Satan to God, that they might receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus." Thus the glory of the gospel system was opened, and the salvation prepared by God was to be proclaimed among the Gentiles. Thus the messengers of truth were to come to the haunts of the heathensto the haunts of rudeness and barbarism-to attract millions of the deluded away from the altars of idols, and lead them into the ways of peace with him who is the living and the true God-to testify of the true Jehovah and the splendour of his reign-to subvert imposture to plant high the banners of Calvary, and wave them above the conquests of Atheism. To you, Gentiles, the word of salvation is now sent! There is the ministry of reconciliation proclaiming, from age to age, the merits of the Redeemer, who died on the cross, and who now shines in the splendour of his Fatlier's throne, and the great anthem to you is contained in the words of Paul, "As ambassadors for Christ we beseech you, be ye reconciled unto God." But it is to events that are not yet fulfilled, that we are to look for the accomplishment of that great design of which the poet sang. There are multitudes of the dark places of the earth, which are now full of cruelty. You are aware, that the Jews are yet far from the cross of Christ, and despise that Messiah whom their forefathers slew! You are aware, that there are many nations now living in heathenism! The mighty vulture of Paganism is pluming over them his invulnerable wings, gorging himself with the blood of immortal souls! You are aware, that all things are not yet put under Him, who is to be a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel! Shall not the idols of the nations be cast "to the moles and to the bats"? Shall not the throne of the god of this world be overthrown, and the empire over which the wide sceptre of anarchy is now stretched, be brought to the "liberty wherewith Christ makes his people free;" and become the habitation of purity, peace, and joy? Shall not the fulness of the Jews be brought in with the Gentiles, till there be neither Jew nor Gentile, Barbarian nor Scythian, bond nor free; but when "Christ shall be all in all"? The visions of futurity are now floating before me! I see by the light of prophecy the advancement of the Redeemer's reign, as Simeon did when he took the Redeemer in his arms, and cast a glance throughout the long vista of the fate of nations. The Son of God shall have "the heathen for his inheritance, and the uttermost parts of the earth for his possession"! He will "gird his sword upon his thigh, and ride forth prosperously, conquering and to conquer"! He will take to himself "his great power and reign," pronouncing, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn, until he shall come whose right it is"! And all the universe of God must give honour to him, amidst the thunderings of heaven, and the sounding of the seventh archangel's trumpet, exclaiming, "Hallelujah! hallelujah! the Lord God omnipotent reigneth; the kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our God and of his Christ, and he shall reign for ever and ever.' Thus Christ will be the salvation of the world, prepared before the face of all people"A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of his people Israel." Contemplate Thirdly.—HIS Desire. If you observe, the desire followed the proclamation; therefore, we consider it last. "And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law, then took he him up in his arms and blessed God, and said, Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word: for mine eyes have seen thy salvation; which thou hast prepared before the face of all people: a light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel." Here you will observe, there was on the part of the good man, an expression of his willingness and desire to die, and the confidence that when he did die, he would depart in peace. I shall not enter, for several reasons, upon this part of the subject, believing that, by yourselves, it may be best filled up in silence. But I have to request your attention to two facts with regard to this desire, which may well be submitted to your consideration. 1. He had no other object left to live for on earth. It must have been a most pleasing and interesting, thing and was esteemed so by those living under the | be desired, and nothing could satisfy him, except an introduction to the splendours of immortality;—“Lord now lettest thy servant depart in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation!" 2. There was the dissipation of all his fears, and the confirmation of all his hopes for futurity. There could not be the same actual degree of confidence previous to the appearance of the Saviour, in the mind of the true believer, in the testimony of God, as there was after the Saviour had actually appeared. Now that Simeon actually saw that Being, who was, by the appointments of the everlasting councils, to accomplish those deeds that formed the basis of the happiness of millions, there would be the clearing away of the shadows! There would be the shining of the sun-beam! There would be the reading of the title clear to mansions in the skies! There would be comfort and rejoicing in believing, that he could "depart in peace"! Imagine the scene! There stands the aged saint, at the threshold of the temporal territory, upon the brink of the sepulchre, and there is the infant Redeemer in his arms! He would trace the course of the Redeemer! He would see him in prayer at midnight! He would gaze upon him in the agony of Gethsemane, when his sweat became great drops of blood, falling to the ground! He would hear the hell-shout of the infernal Jews, crying, "Away with him, away with him; Crucify him, crucify him"! He would gaze upon him on the cross! He would follow him down to the shades of the sepulchre, where he descended, that "through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is the devil;" and thus "deliver those who through fear of death, had been all their life time subject to bondage"! He would see him rising again from the tomb, and leading "captivity captive," and "ascending to his father, and to our father; to his God, and to our God;" and then seating himself at the right lived to see the end of one dispensa-hand of the throne, interceding, that he tion, and the beginning of another;the termination of the law, and the introduction of the gospel; and all the shadows received their substance.When there was the advent of Him who died on the cross to