Parochial and Plain Sermons

" Tke man out ofwhom the devils were deTarted besought Z[im that ho nHght be with Hi»; but Jesus sent him awa£t, sa£ting, eturn fo thine own bouse, and show how g-reat things God bath dote unto thee."

T was very natural in the man whom our Lord had set frce from this dreadful visitation, to wish to continue with Him. Doubtless his mind was transported with joy and gratitude; whatever consciousness he might i)ossêss ofhis real wretche¢haess while the devils tormented him, now at least, on recovering his reason, he would understand that he had been in a very miserablc state, and he wou]d fêel all the lightness of spirits and activi.ty of mind, which attend any release ri'oto suffering or constraint. Under these circumstances he would imagine himself tobe in  new wor]d; he had round dcliverance; and what was more,  Deliverer too, who stood before him. And whether from a wish to be ever in His Divine presence, ministering to Him, or ri'oto a fear lest Satan would return, nay, with sevenfold power, did ho lose sight of Christ, or ri'oto an undefined notion that ail his duties and hol)eS were now changed, that his tbrmer pursuits were unworthy of him, and that he must follow up some great undertak[ugs with the new amour he felt glowing within hiln;—ri'oto one or other, or all of these ibelings combined, he besought out Lord that he lnight be with Him. Christ imposed this attcndance as a command on others; He bade, for instance, the young ruler follow Hiln; but He gives opposite commands, according fo out tempers and likings; He thwarts us, tlmt He may try our i:a.ith. In the case belote us lIe suffcred hot, what at othcr rimes IIe had bidden. "Return fo thiue own house," He said, or as itis in St. Mark's Gospel, "Go home to thy friends, and tell t.hen how great tMngs the Lord bath donc for thee, and bath had compassion on thee ." IIe d[rected the current of his newly-awakened feelings into another channel; as if He said, "Lovest flmu Me? this do; return home fo your old occupations and pursuits. You did them ill before, you llved fo file world; do them well now, lire to:Me. Do your duties, little as well as great, heartily for My sake; go among your friends; show them what God bath donc 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 ,"—show foh that greater light and tract love which you now possess in a conseientious, consistent obedience to ail the ordinances and rites of your religion. Now from this aecount of the restored demoniac, his request, and out Lord's denlal of it, a lesson may be

 4 The Religious Use drawaa for the use of' those who, ha.vin nelected relig'ion in early youth, af lcng'th begin fo have serious thoughts, try fo repent, and wish to serve God better than hitherto, thoug`h they do hot know how fo set about it. We know that God's commanclments are pleasant, and "rejoice the hea.rt," if we accept them in the order and manner in which He purs 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 reli'ion is of Colnfort fo those who, being first baptized with lhe Spirit of grace, receive thankfiflly ttis influences as their minds open, inasmueh as they are ffradually and almost without sensible effort on their part, imbued in ail their hêart, soul, a«d strcng`th, with that true heavenly lire which will last for ever. But here the question meets us, "Iut what are those to do who have në,lected 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 hOt grievous?" I answer, that of course they must hot be surprised if obcdience 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 rig`ht to complain even though "if were impossible for them to renew themselves again unto repentance." But Goal is more merciful than this just severity; merciful hot only above our deserving-s, but even above His own promises. Even for those who bave neg`lected Him when young', He bas round (if they fll avail themselves of it) some sort of remedy 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 tobe used, 1 proceed to describe in connexion with the accourir in the text. The help I speak of is the excited feeling 4th which repentance is af first attended. Truc if is, ha ail the passionae emotion, or fine sensibility, which ever man displayed, will never by itself make us chane out ways, and do our duty. Impassioned houghts, hig, h aspirations» sublime imaginings, have no strenffth in ihem. They tan no more make a man obey consistently, than they tan move mountains. If a.ny man truly repent, if must be in consequence, no of these, but of a settled conviction of his guilt, and a deliberate resolution to leave his sins and serve God. Conscience, and P, eason in subjection to Conscience, llese are those powerfnl instruments (under grace) which change a man. But you will observe, that though Conscience and Reason lead us fo resolve on and fo attempt a new lire, they cannot af once make us lo«e if. It is long" practice and habit which make us love religion; and in the beginnin, obedlence, doubtless, is very grievous to habitnal sinners. Here then is the use of those earnest, ardent feelin.ff of whlch I just now spoke, and which attend on the first exercise of Conscience and Reon,to take away from the begiunings of obedience ifs grievo«sness, to give us an impulse whieh may earry us over the first obstaeles, and send us on our way rejoieing'. Not as if all riais exeitement of mind were to last (which eannot be), but if will do ifs office in thus setting us off; and then will leave us to the more sober and higher comtbrt re-

