the language-"We have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing!" Were I not afraid of running a metaphor into inconsistencies, I should advise, that, henceforth, pronouns should be used by the weavers of nets as their needles and mesh-pins; the latter of which will determine the size of the meshes, while the needles must be so constructed as to receive a sufficiently thick and tenacious twine. Permit me to add, in conclusion, that were the character of public preaching, in this highly favoured country, more uniformly raised to the point I have endeavoured now to explain, we should by the blessing of God witness the progress of truth more distinctly throughout our congregations; while the separation between the wise and the foolish would be more visible and influential.

PISCATOR.

FAMILY SERMONS.-No.CCXXVII.

1 Cor. xv. 32. Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die.

ST. PAUL, in this chapter, is enlarging upon the doctrine of the resurrection; and he shews that it was a full belief in this fundamental truth of Christianity that supported him amidst all the privations and persecutions which he was called to endure for the cause of Christ. Had this doctrine been unfounded; had there been no future existence after death, no day of judgment, no state of rewards and punishments; all his warmly cherished expectations would have been disappointed, and his toils and sufferings would have been incurred to no purpose; for, "if in this life only," says he, "we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable;" there might even seem to be some colour of reason for the profligate maxim, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Why, it might be said, if there is no eternity, no

heaven, no hell, should we submit to any restraint upon our desires or passions? Why be just, or sober, or virtuous? Why not revel without remorse in every indulgence to which our corrupt nature may feel inclined? The worst, whatever it might be, would soon be over, for death would put an end alike to all our pleasures and all our pains.

Not, however, that this licentious conclusion would in any case be true; for even in the present life it has pleased our gracious Creator to attach great reward to keeping his commandments. Were it possible, which, blessed be God, it is not, that the exalted hopes of the Christian should end in disappointment, still his present peace and satisfaction, his victories over sin and temptation, his very mortifications and self-denial, would be justly viewed by him as bringing with them far more solid happiness than could arise from a life of vicious indulgence. Nor does the Apostle intend to deny this; he means only to shew, that, if the hopes which himself and his companions in affliction cherished had not extended beyond the grave, they would indeed have been of all men most miserable; having given up their dearest earthly possessions and prospects, and submitted to reproach and persecution and the peril of martyrdom for the sake of Christ,-and this without any expectation of temporal recompense, but solely looking to be recompensed at the resurrection of the just. So far indeed is the Apostle from giving any countenance to the maxim, that a sinful or worldly life is in any sense a more happy one than the life of the righteous, that he constantly shews the contrary. His own example was a remarkable illustration of the superior enjoyments possessed by the true Christian; for, though "sorrowful," he was "always rejoicing ;" and in proportion as "the sufferings of Christ abounded in him," his "consolation abounded also by Christ."

Even then, if there were no life

beyond the grave, this licentious maxim could boast but a very faint and delusive shadow of argument for its support; but when the contrary is certain,-when the truth of a resurrection, and a future judgment, and eternal happiness and misery,is placed beyond all doubt,when God has expressly declared it, and we profess firmly to believe it, strange indeed must be the infatuation of mind which can make us pursue the phantoms of a short and sinful life, to the neglect of our highest and everlasting interests.

The maxim which we are considering consists of a most affecting truth, and a most absurd inference from it: the truth is, "To-morrow we die;" the inference, "Let us eat and drink,"-that is, let us indulge in every sensual gratification, banishing all serious thought, heedless of death, and braving the terrors of futurity. Such is the conclusion which the presumptuous profligate derives from the consideration of the shortness of life and the certainty of death. Other classes of persons practically derive other inferences, less openly revolting perhaps, but still utterly opposed in their spirit to those conclusions which the sacred Scriptures teach us to form: "The end of all things is at hand; be ye therefore sober, and watch unto prayer: "So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom" "The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light; let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness; not in strife and envying; but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof."

We proceed to consider somewhat more particularly, First, this solemn truth, and, Secondly, the practical inferences which different classes of persons draw from it.

First, then, we are to consider the

solemn truth, "To morrow we die;" a truth which all men are assured of, however little they may employ their knowledge to any valuable purpose. It contains two particulars: first, that death is certain; secondly, that its approach is speedy. 1. It is certain: "we die;' nothing can prevent this expected termination of our earthly existence. God has pronounced the sentence; and universal experience proves the certainty of its accomplishment. Methuselah lived nine hundred and sixty-nine years, yet he died. Death is the wages of sin; and it has passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. Not the greatest vigour of constitution, thé most unbroken health, the utmost skill and vigilance, can eventually defend us from this powerful conqueror. The time must arrive, when neither the cares of the physician, nor the tears of relatives and friends, can avail us against the approach of this formidable enemy. The dust must return to its dust, and the spirit to God who gave it. Our earthly existence will be dissolved, and a new state entered upon which shall never end. Our day of proof will be over, and our lot fixed for eternity.

