And there are persons, let it never be forgotten, who have so followed God's leading providence from their youth up, that to them His commandments not only are not grievous, but never have been: and that there are such, is the condemnation of all who are not such. They have been brought up "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord ;"* and they now live in the love and "the peace of God which passeth all understanding." Such are they whom our Saviour speaks of, as "just persons which need no repentance." Not that they will give that account of themselves, for they are full well conscious in their own hearts of sins innumerable, and habitual infirmity. Still, in spite of stumblings and falls in their spiritual course, they have on the whole persevered. As children they served God on the whole; they disobeyed, but they recovered their lost ground; they sought God and were accepted. Perhaps their young faith gave way for a time altogether; still they contrived with keen repentence, and strong disgust at sin, and earnest prayers, to make up for lost time, and keep pace with the course of God's providence. Thus they have walked with God, not indeed step by step with Him; never before Him, often loitering, stumbling, falling to sleep; yet in turn starting and "making haste to keep His commandments," "running and prolonging not the time." Thus they proceed, not, however, of themselves, but as upheld by His right hand, and guiding their steps by His Word; and though they have nothing to boast of, and know their own unworthiness, still they are witnesses of Christ to all men, as showing what man can become, and what all Christians ought to be; and at the last day, being found meet for the inheritance of the saints in light, they "condemn the world" as Noah did, and become "heirs of the righteousness which is by faith," according to the saying, "this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith."§

And now, to what do the remarks I have been making tend, but to this?-to humble every one of us. For, however faithfully we have obeyed God, and however early we began to do so, surely we might have begun sooner than we did, and might have served Him more heartily. We cannot but be conscious of this. Individuals among us may be more or less guilty, as the case may be; but the best and the worst among us here assembled, may well unite themselves together so far as this, to confess they "have erred and strayed from God's ways like lost sheep," ""have followed too much the devices and desires of their own hearts," have "no health" in themselves as being "miserable offenders." Some of us may be nearer Heaven, some further from it; some may have a good hope of salvation, and others, (God forbid! but it may + Luke xv. § 1 John v. 4.

* Eph. vi. 4. VOL. I.-5

+ Phil. iv. 7.

be,) others no present hope. Still let us unite now as one body in con. fessing, (to the better part of us such confession will be more welcome, and to the worse it is more needful,) in confessing ourselves sinners, deserving God's anger, and having no hope except "according to His promises declared unto mankind in Christ Jesus our Lord." He who first regenerated us and then gave his commandments, and then was so ungratefully deserted by us, He again it is that must pardon and quicken us after our accumulated guilt, if we are to be pardoned. Let us then trace back in memory (as far as we can) our carly years; what we were when five years old, when ten, when fifteen, when twenty! what our state would have been as far as we can guess it, had God taken us to our account at any age before the present. I will not ask how it would go with us, were we now taken; we will suppose the best.

Let each of us (I say) reflect upon his own most gross and persever. ing neglect of God at various seasons of his past life. How considerate He has been to us! How did He shield us from temptation! how did He open His will gradually upon us, as we might be able to bear it!* how has He done all things well, so that the spiritual work might go on calmly, safely, surely! How did he lead us on, duty by duty, as if step by step upwards, by the easy rounds of that ladder whose top reaches to Heaven! Yet how did we thrust ourselves into temptation! how did we refuse to come to Him that we might have life! how did we daringly sin against light! And what was the consequence ? that our work grew beyond our strength; or rather that our strength grew less as our duties increased; till at length we gave up obedience in despair. And yet then He still tarried and was merciful unto us; He turned and looked upon us to bring us into repentance; and we for a while were moved. Yet, even then our wayward hearts could not keep up to their own resolves; letting go again the heat which Christ gave them, as if made of stone, and not of living flesh. What could have been done more to His vineyard, that He hath not done in it?† “O my people (He seems to say to us) what have I done unto thee, and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me. I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; . . . . what doth the Lord require of thee, but justice, mercy, and humbleness' of mind?" He hath showed us what is good. He has borne and carried us in His bosom, "lest at any time we should dash our foot against a stone."§ He shed His Holy Spirit upon us that we might love him. And "this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not grievous." Why, then,

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have they been grievous to us? Why have we erred from His ways, and hardened our hearts from His fear? Why do we this day stand ashamed, yea, even confounded, because we bear the reproach of our youth?

Let us then turn to the Lord, while yet we may. Difficult it will be, in proportion to the distance we have departed from Him. Since every one might have done more than he has done, every one has suffered losses he never can make up. We have made His commands grievous to us: we must bear it; let us not attempt to explain them away because they are grievous. We never can wash out the stains of sin. God may forgive, but the sin has had its work, and its memento is set up in the soul. God sees it there. Earnest obedience and prayer will gradually remove it. Still, what miserable loss of time is it in our brief life, to be merely undoing (as has become necessary) the evils which we have done, instead of going on to perfection! If by God's grace we shall be able in a measure to sanctify ourselves in spite of our former sins, yet how much more should we have attained, had we always been engaged in His service!