sulting" from tha real love for religion, which obedience iself will bave by ha ime begun o form in us, and will g-radually go on o perfec. Now itis well fo understand this fully, for if is offert misaken. When sinners a leng-th are lcd fo think seriously, stron feelings generally precede or attend their reflections about themselves. Some book they have read, some conversation of a friend, some remarks they bave heard ruade in church, or some occurrence or misfortune, rouses them. Or, on the other hand, if in any more calm and deliberate manner they bave commenced their selfexaminaion, ye in a little rime "he very view of heir manifold sins, of their g'uilt, and of their heinous ingratitude to their Goal and Saviour, breaking upon them, and beiug new fo them, strikes, and astonishes, and then agitates them. Here, then, let them know the intention» of all this excitemen of mind in the ortier of Divine providence. If will not continue; if arises ri'oto the novelty of the view presented to them. As they become accustomed fo rdig, ious contemplations, it will wear away. If is no religion itself, t.hough i is accidentally connected with if, and may be marie a means of leading them into a sound religious course of lire. It is graciously intended fo be a set-oiT in their case against the tïrst (listastefulness and pain of doing their duty; if must be used as such, or i will be of no use a all, or worse than useless. My brethren, bear this in mind (and I may say this generally,not confining myself to the exeitement which attends repentance,—of all that natural emotion prompting us fo do good, which we involuntarily feel on various occasions), it is given you in of E.vcited Fcclings.   7 order that you may find it easy to obey af startln. Therefore obeyoromiJtl#; make use of it whilst it lasts; it waits for no man. Do you fccl natural pity towards some case which reasonably demands your charity? or the impulse of generosity in a case where you are called to ac a manly self-denying • part? XVhatever the emotion may be, whether these or any othcr, do not imagine you will always fcel it. XVhether you avail yoursclves of it or hot, still ŒEny how you will fcel it lcss and less, and, as life goes on, at last you will hot feel such sudden vehement excitement at ail. But this is the difference between seizing-or letting slip these opportunities;—if you avail yourselves of them for acting', and yield to the impulse so far as conscicncc tells you to do, you lmve ruade a leap (so to say) across a gulf, to which your ordinary streng;th is hot equal; you will bave secured the beg»inning of obedicnce, and the further steps in the course are (generally spealing-) fa.r easler than those which first determine its direction. And so, to return to the case of those who feel any accidcntŒE1 remorse for their sins violcntly exerting- itself in their hearts, I say to them, Do not loiter; go home to your riends, and repent in deeds of righteousness and love; hasten to commit yourselves to certain definite acts of obedience. Doing • is at a far greater distance from intending" to do than you at first sig'ht imngine.;Ioin them together while you can; you will be depositing" your good feeling's into your heart itself by thus making- them influence your conduct; and they will "spring- up into ri-uit." This was the conduct of the conscience-stricŒEen Corinthians, as described by St. Paul; who rejoicec[

