able by all. The rich man, the great man, and the scholar, must make themselves low in order to attain it. The brother of low degree may rejoice, because through its divine power, he shall be exalted".

1 James i. 9, 10.

SERMON XXIII.

THE MARTYRDOM OF ST. STEPHEN.

ST. STEPHEN'S DAY.

ACTS vii. 55, 56.

"Stephen, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God."

But

THE Church of Christ has for ages celebrated Christmas with cheerfulness and rejoicing. He who has tasted the blessings of salvation has abundant cause of joy, when this returning season peculiarly fixes his attention on the great mystery of God manifest in the flesh to save him from his sins. as the Church cultivates in the Gospel-field both wheat and tares, both sincere and hypocritical professors, they whose Christianity can be summed up in little more than outward baptism, who can give no more evidence of being Christians than their

Christian name affords, have perverted this season of holy joy to the profane indulgences of rioting and drunkenness and revelling. As if they thought to proclaim their thankfulness to God for establishing a religion, whose characteristics are purity and temperance, by giving licence to the impure, intemperate appetites of the natural man.

It appears to me that our Church intended to guard us against the profanation of this happy, charitable season, by uniting three festivals with Christmas Day in immediate succession: festivals to commemorate persons and events, which show that tribulation and suffering are the portion of God's people here; and that the tidings of great joy which we announce are tidings of present comfort and support, and of future glory; but not of present sensual gratification. We witness the cruel death of Stephen; we contemplate the aged St. John, exiled to the solitary isle of Patmos for the sake of Christ, there enduring tribulation, and exercising faith and patience; we see Herod's jealousy of the new born King vent itself in undistinguishing slaughter of the Holy Innocents. We are then encouraged to rejoice, because unto us a Son is born: but we are cautioned to rejoice with trembling, as those who know the deceitfulness of sin, and the arduous warfare for which we soldiers of Christ are enrolled. The services of this day call our attention to the interesting story of the first willing Martyr for the cause of Christ, the undaunted St. Stephen. His

whole history is contained in the 6th and 7th of Acts and our meditations on it will naturally turn, first, To the discourse which he addressed to the Jewish rulers; and, secondly, To the instruction which may be drawn from the circumstances attendant on his martyrdom.

I. A careless perusal of the apology of St. Stephen may leave an impression, as if it were merely a brief history of the fortunes of Israel; whereas in truth it is a most powerful and convincing chain of argument, adapted to the conviction of his hearers, and to the illumination of their prejudiced minds. I will endeavour to set this matter in as clear a light as is compatible with the brevity of a sermon. The Jewish hatred of the Gospel, then, chiefly sprang from two opinions which were rooted, as it were, in their very souls: first, That God's promise to Abraham was solely the promise of an earthly Canaan, that is, of a mighty empire established in a fruitful land; that their holy city was to be the metropolis of the whole earth, their temple the only temple of the true God; and that all nations were to bow down to them and be their servants. The second opinion was closely connected with this; that the Gentile nations were estimated by God as dogs only in comparison with themselves; that he would ever admit them to an equal share of his favour, much less would reject Israel, and adopt the Heathen in their stead; and that the dominion exercised by Israel over the Heathen here

would be followed by a like superiority in the future unseen world. Now the kingdom of Messiah was, in their estimation, to usher in these long expected glories; he was the great conqueror, who should subdue the world under their feet. And when the meek and humble Jesus asserted himself to be that Messiah, and preached a kingdom of suffering and humiliation on earth, and foretold a rejection of the Jews from their former high station in the favour of God, we need not wonder at the rancour of their hatred against him and the preachers of his Gospel. All St. Stephen's discourse is levelled against these two errors; and the arguments are so conclusive, that his enraged hearers were not able to resist the wisdom and the spirit by which he spake.

The false witnesses, it appears, reported his words with tolerable accuracy, but, as is usual in false testimony, they perverted his meaning and distorted the connexion of his argument. "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses, and against God. He ceaseth not to speak blasphemous words against this holy place, and the law: For we have heard him say, that this Jesus of Nazareth shall destroy this place, and shall change the customs which Moses delivered us."

And, first, as to the limitation of God's promise to an earthly Canaan. That promise was originally made to Abraham. They traced their title from the patriarch. His faith and obedience were so precious in the eyes of God, that he promised the land to