Parochial and Plain Sermons

] SUPPOSE there is no tolcrably informed Christian but considers he bas, correct notion of the difference betwecn our religion and the pngansm which it supplanted. Every one, if asled what it is we bave gained by the Gospel, will promptly answeb that we bave gained the lnowledge of our immortality, of our havlng souls which will live for ever; that the hcathen did hot know this, but that Christ taught if, and that tIis disciples know if.:Every one will say, and say trtfly, that this was the grc,t and solcmn doctrine which gave thc Gospel a clMm tobe heard whcn first preachcd, which arrested the thoughtless multitudcs, who wcrc busied in the pleasures and pursuits of this liçe, awed them with the vision of the lire to corne, and sobered them ti]l they turned to God with a truc heart. It will be said, and said truly, that this doctrine of a future lire was the doctrine which broke the power and the fascination of paganlsm. The poor benighted heathen were enaged in all the frivolities and absurdities of a fa]se ritual,

6 The I»z»eortality of the Soûl. whieh had obseured the lig'ht of nature. They kne God, bu they tbrsook Him for the inventions of men; fley ruade proteetors and ffuardians for themselves; and had "gods many and lords many." OEhey had their profane worship, their gaudy proeessions» their indulen creed, their easy observznees their sensual festivities, their ehildlsh extravzznces, such as mih suitably be the religion of beins who were fo lire for seventy or eihty years, and then die onc for ail, never to live ngaln. "Let us eat and drink, for -morrow we die," was their dtrine and their rule of lire. "' T-morrow we die;'this the tloly Apostles admitted. They tauht so far as the heathen; "To-morrow we die;" but then they added, "' And afier death/hejtdg»en[;"judgment upon fle ernal soul, which lives in spite of the death of the body. And this was the truth, which awakened men to the necessity of havlng a better and deeper religion thau that which had spread over the earth, when Christ came,which so wrought upon them that they left that old false worshlp of flaeirs, and it fcll. Yes though throned in all the power of the world, a sight such as eye Imd never belote seen, though suppcrted by the great and the mnny, the magnificence of kings, and the stubbornness of pcople, it fell. Its ruins remain scattered over the face of the emoEh; the shattered works of its great upholder, that tierce enemy of God, the Pagan Roman Empire. Those ruins are found even among ourselves, and show how marvellously great was its poweb and flxerefore how much more powerful was that which broke its power; and this wns the doctrine  1 Cor. 'fii. .

T/e ]nzmortality of t/e SouL J7 of the immortality of the soul. So entire is the revo. lntion whieh is produeed amon men, wherever t.hi« high *ruth is really reeeived. I have said tha every one of us is able fluently fo speak of this doctrine, and is aware that the knowledge of it forms the fundamental difference between out state and that oF the hcathen. And yet, in spire of out being able fo spcal¢ about it and our "fi)rm of knowlcde '' (as St. Paul tcrms if), there secms scarcely rooln to doubt, tlmt the greatcr number of those who arc called Christians in no truc sense realize it in thcir own minds at all. Indeed, it is a very difficult thing fo bring home to us, and to feel, tlmt we have souls  and thcrc cannot be a more fatal mistake than fo suppose we sec what the doctrine means, as soon as we can use the words which signify if. So g'reat a thing is it to understand that we bave souls, that fle knowing if, taken in connexion with its results, is all one with bei 2 serwus, i. e. truly religious. To discern our immortality is necessarily connected with fear and trembling and repcntance, in the case of every Christian. Who is there but would be sobered by an actual sight of the flames of hell tire and t.he sou]s therein hope]essly enclosed? Vould not all his thougts be drawn to that avful sig'ht, so that he would stand stll gazing fixedly upon it, and forgetting every thing else; seein nothing else, hearing nothing, engrossed with the contemplation of it  and when the sght was withdrawn, still having if fixed in his memory, so that he wonld be henceforth dead to the 1)leasures and employments of this world, considered in  Rom. il. 20. [q themselves, thinking of them only in their referenee to that fearful vision? This wol]d be the overpowering effect of such a disclosure, whether it actually ]ed a man to rcpentance or not. And thus absorbcd in the thoug'ht of the lire fo corne are they who real]y and heartily receive the words of Christ and His Apostles. Yet fo this state of mind, and therefore to this true knowledge, the multitude of men c.ql]ed Cbristians are certainly strang'ers  a thick veil is drawn over their e:yes; and in spire of thcir being able to talk of the doctrine, they are as if tlmy never had heard of if. They go on just as the heathen did of old: they eat, they drink; or they amuse themselves in vanitics, and lire in the world, without fear and without sorrow, just as if Goal had hot dcclared that their conduct in this lire would decide their destiny in the next; just as if they either had no souls, or had nothing" or little fo do with the saving of them, which was the creed of the heathen. Now let us consider what it is to bring home fo ourselves that we bave souls, and in what the especial difficulty of it lies; for this may be of use to us in out attempt to realize that awfifl truth. We are from our birth apparently dependent on thing, s about us. We see and feeI that we could not live or Zo forward without the aid of man. To a child this world is every thing": he seems to himself a part of this wor]d, a part of this world, in the saine sense in which a. bmneh is part of a tree; he has little notion of his own separate and independent existence: that is, he has no just idea he has a soul. And if he g'oes through lire with his notions unchanged, he bas no just notion, even fo the end of lit'e, that he has a soul. He views himself merely in his connexion with this wodd, which is his all; he looks to this world for his good, as to an idol; and when he tries to look beyond this life, he is able to discern nothing in prospect, because he bas no idea of any thing, nor can fancy any thing,, 3u/, this lire. And if he is obliged to fancy something, he fancies this lit,e over again; just as the heathen, when thcy reflected on those traditions of another lire, which wcre floating" among them eould but fancy the happiness of the blcssed fo consist in the enjoyment of the sun, and the sky, and the earth, as ber,otc, only as if these were fo be more splendid than they are now. To understand that we have souls, is to t'cel our separation t'rom things visible, our independenee of them, our distinct existence in omelvcs, our individuality, our power of acting" for oursclves this way or that way, our accountableness t'or what we do. These are the reat truths which lie wrapped up indeed even in a child's mind, and which God's g'race can unt'old there in spire of the influence of the extenaal world; but af first this outward world prevails. We look off from self, to the things around us, and t,org, et ourselves lu them. Such is our state,—a depending for support on the reeds which are no stay, and overlookin our real streng'th,at the time when God bcgins tIis process of reclaiming" us to a truer vicw of our pldce in His g'reat system of providence. And when tIe visits us, then in a little while there is a stirring within us. The unprofitableness and feeblcncss or, the thing's of this wor!d are forced upon our minds; they promise but cannot cO