 18 T/e Rel«ios Use « hot that they were ruade «orry (hot t.hat thdr feelings merely were moved), but that they sorrowed to e]age of miM.... For odly sorrow (be continues) worketh repentante to salvation hot fo be repented of; but the sorrov of the world worketh death:But now let us ask, how do rnen usually eonducg themselves in marrer of faet, when under visitinxs of conscience for their pst sinful lires.9 They are far from thus aeting'. They look upon the turbid geal and feverish devotion which attend their repentante, hot as in part the con-upt offspring of their own previously eorrupt state of mind, and partly a graeious natural provision, only temporary, to encourage them fo set about their reformation, but as the substance and real excellence of religion. They think that to be thus agitated is to be religious  they indulge themselves in these warm feeling's for their own sake, resting in them as if they were then engaged in a religious exereise, and boasting of them as if they were an evidenee of their own exalted spiritual state; hot nsbg tem (the one only thing they ought to do), using them as an incitement to deeds of love, mercy, tmth, meekness, holiness. After they bave indulged this luxury of feeling for some time, the excitement of course ceases; they do hot feel as they did before. This (I have said) might bave been anticipated, but they do hot understand it so. Sec then their un-.atisfactory state. They bave lost an opportunity of overcoming the first ditculties of active obedience, and so of tixing their conduct and character, which may of E.tci/ed Fce/iles. I 19 never oceur again. This is one g'reat misfortune; but more than this, what z perplexlty they bave involved themsdves in t Their warmth of feelin is gradually dying away. Now they think that i i truc religion consists; therefore they believe that they are losing their faith, and falling into sin again. And this, alast , too often the case; they do fall a.way, for *.ley have no roof in themselves. IIa.vin. neglected fo turn thcir feelings iuto prineiples by acting upon them, they have no inward strenth fo overcome the t.emptation fo lire as the world, whieh eontinually assails them. Their minds have been acted upon as water by the wind, which raises wves for  rime, ceasing , leaves the water to subside into ifs former sagnant state. The precious opportuuity of improvemen has been lost; « and the latter end is worse with them than the beginning ." But let us suppose, that when they first detect this declension (as they consider if), they are alarmed, and look around for a means of recovering themselves. What do they do? Do they t once beg'in those practices of lowly obedience which alone tan prove them fo be Christ's af the last day? such as the government of their tempers, the regulation of heir rime, self« denying" chm'it.y, truth-telling sobriety. Far from they despise this plain obedience fo God as a mere unenlightened morality, as they call if., and they seek for potent stimulants fo sustain their minds in tht state of exeitemen whieh they hve been taught fo consider the essence of  religious lire, and which they eannog produce by the means which beforc exeited them. They have recourse to new doctrines, or follow strange teaehers, in order that they may dream on in this their artificial devotion, and may avoid that conviction which is likely sooner or later to burst upon them, that emotion and passion are in out power indeed to repress, but hot to e.rcite; that there is a limit to the tumults and swellings of the heart, foster them as ve will; and, when tiret rime cornes, the looor, mis-used soul is left exhausted and resourcelcss. Instances are not rare in the world of that fearful, ultimate state of hard-heartedness whleh then succeeds; when the misera.ble sinner believes indeed as the devils may, yet hot even with the devils' trembling, but sins on without fear. Others, again, there are, who, when their feelings fall off in strength and fervency, are led to despond; and so are brought down to fear and bondage, when they might bave been rejoicing' in cheerful obedience. These are the better sort., who, having' something' of truc religious principle in their lmarts, still are misled in part,so far, that is, as to rest in their feelings as tests of holiness; thercfore they are distressed and alarmed af their own tran(luillity, which they think a bad s[ga b and, being. dispirited, lose rime, others outstriploing them in the race. And others mig'ht be mentioned who are ]ed by this same first eag'erness and zeal into a different error. The restored sufferer in the text wished tobe with Christ. Now itis plain, all those who indulge themselves in the iklse devotion I have been deseribing, may be said tobe of ,vcitcd Fce[ilzs. desirous of thus keepin flemselves in CrlsVs immediate sight, instead of returning o heir own home, as tte would bave flmm, tiret is, fo tire common dutles of life: nd fley do flis, some from weakness of fidflb as if He eould not bless çhem, nnd keep hem in the way of raee, flmuh they pursued çheir worldly ealllugs; ohers from an ill-direeted love of Him. But Lhere are others, I say, who, when they are aw,a|ened o a sense of religion, forflwiLh despise their former condition altogether, as benenth Lhem; and Lhinl¢ Llat flmy are now ealled fo some high and sinular offlee in the Chureh. These mlstale their duty as those,already deseribed nelee if; hey do hot waste tiroir t.ime in mere good thoughts and good words, us the oflers, bu Lhey are impetuously led ou fo wrong aets, and that from tire influence of those ame strong • emotions whfeh they bave hot learned to use,'rlg'ht or direct fo their proper end. But fo speak of these now af any leng'th would be besMe my sub]eet. To eonelude;let me repeat nnd urge upon you, my bretren, Lhe lesson whieh I lmve dcdueed from tire narrative of whieh he ext forms p,art. Your Saviour cMls you from inianey fo serve Him, and bas arranged thins well, so ha His service shall be perfeet freedom. Blessed above all men,are Lhey who heard His eall then, and served Him dny by d,ay, s tiroir sLrengt.h to obey inereased. But further, are you eonseious tha you have more or less negleeted thls g'raeious opportunity, and suffered yourselves tobe tormented by Satan?See, He calls you a second rime; He calls you by your roused affections once and again, ere He leave 3ou finally. He brings you back for the tin,e (as it were) to a second youth by the urgent persuasions of excitcd fear, gratitude, love, and hope. He again places you tbr an instant in that early, unformed state of nature vhen habit and character were hot. IIe takes you out of yourselves, robbin sin for a season of ifs in-dwelling llol(l upon you. Let hot those visitings pass away "as the morning cloud and the early dew. '' Surely, you must still bave occasional compunctions of conscience for your neglect of I|im. Your sin sares youin the face; your ingra¢itude fo God affecfs you. Follow on to know the Lord, and o sccure His Favour by acti»g upon hese impulses; by them He plcads with you, as well as by your conscience; hey are the instruments of His Spirit, stirrin)'ou up to seek your truc peace. Nor te surprised, though you obey them, that thev die away; they bave donc their office, and if they die, if is but as blossom chang'es inf he frtfit, which is far terrer. They must die. Perhaps you will bave to labour in darkness afterwards, out of your Saviour's sigt, in the home of your owu thoughts, surrounded by sights of this world, and showing forth His praise among fhose who are cold-hearted. Still be quite sure that resolute, consistent obedience, though unattended vifh high transport and warm emotion, is far more accepfable to Him fhan all those passionate longing's to lire in His sig'ht, which look more like religion to the uninsrucfed. At the very best these latter are but the graceful beginnins of obedience, gracëful and becoming- in children, but in g'rown spiritual men indecorous, as the sports of boyhood would seem in advanced years. Lea.rn fo live by faith, which is a calm, deliberate, rational principle, full of peace and comfort, and sees Christ, and rejoices in Him, though sent away from Ilis presence to labour in the world. You will have your reward. He will "see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man takcth from you."