SERMON IX.

ROMANS viii. 1.

There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.

THESE, My Brethren, are the days of love and of salvation: this is the time at which the Universal Father prepares his table, and invites to it all his children; it is at this time that he addresses to us those words of consolation: "Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest."

"Come unto me, ye who are forsaken by the world, ye wearied and worn with the trials

of life. Come unto me, and I will give you the promise of a better country, and will show you 'new heavens and a new earth.' Come unto me, ye who are tormented by the remembrance of some sin, which, though concealed from the knowledge of men, embitters all your existence :-come to me, and, by making you objects of my pardoning mercy, I will expel the worm of remorse from your bosoms, and will impose silence upon the voice that there accuses you. Come unto me, ye who desire to live a life of greater purity, more conformable to the precepts of my law; but who are disheartened by a sense of your weakness, and by a recollection of so many good resolutions which no amendment has succeeded:-come to me, and I will supply you with strength and firmness, and will uphold you in the way of righteousness."

But does Christ confer upon us this inappreciable advantage which he offers, whilst we, on our part, do nothing towards rendering ourselves worthy of it? Is salvation a thing of so little value, that it is to be obtained with

out effort and without self-denial?

Does the

Creator so often invite his creatures, without their deigning to make the least correspondent return? No, My Brethren, you have heard otherwise in the text which I have now read to you. Two conditions are required in order to salvation, viz: Faith, and Newness of Life: "THERE IS NOW NO CONDEMNATION

TO THEM WHICH ARE IN CHRIST JESUS, WHO WALK NOT AFTER THE FLESH, BUT AFTER THE SPIRIT."

Upon these cheering words let us meditate, with all the profound attention which they demand let us question our consciences; let us scrutinize our hearts; let us examine every action of our lives; let us prove whether we are worthy to draw nigh to the HOLY TABLE, and, in the awful symbols of the body and blood of Jesus Christ, to receive the sacred pledge of our immortality and of our resurrection. O God! inspire me with such language as may persuade those who now hear me; that so we may all derive from this act of devotion a livelier faith, and a will more ear

nestly disposed to please thee, and to seek thy favour and thy love!

There are, My Brethren, two considerations upon which we are entitled to hope for the pardon of our sins: TO BELIEVE IN JESUS CHrist, (for the expressions, to "believe in Christ," to be in Christ," to be "of Christ," signify the same thing, and are employed by the sacred writers indifferently one for the other;) and, in consequence of that belief, TO OBTAIN THE VICTORY OVER OUR PASSIONS and TO BE OBEDIENT TO THE HOLY PRECEPTS OF THE GOSPEL; which are operations of the Spirit of God. To examine ourselves, My Brethren, respecting the first of these conditions-What is it to believe in Jesus Christ? It is to believe all that the Gospel reveals to us respecting this Divine Person. It is to believe that He has fulfilled all

those oracles, by which the Prophets foretold the Messiah.-It is to believe, that, during his abode upon earth, He presented a perfect model of all virtue; and that there was in him not the least semblance of sin.-It is to believe, that He submitted to a voluntary death, in order to