ing with their Lord; whereas "the rest of the dead lived not, until the thousand years were finished."

Now, inasmuch as St. Stephen, the saint of this day, was the first of that noble army, the first Christian who sealed his faith in Christ with his blood (for St. John the Baptist, though a martyr, could not be reckoned a Christian martyr, since he suffered before the kingdom of heaven was set up); one may naturally expect to find, in the account of St Stephen's death, some tokens of this peculiar favor, which our Lord has ever shown to his martyrs; and we shall not be disappointed. The last hours of this brave and holy man were indeed visited with blessings, such as angels might admire. As a kind of pledge and sign of the rest, it may seem as if his outward countenance was lit up with a holy brightness, not its own; like that of Moses when he came down from the mount; a brightness, which his very enemies took notice of. "All that sat in the council, looking steadfastly on him, saw his face as it had been the face of an angel." So St. Luke writes, in the manner of one who had been present, and saw what was going on. And as

he received many things from St. Paul, so he very likely received this; for St. Paul, we know, was then present: and one may well imagine how the remembrance of that angelic countenance may have abode with him afterward, and encouraged him in counting his own life but loss, could he offer it for the sake of Christ.

In the next place, consider whether the Lord did not show himself especially present with St. Stephen, by the power which he had, for a time, to keep silent those his outrageous adversaries, while, like his divine master, he taught them as one having authority. For I think it has been truly said, that St. Stephen's manner is more peremptory and judicial, more like that of our blessed Lord in some of his most awful and threatening discourses, than the manner of any other prophet of the New Testament. He seems, no more than the Jewish prophets, to be speaking in his own person, but rather, throughout, to be merely uttering the message which God had put into his mouth.

And not only in this manner of his, but in many cir cumstances of his death, we may plainly discern such a resemblance of our Savior in his passion, as could not but have been providential; and being so, cannot but be considered as a mark of especial honor from God Almighty. This resemblance may be seen in the form of his trial before the high priest; in the charge brought against him, of speaking disrespectfully of the temple; in his committing his soul to Jesus Christ, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit !" as he had committed himself to his Father with a verse out of the psalms, "Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit ;" finally, in his kneeling down amid the shower of stones, and praying, "Lord, lay not this sin to their charge," just as his Savior, in the sharp agony of the cross, had said, meekly, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."

But chiefly was the distinguishing favor of the Father and the Son shown unto him, in that, when the trying moment was just coming on, and the fierce persecutors had begun to gnash upon him with their teeth, he looked steadfastly up into heaven, and saw it opened, and beheld, through the opening, the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God; not sitting, as the creed represents him; not as a king, judging, but as an Advocate, pleading; "standing" to succour this his servant in his great extremity and not him only, but in him all who should at any time suffer for the name of their Lord.

That vision, at that moment, was the seal of Christ's supporting presence, which he has thenceforth vouchsafed to his martyrs, in every age of his church. As this day's collect says, "They have steadfastly looked up to heaven, and have beheld, by faith, the glory which is to be revealed; and that, as being full of the Holy Ghost." The faith and patience of the martyrs are by special grace from that blessed Spirit. He opens their dying eyes to behold their Savior, and moves their failing voices to pray for their enemies. What surer token of the Father's favor, what brighter earnest of life eternal, than the sight of our Lord, and the fulness of his

Holy Spirit; both of which, we see, are peculiarly the portion of martyrs? "Precious" indeed "in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."

And perhaps we should not be very wrong, if we added to these instances of especial favor, the effect which St. Stephen's death appears to have had on the young man, Saul, who was "standing by, and consenting to his death, and keeping the raiment of them that slew him." Not that the sight even of such a martyrdom had any power to convert Saul then; we know who had reserved that work for himself, and by what an astonishing miracle he brought it to pass: yet it plainly appears, that the recollection of St. Stephen's death, though it could not convert St. Paul, had no small virtue to encourage him, when converted; to make him take pleasure in infirmities and persecutions; to keep him humble; to confirm him in self-denial. It was evidently a sting to his conscience, and a spur to his exertions; by what we once find him confessing in words to our Savior: "When the blood of thy martyr, Stephen, was shed, I also was standing by, and consenting unto his death, and kept the raiment of them that slew him."

