receiving your children at the font, as it received your selves before; and going from the font to the altar to join the thankful mother in her praises to almighty God for her deliverance from the great pain and peril of child-birth. Then, when illness comes upon you, and lays you low upon the bed of suffering, the Prayer-book brings the priest to your side, bids him soothe your aching heart, fill you with the hopes of the Gospel, and pour upon you, by his effectual blessing, a peace which this world can neither give nor take away. Nay, it leaves you not even when your eyes are closed in death; it waits for you by the side of the opened tomb, and gravely and affectionately commits your spirit to almighty God, reminding the dull earth that it must give you up again at the resurrection of the dead. Again; are there any here present who are mothers, whose affections are far away with sons who are serving their country on the great deep? How blessed for them to feel that there, on the wide sea, the Prayer-book, perhaps the very one they gave them at parting, is with them still; that its calm and untroubled voice is lifted up above the swelling of the storm; and that should death come to any one among them, the Prayer-book speaks as much of

hope and rest on the tossing waters as if it were still

in a quiet country churchyard at home.

Now there is something so simple, so touching,

so gentle, in this domestic character of our Church

services, that a person who had weighed them well,

a person who bore in mind how, for generations and generations, the Prayer-book, like a ministering angel, had walked side by side with his fathers, would surely feel as if he were wronging their sacred memory lightly to leave the inheritance they had left him, and to seek for a home in some far land among aliens and strangers. It is only in the bosom of the Church that you can realise that strong feeling of home which is so grateful to a mind weary with the endless tossings of this unquiet generation. It is the Church only, which, full of life and power within herself, can afford to discountenance that feverish excitement, on which unsatisfying food so many of the poor sheep of Christ are content to feed; that can say to her children, in all her staid, and grave, and beautiful solemnities, "In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and confidence shall be your strength." It is the Church only, who, from her lofty seat, will not stoop to allure you onwards by dangerous novelties in doctrine or in discipline; that turns neither to the right hand nor the left, but walks meekly upon the old ways whereon the Lord hath placed her, and where his gracious hand will keep her steady for evermore. It is the Church only who dares lift up her voice to reprove all heresy and schism, who will not, and does not, respect persons; and who, strong in the confidence of her most holy faith-" that faith once for all delivered to the saints"-dares openly to pronounce the threatenings of God against those who deny the divinity of his blessed Son, and bring another doctrine than that which hath been delivered to us "from the beginning." Shall it be for us, then, my brethren, to leave this loving mother? Shall it be for us to hew out cisterns for ourselves, to leave those green pastures and fresh water-courses, wherein we may now live so peaceably? I pray God most fervently that he will

keep us stedfast in this faith, that he will not let us be "blown about by every wind and blast of vain doctrine; for he that is unstable as water shall not excel."

THE COMING OF CHRIST WITHOUT SIN UNTO SALVATION:

A Sermon for Advent,

BY THE REV. THOMAS BISSLAND, M.A.
Rector of Hartley Maudytt, Hants.
HEB. ix. 28.

"And unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation." WHEN our blessed Redeemer previous to his crucifixion had declared to his sorrowing disciples, that he should speedily return to his Father, he at the same time comforted them not only with the assurance that the Holy Spirit would be shed abroad upon their hearts, but that he should come and receive them unto himself; that where he was, there they might be also. The effect of this blessed Spirit, they fully comprehended; its true imassurance, when enlightened by the divine their faith firmly established, was powerfully port, when all doubts were removed, and hour of trial, their uncompromising stedfastmanifested in their patient submission in the ness in the hour of danger, their willingness to part with every earthly comfort for the joy that was set before them. And if this im

portant truth be received by us, and impress us, as it ought, and as it is intended that it should, it will stimulate us to active exertion in the great duties of our Christian calling; "to be always abounding in the work of the Lord;" to seek that, when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, "without sin unto salvation," we also may appear with him in glory.

I. The first point in the passage selected for our meditation deserving our notice, is the fact that Jesus will again appear. It is a fact grounded on the testimony of his apcstles, on the testimony of angels, and what renders it, if possible, more certain, on his own; and the apostles exhorted the converts, to whom their epistles were directed, to be ever on the watch for this momentous event; "to be ever looking for the blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ."

