any apprehension as to their being found wanting in the sight of God. Their language was that of selfcongratulation, that they were rich and increased with goods, and had need of nothing; and they would probably have been most grievously offended had their deficiencies been candidly pointed out. All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the Lord weigheth the spirits.

With reference to these two especial faults of character, the Laodiceans are warned in this epistle. They are assured, that on account of their lukewarmness God will reject them; and they are counselled to go to the Saviour for that righteousness which they foolishly supposed they already possessed, and to receive from his fulness for the supply of their manifold wants. They were poor; the Saviour was enabled to make them rich in spiritual blessings and in spiritual attainments: they were naked, destitute of any covering of human merit; the Saviour would clothe them with the garments of salvation: they were blind; he who could open the bodily eye, as he sojourned in this world of sorrow, was now able and willing to pour celestial light on the spiritually dark. There was not a want, in fact, which Jesus could not supply, a malady which he could not heal, a blessing which he could not bestow; and the freeness with which he would bestow these benefits was beautifully expressed by himself," Ask, and ye shall receive; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

And these rebukes were dictated by a spirit of love; not in anger, but in compassion. They were designed to arouse the Laodiceans from their state of spiritual listlessness, and to incline them to seek for the various gifts which he would bestow, of which the least was the gift of repentance. "As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous, therefore, and repent." For the willingness of the Saviour to receive those who come unto him, and his anxiety to induce | the careless and indifferent to come, is strikingly set forth in the declaration, "Behold, I stand at the door and knock." How expressive is this of his longsuffering and patience! "I stand at the door and knock; if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me." I will take possession of his heart; I will treat him as an associate, a friend, a brother; I will forget all his former perverseness, all his opposition, all his apathy and unconcern. "And to him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me on my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father on his throne." He shall not only be permitted to dwell, but to reign in glory: he shall be a partaker of my triumphs, a sharer of my victories, an inheritor with me of the dignities of the heavenly kingdom; he shall be an heir of God, and a joint-heir with myself of that ineffable blessedness, which, through eternity, shall fill the courts of the Jerusalem above. Such was the gracious, such the condescending language of the faithful and true witness, to the members of this Church.

Laodicea (now called by the Turks Eski-hissar, or the Old Castle,) was a large city in the province of Phrygia Magna, on the Lycus, and was originally a very insignificant place. It was at first called Dios

polis, then Rhoas; but after being enlarged by Antiochus II., king of Syria, it was called Laodicea, in honour of his wife Laodice. The state of the Christian Church there, when the epistle was addressed to it by "the faithful and true Witness," was probably very different from what it was in St. Paul's time; for that apostle mentions it in his epistle to the Colossians, and in such a way as to lead us to suppose that it was not in a lukewarm state,-"I would that ye knew what great conflict I have for you, and for them that are at Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh" (ii. 1). And again,-"When this epistle is read among you, cause that it be read also in the Church of the Laodiceans; and that ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." It has been a matter of dispute amongst commentators, whether the apostle Paul himself carried the Gospel to Laodicea; and, from the above quotations from the epistle to the Colossians, whether he had written an especial epistle to the Laodiceans, which is no longer extant; but the more common opinion is, that he refers to some other of his epistles which have come down to us.

Laodicea suffered much from earthquakes; but after a considerable period it was a city of opulence and importance, though inland. It was possessed by the Turks about the year 1097; and after a series of re volutions in its history, having been taken and retaken, it fell under the Turkish power about the middle of the thirteenth century.

Dr. Smith's account of Laodicea (1671) describes the city "as now utterly desolated, and without any inhabitants, except wolves, and jackals, and foxes; but the ruins shew sufficiently what it has been formerly; the three theatres and the circus adding much to the stateliness of it, and arguing its greatness." The volcanic nature of the soil is thus described by Dr. Chandler: “The hill of Laodicea, it is probable, was originally an eruption; for it consists of dry, impalpable soil, porous, with small cavities, resembling the bore of a pipe, as may be seen on the sites which are bare. It resounded beneath our horses' feet. The stones are mostly masses of pebbles, or of gravel consolidated, and as light as pumice-stone. We had occasion to dig, and found the earth as hard as any cement."

