The Epistle. Rom. viii. 12.

RETHREN, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ: if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

The Gospel. St. Matth. vii. 15.

EWARE of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits: do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither

THE EPISTLE.-Reason and the Gospel speak with almost equal force in this divine exhortation. We surely owe no debt of gratitude or obedience to those whose very nature it is to work us harm; and if among all our enemies sin is the worst, to sin ought we to be least ready to render service. But the consequence of refusing assent to this obvious lesson, will be of a more fearful kind than any of the ordinary results of perverted zeal. Poverty and disgrace may attend our serving a bad or foolish earthly master; but the service which we give to sin will be paid for by death; the evil which we do will return upon us in the shape of fearful tormentors; the body which we have pampered will be to us the body of death; and the passion that has glowed in our hearts with unlawful fervour, the worm that never dieth. The Spirit, on the other hand, which leads us to the service of God and of Christ, and which prepares us for it by enabling nature to throw off the encumbrances and defilements of sin, gives life, makes us the children of God, and, in the final account, unites us in glory with Christ. To sin is to be ascribed whatever pain or anticipation of ill we at present suffer. Let us cease from the service of so bad a master, and it will lose its power

can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

to torment us. Gratitude ought already to bind us to God; but we have the additional motives of the highest species of self-interest to obey him with a true and zealous obedience. His service is itself perfect freedom; and His reward is ever with Him. He calls us to obedience, but to make us happy; and the Spirit which He sends to mingle with ours, is a Spirit of liberty, love, and joy. THE GOSPEL.-Our Lord intended His disciples to perform an important part in the world, and to execute the duties of human existence with a care and zeal corresponding to the holiness of their profession. Some caution, therefore, against the deceitfulness of the world would have been a timely safeguard had they stood in no greater danger than that which springs from the general affairs of life. But they were to be exposed to perils of another kind. As the subjects of a dispensation given especially for the overthrow of falsehood, it was foreseen that they would be as a mark for the fiery shafts of deceit and error;-that the wiles of Satan would be employed against them with unceasing activity, and that it would therefore become them to walk in the path of life, as certainly knowing that they were surrounded by fierce and sleepless enemies. The warning thus given by our Lord was soon proved to be necessary. Heresies arose, more dangerous to the purity, than persecution to the safety, of the Church. Scarcely had the first generation of Christ's disciples passed away, when the enemy of salvation began the great experiment of setting up his kingdom upon earth in the outward form of the kingdom of heaven. He now pretended to be zealous for free inquiry. His preachers were sent in the track of the Apostles and Evangelists of Christ; and while the servants of God, in the faithful discharge of their office, warned men of the wrath to come, these emissaries of darkness prophesied only the smooth things which leave the world contented with its state of error and condemnation. But successful as the ministers of evil have ever been, it is not because they are impenetrable to observation. Our Lord's test is sufficient to make them disclose both their nature and their purposes. The false prophet can never in his own case act with holiness, simplicity, and self-denial; but it is only on teachers whose conduct is thus characterised that mankind can consistently place confidence. Do the genuine followers of Christ then, uniformly manifest a love of truth and virtue which overcomes every selfish consideration? And do others who come in His name, or with systems of their own, act, notwithstanding their professions, in direct opposition to true honour and benevolence? Which ought we to believe? With which should we cast in our lot? The warning given by our Lord respects, in the first instance, the danger which attends us from the deceit and false pretensions of others. But it refers, in the second place, to the deceitfulness and corruption of our own hearts. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven;” an abridgment of men's confidence in the mere profession of belief which cuts down, in many cases, the whole of the scaffolding on which hope had rested. The tranquillity enjoyed by superficial Christians would be astonishing, were it not evident that they are too little acquainted with the religion which they profess to be aware of its demands, or of the responsibilities under which it has placed them. A prudent man will not remain contented in this state when made acquainted with its dangers. The nature of the case, fairly brought before his mind, will convince him that, at least, some inquiry ought to be instituted respecting what is meant by entering the kingdom of heaven, and what is required besides addressing Christ as Lord. To a person so awakened, the words of our Lord, "He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven," will suggest fresh reasons for examining what are the requirements and what the intentions of the Gospel. The will of God has hitherto been an unknown or unacknowledged rule of life. It is now inquired into-viewed in its various exemplifications; and being seen to surround on all sides the avenues to a happy existence -to be, indeed, the one grand foundation of the kingdom of heaven, is, if grace be accorded, humbly and gladly obeyed.

