mistaken. And nothing is more foolish than for persons at other periods of life to complain of the place which such admonitions to the aged occupy in public instruction; for from such counsels they may derive the greatest benefit if they consider them wisely, as the aged may from the lessons which are presented from time to time, in the preaching of the Gospel to the young.

These duties must be inculcated not only in public, but in private admonition. They must be spoken with fidelity, but, at the same time, in that mild and respectful mode which accords with the reverence due to their years. How beautiful is the holy wisdom which marks these counsels of Paul to Timothy, "Rebuke not an elder, but entreat him as a father; -and the elder women as mothers!"*

There may be other subjects on which a minister might find it more pleasing to enlarge; but it is by the appointment of his Master, and not by his own humour, that he must regulate his instructions. And never should these admonitions be given in the tone or manner which indicates, that to us the task is disagreeable, and that we wish to hurry it over as quickly as possible. We ought to feel solicitous to show and to secure all due respect to every message of Heaven. Sad indeed it is when the disregard of the message must be imputed to its publisher !

But the argument by which the inculcating of these duties is enforced claims our attention. They become sound doctrine. They are suitable to the moral ten

1 Tim. v. 1, 2.

dency of the Gospel. Idle fables, and superstitious ceremonies, might accord with the traditions and habits of the Jews, and manners loose and sensual, and speculations vain and presumptuous, might agree with the dreams and the libertinism of the heathens; but the pure morality and the practical wisdom contained in these counsels could alone suit that doctrine which is according to godliness. "The grace of God," saith Paul in this same chapter, "that bringeth salvation, hath appeared to all men, teaching us, that, de nying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." "*

They are fitted to recommend the doctrines of the Gospel. To judge of a doctrine by its fruits, is the dictate of wisdom; and by this test the Apostle knew that Christianity would be tried. Were its teachers to make no application of its principles and laws to the aged, it would impress the minds of the reflecting among the heathen unfavourably to it. Some of their sages have written largely on the duties and the consolations of the aged; the treatise of Cicero on old age had been composed not many years before, and was in high repute for its glowing eloquence; and if Christian teachers left the aged without admonition or solace, the comparison betwixt them and these wise men would not have been to their advantage, or that of their creed. But such practical admonitions from the pulpit, and their due influence seen in the conduct of aged Christians,

Titus ii. 11, 12.

would show, that the Gospel was the best friend of the last days of man, and that it left not itself without a witness in any scene, or among any class.

I may add, that the inculcating of such duties on the aged would show the truth and the necessity of sound doctrine. It would evince the necessity of that previous change in heart and nature which takes place in regeneration, and without which no duty. will be performed in spirit and in truth. It would impress those that heard it with the conviction of the necessity of that supernatural aid which the Gospel so fully reveals, that it is called the ministration of the spirit, and with the value of that righteousness which secures the acceptance of our imperfect services. It gives an opportunity of bringing forward all those various motives to duty which are presented by the promises of the new covenant, by the atonenient and intercession of the Redeemer, by the powers of the world to come, and by the coming of the Son of Man in his glory to "render to every man according to his deeds: To them who, by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and immortality, eternal life; but to them that are contentious, and do not obey the truth, indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish."*

CONCLUSION.

This subject suggests necessary admonition to the ministers of the Gospel, and some of them it may convict of habitual inattention to this important charge.

Rom. ii. 6-9.

8

How despicable is the fear which restrains some from inculcating such duties, lest they should give offence either to those whose faults they condemn, or those who wish to hear of nothing but grace and salvation! Your warnings will be felt in their consciences as the best proof of friendship, and as the voice of Him who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify us to himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Let it not be said, that the youth of any minister renders these admonitions unbecoming; the office with which they are invested makes this an imperious duty, and the delicacy with which prudence will characterize them will give them peculiar power. Recollect how Elihu admonished both Job and his friends, and with what fidelity he pointed out what was wrong in the statements of both parties. 'Behold, I am according to thy wish in God's stead; I also am formed out of the clay. Behold, my terror shall not make thee afraid, neither shall my hand be heavy upon thee." Let these admonitions be given in a manner which may illustrate the grace, and evince the moral object of the Gospel; and let ministers in their own temper and conduct exemplify what they inculcate, and exhibit a demeanour pure from the vices and even the indiscretions which they condemn.

Let aged Christians, who have attained in some measure the character here delineated, be thankful for that grace which hath made you what you are.

* Job xxxiii. 7, 8.

You feel that you are far from being so wise and so holy as you ought to be. Let your temper and language be this: "I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark, for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”* Think it not enough that you attend to these admonitions, when occasionally presented in public instruction, but let them be the objects of your hourly regard; and be assured, that the virtues of your spirit and conduct will most effectually recommend the lessons you deliver. The counsels of meekness come with a bad grace from the lips of the fretful and the irritable, and the recommendation of devotional habits and exercises from one who in advanced age still lives without God.

There may be aged Christians, who, in the despondency which sometimes sits down on the heart in the days of darkness, are now saying, "In me, that is, in my flesh, dwelleth no good thing. Every revolving year leaves me worse at its close than it found me at its commencement. I am doing nothing but filling up the measure of my iniquities." Let these impressions urge you to hasten to the Saviour, and you shall find that no length or degree of sin can place the penitent beyond the reach of mercy. There is a despondency which sometimes gathers over the aged, which is the result of bodily weakness, and which it is most unfair to regard as a proof of the depress

* Phil. iii. 13, 14.