Mr. Arundell, with Mr. Hartley, visited the ruins of Laodicea, and speaks of them as presenting a scene of utter desolation. "Innumerable sarcophagi," he says, "as at Hierapolis, first attracted our attention, and then a theatre. A camel-driver undertook to be our conductor, but it was only to shew us a multitude of excavations lately made by the Turks of the neighbouring villages for the sake of the stone. In some of considerable depth we saw the finest sculptured fragments,-a proof that the larger part of the ancient city, whether by earthquake or other causes, is buried much below the present surface. As the evening was closing in, we could only pass hastily along the ruins of some remains of a very large building, where Memet was waiting with our horses. This building, of which we could not understand the original designation, overlooked the large amphitheatre, then occupied by Turcoman huts and tents. . . . . In the morning, while the horses were preparing, I walked up the side of a hill, which commands an extensive view. The village

(Eski-hissar, inhabited wholly by Turks,) and its flatroofed houses and trees lay on the right; behind them a ridge of hills, over which rose mountains capped with snow; in front, separated only by a narrow vale, in which is the amphitheatre, called by Smith the 'circus,' on a long ridge, lie the ruins of Laodicea."

And such is now the once-opulent and flourishing Laodicea, presenting not merely a spectacle of the decay of earthly grandeur, but setting forth the inevitable destruction of those who are rejected of God, who will not listen to the warning voice calling to repentance, who will not take heed to the knocking of the Redeemer at the door of the hardened heart. The waste places of Laodicea, like those of the lady of kingdoms, the imperious Babylon, are now full of doleful creatures. The voice of prayer and praise has there ceased to be heard.

"It is an old observation, that the country about the Mæander, the soil being light and friable, and full of salts generating inflammable matter, was undermined by fire and water. Hence it abounded in hot springs, which, after passing under ground from the reservoirs, appeared on the mountain, or were found bubbling up in the plain or in the mud of the river; and hence it was subject to frequent earthquakes; the nitrous vapour compressed in the cavities, and sublimed by heat or fermentation, bursting its prison with loud explosions, agitating the atmosphere, and shaking

the earth and waters with a violence as extensive as destructive; and hence, moreover, the pestilential grottos, which had subterraneous communications with each other, derived their noisome effluvia; and serving as smaller vents to these furnaces or hollows, were regarded as apertures of hell, as passages for deadly fumes rising up from the realms of Pluto. One or more of these mountains, perhaps, has burned; and it may be suspected, that the surface of the country, Laodicea in particular, has, in some places, been formed from its own bowels." To a country such as this, how awfully appropriate is the message of the Apocalypse: "I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot; I would thou wert cold or hot. So then, because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth."

And may not a most instructive lesson be learned, and a solemn warning taken, from the fate of the deserted Laodicea. Her Church had no zeal for the furtherance of the glory of God. A spirit of apathy paralysed every exertion; and this, with a spirit of self-sufficiency, led to her overthrow. And may it not fairly be adduced against many professing Christians at the present day, that they are in a lukewarm and self-satisfied state; that the flame of holy ardour, which should burn so brightly, seems scarcely to be kindled ; and that there is no just appreciation of the rich mercy of God to the perishing sinner, so fully testified in the gift of his only-begotten Son? With the vast majority of professing Christians, it is to be feared that religion is a very secondary concern. They are willing enough to admit its importance; they do not wish to call in question its divine origin; but they are far more afraid of enthusiasm than of lukewarmness: and though they have no doubt that Jesus of Nazareth was the Son of God, and readily speak of him as their Saviour, they yet do not obey the strong exhortation in

the text, "I charge thee to buy of me," because they do not feel the absolute destitution of their situation. And this is the case, too, even after repeated warnings. The Saviour has been knocking at the door of their hearts. He has been calling for admittance, but in vain; a cold formality is substituted for vital godliness; a round of external observances supplies the surrender of the inner man to God: and though there may be the profession of Christianity on the lips, there is not the cordial reception of the saving doctrines of Christianity in the heart. Now this appears to have been the precise condition of those of Laodicea. For it must be again noticed, that no accusation of heresy or ungodliness is brought against that Church. There is, indeed, often, in the minds of professing Christians, a resting satisfied with their freedom from crimes of deep dye, and a whispering to themselves of peace, even "while there is no peace," because there is a regularity of outward conduct, and the voice of man may be unable to bring against them the charge of having transgressed the bounds of the most scrupulous decorum but "thou art weighed in the balances, and found wanting," may be the fearful declaration of Almighty Wisdom to many a self-satisfied sinner; nay, it is God's language to every self-satisfied sinner; for no man will ever be satisfied with himself who knows any thing of the spiritual requirements of the Divine law, and his own repeated transgressions.

