THERE are good reasons, my friends, | why ministers should sometimes preach to servants. The welfare of society is involved in yours. Few classes are more numerous. In London you count some hundreds of thousands, and in this great empire you amount to millions. But more than this, the Gospel is your particular friend. Coarse-minded employers may treat you roughly, and rich but vulgar people, because they pay you your wages, may feel entitled to look down on you. But in the Gospel's eye, all souls are equally precious. That Gospel has already done much for the servant. It found him a slave, and has made him a freeman. It has encircled his honest industry with dignity and gracefulness, and has taught the pious master to look on the pious servant with something of a friendly and fraternal feeling. And it points to the glorious appearing of our common Master, the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ, as the pious servant's blessed hope. Once, when Mr. Wilberforce was dining with the prime minister, during the banquet, he says, that his thoughts were all of the day when pompous Thurlow, and elegant Čaermarthen, and other lordly guests, would be standing in the same row with the poor fellows who then waited behind their chairs. And, as towards that solemn day the Gospel teaches both master and servant to look, so has it gathered some of its fairest specimens and most striking monuments from persons in your condition.

So many special messages has the
No. 2.-New Series.

Gospel to you, that at present we cannot read them all. But there are three which I beg that you would mark, and sometimes read over by yourselves.

The first you will find in Titus ii. 9-14:-" Exhort servants to be obedient unto their own masters, and to please them well in all things; not answering again; not purloining, but shewing all good fidelity; that they may adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works."

The next is Colossians iii. 22—25:— "Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance for ye serve the Lord Christ. But he that doeth wrong shall receive for the wrong which he hath done: and there is no respect of persons."

And the last is 1 Peter ii. 18—25 :— "Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward. For this

is thankworthy, if a man for conscience toward God endure grief, suffering wrongfully. For what glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and suffer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God. For even hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps: who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but committed himself to him that judgeth righteously: who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed. For ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls."

You will notice that all these passages are meant for Christian servants for those who serve the Lord Christ for those who have returned to the great Shepherd and Bishop of souls. But, perhaps, this is not the case with all who now hear me. Some of you perhaps, know, that you are the servants of sin, serving divers lusts and pleasures, or the world's servants, seeking to be gay, and merry, and admired; or, at the very best, the servants of men, seeking to please your employers, but seldom thinking of that bright eye which watches every movement and follows every footstep. Tell me, have you found a Saviour for your soul? Are your sins forgiven? Does God love you, and do you love God? Are you leading the life of faith? Are you on the road to heaven? For if not, you are still a sheep going astray; and if you still go on straying, you will soon be where the Saviour himself cannot save you. You will be lost for ever and for ever. Think how it stands with you. The Bible says, "Ye must be born again." "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "If any man love not the Lord Jesus, let him be accursed." Are you born again? Have you got a love of holiness, and a horror of sin? Do you love the Lord Jesus? Or do you not rather feel that it is all wrong with you? Are you not unhappy? Are you not constantly doing things for which your conscience checks you? Are you not often hurrying out to the work of the day and back again to your slumber,

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And what if your steps should have been directed to this place in order that here and for ever your wanderings should end? For, let me tell you, that bad as is your present character, and wretched as is your present plight, you are not too bad for the Saviour to pity, nor too wretched for the Saviour to rescue and redeem. The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men. It appears and it offers salvation to you. It appears, and it offers a Saviour to you-a Saviour who bare our sins in his own body on the tree, and who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people. And if you come and give yourselves up to this Saviour and shepherd of souls, he is gracious to pardon and mighty to save. With his precious blood he will wash away your sins, and by his Holy Spirit he will sanctify your souls, and make you fit for a better and blessed world. And however feeble your own resolutions, and however faint your own endeavours, go to this Saviour, and he will receive you graciously and pardon you abundantly. And however unable of yourselves to do or think any good, surrender yourselves from this night

forward to the teaching of his word and Spirit, and he will sanctify you a peculiar people, zealous of good works.

Dear friends, how happy it would make you if you believed the Gospel and received the Saviour! If you knew that your souls were safe, your worst sorrows would be ended. Your present lot may be irksome. You may have to work very hard, and that hard work may earn a very scanty recompense. But no matter; if you serve the Lord, you will receive from him the reward of the inheritance. If you believe in Jesus you will always have your best things in prospect. I sometimes meet with people engaged in menial services, and they tell me with a sigh, that they once saw better days; but the Christian's best days are days not seen as yet.

If

some benefactor should die, or some kind friend should leave the country, or if he should have to leave a good situation for a worse, he does not need to mind, for God has some better thing in store for him, and he is always looking for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and his Saviour Jesus Christ. His best days are coming yet. And, still more to our present purpose, the Christian servant is always sure to have a good employer. Some of you have got masters and mistresses whom you have no pleasure in serving. They curse and growl like churlish Nabal; or they scold and rail like Jezebel; or, if too refined to use rude language, they are too cold and haughty to requite you with a pleasant look or gracious word. And you feel it hard to be wasting your strength and days in thankless toil-hard to be treated like a mere machine, or watched and suspected like a malefactor-hard to be reprimanded when you have done no wrong, and harder still not to be noticed when you have done your very best. And sometimes you say, that rather than put up with this, if you knew how to better yourself you would quit directly such a house of bondage. Well, I am happy that I can set you on the way to better yourself. I can recommend you to a better service and a kinder master. But you need not leave your present place. The Lord Jesus is willing to engage you as his servant; and there is no station in the universe so dignified as the household of the King of kings. But the way to serve him is

