tions of their hearts and lives. Darkness was their guilty choice on earth, and “outer darkness" shall be their fearful doom in hell. Wo to the man whose laugh of fiendish joy on earth has ended in the wailings of despair! Whose horrid cursings and blasphemies began in time to go on in eternity! Whose abuse of talent, and contempt of God in his trial state, have drawn down upon his crushed and suffering spirit, "indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish,' "where their worm dieth not, and their fire is not quenched!" Alas! "There shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth" "where the smoke of their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever.”

1. In conclusion: It is evident that, in the distribution of talents, diversity, and not uniformity, is the rule. "To one he gives five, to another, two to another one." This is according to fact, and we may not arraign the divine administration for this mode of dispensing favors. God has a right to do what he will with his own; and, as we have seen, his immutable righteousness and wisdom are the guaranty, that this mode of distribution is entirely the best, for the interest of man, and for his own glory. Another view will show, that he who has less, has no cause to murmur, while he who has more, has no cause to be vain.

2. The talents given are, in every case, the exact measure of responsibility. How little do we think, while we envy the talents of others, that we may have already acquired alarming guilt for the misimprovement of our own! And that what we have, rightly improved, would raise us to an eminence far above many of more favored beginnings, who have degraded their native gifts to a level with the brutes! We do not reflect how fearful a responsibility is laid upon those of superior parts, from which we are mercifully saved; that, if rightly used, our limited talents are enough to raise us to a glory of nature far above that of the tallest seraph now in the world of light! But, if neglected and misapplied, they are enough to damn us for ever! On the other hand, vain men, who are priding themselves upon their elevation of mind, their profound learning, their brilliant parts, or splendid rank, little think of the amount of responsibility which their boasted talents involve. have seen that God has not bestowed a gift on man which

We

he will not require again, with due improvement. "For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required."

3. The day of final reckoning will surely come; the dreadful day when the secrets of all hearts shall be disclosed. Then it will appear, that in the midst of all the diversity of gifts, over which men have so constantly and rashly complained, there is a perfect equality-an equality of adjustment between talents and responsibility, between probation and retribution. How immensely important, therefore, the bearing of every moral action! of what eternal moment the disposition we make of every gift of God! O that I could rouse the slumberings of the spiritually dead! that I could reach the ears of earth's guilty millions! I would speak to the man of honor, of wealth, of science, and of rank, in tones of thunder and alarm! I would call to a stand the whirling, dancing, giddy throng, upon the crumbling verge of probation-above the breaking billows of eternal wrath! I would summon the men of genius, and talent, and letters, to a view of the past, and of generations to come; to the scenes of the death-bed, and to the retributions of eternity; and bid them snatch their periled souls from the devouring flames; rescue our thoughtless, furious, headlong age from the infamy and ruin of perverted talent; and seize the fountains of public morals, opinions, and thought, and purify them, that they may cease to pour out the waters of death upon our fallen and suffering world. I would call around them the sighs of murdered hearts, the groans of crushed, immortal minds, and the bleeding corpses of slaughtered millions, and beseech them --in the name of God and humanity-to turn the course of human conduct from sin and death to holiness and heaven. I would send out the summons upon the winds and the waves, to the saints of God, to marshal anew-enter afresh the deadly strife, and fight like champions of Jesus, till the cry of victory shall sound out from every rank of God's embattled hosts; till, from every continent, island, and sea, the shout shall go up, "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ;" and the high response shall roll out from heaven, 66 as the voice of mighty thunderings, saying, Alleluia: for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth."

SERMON VII.

The Duty of Submission to God.

BY REV. WILLIAM HUNTER,

EDITOR OF THE PITTSBURGH CHRISTIAN ADVOCATE.

"Submit yourselves, therefore, to God."-James iv, 7.