:

And let us beware, lest, on account of our departure from the faith, our lukewarmness in the cause of God, our negligence in improving the manifold spiritual privileges we enjoy as members of the Protestant Church of England, the Almighty may deem it fit to set us forth to the world as monuments of his righteous displeasure. With reference to this momentous subject, I cannot speak more energetically or forcibly than in the language of Bishop Horsley :

"The promise of perpetual stability is to the Church catholic it affords no security to any particular Church, if her faith or her works should not be found perfect before God. The time shall never be when a true Church of God shall not be somewhere subsisting on the earth; but any individual Church, if she fall from her first love, may sink in ruins. Of this, history furnishes but too abundant proof in the examples of Churches, once illustrious, planted by the apostles, and watered with the blood of the first saints and martyrs, which are now no more. Where are now the seven Churches of Asia, whose praise is in the Apocalypse? Where shall we now find the successors of those earliest archbishops, once stars in the Son of Man's right hand? Where are those boasted seals of Paul's apostleship, the Churches of Corinth and Philippi? Where are the Churches of Jerusalem and Alexandria?.... Let us not defraud ourselves of the benefit of the dreadful example, by the miserable subterfuge of a rash judgment upon our neighbours, and an invidious comparison of their deservings with our

"The time, indeed, shall never be when a true Church of God shall not be somewhere subsisting on earth" nay, the Scriptures distinctly declare, that the period shall arrive when this true Church shall enclose within its pale the whole race of men who shall then tread the earth's surface. How strikingly are the per petuity and extent of the kingdom of the Redeemer set forth by the Psalmist! "His name shall endure for ever; his name shall be continued as long as the sun and men shall be blessed in him; all nations shall call him blessed." Animating and encouraging are such statements. They lead us to the contemplation of a day of infinitely more glorious light than has yet dawned upon the world; to a state of peace and security which has never yet been experienced on earth by the saints of God-that day when the Sun of Righteousness shall arise on all nations with healing in his wings; when the Gentiles shall come to his light, and kings to the brightness of his rising. We should look forward with the eye of faith, convinced that it will assuredly arrive, though our eyes may, ere then, be closed in the darkness of the sepulchre ; and that, in the beautiful language of prophecy, "the trees of the wood shall rejoice before the Lord," though our ears may not listen to their melody. It is not simply our duty, but our privilege, to hasten that day: even now we may discern its dawning, and exult at the cheering prospect that the Gospel of the grace of God shall ultimately be proclaimed to all nations, who shall cordially receive and obey the truth.

Ought not each individual to ask himself the solemn question, What have I done for the furtherance of the glory of the Redeemer, and the extension of his kingdom?

What have I done to emancipate my fellowsinners from the thraldom of Satan, the bondage of ignorance, and the darkness of heathen superstition? What have I done to open, amidst the land of drought, a fountain, whence the weary and heavy-laden may refresh themselves? May not the charge of lukewarmness be fairly brought against many, who bear the Christian name, with reference to this very subject? While we deplore the wretched state of the onceflourishing Churches of Asia, and earnestly pray that the light may never be withdrawn from our own, it is for us to remember that the debt of obligation lies upon each one of us to do what in our power lies to make known to the remotest corners of the habitable world, that God has been pleased to provide a way of escape for his rebellious creatures from merited condemnation.

Whatever may be the glory of the Church of the Redeemer in the latter days, when the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, when the heathen shall be given to Jesus for his inheritance, the uttermost parts of the earth for a possession,-it shall be as nothing when compared with the glory of the ransomed Church above; that undecaying Church, without spot or wrinkle, in which shall be included all who have found peace with God, and conquered through the blood of the Lamb. How animating the descriptions of the Church triumphant! the anticipation of being for ever with the Lord of worshipping, where the Lord God Al

joining in the grateful adoration of those, who cease ́not day nor night in their unwearied service, but who, through eternity, shall offer the homage of unfailing gratitude to Him who loved them, and washed them in his blood. T.

LITURGICAL HINTS.-No. XX. "Understandest thou what thou readest?"-Acts, viii. 30. SECOND SUNDAY AFTER EASTER.