2. This solemn event will be speedy in its approach-" to-mor row-that is, before long: it may be in a few days, or months, or hours; at most in a comparatively few years. We know not when death may arrive; we know not the circumstances which may attend it; we know not whether it will be sudden or expected, easy or painful; but this at least we know, that it cannot be very far distant. It may find us engaged in our lawful affairs in life, or in some sinful pursuit, or in some act of piety and devotion it may meet us when buoyant with health, or when worn down with sickness: it may point its shaft at us in infancy or childhood, in youth, or maturity, or old age; but even in this last case, the longest life compared with eter

nity, is but "to-morrow; "-it is a point, it is as nothing; it might be lost and forgotten in the stream of a never ending existence, were it not that, short and uncertain as it is, it is that on which depends the happiness or misery of the eternal world.

Secondly. Having thus noticed the shortness of life, and the certainty and speedy approach of death, we are next to inquire what prac tical conclusions persons are accustomed to derive from the consideration of this solemn truth.

1. Our text furnishes an account of the manner in which the deliberately profligate regard it. Their language is, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die." Having placed all their happiness in the indulgence of their appetites and passions, they dread the approach of death, which will put an end to all their boasted pleasures. They therefore plunge into every excess of riot; they are determined to enjoy the world while it lasts, to banish care, and to forget the approach of death and the concerns of futurity in the overpowering dissipations which their age and station may place within their grasp. Such was the conduct of the unhappy man mentioned in the Gospel, who said to his soul, "Soul, eat, drink, and be merry, heedless that that very night his soul would be required of him; and such was the conduct of the Israelites described by Isaiah: "In that day did the Lord God of hosts call to weeping, and to mourning, and to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth; and behold joy and gladness, slaying oxen and killing sheep, eating flesh and drinking wine: saying, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die." They knew that the threatened judgments were about to fall upon them; but instead of humbling themselves before God, they presumptuously defied his displeasure, till the hour of destruction arrived, and they perished in their transgression.

2. But others, who would be justly shocked at the dissolute

maxim quoted in the text, yet pervert the solemn consideration of the shortness and uncertainty of life, to far other purposes than the preparation for another world. They are anxious speedily to amass property, that they may have some chance, as they would say, of beginning to enjoy it before death wrests it from their embrace, or that they may provide for their families in the event of their removal. A diligent attention to our worldly concerns, in a spirit of Christian contentment and moderation, is indeed not only lawful, but a bounden duty; but what can be more strange than that sober and reflecting men, expressly calculating upon the uncertainty of life, should be anxious to keep their worldly affairs duly arranged, to make a disposition of their property, or to provide for the contingencies which may await them, and yet neglect to make provision for eternity! They calmly plan the division of their property, and endeavour to anticipate what may happen to themselves and their families a few years hence, as respects earthly concerns, while the great object of their existence is unheeded, and their souls are left to perish for ever. Such, alas! is the wisdom of the merely worldly minded man.

3. Another and a still larger class of persons seem, in reference to the future, to be almost equally insensible as respects both worlds. They make no provision either temporal or spiritual for sickness, or old age, should it arrive; or for the hour of death, which must arrive. Their ignorance, thoughtlessness, and improvidence in the affairs of this life, are blamed, and justly, by their more prudent neighbour, while little perhaps is thought of their infinitely greater folly in neglecting the salvation of their soul. Yet what imprudence can be so great, knowing, as they must, that to-morrow they die, as to take no concern for what may happen after death; in truth, to give no heed to the subject; to let the words reach their ears and

the thought glance through their minds, without any permanent impression, any practical result? Oh, if men could be persuaded seriously to reflect upon this solemn truth, and to view it in its momentous and eternal results, how anxious would they be to inquire, "What must I do to be saved?" how may I obtain a well-founded hope, that, when this body shall have mouldered in the grave, and my soul have appeared in the presence of its Creator, I shall rise to the resurrection of the just, redeemed from the pains of hell, and heir to the felicities of heaven!

4. Others again make a painful, but still not the proper, application of this affecting truth. They are conscious of their sinfulness, and they dread the approach of death; but they are not in their hearts crucified to the world: they mistake melancholy for religion; the services which they profess to pay to their Creator are extorted by fear, instead of being the offspring of faith and love; they are scrupulous in the outward forms and ceremonies of devotion, but their affections are not engaged in it; and were it not that their apprehensions respecting futurity bind them to an unwilling and pharisaical course of external observances, by which they hope, in part at least, to atone for their sins and to merit heaven, they would be gladly freed from their burdensome and self-denying duties. Many heathens, conscious of their transgressions, but ignorant of that allsufficient atonement which alone can expiate them, have submitted to the most painful tortures in hopes of appeasing the supposed wrath of their false gods. The Church of Rome also, though professing the religion of Christ, superstitiously enjoins on its members penances, pilgrimages, and other worse than useless acts of austerity, in order to obtain the pardon of sin, and to quiet the alarms of a guilty conscience. But vain and unprofitable as respects our salvation, are all re

flections upon death and futurity, which, instead of leading to true repentance, to faith in Christ, and to newness of life, end only in selfrighteousness or superstition. It is not to harass our minds with useless terrors, but to lead us to apply our hearts to heavenly wisdom, that the sacred Scriptures so strongly enjoin upon us the duty of considering our latter end.