The Immorta/ily of the Soul.

perform, t.hey disappoint us. Or, if they do perform what they promise, still (so if is) they do hOt satisf) us. We still crave for something, we do hot well know what; but we are sure if is something which the vorld bas hOt given us. And then its changes are so many, so sudden, so silent., so continua.l. If never leaves changing; it gocs on to change, till we are quite sick af heurt:then if is that our reliance on if is broken. It is plain we cannot continue to &'pend upon if, unless we keep puce with if, a.nd go on chaning too; but this we cannot do. We feel tlmt, while if changes, we are oue and thc saine; and thus, under God's blessing', we corne to hure some glimpse of the meaninff of our independenee of things temporal, and out immortality. And should if so Imppen that misfortunes corne upon us; (as they often do,) then still more are we led to understand the notllingness of this world; then still more are we led to distrust it, and are weaned ri'oto the love of it, till af lenzth if floats before our eyes merely as some idle veil, which, notwit.hstanding" ifs many tints, cannot hide the view of what is beyond it;—and we begin, by degrees, to perceive that there are but two beings in the whole universe, our own soul, and the God who ruade if. Sublime, unlooked-for doctrine,.3'et most. true! To every one of us thcre are but two being's in the whole vorld, himself and God; foi-, as fo this outward seene, its pleasures and pursuits, its honours and cures, its contrivanees, ifs personages, its kingdoms, ifs multitude of busy slaves, what are they to us? nothingno more thau,-t show:" The xvorld p,-tsseth away and the lust thereof." And as to those others nearer to us, who are

The Immorlality of lhe çouL OE hot to be elassed with the vain world, I mean out fi'iends and relations, whom we are right in loving, these, too, after all, are nothing to us here. They eannot really help or profit us; we see them, and they act upon us, only (as it were) at a distance, through the medium of sense; flmy eannot get af out sonls; they cannot enter into our thoughts, or really be eompanions fo us. In tire next world if will, through God's mercy, be otherwise; but here we enjoy, hot tiroir presence, but the anticipation of what one day shall be; so that, after all, they vanish before the clear vision we bave, first, of our own existence, next of the presence of the great God in us, and over us, as out Governor and Judge, who dwells in us by out conscience, which is His representative. And now consider what a revolution will take place in the mind that is hot utterly reprobate, in propoion as it realizes this relation between itself and the most hlgh Goal. We never in this life ean fiflly understand what is meant by our living for ever, but we can understand what is meant by this world's wt living ibr ever, by its dying never to rise again. And learning this, we learn t.hat we owe if no service, no allegiance; it bas no claim over us, and can do us no material good nor harm. On the ofler hand, the law of God written on our hearts bids us serve Him, and partly tells us how to sexe Him, and Scripture complefes the precepts which nature began. And both Seripture and conscience tell us we are answerable for'what we do, and that God is a righteous Judo; and, above all, out Saour, as our visible Lord God, takes the place of t.he world as the Only-begotten of the Father, having shown Himself openly, that we may hot say that God is hidden. And thus  man is drawn forward by all manner of powerful influences 4o turn from things temporal fo things etcrn.'l, fo deny himself, fo take l o his cross and follow Christ. For there are Christ's awfil thrcats and warnhgs o make him serous, II]s precepts o attract and clcvatc him, II]s promises to cheer him, Itis gracious deeds and suffcrhgs to humble h]m fo the dust, and to bind his heart once and for ever in gratitude fo tIim who is so surpassing in mercy. All thcse things act upon hhn .and, as truly as St. Matflmw rose from the receipt of custom when Christ cal|cd, heed]css what bystanders would say of him, so they who, through g'race, obey the secret volce of Gd, movc onward contrary fo the world's way, and carelcss what mankind may say of them, as undcrstandlng that they have souls, which is thc ont thing they bave to tare about. I ara well aware that here are indiscreet teachers gone forth into the world, who use language such as I have uscd, but mean something very different. Such are they who delly thc gracc of baptism, and think that a man is converted to God all af once. But I have no need now fo mcntion the difference between their teachingand that of Scripttre. ]¥11atever thcir peculiar errors are, so far as they say hat we are by nature blind and sinful, and must, llrough God's grace, and our own endeavours, learn th.at we bave souls and rise to a new lire, severing, ofrselves from the world that is, and walking by faith in what is unseen and future, so far they say true, for they speak the words of Scripture;