One thing is here plainly taught us; that we never must despair of the church: never at all of the church catholic; never of the church in any particular country, as long as Christ shall crown it with suffering, especially with martyrdom, in his cause. It seemed, at the time, as if Stephen's death had done no good whatever to the young man, Saul; as if it would only serve to increase his condemnation; and yet, we see, it served to increase his glory. Nor will it be known, till the great day, how many more souls have been brought to their Savior in consequence of that increased zeal in St. Paul, which may be put to St. Stephen's account. Again I say, dear and precious, "right dear in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his saints" that witness him.

But it is one thing to perceive this as a scriptural truth, and to admire it all as beautiful and noble, beyond all thought of man; and it is quite another thing to practise it; to carry it home into our own hearts and lives.

The one comes of itself, the other is a great and rare grace.

And how is the thought, "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the martyrdom of his saints;"-how is this to be realized in our hearts and lives, and, in our quiet times, when no martyrdom is going on? Why, in this way when we think steadily of martyrdom, we cannot but perceive how very unlike our natural view of what will make us happy is to the view of the saints of God; of those, who, being full of the Holy Ghost, saw heaven opened, and who could not be mistaken as to the way of happiness. The very thing we most shudder at; shame, pain, want, labor, most intense in their kinds, and the bitterest death; they willingly endured, nay, passionately longed after, for Christ's sake. Is it not rather alarming, to find our judgment and affections so very unlike theirs? Should we not do well to try and get a better mind; to form and cherish in ourselves, by the gracious aid of God's Holy Spirit, something like a spirit of martyrdom? It cannot be done all at once, but it may be done by degrees, if we will humbly and patiently try.

It may be done, if we will seriously set ourselves Christian rules of self-denial, and silently practise ourselves in them every day if we make the mind and conduct of the holy martyrs our particular study, and endeavor to think deeply, and not just to feel warmly, upon them if we seek the Holy Ghost, of which they were full, in all those ways of the church, which we know they delighted in: if we tame our stubborn wills in things which seem trifling, and lay ourselves out for others the more earnestly, by how much what we have to do may cost us more trouble, and seem to bring least reward in this present world.

This is that practice of the life of the saints and martyrs, which may best help us, by God's mercy, to practise their death also, should he, by any turn of his providence, call us, unworthy as we are, to die for him.

SERMON LXXI.

WISHING FOR CHRIST'S COMING.

PREACHED ON ST. JOHN'S DAY.

REV. xxii. 20.

"He which testifieth those things saith, surely I come quickly: Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus."

THE festival kept by the church to-day, is that of the great apostle and evangelist whom Christ honored with especial friendship; St. John. And the day offers a good opportunity for considering another great privilege with which God has enriched his true church, over and above those, which have been noticed in former saint's days; I mean her bearing continual testimony of the second coming of our Lord and Savior.

The spirit of prophecy poured out upon the church, is a sure sign of her being God's own; for God only, as you well know, can enable frail and ignorant man to foretel things to come. He did so abundantly, by Daniel and Isaiah, and the other prophets of the Jewish church; and when the time came to set up the Christian church, then again the spirit of prophecy went abroad for her warning and comfort, as her Divine Master had promised. For just before he departed from his disciples, he assured them "the Spirit of Truth would come, and guide them into all truth; and that he would show them things to come."

This was fulfilled to many, if not all, the apostles; but to none more remarkably than to St. John, the favored disciple whom Jesus loved. He, being banished to a lonely island, for the word of God and the testimony of his truth, saw all those wonderful visions which are re