are in the habit of using when joining in our scriptural and spiritual Liturgy, you would soon find reason to be ashamed of such inconsistency as that of putting in the plea of the guilty sinner asking for mercy, while you trusted in yourself that you were righteous and needed no mercy. A. T.

SCRIPTURE REFLECTION.

"After two days he will revive us; in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight."-Hosea vi. 2.

THIS valuable portion of sacred truth wus fulfilled when Christ rose from the dead. We died with him; we were buried with him, and we rose with him, even all his people. That there was an accession to the joy and blessedness of the Old Testament saints we have every reason to believe, and also of angels who announced the birth of the Sa viour with songs of praise and thanksgiving. How much more his resurrection from the dead, when he spoiled principalities and powers, having vanquished death, and all the powers of darkness for us, that we might only meet with vanquished foes, and see that all our accumulated sorrows were laid on Christ, and borne by him when his soul was exceeding sorrowful; so that we may and ought to sing for joy of heart, because we are set at full and happy liberty. We have not received from our Lord Jesus Christ the Spirit of

bondage again

to fear, but the Spirit of adoption, whereby we have boldness to cry Abba, Father. The spirit of bondage comes from Satan, who delights to make void in our experience the liberty, comfort, and confidence by which we are invited to draw near, very near; yea to enter into our abiding rest. But it is the work of our great enemy to fill with disquietude and confusion; whereas it should be our care to abide in God, because he is the sum and substance of all our desires. "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you."

"FEAR GOD, HONOUR THE KING."
1 Peter ii. 17.

6

A Sermon Preached on the thirtieth day of January, Being the day of the Martyrdom of the blessed King CHARLES the First; to implore the mercy of God, that neither the guilt of that sacred and innocent blood, nor those other sins, by which God was provoked to deliver up both us and our King into the hands of cruel and unreasonable men, may at any time hereafter be visited upon us or our posterity.'

Introduction.-Connexion between the former and the latter like that between the first and second table

-the same God that spake the one spake the other. That these are ever disunited is either from men's deceiving themselves as to the possession of the former at all, or from their ignorance as to its real extent and full meaning; for I need not say that where the fear of God is really possessed, and has its full effect in the heart, it has an effect so powerful as to make obedience to every command of God certain, and submission to the severest trials to be chosen in preference to disobedience. That this was not the case in respect to those who made the service of this day needful-the regicides-was abundantly clear, and can only be accounted for by these two things; First, that many of them deceived themselves altogether, fancying that they had the fear of God when they had not, and the rest were ignorant of the real nature an extent of the fear of God.

It may be well then to consider, First, the fear of God. A principle implanted in the heart by God, which produces obedience to his will in all things.

1. A principle of action implanted in the heart by God, which produces obedience to his will in all things.

It is called by Solomon, "The beginning of wisdom;" that is, it lies at the bottom of all true religion; it is that moving principle. He tells us in another place, the whole of man is to "fear God and keep his commandments," that is in this simply and reality; it comprehends the whole of man for time and eternity.

It is the promise of the New Covenant, "I will put my law into their hearts, that they shall not depart from me." "There is no fear of God before their eyes," says David.

"Honour the King."-God, the King of kings, and Lord of lords, has not left this lower world to the utter confusion of being governed by the corrupt passions of men, without ordaining and putting into the hearts of men to see the reasonableness of a certain order of carrying on things which is for the good of the whole body. Thus as there are according to his appointment the different degrees of men, as high and low, rich and poor, learned and ignorant, so must there be some in authority and power, and some under authority. Thus by the appointment of God are Parents in authority, Children under authority; Masters in authority, Servants under authority and as men began to multiply, Kings and Rulers in authority, Subjects under authority; and in the Church, Ministers in authority, People under authority; and all clearly by the appointment of God. Hence if we really have "the fear of God," as far as we understand it in its extent and demands, those under authority, because they fear God, honour the King because God commands that they should honour him. Therefore Children will honour their Parents, Servants will honour their Masters; Subjects will honour their Kings; People will honour their Ministers. And if it be not so, we must find the cause where we have before stated it. The child does not honour its Parents because it does not fear God; the servant does not honour his Master because he does not fear God; the subject does not honour the King because he does not fear God; the people do not honour their Minister because they do not fear God or else there is great ignorance of what the nature and extent of the fear of God really is. The

child does not yield the honour due to his parent, because his mind is not fully enlightened to see how far the fear of God ought to carry him, &c. So it was with the different characters of men who more or less were concerned in the carrying on and ending of the awful deed this day done to the King, whom this God whom they professed to serve taught them to honour. The fact is, that whether the case be that of child, servant, people, subject, to submit, though it be the language of God's word, is a word that grates upon the ear of proud and unhumbled man ; submission is a state of mind so opposed to every feeling which sin has raised in the soul of man, that to man, whether child, servant, subject, people, the words which Milton puts into the mouth of Satan are too commonly applicable,—

Is there no way of pardon left?

None left for repentance? None but by submission,
And that word disdain forbids me.

But if this authority, of Parent over child, Master over servant, King over subjects, Minister over peo ple, be of God's appointment, (and he that would deny it of one must deny it of all, and he that would deny it of all must deny the word of God altogether,) how vain it is to fight against God the miseries and confusion that followed upon this day's awful deed may be abundant evidence. These wild and untameable spirits ruined themselves as well as others by setting on fire the course of nature. Absalom, Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, Jeroboam who made Israel to sin in this matter are similar instances. Happy they that really possess the fear of God; happier still they