Nor is this accomplished but by slow gradations and severe toil. Men will not generally concede influence to a youth, however promising his talents. He must, to distinguished talents, add untiring exertion and the wisdom of years; so that influence is late in coming and must soon depart. There is but a brief period in human life when a man's influence may be considered great. For, as the hand of time begins to scatter the marks of old age upon him, others have arisen who contend for pre-eminence; and, having on their side the vigor of maturity-the muscle necessary for the strife-the old man retires before the hardy competitor, and is soon quoted only as a by-gone chronicle. You need but glance over the surface of society at any time to see the truth of these remarks.

Thus, my hearers, are our bodies in a state of decay, and hastening rapidly to dissolution. Our minds, too, are soon to be crippled by a sympathetic connection with them. Our social powers and propensities are waning; and our influence will soon be gone. Others are rising around us impatient to fill our places; whilst they, in turn, must wither and decay, like ourselves. Are you not reminded of what the Apostle James has declared, in reply to that startling question, "What is your life ?" "It is," says he, " even a vapor, which appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away."-What an impressive analogy! Have you noticed a wreath of mist formed by some atmospheric change? It is born in a night, and lies cradled at early dawn on the surface of the lake or river. But ere you can well fix your attention upon it, it is in motion; and a second look sees it rolling off and disappearing in the sunbeam. Behold, oh man, a picture of thy vain life! It is, indeed, a melancholy picture. "We all," says the prophet, "do fade as a leaf." There is no exception. There are no favored few who can arrest the desolating march of time, or escape his wide-sweeping sythe.-The rich and the great-those who build marble palaces, as if the durability of the material were proof against his attacks-they and their habitations must crumble and fall. They are building for others to inhabit, planning for others to execute, and planting for others to reap and gather in. The king upon his throne is but as the autumn leaf. The crown which he wears will soon adorn another's brow-whilst his will be bound with the fillets of the grave. The rich have, in this respect, no advantage over the poor, nor patrician dignity over the most vulgar of earth.

One may be like a proud and stately tree, whose tall shaft seems to pierce the sky, and whose leafy honors expand and wave in the breeze; another may be like the lowly shrub that creeps, as if conscious of its inferiority, under its shade. But the overshadowing tree may fade as soon as the humble bush. It may put off its glories as suddenly, and strew the earth with its gorgeous livery; and when it falls, it may make more noise in proportion to its elevation, but it will lie as low as the lowest in death.

Our importance is soon gone, even if we live. How certainly is it gone, when we die! How soon do we pass away, and how soon are we forgotten! Yes, the most towering head must come down to the dust. The loftiest crest must fall. The hour is close at hand when the frosts of death will be upon us. All will wither then.

I will close, with two or three considerations of a practical nature. 1. You see the importance of considering your latter end and preparing for it.

The subject forces upon you the fact that you are soon to fade like the autumn leaf. Will you, my hearers, think of this? Will you give your meditations this solemn direction? Is it not as certain that you are falling off now in all your physical powers as it is that the suminer glories have gone to decay? Yes, aud how soon must you lie low in death! Are you prepared for this tremendous change? Have you set your house in order? Do you stand like a shock of corn fully ripe in its season, bending your lowly head and burdened with fruit, until the great Husbandınan shall come to gather you to his garner? Or are you like the useless tares, or the barren fig tree, cumbering the ground, and destined, by an insulted and indignant Creator, to a fiery doom? You are ripening, depend upon it, for heaven or for hell. I again ask, have you made the requisite preparation for your fall? Should a blast from the grave pass over you to-day, and separate you like a leaf from the earth, where would you be borne ? Your body, I know, would go to the grave; but where would the soul go? Can you hope, on good grounds, that it would be wafted to heaven? Dying hearers, you must think of these things.-Be not so absorbed in the world as to neglect your preparation for eternity. If you are impenitent, I charge you, by your hastening doom, to repent-if without faith in Christ, I warn you in the words of Jesus himself, "he that believeth not shall be damned." If the world is your idol, death will come to tear that idol away, and send you shivering to God's judgment bar to answer for your idolatry.

2. The vanity of the world is strikingly seen in view of this subject.

All on earth is tending to decay. Dissolution and ruin are written on every thing below the sun. The proudest structures of art, though laid in brass or marble, with a view to disappoint the destroyer-see how a few generations will undermine and level with the dust! What can we moderns do, after the colossal efforts of Egypt and of Babylon? The next wave of time will sweep away these fragile mounds which, in our pride, we are rearing; and how soon will the icy touch of death stop the blood in our veins, and launch our spirits, prepared or unprepared, into eternity! And can we be so in love with these earthly toys? Can we, as reasonable men, give ourselves up to the pursuit of these fleeting shadows? Select the fairest specimen of coveted earthly good, and I will prove to you that it is a phantom. It cannot last; nor can it meet those enlarged expectations which stir the soul up in the pursuit. Oh, it is this vanity which mocks the mind, and makes the sigh of dissatisfaction so often come from the heart, even when its desires are realized! No, my hearers, it is not in earth to supply the immortal mind with satisfying good. Let us, therefore,

Finally. Seek an interest in

permanent.

those things which are satisfying and

There is a substantial good. Yes, there is one portion which can never fail, one scene which will never fade. It lieth not here within this earthly horizon. You must elevate your view. Yonder, in that

pure world, it is, far above this murky atmosphere, shining in resplendent brightness, and inviting our pursuit by its imperishable glories. Do you complain that every thing of earth is so short lived-that it fades under the touch-that, ere you begin to enjoy it, it is gone-that summer glories are no more-that friends fall like autumn leaves around you that you, yourself, are losing the keen relish for enjoy. ment which you once had-that one opening grave seems ready for all? Well, be it so. God has said, "all is vanity," and he will make us feel it too. But it is to send your thoughts out after a better portion. ABOVE, all is permanent and glorious. Nothing there fades; nothing grows old; nothing satiates; nothing disappoints. The "inheritance there is incorruptible, and undefiled, and fadeth not away.”