Te Immo.rta[it.y of te Soul. whieh says, "Awake thou tha sleepesL, and arise from Lhe dead, and Chris slmll ive Lime lihL. Sec tha ye walk eireumspeefly, no as fools, buL as wise, redeemin the thne, bccause the days arc evil; wherefore be ye nog uuwise, but understanding what tire will of the LoM is ." Let as, then, seriously question ourselves, and beg of God groee to do so honestly, whcther we are looscned from the world; or whether, livin as dependent on i, and not on tire Eternal Author o[' our beinz, we are in thct takin$ out portion with this perishin outward scene, and inorant of our having souls. I lçnow very well that sueh thoughts are distasteful to the minds of men in general. Doubfless many a onc there is, who, on hearing doctrincs such as I have been insisting on, says in his heart, that ligion is thus ruade gloomy and repulsive; that he would attend to a teacher who spoke in a less severe way; and that in fact Christianity was hot intendcd tobe  dark burdensome law, but  religion of cheerfulness and joy. This is what young people think, though they do hOt express it in this mument- rive form. They view  strict lire as something offensive nd hateful; they turn from the notion of it. And then, as they get older and see more of the world, they learn to defend their opinion, and express it more or less in the way in which I have j ust put it. They ha.te and oppose the truth, as if were upon principle; and fle more they are told tlmt they bave souls, the more solved they are to lire as  they had hot souls. But let us take iv as  clear point from the first, nd hOt  be  Eph. v. 1—17.

disputed, that religion anust ever be difficult to those vho nelect if. Ail things that we have to learn are difllcult af tqrst; and our duties to God, and fo man tbr His sake, are peculiarly diftlcult, because they call upon us to take up a new lire, and quit the love of this world for the next. If cannot be avoidcd; we must fear and be in sorrow, bcfore we can r(:joice. The Gospel must be a burden belote if comforts and brins us peace. No one tan have lais heart cut away from the natural ob.jects oç its love, without pain during the process and throbbing afterwards. This is plain from the nature of the case; a.nd, however truc if be, that thi or that teacher may be harsh and repulsive, ver he cannot materially alter things. Religion is in itself at first a weariness to the worldly mind, and if requires an effort and a self-denia.l in every one who honestly determines fo be religious. But there are other persons who are far more hopeful than those I have been speaking" of, who, when they hear repentante and newness of lire urgd on them, are frightened at the thought of the greatness of the work; they are dislmartened ai being told fo do so much.:No- let if be wcll uudcrstood, that fo rcalize our own individml accountablencss and immortality, of which I h:tve been speaking, is hot rcquired of them all af once. I never said a person was hot in a hopcful way who did hot thus fully discern the world's vauity and the worth of h:,s soul. But a man is truly in a very desperate way who does hot wish, who does hot try, to diseern and feei all this. I want a man on the on'e hand to confess his immortality with his lips, and on the other, to live as if"

he tried to understand his own words, and then he is in the way of salvation; ho is in the way towards heaven, even though he has not yet filly emancipated hilnself from the fctters of this world. /ndced none of us (of course) are entirely loosencd from this world. We all use words, in speaking of out duties,, highcr and filler than we rcally undcrstand. No one entirelyrealizes what is meant by his having a soul; evcn thc bcst of menis but in a statc of progress towards the simple truth; and the most weak and ignorant of those who scek after if cannot but be in progress. And theretbre no one need be alarmed af hearinff that he has much to do bcfore he arrives at, right view of his own condition in God's sight, i.e.a.t fai/A; tbr we all have nmch to do, and the great point is, are we willing to doit? Oh that there were such an heart in us, to put aside this visible world, to desire to look at it as a mere screen between us and God, and fo think of Him who has entered in bcyond the veil, and who is watching us, trying us, yes, and blessing, and influcncing, and encouraging us towards good, da)" by day! Yet, alas, how do we surfer the mere varying circumstances of eve T day to swav us! How dicult if is to remain firm and in one mind under the seductions or terrors of the world! ¥e feel variously according to the l;lace, rime, and people we are with. \Ve are serious on Sunday, and we sin deliberateh  on Monday. Ve rise in the morning with remorse af our offenees and resolutions of amendment, yet before night we have transgressed again. The mere change of soeiety purs us into a new ff'ame of mind; nor do we suflàeiently understand this great weakness of

