brethren, each one for himself, how often in the day do we really dwell upon the thought of God? especially on those days when there is no service in the Church. Is it not true that some of you say no prayers at all? never kneel during the day in the presence of your God and Saviour? And are there not very many among you who know, if you would only confess it to yourselves, that you pray for two or three minutes in the morning, and then think no more of God or your soul's welfare, until you again kneel down for a few minutes in the evening? And if any of us live thus, are we not turning again to our earth? Indeed, my brethren, is there not danger for us all (most surely danger), unless we are greatly on our guard, of our being occupied all day long in thoughts and cares of the world, sinning frequently the while, and putting off the thought of God until some more convenient season? Let us take care, let us watch and pray, that the breath of true life be not withdrawn from us; lest all our thoughts of God our Maker, and Jesus our Redeemer, perish, and the love of God cease to warm our hearts, and the second death begin to work strongly within us.

But no dreadful deterioration of this sort need take place in us, if by serious, reverent, earnest prayers, calm meditation, and sincere repentance for our past negligence, we abide in Christ our Saviour. We may, if we will, "grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." 10 We may realize more and more our possession of the pearl of great price. We may make Christ more and 10 2 St. Peter, iii. 18.

more our own by partaking more and more fully of the virtue that is in Him. "Ye are the Temple," says the Apostle," of the Living God."" Adorn this house of God, drive from it all wicked thoughts, let all good thoughts of God, of heaven, of Jesus, and His love find entrance there, and so the Holy Spirit will love to dwell within you; for your bodies will then be fitting temples for His divine Majesty.

Surely, my brethren, it is a most awful thought that we have thus been made the dwelling-place of God. To have Christ is to have life: to lose Christ is to lose life. How holily then ought we to live! How ought we to fear to lose that most precious of all possessions! With what earnestness and patience ought we to endeavour to secure it to ourselves for ever, by living daily and hourly in the fear and love of God!

" 2 Cor. vi. 16. Vide St. Chrys. Adv. Jud.

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SERMON XII.

OTHER SHEEP TO BE GATHERED IN.

ST. JOHN, x. 16.

"Other sheep I have, which are not of this fold: them also I must bring, and they shall hear My voice; and there shall be one fold, and One Shepherd."

THE Jews were once the chosen people of God, and the sheep of His pasture. By His electing love they were called out and separated from all other nations, to be the objects of His peculiar care and grace. By the same electing love the first disciples and immediate followers of our Lord were selected from among the Jews to receive the first gifts of divine grace under the New Dispensation. These were they of whom He spoke with so much tenderness, as those whom His Father had given Him. For them, first, the Good Shepherd laid down His life; and they were, in the days of His flesh, the objects of His immediate care. And yet He was already looking forward to that other flock which should be gathered in by their word, or that of their successors, from

among the Gentiles. And His earnest affection passed on to them, and among them, dear brethren, to us; that is, to those of us who have indeed returned, or shall return, to the Shepherd and Bishop of our souls: practically I say, to those, but not to others. For, my brethren, I wish to speak to you on this subject practically. We have all been made, really made, sheep of His fold in baptism: but practically, those only are now His sheep who hear His voice and follow Him in the path of holiness; for by disobedience we disown our Shepherd, and are excluded from His fold.

The Good Shepherd, then, has at this moment a true fold and a true flock. His sheep hear His voice, and follow Him: they hear that voice which says, "If any man will come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me." These are His beloved flock; these are they who know Him, and are known of Him: the meek, the humble, the patient, and the pure: the heavenly-minded, and the contrite-hearted: these He visits, and with these He dwells; He feeds them in green pastures, and leads them beside the still waters; and brings them forth in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.3 O, happy they who have thus heard His voice, risen up, and followed Him! They are indeed blessed, and blessed also are those innocent lambs whom He carries in His bosom.

But, my brethren, among us are multitudes who are beyond the boundaries of His fold; whether they have wilfully wandered from it, or, having 1 St. John, x. 27. 2 St. Matt. xvi. 24. 3 Vide Ps. xxiii. 2, 3.

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been brought up in ignorance of baptismal privileges, have lived the life of aliens from the fold, unrestrained by the commands of Christ, and unguided by His precepts.

Certainly we are, every day of our lives, associating with those who are "not of God;" in whom we can see no traces of the mind of Christ, and no desire to be in subjection to His holy discipline; who sin without fear, and live without the thought of penitence. The great multitude plainly live for themselves. Alas! my brethren, we most of us do it far too much.

But this is not true happiness; far from it. Restless, unsatisfied cravings of heart, and disquietude of spirit, are the natural portion of those who do not fix their hopes of happiness in God. Irreligious men are ever seeking happiness, and never finding it. They are "like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked." The only difference among them is, that some discover their misery sooner than others. True peace and happiness can only be found within the fold; for they are His gifts alone who rules there; and He gives them only to those who live in Him, by Him, and for Him.

Take, then, my brethren, these four plain marks of the members of Christ's fold, and try yourselves by them, and learn (while yet there is a possibility of returning) whether you have reason to think you are within the fold, or whether you ought not rather to fear that your sins have cast you out :

4
* St. John, viii. 47.

5 Isaiah, lvii. 20, 21.