employed in reading or hearing that which is good. It proves that such a person has little or no faith in CHRIST present in His mystical Body, but is rather apt to put his trust in his own private thoughts and devotions; which kind of thought is surely a sort of self-righteousness.

And on the other hand, if a person be earnest and anxious about public prayer only, he has reason to suspect himself, lest his own fancy, or the praise of some fellow-creature, or some other poor low motive be really what brings him to Church, instead of the true faith and fear of GOD.

Thus the two, public and private prayer, will mutually encourage and bless one another. The prayers we make at home, when nobody sees us, will prepare us for those in Church, and will be a test of our sincerity in them: and the prayers of CHRIST's body, in which we join, will draw down blessings on the whole course of our lives; and among the rest, on our private prayers.

And the more earnest and constant we are in thus addressing ourselves to ALMIGHTY GOD, either in Church or at home, the less leisure and occasion shall we have to talk and discourse about Divine things, except where duty requires it. It is to be apprehended that much talk of holy subjects is often rather a token of lightness and irreverence, than of the true love and fear of GOD MOST HIGH, dwelling in the deep of a man's heart. If we read on to the end of the prophetic warning from which the text is taken, we shall see that he who speaks so earnestly of justifying faith, was also instructed to teach men a holy silence, few and grave words, and hearts full of awe and soberness, when they are in the presence of GoD, in His solemn worship, or in such discourse as seems especially to bring us near to HIM. "The LORD," he says, "is in His holy Temple : let all the earth keep silence before HIM."

It will be another part of the same dutiful temper—the proper temper of him whom CHRIST has justified-to be very patient and humble in all perplexities and discomforts: in no wise expecting always to see his way clearly, but content even to seem to "walk in darkness, and have no light," so he may but be permitted and helped to "trust in the name of the LORD, and to stay himself on his GOD."

Finally, and above all, such an one will cherish in himself a very deep and earnest fear of relapsing, by any wilful habitual sin, into that miserable state from which CHRIST has delivered us, or a worse. He will pray to be even haunted and possessed with the thought and dread of such a dangerous downfall: knowing that as the just is to live by faith, so he will most surely die by such unbelief as must go along with all wilful sin: it wastes and destroys, more or less quickly, the powers of his regenerate soul, the spiritual and heavenly life, which he has from CHRIST dwelling within him by His SPIRIT. Full of this great fear, he will pray to God to make the remembrance of his sins more grievous to him than it is, and so to withhold him from ever wilfully repeating them. And he will see to it, that what faith he has be never suffered to lie idle, but rather that it be continually exercised in little every day matters, so that like the love of a dutiful child, living in the house with its parent, it may grow and thrive from day to day, and spread itself quietly, like a holy leaven, through all his thoughts, words, and actions.

These are the things by which we should try our faith: by little obediences and self-denials, occurring every moment, rather than by our feelings and imaginations, when particularly moved. He that despiseth these small things shall surely fall by little and little. But he that in these things watches himself and serves CHRIST, the HOLY SPIRIT will prepare him for the great trials, whenever they come; and of him there is the best hope, that he will not be one "of them that fall back unto perdition," but of them whose faith shall last "to the saving of their souls."

SERMON CCLXIX.

EACH HIS OWN JUDGE, AND NOT ANOTHER'S.

FOR ADVENT SUNDAY.

ROM. xiv. 12.

"So then every man must give account of himself unto God."

THE time of Advent has always been accounted a penitential time in the Church of GOD: a time to mingle much fear and trembling with our joy: a time in which Christians should retire as they best may from the world, and give themselves up to serious thought, trying to be alone with God.

And there is a plain reason why it should be so. The Holy Feast of Christmas, to which we are approaching, brings men so very near to the MOST HIGH, that all devout and faithful souls have ever felt that it needed some special preparation: much in the same way as the other time of Easter has Lent going before it. We must judge ourselves, that we may be worthy to receive GOD Incarnate in the Holy Communion, when we are permitted to keep His Birthday: we must judge ourselves, that we be not judged of the LORD.

