hoves us to advance the honour of our Lord. We must retire, in order to give way to him who is to come. We must hide our heads before the transcendent lustre of that glorious moral sun, which now is fast rising in the moral firmament, and will shortly burst forth upon the world, in the full blaze of its millenial glory. In a word, the man must be merged in the minister, self must be lost in Christ. insist on it: nay, we are to represent every other truth as so inseparably connected with this, as not to be complete without it; for instance, if we preach up faith, we are to exhibit Jesus Christ as the object of it,— if love, we must tell you, that you cannot love God unless you love Jesus Christ,-if hope, we must point to Him as the ground of it,—if we insist upon the moral duties, we must plainly state that morality is nothing without christianity, and that the only proper principle of obedience to GOD is faith in Jesus Christ, if we speak to a sinner, and exhort My brethren, I would here remark, what I am sure many of you know already, that a minister, and especially a young minister, is always in danger of foundering upon that fatal rock, upon which many a mi-him to renounce his course, we must nister having foundered, is gone down into destruction, and because it is so, he needs especial grace. Pray then, for me, I need, I must have your prayers, your prayers to make me watchful, your prayers to keep me humble, your prayers to make me faithful; then I shall serve you as I wish to do it; then I shall glorify Christ. This brings me to the second point, one of very great importance: the grand turning point, if I may so speak, upon which revolves the destinies of men. Our text expresses something enforced by the precept and example of Saint Paul, it is this, to make Jesus Christ the one leading subject of our pulpit addresses. It does not mean that we are always to be saying the same thing, always to be preaching about a Saviour once crucified, but now enthroned, and nothing else. There are many other points which we are to embrace in our public discourses; but still this is to be the constantly recurring theme, and every other point is to be made to bear on it. The truth of the gospel takes a very wide range, but still this is to stand prominent as the centre of every thing else, and we are over and over again to point him to a Saviour crucified,— and if we seek to edify a saint, by speaking of the promises, we must tell him that the promises are the sweet whisperings of the Father, loving us in his son, and that they are "yea and amen in Christ." For what other purpose are the Scriptures given, if it be not simply for revealing Christ? and it would be strange indeed, if those discourses which are grounded upon scripture truth, did not very frequently turn on Him; without this, the pulpit is little better than the rostrum where Pagans stood up to teach, for we only inculcate a higher system of morality; without this, religion is without its substance, it becomes a shadow, a mere fancy, a delusion, it is nothing worth. Without Christ, we shall preach and you will hear in vain, our word will have no life, no power in it, the weapons of our warfare will be blunted, will do no good. If Christ be not preached-I mean fully and faithfully preached-sin will pursue its course, and satan will continue his reign; all moral diseases will remain uncured, things will go on as they are, unchanged, unchangeable, Where Christ is hidden from the eye of the people, or so obscurely set before them that they can scarce discern the object of their faith, there, there is death and desolation, a wilderness, and thousands dying on the face of it. But where he is held up to the eye of the people, in all the brightness of His glory, and in all the fulness of his grace, accompanied with this exhortation, “look and be saved;" there nature is reanimate, the natural man becomes another creature. "The wilderness rejoices and blossoms like the rose," the barren professor puts forth the blossoms of a penitent, and bears the fruit of a christian, the sick are healed, and the dying are restored to life. Yes, whence is it that I see an alteration in the aspect of the moral world? Whence is it that I see the moral temple ruined by the fall, rising into the beauty and glory of its primitive state? Whence is it that I see the moral captive dropping his moral chain, and bounding forth into the glorious liberty of the children of GOD? Whence is it that I see yon exile from his Father's house, turning back to Zion, with joy and exaltation beaming on his countenance? Whence is it that I see the impenitent of yesterday, to-day in tears? the obstinate subdued, the profligate reclaimed, the sinner a saint? What produced these changes? Have the heavens thundered, has the sea been made to tremble? have the rocks been made to quake to effect these great phenomena in the moral world? No; it was 66 a still small voice" that did it all—“ The Son of David" has "passed by"-The original Creator, the great Renovater has been here Abraham's promised seed, in whom all the families