Welsh Journals

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Vol. II.] DECEMBER, 1869. [No. 12. THE CARDIFF CONGREGATIONAL MAGAZINE. A HOMILY FOE THE END OF THE YEAR. " But this I say, brethren, the time is short." ..." The fashion of this world passeth away."—1 Con. vii. 29, 31. TnEEE are many considerations which, give weight to the truths of religion independently of their own intrinsic importance. Great and momentous as they may be in themselves, they become doubly so when viewed in the light of these associated truths. They need to be placed in that light that we may see them as they really are, and apprehend all that is really in them. There are many religious thoughts of which our minds must ever have a false or imperfect appreciation, if we attempt to separate them from other thoughts which may not themselves be dis¬ tinctively religious, but which are vitally related to everything that is. The flower that you gather and hold in your hand may be very beautiful, but after all it is not nearly so beautiful as when it is growing amongst its own proper foliage, and seen amid the blended colours of the garden border. So it is with the truths of religion. To be seen aright, in their full beauty or greatness, they must not be seen alone. They must be set in the midst of other truths that are naturally related to them. Andj there is actually nothing in the whole sum of the facts of our nature and our life which does not shed some light upon them, and help to develope their meaning and their force. Consider, then, what will be the effect in this way of such facts as these which the apostle here affirms: " The time is short," "The fashion of this world passeth away." What additional weight must be given to every precept of religion by the thought of the fleeting character of this present world and the shortness of human life in it, and man's inability to calculate with any degree of certainty the steps that yet remain of his journey to the tomb ! Supposing the world were not so fleeting as it is, and that our stay in it were of much longer duration ; supposing, too, that our " appointed time" were definitely and positively known by each one of us, and that we could look down the long vista of so many coming years with certainty that we should see the end, the voice of religion would still be