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CHRISTIAN CHARITY.

HEN we see a hardened sinner, it may be well to consider, that there was a time when the offender before The us was a guiltless babe in his mother's arms. seeds of evil were, indeed, even then present within him; but they had not as as yet pullulated; the fallen nature was as yet undeveloped; evil passions had not yet obtained the dominion over him. The case is now, indeed, inconceivably and immeasurably changed; but even now, we shall do well to remember, that recovery is not hopeless. Clouds and darkness may at present envelope the heaven, which at morning's dawn was clear and radiant; but all The transhope of a beauteous evening needs not to be abandoned. gressor who has checked and resisted the strivings of God's Spirit, until his conscience has become seared as with a hot-iron, is still in a state of probation; with respect to him there is still hope. He has not yet entered those

"Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace

And rest can never dwell; hope never comes

That comes to all, but torture without end
Still urges."

Reader! whoever you may be, if an act, a word of yours, might, by possibility, be instrumental to the restoration of such a one to the good old path, the flowery ways of pleasantness and peace, would you withhold that act would you suppress that word? Let us contemplate the pattern left for our imitation, by Christ, our great exemplar. Did not he, in an especial manner, seek out those who were far gone in the ways. of transgression? His conduct in this respect drew from the Pharisees of old an interrogation, which, by its mode of expression, was evidently meant to charge him with blame. "Why doth your Master," they inquired of his disciples, "eat with publicans and sinners ?" Oh! sight of wonder! God incarnate-sinless holiness invested with mortal clay, thus seeking out for their good, the fallen, the obdurate, the abandoned! The spectacle of our Redeemer thus associating with sinners, in order to lead them back into the paths of righteousness, is indeed an edifying and refreshing subject of contemplation. Surely

such condescending kindness on the part of Him who thought it no robbery to be equal with God, may well attract our attention, and excite in us the desire to "go and do likewise.”

We are, for the most part, lamentably deficient in the tender and charitable spirit which becomes our Christian profession. To the great, the celebrated, the renowned, we are seldom unwilling to show courtesy and regard; while from the poor outcast we too often turn away. If the obdurate sinner be to us, of necessity, an object of condemnation, he is also an object of compassion. Let then the liberal heart manifest its compassionate feelings in free-will offerings of kindness and sympathy; and let sympathy be true to her character. The follower of Christ should be ingenious in devising modes and means of relief and amelioration; indefatigable in exertion; patient under failure; and above all, INSTANT IN PRAYER. To use the words of a Christian poet, "Prayer moves the arm that moves the universe."

If no word, no act, no admonition, can reach the offender, or, reaching him, can be of any avail, still let the Christian recollect that prayer is the golden key that unlocks the treasury of heaven; and that in answer to his supplications on behalf of a fellow-sinner, softening and renewing grace may, if not at present, perhaps at some future time, descend upon the hitherto obdurate heart.

A day is approaching when we must all stand before the judgmentseat of Christ, there to receive the final sentence which will determine our position for eternity. "Come, ye blessed," or "Depart, ye cursed," will be pronounced upon us all. What will be our feelings, should you or I, my reader, hear at that awful day, the dread sentence of condemnation passed upon any whom we have known and loved on earth, it is vain to conjecture. "Now" is the accepted time." Now, therefore, let us never give sleep to our eyelids until we have wrestled with God in prayer for the salvation of ourselves and others. There is a world of woe in the thought, that one single fellow-creature, whose everlasting welfare might have been promoted by our exertions or our prayers, should be finally lost: on the other hand, how rich our privilege if a single soul should by our means be brought to everlasting bliss!

We may, by the Divine blessing, be instrumental to the spiritual and eternal good of our fellow-creatures. For this end let us exert ourselves while it is day; for "the night cometh when no man can work.” THE MEDITATIVE WANDERER.

THOUGHTS ON THE CHRISTIAN'S COURSE.

(Continued from page 279.)

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HE Christian considered as a pilgrim and a soldier, is
distinguished from the children of this world by a line
of conduct which can only be appreciated or explained
in reference to an aim not generally apparent, and an
influence remote from observation.
He dwells among

the sons of earth, but he is not of them; with senses and faculties the same as theirs, his inclinations are dissimilar; and while they may perceive, that his desires are not for the ordinary enjoyments of the present world, the true objects of his pursuit and aspiration are above and beyond their sight. He is engaged in striving against the powers of the world, the flesh, and the devil, and in opposing every manifestation of their evil influence; but his Captain and his best allies are of the unseen world; the crown of victory is yet future, and unrevealed to mortal eye. Yet, while the Christian in the sphere of his temporal existence sees much that he should avoid, he finds also somewhat to follow after; while there is much to be resisted and forborne, there is somewhat that should claim his attention and engage his faculties; for the man of God is not an isolated being on the earth; nor is the Church a body wrapped within its own confines, or looking only upwards and onwards. The Church of Christ and all its members bear certain relations to this world, and to the objects which surround them here; though they affect not those objects which chiefly delight the carnal mind. In the story of earthly communities, in the condition and progress of all human society, they bear an interest not of mere curiosity or selfish participation, but of admiring contemplation and hearty subservience to the work and will of Him who formed and ever rules the earth and all that is therein. They in whose hearts the rays of Divine love have kindled a responsive flow of love to God, rest not in the mere exercise of holy feeling; but receiving from that fountain of all good which mercy has opened to them, continual supplies of pardon and grace, they become the subjects of a Divine power, working in them definite