If an intelligent inhabitant of some other world—some sinless world-were to receive a brief outline of the history of the fall of man and his present condition;-if, for instance, he were to learn that man, having been placed in a garden of delights at his creation, standing high in intelligence, in moral excellence, in authority, and in the favor of his God, had, nevertheless, in an evil hour, yielded to the force of temptation, lost his innocency, his glory, and the favor of his Creator, and plunged himself into untold woes :—further, that though thus wretched, his case was not entirely hopeless; that there was a possibility of restoration; that, indeed, overtures to effect it had been made, either on the part of God or man, not stated which; that there was on the one part a strong desire for reconciliation, and efforts after it; but that, on the other, not stated which, there was reluctance, aversion, and an unwillingness for peace; what, think you, would be the natural conclusion of such an unsophisticated mind, ignorant of the nature of sin, as to whether the offers of reconciliation had come from God or man? as to whether the reluctance and aversion were on the part of God, or man? Would it not be reasonable for him to conclude, that man, having thoughtlessly plunged himself from a height of happiness to a depth of wo, would, on discovering his error, lament it; and, with bitter tears and earnest cries, return to the Father of spirits, and beseech him for mercy? And that God, whose confidence had been betrayed, whose law had been dishonored, and his blessings spurned, might justly hesitate to receive so perfidious a creature again into his bosom? But we know how very different all this is from the true state of the case. The offended God makes the proposition of peace to offending

man. The everlasting Jehovah sues for reconciliatior with a worm of the dust! Nor is he content with making the offer; he repeats it—he urges it--he pleads--he entreats man to be reconciled unto him. Formerly, he may have employed himself in adding world to world-system to system-constellation to constellation, extending the boundaries of his empire further and wider into the regions of infinite space; angels, archangels, seraphim, cherubim--the countless orders of the heavenly hierarchy, and the myriads of beings who may people every rolling globe, may have employed his creating energies; but now, taking the Bible for our guide, he stands all day long stretching out his hands to a gainsaying and disobedient people. Speaking after the manner of men, it is, as if the thoughts of this lost world so affected him, that he could do nothing else but devote his whole attention to it. Like the shepherd, who left his ninety and nine sheep to go after the one that had gone astray, our heavenly Father seems to live and act as though this lost world were his whole concern. Man, on the other hand, guilty, dependent, weak, and wretched, turns himself away from the blessings of his God. He will not come unto him that he might have life. He spurns him; he hates him; he continues in his rebellion, as though daring the thunderbolts of the Almighty, and greedy of his own damnation.*

In the great work of reconciling man to himself, God would bring all the moral force to bear upon his case that can be brought. He employs himself in the work. He sends forth his servants early and late. He sent his prophets. He sent his Son. He sends his Spirit. Angels are employed-men are employed. Like a father whose child has fallen into the river, he not only hastens himself, but he calls for assistance. The angels are all ministering spirits in this work; and men, who are themselves saved, are immediately pressed into the service. It is the business of the church of the living God to help him in saving

* The author would not be understood as intending to affirm, in the above paragraph, either that God is incapable of doing two things at the same moment, or that he is literally so absorbed in accomplishing the salvation of man, that he neglects to pay attention to the remaining portions of his works.

the world. And in the intense feelings of his paternal heart, he pronounces a curse upon those who come not up to the help of the Lord against the mighty. This is the work of all the church; but a prominent part of it devolves on the ministry. Theirs is the office to speak for God-to lift up the voice in "the high places," by night and by day—in all seasons praying them, in Christ's stead, to be reconciled to God. In the discharge of this holy office we come to you and beseech you, therefore, to submit yourselves to God. It is your duty and your interest to do so. Duty and interest go hand in hand; they are inseparable. But the eye of faith only can at all times see the link that unites them. Do your duty, and God will take care of your interest. If, therefore, we show it to be your duty to submit yourself to his authority, be assured that we have shown it also to be your highest gain, glory, and happiness. It is your duty then,

You owe him your

I. ON THE GROUNDS OF JUSTICE. allegiance. You are his-not your own. "He hath made us, and not we ourselves." When a workman makes a piece of mechanism—his time his own-his materials his own--the work is his. He has a right to whatever honor or profit may result from it. If he is by any means deprived of the honor or profit of his labors, injustice is done to him. So with God. He made our bodies-he made our souls. We are his in a more perfect sense than any piece of mechanism can be the property of man.

He made us for his glory. Not that God is selfish; he is the reverse. But so it.is, that the glory of God works the highest happiness of his creatures. The more they see of his glory, the more blessed they are. New creatures added to his creation, present new views of that glory, and contribute additional happiness to other orders of being. Man, being created in the image of God, was designed to set forth new and delightful views of the divine perfections for the benefit of other intelligences. And when he fell, defacing the divine image, he committed not only an act of injustice toward God, but a fraud upon the universe. When he reached forth his hand and took the interdicted fruit, it was not only the bough of the tree whence he plucked it that was shaken, but the earth; and the jarring vibration grated harsh thunder on the nerves