December 31 — On the Gospel of girding the Loins, (Luke xii. 35, &c.,;

read for St. Silvester.

Consider, first, those words of our Lord to his disciples, and in them to all Christians: Lt your loins he girt, and lampi huming in your hands; and he you like to men whfi roait for their Lord, when he shall reftim from the wedding; that, when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blesr sed are those servants, whom the Lord, when he cometh, shall find watching., This girding of our loins, and having lamps ing in our hands, are to be taken jn a spiritual sense, and contain great and necessary lessons for every part pf our lives. As wn knpw not the hour, when pur Lprd will come to us, and knock at our door by death, we must keep ourselves always awake, and in a proper posture, and readiness to open to him without delay, and to welcome him. Now this proper posture, and readiness tp welcome our Lord, whensoever he shall eopie and knock, chiefly consists in those two things, ip havii our loins always girt, by a constant restraint of our irregular inclinations and Justs; and having lamps always burning in onr hands, by tfie constant exercise of Christian virtues; which may shine rth to the glory of God and the edification of our neighbours, And those servants are happy indeed, who are always waiting fcr the conjing of their Lord, with their loins girt in this manner, and hplding suca lamps as these, always burning, in their bands

Consider, secondly, what follows in ihp same gospel, with rn gard to the immense reward of these samp faithful servants. Amen, Isay to you, that their Lord will gird himself, and make them sit ilpwn to meat, and, passing, wilt minister to them. Chris tians, w lat an honour, what a happiness is here promised us, if our Lori, at his coming, shall find us watching! He will gird himself o be ready to wait upon us; he will make us sit down to table, and he will pass and minister to us. O what incomprehensible joys are here signified by our Lord’s ministering to us! by his making himself, as it were, over to us, to be perpetually 308 MEDITATIONS FOR EVERT DAT IN THE TEAR enjoyed by us! O what a table is this, at which we shall be invited to sit down, to be eternally entertained by him with all the delights of heaven, with the sweet fruit of the tree of life, and the delicious waters of the fountain of life! And lest we should be discouraged with the apprehension of our being excluded from' this eternal banquet, because we have already passed a good part of our lives without being in that readiness which our Lord expects of us at the time of his coming, he adds for our comfort, that, if he shall came in the second watch, or if he shall come in the third watch, and shall then find us watching, we shall still be happy. Blessed, saith he, are those servants. So that, if we have hitherto been careless, if we have let the first, or even the second watch pass, without being upon our guard, and he has been so good as not to come and surprise us, let us now at least awake, let us gird our loins now, and have our lamps, for the future, burning in our hands: and we may still be blessed.

Consider, thirdly, the remaining words of this gospel. But this know ye, saith our Lord, that if the householder did know at what hour the thief would come, he would surely watch, and would not suffer his house to be broken open. Be you then also ready; Jar at what hour you think not, the Son of man will come. This IS that great lesson, of always watching, which our Saviour perpetually inculcates, as our only security against the dreadful evil of an unprovided death, and aJl those endless evils which are the unhappy consequences of an unprovided death. O let us lay up this lesson in our hearts; let us meditate daily upon it; let us conform ourselves to it in the practice of our lives. O let us always watch! Our Lord, who has borne with us all this year, has, in the mean time, knocked at the door of thousands of others, who, this day twelve-month, were as likely to live as ourselves. Their bodies are now corrupting in their graves; but, O! where are their souls? And where shall our bodies be, where shall our souls be, a twelve-month hence? Let us, then, be always ready; because we know not the day nor the hour when our Lord shall come.

Conclude to observe well these evangelical prescriptions, of girding your loins, of having your lamps ever burning in your hands, and of being always waiting for your Lord, and always ready to open the door to him; and you shall not fail of being of the number of those happy servants, that shall enter into the eternal joy of their Lord