If those who are to obtain some great favour of an earthly King or Queen are expected to kneel on their knees to receive it, should not we, who hope to be partakers of our LORD's Body and Blood on that solemn occasion, cast ourselves beforehand on the knees of our hearts? And this cannot be done in a moment; it must require some considerable time: there must be many

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prayers, much self-examination, many earnest thoughts of God's presence, and how we stand in His sight and since this cannot be while we give ourselves up to the ordinary thoughts, and pursuits, and pleasures of the world, this time of preparation must also be a time of self-denial. There must be more or less of fasting, of abstinence, of continence: the bridegroom must go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet; men should be for a time like Daniel, eating not willingly any pleasant bread; otherwise how can they expect that their prayers should be answered, as Daniel's, by the coming of an Angel, nay, of the LORD of Angels?

To bring her children into this mind, the Church sets before us the great Day of the LORD as the continual subject of our Meditation for a full month, or near it, before Christmas Day. Advent goes before Christmas: the second coming of our LORD must be in our minds to prepare us for duly regarding His first coming.

The Lessons, therefore, and Collects set down in the Prayer Book for these four weeks all look that way. They are all meant to keep up in the minds of Christians the awful image of our LORD coming in the clouds, with His glorious Body, yet bearing the marks of the Cross; of the Angels around HIM; of the world burning under His feet; of the dead, small and great, standing before HIM; of the judgment set, and of the books opened.

One might expect these thoughts to be found too overwhelming, too full of anxious astonishment; so that persons' minds, if they really believe the Bible, would be, if possible, too entirely occupied with them. One would not wonder, if in deep care about these fearful events, so soon to happen to us all, some should altogether forget their worldly business, and need to be awakened, like a person in an amazing dream. But, alas! the difficulty with almost all of us is quite the other way. Our hearts, in regard of heavenly things, are so unspeakably cold, so hard and dry, that we cannot without some unusual effort so much as meditate on the Last Day for ever so few minutes together. And when we do, how little does it really affect us, in comparison of any thing in this world, which comes home to our bosoms! How soon, how readily, do we start back to trifles

and transitory things! and how lightly do we forget the astounding visions which the holy Book sets before us!

It is a sad and humbling thought, how little we have really had the Last Judgment in our minds: but He can help us to do better, and He will help us if we try in earnest.

Surely His words are plain enough, if we will but have the heart to attend to them. "As I live, saith the LORD, every knee shall bow to ME, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself unto GOD." What can be plainer or more alarming?

Every one must give account: all without exception: neither man, woman, nor child, that at all knows right from wrong, will be excused from answering on that day.

We must give account to GoD: not to man whom we might deceive, or who might judge of us by false measures, but to the all-seeing unerring GOD.

And we must give account of ourselves: not of others, but of our own conduct, of the whole of it, in thought, word, and deed. Let us dwell for a while on each of these terrible truths-we know them all perfectly well; but to have them deep and present in our hearts is a great grace, which we must pray and labour after.

Recollect then, first, that we shall every one give account. This seems especially addressed to the inconsiderate and lighthearted; to those who say to themselves, "To-morrow shall be as this day, and yet more abundant." Too many go on always, nearly all go on at times, as if they were not really accountable. They just take the pleasure or the profit of the moment, and think no more of it; it is to them no more than throwing a stone into the water, which comes together again, and all seems as before. If we did not go on like this, could we possibly forget and neglect to examine ourselves so thoroughly as many of us have done? Could we have gone on for months and years, lying down and rising up, with no serious endeavour to know how we have been wrong, and how we may do better? When things go wrong, when others provoke us, then the notion is ready enough at hand that they have sinned, that their account will be heavy; but we are very slow to comprehend the same thing as it concerns ourselves. The hours are cheerful or