that must give an account to him who has but lent them to you for a season, and will most strictly inquire to what profitable use you have turned them; so to enjoy them, that they may make to you friends, who, when the scene of life shall close, may receive you into everlasting habitations. Riches are given you, not merely that you may "take your ease,' that you may "eat, drink, and be merry;" that you may "clothe yourselves in purple and fine linen, and fare sumptuously every day;" but rather that you may labour more and more diligently at the great work which you have to perform, and run with increasing speed the race which is set before you. Enjoy, then, the blessings which God has given you, but enjoy them with temperance and moderation, and with gratitude to the Almighty Giver. Enjoy them, and let your hearts be glad; but let the poor enjoy them too; let them bring "the blessing of him that is ready to perish upon you, and cause the widow's heart to sing for joy."9 Enjoy them, above all, with

8 Luke xvi. 19.

9 Job xxix. 13.

such a prudent consideration of their frailty and inconstancy, that you may be ready to resign them without a murmur, whenever it shall please your heavenly Father to take them from you.

you

One word more, my brethren, and I have done. We are the creatures of an hour, and not one of us "knoweth his end, or the measure of his days." Already, for some of us, the awful mandate may have gone forth "This night thy soul shall be required of thee!" Think then, I intreat you, how are prepared to obey that mandate: ask strictly, of your hearts, if they are fitted for the sudden, the tremendous change, should you lie down in peace to take your rest, and awake only to eternity! If there be any among you, whose hearts have been set upon riches, or pleasures, or vanity; if you have neglected to think upon God, and to prepare your souls for that solemn hour which must one day come-which may come upon you like a thief in the night-O arise at once, and hasten to your Father, confess to him your

1 Ps. xxxix. 4.

unworthiness, and acknowledge that you have sinned against him. Ask to be received even among the number of his humblest servants, casting your eyes with faith and hope upon the cross of your Redeemer, which stands lifted up, like the brazen serpent in the wilderness, to heal and to save and then depart in peace. Through Christ, your sins shall be forgiven you; and even if your souls should this very night be required of you, they will be summoned away to the enjoyment of everlasting bliss, to a kingdom and a crown of glory prepared for you from the beginning of the world.

21

SERMON II.

1 CORINTHIANS ix. 24.

Know ye not that they which run in a race, run all, but one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

THE first epistle to the Corinthians was written by St. Paul with a variety of objects. In it he reproves the persons he is addressing for several abuses and corruptions which had crept into their church: he exhorts them to correct many irregularities in their general conduct, and answers certain questions which they had themselves proposed to him.

During his travels through the cities of Greece, for the purpose of promulgating the gospel, St. Paul had remained at Corinth

for nearly two years, establishing the church. which he had founded in that city; and it must be supposed that, during that time, he had not only made a considerable number of converts, but that he had also himself become well acquainted with the manners and customs of the heathen inhabitants of the colony.

So important a body of converts, and one which had engrossed so large a portion of the apostle's personal attention, naturally engaged also a considerable share of his thoughts and pastoral care after he had left them; and we find accordingly, that a constant communication and correspondence were maintained, to which we owe those two admirable epistles, that now form a part of the sacred canon.

In the midst of various dissensions, which had arisen during his absence, it seems that reflections had been cast upon the conduct of the apostle himself, which, in the chapter before us, he takes occasion to justify. During his abode at Corinth, being unwilling to encumber the converts by depending upon