ing Israelites in the wilderness to the brazen serpent, raised upon a pole, that they might be cured of the bite of the fiery serpents; so the perishing sinner, utterly destitute of the power of ministering to his own recovery, and utterly unable to obtain assistance from his fellow-creatures, (for that is a hope which he must relinquish for ever,) is directed to that almighty Saviour, whose power to heal all spiritual infirmities was prefigured by the serpent referred to, and whose own gracious exhortation is, "Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth, for I am God, and there is none else:" none else able to deliver from the guilt of sin, to subdue its power, or to avert its punishment.

If this fundamental doctrine of Christianity, pardon through the atoning merit of Christ alone, irrespective of any merit on the part of the sinner, and other doctrines closely connected with it, be not prominently displayed and inculcated in our various ministrations if, in the attempt to save men's souls, (and no attempt can be more glorious,) they are taught to look to themselves for salvation; if, through the groundless fear of leading men to undervalue a life of practical holiness, and from the too prevalent notion that the doctrines of grace lead to laxity of principle and licentiousness of conduct, human merit, either in

whole or in part, is allowed to have some share in the great work of the sinner's salvation, which is one of the most pernicious errors of the Romish church;-then assuredly the cross of Christ is not preached in all its simplicity; the gospel is not set forth pure and without alloy, and there will be no important effect produced by the mode of preaching adopted, however eloquent the language, or energetic the appeals which may be employed. For it is an incontrovertible fact, to the truth of which every unprejudiced person must bear witness, that what is usually styled moral preaching, utterly fails in producing the fruits of vital godliness; that where this mode of preaching has been adhered to, there has been a lamentable deficiency in spiritual religion; and that an outward decorum, at the most, is all that has been effected.

It is one of the most important benefits of a scriptural liturgy, such as that employed in our public services, compiled by men deeply imbued with a spirit of genuine piety, and deeply read in the oracles of God, fully alive to the wants of perishing sinners, and not carried about "with divers and strange doctrines," that however deficient may be the ministrations of the pulpit, and "however uncertain the sound" which may issue therefrom, Jesus Christ is unreservedly set forth before our congregations, in

all the formularies of our church, as the sole ground of the sinner's justification in the sight of God, and the sole medium through whom his prayers are to be offered at the throne of grace ; that no heterodoxy on the part of the minister who officiates can interfere with his open avowal of the doctrines of the gospel, for he must "speak as the oracles of God," and that no mental reservation which he may make in using the "form of sound words" can prevent his uttering these words in the hearing of the people.*

* In churches where no liturgy is used, the lamentable departure from scripture truth on the part of the minister has been productive of incalculable mischief to the flock committed to his care. Experience proves, that subscription to articles and confessions, thoroughly scriptural, does not secure that the worship shall be scriptural also; of course, this remark does not refer to the ministrations of the pulpit, so much as to worship, properly so called. Though even with respect to these ministrations, the benefit of a liturgical service is incalculable; for, "in cases where the minister may not see or feel his delinquency in opposing or suppressing the truths which he is bound to maintain, the value of that precaution, which the wisdom of our church has adopted, may be clearly seen; for the very service in which the minister is compelled to officiate, detects and exposes the inconsistency of his conduct, and necessitates him, however reluctantly, to be instrumental in furnishing, in some measure at least, an antidote to his own poison. There, in that very service, the doctrines which he may omit to bring forward are distinctly and prominently exhibited. There the errors which he may help to disseminate are tacitly, if not expressly

"The censers of Dathan and Abiram, though once filled with strange fire, and used by unworthy worshippers, yet remained the same, hallowed as before, unperverted and unpolluted; so is our Liturgy unaffected by the weakness or the corruption, the false opinions, or even the evil motives, of those to whose hands it may possibly at any time be intrusted."*

II. Now, the preaching of the cross, we may remark, in the second place, produces very different effects on different individuals. To the prejudiced Jew of old, no less than to the Gentile philosopher, this preaching was "a stone of stumbling and rock of offence." The former spurned the notion of seeking the favour of God through the blood-shedding of one, who in his opinion suffered, as an impostor and blasphemer, a merited death. The remembrance of that day when Jesus hung in agony upon the accursed tree, car

condemned. Thus an opposite remedy is provided against the evil in question, and the attempt to introduce from the pulpit 'divers and strange doctrines,' whether originating in design, or arising only from ignorance or inattention, meets some counteraction, at least, from that sound and orthodox exposition of divine truth, which the same lips are obliged to enunciate from the desk."-Sermon preached before the Prayer Book and Homily Society, by Rev. Edward Cooper.

* Bishop Ryder's First Charge to the Clergy of the See of Gloucester.

ried with it no remorse to his conscience, and excited no alarm in his bosom, lest the blood of the immaculate Saviour should be required at his hands. The latter would not listen to one who had never sat as a learner in the schools of human science, and whose precepts savoured not of the wisdom of this world. To Jew and Gentile, therefore, the preaching of the cross" became foolishness. Both put from them the proffered cup of salvation in the blindness of a darkened understanding, and in the perverseness of a hardened and obstinate heart; both rejected the clearest evidences by which Jesus was declared to be the Son of God with power. "They would not come unto him that they might have life."

To many at the present day the same humbling doctrines of salvation through the merits of the Saviour's cross, appear as equally unworthy the character of God, and the condition of man. It is because these doctrines are humbling that they are so frequently rejected. It is because they strip man of his fancied selfsufficiency that they are so vehemently opposed.

It is not in the ranks of avowed infidelity alone that the preaching of the cross is esteemed as foolishness. Even among professing Christians there exists a most lamentable ignorance of the fundamental doctrines of the gospel. There is