companied with faith in the Divine mercy. | debted for the care of my infant years; Father, I have sinned against Heaven against that goodness to which I owe my and before thee." We are formed by the Author of our being to feel contrition for the offences we commit. This pungent sense of infirmities, this penitential sorrow for errors and defects, is a beauty in the nature of man. It is an indication that the sense of excellence exists in its full vigor, and the mark of a nature that is not only improvable, but that also is making improvements. When a man seriously considers that the tenor of his life has been irregular and disorderly; that much of his time has been misemployed, and great part of it spent altogether in vain; that he has walked in a vain show, unprofitable to himself or others, an idler upon the earth, a cumberer of the ground; that by his negligence and perversion of his powers he has been lost to the world which is to come, has marred the beauty of his immortal spirit, and stopped short in the race which conducts to glory, honor, and immortality; when he further considers that his offences have extended to his fellowmen, that by his conduct he has been the cause of misery to others, has disturbed the peace of society, done an injury to the innocent, such reflections in a heart that is not altogether callous, will awaken contrition and sorrow. preservation; against him who visited me while I was flying from his presence; who supported my powers while they were employed against him. It is my Benefactor whom I have offended; it is my best Friend that I have injured; it is my Father himself against whom I have risen in arms. This sorrow for sin is accompanied with faith in the Divine mercy. To wicked men laboring under the agonies of a guilty mind, the Deity appears an object of terror. They figure to themselves an angry tyrant, with his thunder in his hand delighting to punish and destroy. Like Adam when he had sinned, they are afraid, and flee from the presence of the Lord. But from the mind of the penitent these terrors vanish, and God appears, not as a cruel and malignant power, but as the best of beings, the Father of mercies and the Friend of men, as a God in Christ reconciling the world unto himself. Encouraged by these declarations, the penitent trusts to the Divine goodness, and flies for refuge to the hope set before him. It is the wicked man only that despairs. Horrors of conscience and forebodings of wrath affright and overwhelm the sons of reprobation. Such horrors felt Cain and Judas Iscariot. But the penitent never This penitential sorrow will be increas- despairs. He sinks indeed in his own ed when he considers against whom he eyes, and throws himself prostrate on the has offended; that he has sinned against ground, but still throws himself at the infinite goodness and saving mercy and footstool of mercy, not without the faith tender love; that he has resisted the and the hope that he will be taken into efforts of that arm that was lifted up to favor. The language of his soul is, save him; that he has rebelled against "Though I am cast out of thy sight, yet the God who made, and the Saviour who will I look again to thy holy temple. I redeemed him. This is one of the char-will arise and go to my Father, for though acteristics of true repentance. The pen- I have offended him, he is a Father still. itent does not mourn for his sins as being He now sits upon a throne of mercy, and ruinous to himself so much as for their being offensive to God. The returning prodigal, in the address he makes to his Father, dwells, not upon the misery he had brought upon himseif, upon the ruin to his character, his fortune and his expectations in life. “I have sinned against Heaven and in thy sight." What grieves me most is, that I have offended thee; that I have sinned against goodness unspeakable; against that goodness to which I am in Thou holds a sceptre of grace. At thy tribu- which worketh death. Different as the look | and covered with confusion, how shall he of melancholy upon the face of the vir- appear before his friends and acquainttuous mourner, is from the unkindly glow ance? "I know (might he have said) the which burns the cheek of shame: different malice of an ill-judging and injurious as the tender tears which a good man world. The sins which are blotted out sheds for his friends, are from those bitter from the book of God's remembrance are drops which fall from the malefactor at not forgotten by them. Let me fly rather the place of execution. to the uttermost parts of the earth, retire to the wilderness untrodden by the foot of man, and hide me in the shades which the beams of the sun never pierced, than be exposed to the scorn and contumely and reproach of all around me." The third step is a resolution to return to a sense of duty. "I will arise." Without determined purposes of amend ment, contrition is unavailing and ineffectual. The Deity is not delighted with the sufferings of man. Sorrow for sin is so far pleasing, as it softens the heart, and makes it better. It is the resolution of amendment, the