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sible. Other cares may distract you
a sudden derangement of your affairs
may put obstacles in the way of execut-
ing your projects—death may surprize
you in the omission of this duty, and
then how shall you render your account
to God? Zaccheus is a model to us
of promptness of execution; he forms
a fixed, vigorous resolution, which has
for its object not the future, but the
present-" I restore it”—even now I am
ready to do it. He does more than
satisfy those whom he had wronged-he
resolves to restore fourfold. Fearful lest
he should not fully recompense them,
his enlarged heart makes the resolution,
and his piety is ready instantly to execute
it. Your restitution should be exact —
calculate the extent of the damage which
your injustice, or your imprudence has
caused to your neighbour, the injury
which this loss of property has been to
him, the length of time that he has been
deprived of it, and the gain hindered by
your delay; and let your restitution be
full and entire.

promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come." He did not purchase salvation with money. No the Lord doth not sell his blessings, he freely bestows them ; he believed in Jesus; this was the ground of his salvation. Then he showed the sincerity and the fruits of his belief, by letting go his hold on the world, and making a voluntary and liberal sacrifice for the good of his fellow-creatures, and for the honor of religion. Such a sacrifice Christ commended. Such a sacrifice the world condemns. Here, the opinions of Christ, and those of the world are at variance. But mark the determination of Zaccheus; not only to give half of his goods to the poor, but thinking that in the exercise of his office, he may have committed many acts by which justice was violated, and conscience wounded, he avows in the presence of the Saviour, that he will make the most exact enquiries— If I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold." Do you in like manner impartially examine your past life, and Such is the nature of this duty, and recal your acts of wrong. Here you the manner in which it shall be performed. may have spread a snare for the sim- But how many are there in the world, plicity of another, and abused his who altogether elude the obligation? confidence there you may have taken Some refuse, because they desire to beadvantage of his ignorance, or of his queath property to their children. But extreme need. These you may have how can they, in conscience, believe dazzled by fair promises, never per- that they owe to their children what formed: those, in some other mode, you their neighbour may rightfully claim? may have disappointed. Allege not, for How can they lawfully leave to them your excuse, example, custom, the neces what belongs to others? God tells us sity of acting like others all this is of that such property bequeathed to chilno avail now in the sight of Omnipotence dren, is an "accursed heritage." Others -will be of no avail hereafter at the bar admitting the necessity of restitution, of God. It is true, and will be eternally are ashamed to make it. In acting as true, that whatever you may have ob- Zaccheus did, you proclaim not your tained from another by open violence or shame, but your honesty-not your insidious over-reaching, is his property ignominy, but your fearless determination not yours. Restitution should be prompt. to comply with the dictates of justice, Many persons content themselves with a and the commands of God. If the invague intention of restitution at some jury be private, let the restitution be future time. Remember, that in de- private; provided you do it effectually, ferring to make restitution, you render be as prudent in the manner of accom. it more difficult, perhaps,' utterly impos-plishing it as you please; but do it, as

you desire peace of conscience-as you defrauded, and to compensate them with regard the judgment day.

The duty of restitution knows no other obstacle than impossibility, and no other reserve than what is necessary for the support of life; it admits of no other excuse, than utter ignorance, and has no other bound, than reparation of the injury committed. And yet, how few acts of restitution in a world of fraud, and in a land of extensive commercial engagements, do we witness or hear of! How few of those, whose hands were generally supposed to be defiled with the accursed thing, and who had grown rich by oblique means, evading the customs and tributes enjoined by the laws of the land-how few (I appeal to my brethren in the ministry), how very few do we meet with who, amidst their confessions of other iniquities, have the resolution to say on their dying beds, much of my wealth I acknowledge with shame and confusion of face, was acquired by means, of which I now deeply repent; I now make restitution to church and state, which I wronged of their dues; and I choose rather to bequeath comparative poverty to my children, than to leave a patrimony under a curse. And thus will they gain more by the example I give of sincere repentance, than they would by my unfair acquisitions.'

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Some, by bequests to charitable purposes, suppose that they thereby can silence conscience, and repair their frauds; and thus give to the poor only what they have obtained by wrong. Such men seem to think God a judge whom they can corrupt by a part of the booty, and appear secretly to use to him the language of those robbers mentioned in the book of Proverbs, "thou shalt have thy lot with us: we will all have one purse:" thus hoping to secure a sanction to their injustice and fraud. Not so Zaccheus. Though he consecrates a large portion of his property to relieve the wants of the distressed, yet he reserves enough to compensate those whom he may have

interest.