THE COLLECT.-A healthy spirit, ever glad and active in the performance of good, is surely the best of all possessions. To such a spirit, thinking what is right, and feeling the will and power to do it, the very sense of existence is happiness, while of all beings it is the most readily susceptible of hope. But this happy principle of life is neither self-formed nor selfnourished. It is, in all cases where possessed, the gift of God; and surely there is no blessing for which we can pray more divine or more glorious than this.

THE EPISTLE.-The Gospel brings to remembrance whatever the Almighty has done for the good and the preservation of our race. All, indeed, that has at any time been effected by His benevolence has belonged to the system of grace, purposed from the beginning, though not made known to man. In the call of the people of Israel,-in their mysterious delivery from Egypt,their passage through the Red Sea,-and the cloud which accompanied them, a shadow and a light at the same time-the outline of the Gospel is more than visible; for a portion of its grace was given to sanctify these things, and render them efficacious to the present deliverance of God's

The Epistle. 1 Cor. x. 1.

RETHREN, I would not that ye should be ignorant, how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud, and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat, and did all drink the same spiritual drink: (for they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them; and that Rock was Christ.) But with many of them God was not well pleased; for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted. Neither be ye idolaters, as were some of them; as it is written, The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play. Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them committed, and fell in one day three and twenty thousand. Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye, as some of them also murmured, and were destroyed of the destroyer. Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come. Wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. There hath no temptation taken you, but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it.

people. And while we ought to be especially careful not to forget the heavenly mercy thus manifested, so ought we to be equally anxious to resist any return of that spirit of disobedience whereby so many were led to destruction, even when the divine goodness was beaming directly upon them. This warning is necessary in all ages, but more particularly in those which the Almighty favours with many privileges and advantages. Vice, then, is peculiarly odious, and the punishments prepared for it will doubtlessly be proportioned to its enormity. Christ, tempted and resisted, though not yet known in the majesty of His mediatorial kingdom, punished rebellion against holiness with the bite of the fiery scorpion. But now He is visibly exalted, He has publicly announced the nature of His rule, and foretold the penalties which shall attend dis

The Gospel. St. Luke xvi. 1.

ESUS said unto his disciples, There was a certain rich man which had a steward; and the same was accused unto him that he had wasted his goods. And he called him, and said unto him, How is it that I hear this of thee? Give an account of thy stewardship; for thou mayest be no longer steward. Then the steward said within himself, What shall I do? for my lord taketh away from me the stewardship: I cannot dig, to beg I am ashamed. I am resolved what to do, that, when I am put out of the stewardship, they may receive me into their houses. So he called every one of his lord's debtors unto him, and said unto the first, How much owest thou unto my lord? And he said, An hundred measures of oil. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and sit down quickly, and write fifty. Then said he to another, And how much owest thou? And he said, An hundred measures of wheat. And he said unto him, Take thy bill, and write fourscore. And the lord commended the unjust steward, because he had done wisely: for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light. And I say unto you, Make to yourselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when ye fail, they may receive you into everlasting habitations.

obedience. Let us then place no confidence in any hope of escape from His wrath, except in that which He teaches us to cherish when we repent of sin, and diligently cultivate all the graces of holiness.

THE GOSPEL.-Our Lord has here stated a case which sets the conduct of professing Christians in a melancholy light. The worldly and the fraudulent act with caution. They foresee danger, and, according to their principles, provide against it. However much we may despise the injustice of some, the avarice of others, or the grosser vices of a third class, their prudence and perseverance, viewed apart from the objects sought, must often excite our admiration. This was the feeling which arose in the mind of the steward's master. While he punished in the severest manner the frauds of which that false servant had been guilty, he could not refrain from expressing his wonder at the prudence with which he had guarded himself against the coming misfortune. Nothing was left undone which caution could dictate. Friends were sought, and their kindness secured. Let us with equal care seek God's friendship, seeing that the world will not much longer employ us.