"God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ!" In the spirit of this exclamation, strive, my Christian brethren, to live and to die; and our Lord and Saviour shall soon fulfil his own promise. "When I am lifted up, I will draw all men unto me.”—Lord, thou art now "lifted" on the cross. Thou hast now ascended to heaven. O draw us to Thyself! Draw us from the paths of doubt, and coldness, and inconsistency; and "make us pillars in the temple of our God;" in that " temple," whence we shall "go no more out, but bear the name of God, and participate in his joys for ever and

ever."

66

SERMON XV.

THE PENITENT RETURNING TO GOD.

HOSEA xiv. 1-3.

O Israel, return unto the Lord thy God; for thou hast fallen in thine iniquity. Take with you words, and turn to the Lord say unto him, Take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously: so will we render the calves of our lips. Asshur shall not save us ; we will not ride upon horses: neither will we say any more to the work of our hands, Ye are our gods; for in thee the fatherless findeth mercy.

Not only is the obligation to repent universal, but the main features of real repentance are in

variably the same. It is the like corruptions of heart and practice over which the contrite sinner of every age and country has to mourn; it is the same mercy-seat he has to approach; it is the same God to whom he has to be reconciled. In this point of view it has appeared to me that the striking description presented to us in the text, of the tribes of Israel returning, with contrition of heart, to the God whom they had so long and so deeply offended, might assist us in judging of the character of our own penitence, and of the spirit in which we are seeking reconciliation with our offended Father. May that Saviour who is "exalted to give repentance, and remission of sins" to his lost creatures, shed forth his blessing upon us in the pursuit of this inquiry! It is my intention to consider what is suggested in the text,

I. AS TO THE General CIRCUMSTANCES OF MAN

KIND.

II. AS TO OUR DUTY UNDER THOSE CIRCUMSTAN

CES.

III. AS TO THE ENCOURAGEMENT TO DISCHARGE

THIS DUTY.

I. In the first place, we are to consider what is suggested in the text AS TO THE GENERAL CIRCUM

STANCES OF MANKIND.

The expression in the text, "thou hast fallen," applies, of course, primarily and directly to the case of the Jews, to whom the Prophet is particularly addressing himself. They had "fallen" in every sense of the word: their vices had been their ruin their city was destroyed, their temple consumed, and they themselves were captives in a strange land. Nor were the physical and outward evils of their condition the worst

to which they were exposed. The work of dedevastation had reached their minds as well as their bodies. Even under the pressure of such tremendous calamities they were hardened and impenitent. Many of them still clung to their sins; and many even addicted themselves to the idolatries of the heathen.

But it is not my intention to consider the case of the Jews exclusively. I wish rather, as has been already stated, to treat the subject generally, and to consider the application of these words, "thou hast fallen," to the general circumstances of mankind. Too high a conception is apt to prevail as to our actual condition. Let us endeavour to form a just estimate of our circumstances.

1. Consider for example, in the first place, the state of degradation to which man has fallen.-Survey the first man as he proceeded from the hands of his Maker, "holy, harmless, undefiled;" and then, take a view of the successors to this pure and lofty creature. In some instances of savage life, little seems to be left to distinguish man from the beasts which graze around him; and though, in more civilized countries, refinement and literature veil some of the coarser features of this degradation, how thin is the covering! how often does the obliquity of our nature discover itself! how truly sordid are the feelings, the desires, the tastes of our unconverted hearts! How is each man apt to be swayed by a paramount regard to his own interest! How many are the abject slaves of the basest lusts and passions! How few possess the "testimony of their conscience," that "with simplicity, and godly sincerity, they have had their conversation in the

world!" How often, in fact, have we occasion, in contemplating our own hearts, or the conduct of others, to blush for the creature who was originally formed in the image of his God!

2. Look, secondly, at the state of corruption and depravity to which human nature is fallen.-It is possible, without doubt, to overstate the limits of this corruption; and men thus offend when they deny to our fallen nature, in every case, those moral qualities which bind man to man, and soften so many of the trials of human existence. But, even as to the qualities of benevolence, or justice, or gratitude, of which the relics are still discernible in the mind: in what small quantities do they generally exist even in the most favoured natures! and in how many, not at all! And then, as to spiritual qualities, how absolutely extinct are they in the unconverted mind! Where do we find in "the natural man" the faith, the zeal, the self-devotion, the holy obedience, which we owe to a God and Saviour? And should not the want of these qualities, and the display of their opposites towards the Father and Saviour of the world, be deemed the strongest evidences of corruption? Would you not admit a man to be corrupt who, though he had many pleasant and attractive qualities, was guilty of the crime of the blackest ingratitude and rebellion against a kind and tender Father? And is not he therefore to be considered as depraved, be his powers of pleasing and attraction what they may, who insults or even neglects the tender Father of the universe, and the bleeding Saviour of a guilty world? But, without dwelling exclusively on these spiritual offences of mankind, it may surely be affirmed, that corruption

is stamped in characters of blood and guilt upon almost every corner of the earth. Open what page of the history of past ages you will, and where do you not find evidences of its existence and operation? Survey the field of battle, the jail, the scenes of political intrigue or debate; look at that horrible traffic in human flesh, in which even this nation till of late participated, and in which some of the principal nations of Europe are at this moment participating; and are we not, however unwilling to calumniate our species, obliged continually to exclaim, “that the earth is full of the habitations of cruelty," and that "all flesh has corrupted its way ?"-" Thou hast fallen by thine iniquity."

66

3. Consider, thirdly, under this head, the state of suffering to which we have fallen. By some the world has been compared to a vast "hospital" of disease; and, certainly the comparison is in this sense just, that every man is, in fact, a dying creature, and carries about with him the seeds of his own dissolution.-By others, it has been compared to a huge "prison," crowded with guilty and afflicted criminals. And, without insisting upon the accuracy of these comparisons, and fully admitting the many circumstances, by which the trials of life, in particular circumstances, are mitigated; yet it cannot be questioned that sickness, distress, poverty, crime, and death, throw a deep and gloomy shade over the path of human existence. That man, however prosperous his own circumstances, must have little sympathy for the circumstances of his species, whose heart does not often bleed for the sufferings of others; and who is not roused to active exertions for their consolation and welfare. One