does what he can to grieve, and resist, and drive that Holy Spirit from him.

When once a man has thrown off the restraints of reason and religion, and divine grace, there is nothing left to control the headstrong passions of his nature. Accordingly, hardly any crime, hardly any offence against God or man, can be named, to which drunkenness may not lead. In particular, it adds fuel to the fire of rage and of lust.

Few people are ignorant of the violent passions which are sometimes roused into a flame by excessive drinking, and of the fierce quarrelling which it oftentimes occasions-leading on not seldom to blows, sometimes even to MURDER. Who hath wo? says the wise man, who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? they that tarry long at the wine, they that give way to excess in drinking.

Under the influence of these evil passions, inflamed by drinking, the tongue is apt to give itself vent in clamorous and injurious language; often in the most dreadful curses, imprecations, and blasphemies. Sometimes under the excitement of drinking, men give way to those fleshly lusts which war against the soul; and are hurried into sin, which may not only endanger their own salvation, but may ruin the character and happiness of the wretched partner of their guilt, and plunge her into everlasting perdition.

In short, as there is hardly any sin to which drunkenness may not lead, so of the numberless offences which are actually committed, and brought under the cognizance of our courts of justice, a very large-perhaps the largest-proportion is occasioned, either by drunkenness, or by the habit of associating with dissolute men in the haunts and abodes of drunkenness.

d Prov. xxiii. 29.

Drunkenness being attended with so great danger, we are strongly cautioned against it in the word of God. In the Old Testament, a woe is repeatedly denounced against drunkards. Our blessed Lord, in his wellknown exhortation to watchfulness, says, Take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and so that day-the day of death, or the day of judgment-come upon you unawares. Lest at ANY TIME; our Lord makes no exception for any particular times of festival or rejoicing. And think what it would be, if the day of death were to come upon you unawares when in a state of drunkenness, when you are thus by your own act deprived of reason, and of the grace of God. Many unhappy men have in this sad state been suddenly called to their last account. And what is to become of them? St. Paul again and again tells us, that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God. And we may be well assured, that those men who, according to the language of the same apostle, thus make a god of their belly, and glory in their shames,-take a pride in what they ought to be ashamed of,-act like the enemies of the cross of Christ, and will in the end be condemned to that outer darkness, that lake of fire, which is the second death.

Let me then intreat you, to be ever on your guard against this shameful and destructive sin of drunkenness. If you have in any degree given way to it, lament your weakness with shame and deep humility, and resolve and pray for God's grace that you may be guilty of it no more. The time past of your life may well suffice you to have wrought the will of the Gentiles, wherein ye walked in lasciviousness, lusts, excess of wine, revellings". And, for the time to come, endeavour to do works meet for repentance, and to pursue such a line of conduct as naturally springs from a real and lively Luke xxi. 34. f 1 Cor. vi. 10. ¤ Philip. iii. 19.

h 1 Pet. iv. 3.

faith in Jesus Christ. Take heed lest at any time your heart be overcharged with surfeiting and drunkenness'. Recollect that drunkenness is one of the works of darkness, one of the works of the flesh, which are utterly inconsistent with the Christian character. Recollect that it degrades and sinks a man to the level-indeed below the level of a beast. Recollect that drunkenness may occasion, not only all kinds of calamity in this life, but transgressions and crimes, at the bare idea of which you would in your sober senses shudder; and that it exposes you to eternal perdition in the world to come; for we are assured that drunkards shall not inherit the kingdom of God . Watch and pray, therefore, against this dangerous, this disgraceful sin. Be sober, be vigilant, because your adversary the devil as a roaring lion walketh about seeking whom he may devour'. Let us who are of the day be sober". Let us walk honestly as in the day, not in rioting and drunkenness. But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof".

Prayer.

For Temperance.

O Almighty God and gracious Father of men and angels, who openest thy hand and fillest all things living with plenteousness, teach me to use thy creatures soberly and temperately, that I may not by excess make the temptations of the enemy to prevail against me, or my spirit unapt for the performance of my duty, or my body unhealthy, or my affections sensual and unholy. O my God, never suffer that the blessings which thou givest me, may either minister to sin or sickness, but to health and holiness and thanks

i Luke xxi. 34. 1 Thess. v. 6.

k Gal. v. 21. and 1 Cor. vi. 10. 11 Peter v. 8. Rom. xiii. 14.

giving, that I may cheerfully and diligently serve thee, and be accounted worthy through thy grace to be admitted to thy table hereafter at the marriage supper of the Lamb, thy Son Jesus Christ, in whose name we beseech thee to hear our prayers.

CHASTITY.

THERE is hardly any sin against which young men more require to be warned, than the very dangerous-the deadly-sin of fornication. At the same time it is difficult to write or to speak of this sin, or indeed even to name it, without some offence, some violation of purity. It is a shame, says St. Paul, even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret".

Still, where the evil is so great and so prevalent, some attempt must be made to check it. The admonition, the warning, against it must be given. Young men must not be suffered to be guilty of this sin, without being told, of the sad consequences which it entails both in this world and the next, of the awful danger to which it exposes them.

-

Young people are strongly urged to the commission of this sin by their natural appetites and passions, and they derive a sort of encouragement from its shameful prevalence, and from the numbers of the guilty. They perhaps hear it treated by unthinking people, as an offence attended with little danger; perhaps as no offence at all. Too often do we see young women, who ought to be bowed to the earth, with sorrow for having offended God, and with shame and confusion of face from a sense of sin and disgrace, come boldly and unblushingly forward, and speak of their a Ephes. v. 12.

crime as a mere misfortune or accident. Instead of charging themselves, as they ought to do, with a shameful and crying sin, they lay it to the charge of fortune. The partners of their guilt are often still less abashed. Instead of being penetrated with sorrow and remorse, they sometimes seem almost to be proud of-almost to glory in their transgressions. Were they ashamed, says the Prophet, when they had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush. A sad pitch of hardened profligacy! Alas! my young friend, it is not in this light unthinking way that this offence should be treated. However slightingly it may be spoken of in an evil world, whatever excuses you may yourself be disposed to plead, such as the violence of temptation, the strength of your passion and appetites, yet be not misled by them. Be not deceived with vain words; for it is because of these things-it is because of this very sin-that the wrath of God cometh upon the children of disobedience.

You are NOT to give way to your appetites and passions, like brute beasts that have no understanding, but must keep them under the control of reason and religion. The God who made you, knows what your passions and appetites are, and he enjoins you thus to control them, and is ready to give you his to assist you in doing so. This is the will of God, even your sanctification, that ye should abstain from fornication d

grace

The Scriptures are full of warnings against this fatal sin, and repeatedly point out the awful punishment which awaits it.

St. Peter exhorts you to abstain from fleshly lusts. And why does he exhort you to this? Because they They war against the soul, They war against the soul

WAR AGAINST THE SOUL.

both here and hereafter.

b. Jer. vi. 15.

< Ephes. v. 5, 6.

d 1 Thess. iv. 3.