26 T/e rmmortality of #e ours, or seek for strenth where alone if ean be round, in the Unehangeable God. What will be out thoughts in that da.y, when af lêng'th this outward world drops away altog`ether, and we find ourselves where we ever have been, in His presenee, with Christ standing" af IIis right hand! On the eontrary, what a blessed diseovery is it to those who make it, tiret t|fis world is but vanity and without substance; and that really they are ever in their Saviour's presenee. This is a flought whieh it is seareely right fo enlarge upon in a mixed eongregation, where there may be some who have hOt given their hearts to God; for why shou|d the privileges of the true Christian be diselosed to mankind af large, and saered subjeets, whieh are his peeuliar treasure, be ruade eommon to the eareless liver? He knows his blessedness, and needs not another to tell if him. He knows in whom he bas believed; and in the hour of dang`êr or trouble he knows what is meant by that peaee, whieh Christ did hot explain when He gave it to His Apostles, but merely said it was hot as the world could ive. "Thou wilt keep him in perfeet peaee whose mind is stayed on Thee, beeause he trusteth in Thee. Trust ye in the Lord for ever, for in the Lord /lehovah is everlast[ng` strength '."

"].fJe know these rhin#s, happ,¢ are ye if ye do fhem.'"

HERE never was a, people or an age fo which these words could be more suitably addressed thau to this country at this rime; because we know more of the wa.y to serve God, of out duties, out privileges, and out reward, than any other people hitherto, as far as we have the means of judging. To us thert especially out Saviour says, " If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." Now, doubtless, many of us think we know this very well. Iç seems  vcry frite thing to say, that it is nothing to Z'«ow what is right, unless we clo it; an old subject about which nothing new can be said. When we read such passages in Scripture, we pass over them as admitting them without dispute; and thus we contrive practically to forger them. Knowledge is nothing compared with doing; but the ]«towbtg that knowledge is nothing, we make to be so»eHzin.q, we make it count, and thus we cheat om-selves. This we do in larallel cases also. [any a man instead of learn.ig humility in practice, confesses himself a poor sinncr, and ncxt 2»'Mes himselç upon the confession; he ascribes the glory of his redcmption to God, and thon becomes in a manner/»-oM that ho is redeemed. He is proud of his so-callcd humBRy. Doubtless Christ spoke no words in vain. e Etcrnal Wisdom of God did hot uttcr t[is voice that we might af once catch up ]Iis words in an irreverent ruminer, tlfink we understand them at a glance, and pass them over.:But lIis word endureth ibr ever; if has a depth of meaning suited fo all rimes and places, and haMly and painfully to be understood in any. They, who think they enter into it easily, may be quite sure they do hot enter into if af all. Now then let us try, by tlis grace, to make the text a living word to the benefit of out souls. Out Lord says, " If ye know, h.'ppy are ye, if ye do.'" Let us consider ow we commonly read Scripture. We rcad a passage in the Gospels, forinstance, a parable perhaps, or the account of a. miracle; or we read a chapter in the Prophets, or a Psalm. SVho is not struck with the beauty of what he reads? I do not wish fo speak of those who read the Bible oM now and then, and who will in consequence generally find its sacred pages dull and uninteresting; but of those who study it. Vho of such persons does hot sec the beauty of if? for instance, take the passage which introduces the text. Christ had been washing" His disciples' feet. He did so at a season of great mental suffering; if was just belote He was seized by His enemies to be put to death. The traitor, His familiar friend, was in the room. Ail of Ilis disciples, even the most devoted of them, loved Him mueh less than they thought tley did. In a little while they were all ri forsake Illm and flee. q_'his IIe foresaw; yet He ealmly washed.their feet, and tlwn He told them that He did so by wny of a.n example; that they should be till of lowly services one to the other, as He to then.; that he among t.]em was in taet the hig'hest wlo put himself the lowest. This IIe had said belote; and IIis disciples must lmve reeolleeted it.:Perhnps they mig'ht wo,der in their secret hearts , l[e repeated the lesson; they mig'ht say to thelnselves, " We bave heard this belote." They mig'ht be surprised that His signitieant action, His washing their feet., issued in nothing" else than a preeept already delivered, the eommand fo be hulnble. At the same rime they would hot be al»le to deny, or nther they would deeply feel, the beaut.y of IIis action. Nay, as loving Him (after all) above all things, and revereneing IIim as their Lord and Teaeher, they would feel an admiration and awe of Him; but their minds would not rest suffieiently on the l)ractical direction of • the instruction vouehsafed t.o them. They knew the truth, and they admired it; they did not observe whnt it was they laeked. S uel may be eonsidered their frame of mind; and henee the force of the text, delivered primarily against Judas Iseariot., who knew and sinnel deliberately ag'alnst the truth; seeondarily referring fo all the Apostles, and St. Peter ehiefly, who promised fo be fitithful, but failed nnder the trial; lastly, fo us all, all of us here assembled, who hear the word of lire eontinually, know it, admire it, do all but obey it.