to continue where you are; and "whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men." If you be blessed with kind, and considerate, and conscientious superiors, put forth every effort to please them; for the Lord's goodness in thus ordering your lot makes you doubly his debtor, and demands your thankful diligence; but should it be your discipline to wait on capricious and overbearing people, you must not murmur. "Be subject with all respectfulness, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward." Their coldness or cruelty may be your cross; but so long as you are under their authority, frank and cheerful obedience is the duty which a Christian servant owes to his master in heaven. If you were the servant of kind and amiable employers, and if, when they were far away from home they sent you a letter, requesting you to do certain things before their return, but if the letter was brought by an impertinent messenger, or if the postman gave a furious knock, you would not let this disturb you. "This is my kind master's will, and I must attend to it." And even so, if the Lord has cast your lot among sullen or selfish people, so long as they do not bid you do anything sinful, you must do whatever they tell you, and do it with good will as to the Lord. If he himself has put you there, and in that station said, "Occupy till I come," you must not mind, though your earthly employer be suspicious or severe. You must not mind, though the messenger be flippant or the postman startling-loud, if he bring despatches from your gracious lord; for in doing your daily work you do your blessed master's will, and what you do in his name and for his sake is never done in vain. His service is not hard. His yoke is easy, his burden light. And whilst he is so benignant that he commends the least service done for his sake, he is so gracious and longsuffering that he pardons seventy times seven all the failings and defects of his disciples. Do you become the servant of Christ, and then you will have a master whom you may consult in every difficulty; whose smile can transform the hardest drudgery into a pleasant toil, and the meanest station into a post of honour-a master for whose name's sake it is glorious to labour and not to faint, to suffer and not repine; a master whom you can never love enough or serve too

zealously; for to make us sinners kings and priests unto God, he took on himself the form of a servant, and to bear your sins away bare them in his own body on the tree.

Let me hope, then, that the love of Christ constrains you. Let me hope that you have learned to say that word which an old Christian found so sweet that he could not say it too often," Jesus my master." And let me hope that it is your anxious wish to adorn the doctrine of your God and Saviour in all things. If so, I would fain offer a few simple suggestions to aid you in the blessed endeavour to 66 serve the Lord Christ."

into one.

1. Always seek first the kingdom of heaven. No increase of wages, and no promotion to easier or genteeler work is real profit, if it peril your never-dying soul. If you are in a family where God is worshipped and the Sabbath sanctified, you are better off than thousands; and it will say little for your Christian sincerity if whim or the love of money transfer you to a gay and godless household. But, perhaps, you are not in a pious family, and have no prospect of getting If so, that God who kept Joseph in Egypt, and Ruth and Naomi among the Moabites, can keep you from falling, even in a graceless home. But, then, you must live near to him. You must get time for prayer. And if your soul be bent towards God, you will get both time and place for prayer. I lately read of a pious servant in the country who had no opportunity for retirement in the house where she lived; but telling a friend afterwards, "I cannot but notice it as the Lord's tender mercy, that when I had occasion to go out to draw water, the Lord, knowing my circumstances within the house, graciously met me by the way without; and often when I was standing beside the well, the same condescending Redeemer who revealed himself to the poor woman at Jacob's well, revealed himself to me, and granted me many sweet moments of reviving intercourse with himself."* The Lord is very pitiful. He not only knoweth your frame, but he knows your position; and if he knows that you have no other opportunity, he who heard Eliezer as he knelt upon the road beside his camel, will hear the praying servant who lifts up his heart to God, in the stable or the street, in the bustle of

* Jean Smith. By the Rev. J. Morison.

the day or the silent watches of the night. And save for yourself as much of the Sabbath as you can. By a little extra exertion on the Saturday, you may always reserve some leisure on the day of rest. And is it not delightful to have so much work put by, that with a clear conscience, you can sit down to a solid hour of your Bible or some godly book, and go to the sanctuary with no harassment or hurry on your mind, and then come forth from the Sabbath's rest and retirement with something of the Sabbath still lingering in your cheerful countenance, and the smile of God beaming on the most common tasks, and creating a heaven wherever you go?

2. Try to do good in the place of your sojourn. When Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley, was tutor in a Shropshire family, he had some sense of religion, but not enough to make him religious. One Sabbath evening a pious servant came into his study to make up his fire, and seeing him writing music, she said, with deep concern, "Oh, Sir! I am sorry to see you so employed on the Lord's-day." And though very angry at the moment, he thought of what she said, and put the music away, and from that time forward kept the Sabbath a great deal better. But I am not sure that this is the best way of doing good to superiors. A word modestly spoken, and by one of blameless consistency, may sometimes be a word in season; but most usually it will be resented as rudeness, and only provoke those whom it was intended to reform. But there is one thing which even on the most haughty superiors must always tell,the shining light of an obliging, cheerful, and genuine character; and whilst many have been prejudiced against the Gospel by the assuming airs and preaching tone of servants who professed it, others have been won by the dutiful demeanour and silent eloquence of servants who adorned it. However, where there is a willing mind there will usually be some opportunity of direct and positive usefulness. There are your fellow-servants. Some of them are perhaps ignorant of real religion, or filled with bitter prejudice against it; but if you be obliging and conciliatory, stedfast to principle, but gainly in your dispositions, you may bring them to think more highly of that grace of God which enables you to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in the world; and by lending them books, or