5. It is in this last view, that the true Christian contemplates the prospect of death and eternity. He does not endeavour to banish from his mind the anticipation of that solemn event which is speedily to put an end to his earthly existence; he does not attempt to avert the thought of it by carelessness and frivolity; or to expel it by plunging into the overwhelming cares of business; or to drown it in dissolute pleasures; or to mitigate its terrors by the deceitful expedient of a heartless and superstitious system of religion, se called; but he seriously reflects upon it in all its consequences; and endeavours to learn from Scripture in what manner he may meet its approach with joy, and not with grief. As a sinner, the thought of death must indeed be to him a source of distressing apprehension, and especially in the earlier stages of his religious progress, when serious reflection and self-examination have newly presented to his mind his manifold transgressions against God, while his faith in the Saviour is weak and his knowledge of the way of salvation perhaps very imperfect. But this is a salutary apprehension; a repentance not to be repented of; and it is designed to lead him in deep humility to the cross of the Redeemer, where alone he can obtain pardon and peace with God. Thus reposing by faith in the sacrifice of Christ, and possessing those evidences of a renewed mind, which prove him to be his true disciple, he learns to contemplate the brevity of life, and the approaching period of death, without those unmitigated terrors which once oppressed him,

and perhaps even in his brighter moments, with much of conscious satisfaction and joy. For to him mortality has become the gate of life: the last enemy has been conquered on his behalf by his risen Saviour; and henceforth death has lost its sting, and the grave its victory. Still, the contemplation of the solemn truth under our consideration does not cease to be of great practical utility to his mind. It keeps him prayerful and vigilant; for at such an hour as he thinks not, his Lord may come. It also enables him to rise above the temptations of a world which he is about so soon to quit for ever: he is "crucified with Christ;" he lives for God, for heaven, for eternity; and is prompted to renewed diligence in every good word and deed, knowing how speedily" the night cometh in which no man can work." Like St. Paul, in the chapter before us, he is willing to bear the reproach of Christ upon earth, looking for a joyful resurrection and an eternity of blessedness in heaven. In a word, knowing that the time is short, he views all earthly relationships as though they were not; he weeps as though he wept not; he rejoices as though he rejoiced not; he buys as though he possessed not; he uses the world as not abusing it, knowing that its fashion passeth away.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer.

It had long been the custom in the parish from which I write to commence Divine Service with singing a Psalm; usually that most appropriate composition, the hundredth Psalm. The practice has many advantages: among others, it promotes early attendance, and disposes the minds of the worshippers for the sacred services in which they are about to engage. I lament, however, to state, that our rector has recently forbidden it, as an irregularity in the legally established form of Divine worship; CHRIST. OBSERV. No. 311.

and I learn that it has been forbidden in some other places also by episcopal authority. If the objectors to it grounded their argument on any thing objectionable in the practice, it would be easy to shew, in return, its utility and excellence; but as the objection merely assumes the form of an ultra-orthodox scruple, I beg leave to reply, that so far from the practice being a sectarian innovation, it is decidedly regular, ancient, and authoritatively appointed. For what says the very title-page of the Old Version? "The whole Book of Psalms collected into English Metre, by Thomas Sternhold, John Hopkins, and others; conferred with the Hebrew; set forth and allowed to be sung in churches, of all the people together, before and after morning and evening prayer, and also before and after sermons.' Under this express sanction, which, by the way, was probably founded on the general injunction of Queen Elizabeth to the same effect in 1559, I conceive that a clergyman is fully justified in commencing or retaining the practice if he thinks it to be convenient or desirable.

PHILO-RUBRIC.

Tothe Editorofthe Christian Observer. THE clergymen whom I was accustomed to hear some years since, used to pray after their sermon, "Grant, we beseech thee, Almighty God, that the words which we have now (or this day) heard with our outward ears, so far as they have been consistent with thy blessed word, &c." Those whom I hear at present very generally omit the clause marked in italics. Probably there has been no change except that which has occurred in my place of abode; but this circumstance is immaterial to the object which I have in view, which is to submit to the clergy the impropriety of omitting the clause of limitation.

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