3o IJzowlcdge of God's lFill Is if no so? is no Seripure alog'ethcr pleasant excep in ifs strictncss? do hot we try fo persuade ourselves, that o feel relig'iously, fo confess out love of relig'ion, and fo be able fo talk of relig'ion, vill stand in tire place of eareful obedience, of tha sef-dozial whieh is the very substance of truc praetical relig'ion? Al,s! that relig'ion whieh is so delig'htful as a vision, should be so dist,steful as a reality. Yet so if is, whether we are aware of the fact or hot. 1. The multitude of men even who profess religion are in this state of mind. e will Iake the case of those who are in better circumstances than the mass of the community. They are well educated and taught; they bave t;ew distresses in lire, or are able to get over them by the variety of their occupations, by the spirits which attend good health, or af least by the lapse of time. They go on respectably and happil)5 with the same g'eneral tastes and habits which they would have had if the Gospel had hot been given them. They have an eye fo what the world thinks of them; are charitable when if is expected. They are polished in their manners, kind froln natural disposition or a feeling, of propriety. ?hus their religion is based upon self and the world, a mere civilizatio,; the saine (I say), as if would bave been in the main, (taking" the state of society as they find it,) even supposing, Christianity were not the religion of the land. But it is; and let us go on to ask, how do they in consequence feel towards if? They accept if, they add if to what they are, they ingraft if upon the selfish and worldly habits of an unrenewed heart. They bave been taught to revere if, and to believe it fo corne from God; so they admire if, and accept if as a rule of life, so far forth as if azrees with the carnal principles whieh govern them. So iar as iç does wt agree, they are blind to ifs excellencc and its claires. çhey overlook or explain away its precepts. Tlmy in no sense obey ec««se if commands. They do right when they woe&l have done right had it hot commanded; however, they speak well of it, and think they understand it. Sometimcs, iç I may continue the description, flmy adopt if into a certain rcfincd elegance of sentiments and manners, and thcn the irrelion is all that is graceful, fastidious, and luxurlous. They love religous poetry and eloquent preaching'. They desire to have their feelings roused and soothed, and to secure u variety and relief in that eternal subject which is unchangeable. They tire of its simplicity, and perhaps seek to keep up their interest in it by means of religious narratives, fictitious or embellished, or of news from foreign countries, or of the history of the prospects or successes of the Gospel; thus perverting what is in itself good and nnocent. This is their state of mind af best; for more commonly they think it enough merely to show some slight regard for the subject of religion; to attend its services on the Lord's day, and then only once, and coldly to express an approbution of if. But of course every description of such persons can be but general; for the shades of character are so vmed and blended in indivlduals, as to make if impossible fo give an accurate pcture, and often very estimable persons and truly good Christians are partly infected with this bad and earthly spirit.

