4. Teach them, in the last place, my brethren, what is the end for which all this revelation is given, and all this progressive love employed ;—that it is to train and prepare them for some more exalted state of being;-to fit them for some nearer approach to the great Fountain of Life and of love. Teach them that, in that greater state, the same compassionate Saviour who once called them, when "little children," unto him, and "blessed them," now reigns as their mediator and advocate; that death hath not dissolved his affection for them; that to their ascending step his hand hath opened the gates of immortality; and that his pathetick voice ceases not to call upon them to follow him into the great moral home of nature,-"to come "unto his Father and their Father, unto his God "and their God."-Such are the answers which you are enabled to give to the first great question of the young, the mighty truths which revelation empowers you to unfold; which are adapted to awaken in the youthful bosom every sentiment and affection of religion, and to send them upon the great journey of life with the sublime preparation of the gospel, "that of loving the Lord their God with "all their heart, with all their soul, and with all "their mind." II. The second question which agitates the minds of the young, is, What are the duties which this God requires of them? To this question the answer is implied in the concluding words of our Saviour in the text: "And the second is like unto it; Thou "shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these "two commandments hang all the law and the "prophets." How simple, my brethren, but how irresistible is the connexion between these two commandments! How "like" are they in their origin and in their ends; and how easily, if you have first taught the young" to love the Lord their God," will they feel the obligation of loving their neighbour. If they have approached with joy the throne of the universal Father, teach them then, my brethren, in the first place, that it is their first duty to love every thing that He hath made; that every form which bears" the image of God," is their brother, and that every being that is dear to Him, ought also to be dear unto them.-If they have looked with adoration at that perpetual care by which the universe is maintained, " and in which every thing lives “and moves, and has its being;" tell them that, they also are members of this mighty system; that on them too some beings depend for happiness or joy; and that the noblest career they can run is that of being "fellow workers with Him" in the welfare of his creation. If their hearts throb with gratitude for all the blessings which His bounteous hand has shed upon them, tell them, that there are blessings also given them to bestow; that life has every where tears which their hands may wipe away; and that the path of man, on which Heaven looks down with most approving joy, is that of those who are merciful as God is merciful." If, in another view, they follow with glowing hearts the history of their Lord, remind them, that it was not in scenes of splendour or of indulgence that his life was passed; that it was not "to be "ministered unto" that he came," but to minis"ter;"-to heal the sick,-to relieve the poor, -to comfort the afflicted,-to instruct the ignorant, to suffer for the wretched. Tell them, that it is through such scenes their lives also must pass; and that, go where they will, they will find the sick to heal, the poor to relieve, the afflicted to comfort, the ignorant to instruct, and the wretched to console. Tell them, that for this also He came, "that " he might leave them an example, that they should "follow his steps ;" and that the purest prayer, which they can offer in the morning of life to Heaven, is, “ that the same mind may be in them, which "was in Christ Jesus." If you have taught their ardent eyes to look beyond the world; if they have risen in holy imagination with their Saviour from the grave; if, in the innocence of their souls, they feel their relation to some greater system of existence, tell them, my brethren, that there is yet the "wilderness to pass," before they reach the "promised land;" that life has dangers which they must meet, and temptations which they must resist, and passions which they must overcome; that" it is the pure in heart," alone, "who shall finally see God;" and that the same divine voice which called them unto Him, when "little children," and blessed them, still says unto them," that of such alone is the kingdom of "Heaven." How beautiful, my brethren, is the scene of Christian education, when the parent has such things to teach, and the young have such things to learn!-when the fountain of life is opened in the midst of them, and the young are suffered to come and quench their thirst! How well, in such simple and sacred scenes, are all the best affections of youthful nature awakened, and its loftiest sentiments kindled, and its noblest ambition called forth! And how salutary to the old, to return thus back again, as it were, to the years of innocence and purity,-to inhale afresh the grateful joy and the undoubting faith of their youth, and to renew again the happy hours, when they first received the kingdom of God, "as a "little child." In such duties, and in such meditations, may those sacred hours be employed, in which we are now preparing ourselves to commemorate the arrival of the Son of God!-Retiring for a while from that world in which are all our dangers and all our enemies, may we raise our thoughts to that loftier region from which the “Day-star" of heaven is advancing to rise upon us, and to dispel the clouds and the phantoms of time! May we arise to meet Him, not with the earthly offerings "of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh," but with the nobler offerings of pious faith, and lowly penitence, and resolved obedience !-May 66 |