accomplish the redemption of innumerable millions of mankind, nothing more could might be able to save unto the uttermost all that came unto God by him "! His own interests would be identified with the interests of the Redeemer! He would see the king of terrors come before him, and he would be able to dash back that sceptre with which he had been accustomed to destroy, because the vic tory had been given to him through the Saviour whom he loved! He would contemplate the happiness of his spirit in paradise! He would think of the restoration of his body, when that which had been sown in corruption should be raised in incorruption; that which was sown in dishonour, raised in honour; that which was sown in weakness, raised in power; that which was sown a natural body, raised a spiritual body; bearing not the image of the earthly, but of the heavenly! He would catch the inspiration of Balaam over Israel! He would contemplate the period when he should mingle with a great multitude that no man could number, and when he should stand before the throne, and with a melodious heart cry, "Salvation unto him that sitteth upon the throne, and to the Lamb, for ever and ever!" I call upon you then, to contemplate the feelings of the saint, when he bore that burden, that precious burden, which was shortly to atchieve such a victory for mankind, and when he cried, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word; for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel.” 66 My brethren, it must be remarked, taking a more general view of this part of the subject, and I proclaim it, especially, for those who are the aged saints of God in this assembly, who feel the sentence of death within themselves, that shortly they must go down to the shades of the sepulchre, to be relying on the Redeemer, of whom we have been speaking; to be resting the entire confidence of the heart on the atonement he has made, and then they are certain to "depart in peace." O, death, where is thy sting? O, grave, where is hy victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who giveth us the victory, through our Lord Jesus Christ!" "For we know that if the earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we have a building of God, an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house, which is from heaven. If so be, that being clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life." "We walk by faith and not by sight." "If we are absent from the body, we shall be present with the Lord." Aged christian! place before you the scene in which you are shortly to be alike the actor and the victim! Think of your dying hour! But what a scene is it! what a scene is it! It must be exhibited to the unbeliever, but it belongs to you alone. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace!" All is calmness there! All is radiance there! All is glory there! No evil spirit can come near the scene! Where the christian dies, there is a greater there than the foe, who tells him to retire, into the darkness of his punishment! In the shadows of the last hour there comes down the ray of the glory of God-the sun-beam of inspiration and immortality. And when the spirit is removed from the shell of the earthly tabernacle, it is with Christ in paradise! It is "with Christ, which is far better." It is with Christ, in the assemblage of cherubim and seraphim, before the throne! It is with Christ, "waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of the body"! It is with Christ, and so shall be " for ever with the Lord"! To " depart in peace," is to depart believing on the Son of God. Now, what more shall I say? We are standing in our very subject, as it were, upon the brink of the grave; and it is an awful thing—a sight more tremendous than words can express, to look round upon this vast congregation, now living and breathing in the animation of life, but who, in a very short space of time, will have forfeited every place you occupy, and have sunk into the silence and putrefaction of the grave! O, had I this day a good and well-grounded confidence with regard to every human being now in the presence of God, that they were preparing by faith in the Redeemer, for judgment and eternity; I would have this to be my place of departure, and I would cry with Simeon, without a moment's delay or thought, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace!" My hearers, how is it with you for eternity? Christ has come! Christ has atoned! Christ has risen! Christ has ascended! Christ has sent down his spirit! Christ has given a wonderful and conclusive testimony to the divinity of his character, and the allsufficiency of his works! Do you adore him? Do you believe on him? Do you rest your entire hopes for time and eternity on him? How is it with you for eternity, my brethren? I hold you fast in the spell of everlasting reality; and I would to God that the grasp could never cease until you had been compelled to reply, and until you had been brought irresistibly to your redemption! Believer! Christ is placed before you now, as the object of your confidence and repose! Believer! the fathers and the prophets have departed to their eternal reward: it behoves you to come forth, determined, that "while you live, you will live unto the Lord; that when you die, you will die unto the Lord; that whether you live, therefore, or die, you will be the Lord's." "For to this end Christ both died and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and the living." O, come forward then, forward then for the world! Come forward to the atonement to the labours of the Church! Come forward, and place the elements of your being in the cause of the great and glorious Redeemer, of whom it is said, "he lived, and died, and revived;" and let your motto be, with the accompanying assurance, "for me to live is Christ; and for me to die is gain." You are soon to die! To die without Christ-what is it? It is to have no consolation in the hour of final decay and agony! To die without Christ—what is it? It is to have the smartings of a guilty conscience, increasing the agony of the sufferings of dissolving nature! To die without Christ-what is it? It is to hear the voice of the great Almighty, "Depart into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels! To die without Christ-what is it? It is to sink, and to sink deep, vile, polluted, miserable, despairing; and then to enter into that lake of fire where even Christ has forgotten to be gracious! Sinner, you may do as you please; you shall take your choice. In the