3  Içuowlede of God's IUili . Take again another description of them. Thev bave perhaps turned their attention fo thOmeans of promoting the happiness of their fellow-ereatures, and have formed a system of mora.lity and religion of their own; then they COlne fo Scripture. They are moEch struck with the high tone or" ifs preeepts, and the beauty of its teaehing. If is truc, they find many things in it which they do hOt understand or do hot approve; many things they would hot ]lave said themselves. But they pass these by; they hney that these do hOt apply fo the present day, (vhich is au easy vay of removing" any thing we do hOt like,) and on the wltole they reeeive the Bible, and they t.hink it highly servieeable for the lower classes. Therefbre, they reeommend if, and support the institutions whieh a.'e the ehaunels of teaehing it. But as fo their own case, it never cornes into their minds fo apply its preeepts seriously to themselves; they knw them already, they consider. They ]«,ow them and that is enough; but as for doi,y t}leln, by whieh I mean, going forward to obey them, with an unaffected earnestness and an honest taith actby «o them, receiving them as they are, and not as their own previously formed opinions would bave them be, they bave nothing of this right spirlt. They do hot contemplate such a mode of acting. To recommend and affect a moral and decent conduct (on ¢«,]mtever principles) seems to them to be cnough. Tbe spread of knowledge bringing" in ifs train  selfish temperance, a selfish peaccableness,  selfish benevolence, file morality of expedience, this satisfies them. They care for none of tbe truths of Scripture, on tle groud of their being in ScriIture; these scarcely beeome more va.luable in their eyes for being there written. They do hOt obey beeatse they are told to obey, on faith; and lhe neefl of this divine princiæ]e of conduet th¢y do hot eomprehend. Why will it hot answer (tl'aey seern to say). to rnake rnen good lu one way as well as another? "Al»ana and Pha.rpar, rivers of Darnaseus, are they hOt better than all the wate:-s of Israel?" as if all the knowledge and flac training lhat. books ever gave had power fo unloose one sinner from the bonds of Satan, or to effect rnore than an outward rt.forrnation, an alfiearatee of obcdienee; as if if were hot a far different prineiple, a principle iadependent of knowledge, above if and belote if, which leads to real obedience, that principle of divine iaith, given from above, which has lire in itself, ami has powex" really fo use knowledge to the soul's welfare; in the hand of whieh know]edge is (as if were) the torch lighting us on out way, but hot teaehing • or strengthening us fo walk. 3. Or take another view of the subject. Is it hot one of the most cornrnon excuses ruade by the poor for bcing irreF, gious, that they h,ve had no education? as if fo know much was a neeessary step for right practice. Again, they are apt fo think if ewugt to know and fo talk of religion, fo rnake a. man relig'ous. Why bave you corne hither to-day, rny brethren?=ot as a rnatter of course, I will hope; hot naerely because friends or superiors told you fo corne. I will suppose you bave corne to chureh as ci reliffious aet; but beware of supposing that all is donc and over by the aet of eoming. If is hot enough to be lresent here; though rnany men act as if they forgot they rnust atteud to what is going on, as well as corne. It is not enough fo listen fo what is 1)reached; thoug'h many think they have gone a great way when they do this. ¥ou nst 2r«j/; now this is very hard in itself fo any one who tries (and this is the reason why so many men prefer the sermon fo the prayers, because the formcr is mercly the getting ]owwle@e, and the latter is fo do a deed of obedience): you mustl»'«j; and this I sa)" is very difl]cult, because our thoug'hts are so apt to wander. But even this is hot all;—:'ou must, as)'ou pray, really intend to tr2 fo g)ractise what you pray for. Vhen you say, "" Lead us hot into temptation," you must in good earnest mean to avoid in your daily conduct thosc temptations which you have already suffered from. Vhen you say, "' Deliver us ri'oto evil,")-ou must mean fo struggle against that cvil in your hearts, which you are conscious of, and which you pray fo be forgiven. This is difiîcult; still more is behind. You must actually can'y your good intentions into cffect during the week, and in truth and reality war against the world, the flesh, and the devil. And any one here present who fa]ls short of this, that is, who thinks it enough fo corne to church to learn God's will, but does hot bear in mind fo do it in his daily conduct, be he high or be he low, know he mysteries and all knowledge, or be he unlettered and busily occupied in active life, he is a fool in His sig'ht, who maketh the wisdom of this world foo]ishness. Surely he is but a trifler, as substituting a formal outward service for the religion of the heart; and he reverses out Lord's woMs in the text, "' because he knows these things, most unhappy is he, because hc does them hot."

4. But some one may say, "It is so very diffcu[t fo serve God, it is so much against my own mind, sch an effort, such a strain upon my strength to bear Christ's yoke, I must give it over, or I mnst delay it at least. Can nothing be t.aken instead? I acknowledge Itis law to be most holy and truc, and the accounts I read about good men are most delightful. I wish I were like them wit.h all my heart; and for a little while I feel in a mind to set about imitating t.hem. I have begun sevcral rimes, I have had seasons of repentante, and set rules to mysclf; but for some reason or other, I fell back after a while, and was even worse than belote. know, but I cannot do. O wretched man that I ara!":Now fo such an one I say, You are in a much more promising" state than if)'ou were contented 4th yourself, and thought that knowledge was every thing, which is the grievous blindness which I have hitherto been speaking of; that is, you are in a better state, you do hot feel too much comfort or confidence in your confession. For this is the fault of many men; they make such an acknowledgment as I bave described a s«bs[i[t[e for re_al repentante; or allov themselves, af/er making it, to lacet off" repentante, as if they could be suffered fo give a vord of promise which did hot become due (so to say) tbr nmny days. You are, I adroit, in a better state than if you were satisfied with yourself, yot are tot it a stoEe sta[e. If you were now to die,)'ou would bave no hope of salvation: no hope, that is, if your own showiug" be truc, for I maa taking your own words. Go before God's j udgment-seat, and there plead that you know the Truth and have hot donc if. This is

