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rain filled the pools; so our wells are filled with heavenly showers. We go "from strength to strength," "from pool to pool, from one service to another," until every one of us "in Zion appeareth before God." "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength: they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."

Then, brethren, let us feel the weight of our obligations to worship God. If we cannot be uniform in our mode of worship, let us at least be regular and punctual in observing our respective forms. Allow me to suggest that some of the solemn questions which will be asked us when we appear before the "judgment seat of Christ," will be, "Where did you spend your Sabbaths? How often did you wilfully neglect the ordinances of my house? Did the hurry of business, the visiting of friends, the pleasures of sense, or the cares of life, prevent your due attention to my sanctuary?" May we be prepared to answer those questions with joy and not with grief!

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The Sunday after Ascension-day.

EVENING SERVICE.-Second Lesson: Rom. xii.

Verse 15.-" Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep."

EVERY person in passing through life has his special duties to perform. Those duties vary in proportion to the intellectual capacities and the physical positions of respective individuals. The Sovereign has higher duties than the subject, as he or she is exalted to a higher elevation. Those who occupy stations of honour and trust have higher duties than persons of low degree. The duties of all stations are prescribed in Scripture, and there is none exempt. Here we have the duties of kings and subjects, the duties of parents and children, the duties of husbands and wives, the duties of masters and servants, the duties of brothers and sisters, the duties of one neighbour to another, and the duties of all to God.

In this chapter the apostle defines especially the duties of Christians. We have received special gifts; those gifts involve special responsibilities; and those responsibilities require a special line of conduct in our treatment of ourselves and others. Here we find a comprehensive variety, beginning with our duty to God, and including in the list all our friends and enemies. In all our conduct, diligence, simplicity, honesty, self-denial, fervency, patience, sympathy, cheerfulness, perseverance, and forgiveness are commended, those being arguments for our sincerity, and ornaments to our profession.

The text furnishes us with an argument in favour of entering fully into the feelings of others, not regarding our own interests only, but also those of our fellow-men. The

innate selfishness of man's disposition was well understood by St. Paul, therefore in all his epistles he inculcates the principle of charity and brotherly love, which he would have extended not merely to those who professed Christian membership, but also to those who were without the Church, and even to those who returned evil for good. "Bless them which persecute you; bless, and curse not." "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." Carry out the principles of your Christian profession by sympathizing with all, and by doing good to all.

Let me direct your attention-First, To the duty of Christian sympathy; and Secondly, To the advantages of Christian sympathy.

I. We shall observe the duty of Christian sympathy. There is a great variety of contending feelings which agitate the human heart. There exists a constant struggle within between opposite passions, alternating from the bright to the gloomy, and back again from the gloomy to the bright. At one moment the feeling of hope, of love, of confidence, and of joy pervade the mind, and at the next that of despondency, of doubt, of fear, and of sorrow is in the ascendancy, so that the mind is like the rocking ocean, continually subject to ebb and flow, and to flow and ebb. It is surprising how small an incident will turn the current of human feeling: often a touch, a word, or even a look is sufficient to change the whole aspect of the inward emotions, so that from the depth of sorrow and the borders of despair, the person is at once elevated to the height of happiness and joy. This being the case, the Christian will see the importance of his position and the duty involved in his profession. In each of the feelings which we have mentioned man needs an adviser and guide. In joy he needs an influence to encourage moderation, and to subdue inordinate elevation; and in sorrow he needs a helper to sustain his hope and to prevent his sinking into despondency.

The word sympathy implies a fellow-feeling with another's

state of mind. In the strictest sense of the word it becomes a difficult, if not an impossible task to sympathize fully with others for to do this we must pass through the same circumstances, experience the same trials, and participate in the same feeling of joy or sorrow as the person who calls for our sympathy. None, except Him who "was in all points tempted like as we are," can do this; therefore the duty as represented here by the apostle, does not extend to this. Then we take it in the common acceptation of the word, which means, that we are interested in the welfare of others, that we enter into the joys and sorrows of others, and that we extend a helping hand for the relief of others.

In this view the duty is taught us

1. By the universal injunctions of the Holy Scriptures. Both the Old and New Testaments teach us the lesson, where it is prominently brought before us by way of precept, and by way of example. The great and the good, who shone as bright and burning lights in their generations, ornamenting the firmament of the Church with their inviting examples, afford us instances of it. We see it in the instance of Abraham, when he interceded for the cities of the plain. We see it in the instance of Lot, when he " vexed his righteous soul from day to day with the unlawful deeds" of the Sodomites. We see it in the instance of Moses, when he prayed God to spare the rebellious Israelites. We see it in the instance of Elijah, when he was "jealous for the Lord. God of Israel." We see it in the instance of David, when he grieved for the house of Saul, for his own family, and for the people in general. We see it in the instance of Jehoiada, when he made a covenant with the people. We see it in the instance of Jeremiah, when he said, "O that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” We see it in the instance of Nehemiah, when his heart was sad because the city, the place of his father's sepulchre, was laid waste. We see it in the instance of John the Baptist, when he preached repentance to the people in the wilderness. We

see it in the instance of the pious women, when they followed in the train of Christ to the summit of Calvary, weeping. We see it in the instance of the apostles, when they went forth in obedience to the command of their Master to convert a world lying in wickedness. We see it especially in the instance of St. Paul, when, expressing his general feelings, he told the Philippians, even weeping, that many "were the enemies of the cross of Christ." Everywhere in Scripture we find the principle inculcated. Every text tends to encourage the duty, "Rejoice with them that do rejoice, and weep with them that weep." The whole tendency of Christianity encourages the duty. Wherever its principles are sincerely professed a feeling of sympathy is invariably produced. Hence, comparing the world as it now is with what it was before the promulgation of the Gospel, we shall find that the manners of mankind are softened, and a fellowfeeling exercised in all grades of society.

2. The example of Christ Himself enforces this duty. If we would examine sympathy in the perfections of its beauty, we must look at it as it was exhibited in the character and the conduct of the Saviour. The world had never before, and has never since, witnessed such an example of fellowfeeling as was furnished by Him. He fully rejoiced with them that did rejoice, and wept with them that wept. He could enter into the happy emotions of the company at the marriage feast of Cana, and could mingle His tears with the grief of the bereaved family of Bethany. The tale of woe invariably met with a response from Him; the tear of sorrow dropped in His presence was immediately dried up by His accents of love; the palpitating heart of a bereaved mother or a sorrowful father was bound up by His words of sympathy; the wounds of the bruised, the pains of the afflicted, the anxiety of the distressed, were in every instance relieved by Him. Never was an humble applicant sent away without the necessary aid. "He was touched with the feeling of our infirmities," being "in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin."

"For in that He Himself hath suffered,"

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