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though in an hour of danger and temptation he forgot all his own promises and his Master's goodness; though he meanly denied that he so much as knew Him; yet the rest of his life, for ever after, was led in the most perfect love and obedience to Him. It was his happiness and his pride, for ever after, to preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified to spread the glad tidings of His gospel to make known His greatness and His goodness: yea, for His sake he was content to suffer hardships and sorrows, to be cast into prison: and at last, he was called upon to fulfil the promise which he had made to Jesus before he fell, I will lay down my life for Thy sake: for he was, some years afterwards, put to death because he persisted in preaching in the name of Jesus. Thus, however great had been St. Peter's guilt (and great indeed it was), his repentance too was great and lasting. His life on earth was given up to Christ, and he has long been enjoying, as God grant we may also! that happiness and glory in the kingdom of heaven, which his Blessed Master promised.

May our repentance for our past sins be

such as his!

If, like St. Peter, we have ever denied our Saviour, by offending against His laws (O! who is there that has not?), let us, like St. Peter, bitterly weep for our sins! Like him, let us run the race that is set before us with hearts and souls given up to God and Christ, in newness and holiness of life! Like him, let us delight to think of our Saviour's greatness and goodness, and to make them known to others: like Peter, let us show for the rest of our lives, that we are heartily sorry for our sins past, and that we do indeed desire, with God's help, to do what is pleasing in His sight, and serve the Lord with gladness. Then shall we at last enter into that state of rest where Peter long has been and in the day of judgment, when Christ shall come in His glory, He will mercifully look on us with pity and compassion, as He did upon His fallen disciple, and will receive us into that heavenly happiness which He has prepared for all who love Him. Amen.

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SERMON XL.

Be

JAMES i. 22, 23, 24.

ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if a man be a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like to a man beholding his natural face in a glass: for he beholdeth himself and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was.

THESE words of the apostle St. James declare to us a truth which it will be well for our souls if we always bear in mind: they give us a caution which if we do not attend to, all our outward forms of religion will do us no good, we shall be unworthy of the name of Christians which we bear. What St. James teaches us in the text, that unless we do the word of God we are but deceiving ourselves by being hearers of it, was taught by one better than St. James

before for when a certain woman, admiring the wisdom and the power of what our Saviour spoke, cried out in the fulness of her heart, blessed is the womb that bear Thee, and the breast which thou hast sucked, Jesus answered, yea, rather blessed are they that hear the word of God and keep it.

Our own reason, besides our faith in Christ, will convince us that what He and His disciple have taught us must be true. For of what value can we suppose it to be in the sight of God, that we who are sinners hear His holy word, if we rest contented with hearing, and take no pains that it may bring forth in us those good fruits which He intended that it should? Has not God, in His great mercy and goodness given us the Holy Bible that we may learn by it to correct our faults, that we may know how to fly from everlasting damnation, and how to make sure of everlasting life? If, then, being taught in His blessed word that we must forsake our sins, we do not forsake them; if being taught by it what we must do to be saved, we yet neglect to do it, we are both cruelly deceiving ourselves, and foolishly mocking the Almighty:

we make His word of no use to us: we completely prevent and hinder the fulfilment of those gracious purposes for which He gave it; and most assuredly we shall awaken His anger against us, by thus neglecting the great salvation which He has both offered to us, and shown us how to obtain.

It cannot be denied that many persons live in such a careless manner as seems to show that they think that there cannot be a doubt of their being saved; that the glory and happiness of Heaven are to be obtained without much trouble; that nothing more is necessary than just to keep up a little fair appearance outwardly; to come to church, it may be, now and then, more for form's sake than any thing else; but as to keeping in their minds and thinking over what they hear, laying up the word of God in their hearts, and striving to correct their bad habits, it never seems to strike them that this is at all expected of them, nay, that it is absolutely necessary before they can hope to enter into the kingdom of heaven. Many, it is to be feared, there are in every parish, in every congregation, some perhaps in this, who are thus deceiving themselves

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