36 A'Szowlcde of God's lUill what you frankly own;—how will if there be taken.9 "Out of thine own mouth will I judg'e thee,'" says out 3udge Himself, and who shall reverse His judgment? Therefore sueh an one must naake the confession with great and real terror and shame, if if is to be eonsidered a promising sin in him; else if is mere hardness of heart. For instance: I lmve heard persons say ligldly (every one must bave heard them) that they own would be  wretched thing" indeed for them or their eompanions fo be taken off suddenly. The young" espeeially apt fo say this; that is, belote they bave eome fo an ae fo be eallous, or hve formed excuses fo overeome the natural truc sense of their conscience. They »ay they hope some day to repent. OEhis is thei' own witness against themselves, like that bad prophet at Bethel who was constrained with his own mouth to ntter God's judgments while he sat at his sinfnl meat. But let hot such an one think that he will receive any thing of the LoM: he does hot speak in faith. Vhen, then, a man complains of his hardness of heart or weakness of purpose, let him sec fo if whether this complaint is more than a mere pretcncc to quiet his conscience, which is frightened at his putting" off repentance; or, again, more than a mere idle word, sald hall in jest a.nd hall in eompunction. But, should he be em'nest in his complaint, then let him consider he has no need fo complain. Every thing" is plain and easy fo the emaest; it is the donble-minded who find difficulties. If you hate your own corruption in sincerity and truth, if you are really pierced to the heart that you do hot do what you know you should d% if you would love God if you could, then the Gospel speaks to you words of peaee and hope. It is a very different thing" indolently fo say, "I would I were a different man," and to close with God's offer fo make you different, whcn if is put belote vou. tlere is the test betveen earuestness and insinccrity. You say you wish to be a different man; Christ takes you at your word, so fo speak; IIe offers to make you different. He says, " I will take away from you the heart of stone, the love of this world and its pleasures, if you will submit fo hly discipline." Here a man draws baek.:No; he eaunot bear fo lose the love of the wodd, to part with his present desires and fastes; he eannot eozse»t to be chaned. After all he is well satisfied at the bottom of his heart to remain as he is, only he wants his conscience taken out of the way. Did Christ offer fo do this for him, if IIe would but make bitter sweet and sweet biffer, darkness lig.ht and light darkness, then he would hail the glad tidinffs of peace;— till then he needs IIim not. But if a man is in ea.rnest in wishing" to get af the depths of his own heart, fo expel the evil, fo purify the good, and to gain power over himself, so as fo do as well as know the Truth, what is the diffieulty?—a marrer of rime indeed, but not of uneertainty is the reeovery of such a man. So simple is the rule which he must follow, and so trite, that af first he vill be surprised fo hear it. God does great thing's by plain methods; and men start from them through pride, eearse they are plain. This was the eonduet of Naaman the Syrian. Christ says, " Wateh and pray;" herein lies out cure. To watch and fo pray are surely in out power, and by these means we are certain of getting" streng'th. You feel your weakness; you fear to be overeome by temptation: then keep out of the way of if. This is watehing. Avoid soeiety whieh is likely to mislead you; flee t¥om the very shadow of evil; yon eannot be oo earefid; better be a little too strieb than a little too easy,—it is the saler side. Abstain flore reading books whieh are dangerous to you. Turn from bad thoughts when they arise set al)oub some business, begin eonversing with some ffiend, or say to yourself the Lord's Prayer reverently. When)-ou are urg'ed by temptation, whether iL be 1)y the threats of the world, false shame, self-interest, provoking eonduet on the part of another, or the world's sinful pleasures, urged to be eowardly, or eovetous, or unforg'iving, or sensual, shut your eyes and think of Christ's preeious blood-sheddinR . Do hot date to say you eannot help sinning; a little attention fo these points will go far (through God's graee) fo keep you in the righb way. And again, pray as well as wateh. You must know that you ean do nothing of yourself; your past experienee has tang'ht you this; therefore look to God for the will and the power; ask Him earnestly in His Son's name; seek IIis holy o<linanees. Is hOt tk, is in your power? lIave you hot power af least over the limbs of your body, so as fo attend the raeans of graee eonstantly? Have you literally nob the power to eome hither; to observe the Fasts and Festivals of the Chureh; to eome fo His Holy Altar and reeeive the Bread of Life? Geç yourself, af least, to do this; to I)Ut out the hand, to take His graeious Body

vit/o¢t O3edience. 39 and Blood; this is no nrduous work;and you sny you really n,i, fo gain the blessins IIe offers. What would you have more than a fi'ee g'if, vouehsafed "without money aud without price?" So, make no more exeuses; murmur hOt a.bout your own bad heart, your knowing and resolving, and not doing. Ilere is your remedy. Well were if if men eould be persuaded fo 1)e in earnest; but few are thns mmded. The many go on with a double aire, trying" fo serve both God and mananon. l"ew ean get themselves fo do what is right, beeanse God tells them; they ha.ve another aire; filet desire to please self or men. When they ean obey God without offending the ]»ad Ma.ster that rules them, then, and then only, they obey. Thus religion, instead of being the jh'st thing- in their estimation, is but the second. They differ, indeed, one @oto another what to put foremost: one man lotes fo ])e af ease, another fo be busy, another to enjoy domestie eomtort: but they agree in eonverting the truth of God, whieh they know fo be Truth, into a mere instrument of seeular aires; not disearding the Truth, but degrading When Ite, the Lord of hosts, cornes fo shake terribly the earth, what number will He find of the renmant of the true Isra.el? We lire in an edueated age. The false gloss ot  a mere worldly refinement makes us deeent and amia.ble. We all know and profbss. We thinl; ourselves wise; we flatter eaeh other; we make excuses for ourselves when we a.re eonseious ve sin, and thus we gra(lually lose the eonseiousness tha we are sinning. We think our own rimes superior to all others. "Thou blind Pharisee! '" This was the fatal charge brouht by our blessed Lord against the fa]sely en!ightened teachers of IIis own day. As then we,.lesire to enter into lire, let us corne to Christ continually for t.he two tbundations of true Ciristian thith,—humblecss of mind and earncstness!