of the earth shall eventually be blessed-He has been here; brought here by one raised up amongst his brethren, brought here in the word which he was com missioned from heaven to declare, that word the Gospel, which Paul ever preached with all the ardour of a soul that loved its Saviour, and which I, my brethren, would also preach as long as I continue amongst you-" we preach Jesus Christ," consistently with our creed we do it. Were I a Jew, I should dispute the testimony of the sacred writers, and blindly misinterpreting prophecy, should preach a Messiah to come, not one who has already suffered. Were I a Turk, bigoted to my senseless creed, I should preach Mahomet instead of Christ. Were I one of that number, who in this our day and in this our Christian land, degrade the character, and speak reproachfully of the work of Christ, I should join in the insults of His Socinian foes, and strive to humble rather than exalt Him in the midst of you. But as a Christian whose hope hangs only on the cross; and as His minister who hath told me to go and preach Him wherever I can, I" cannot but teach and preach Jesus Christ." Yes, Christ in his person and offices-Christ in his humiliation and exaltation-Christ as the believer's hope, the believer's right, the believer's glory-Christ as the head over all things to his church-Christ as the fountain whence all our blessings flow-Christ as the prophet to instruct; the priest who offered up himself for sin, and still presents before the throne of GoD the merit of his sacrifice -- the king appointed to reign over us. This Christ we preach as the only Saviour of a ruined world; for, “there is none other name given under heaven among men, whereby we may be saved, but the name of Jesus Christ." But to preach Christ properly, we must constantly inculcate his doctrines-every truth contained in his word we must carefully set before you, without altering its meaning and without impair ing its force. Christ is in his word, | There is a crown which a minister We proceed in the third place, to consider the relation which exists between a Christian minister and the people for whose benefit he preaches the Gospel of Christ. The Apostle tells us that he is their servant for Jesus' sake-" We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord and ourselves your servants for Jesus' sake." You see then, that a minister now, is what his master was in the days of His humanity,-He was "the servant of all," and a minister is the servant of the people, or in other words, he is engaged in the work of their salvation, and that for the glory of Christ. I need, I think, scarcely tell you how the statement in the text is borne out in the history of St. Paul. His "weariness, and painfulness, his watchings often, his fastings often, his care of all the churches" fully showed his disinterested spirit, his willingness to spend and be spent in their service. Like his blessed master, "he went about doing good," emptying himself that they might be filled-humbling himself that others might be exalted. I hesitate not to tell you, my dear brethren, you in whose future welfare, I feel a very deep solicitude, that it is with a desire of following St. Paul in his work of Christian charity, I stand this day before you, I feel that I am bound to serve you, and I would not release myself from the obligation under which I lie of ministering to your good. Oh! how I wish that my labours just begun may not be altogether in vain-how I wish that my poor unworthy ministrations may produce some effect amongst you, and prove a source of mutual gratulation and joy. Here, however, let me tell you, that though a minister is in one sense a servant, he is nevertheless free-he is the servant of the public, inasmuch as all his time and energies are to be devoted to the good of the public, but he must never be the slave of public opinion- he must never bow to statements which he cannot conscientiously approve-he must never yield to wishes with which he cannot conscientiously comply he must never suit his preaching to the taste of those carnal hearers who would have him keep back a portion of GOD's truth, because they cannot bear the whole of it-he must avoid all needless offence-but the fear of offending a creature that will perish, should never make him shrink from the performance of that sacred solemn duty which he owes to his Saviour and his GOD-he must hold to every thing connected with the trust which GOD has put into his hands, and he must give up nothing—he must stand firmly upon principle-he must abide closely by the written word-he must not depart one iota from the instructions given him, no not to please those men whose opinion he regards, and whose approval he wishes to obtain he has a master in heaven, whom he is bound to serve above all; and were he to please man by the compromise of principle, and by the sacrifice of religious truth, he would be a timeserver and not the faithful servant of Jesus Christ. Oh, brethren, much as I value your good opinion, and much as I wish you to love me as your minister, yet never let me have