purposes pointed to reformation, that make the broken heart and the contrite spirit an acceptable sacrifice; such is the nature of true repentance; it flows not so much from the sense of danger as from the love of goodness. In true repentance, there is not only a change of mind, but a change of life. When the day-spring from on high arises on him who is in darkness, when God says, Let there be light, the scales fall from his eyes, a new world breaks upon his sight, futurity becomes present, and in visible things are seen; then first he beholds the beauty which is in holiness, and tastes the joy which flows from returning virtue. In that happy hour he forms the pious purpose, and seals the sacred vow to be holy for ever. Then he prefers the peace which flows from virtue, and the joy which arises from a good conscience, to every consideration. Then the servants of God appear to him the only happy men, and he would rather rank with the meanest of these, than enjoy the riches of many wicked. "Great God, withhold from me what thou pleasest, but give me to enjoy the approbation of my own mind, and thy favor. I would rather be the humblest of thy sons than dwell in the tents of wickedness." None shall enter into the New Jerusalem, and sit down at the right hand of the Father, but they who prefer the testimony of a good conscience, the smiles of Heaven, and the sentence of the just, to all the treasures of the world. Had the penitent not been in earnest, false shame might have prevented or retarded his return. Conscious of guilt, But the penitent was determined and immovable. [The rest of the MS. was not legible.] SERMON XVII. THE SPIRIT WHICH IS OF GOD AND THE SPIRIT OF THE WORLD DESCRIBED. I. CORINTHIANS I. 12.-"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God." THERE are two characters which, in Sacred Scripture, are set in perpetual opposition, the man of the earth, and the citizen of heaven. The first character pertains to that class of men, who, whatever speculative opinions they entertain, yet, in practice, consider this life as their only state of being. A person of this character centres all his regards in himself; confines his views entirely to this world, and, pursuing avarice, ambition, or sensual pleasure, makes these the sole objects of pursuit. Good dispositions he may possess, but he exercises them only when they are subservient to his purposes. Virtues also he may cultivate, not for their own sake, but for the temporal advantages they bring along with them. The citizen of heaven moves in a nobler sphere. He does not indeed affect the character of sanctity, by neglecting his temporal concerns. He looks upon the maxim of David, as inspired wisdom. " If thou art wise thou art wise for thyself." But although he has his temporal interest in his eye, he has a higher interest in his heart. What is necessary, what is useful, will often be a subject of attention; but what is generous, | and the vilest means; he gives up the what is lovely, what is honorable, what is manly, the spirited, and the honorable part praise-worthy, become the chief objects of of life; he makes a sacrifice of fame, and pursuit. He cultivates good dispositions character, and dignity, and turns himself from a sense of their beauty, previous to into all the forms of meanness, and basehis experience of their utility; he esteems ness, and prostration. The Prophet the possession of virtue more than the Isaiah, with infinite spirit, derides the earthly rewards it procures; he lives in a idols of the heathen world. "A man,' constant discharge of the duties of life in saith he, "planteth a tree, and the rain this state, and with a well-grounded faith, doth nourish it; he heweth him down and an animating hope, looks forward to a cedars, and taketh the cypress and the better world, and a higher state of being. oak; and of the tree which he planted These two characters, which divide all he maketh to himself a god. The carmankind, are always represented in Scrip- penter stretcheth out his rule, he marketh ture as inconsistent and incompatible with it out with a line; he fashioneth it with each other. It is impossible, says our planes, and maketh it after the figure of Lord, at one and the same time to serve a man; and then he worshippeth it as a God and to serve Mammon. If any man love the world, says the apostle John, the love of the Father is not in him. The principles that actuate these characters are represented in the text as two spirits opposite to one another, the spirit of the world, and the spirit which is of God. The spirit of any thing is that vital principle which sets it agoing; which keeps it in motion; which gives it its form and distinguishing qualities. The spirit of the world is that principle which gives a determination to the character, and a form to the life, of the man of the earth. The spirit which is of God is that vital principle which gives a determination to the character, and a form to the life, of the citizen of heaven. One of these spirits actuates all mankind. While therefore I represent the striking lineaments in these