It

No original has been found of this COLLECT. was composed in 1549; and is one of that class which were "substituted in the place of those which, containing either false or superstitious doctrines, were, on this account, rejected." This Collect, like all the others, consists of two principal members, the invocation and the petition. The invocation is as follows: Almighty God, who hast given thine only Son to be unto us both a sacrifice for sin and also an ensample of godly life." Here are two propositions, each of which stands on a scriptural basis. God hath given his Son to be a sacrifice for sin: "He hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin" (1 Cor. v. 21). "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all : when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed" (Isaiah, liii. 6, 8, 10). God hath also given his Son to be our example: "Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow his steps" (1 Pet. ii. 21). The Collect therefore goes on in the petition to pray for "grace that we may always most thankfully receive that, his inestimable benefit" (the first-named blessing of his sa crifice)," and also daily endeavour ourselves to follow the blessed steps of his most holy life." Here "Christian holiness is represented as so inseparable from Christian profession, that the example of the Redeemer himself is held out for his redeemed to imitate. If we thankfully receive the inestimable benefit of salvation through him who was given to be unto us a sacrifice for sin,' no fairer proof can be required of the unfeigned sincerity of our thankfulness, than to consider him also as an ensample of godly life.' Indeed, to contemplate great and good men, with a view to imitate them, has ever been the delight of virtuous minds; and the higher the stamp of excellence which marks the man, the more advantageous is the study of his character. We cannot aim too high. The higher our aim, the higher our attainment. Upon this principle is founded the apostle's exhortation, that we go on unto perfection.' Not that we can reach absolute perfection; but we are expected to reach that moral or possible perfection, which consists in doing our best to fulfil the law of God, and so to serve him in sincerity and truth,' that the meritorious perfection of our Redeemer may be mercifully considered and accepted as our own. We therefore endeavour, by Divine assistance, to imitate Jesus Christ in his obedience, and in the exercise of those graces with which it was attended."* Let us see to it, that our system of religion is made up of those two parts which this Collect sets forth to our view; a reliance upon Christ's expiatory death, and a diligent imitation of his example. God hath joined these together in his own word; and we cannot separate them in our religious systems or our personal practice, without dishonouring his will and his truth.

The EPISTLE is an exhortation to patience under suffering, after the example of Christ. If we look at its connexion with the foregoing context, we shall see that it is particularly addressed to servants; who, it appears, at that time imagined that their Christian liberty set them free from their unbelieving and cruel

* James on the Collects.

masters. The apostle corrects this mistake, and tells them, that if they were patient under their hardships, while they suffered unjustly, and continued doing their duty to their unbelieving masters, this would be acceptable to God, and he would recompense those who suffered unjustly out of regard to him. To be patient under deserved chastisement, argues the apostle, deserves no praise; but patient endurance in well-doing under suffering, this is acceptable with God. Christians are called expressly so to suffer, from the example of Christ, who, for our sake, endured the most unjust sufferings; and intended that we should follow his steps, by "suffering with him." We have sinned, and deserve to have suffering sent upon us; but Christ "did no sin," wrought no iniquity of any sort whatever; "neither was guile found in his mouth;" his words, as well as actions, were irreproachable." When he was reviled, he reviled not again;" he did not answer the blasphemy of his enenies by blasphemy, but "as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he opened not his mouth." Even "when he suffered" positive violence from their hands, he "threatened not," but entrusted himself and his cause to Him who would avenge him, and who has said, "vengeance is mine, I will repay." Nay, Christ did much more than endure evil words and violence; he "his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree;" in his own person sustained the weight of the guilt of our sins, on an ignominious cross of wood; "that we being dead unto sin might live unto righteousness;" giving us an emblem and a motive for the mortification of sin, and the living unto God; "by whose stripes ye were healed;" whose deadly wounds at his crucifixion have been the means of healing our wound of sin, the bite of the old serpent. "For ye were" by nature as "sheep going astray," wandering from the fold of God, and therefore from happiness; "but are now returned" from your sinful wanderings unto Christ "the good Shepherd" and Overseer of your souls.

