Behold, ye have sinned against the Lord; and be sure that your sin will find you

out."

As for you, dear brethren, and friends, in the Lord Jesus, let the contemplation of such passages of Holy Scripture, as that which has now been the subject of discussion, endear to you the sovereign goodness and grace of your God; and make you humbly thankful for the distinguishing prinvileges which it is your favoured lot to enjoy. The text, which, to the careless, worldly, and unconverted part of mankind, abounds only in truths calculated to terrify and alarm, to you breathe nothing but encouragement and comfort. If " to Him with whom you have to do," all things be naked and opened, He knows that in Himself you are "created anew" by the Spirit which He has given you. He knows that you are passed from death unto life that your bodies are His own habitation through the Spirit that you are indeed members of His body, of His flesh, and of His bones: and heirs of everlasting glory. If, therefore, He know, that in yourselves you are sinners, He knows also that in Himself you are

:

completely righteous, and completely holy. He sees your defects, but they are forgiven; He sees your infirmities, and pities you; "remembering that you are but dust." Since, therefore, your God knows you; knows you are His; and loves you, and forgives you; dwell not on your sins, but on His love; and rejoice in His love. Be encouraged to "labour to enter into His rest:" for greater is He who is for you, than all who can be against you. Be ye faithful unto death, and you shall, after all, receive "the crown of life."

It is peculiar to the religion of the gospel, that it reveals a salvation for the most sinful of mankind; freely bestowed upon them, not awarded upon the ground of any works of righteousness that they have done, but solely upon the ground of the sovereign love .of God, who hath mercy on whom He will have mercy. It is natural to man, in his fallen and ruined condition, to look for the divine favour, (if he look for it at all,) in consideration of something to be done by himself. In his extreme ignorance of his real state and character, he flatters himself that he is

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able to do something to please God, upon which he may erect a claim to the divine regard and acceptance; and thus he attempts to “kindle a fire,” and to “ compass himself about with sparks," and to walk in the light of that fire. But He who holds all such miserable efforts in high disdain, declares, that they shall end only in sorrow. No, my brethren, "without faith it is impossible to please God." Do what you will, I repeat, without faith it is impossible to please God: and "all men have not faith:" none, indeed, have this saving principle, except those to whom it is specially given by the Spirit of sovereign grace. We tell you, upon the authority of infallible truth, that 66 you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked: that in you dwelleth no good thing and that if you are ever to be saved, it must be by grace-by the free, and unmerited favour of God, through faith in Christ Jesus;" and that, not "of yourselves, it is the gift of God." We are commissioned to declare to you, that the salvation of God is by faith only, that it may be by grace; "and if by grace, then is it no more of works; otherwise, grace is no

more grace: that if it be of works, then is it no more grace, otherwise work is no more work." God justifieth-whom? Not the righteous, but the ungodly: and the ungodly, being justified freely by His grace, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, "are accounted righteous before Him" in Christ; have peace with him; and being thus justified, then, and not before, they walk religiously in good works, and at length, by God's mercy, certainly attain everlasting life. In this precious view of it, the gospel is indeed that record in which God speaketh peace to His people; and in being able to enter into it, we see something of the true character of the message delivered by the angel to the shepherds of Bethlehem: "Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, for unto you is born this day in the city of David, a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." Oh! that they who are ignorant of God's righteousness, and, therefore, go about to establish their own righteousness, would only submit themselves to the righteousness of God! Then we should no longer see the doctrine of the Cross operating as a stumbling-block, and