name of the exalted Saviour for whom I have spoken, I state to you to-day, either take good or evil; either blessing or cursing; either life or death; either salvation or ruin; either heaven or hell. Do as you please. For myself, I look back upon the monuments of the departed, and I think of the multitudes who are surrounding the throne of God in eternity, and you may follow, if you like. But, my friends, are there not many in this assembly, who, by the side of the sepulchre, may shortly pronounce it," LET ME DIE THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS, AND LET MY LAST END BE LIKE HIS"! "LORD JESUS, INTO THY HANDS I COMMEND MY SPIRIT." AMEN. PUBLIC WORSHIP, To the Editor of the Christian Recorder. SIR, There is abundance of room in the religious world, for a publication such as the "Christian Recorder" promises to be. I trust that you will occupy this room worthily, and upon no occasion shrink from the disclosure of the whole truth; more particularly with regard to that portion of it, which relates to the consistency and decision of those who profess and call themselves Christians. I have been in the constant habit of attending places of public worship among the Dissenters in London, for the last twenty years; and I have been compelled to observe, that the service there performed, and the demeanour of those who attend it, is very far from being such as an individual judging of them only from the nature of public worship, without actual observation, would be led to expect. I have, therefore, determined to trouble you with a few observations upon the subject, in the hope that they may stimulate some who have more influence than myself, to an attempt to correct the erroneous practice (if it be such) of which I now complain. The worship of God by mankind, consists in adoration, arising from the contemplation of the Divine attributes, (i. e. wisdom, justice, power, holiness, goodness, and truth,) in acknowledgment of their dependance upon Him as their Creator and Preserver, in praise for his bounties bestowed upon them, in confession of their sins against him, and in prayer for forgiveness, for support, for guidance, for instruction, and for all other mercies, whether spiritual or temporal. In any of these acts, God is worshipped. It is obvious, that this worship does not in any way depend upon particular forms of words, attitudes of body, or places of performance; nor is it by any means necessarily connected with them. It does not even require the use of language. The grand requisite is, sincerity of heart; for "God is a spirit, and they that worship him, must worship him in spirit and in truth." Such, in my opinion, constitutes private worship; and public worship differs from it only in these respects, that it requires the assembling of several individuals, having the worship of God as their object, and the services of one or more of their number to act as the mouthpiece of the whole body; that it must be of a more general description, embracing only those topics in which all can join, and omitting those matters of individual concern, which belong exclusively to private worship. great fault of religious professors in the present day, seems to me to consist in their neglect of public worship, when compared with their attention to preaching; and I have little doubt, that the absence of vital godliness, which is so much to be deplored, may be traced to this source, or at all events, that it is mainly attributable to it. Look at the public services under the Jewish dispensation, and those among the primitive Christians. Where in them is to be found that preponderance of preaching, that abridgment of public worship, which at present prevails! The universal question now is, Who is to preach? Where shall I find a good preacher? But there is little manifestation of that love to God, which would lead a man to seek a congregation of those like minded with himself, in whose company he could pour out the gratitude of his soul, and engage in the other acts of public worship. Do, Sir, tell the world of these things. Tell them, that it is the duty, as well as the happiness of every Christian, not only to yield himself and all that he has to the service of God, giving evidence by a holy life and conversation, that "the same mind that was in Christ dwelleth in him;" not only to pour out in secret at the throne of the Almighty, his humble aspirations and thanksgivings; but also in the congregation of those with whom he feels an unity of spirit, to offer up public prayer and praise to Him who has declared, that "where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them;' doubtless, to bless. Tell t'em also, that it is the duty, as well as the happiness of every Christian, to make a public confession of the "hope that is in If this be a true description of public worship, the various congregations that I am acquainted with, are chargeable with its neglect. Instead of occupying their places some time before the commencement of the service, and so endeavouring to reduce their minds to that state of abstraction from worldly things, which an approach to the footstool of the Deity demands, many, and in some instances, a majority, are to be found straggling in at various times during the services of prayer and praise, and by so doing, not only neglecting their own duty, but also disturb-him," to avow "that he is on the Lord's ing those who, unlike themselves, are desirous of entering into the spirit of public worship. Their whole conduct evinces, that if they are not led to their attendance in the sanctuary by fashion or habit alone, they, at the least, are indifferent to the worship there offered, and come chiefly for the preaching which is to follow it. Now, Sir, it is obvious that the preaching forms no part of worship. It is a highly useful appendage to it, and may be made a preparation for it, but it is no part of worship; which is confined to the particulars I have before mentioned. One side," that he "is not ashamed of the gospel of Christ," and that in any situation where opportunities of public worship, upon Christian principles, occur, this duty cannot be discharged, unless these opportunities are taken advantage of. Besides this, Sir, tell them, that if the Christian neglects such an exercise of public worship, he is not entitled to look for any progress in the divine life, or any enjoyment of the consolation and happiness which are peculiar to the religion of Christ.— Public worship being a means for the communication of the blessings of the |