Difficult, if not impossible, as it must be for us, with limited faculties, to form any adequate notion of the splendour with which the Saviour shall be invested at his second advent, the Bible abounds with the most vivid descriptions of that event. We are told "that he shall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him;" that these blessed beings, who were the harbingers of his incarnation, the comforters of his agony, the witnesses of

his ascension, and who constitute the chariots of God, will follow in his train. We are told that he shall sit upon the throne of his glory, and that before him shall be gathered all nations; that he is constituted Judge of the quick and the dead; for that the Father hath committed all judgment to the Son for this very purpose, that all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. Even in his state of humiliation there was a glory which essentially marked the dignity of the Saviour's character, which proved him to be infinitely superior to the most distinguished of the sons of men, and which must have been acknowledged even by his most inveterate enemies, had not prejudice, or, more properly, the desperate malignity of their characters, blinded their eyes that they should not see, and hardened their hearts that they should not understand. "The Word was made flesh," says the evangelist John," and dwelt among us; and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth." But the glory of the returning Saviour will be more transcendently striking. The statements respecting the Saviour's triumphant return, while eminently calculated to inspire us with holy reverence for his character, are ill suited, however, to convey consolation to the sinner burdened with a deep sense of guilt; and it is therefore consolatory for the penitent believer to know that the most blessed results will flow, to those who look for the Saviour, from his second advent.

For the apostle further declares that Jesus will come "without sin unto salvation." The expression "without sin" does not imply that when he was invested with man's nature, the Saviour was, in the slightest degree, contaminated with sin. In the nature of the holy child Jesus there was no tendency to evil. Sanctified even from the womb, the most seductive temptations assailed him in vain. Fruitless were the attempts of the arch-enemy to induce him to offer an impious worship; and though he underwent indignities and privations which seldom have found a parallel in the history of human suffering, there was the same unsullied purity of principle, the same undeviating obedience to his heavenly Father's will. The apostle would have us understand that Jesus will come again, but without a sinoffering; for so the word in the original language of the epistle may be translated. As it is appointed to all men once to die, but after that the judgment; so Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many. Addressing men well versed in all the customs of their forefathers, in all the peculiarities of the Mosaic ritual, the declaration of the apostle carried with it peculiar force. The return

of the Saviour in power and great glory was typified by the return of the high-priest from the inward tabernacle. For after appearing there in the presence of God, and making atonement for the people in a plain and simple dress, he came out arrayed in robes of extraordinary magnificence, to bless the assembled congregation. But still he was required to make a new atonement in these pontifical garments. Herein, then, was the wide distinction: the high-priest, even at his return, again offered sacrifice; Jesus, at his return, requires to offer none: the one oblation and satisfaction having been made when he expired in agony on Calvary, he shall return without a sin-offering unto salvation. In one sense, indeed, as the death of Christ was the primary cause of man's salvation, so it may be said to have been accomplished when that event took place, and the gift to be bestowed even in this present life. But Jesus, at his second coming, will fully bestow the inestimable blessings which the expression salvation implies. He will emancipate from the power of the grave-he will open the gates of the heavenly kingdom-he will grant a ready admission to the many mansions of his Father's house. The soul of the believer who comes to Christ as a Saviour, and seeks through the merits of his cross and passion reconciliation with God, becomes partaker of this salvation, and enjoys, even amidst the most trying circumstances of worldly afflic tion, a frame of calm composure, and patient, willing submission, to which others necessarily are strangers.

Meditating with holy rapture on the transcendent love of God in the redemption of a perishing world-led to acknowledge Jesus as head over all things to his Church, the fountain of all spiritual and eternal blessings,— sanctified by the Holy Spirit, and enabled to resist the manifold temptations by which he is beset, -the believer can indeed affirm the salvation wrought by Jesus to have been great. He can add his testimony to the importance of its proclamation, as a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation; and he will seek to glorify in soul and body that gracious and glorious Being, who hath spoken peace to his troubled spirit, and opened a way of escape from the punishment due to his offences. I earnestly trust that some of those I address have thus become partakers of the inestimable gift referred to; that some of you have felt the value of Christ's salvation, and are testifying that you do feel it by a life consistent with your Christian profession.

