for their own repentance, not for their own faith as a work of theirs; but because the Lord loveth them, and because he would perform his promised mercy, and would remember his holy covenant; because he hath made them his people he would save them, because he would bless for ever his inheritance. I am addressing a mixed assembly, and there must be some among us (how many there are GOD alone can tell) who have no interest in GoD's covenant of mercy, no saving grace of the hope of Israel. Of such I can only speak as GOD did of the predecessors of the children of Israel, for their wickedness they shall be driven out; unrepenting, unbelieving, still in their sins, iniquitous and abominable, they are enemies to GOD, and he is an enemy to them; he regards them with anger, whetting his sword and bending his bow against them, preparing for them the instruments of death, and levelling his arrows against all who persist in sin and refuse or neglect his mercy. Unlike the devoted nations the enemies of GOD have now mercy offered them; but if, as the devoted nations, they will not turn, as the same, they shall be cast out for ever, and shall be destroyed from the presence of the Lord. Consider this ye that forget God, “lest ye be torn in pieces, and there be none to deliver." Remember, and forget not, that "the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the nations that forget GOD." But to you who we may humbly hope belong to GOD, and are of his people, and of his inheritance, to you, I say, be thankful in heart. Praise GOD for his distinguishing love and infinite mercy; and remembering your state by nature, as also recollecting your stiff-neckedness, and your many provocations, your ingratitude and backsliding since you were called into his fold, be humbled for your unworthiness, be ashamed of your transgressions, and be afraid even to mention your own righteousness, or to give a passing thought to the uprightness of your hearts in connection with your salvation. If saved, you are saved" by grace through faith; and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God; not of works, or any goodness of our own, lest any should boast." You are to make your calling and election sure to prove to yourselves and others that you are indeed of God's Israel, and that you are travelling towards the promised land by your obedience to the laws of GOD, by the holiness of your lives and conversation; but having done all, having been in all things attentive to godliness, you must think, and say, you are unprofitable servants. Be you diligent and good; but avoid boasting as you would the most provoking offence you can commit. This And now in inviting you to a participation in this work of love I would call you to it not as a means of procuring your salvation, but as a means of expressing your thankfulness to Him, who of his free mercy has prepared, from the beginning, the kingdom for his people. Your benevolence too, on this occasion, may form a proof that you belong to GOD, if it be practised with simplicity of heart, with true humility, and without grudging. If having in yourselves the knowledge and the love of GoD, and the prospect of heaven, you cannot fail of being desirous of imparting that knowledge to others, of training up others in that love, of affording to others that blissful prospect. is what I ask you to do for these children. Our object is to bring them up in the fear and nurture of the Lord, and to the praise of his holy name; to educate them, as sound members of our established church, in that doctrine and discipline which we are well assured are according to truth and godliness; and to render them useful and respectable members of society, peaceable, honest, and industrious. It is our anxious aim to put them in the way of passing through this life religiously, creditably, and virtuously, to a life of everlasting rest and glory. We desire to give them a clue for their pilgrimage through the wilderness, which may lead them safely to the promised land; not by their own righteousness, but by the free and unmerited grace of the GOD and Saviour whom they are taught to believe. As, therefore, you wish to promote the glory of GoD-as you wish to uphold your church, and to extend its blessed and saving influence-as you would preserve these little ones from ignorance and vice, and convert souls from death unto life, come forward now, and assist us in our present application. Assist us with your bounty, giving plenteously assist us with your countenance, showing your good will towards this institution-assist us in the most valuable manner with your prayers, and join in beseeching the Father of mercies that he would be pleased to prosper this work of our hands for us; I call the assistance of your prayers the most valuable, as indeed it is, not meaning that you should thereby relax the bounty of your hearts. Those who pray for us the most will probably be the most bounteous bestowers in aid of the cause of which I am the humble advocate. occasional sermons and anniversary dinners, is not adequate to the payment of rents, masters, and other incidental charges, nor can the expenditure be contracted within narrower limits without diminishing its usefulness. Most earnestly, therefore, do the committee hope, that the depressed condition of the finances of the city of London National Schools, may induce many of their wellwishers to contribute both by example and persuasion to restore them to a prosperous state. If the finances have declined, the committee have still to announce with satisfaction, that in point of number and discipline the schools continue to flourish." I have not heard that the finances have since improved; and I am quite sure from my knowledge of the conductors of the institution, I particularly allude to the Treasurer, the Secretary and other officers of the Society, that there can be no falling off in the discipline and efficiency of the schools. | The City of London National Schools were established in the year 1813, for the education of poor children on the Madras system, and on the principles of the established church of England. By this charity one