opposite characters, take this along with you, that I am describing a character which is your own: a character which either raises to eminence, or sinks down to debasement. god. Part thereof he burneth in the So It is a spirit of a different kind that animates the citizen of heaven. He is born from above; he derives his descent from the everlasting Father, and he retains a conscious sense of his divine original. Hence, Christians, in Scripture, are called "noble;" are called the "excellent ones of the earth." It is unworthy of their celestial descent, it is unbecoming their new nature, to stoop to the meanness of vice. The citizen of heaven scorns the In the first place, then, The spirit of the vile arts, and the low cunning, employed world is mean and grovelling; the spirit by the man of the earth. He condescends which is of God is noble and elevated. indeed to every gentle office of kindness and The man of the earth, making himself the humanity. But there is a difference beobject of all his actions, and having his tween condescending and descending from own interest perpetually in view, conducts the dignity of character. From that he his life by maxims of utility alone. This never descends. He himself ever feels, and being the point to which he constantly he makes others feel too, that he walks in steers, this being the line from which he a path which leads to greatness, and supnever deviates, he puts a value on every ports a character which is forming for thing precisely as it is calculated to ac-heaven. Such is the difference between complish his purposes. Accordingly, to the spirit of the world, and the spirit gain his end, he descends to the lowest which is of God. Suppleness, servility, abject submission, disgrace the one; dignity, elevation, independence, exalt the other. The one is a serpent, smooth, insinuating, creeping on the ground, and licking the dust: the other is an eagle, that towers aloft in the higher regions of the air, and moves rejoicing in his path through the heavens. other covering. Supported by the consciousness of rectitude, he holds fast his integrity as he would guard his life. Such is the difference between these characters. The man of the earth turns aside to the crooked paths and insidious mazes of dissimulation; the citizen of heaven moves along in the onward track of integrity and honor. The spirit of the world seeks concealment and the darkness and the shade ; the spirit which is of God loves the light, becomes the light, adorns the light. In the second place, The spirit of the world is a spirit of falsehood, dissimulation and hypocrisy; the spirit of God is a spirit of truth, sincerity and openness. The life which the man of the earth leads is a scene of imposture and delusion. Show without substance; appearance without reality; professions of friendship which signify nothing, and promises which are never meant to be performed, fill up a life which is all outside. With him the face is not the index of the mind, nor the tongue the interpreter of the heart. There is a lie in his right hand. He is perpetually acting a part, and under a mask he goes about deceiving the world. He turns himself into a variety of shapes; he changes as circumstances change; he goes through all the forms of dissimulation, and puts off one disguise to put on another. He does not hesitate to counterfeit religion when it serves a turn, and to act the saint in order to gain his ends. Hence the spirit of the world hath often passed for the spirit which is of God, and Satan un-aspiring to that faith which would set him der this disguise hath been mistaken for an angel of light. Such is the spirit of the world. Thirdly, The spirit of the world is a timid spirit; the spirit which is of God is a bold and manly spirit. Actuated by selfish principles, and pursuing his own interest, the man of the earth is afraid to offend. He accommodates himself to the manners that prevail, and courts the favor of the world by the most insinuating of all kinds of flattery, by following its example. He is a mere creature of the times; a mirror to reflect every vice of the vicious, and every vanity of the vain. His sole desire is to please. If he speak truths, they are pleasing truths. He dares not risk the disapprobation of a fool, and would rather offend against the laws of Heaven than give offence to his neighbor. To sinners he appears as a sinner, to saints he appears as a saint. In the literal sense he becomes all things to all men, without above the world, or to that spirit which would enable him to assert the dignity of the rational character. He is timid because he has reason to be so. Wickedness, condemned by its own vileness, is timorous, and forecasteth grievous things. There is a dignity in virtue which keeps him at a distance; he feels how awful goodness is; and in the presence of a virtuous man, he shrinks into his own in The spirit which is of God is a spirit of truth, sincerity and openness. The citizen of heaven esteems truth as sacred, and holds sincerity to be the first of the virtues. He has no secret doctrines to communicate. He