fore them, and have hid their lives with Christ in God, we may take up the words of St. Paul to the Thessalonians and say: "But of the times and the seasons, brethren, ye have no need that I write unto you. For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief. Ye are all the children of light, and the children of the day: we are not of the night, nor of darkness. Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober" (1 Thess. v. 1-6).

| Martha's. And how diligently did he inculcate all that he was commissioned to reveal! how did he declare his own death, resurrection, and ascension, with all the solemn circumstances connected with those events; and set forth his return in triumph, with the leading features of many transactions which should take place in the world at large, and in the Jewish nation, between the period of his departure and return! How plainly did he declare the object which his death was to accomplish, and how the benefits which that death should procure were to be appropriated by faith! and how solemnly did he warn all of the danger of being found unprepared when he should come in glory! How did he declare the unity of the Father and the Son! and how plainly did he teach the love of the Father towards fallen man, in that it is not his will that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and be saved! All this, and all those holy truths which the writings of the evangelists reveal, did he ex

And here it may be well to ask, Do we know these things? Have we not been told and instructed in them? Has not Christ been set before us in all his fulness, and do we not profess to have received him? How have we received him? Is he manifested to our souls in the three-fold character of Pro-pound to his hearers, and cause to be written phet, Priest, and King?

As our Prophet he came to preach to us the word of God in all its fulness, purity, simplicity, and truth. And this he did when sojourning in our mortal nature. It was a public acknowledgment of his enemies: "Never man spake like this man." What pure morality did he teach! How high a standard of moral virtues is set up in the sermon on the mount! How clearly was the will of God revealed! and how did he show in his own person the holiness and purity of God! and by his life, and actions, and temper, and whole demeanour, exhibit the excellencies and perfections which constitute the attributes of the Most High! And, in proof of this, did he not say to Philip: "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Show us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself; but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works" (John xiv. 9, 10)? And not only by precept did he teach, but by example. How diligent was he in going about doing good! When did the poor destitute cry to him in vain? What sickness and disease brought to him did he send away unhealed? How many sorrows did he remove! How much wretchedness did he alleviate! How did he rejoice with them that did rejoice, and weep with them that wept! as on the return of the seventy, when he rejoiced with them at their success; and at the grave of Lazarus, when he mingled his tears with Mary's and

by holy men inspired of the Holy Ghost to write as he dictated. And in this respect he discharged the office of prophet or teacher to his church. In this office he has been set before us. Have we received him as such? and do we understand what is meant by Christ as the prophet to his church?

he discharged when he offered up himself a Again. He is our Priest. And this office sacrifice upon the cross, and became at once both priest and victim. His sacrifice was voluntary: it was, therefore, precious, and who offered it. was enhanced by the dignity of the priest The blood then shed was more effectual than all the blood of bulls and bloody sacrifices shed from the beginning put goats: it had more efficacy than all the together: it was the blood intended to be typified by them all: it was that blood which alone cleanseth from all sin. Have we 66 considered the Apostle and High Priest of our profession" in this light?-as one who, “after he had offered one sacrifice for sins, for ever sat down on the right hand of God; from thenceforth expecting till his enemies be made his footstool," and " by one offering hath perfected for ever them that are sanctified"? Have we received him into our souls, in this office, as one that hath "an unchangeable priesthood?"--as "able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him"?-as one who "liveth to make intercession for them;" being "such an high priest as became us-holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the heavens"? Have we fully regarded him in this office? and do we with reverence look to

Again. He is our King; and, as such, is to come to rule over the house of David for ever; of whom it is written: "Yet will I set my King upon my holy hill of Zion." And in this office he should rule in our hearts now, as he will rule with us hereafter, when he shall be manifested as the King of Israel. In this three-fold character he is set before us in scripture. Have we received him as such? and do we daily recognize him as such; so ordering our thoughts, actions, and conversation as to show that our hearts are his, and that our service to him is not one of the lips only? With such knowledge of Jesus, how great is our responsibility! To us much has been committed: of us much is required. We know the danger of not being found in him. We know the uncertainty of the time when he may call us to judgment. We know that such a day is coming, and that it will come as a thief in the night." But we know that, come when it may, if we are found in Jesus we are safe; for no man can pluck us out of his hand.

