to that exalted state to which the conquering Christians shall be raised; when all the powers of the world which now oppress the Christian Church, shall meet the recompense which they deserve. Our blessed Lord, as Mediator, has received authority from the Father to judge the world, and to break in pieces his enemies as a potter's vessel. In that day, he shall smite them as with a rod of iron, and his people as sitting with him in judgment, shall concur in his sentence, and have dominion over all their enemies in the morning of the resurrection. This is an idea of amazing glory and sublimity. His people shall sit with him in judgment and reign with him in glory. These ideas will, however, be more appropriately enlarged on, when, in the providence of God, we consider the concluding promise to the Laodicean Church-" To him that overcometh will I give to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."

We come now to consider the second branch of this promise to the conquering members of the Church of Thyatira-" And I will give him the morning-star." There are a variety of explanations which may be given of this sentence, and all of them so beautiful and expressive, that it matters little which is most preferred. It is a rabbinical method of expression, and is derived directly from the Hebrew. The first meaning of the promise isI will give him the light of glory and the clearest vision of God in all the splendours of his majesty; for when the term morning-star is used, it denotes an extraordinary effulgence of glory; inasmuch as the morning-star shines brightly and clearly, even

when the approach of the sun has caused the more distant stars to glimmer but feebly in the azure canopy. Another opinion is that of Zegerius, an old writer on the apocalypse—“I will give him an angel, or an archangel, for a friend and guardian." Another is-“I will give him the full, and clear, and intimate perception and enjoyment of myself;" for you will remark, my brethren, that our Lord Jesus Christ distinctly spoke of himself as the morning-star. "I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning-star." And what promise more exalted"I will give him all that I can give, myself. As he is mine so will I be his, and he shall not only with me have power over the nations, and bruise my enemies with a rod of iron, but I will give him the full enjoyment of my presence. I will introduce him into the full fruition of an eternal day, as the bright son of the morning dispels the darkness and heralds the orb which is to fill the world by the brightness of his beams." Oh what a glorious morn will that be, when the conquering Christian shall receive the morning-star; when his present obscurity shall be changed into light, and his darkness become as the brightness of the noon. This is the promise, and while heaven and earth shall fail, this shall stand fast for ever.

Brethren, in closing our consideration of the epistles to which our attention has been paid, it has been my general purpose to recapitulate. But so much crowds itself upon my mind, and must be gathered into the brief space yet allowed me, that this course cannot be pursued in relation to the present epistle. Neither is it so necessary, as in the practical remarks the topics already considered will of necessity be touched upon.

It is remarkable that in all the preceding epistles the exhortation-" He that hath an ear let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches," invariably came before the promise. In this epistle, and in all which follow, this exhortation closes the address. And so deeply important are the matters enforced and illustrated, that you, my brethren, cannot be too often or too earnestly called to hear what the Spirit saith unto the Churches.. And oh that you may have the hearing ear, the understanding heart, and the applying conscience. Never were counsels more completely suitable; never were reproofs more just, and never were encouragements more reviving than those administered in these epistles. I particularly call your attention this evening to the voice of the Spirit, because it is my purpose to close for the present the further consideration of these epistles.

Gathered, my friends, from the epistle to the Church of Thyatira, there are four leading points to which I would ask your attention, and sayHear what the Spirit sayeth unto the Churches. 1. As it relates to progressive religion.

2. As it relates to a guard against seductions to unholiness of living.

3. As it relates to perseverence to the end.

4. As it relates to the promised reward of the conquerer.

1. Hear what the Spirit says in relation to progressive religion. The commendation passed upon the Church in Thyatira, was because the condition of the members, as it regards their works, their service, their faith, their patience, was better then than ever. There had been a gradual and well-marked increase; an increase upon which the eye of the

Omniscient, like a flaming fire, could look with approbation. It is to this increase of faith and love that every Christian is called, and if the work of grace is not progressive in his heart, the sad and solemn evidence of declension is there. But, my friends, one preliminary remark is here essential. Why talk I of growth in grace to those, a majority of whom are, in all probability, yet in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; and whose souls must be converted from the error of their way, ere growth in grace becomes to them even an intelligible exhortation? None can grow in grace until they have experienced that moral transformation of the mind, by which they become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It were absurd to anticipate an effect without an adequate cause, either in the natural or the moral world; and of course it would be as absurd to expect those to progress in religion who are dead in trespasses and sins, as it would be wild and romantic to calculate on gathering fruit from the lifeless trunk of some uprooted tree. If the plant grows, it must be possessed of a living, germinating principle; it must be planted in a genial soil; it must strike its roots and fibres in the earth, and by the mysterious laws of association absorb what is salutary. It must turn its leaves and its branches to the sun, and inhale the healthy breeze and the solar influence. So the principles of spiritual life must be infused into the mind, before it can expand its energy, or grow up to a state of vigour and of excellence. To understand the meaning of the metaphor then, it is essential that the seeds of religion should have been sown in a change of heart; for then, and then only, can there be a spiritual growth. To

you, then, who are calling yourselves after the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, I would be permitted to ask, Is your religion a progressive religion? Is your state, this moment, better in the sight of God than it has been before? This is a solemn question, for no religion is commendable of God whose characteristic is not progressive. "Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward," is the universal language of Scripture exhortation; and the universal testimony of Christian experience is, that the "path of the just is as the shining light, which shineth more and more unto the perfect day." This is an inquiry, brethren, on which, like most vital points, there may be ruinous self-deceptions; and while I seek to discharge this evening's duty, I must just touch upon the marks by which many are deceived. One false mark of progressive religion is a mere increase of what may be called religious knowledge; and many an one thinks himself or herself an advancing Christian, simply because they know more than formerly. Knowledge may be merely intellectual; grace is always in the heart; and though where grace is, knowledge is, yet the reverse is not always true. It is a false mark of growth in grace, merely to be conscious of an increasing love to talk about religion, or to hear it talked about by others; there may be both and yet real religion actually declining. St. Paul has said, that though he might speak with the tongues of men and of angels, yet he would be as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal, if he was destitute of charity. It is a false mark of progression merely to have a fancied zeal for God and for religion. It is good to be zealously affected in a good thing; but there are many decep