acts of obedience, and calling forth emanations of a living energy, flowing in the diffusive channels of duty to God and man; and branching out into the various and ramified details in which the work of faith and labour of love can be exercised toward the children of men for the Lord's sake; so that, in this manner, the tokens of Christian life are not only manifested to the Searcher of Hearts, but are known and recognized among men as the marks of filial relationship to a Father who is kind even to the unthankful and to the evil.

Man is not a self-existent and independent being; but a creature called into existence by a power not his own; depending, for the maintenance of his life and faculties, upon supplies from without; and moved by external impulses. The great question, therefore, is, whether he will be ruled and directed by the God who formed him for Himself, and attuned and adapted all his faculties to find full satisfaction in the service and enjoyment of his Maker, and in the contemplation of his works; or whether he will pass under the dominion of a usurping power, who may indeed pervert the human faculties from holiness and happiness, but who can offer for them no satisfying substitute; who can deprive the craving soul of the good which might fill and satisfy it; but who can never supply the want thus created. The claims of creation and of continual providence, constitute, on the part of the Almighty, an indefeasible right to the service of men; but mankind have disregarded and cast aside the obligation, and, in so doing, have renounced their true interest and only bliss. The human race, in the person of their federal head and representative, virtually made choice of evil; a choice which each child of Adam has in some way confirmed and ratified for himself. We are not, however, abandoned to the consequences of the deed of our first parents; nor left to the way of our own devising. A new claim is laid upon us, attended by further proofs of loving-kindness and tender mercy. Again are set before us life and good, as the alternative to death and evil; and the obligation is enforced, the benefit urged upon us, by the most powerful appeals to the wants, the affections, and the hopes of man, accompanied by gracious influences, designed to lead the human heart to acknowledge the duty proposed; to recognize the mercy offered; and to embrace and respond to both in humble, fervent, grateful love. Moreover, they who have accepted the good gifts of God, and who have submitted to the work of His grace exercised towards them, are, by the continual reception and renewal of these blessings, animated to fulfil and delight in the service upon which they have entered, while they are guided and stimulated to its due per

formance by the illustrations, exhortations, and gracious promises of Scripture.

The same spiritual act which induces a man, in the prospect of a home in a better country, to pass the time of his sojourning here on earth as a stranger and a pilgrim-which enrolling him among the soldiers of Christ, places him in decisive hostility to every form of sin, does at the same time release him from the thraldom of Satan, and engage him to be the servant of Him who has loosed his bonds; and in the service, as in the warfare and the pilgrimage of the Christian, he follows in the steps of his Divine Lord, who took upon Him the form of a servant; while he is made partaker of the mind that was in Christ, he is also indeed conformed to His example, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister; and finally, as a good and faithful servant, he will be admitted to share in the joy of his Lord. Our Master humbled Himself, and took upon Him that human form to which rightly appertained the character of a servant, in order that His spotless holiness might, in such an estate, show forth a perfect pattern of that character to which his disciples should ever strive to attain; but although at an early stage of his Christian course, a man may be led to recognize his position as a servant of God, and in heart both to appropriate to himself its duties, and to submit to its general characteristics of humiliation and obedience, yet distinctly to assume, and efficiently to occupy that position, sedulously to embrace, and effectively to fulfil those duties, and really to experience, or fully manifest those characteristics, demands the earnest and continuous effort of a lifetime, and the result will be always attended by the imperfection which marks every human attainment. Even he who should have done all, could claim no title but that of an unprofitable servant, who had barely performed his duty; and how many are there who mournfully allow, how many more who sadly though unconsciously manifest, that their service is most partial and inadequate ; that it not only falls far below the mark of their high vocation, but that it fails to engage more than a scanty proportion of their time, thoughts, or faculties; that, through weakness, negligence, or infirmity, they yield too much to the influence of sin, if indeed they are not deliberately making the vain and culpable attempt to serve two masters, by dividing with the god of this world and the unrighteous mammon, that energy, attention, and solicitude, which should be concentrated in the service of the God who created and redeemed mankind. In proportion, however, as an individual is actuated by Christian principles, and animated by renewed and sanctified feelings, he will desire to yield himself entirely

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