your favour, if I must give up principle to obtain it, that principle which is as dear to me as life, and which I hope no consideration will ever induce me to resign; but if I can have your favour and GOD's approval at one and the same time, happy shall I be. I have nothing however to apprehend from you-your kind and friendly feeling already shown towards me, seems to indicate a happy union between us. Join with me in the prayer that the union formed on earth this day may be perpetuated in heaven. And now, brethren, before I conclude, I wish to make a few observations, grounded on the fact, which I think none of us will dispute, that the religion of Jesus Christ, is a religion of universal benevolence. I have been told that one of my predecessors, on the occasion of his preaching his first sermon in this church, after there had been on his account some unpleasant differences in the parish, took for the subject of his discourse, these few but very beautiful and comprehensive words, "GOD is love;" and I think that in doing so, he acted wisely, for he at once showed, (making a suitable application of it to his own case,) that he possessed a kind and forgiving disposition. He showed to those who were opposed and who had given him much annoyance, that he could throw even over them the mantle of love; and he was also enabled, preaching from such a text, to enjoin upon his audience, as I suppose he did, the great Christian duties of charity and unity. Now I rejoice, on this occasion, to follow so good and so great an example. I have been placed in somewhat similar circumstances, and I would refer to the past only, to say that I freely and from my heart forgive all that has been said and done to my prejudice, and to express a wish that, every difference being allowed to pass into oblivion, there may exist, henceforth, between those who stood by me, and others who were opposed to me, by their conscientious support of other candidates, a perfect unanimity. Oh! Sirs, we must bear and forbear—we must ever return good for evil-we must imitate His bright example, who, "when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but committed himself to Him who judgeth righteously." We must exhibit in our conduct towards men the beautiful fruits of a consistent Christian profession; and I do therefore most earnestly hope, that from this day forward, the first of my entering on my duties in this place,) there will be no reproach, neither on one side or the other; no unkind remark; no angry expression; but that laying aside every feeling of animosity, we shall all unite in one great attempt to promote the good and holy cause of our common Christianity. It is my anxious wish; it is my fervent prayer, that my coming amongst you may be the means of bringing down a blessing on the parish. May pure and undefiled religion, communicated from this pulpit, pervade every heart and reign in every family. May every house become a temple for the Lord, and every bosom a residence for the Holy Ghost. May we all be engaged in one good and holy work, using every endeavour to promote the temporal and spiritual welfare of others. Yea, may we all be of “one heart and one mind”—“ striving together for the faith of the Gospel," that so, when this church, this beautiful edifice, shall have become a ruin, and this parish a desolation, not a vestige of it left, we, both minister and people, may live together in a better and a happier world, having exchanged the dispensation of grace for the dispen sation of glory. A Sermon, DELIVERED BY THE REV. B. NOEL, AT ST. JOHN'S CHAPEL, BEDFORD-ROW, SUNDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 20, 1833. Luke, xv. 1.—" Then drew near unto him all the publicans and sinners for to hear him. And the pharisees and scribes murmured, saying, this man receiveth sinners, and eateth with them. And he spake this parable unto them, saying, what man of you having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me: for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons that need no repentance.” THE mercy of our blessed Saviour is such that it can be exhausted by no degree of human guilt; so that every penitent transgressor, who asks for salvation through His blood, may find acceptance with Christ instantly and freely. The only apparent exception is the impenitent obduracy of sinners; and since, while they remain in that impenitent obduracy, they receive not mercy, it might seem as though that were a sin excluded from the forgiveness of Christ; and yet, a little more consideration would show that he has mercy enough to forgive even that sin. There is not one among the many thousands whom he saves, who would not have remained fast shut up in impenitent obduracy, unless he had first sought them. If there is any one who has the melting of contrition, and the lowliness of that gratitude, which at length rejoices in a discovered Saviour, it is because that lowliness, and that contrition, has been imparted to him of grace. And it is true, that our blessed Lord pardons the penitent and the obdurate, in one sense, in every |