These are bitter and humbling thoughts, but they are good thoughts if they lead us to repentance. And this leads me to one more observation, with which I conclude.

If any one who hears me is at present moved by what I have said, and feels the remorse and shame of a bad conscience, and forms any sudden good resolution let him take heed to follow it up at once by acting upon it I earnestly beseech him so to do. For this reason;—because if he does not, he is beginning a habit of inattention and insensibility. God moves us in order to make the beginning of duty easy. If we do not attend, He ceases to move us. Any of you, my brethren, who will not take advantage of this considerate providence, if you will not turn to God now with a warm heart, you will hereafter be obliged to do so, (if you do so at all,) with a cold heart,—which is much harder. God keep you from this!

SERMON IX.

THE RELIGIOUS USE OF EXCITED FEELINGS.

LUKE viii. 38, 39.

"The man out of whom the devils were departed, besought Him that he might be with Him; but Jesus sent him away, saying, Return to thine own house, and show how great things God hath done unto thee."

Ir is very natural in the man whom our Lord had set free from this dreadful visitation, to wish to continue with Him. Doubtless his mind was transported with joy and gratitude; whatever consciousness he might possess of his real wretchedness while the devil tormented him, now, at least, on recovering his reason, he would understand that he had been in a very miserable state, and he would feel all the lightness of spirits and activity of mind, which attend any release from suffering or constraint. Under these circumstances he would imagine himself to be in a new world, so to say; he had found deliverance; and what was more, a Deliverer too, who stood before him. And whether from a wish to be ever in His divine presence ministering to Him, or from a fear lest Satan would return, nay, with seven-fold power, did he lose sight of Christ, or from an undefined notion that all his duties and hopes were now changed, that his former pursuits were unworthy of him, and that he must follow up some grand plan of action with the new ardour he felt glowing within him; from one or the other, or all of these feelings combined, he besought our Lord that he might be with Him. Christ imposed this attendance as a command on others; He bade, for instance, the young ruler follow Him; but He gives opposite commands, according to our tempers and likings; He thwarts us, that He may try our faith. In the case before us He suffered not, what at other times He had bidden. "Return to thine own house," He said, or as it is in St. Mark's Gospel, "Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee." He directed the current of his newly awakened feelings into another channel; as if He said, "Lovest thou me? this do; return home to your old occupations and pursuits. You did them ill before,

* Mark, v. 19.

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you lived to the world; do them well now, live to Me. Do your ties little as well as great, heartily for My sake; go among your friends; show them what God hath done for thee; be an example to them, and teach them."* And further, as He said on another occasion, Show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded for a testimony unto them ?"t-show forth that greater light and truer love which you now possess in a conscientious, consistent obedience to all the ordinances and rites of your religion.

Now from this account of the restored demoniac, his request, and our Lord's denial of it, a lesson may be drawn for the use of those who, having neglected religion in early youth, at length begin to have serious thoughts, try to repent, and wish to serve God better than hitherto, though they do not well know how to set about it. We know that God's commandments are pleasant and "rejoice the heart," if we accept them in the order and manner in which he puts them upon us; that Christ's yoke, as he has promised, is (on the whole) very easy, if we submit to it betimes; that the practice of religion is full of comfort to those, who being first baptized with the Spirit of grace, receive thankfully His influences as their minds open, inasmuch as they are gradually and almost without sensible effort on their part, imbued in all their heart, soul, and strength, with that true heavenly life which will last for ever.

But here the question meets us, "But what are those to do who have neglected to remember their Creator in the days of their youth, and so have lost all claim on Christ's promise, that His yoke shall be easy, and His commandments not grievous? I answer, that of course they must not be surprised if obedience is with them a laborious up-hill work all their days; nay, as having been "once enlightened, and partaken of the Holy Ghost" in baptism, they would have no right to complain, even though "it were impossible for them to renew themselves again unto repentance." But God is more merciful than this just severity; merciful not only above our deservings, but even above His own promi

ses.

Even for those who have neglected Him when young, He has found some sort of remedy, (if they will avail themselves of it,) of the difficulties in the way of obedience which they have brought upon themselves by sinning; and what this remedy is, and how it is to be used, I proceed to describe in connexion with the account in the text.

The help I speak of, is the excited feeling with which repentance is at first attended. True it is, that all the passionate emotion, or fine sensibility, which ever man displayed, will never by itself make us change our ways, and do our duty. Impassioned thoughts, high aspi