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We proceed now to,

him as in this way the author and finisher of | and death by sin; and so death hath passed our faith? upon all men, for that all have sinned." And to all such, indeed, the call is made at the present season, when the first coming of Christ points out the existence of sin, and the helplessness of man under it; and the second coming shows the danger of being found in sin when the day of wrath shall come. To the unbeliever the present season addresses itself, through the voice of the word, and says, "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep." This sleep has, perhaps, been a long one; it may be for twenty, thirty, forty, fifty, sixty, or even seventy years: perhaps during this period the gospel has been sounding in the ears, and a profession of it may have been made, but only such a profession as cannot avail before God, a mere lip profession. A sleep may have existed all the while, as manifested in the ease and quiet prevailing in the heart and conscience, which have never been disturbed with doubts of salvation, although Christ may have formed no portion of the ground of confidence. A real thoughtlessness has, perhaps, existed all the while; or else self-righteousness has been the ground of confidence; but no sense of sin, no danger because of it, no knowledge of what Christ has done for its removal, no love to him as the sinner's friend, has been experienced. The religion of such has been a dead assent to statements, rather than a lively sense of the mercies of God vouchsafed to the soul; and such are but real unbelievers, in whom the sleep of death prevails. To such the warning voice of the gospel says: "Now it is high time to awake out of sleep;" for, if ye believe not that Jesus is the Christ, ye shall die in your sins." In the language of the shipmaster to Jonah, I would say with affection to all such: "What meanest thou, O sleeper! arise, call upon thy God." And to call upon God so as to ensure being heard, there is but one way, and that is through Jesus Christ: "his is the only name under heaven whereby we may be saved." He came into the world and wrought out eternal redemption for all believers, that whosoever "believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." To him coming, with a heart fully convinced of sin, deeply humbled, and contrite, the sinner will find acceptance, and in his blood can wash the guilty soul, and be clean. To this duty the words of the text invite: "It is high time to awake out of sleep;" and the exhortation is: "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light." Until Christ be received as the sinner's only hope, and his salvation be accepted by faith in his blood and merits, sleep still continues, and it is such a sleep as

II. The unbeliever's danger and duty. "Now, it is high time to awake out of sleep." The scriptures describe the unbeliever as in sleep, and that sleep the sleep of death. The natural man is dead in trespasses and sins, and as insensible to his danger and to the perils which surround him as the man who is asleep. He thinks himself safe, will not be persuaded that there is any danger near, and is thus lulled into a fatal slumber. This is but one of those infatuations with which Satan beguiles his captives: he lulls their conscience, persuades them that all is well, that God is too merciful to punish sinners, and even suggests to them that there is no such place as hell. The agonies of the cross, if they make some impression on the mind, he perverts by representing them. as the procuring means of safety to all, and persuades the conscience to be at ease, for, without further trouble on the part of sinners, hell is closed and heaven re-opened to him; all this irrespective of repentance and faith. And so, by one artifice or other, the conscience is lulled, and a deadly sleep preserved. In this sleep lies the unbeliever; by which I mean the careless, thoughtless, worldly-minded, who knows not Christ. And from this sleep the gospel would arouse him by assuring him that he is in danger; that there is no safety but in Christ; that he is born in sin, and is a child of wrath; that in Adam all die, and that in Christ alone can any be made alive: "For by one man sin entered into the world,

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greater our responsibility, the louder the call "Watch, for ye know not at what hour your to shake off sloth, the more diligent should Lord doth come." Be ready, "for now is we be to be found ready and watching. Is our salvation nearer than when we believed." self, the world, or Christ the foundation on To the believer, to the devoted servant of which you are resting, brethren? Have Christ, the daily scenes of mortality speak you been aroused from the sleep of death? with no uncertain sound. They remind him and has the light of Christ's gospel shone that time is short, that eternity is at hand; into your heart, shown you its corruption and he hails the lesson, and welcomes it, beand vileness, pointed out your danger, and cause his desire is to depart and to be with evinced the necessity of fleeing to him for Christ. His soul has been committed to his safety and for succour? Then "look up, keeping; and he looks forward with pleasing lift up your head, your redemption draweth anticipation to the time when it shall be freed nigh: now is your salvation nearer than from the body of corruption, when the flesh when you first believed." "He that shall shall no longer cumber it and weigh it down, come will come, and will not tarry." when sin shall no longer vex and weary it and seek its destruction, but it shall expatiate in the boundless regions of eternity. He knows that to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord; and he is confident that a re-union of body and soul will take place when his Lord shall come in glory; and then his body shall be incorruptible, and he shall be in the image of his Saviour. This is the Christian's hope, even his "helmet of salvation," which covers his head in the day of battle, when the fiery darts of Satan are flying about on every side. It is "the anchor of his soul, both sure and stedfast, and which entereth into that within the veil; whither the forerunner is for us entered, even Jesus, made an High Priest for ever, after the order of Melchisedec." Surely, then, it is a blessed hope. May it be yours, brethren: "may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, that ye may abound in hope through the power of the Holy Ghost," and "be found of him in peace, without spot and blameless," at the day of his appearing in his kingdom.

His first coming was promised and prophesied of, and declared four thousand years before he came; and, when he came, the world, yea, his own nation and people were unprepared to receive him; for St. John says, "He came unto his own, and his own received him not." O, let not his return be under similar circumstances. It has been foretold, and expressly declared now more than one thousand eight hundred years: there is reason to believe it is nigh at hand. When he comes, shall his people not be prepared to receive him? And yet we have reason to fear that this will be the case, for himself has said: "When the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" O, brethren, there is great need for a loud call to all to watch. Death is doing his work all around us: sudden deaths, untimely deaths, continually occur: funeral processions daily pass through our streets. The tolling of the bell is often heard, reminding us that a soul has passed into eternity. All these seem to say: Now it is high time to awake out of sleep :"

TREES, SHRUBS, &c.

No. XXVI.

to be found in hedge-rows, where, if permitted to grow, it becomes an ornamental tree; but, as it springs very quickly from the stock after it has been cut, and thus in a shorter THE maple (acer campestre) is very commonly time than many other shrubs forms an useful

THE MAPLE.