thousand boys and girls daily receive the benefit of religious instruction, and are taught reading, writing, and arithmetic; in addition to which the girls are instructed in needle-work. All the children attend twice on a Sunday at some of the neighbouring parish churches. Under the blessing of Divine Providence, the objects of this institution have been eminently attended with success, in proportion to its ability. Its founders and friends earnestly entreat the support of the inhabitants of the different wards, and the public, to enable them to continue, and still more generally to extend its advantages to the poor of the city of London. You will allow me to read one extract from the Report of last year. "The Committee"-of which I had at that time the honor to be a member" are under the painful necessity of stating, that the income of the charity from annual subscriptions, including the aid derived from My brethren, without boasting let me tell you, that this work of instructing youth in the way they should gothis work of religiously and virtuously educating the children of our poorer neighbours, is a work acceptable to GOD. His word warrants me to say that he approves it; and he will reward it, though not of debt, for we owe him already more than we can pay, yet of grace. Speak not unto your hearts, saying, "For this liberality the Lord will bring us to heaven, for this charity the Lord will give us everlasting life," but you may say, "This work is pleasing to GOD." Imperfect as it is, and as all we can do is, yet the Lord graciously accepts our endeavours to serve him. Not weighing our merits, but pardoning our offences, he approves our kind offices towards these little ones; and he will not forget our labours of love, which he considers as shown for his name's sake. We are saved freely, but the Lord expects us, as his people, to be fruitful in good works, | 1. No. 140.] SERMON BY THE REV. W. JAY. THURSDAY, MAY 2, 1833. [Price 3d. A Sermon, DELIVERED BY THE REV. W. JAY, AT SURREY CHAPEL, SUNDAY EVENING, MAY 19, 1833. Titus, ii. 11-14. "For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and evil lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Of all the blessings, my brethren, which GOD has conferred upon the children of men, none will bear a comparison with the Gospel. Isaiah, the evangelical prophet, often refers to it, and, like an eastern, labours for metaphors to express his admiration and praise of it; he often foretells the introduction of it, and always as an era of joy and gladness. Sometimes he takes his images from the scenery of vegetation; "for in the wilderness," says he, "shall waters break out, and streams in the desert;" "and the wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice and blossom as the rose." Sometimes he derives them from the animal kingdom; and says, "the wolf also shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard shall lie 'down with the kid; and the calf and the young lion and the fatlings together; and a little child shall lead them. And the cow and the bear shall feed; their young ones shall lie down together; and the lion shall eat straw like the ox." Sometimes he takes A from the human body. 'Observe," says he, "the blind, the deaf, the lame, the dumb;" but, "then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man VOL. V. 66 leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing." He therefore calls upon the whole universe to feel and express their extasy; Sing, O ye heavens; for the Lord hath done it: shout, ye lower parts of the earth: break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, and glorified himself in Israel." No wonder, therefore, that our Saviour should call his Gospel of the kingdom," the pearl of great price," and "the treasure hid in the field;" and no wonder that our apostle should call it "the glorious Gospel of the blessed GOD." It is of this he speaks, and of this only in the words which I have read. The Gospel, therefore, will be this evening our subject. It is not to be supposed, that we should be able to examine minutely, every circumstance of reflection in a passage of Scripture so replete with materials; but let us confine our attention to two things. First, WHAT IS HERE SAID OF ITS NATURE. Secondly, WHAT IS HERE SAID OF ITS INFLUENCE. Consider what we say; and may the Lord give you understanding in all things. First, WHAT IS HERE SAID OF ITS FF NATURE?"The grace of God that 1 The name. "The grace of God." This is a name often applied to it in Scripture. I hardly know how far it will be necessary to adduce passages in proof of this; otherwise we could read, "this is the true grace of GoD wherein we stand "-" receive not the grace of GoD in vain"-" it is a good thing for the heart to be established with grace," and so on: for in all these places, "the grace of GOD" means simply the Gospel. Such a denomination of it can be easily accounted for; not however only, or principally, as some imagine, because it was communicated in a manner the most mild and gentle, void of all those tremendous appendages which terrified the Jews on Horeb in the giving of the law, and when Moses, half way up the hill, said, "I exceedingly feared and quaked—” "For we are come to Zion's hill, The city of our GOD, Where milder words declare his will, And spread his grace abroad." But it is named so chiefly to remind us of its source. As we are unworthy of the least of all God's mercies, grace may be inscribed on every blessing we enjoy. As we are guilty before God and deserve destruction from his presence, the bread we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe, the raiment we put on-all is of grace. What then are we to think of the Gospel itself? Surely this could only arise from the good pleasure of his goodness. Surely we contributed nothing towards this dispensation by 'our desert or preparations to receive it, or desires after it. It was given freely, therefore, in every conceivable sense of the word. And not only does it spring from the grace of GoD, but it also reveals it, and testifies of it. Suppose now we had been informed that GOD was 'going to send