and their doctrines are with us to this day. O may their mantles rest upon us, and may we emulate the zeal and faithfulness with which they served their Lord; they are gone to their last account-our brother has joined them, and we are rapidly following. The time is short. Whatever we do, we must do quickly. Soon we shall appear with our respective charges before the judgment-seat of Christ. How solemn the scene which then will open between a pastor and his flock; when all his official conduct to them shall be scrutinized, and all their treatment of him and of his message shall be laid bare; when it shall be discovered that an omniscient eye followed him into his study, and traced every motion of his heart, followed him into the pulpit, and watched every kindling desire, every drowsy feeling, every wandering thought, every reach after fame. Ah, my brethren, when we hear on the right hand the songs of bursting praise that we ever had an existence, and on the left a company of wretched spirits sending forth the loud and bitter lamentation that we had not warned them with a stronger, a more piercing voice-shall we not regret that all our sermons were not more impassioned, and all our prayers more agonizing? On the bare apprehension of such a scene, is not each of us ready to cry, Give me poverty, give me the reproaches of a wicked world, give me even the martyr's stake, but, O my God, save me from unfaithfulness to thee and to the souls of men! SERMON I. Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. JOHN I. 29. THE character and official employment of John the Baptist, deserve peculiar regard. The greatness of his character has been given by one who was not liable to mistake, and who could not utter any thing false; it was thus expressed, "Of all who have been born of women, there hath not arisen a greater than John." As to his office, he was the harbinger of the glorious Messiah, and came to bear the most clear and full testimony to Him. "He came as a witness" both to the glory of his person, and his important work; part of his testimony is now before us. What claims to attention such a speaker possesses! View him surrounded with a multitude of sinful persons; his heart feels for them, he has to direct them to one "mighty to save," he does so with affection and warmth, probably pointing to Jesus while he uttered the language of the text, "Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world." To whom can we look but to the same object? Can B |