whether in the morning, or at noon, or at midnight-ah! who can tell whether even the righteous will be altogether without trembling at such an hour? but if we have trimmed our lamps, and made ourselves ready,—then may we be assured that the bridegroom will cause the trembling and tears to cease, and so we shall stand with joy before the Son of Man. But the trimming of our lamps is the very watching and praying we have been dwelling on for if we only watch and pray as we ought, that will lead us on to every Christian grace, and prepare us more and more perfectly-our lamps will burn brighter, because the holy oil of God's Spirit will be poured in more abundantly.

But we cannot close the subject without pointing out the best time and place for special watching and prayer. How, or where, or when, can you watch and pray more efficiently than at the altar-table, as often as you are invited there to meet spiritually your Redeemer ? We put it to you candidly-can We you find out a better mode of preparation than that sacrament, "to stand before the Son of Man ?" We ask you plainly, and may the Holy Spirit smite you with the question, as with a two-edged sword-if you are afraid to approach the bridegroom at the altar of mercy, do you not dread the certainty (from which you cannot escape) of meeting the same bridegroom at the throne of judgment? Is it the case, that your sins cause a dread of standing before the Son of Man? if so, that is

the very reason why you should not delay coming to him in the way he has pointed out, that your sins may be pardoned, and the dread taken away. Believe it in your hearts, brethren, for it is the truthif you wish to become better, if you are sorry to have ever slept at your posts, when you ought to have watched, and if you pray that you may be more wakeful for the future, then you may approach without fear for the altar of Christ's holy communion is the best temple, where we may all learn how to pray; and it is the best watch-tower, where we may all learn how to wait for "the coming of the Son of Man."

SERMON XVI.

THE FAITHFUL SERVANT REWARDED.

MATTHEW XXV. 23.

"His Lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee Ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

THE solemn scene of our last discourse naturally brings us to the final sentence which will close the proceedings of "the coming of the Son of Man." This sublime chapter, which furnishes the text, contains three remarkable Parables: all of them refer to the future judgment, but each is designed to illustrate a distinctly separate particular-that of the Ten Virgins, watchfulness and preparation—that of the talents, the proportionate equity that will be administered towards every man, at the day of retribution, according to his works ;-and lastly, that of the sheep and the goats, wherein the sole ground of

reward is laid down. Indeed, this last seems rather to assume the nature of a description than of a parable: the parabolical similitude of the sheep and the goats is introduced, but the rest may be called, perhaps, more appropriately, a description of the proceedings of the Son of Man when he shall come in his glory to judgment. The point of doctrine, however, here insisted upon is, that Christ will be pleased to consider the acts of the faithful done to others as done unto himself. Accordingly, in collecting the principles on which the future judgment will proceed, it is clearly necessary to view these two latter representations not merely separately, but in connection with each other. For if you measured the principle on which Christ declares that he will act by sole reference only to the Parable of the Talents, you might be apt to conclude that, since the master bade the servant be ruler over many things on account of his faithfulness over few things, Christ would therefore reward the righteous on the ground of some merit in their actions. But if you fairly collect the inferences to be drawn from both representations jointly, you will find that the latter completely explains any possible misapprehension of the former. As the servant is rewarded in proportion to his faithfulness, so will the dutiful Christian be crowned in proportion to the amount of faithfulness evinced-and so far the similitude of the parable is intended to apply: nevertheless, in the case of the servant, his master

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might, indeed, reward him simply and solely on the ground of his having fully wrought all that could have been required, viz., the production of double the amount of what he had received, so that if perfect obedience be entitled to reward, there does seem in that case a claim established, if not of merit over and above duty, at least on the score of duty fulfilled to the most satisfactory extent. But in this point the Parable cannot for a moment be allowed to assimilate: for if this once be admitted, we shake the foundation on which the hope of heaven in the Gospel is built, since any presumed merits of man either excludes or lowers the necessity of the Saviour's merits in the atonement. Here, therefore, as we have already remarked, the last representation of the final assize clears up any liability to misinterpret the Parable of the Talents. In this description Christ refers to himself the sole merit of any deeds done by man quite as much as he does the distribution of the reward. He distinctly represents himself as the object on whose account he will reward the righteous; and thus, by connecting his own person with the deeds, he clearly invests them with a merit which they claim no title to of themselves. Is there not an evident disclaimer of merit expressed or implied in the answer of the righteous? They declare an ignorance of having ever ministered to Christ; yet, though they had never seen him in the flesh, and consequently had never personally ministered to him, we cannot