In a still more exalted sense do they feel the value of Christ's salvation, who having bid adieu to the cares and anxieties of this

world, are resting in peace and safety until the judgment of the last great day. The souls of true believers, emancipated from the trammels of a corruptible body, enjoy a state of blessed tranquillity-enabled, more fully than when on earth, to appreciate the grace of the Saviour. They have some foretaste of that glory which awaits them, when the trumpet shall sound, and the body be raised incorruptible. Still, the salvation wrought out by the Saviour cannot be fully experienced by them it will not be made manifest until the consummation of all things-until the graves shall be opened, and the sea shall give up her dead, and the Lord Jesus shall come again with ten thousand of his saints. And who shall describe the glories of that morning, which shall behold the Son of Man coming in the clouds of heaven-that morning anticipated with rapture by myriads of ransomed souls? but a morning, alas, which shall consign to everlasting destruction the impenitent and unbelieving-when the wicked shall be turned into hell, and all the people that have forgotten God-when the fearful and abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolators, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake that burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.

66

II. For, let it be observed, that the apostle describes those to whom at his second coming, without a sin-offering, Jesus will bring salvation; it is to those who look for him: Every eye shall indeed see him, and they also which pierced him; and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him:" but to them who look for him shall he bring salvation. What, then, is implied by the expression "looking for the Saviour?" What would St. Peter have us to understand, when he exhorts us to be "looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?" By looking for the Saviour, we are to understand such a continual, habitual watchfulness of conduct, as becomes those who anticipate the arrival of that day, when they shall stand before the judgment-seat, and who trust through his infinite merits to become partakers of his great salvation. Other interpretations have been given of the passage; and the propriety of living in the momentary expectation that the Lord Jesus will appear, has been strongly insisted on, not only as a duty, but as absolutely necessary to salvation. It would seem, however, that the apostle would more peculiarly insist on the being continually prepared for such an event, whenever that event may take place, in accordance with our Lord's own directions at the close of the

parable of the virgins: "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour when the Son of man cometh." The day of death may indeed be termed, as far as the individual is concerned, the day of the Lord's coming; for it is the day which must fix his eternal destiny. In the grave there is no repentance, no contrition, no pardon. The whole period of life is the time, the only time, for preparation; and the uncertainty of its duration is intended and calculated to quicken our vigilance. We are looking and preparing for the coming of the Saviour only when we are diligently devoting ourselves to his serviceacting with a constant reference to his will -seeking every opportunity of testifying our love, gratitude, and reverence for his commands our faith in his sacrifice- our hope in his promises. The diligence of faithful servants, the devotedness of affectionate children, are required of us. In the parable alluded to, we are not only exhorted to be thus looking and watching for the coming of our Lord, but a fearful judgment is denounced against those who are neglecting the duty,-who are thoughtless and unprepared; and we have the express assurance of Jesus himself, that the warning was not addressed exclusively to his own immediate disciples, but unto all; for is not every human being deeply and fearfully interested in the momentous subject? Our Lord declares, "What I say unto you, I say unto all, Watch." Those assuredly are not looking for Christ, who rarely, if ever, think upon the subject of his second appearance, upon the glories of heaven, the terrors of hell; who are not even aroused by the judgments of God, by the fearful instances of mortality occurring so frequently, to realise the certainty of their own death, and its awful results; who pass their lives, if not in gross sin and coarse voluptuousness, yet in vain, frivolous, and useless pursuits; who occupy themselves-- but not in the business of their Lord; who cannot be induced to reflect, that in such an hour as they think not, the Son of man cometh. "Nor is the belief of that coming, so explicitly foretold," to use the words of Bishop Horsley, "an article of little moment in the Christian's creed, however some who call themselves Christians may affect to slight it. It is true, that the expectation of a future retribution is what ought, in the nature of the thing, to be a sufficient restraint upon a wise man's conduct, though we are uninformed of the manner in which the thing will be brought about; and were at liberty to suppose, that every individual lot would be silently determined, without any public entry of the almighty Judge, and without the formality of a public trial. But our merciful

of the present world are resisted by our reason, unless imagination can be engaged on reason's side, to paint the prospect of future good, and display the terror of future suffering, hath been pleased to ordain, that the business shall be so conducted, and the method of the business so foretold, as to strike the profane with awe, and animate the humble and timid." And where, indeed, is the man, however immersed in sin, and however reck

less he may boast himself to be of the judgments of God, who can anticipate without dismay the terrors of that judgment-seat, where his doom must be fixed for everfrom the wrath of which myriads shall call on the rocks to hide them, and the hills to cover them? Where is the humble believer, however compelled to pass through much tribulation, and to buffet the storms of life, who is not animated and cheered by the assurance, that the Saviour whom he loves, and in whom he finds a hiding-place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest, will at last receive him to himself, and, before an assembled and admiring world, will bestow upon him that crown of righteousness, that diadem of beauty, with which they shall be adorned who shall reign with Jesus in his eternal kingdom?