It is lamentable to think how few understand, or seem willing to learn, the elements of Christian morality on this doctrine of restitution! Oh! what great discoveries shall be made at the day of judgment! This world is a great theatre on which too many act a borrowed character, conceal their motives, and by an imposing exterior, cover most unworthy acts. But in that day" all frauds and deceptions, artifice and dissimulation, shall be revealed, when the secrets of the human heart shall be unfolded—all their labyrinths penetrated-all their darkness dissipated-all their deep designs disclosed. Then many who were regarded in the world as faithful, sincere, generous friends, shall be found vile and perfidious, without faith, or honour, or conscience. Men who were esteemed as men of integrity and approved probity, shall be found to have abused the credulity of their neighbours, and been guilty of the most humiliating dissimulation. Then the mask of hypocrisy shall drop, the cloak of religious profession be torn off, and the true character be fully exhibited. What confusion, what blackness, shall gather on their conntenance, what anguish pierce their souls, when they look back to the possessions for which they bartered their salvation, and to the falsehood and injustice with which they raised themselves to distinction! "The heavens reveal their iniquities, and the earth rises up against them."

This subject should lead us to avoid the very beginning of sin, and to pay the most scrupulous attention to the duties of truth and justice. "He that is unjust in the least, is unjust also in much," and incurs the condemnation of God as effectually as if he were guilty of the greatest injustice. If he has parted with his honesty at an inferior price, and bartered it for a mere trifle, his guilt, far from being lessened, is rather aggravated, and the danger to which he is exposed

of your property should be given for the purpose of relieving the wants, and

is great. The moral principle is gone: the barrier whieh obstructed his progress is removed, and he is capable of wan-saving the souls of men, and advancing dering over the whole extent of the forbidden field. These little deceits attack the authority of the Divine Lawgiver, as much as what are termed greater sins: impair the strength of the soul, and shake the foundation on which integrity rests. Deceit and duplicity in small matters have a certain tendency to make men insincere on more important occasions, and may gradually destroy the character of integrity altogether, If you advance one step beyond the line which separates right from wrong-honesty from disho- | nesty-you know not how far you may wander into the way of unrighteousness. Come not then near the territories of sin, but stand at a distance from "the appearance of evil." In all your transactions, enquire what is right, and let all things bend to the answer: let every thing be sacrificed to truth and justice: let duty be strenuously performed to the last "jot and tittle" of exaction, remembering that the eye of God is upon you, and that the judgment of God is in reserve for you.

Finally, brethren, show by your conduct, that you feel the love and truth of God, and the force of conscienceimitate Zaccheus. Here, perhaps, some may be disposed to ask, "what would you have us do? Would you say, that we must actually give away at once onehalf of our property to promote the temporal and eternal welfare of our fellow-men?" My friends, I should not dare to assume the responsibility of deciding how much any man must give for these objects, except in regard to myself; and this I must decide. I shall not dare to tell you, in all cases, what portion

the kingdom of Christ; it is a question which each man, on his own responsibility, must decide for himself; but this I say on the authority of the Divine word, that the Lord Jesus Christ demands your all-yourselves—your property-your influence-your time—all presented as a "living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God." This demand requires, that you pursue your merchandize, prosecute your trades, cultivate your farms, or attend to the business of your profession with the constant design of glorifying the Lord Christ in your calling; and with the fixed purpose of being habitually, according to your means, a liberal and "cheerful giver," to an amount that will constitute a sacrifice for Christ's sake, and make it selfdenial on your part. When, O when! shall the day come, in which professed Christians will act freely in the spirit, and on the terms of their discipleship; when will they feel, that they are to be agentsactive untiring agents, in the work of enlightening and saving a world? When will they give full credit to the divine declaration, "the liberal soul shall be made fat, and he that watereth shall be watered also himself?" The Lord hasten that day. Awake, awake, ye friends of the Saviour-do the Lord's work, and see if he will not take care of you and yours. "Bring all the tithes into the store-house, that there may be meat in my house; and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of Hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enought to receive it."

Mal. iii, 10.

THE PRE-MILLENNIAL ADVENT OF CHRIST.

A SERMON

PREACHED IN THE CHURCH OF BALLINASLOE,

ON SUNDAY, 15TH MARCH, 1840,

BY THE REV. JOSIAH B. LOWE, A.M.

Curate.

1 PETER, i. 11.

"The sufferings of Christ, and the glory which should follow."

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the glory-to illustrate this refer to Isaiah xlix. 1—7; lii. 13-15; and liii. 10-12. Now this method, in which it seemed good to the God of Israel to reveal his purposes to man, satisfactorily accounts, (as I think) for the remarkable fact which we are here assured of, that the prophetic page formed the subject of enquiring meditation to the prophets themselves; for, you perceive, there was a difficulty here a certain degree of obscurity, which affected the prophets themselves, as well as their hearers-for

