to him c ; and, as an holy priesthood, we are to be offering ourselves to himd. Every faculty of our souls is to be sanctified to his service by the Holy Spirit, lightened by his light, and nourished by Iris grace. We are, in fact, to be "lights in this dark world e," and " witnesses for Jehovah, that he alone is Godf." My dear Brethren, this conformity to Christ is at once our duty and our privilege : and to " grow up into him in all things as our living Head," is the work of every day throughout our whole lives g. Now, then, I call you to commence this work, if it be not yet begun ; or to pro- ceed in it with augmented ardour, if, through the grace of God, it be already begun in your souls. And for your encouragement, I will venture to affirm, that the tokens of God's approbation which were vouchsafed to Moses, shall as really, if not so sensibly, be renewed to you ; for " the glory of the Lord shall fill" your souls, and the most signal mani- festations of his love shall abide with you, both in this world, and in the world to come11 ]
And now I appeal to you, whether this will not be a good employment for the season on which we have just entered ?
[Who does not regret that he has lost so much time already ? Moses, considering how many months had been consumed in the wilderness before he began his work, could not have well completed it before. But who amongst you might not have begun long before, and been now both serving and enjoying God in a tenfold greater degree, if he had duly improved his time, and prosecuted his work with unremitting care ? Well ; let it then be your endeavour now to " redeem the time ;" that, if this be the destined period that is to put an end to your earthly existence, you may enter with joy into the presence of your Lord, and be for ever happy in the bosom of your God.]
c Rom. xii. 1. d 1 Pet. ii. 5. e Phil. ii. 15.
f Isai. xliii. 12. e Eph. iv. 15. h ver. 34, 35.