portion to bear of the sufferings that flesh is heir to. Her pains were often so intense, it seemed scarcely possible for life to hold out against them. Yet she always found peace amid her fiercest agonies from her faith in her Saviour. Of her it might truly be said, that, though sorrowful, she was always rejoicing. She was a witness to all who saw or heard of her, of the power and excellence of that living knowledge of Christ, of that living faith in Him, which could thus soothe and pour balm over the most terrible mortal agonies. Think then what must be the blessed power, what must be the excellence of that knowledge, when faith is swallowed up in sight, and when the spirit, delivered from its house of mortality, is received into the city where there are no more tears, no more death, or sorrow, or crying, or pain, and where it is allowed to dwell for ever in the presence of its God and Saviour.

Almighty God, who in the front of Thy holy commandments hast declared that thou art the Lord our God, and that Thou wilt not that we should have any other gods but Thee, purify our hearts, we beseech Thee, from all idolatries of the flesh, and of the things of this world. Enlighten us with Thy Spirit, to understand that whatsoever would lure us away from Thee, is death, and leads to death, and that nothing has any true life in it, except that wherein Thou livest. Although the corruption of our nature drags down our souls, and would make them cleave to the dust, lift them up, O Lord God, lift them up to Thyself, and to that excellent knowledge of Thee which Thy Son Jesus Christ has revealed, purging our eyes from the film wherewith our sinful lusts have overclouded them,

so that we may perceive and feel how all things without Him are loss and vanity and weariness and woe. These and all other mercies we implore in the name and for the sake of Him, who has brought us that excellent, saving knowledge, Thy Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

SERMON XII.

THE AWFUL ALTERNATIVE.

MATTHEW XII. 30.

He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.

THESE are awful words to sound in the ears of all

nominal, worldly-minded Christians. For do they not

declare that such Christians are no Christians at all? They may call themselves Christians. They may even think themselves Christians. But the text tells them, as plainly as words can speak, Your Christian profession is a mere mockery. The pledge which was given at your baptism, you are daily treading under foot. The cross, which was only markt you among

then signed upon your forehead, has

except to light up a

You are not with Me.

the herd of those by whom the Lord of life was crucified. Your outward services, whatever they may be, are just so much stubble and chaff, of no use momentary blaze in the fires of hell. You have not laboured in gathering with Me, in gathering jewels for My everlasting crown, in gathering souls for the treasury of Heaven. Therefore you can have no part in Me; you are none of Mine; you are against Me. You are casting away My offers; you shut your ears to My entreaties; you thwart My purposes: you do all that in you lies to render My sufferings of no avail. Miserable men, think with whom you must be, if you are against the Son of the living God. Such are the echoes, which, one

VOL. II.

might fancy, would roll through the heart of the nominal Christian, when he hears the voice of the Lord crying, He that is not with Me is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad.

These words draw a broad line of separation through every nation and people that has been called to the knowledge of the Gospel, separating the sheep from the goats, and giving us the signs and tokens whereby we are to know them. They tell us, who are with Christ, and who are against Him. For seeing that Christ has such a great work to accomplish, the very work for the sake of which He came down from heaven, and put on the nature of man, and which has been going on ever since in the power of His Spirit under His guardian care, the work of building up His Church, of laying its foundations so broad that all mankind may be gathered into it, and of raising its walls so high, that its top shall reach to Heaven, where His Cross shall stand exalted everlastingly over its topmost pinnacle,-seeing moreover that this work as yet is only begun, or at all events is still very far from its completion, seeing too that Christ must needs be very desirous that the work, for the sake of which He has done and suffered so much, should go on speedily and prosperously, all who are with Christ cannot but be zealous and diligent in furthering the accomplishment of this His great work. This they will endeavour to do in two ways, both by preparing and fitting their own souls, so far as they can, for being built into Christ's Church, and also by bringing the souls of others to Him, and preparing them for the same purpose. Some will try to cleanse and scrape the bricks, which have already been built into the buildings of this world,-some to bake new

bricks, by training up children in the ways of godliness; some will go forth to the seaside, and pick up the stones which may have been cast up there by the waters. They on the other hand, who are not with Christ, who do not gather with Him, who are not working in His service, at the building up of His Church, either in their own souls, or in the souls of their neighbours,-all they who do not take some part or other, according to their abilities, in Christ's great work, are against Christ, and scatter abroad. But, being against Christ, they are with His enemy, who cannot bear anything so united and orderly as a building. His souls are the rubbish of the earth. Their task is to heap up rubbish, on themselves, and on others; and, like rubbish, they and their works will be cast away and consumed.

This is the plain and natural meaning of the words, He that is not with Me, is against Me; and he that gathereth not with Me scattereth abroad. But they may also be understood in another sense, in which they are no less true. They not only mark the vast difference between one class of men and another, but also draw the line which separates good from evil in the life and character of the same man and this is a matter of no small importance in this doublefaced, doublehearted world. For here on earth even those who grow upward the most thrivingly, have also roots which strike downward quite as far and unfortunately the roots have a much faster hold than the branches. Indeed the difference between the roots and branches of a tree is no inapt type of the dark and tight bondage in which the servants of sin and of the world are held, and of the glorious liberty which none can enjoy, except such as live and move in the free, heaven-lit