TRANGE as if may seem, multitudes called Christians go through lire with no effort fo obtain a correct knowledge of themsclves. They:re eontented with general and vague impressions eoneerning" their real state; and, if they have more than this, if is.merely sueh aeeidcntal information about themselves as the events of lire force upon thcln.:But exact systelnatic knowled'e they h;tve none, and do hOt aire af if. When I say this is s?ra,ge, I do hot mean fo imply that to know ourselves is easy; if is very dilfieult fo know ourselves even in part, and so far i'norance of ourselves is not a strange thing.:But its strangeness eonsists in this, riz. that men should 19rofcss fo reeeive and act upon the great Christian doctrines, -hile they are thus ignorant of themselves, eonsidering that self2 knowledge is  neeessary eonditlon for understanding theln. Thus lU is hot too much to say that all those vho negleet the duty of habitual self-examlnation are using words without meaning. The doctrines of the

4 OE Sccrct Fazzlts. dorive»ess of sins, and of, ,eo bir[h from sin, eannot be tmderstood wihou some riffh kuowledffe of the na/ure of sin, LhaL is, of out own heart. We may, indeed, nssenL to  form of words whieh deelares thooe doetrines; buL if sueh  mere a.ssenL, however sineere, is the saine as a real koldi 9 @ them, and belief in them, then itis equally possible fo believe in a l>roposition the terres ofwhieil belong to some foreig'n langnage, which is obvlouslv absurd. Yet. nothing is more eommon than for men to think that because they are falniliar with words, they tmderstand the ideas (ley sta.nd for. Edueated persons despise this fanlt in illiterate men who use hal'd words as if they eomprehended them. Ye they themselves, as well as ofliers, fall into the saine error in a more subtle form, when they think they understand terres used in morals and relig'ion, beeause sueh are eommon words, and bave been used by them all their lires. Now (I repeat) unless we bave some just idea of our hearts and of sin, we ean have no right idea of a Ioral Governor, a 8aviour or a Sanctifier, that is, in professin to believe in Them, we shall be using, words withou attaehing distinct meaning fo Lhem. Thus self-knowledge is a.t the 1-oot of all rem religions knowledge; and it is in vain,worse tha.n vain,it is a deeeit and a misehief, to think fo understand the Christian doetl'ines as a matr of course, merely by being taught by books, or by attending serinons, or by any outward means, however excellent, taken by thelnselves, l'or t is in proportion as we seareh out hearts and understand our own nature that we understand what is meant by an

Scc rc! _'« zt [ts. 43 Intînite Governor and 3ud,; in proportion as we eomprehend the nature of disobedienee and out aeml sinfulness, that we feel what is the blessing" of the remowd of sin, redemption, p,ardon, sanctification, whieh otherwise are mere words. (od speaks fo us primarily in out hearts. Self-knowledg is the kev fo the preeepts and doetrines of Scripture. The ve U utmost anv ouward notiees of religion tan do, is fo slarlle us and make us turn inward and search onr hearts; and then, when we bave experieneed wha if is fo read ourselves, we shall profit by the doetrines o[" the Church and the Bible. Of course self-knowlede admits of deg'rees. 'o one perhaps, is entirely ignorant of himsel[' aud even the most advaneed Christian knows himself onlv "" in p,art." However, most men are eontented with quaintance wih their hearts, and therefore a superficial f,aith, q'his is the point whieh if is mv purpose fo insist npon. ]Ien are satistîed fo bave numberless secret faults. OEhey do hot think about them, either as sins or as obstacles fo strength of faith, and lire on as if they had nothing fo learn. Now let us eonsider attentively-the strong presumption that exists, fhat we ail have serious secret faults whleh, I believe, `all are ready fo eonfess in genera! terres, thou.gh fev like ealmly and praetieally fo dwell upon if; as I now wlsh to do. 1. Now fle most ready method of eonvineing, ourselves of the existence in us of falts unknown fo ourselves, is fo eonsider how plainly we see the secret faults of others. Af tirst sight there is of course no reason for

44 Sëcrct Fa«tlts. supposing" that we differ materially ri'oto those around us; and if we see sins in them whieh they do hOt see, it is a presumption that they bave their own diseoveries about ourselves, whieh if vould surprise us to hear. For instance: how apt is an.qnffry man fo faney that he has the eommand of himself! OEhe very charge of being angr35 if brought against him, will nager him more; and, in the height of his diseomposure, he will profess bilnself able fo reason and judge with elearness and inpartiality. Now, if may be lais turn another day, fir what we know, to witness the saine failing in us; or, if we are hot naturally inelined fo violent passion, still ai least we may be subjeet to other sins, equal!y unknown to ourselves, and equally known to him as his anger was fo us. For example: there are persons who aet mainly from self-interest af rimes when they eoneeive they are doing generous or virtuous actions; they give freely, or put themselves to trouble, and are praised by the world, and by themselves, as if acting" on high principle; whereas close observers can detect desire of gain, love of applause, shame, or the mere satisfaction of being busy and active, as the principal cause of their good deeds. This may be our condition as well as that of others; or, if if be not, still a larallel intïrmity, the bondage of some other sln or sins, which others see, and we do not. But, sa.y there is no human belng secs sin in us, of which we are no aware ourselves, (though this is a bold supposition fo make,) yet why should man's accidental knowledge of us limit the extent of our imperfections? Should all the world sleak well of us, and ood men