And now, let me ask, what effect does the anticipation of the second advent of the Lord Jesus produce on our minds? Can we exclaim, in the glowing language of the Psalmist," Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth be glad; let the sea make a noise, and all that is therein. Let the field be joyful, and all that is in it: then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice before the Lord; for he cometh, for he cometh to judge the earth; with righteousness to judge the world, and the people with his truth." Let it ever be borne in mind, that the day of the Lord will come, and may come sooner than is contemplated: that, as far as we are concerned, the hour of our departure hence is to us the coming of the Lord; and while it is now the day of grace, and the accepted time, let us seek to obtain, through the merits of the Redeemer, that pardon which he will freely bestow. He is even now waiting to be gracious-he is even now inviting us to come to him. Let us not delay to listen to the invitation; let us accept it, and we are safe; let us not trust to any supposed righteousness of our own, to screen us from the wrath of Him that shall sit on the throne of judgment a wrath to be poured out without measure on the impenitent and on the unbelieving; when "our God shall come," and not keep silence; a fire shall devour before him, and it shall be very tempestuous round about

THE CHURCH IN THE ISLE OF MAN.*

THE deeply-rooted attachment of the Manks to the

Established Church, which precluded dissent till the arrival of the Methodists, and still binds the adherents of that sect to its ordinances, is attributable to various causes. Among them may be enumerated, the tenacious adherence to ancient rites and customs, and the reverence for authority which distinguishes them the commanding influence of the episcopal office, endowed with elevated rank, civil and ecclesiastical power, and ample wealth; and yet, from its peculiar constitution, which assigned to it a throne in every tion of the diocese,-and partly the extraordinary parish church, brought into contact with every porascendency which the episcopal station derived from the character of Bishop Wilson-a prelate tolerant and charitable, yet inflexible in the maintenance of his official authority, and the discipline of his church, promoting by his unwearied personal exertions the economical and moral, as well as spiritual improvement of the people committed to his charge.

"Nothing," says Bishop Wilson, in his history of the island," is more commendable than the discipline of this church. Public baptism is never administered but in the church, and private baptism as the rubric directs. Confirmation and receiving the Lord's supper a necessary preparation for marriage." The bishopric was founded by St. Patrick, A.D. 447. Bishop Wilson drew up the code of ecclesiastical constitutions, which passed into a law in 1703. The following eulogium was bestowed on it by the lord chancellor King: "If the ancient discipline of the Church were lost, it might be found in all its purity in the Isle of Man." The bishop liberally contributed from his private purse to the maintenance of the clergy and of the church. The chapel of St. Matthew, at Douglas, was built chiefly at his own expense, and to the building and repairs of the churches he also subscribed. By him was published the first book ever printed in the Manks language, entitled "The Principles and Duties of Christians."

The veneration with which his memory is cherished is unbounded. I conversed with some old people who remembered him, and with one who well recollected his funeral one of the most impressive scenes which the island ever witnessed. His monument in the church

yard of Kirk Michael is religiously preserved.

It is the excellent practice of the Mankmen employed in the herring-fishery, to commence and end the day with prayers and hymns. Each crew is seen, when the vessel is on the point of sailing, standing up with their heads uncovered for this purpose. The form of prayer was composed by Bishop Wilson, who also introduced into the Litany a clause for the restoration Manks statute, prohibiting fishing from Saturday mornor preservation of the resources of the sea. ing till Sunday after sunset, on pain of forfeiting boats and nets, is observed; and the take of Monday is generally superior to that of other days, in consequence of the less previous disturbance of the fish.

The old

One of the leading dispositions of the islanders, is loyalty to their sovereign, and attachment to their lords."

• From Lord Teignmouth's Sketches of the Isle of Man.]