HAVING, in the preceding context, administered consolation to the suffering "strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Asia, Cappadocia, and Phrygia," by reminding them of the glories of that salvation, of which they were the heirs, the inspired writer proceeds in the passage from which my text is taken, to shew that this salvation had not only been the theme of prophecy, but also, the subject of anxious enquiry and diligent search, to the prophets themselves: "of which salvation the prophets have enquired, and searched diligently, who pro-"prophecy came not by the will of man, phesied of the grace which should come but holy men of old spake as they were unto you; searching what, or what moved by the Holy Ghost"-in other manner of time, the Spirit of Christ words, they were only instruments in the which was in them, did signify, when it hands of the Spirit, to convey whatever testified beforehand of the sufferings of degree of information he might deem Christ, and the glory which should expedient to confer upon the Church at follow."-These, then, are the two great large-they were not inspired in order heads, under which are comprised the that they might know, but that they might prophecies concerning our salvation; convey knowledge to the Church, and "the sufferings of Christ, and the glory whatever degree of information was conwhich should follow" the former belong-veyed in the form in which their propheing to the first, the latter to the second cies were couched, of so much, they were advent of the Saviour. These were themselves possessed, and no more— blended together in the page of prophecy, whatever obscurity was attached to the but yet, in such a manner, that it might mode of their annunciations, affected be seen that the suffering was to precede themselves equally with the believing the glory-it was never distinctly stated portion of their hearers, who were thus that the Messiah was to come twice; the possessed of as much information with circumstances belonging to the two ad- respect to the meaning of their predicvents were blended together in the same tions, as they were themselves. context, as though they belonged to one; yet (I repeat) always in such a way, as that it should be evident to the attentive reader, that the suffering was to precede

Now, it is instructive to observe the effect of this obscurity upon their minds; they were not deterred thereby from examining into the object of their hopes;

quite the reverse-they were (as no doubt God intended them to be) intently occupied with the study of them, "they inquired and searched diligently." How different is this from the conduct of many in the present day, who, professing to have "that faith which is the substance of things hoped for," do yet excuse themselves from studying the prophetic page, on the ground of the alleged difficulty of interpretation; and that too in the present dispensation, when so much that was really difficult has been cleared up when (in the words of Scripture) "the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth," in the face, not only of the inspired declaration, that "all Scripture is profitable," but of the express injunction of the Holy Ghost to study the prophetic Scriptures in particular, "ye have also a more sure word of prophecy, unto which ye do well to give heed, as unto a light shining in a dark place." If there are any such here present, I would just submit to you the two following suggestions:-1st, If this alleged obscurity be an excuse for neglecting the prophetic word, then might the Church for 4,000 years have been excused from attending to the subject of salvation, inasmuch as it was for that period, purely a matter of prophecy!-and 2nd, As a consequence of this, the Jews were not without excuse for rejecting the Saviour; for if they were not called upon to study, and understand the prophecies, how can blame them for rejecting Jesus of Nazareth, while they looked for the "Son of David ?"—I repeat, you who excuse yourselves from studying the prophetic Scriptures, are obliged in consistency to, at least, extenuate the guilt of those who crucified the "Lord of Glory."

we

is not that into which the Saviour has disappeared, but that in which he is to appear, "the glory which shall be revealed."

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In speaking of the sufferings" of Christ, we were occupied with the examination of occurrences that are past,—the latter part of the text, "the glory," directs us to events yet future the former is purely the subject of history, the latter of prophecy; and this difference in the relative periods, to which the facts connected with these two subjects respectively belong, unfortunately requires that we should adopt a different mode in treating of them. The particulars respecting the sufferings of Christ, being simply recorded in the Gospel narratives, are universally agreed upon among the orthodox; whereas the case is far otherwise respecting the particulars of his glory-consequently, on the one subject I needed only to state the facts as they occurred, by simply appealing to your memory, while on the other it will be necessary to demonstrate the facts that will occur, by an argumentative appeal to your judgments at the same time, it is well to bear in mind, that the disagreement between believers, on this point is not so great as is often represented; it is more on the order in which events shall take place, than on the events themselves, that Christians will be found to disagree the remarkable circumstances are very generally agreed upon, and indeed admit of no controversy upon them—thus, that there will be a period when "the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"that "the Son shall receive the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession"that "the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ" that "his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth"-that "at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth”—in a word, that there shall be a period of glory, and blessedness, and peace on the face of this earth, called the Millennium, is uni

We have been lately considering "the sufferings of Christ;" let us now proceed to consider "the glory which should follow." We have already stated that this glory here spoken of belongs to the second advent of the Lord Jesus; and that we were not mistaken in so doing will appear from a reference to the context, in which we find the apostle dwelling particularly on that event; (see verses 5, 7, 13.) and also from a passage, decidedly paral-versally admitted by those who read their lel, in chap. v. 1, "The elders which are among you, I exhort, which am also an elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory which shall be revealed." You perceive then that the glory here spoken of

Bibles. Again, that" the Lord Jesus shall come the second time, without sin unto salvation"-that "the sign of the Son of Man shall be seen in the clouds of heaven, with power, and great glory"

that "he shall sit on the throne of his

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