dwell upon. The sense of guilt can alone occasion this ;-conscious of vices, which he will not resolve to renounce, he is too apt to regard the Almighty, as a criminal does his Judge, only as an offended, avenging Being; and flees from the thoughts of His presence, who is the searcher of hearts, and of “purer eyes than to behold iniquity."* But however men may shun, or endeavour to stifle the thought, it will not make His presence the less real; and since it can only deprive men of the benefits which would accrue from their encouraging it, it certainly is the part of a wise man to give it the more weight with himself, by how much the more unpleasing it may at first be. Vice is the only thing that can make it so; and no vice, which is not obstinate indeed, can long withstand this powerful principle. In proportion, then, as our offences are lessened, this uneasiness will diminish likewise: we shall more willingly acknowledge His presence, when we can hope that His soul hath pleasure in us. Thenceforward we shall look up to Him in the only true and *Habak. i. 13. worthy light, as to a God always indeed present to us, but present only to approve our sincere and upright services;-present to guard us against all evils that may assault our bodies or souls, and to conduct us at last by mysterious means to those happy mansions, where peace and virtue dwell for evermore. с SERMON III. ST. LUKE, iv. 18. The spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He hath anointed me to preach the Gospel to the poor: He hath sent me to heal the broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised. IN the Jewish Synagogues, we are told that one certain person was appointed to read the lessons of the day ;* but that if any stranger of grave and venerable appearance, or any Prophet, or worker of miracles was present, it was customary, as a mark of respect, to offer him that service, and full liberty was given him, if he were * See Jennings' Jewish Antiq. p. 275. (ED.) qualified and so disposed, to expound or comment upon the passages which had been read. Thus, when Paul and Barnabas had entered into one of the Synagogues after the reading of the law and the Prophets, the rulers of the Synagogue sent unto them saying, "Ye men and brethren, "if ye have any word of exhortation for "the people, say on."* The same compliment having been paid to our Lord at Nazareth, He opened the book at the place of the Prophet Isaiah, wherein are written the words of the text; which when He had read, He began to say unto them, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your 66 ears. No passage in any one of the Prophets could have been chosen more proper to introduce the discourse which our Lord was about to deliver; as none better shews the nature and the great value of the blessings which He was come to bestow, or the excellency of the religion which He taught, and which we Christians profess to believe and to obey. * Acts xiii. 15. Let us, then, consider the several parts "The Spirit because He of this passage of Scripture. "of the Lord is upon me, "hath anointed me to preach the Gospel "to the poor;" that is, to propose means of eternal salvation within the understanding and the powers of the lowest among the people. Again," He hath sent me to heal the "broken-hearted;" that is, to minister consolation and relief to those who are bowed down by the calamities of life, or by that heaviest of all calamities, a wounded mind. Lastly," He hath sent me to preach "deliverance to the captives, and recover 66 ing of sight to the blind, to set at liberty "them that are bruised;"-not only deliverance from, and the remedy of their natural evils; but also to rescue mankind from the dominion of the grossest ignorance in their duties, and in consequence of such ignorance, a proud reluctance to be taught a purer law. First," He hath anointed me to preach "the Gospel to the poor." This is elsewhere mentioned among the distinguishing |