tinguishable flame. Awakened by that Spirit, let us rise and look around us. Let us behold, for ignorance and blindness cannot increase our security, a host of enemies arrayed against our spiritual life. Enemies within, and enemies without. Our own hearts, our own minds, our own imaginations. A world in arms, to subdue us, to enslave us, to destroy us. Injurious men, that may provoke us to anger; seductive men, that men, may entice us to sensuality; ambitious men that may stimulate our pride; and indolent men, that may at once encourage and excuse our spiritual sloth. Let us behold, in its three fertile sources, all the moral evil of this present world; the desire of the eye, the desire of the flesh, and the pride of life. Let us confront our own propensities and dispositions, natural and acquired, with those occasions and excitements, which may kindle, from the slightest spark, the most baleful and destructive fire. And if it were possible to exhaust the whole company of earthly

dangers, let us direct our thought to the hosts of our invisible foe; to those principalities, those powers, those rulers of the darkness of this world, who have closely studied our state of warlike preparation; who well know our most defenceless part; who are alike indefatigable and skilful, in pointing the most deadly, because the most appropriate engines of destruction (2) against all our powers of resistance. Let us weigh, in the balance of the sanctuary, the risques and issues of this mighty contest. And then, let us ask our own hearts, is this a time to slumber and to sleep? Is this a world in which we may supinely and securely repose? Is this a conflict in which we may remit and pause but for a single moment? Or rather, will not all our vigilance, all our strength, and all our alacrity, be too little to withstand, much more to overcome, this two-fold armament of earth and hell? My brethren, to such an achievement, we must feel that the vigilance, the strength, and the alacrity of unassisted man, are

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altogether insufficient. But if we truly thirst after victory; if, according to the compact of our baptism, if it be our great desire to prove ourselves "good soldiers of Jesus Christ, and manfully to fight under his banner, against sin, the world, and the devil," then will Christ himself go forth with us to battle: then shall our prayers for succour, be answered from on high: then shall we feel ourselves strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might then shall we be enabled to

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put on the breast-plate of faith and love, and for an helmet the hope of salvation;" a panoply of heavenly temper; which no fiery dart of the wicked one can pierce; which may bid defiance to the weapons both of death and hell.

"Wherefore," my beloved brethren, "take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day; and, having done all, to stand. Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and your

shield of faith, wherewith

feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit; which is the word of God. Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit; and watching thereunto with all perseverance; and supplication for all saints."

(1) Page 3. Κυρίου,

NOTES.

The day of the Lord.] Η ημερα ουχ' η κοινη μονον, αλλα και η εκασου ιδια. "The day of the Lord; not merely the general day of judgment; but the special day of each individual." S. Chrysostom: in loc.

To every man, the day of his death, is virtually the day of judgment. Not, indeed, that there is no intermediate state: nor that we would insinuate the cold and comfortless doctrine of a sleep of the soul; but that our condition in the disembodied, intermediate state, no less than our final condition for all eternity, must be decided by the condition in which we shall die. So far, as from Scripture, we may venture to pronounce, the great day of judgment, will be, for the most part, declaratory. It will enhance, indeed, the misery of the wicked, and the happiness of the just. But, perhaps, the distinctive feature is, that, before an assembled universe, it will present "a revelation of the righteous judgment of God."

(2) Page 17. The most deadly, because the most appropriate engines of destruction.] "It is the universal method of the tempter, to present the fittest baits to the natural inclinations, and habitual dispositions of men. He knows the faction within, which will readily open to his call. The sanguine, are soft, and dissolute, and easily drawn to exorbitant pleasures. The melancholy. are inclined to discontent, sorrow, impatience, despair. Those who have active, restless spirits, are taken with the advantages of the world. The muddy mind is easily stirred by the offer of gain ;" &c. &c. DR. BATES' Works, page 721.

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