is here canonized by God, namely, Antipas, pronounced "my faithful martyr," slain among you for his testimony to the truth. We know nothing of Antipas beyond what is stated here. But this is not a little remarkable, that the Church of Rome, which has canonized such an idolator as Bonaventura, so fierce a persecutor as Hildebrand, so great a fanatic as Ignatius, has never dreamed of recording in her calendar the name of one whom God has pronounced to be his own faithful martyr. It does seem strange that a body which has literally ransacked Pandemonium for saints wherewith to people Paradise, should have omitted to recognise one who has received no eulogia from Popes, but who has the commendation of Him "to whom all hearts are open, and from whom no secrets are hid." We know this, however, respecting Antipas, that the surrender of the truth, or the sacrifice of life, were the terrible alternatives that were placed before him. It appears that he chose to die a martyr, rather than to live a traitor. He felt the truth to be so precious, that he sacri |