Christian, you have no reason to complain at the transitory nature of earthly good. This is not your home. These dying things are not your portion. In invading them by death, God is not depriving you of your chief good. He is only preparing the way for you to take possession of it. "Set your affections on things above." "Love not the world." Love God, and "love his appearing;" and let your heart and your treasure be on high.

Worldly minded hearer, look at your portion. Calculate its real value. Is it so great, that by a supreme pursuit of it you are warranted in placing the soul in peril of an eternal hell! I am not saying that your pursuits are unlawful; but are they absorbing? Do they exclude from the soul God and his gospel? Is the heart supremely bent upon them? What says conscience to these inquiries? What will it say, when, like a faded leaf, you lie gasping in death, and hear the rush of an eternal storm that is to send you from that death-bed to the tribunal of God? How will these things seem then? But ah! consideration may then come too late. The awful hour is then at hand; and you must die.

SERMON CCXXV.

BY REV. GEORGE SHEPARD,
HALLOWELL, MAINE.

THE INFLUENCE OF CHRIST'S COMING UPON HUMAN DESTINY.

LUKE ii. 34. 35. And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, "Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against; (yea a sword shall pierce through thine own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed."

SIMEON was a good old man, who had long been waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was upon him. And it was

revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ. He came to the temple, took Jesus in his arms, and blessed God and said, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, which thou hast prepared before the face of all people; a light to lighten the gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel. And he blessed the parents, and said unto Mary, Behold this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against, that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." In discoursing from this passage, let us view,

I. THE OBJECT SET; in other words, the history, character, and standing of the Redeemer disclosed. It is interesting to know these on account of the diverse treatment he receives, and the opposite destinies which are to result. The object presented is the Lord Jesus Christ; or in the language of the text, "This child is set." He was once a child. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." He was born, and in circumstances of poverty-in a state of deep humiliation. The place was a manger; and he grew up from a child of obscurity, to be "a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." He probably wrought at a humble trade, and had no connections to give him worldly influence, and made no pretensions to worldly greatness: when he entered upon his public career, it was a career of humble, strenuous, untiring benevolence. "He went about doing good." He spake, and the lame walked, the deaf heard, the blind saw, the lepers were cleansed, the dead were raised to life. For his course of goodness, he met a reward of obloquy -a death of finished torture and ignominy. He died for the world, that believing, they might not die eternally. He rose from the grave on the third day, ascended to heaven, entered for us a priest in the temple above-became seated, for the protection of his cause, for the completion of the commenced work of redemption, on the mediatorial throne. There he is now set, soliciting regard, and thence dispensing the gifts of mercy to the rebellious. Wonderful indeed is his history. His character is readily defined. It was shown in the acts of his life. There were seen all the attributes of man. He was a man, as we are, with a proper and perfect human soul and body. There were seen also the attributes of Deity. He was-he is truly God, both God and man; having two natures in mysterious connection; being human, as to the one, divine, as to the other. He is called "The mighty God,"“God over all blessed forever." He is the Being who searcheth the hearts and tryeth the reins of the children of men. He is the "Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, the first and the last." ated all things that are in heaven and in earth, and without him was

"He cre

not any thing made that is made." He will speak, and all who are in their graves shall hear his voice and come forth: and he will be enthroned in glory and encompassed with authority, as judge of quick and dead. “All judgment is committed to the Son, that all men may honor the Son even as they honor the Father." He is honored with divine honors; he is worshipped by saints on earth, and by the redeemed and the angels in heaven. Not only wonderful the history, we add, wonderful the character, immeasurably exalted the position of the once slain, but now reigning Redeemer.

II. In connection with the character and standing of the Saviour, it may be important to state the great principles upon which he conducts the work of redeeming mercy, that the whole ground of love and hatred, acceptance and repulsion, may be before us.

The work in question, as just intimated, is the work of saving lost men. Two things are essentially and unalterably necessary to the accomplishment of salvation. One is pardon of sin; the other is purification from sin. Without the first we are in a state of righteous and inevitable condemnation. Without the last, we are under the power of an unresisted depravity. One without the other is no salvation. We may be purified, but if not forgiven, we cannot come into the presence and favor of God. We may be pardoned, but if not purified, our pollutions will sink us in darkness and wo. Corresponding to these two obvious and unmitigable necessities in our fallen condition, are the two grand doctrines of atonement and regeneration. Christ shed his blood to make atonement; he dispenses pardon on the ground of this atonement, and on condition of repentance and faith in the sinner. Regeneration and sanctification, the other main necessity, he accomplishes by the agency of the Holy Ghost, whose assistance he procured in our behalf, and whose grace he administers and sends. Thus far, then, we have the character of Christ, complex and mysterious, God and man -his station, on the throne, as the Governor of the world-his work of redemption, consisting in the removal of the penalty, and deliverance from the power of sin-the principle and agent of its accomplishment, the atonement the ground of pardon, and the Spirit begetting holiness, where there was nought but sin.

III. We come now to the fact indicated in the text-that the Saviour is rejected by some and received by others, and the cause or reason of it. The fact is notorious. We see it in the holy, prayerful, consistent lives of some who walk by faith, and live to glorify God and do good to men. They have received Christ. Ask them, and they will tell you, their hope is Christ. We see the counterpart in the worldliness and irreligion of immense multitudes of others. They have heard of Christ