sion and pursuit, by renewed obedience, purifying your hearts and extending to every part of Christian duty. Look for strength to perform this work of repentance in all its exercises, and in all its demands, to the grace of God. Look for the acceptance of your repentance even made perfect by all the fruits of righteousness to the merits of Christ, the only refuge of the sinner, the only confidence even of the confirmed saint.

Bear in mind, I beseech you, the awful admonition, "except ye repent, ye shall perish." It was the admonition of Christ to his beloved disciples; it is his admonition, brethren, to each one of you. Even now, from that throne of mercy where his intercessions are poured forth, he addresses to you the warning, "except ye repent, ye shall perish." Shall the warning pass away with that breath which, commissioned by him, delivers it.

Will you go from this sacred temple as perhaps you entered it, careless, impenitent, devoted to the world. Yet once again, not to aggravate your condemnation, but in the anxious hope of saving your souls, I proclaim, in the name of my Lord and Master, the awful denunciation-Oh, my soul, do thou remember it-" Except ye repent, ye shall perish."

SERMON XXIV.

DELAY OF REPENTANCE.

[FOURTH SUNDAY IN LENT.]

PSALM CXix. 60.

I made haste and delayed not to keep thy commandments:

"THE children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light." In worldly matters men are wiser than in their spiritual concerns. This is a truth which the voice of inspiration hath pronounced, and which daily experience confirms. It is particularly verified in the conduct of which most men are guilty, the procrastination of their repentance, their delay on entering into a religious life. Propose to them some worldly object which arouses their imagination and their passions; and though the attainment of it be uncertain, and the posses

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sion transitory, and unproductive of substantial enjoyment, you behold every desire and power of the soul enlisted in the pursuit. Delay in the use of any means likely to obtain this eagerly coveted object, is branded with the odious epithet of a folly which deprives, in general estimation, him who is guilty of it, of his title to common sense and common prudence. But propose to men those spiritual joys which religion confers; urge them to the care of their souls, those imperishable principles which will exist, when their corporeal part has mingled with its native dust; exhibit to their embrace those virtuous pleasures which, exalting their nature, will constitute their neverending happiness, when the world, and all that it contains, shall be consumed in the fires of the last day-yes-propose to men objects alone worthy of their supreme pursuit, and gratifying to their immortal powers--and you behold them indifferent to the offer, or tardy in the acceptance of it. You see them delaying, from day to day, the zealous use of those means which alone can secure to them these spiritual and enduring blessings. Instead of " making haste, and delaying not to keep the commandments of their God," they continue engrossed with worldly concerns; and postpone to a more convenient season, that provision for eternity which should be the chief business of life.

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Alas! that man, exposed to the just displeasure of an holy God, should for a moment delay to avert the wrath of him who " is able to destroy for ever both soul and body in hell." Alas! that man, the fleeting periods of whose earthly existence may in an instant be terminated by a thousand accidents which he can neither foresee nor avert, should delay the securing of his eternal interest. Alas! that the heirs of immortality, to whom are offered joys as exalted in degree as they are endless in duration, should delay to secure them should for a moment risk the loss of them, and incur the danger of endless woe.

This conduct is at variance with common sense, and common prudence. And yet it is the conduct which characterises the bulk of mankind. How few even of us, my brethren, can plead exemption from the guilt of it, and with sincerity join in the humble declaration of the Psalmist to God, "I made haste, and delayed not to keep thy commandments.'

By procrastinating our repentance; by delaying our entrance on a religious life

I. We incur the highest degree of guilt.

II. We render our salvation more difficult and hazardous.

Matt. x. 28.

III. We fail to secure our present felicity.

IV. We diminish our future rewards.

V. We even render our attainment of these rewards wholly uncertain.

By delaying our repentance, and our engaging in the service of God,

I. We incur the highest degree of guilt.

It is the command of God, that we turn from our sins, and engage in his service. He is supremely worthy of the constant homage of our hearts, and service of our lives. All the excellences in the human character, which excite our admiration and esteem, in an infinite degree centre in him; and there is no relation which can constitute a ground of duty and gratitude which he does not sustain towards us.

He is our Maker, from whom we have derived our being; our Sovereign, whose authority over us is founded on his wisdom, his power, and his goodness; our Judge, to whom we must render an account; our Father, who regards us with infinite tenderness and compassion; our Preserver, who sustains and guards us through the numberless evils of life; our Benefactor, who dispenses to us all our enjoyments; and, including every relation of power, and of goodness, God, our Saviour