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wounded the dragon?" "Where is thy strength, the sounding of thy bowels and of thy mercies?*” The church of God is now praying to this effect, and the best pledge of the final triumphs of christianity results from the combined influence of prayer and active exertion in a spirit of dependence. Our earnest desire that the heathen should be converted, and that christianity should be published and received among all nations, may be regarded, we hope, as the earnest and fruit of that Divine Spirit whose more copious effusion will accomplish the work. Let us welcome the rising beam, "the day-star" that ushers in the morning of a brighter day than has ever yet shone upon the earth. Let us fervently pray that the Divine Spirit may be poured out upon the world, and that the Redeemer may "take to him his great power, and reign" universally in the hearts of men.

XI.

THE SIGNS OF THE TIMES.+

[PREACHED AT BRISTOL, FOR THE NATIONAL SCHOOLS,
NOVEMBER 28, 1820.]

MATTHEW XVi. 1—3.- "The Pharisees also with the Sadducees came, and tempting him desired that he would shew them a sign from heaven. He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, It will be fair weather; for the sky is red:

*Isaiah li. 9. lxiii. 15.

Printed from the notes of the Rev. Thomas Grinfield.

And in the morning, It will be foul weather to-day; for the sky is red and lowring. O ye hypocrites! ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?"

So violent were the prejudices excited by our Saviour's preaching, that those who could agree in nothing besides, agreed in the attempt to discredit his authority, and destroy the effects of his ministry. An instance of this is presented in the words just read, in which we find the Pharisees and Sadducees forgetting their mutual antipathy in their common hostility to the pretensions of Jesus Christ. The Pharisees, as you are aware, were a sect among the Jews, who had multiplied to an enormous extent their additions to the law of Moses; which, together with the other parts of the Old Testament, they received as inspired. The Sadducees, a sort of religious sceptics, generally supposed to have confined their belief to the missions and writings of Moses, rejected the doctrines which connect us with a future world; the resurrection of the body, and the existence of spirits. These two parties, at variance on all other occasions, concurred on this; and both, "tempting" our Lord in the hope of ruining his reputation, "desired that he would shew them a sign from heaven;" an indication that he was the Messiah, yet more miraculous and convincing, according to their idea, than any he had before exhibited. By this "sign from heaven," they probably meant some direct manifestation of the divine glory, without that intervention of second causes which seems to have impaired in their

minds the impression of the miracles they had witnessed. They imagined that an immediate vision of the Divine Majesty would afford an evidence of his being the Messiah, more unequivocal and satisfactory than could be afforded by any performances however supernatural. Such a notion was delusive, and arose entirely from the depraved and obdurate state of their minds. When we find those, who are already in possession of sufficient evidence, yet demanding more than is given, we may be sure that, in such cases, no evidence would be sufficient. Accordingly, it is not the practice of the divine government to comply with such unreasonable desires: but, while he that hath, or that improves his present advantages, shall receive abundantly more: from him that hath not, or that uses not what he has, even that which he hath shall be taken away.

From the suggestion of the words first read, I propose to consider some of the most obvious and palpable signs which the present age exhibits of the advancement of our Saviour's kingdom: and I shall take occasion to remark previously, that it is an important part of wisdom,-a duty which as christians we ought not to neglect,-to discern the signs, to watch the moral aspect, of the times in which we live. We are not, indeed, called or qualified to penetrate into futurity; but we may study with advantage that portion of providence, in relation to the church and the world, with which we are most nearly connected.

Of the benefits to be derived from this stud,

the first is, that we shall thus learn more of the intentions and character of the Divine Being. The providence of God is the execution and developement of his mind. In observing the course of providence, we see the operations of his hand, and read his will as truly in its fulfilment as in his written revelation. Again: our devotion should be modified, to a certain extent, by the signs of the times. In our prayers, we may derive encouragement from these to plead with God for the accomplishment of his own gracious designs and promises: we may adapt our humiliation to the demand of the season; acknowledge the hand that wards off impending evils or crowns us with signal favours; and be reminded what benefits we may appropriately implore. And, once more: such a habit of advertence to the prominent features of the age, may be useful in the regulation of our active duties. In our exertions to promote the good of mankind and the glory of God, we are not merely to regard his general will as applicable to all times alike; we are to inquire, also, his particular design in reference to the existing state of things; to study what he would have us do at such a particular crisis. Does He appear, for instance, by various concurring events, to be preparing for the more extensive and rapid diffusion of the gospel? Then it becomes our appropriate duty to provide whatever means seem the best adapted to promote that transcendent object. Some persons, who are sufficiently attentive to the more private details of christian

duty, take but little interest in the fortunes of the universal church: a failure which, in such cases, arises principally from that inattention to the signs of the times, reprehended by our Saviour in the

text.

Having offered these suggestions, I shall now advert to some plain, unequivocal, signs and indications of the present age. I call them plain and unequivocal, in distinction from such as may be thought of an ambiguous character. With respect to some of these signs, while events are passing by us, there may be differences of sentiment; differences which will probably disappear when another generation shall look back upon our own times. In contemplating an object, we find it necessary to recede to a certain distance, in order that we may the more comprehensively survey what pressed too closely, and became too prominent, during our nearer approach; and thus the present portion of providence will be better understood, in all its bearings, when the events which compose its principal features shall have been for some time passed. The following remarks, however, will be confined to the most striking peculiarities of the present age.

1. Of these, the first I shall mention is, the great increase of mental exertion. Some periods have been marked by intellectual inaction: the human mind has appeared as in a state of torpor and dormancy: not a luminary has broken the prevailing darkness; not a distinguished name has been left behind: knowledge has been not merely

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