In the GOSPEL Christ declares himself to be "the good Shepherd." "Now he was and is the good Shepherd eminently and exclusively; from him all pious and useful rulers and teachers derive their authority and ability; him they represent, as their principal; and resemble, in proportion to their fidelity, 'diligence, love, and zeal; but compared with him, they are mean, defective, contracted, and defiled; and their goodness is not only derived, but scanty and even as nothing. Yet great and good, just and holy as he is, he saw his sheep about to perish in their wanderings from God; and, in order to expiate their guilt, and to ransom them from destruction, he not only endured hardship or encountered danger, but he laid down his life for them and in their stead. According to this example, his faithful servants, constrained by love to him and to his ransomed flock, are ready to venture and suffer for their benefit. On the contrary, the hireling, to whom the ministry is a mere lucrative trade, not having any real regard to the welfare of the flock (being like a hireling shepherd, who regards nothing except his wages), will flee away to secure himself when danger arises, and will leave the people to be misled by seducers, or destroyed by persecutors, without giving himself any concern about them. In contrast with such, our Lord again "avows himself to be the good Shepherd, who knows his sheep,' distinguishes them from all others, knows their dangers, difficulties, enemies, weakness, and wants: and they know him by faith and experience:' they are so acquainted with his perfections and offices, that they trust in, love, submit to, and obey him. This mutual knowledge of, and acquiescence in, each other, resembles the knowledge which the Father hath of the Son, and the Son of the Father; and in consequence of his knowledge and love of them, he was determined to lay down his life for them." But he had yet other

sheep who were "his sheep, though at that time living in abominable idolatries and iniquities, who were not of that fold' nor of the commonwealth of Israel; but in due time, through the ransom he was about to pay for them, he would, by his word and Spirit, bring them forth, cause them to hear his voice, take them under his care, and unite them with the Jewish converts under him, the one Shepherd and Overseer of their souls."*

The Cabinet.

APOSTOLICAL SUCCESSION. The universal consent of the Church being proved, there is as great reason to believe the apostolical succession of the ministry to be of Divine institution as the canon of Scripture, or the observance of the Lord's day.—Bp. Stillingfleet.

SEARCH THE SCRIPTURES.-Go to, now, most dear reader, and sit thee down at the Lord's feet, and read his word; as Moses teacheth the Jews, take them into thine heart, and let thy talking and communication be of them when thou sittest in thine house, or goest by the way, when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And above all things, fashion thy life and conversation according to the doctrine of the Holy Ghost therein, that thou mayest be partaker of the good promises of God in the Bible, and be happy of his blessing in Christ; in whom if thou put thy trust, and be an unfeigned reader of his word with thine heart, thou shalt find sweetness therein, and spy wondrous things, to thine understanding, to the avoiding all seditious sects, to the abhorring thine own sinful life, and to the establishing of thy godly conversation.-Bp. Miles Coverdale.

RELIGIOUS GOSSIP is quite as bad as any other. It can be by no means edifying to be perpetually discussing the spiritual state of others, and giving our opinion on their progress. We can scarcely indulge in any such comments without being in some degree censorious; and it would always do us much more good quietly to examine our own hearts, than to interfere with the conduct or consciences of those around us.Mrs. John Sandford.

INGRATITUDE.-Ingratitude is a vice odious to man, and highly offensive to God. To what cause, then, must it be attributed? The solution of this problem will be found in the pride and corruption of the human heart. Mary Jane M'Kenzie.

THE MEANS OF ASCERTAINING WHETHER WE ARE TRUE BELIEVERS. A tree is known by its fruit; the workman is known by his work. Whosoever, then, shews these works, and brings forth these fruits, hath an infallible argument, that the Spirit of God, the earnest of his salvation, dwells in his heart; that his faith is a true, saving faith; that his believing is no presumption, no false conceit, no delusion of the devil, but the true and certain motion of God's own Spirit. The rising of the sun is known by the shining beams; the fire is known by its burning; the life of the body is known by its moving. Even so certainly is the presence of God's Spirit known by the shining light of a holy conversation. Even so certainly the purging fire of grace is known by the burning zeal against sin, and a fervent desire to keep God's commandments. Even so certainly the life and liveliness of faith is known by the good motions of the heart, by the bestirring of all the powers both of soul and body to do whatsoever God wills us to be doing, as soon as we once know he would have us do it. He that hath this evidence hath a bulwark against despair, and may dare the devil to his face. He that hath this hath the broad seal of eternal life; and such a man shall live for ever.-Joseph Mede.

Rev. T. Scott's Commentary.