those who profess to have "tasted the heavenly gift, and to have been made partakers of the Holy Ghost," fall back into sin; and thus betray and " crucify the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame!"'1 Oh, "take heed, Christian brethren, lest there be in any of you such an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God." 2 And when you come to the Holy Communion, let it be with the full purpose of doing, what you will there profess to do-presenting yourselves' as a reasonable, holy, and lively sacrifice,' to him who hath redeemed you.

Let us read this Scripture, lastly,

was

III. AS EXEMPLIFYING The feelings OF A HOLY MIND, IN THE CONTEMPLATION OF SIN. Jesus " troubled in spirit."

Not because mortified by an unexpected discovery. He had known that these things would take place, at least as long ago as when David, in his name, and by the inspiration of his Spirit, penned the fifty-fifth Psalm (verses 12-14). Nor because this treachery made his own fate certain: it could not be more so, than his eternal purpose had already made it. No; he was troubled,

1. At the present dishonour done to God and the Gospel. It was a triumph to Satan, who thus "bruised. his heel." It was a triumph to all the ungodly"Ah, so would we have it!" All this grieves a holy mind. It is not passion-it is not jealousy-which calls forth from true Christians the reproof of sin. It is trouble of heart, because God is dishonoured. Encourage this feeling, my Christian brethren, let the world despise you for it as they may. Be it your consolation to know, that you are conformed herein

1 Heb. vi. 6. 2 Heb. iii. 12. 3 Gen. iii. 15. 4 Psa. xxxv. 25.

to your pure and blessed Master. -He was troubled,

moreover,

2. At the approaching Ruin of a sinner. He saw before him a soul, which (before even his own death should be accomplished) would be "gone to its place "1

-to hell-to just and everlasting damnation. Could he, who came from heaven to earth to save sinners from damnation, fail to be troubled at such a sight?— He still feels the same trouble for thee, O Sinner! whosoever thou art. I must not say, indeed, that he foresees thy damnation, as he did that of Judasneither can I say that he does not. Nevertheless, it

is with grief and sorrow that he beholds thee continuing in sin, and shewing thyself the willing slave of Satan. His holy children also feel the same cause for mourning-none but devils and sinners rejoice. Oh turn, then, and repent; and there shall be joy in heaven!

1 Acts i. 25.

SERMON XV.

PSALM CXIX. 25.-My soul cleaveth unto the dust: quicken thou me, according to thy word.

IT is an important thing, my brethren, to know ourselves. For, whether we possess this knowledge or not, "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." I Now who can realize the thought, that he is thus overlooked in his closest privacy,-and that too, by the Being with whom it most concerns us to be on good terms,-without turning his own eye inward, to see whether all be right? whether his heart be fit for God's inspection ? Alas! we have reason enough to dread that inspection : for if so spiritual a person as David was under the necessity of making complaints like that in the text, what may we not suppose the state of our own souls to be, even before we examine them? Yet let us not therefore shun self-knowledge; but rather, like him, bring our worst evils to God, in humble confession and believing prayer, that we may be healed.

Consider, then, this pattern which David sets before you; and may the Spirit of the Lord instruct you thereby -His words contain,

I. A GRIEVOUS COMPLAINT: " My soul cleaveth unto the dust."

1. The condition of his Soul, you observe, is David's

1 Hebrews iv. 13.

grand concern. There were times, indeed, when he could complain of bodily suffering, of worldly trouble, of malicious enemies, of man's ingratitude. And in all this, you find no difficulty in imitating him; on subjects of this kind you can complain as loudly as he. But do you ever think of your soul? Careful and troubled as you are about many things. is not this one thing almost universally and constantly neglected ? 1 As if the soul could not be in danger! could not suffer! could not be diseased! could not by any mischance perish everlastingly! Is then the soul of every man so safe, as to justify this habitual neglect? If not, Oh what madness, to be attending to any thing at all, however important, while you forget your soul!

2. David's complaint teaches us indirectly, what is the true healthy condition of the soul. It ought to be continually mounting upward, towards heaven and heavenly things. The only rest for the soul is in God. Earthly things cannot fill or feed it-the attempt is like feeding on ashes." " It must have peace with God;

and, for this end, must have an interest in Christ; and in order to this, must seek and enjoy communion with the Holy Spirit. If it gain this in some small measure now, yet the full harvest of the blessing is hereafter, and above. The soul's "treasure" then being in heaven," thither should its hearty desires be alway ascending. Is not this reasonable? Whatever attention may be required to the needful, but short-lived, concerns of our present state, ought not the soul to be ever stretching forth its eager desires, and its warmest affections, towards those things which are eternal? Can it otherwise be in health or safety? But 3. The soul's actual condition is far otherwise. " My soul," saith David, "cleaveth unto the dust."-In the 1 Luke x. 41. 2 Isa. xliv. 20. 3 Matt. xix. 21.

ungodly and unconverted, this is habitually the case. Many of you have not even an idea of fixing your heart on things above; you know not what it means; and when religious people speak of it, or the Minister of Christ requires it in his name, you are ready to think them fools-and perhaps are pleased to call them hypocrites. This is a plain confession on your own part, that your soul tends only downward. But the holy Christian, too, makes the same confession, yet with very different feelings. With him, it is a matter for grievous complaint. For he has known the blessedness of looking upwards. He knows what ought to be the spirituality of his mind; and that he cannot be happy without it. Yet, when he reviews each day his inward history- Where have been my desires, my thoughts, and enjoyments?'-alas, Down in the dust' is too often his sad reply. It did not perhaps strike him, while he was engaged in his necessary employments, that this was the case; but the cool of the day brings with it recollection, shame, and self-reproach. He sometimes can scarce call to mind one spiritual feeling ; but he remembers an abundance of What must I eat, what must I drink, and wherewithal shall I be clothed? "1 He recollects also many evil tempers, much self-indulgence and sloth, and worldly compliance, and desire of human praise, and self-admiration, and self-will. Alas, it seems to him as though he had as yet learned in the school of Christ nothing to any purpose. His chief encouragement is, that he “abhors himself" for all that he finds within him.

2

4. The impossibility of effecting a change, is the finishing stroke in this grievous complaint of the true Christian. 66 My soul cleaveth." It is not like the lark, that occasionally descends for a moment, for

1 Matthew vi. 31.

2 Job xlii. 6.