down from heaven, even by his own Son, a communication concerning his treatment of this world of rebels, what would have been the foreboding of our minds? Why, nothing but a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation to devour up the adverBut we are told that "GOD sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved." "He is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised us up together with him in the heavenly places. Why it is, says the Apostle," that in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness towards us through Christ Jesus." Observe its subject. “The grace of GOD bringing salvation." The Gospel is not employed on a trifle ; it is not sent to be a judge and a divider over us in our secular claims; it is not designed to teach us how to work in iron or brass, or handle the harp or the organ, or to teach us languages, or commerce, or husbandry, or civil policy; to all this reason is equal, unaided by revelation. The infinite importance of the Gospel is to be inferred from the subject it brings, which is salvation. This is a blessing which we can never too highly extol. It is called “a great salvation." It was a great salvation the Jews experienced when they were redeemed from the land of Egypt, and the house of bondage; and it was a great salvation they experienced when released from Babylon, and allowed to return to their own country; but the greatness of this salvation is unsearchable. Those salvations were produced by an exertion of divine power only; the salvation here spoken of was achieved by nothing less than the incarnation, the sufferings, and death of the Son of God. Those salvations were for the body-this for the soul; they were for time-this for eternity. And, my dear hearers, there is nothing really great that has not a relation to the soul and eternity. This, this, therefore, is the highest recommendation of the Gospel, that it brings salvation. Not indeed in the estimation of those who never saw they were in a perishing condition; this is the reason why they disregard it; because while the blessing is spiri tual they are carnal; and, therefore, despising the invitation they go their way, one to his farm, another to his merchandise, and in a little while they will learn by experience what their bargains and their merchandise can do for them in their neglect of the Gospel. But as to the man who will make the jailor's inquiry, "What must I do to be saved?"-why this is the very book for him. I can look into Blackstone to know how to save my property-I can look into Galen to know how to save my health-I can look into Epictetus or Seneca to know how to save my reputation; but if I would know how to attain salvation for my soul, in the day of the Lord Jesus with eternal glory, I must come to the Scriptures. Here are the words of eternal life. I must come to the Apostles and Prophets, those servants of the most high GOD, who show unto men the way of salvation. I am expiring, and here is a remedy; I am in bondage, and here is a redemption; I am perishing, and here is balm in Gilead and a physician; I am destitute, here is the bread of life; naked, here is a robe of righteousness; poor, here are unsearchable riches; I am nothing, here I can possess all things, and exclaim with the Apostle," blessed is the GOD and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." Observe its manifestation. "The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men." Christianity was designed to be a light to lighten the Gentiles as well as the glory of the people Israel. Christ, therefore said, "I am come a light,” not into a room, but, "I am come a light into the world;" and hence he is compared not to a lamp, however large or advantageously suspended, which can shed but a partial and confined illumination after all; but to the orb of day and saith Bildad, on whom doth not his light arise?" He irradiates the valley as well as the hill, and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. This will be the final result of Christianity. Down to this time it has had to do with individuals and families; by and by there will be the nations of those who are saved. "He 66 will sprinkle many, all nations shall fall down before him, and all kings shall serve him"-" the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea"- Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill shall be made low; and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it." And to this universality it is every way adapted; there is nothing in Christianity restrictive. The Jewish religion, though divine in its origin, was confined, and necessarily confined to one people; for to mention nothing more, how could all the males in all other countries have repaired three times a year to have appeared before the Lord, in Jerusalem, and to have offered sacrifices there? But Christianity has no localities. “The hour cometh," said our Saviour to the woman, "when neither in this mountain nor Jerusalem shall men," exclusively or superstitiously, " wor.. ship the Father." "GOD is a spirit; and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." By revealing pardoning mercy, and sanctifying grace, and eternal life, it is easy to see, that the Gospel addresses man only as man, regardless of any adventitious distinctions. It regards him only in his free essential exigencies and interests, and which are the same with regard to all men, wherever they are; and that is, first, as a guilty creature, secondly, as a depraved creature, and thirdly, as a creature who, though fallen, is still great, and destined to immortality. It passes by all the little distinctions that exist for a few moments here between the great and the small, the rich and the poor, the learned and the illiterate, and verifies the language of the Apostle, " there is neither Jew nor Greek, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free; but Christ is all, and in all." And surely this will much stronger apply to those little differences that subsist among those who equally worship GoD in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh? It is painful to think how disposed |