shall prevail.

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of God all bear testimony that you The experience of every Christian who has wrestled for the same blessing assures you of victory. But if you now pause, the day of grace may part for ever. If you are now able to escape from the fears of time, you cannot escape from the realities of eternity. There is a hell reserved for those who refuse the divine command, "Wash, and be clean." Oh, the immeasurable length and breadth and height and depth of that unseen state into which the soul shall break away from the trammels of life, and the calculable rotations of time. When the gracious command shall no more be heard, Wash, and be clean," but a voice resonant of coming woe, or of coming bliss, shall convey the awful question to each disembodied spirit, as it enters the halls of immortality, "Art thou washed? art thou cleansed in the blood of the Redeemer ?" Oh! the hell of that moment when the horror of the sinner's death-bed shall be multiplied into ten thousand horrors rushing at once upon the awakened conscience, and pointing to the burning lake, and the gnawing worm ;-where despair

shall ever deepen, and pain augment, and sensitiveness become more acute ;-where the darkness of sorrow shall deepen into a darker hue, as the ages of eternity roll on, and the glory of those made clean in the blood of the Lamb goes on brightening and enlarging!

SERMON XI.

THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST TO THE

GENTILES.

MATTHEW ii. 10.

When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy.

ST. MATTHEW informs us, that after the birth of our Saviour, "there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him." The arrival of these strangers occasioned much excitement in Judea. Herod the king summoned a convocation of the chief priests and scribes. He was afraid of losing his ill-gotten and illmerited crown. In reply to his interrogatories, they directed his attention to the prophecy, which announced that the King of the Jews should be

born in Bethlehem. Under the influence of the same troubled feelings, he privately consults the wise men on the subject. He artfully dissembles his purpose, directs them to proceed to Bethlehem, and with cunning prevarication bids them bring back word if they should discover him, that he likewise might go and worship him. They departed, and the star which disappeared on their arrival at Jerusalem, now resumed its station in the firmament, and heralded them to the spot. "When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy."

The visit of these Eastern sages is not mentioned by any other of the Evangelists. In several instances, what has been here enlarged upon, is there left unnoticed; and the omission of one has been supplied by the narration of another of these sacred memorialists. The four gospels form together a clear and concordant history. We must read them all, compare them with each other, and the result will be-admiration of their consistency, conviction of their divine origin.

I commence with laying before you a brief account of these magi, or wise men, who came

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to worship our Lord as the representatives of the Gentiles--not only of the east, but of the west, north, and south-of us who are assembled here, as well as of the dwellers in the frozen zone, of the swarthy converts of Africa or Hindostan, or the desolate islanders of the southern These were the precursors of myriads sitting in darkness and the shadow of death, commissioned to tender their homage and present their gifts to the new-born Saviour and Prince of the multitudinous race whom they personated. We, as a nation, consider our credit and dignity in some measure involved in the character of our ambassadors to foreign countries. We, therefore, with an allowable curiosity, consult the legends of their birth, and descant upon their fitness and pretensions. As Christians, we may deem it not uninteresting to look into the history of these our appointed representatives in times past.

These magi, or wise men of the east, dwelt principally in Persia. Their founder was a certain philosopher called Zoroaster. Some uncertainty hangs about the question respecting the time at which he flourished, but it is

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