say, "O Lord, truly I am thy servant; I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid." The most of us who are young have still good mothers. Let us tremble at the thought of rejecting their authority, or treating them in any degree, or on any occasion, with disrespect. "The eye that mocketh at his father, and despiseth to obey his mother, the ravens of the valley shall pick it out, and the young eagles shall eat it." It is presumed that the most of us (who have wives) have good wives; but if any of us are not so comfortable in that connection as we could wish to be, it may be well for us to remember, that the blame may be in the man rather than the woman. And to all, whether young or old, married or unmarried, the admonition of the apostle applies: "Brethren, the time is short. It remaineth, that both they that have wives, be as though they had none; and they that weep, as though they wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; and they that use this world, as not abusing it. For the fashion of this world passeth away." 2. The subject suggests the importance and necessity of an extended and perfectly Christian course of education, for the female mind. The Redeemer always has made, and always will make, extensive use of females in his great and extended plans of mercy. The whole plan of salvation has for its object the restoring of our lost race and our apostate world, to something like their original dignity and glory. Hence we have every reason to believe, that the whole body of women will be renovated and elevated, as an essential and efficient part of the great system of means for accomplishing this great and glorious end. Were all the mothers within the bosom of the Church, the good mother of the Bible, all the children of the Church would be brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, and every family would furnish in a very few years, one or two missionaries for the heathen world. Were all the mothers in the land, the industrious, economical, and pious mother of the Bible, the whole face of society would be changed to the better in half a generation, and the government of the nation, the conducting of all national affairs, would become a very simple and easy operation. 3. To any husband who has lost by death a good wife, and to any children who have by death lost a good mother, the subject suggests not only a reason for the most cordial resignation, but reasons also for holy joy and elevation of mind. A pious lady, whose husband had died in the evening, being asked next morning by a friend, how she felt, answered: "I have just been thinking how happy my good husband must be this morning, as he has been one night with the Redeemer in glory." It was your new covenant God, who gave the good wife and the good mother, who made her a blessing and comfort, while she was continued here below. And she was preserved and made a blessing, under the protection of the prayer of the Mediator, "I pray not that thou shouldst take her out of the world, but that thou shouldst keep her from evil." And when she had served her God in her day and generation, she was removed in answer to another prayer of the Mediator, "Father, I will that she whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am, that she may behold my glory which thou hast given me." And it is no mean honour to have a wife and a mother thus exalted. And heaven is the home of the great family of the redeemed. They shall come from the east and from the west, and from the north and from the south, and shall sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, in the kingdom of God. And thrice happy will that mother and father, and those sons and daughters be, who having been united in the closest ties on earth, shall as an unbroken family, become a constituent part of that one great assembly above. London: Printed by C. Roworth and Sons, Bell Yard, Temple Bar. THE PROGRESSIVE CHARACTER OF DIVINE KNOWLEDGE. A SERMON PREACHED BY THE REV. T. DALE, A. M. ON WEDNESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 27th, 1837. TEXT.-" Then shall we know, if we follow on to know, the Lord; His going forth is prepared as the morning; and He shall come unto us as the rain, as the former and latter rain unto the earth."-Hosea, chapter 6, verse 3. THE character of the natural man is to forget that which has been, to pervert that which is, and to disregard that which is to come. The first indeed, speaking in a moral sense, is to his interest; for he has little in his retrospect that can please upon reflection. The last also is his interest, for he has nothing in his prospect, except as to the present time, that can please on anticipation. The second also he thinks his interest, forgetting that the abuse of time, and the prostitution of talent, must be fearful items in that account which he shall one day render at the judgment-seat. Instead however of forgetting, we should have rather said, trying to forget; for the involuntary consciousness of even a possible, much more a probable, retribution, which all our rational and conscious hours leave behind them as they mingle with the past, is a sufficient counterpoise to any transient gratification they may impart. Vainly is it the boast of those who say, "Let us eat and drink, for to-morrow we die," that they alone know how to live. Now, the character of the spiritual man is the direct reverse of this. He remembers that which has been, improves [No. 20.] VOL. II. H that which is, and provides for that which is to come. He recals to mind alike the benefits and the errors of the pastthe one as a memorial of God's goodness, the other as a memento and a monitor of his own frailty. He occupies and improves the past, knowing that all time rightly spent, and talents profitably employed, leave their record behind them in the Book of God: and he provides for that which is to come, regarding time, as it ought to be regarded, in the light of a probation for eternity; and concerned to lay up in store for himself "a good foundation against the time to come," that he may attain eternal life. Whence then, it may be asked, arises the marked, wide, and momentous difference between these two characters ? The text will inform us. The one possesses a knowledge which the other does not possess, and that knowledge itself is life eternal; for this is life eternal-"to know thee the only true God, and Jesus whom thou hast sent." Now the text will lead us to consider the character, the effects, and the consequences of this knowledge. May the consideration of it be profitable to our souls under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, and for the sake of Jesus Christ. It is first implied in the words of the Prophet, that to know the Lord is a thing desirable in itself; then that this knowledge is progressive; next that its attainment requires an effort on the part of man; but, lastly, that the effort shall not be in vain, for God has determined and arranged to bestow that which is asked. In all these particulars, it is to be expected, that the Old Testament shall be interpreted and applied, according to the tenor of the more recent and complete declaration of the New; and we shall therefore interpret knowledge as you have heard it already defined, that is, as life eternal, consisting in the knowledge of God and of Christ. I. Now with such an estimate of the knowledge itself, it must be manifest that it would be cheaply purchased AT ANY PRICE that man could pay; and hence it will show that any chastening is to be welcomed as a blessing, by which we are constrained to reflect, which first brings us to the knowledge of our lost and ruined state by nature, as imperatively needing a Saviour, and then leaves us no rest until it brings us all to the knowledge of Christ Jesus as being that Saviour; being "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world." It is a benefit even to be torn, it is a mercy even to be smitten, if this be the result. To some, indeed, the same object is attained by other and more gentle means, for God does not willingly afflict or grieve the children of men. In some, even from infancy, is developed, as though he had indeed been born of the Spirit as well as of water, a tendency towards God, and a conformity to the image of His dear Son. In others, again, by dint of argument, the understanding is enlightened; and bringing the natural powers of the mind to bear upon the great subject of religion, they are led insensibly by the Spirit to the saving knowledge of Christ. And in others, again, without any sudden visitation of sickness, or abrupt alarm of death, the conscience is awakened; and amidst the stillness of the night they are troubled by the thoughts of the head upon the bed, and commune with themselves how they shall escape from judgment, and how they shall attain to pardon. But, however, in these and similar cases the means may vary, the end will be in all the same. The knowledge of the Lord-a knowledge above all price-will find or force an avenue to the soul of every one among his chosen. The entrance of God's word will give light, and the recognition of new principles of action will lead to a moral change which Scripture does not scruple to designate "a new creation." Hence the work, when really commenced, is virtually concluded, at least the conclusion of it is ensured. The first step, when really taken in the upright race, is equivalent to the goal obtained. The stone set in motion, and gravitating towards the centre orb, the Sun of Righteousness, will never be stopped again. Once let the Holy Spirit enter into a man's heart, and however slowly the knowledge of the Lord may increase, it will surely be progressive, and thus will be verified the declaration of our text, "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know, the Lord." II. Various reasons may be assigned why this knowledge is PROGRESSIVE; one of which shall at present suffice. It |