SERMON.

Ephesians, v. 16.

"REDEEMING THE TIME, BECAUSE THE DAYS ARE EVIL."

The declaration of Jehovah to His ancient people, "I have chosen thee in the furnace of affliction,"* may be considered as prophetic of the state and condition of the church of God, in every age. Not, indeed, that every period of the Church's history has been equally afflictive, as it regards its position in the world; since it has been frequently permitted to remain unmolested by outward violence and persecution; but exemption from these trials has not always proved a season of blessing; for, when persecution may not have made outward havoc of the Church, yet, alas! schisms, and strifes, and divisions have, but too often, rent the unity of the body of Christ.

Much opposition had been manifested by Demetrius, and his fellow workmen, at Ephesus, who, in the spread of the Gospel, foresaw that their "craft was in danger of being set at nought, and the tem. ple of the great goddess Diana despised;"† yet, it

*Isai. xlviii. 10.

Acts xix. 27.

was against certain false teachers, who laboured to corrupt the gospel, by the imposition of ceremonial rites, and heathen observances, that the Apostle, more especially, warned the Ephesian converts. In a former chapter, he had exhorted them to be no longer as "children tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine by the sleight of men and cunning craftiness whereby they lie in wait to deceive;"* and, in the chapter from whence my text is taken, he urges them to a line of conduct, becoming their christian character. "Ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord walk as children of light and have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them."+" See that ye walk cir· cumspectly, not as unwise, but as wise." Buying, seizing, every opportunity," because the days are evil:" On this account be, in your own character, and conduct, not thoughtless, "but understanding what the will of the Lord is."§

If such was the address of the Apostle to the Church of Ephesus, it appears no less applicable to ourselves, as Ministers of Christ's Church, whose lot has been cast in days, that are confessedly allowed to be evil.

In requesting, however, your attention, my reverend brethren, on the present occasion, to certain

* Ephes. IV. 14.

† ver. 8. 11.

‡ ver. 15.

§ ver. 17.

points worthy of our consideration, and as marking "the days" in which we live to be" evil;" I trust, that I shall advance nothing that will appear, in the most distant degree, to trench on the office of our ecclesiastical superiors, to whom occasions like the present afford opportunity of counselling and directing us, in our several duties and requirements. Nor, would I forget the respect and deference that is due from me, to so many my elders, and to all others my equals, in the Ministry; and though I should bring forward such subjects only, as our present circumstances render obvious to all, yet even, in that case, some good, I trust, will be effected, by that mutual communication of information and sympathy, which it is most desirable for those to cultivate, who minister at the same altar, and who must suffer or triumph together.

It must appear evident to the most cursory observer, that one of the most striking features of the present day, is the attempt to get rid of the open acknowledgment of God's Providence, in the government of the world, and in the ordinary affairs of life. If we consider some of the legislative enactments of late years, in a scriptural point of view, we have, I think, just grounds to fear, that this spirit, which first manifested itself in a neighbouring country, is fast spreading amongst ourselves. For example, the degrading of the Divine Institution of Marriage to a mere civil contract, is so pointedly condemned by our Lord, that it does

appear strange, that persons professing an entire subjection to New Testament appointments and institutions, should so earnestly have laboured to procure that degradation.* Again, the Registration of Birth instead of Baptism; of Death, instead of Burial; and the attempts to separate Religion from instruction, in certain proposed plans of National Education, have so direct a bearing on the moral condition, and consequently on the happiness of our country, as to demand our most serious consideration.

As it regards the education of the rising genetion, a system is suggested, in which, under the pleas of charity, and the union of all sects and denominations, the essential doctrines of christianity are required to be sacrificed. It is assumed, that in different individuals, different principles take an undue lead ;-that, in every age, some one principle appears to have had a preponderating influence, which stamps a peculiar character on the conduct of individuals, and nations, so as to produce great national individual unhappiness;-that for the cure of such evils, education is the appropriate remedy; an education whereby the various powers of the youthful being, as they are developed, are to be trained to a healthy action, by some distinct knowledge of the properties of numbers, drawing, spelling, perhaps the learned languages, composition, and natural philosophy are to form a *Note A. Appendix.

part,-but, from which, in order to insure unity, religious instruction is to be excluded.

Moreover, the proposal of placing the education of the country under a Government Board cannot be considered, without some anxious thoughts arising in the mind of those who desire to make the Scriptures the rule of their conduct, when we find that proposal gratifying some of the most leading public men of the Roman Catholic faith, and all who are interested in the system alluded to; whilst, neither from the declarations of the government, nor from the acts of those who are friends of the proposed system, can it be, with any certainty, known that even the Scriptures of the authorized version are to be invariably used.

In whatever point of view, therefore, the proposed schemes of National Education present themselves, we cannot fail, I think, to discover that an attempt is about to be made to sever the education of the rising generation from those to whose hands it has hitherto been intrusted; to prevent the Schools of the people from being connected with the Church of the people, and the Teachers of English children from being associated in their labours with the Clergy of the English people.

In addition to all this, it is maintained, that some general act of the Legislature is desirable to take out of the court of Chancery the control of our charity funds, left for the purposes of education, and

B