needs no chosen confidents to whom he may impart his favorite | notions; no private conventicles where he significance. may disseminate his opinions. What he On the other hand, the righteous is avows to God he avows to man. He ex-bold as a lion. "I fear my God, and I presseth with his tongue what he thinketh have no other fear," is the language of his with his heart. He will not indeed im- heart. With God for his protector, and properly publish truths; he will not prostitute what is pure and holy; he will not, as the Scripture says, throw pearls before swine; but neither will he on any occasion, partake with swine in their husks. He is what he appears to be. Arrayed in the simple majesty of truth, he seeks no with innocence for his shield, he walks through the world with an erect posture, and with a face that looks upwards. He despises a fool, though he were possessed of all the gold of Ophir and scorns a vile man, though a minister of state. The voice of the world is to him as a sounding brass or tion which makes the human nature approach to the Divine, he considers as the dreams of a visionary head, as the figments of a romantic mind that knows not the world. But the spirit which is of God is as generous as the spirit of the world is sordid. One of the chief duties in the spiritual life is to deny self. Christianity is founded upon the most astonishing instance of generosity and love that ever was exhibited to the world; and they have no pretensions to the Christian character who feel not the truth of what their master said, "That it is more blessed to give than to receive." This is not comprehended by worldly men, and the more worldly and wicked they are, the more it is incomprehensible. "Does Job serve tinkling cymbal. The applauses or the censures of the high or the low affect him not. Like distant thunder, they vibrate on his ear, but come not to his heart. To him his own mind is the whole world. There sits the judge of his actions, and he appeals to no other tribunal upon the earth. He possesses the spirit which rests upon itself. He walks by his own light, he determines upon his own deeds. Supported by the consciousness of innocence, and acting with all the force of Providence on his side, he has nothing to fear; knows that he can no more be hurt by the rumors of the idle, impious, and hypocritical, than the heavens can be set on fire by the sparkles that arise into the air, and that die in the moment they ascend. Animated with this spirit, the feeble become strong in the Lord. The apostles God for naught?" said the first accuser who on former occasions had been weak of the just. Yes, thou accursed spirit! and timid, whom the voice of a woman he serves God for naught. Thy votaries frightened into apostasy, who deserted their Master in his deepest distress, and hid themselves from the fury of the multitude; these apostles no sooner felt the impulse of this Spirit, than they appeared openly in the midst of Jerusalem, published the resurrection of Jesus to those priests and elders who had condemned him to death, and discovered a boldness and magnanimity, a spirit and intrepidity, which shook the councils of the Jewish nation, and made the kings of the earth to tremble on their thrones. serve thee for lucre and profit and filthy mammon; but the children of God serve him from reverence and love. Rewarded indeed they shall be in heaven, while thine are to be tormented, and by thyself, in hell; but they account that to be a suffi cient reward which they have even here in their own hearts, the consciousness and the applauses of generosity. SERMON XVIII. ON THE INFLUENCE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT. LUKE XI. 13.-" How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him!" In the last place, The spirit of the world is an interested spirit; the spirit which is of God is a generous spirit. The man of the earth has no feeling but for himself. His own interest is his only object; he never loses sight of this; this is his all; every line of his conduct centres in this point. He has a design in every In the beginning of this chapter, our Lord thing he does. As the Prophet Malachi prescribed to his disciples a pattern of says, "He will not shut the doors for prayer. He discovered the Deity to them naught." He deliberates not whether an under the tender name of a Father; and action will do good, but whether it will he taught them to approach the throne of do good to him. That generosity of sen- Grace with the affection and the confidence timent which expands the soul expands the soul; that of children. To encourage them still charming sensibility of heart which makes more to practise this duty, he assures us glow for the good and weep for the woes of others; that Christian charity which comprehends in its wide circle all our brethren of mankind; that diffusive benevolence reduced to a principle of ac them of success upon their perseverance in devotion; and to impress his instructions in the strongest manner upon their minds, he delivers a parable to them, which he concludes with these words: "Ask, and |