REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE.

Otago Witness, Issue 2319, 11 August 1898, Page 62

REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE.

A sermon delivered on Sabbath morning, Son-

tombor 23, 1855, by the Itov. C. 11. Siunigeon, at New Park street Chapel, Southwark. " Thvn halh God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life."— Acts xi. 18.

One of the greatc&l obstacles which the Christian religion e\er overcame was tho imetciplo prejudice which possessed the mind* of its earliest followers. Tho Jewish behevers, tho twelve apostles, and those whom Jesus Clr.ipt had called from the dispeiscd of Israel were to attached to the idea that salvation was of Iho Jews, and thut none but the disciples of Abiohiiin, 0) at any late, the cncumciscd ones, could b? saved, that they could not bting themselves to the thought that Jesus had come to be the Saviour of all nations, and that in him should all the people of the eaith be blessed. It was with difficulty they could nlJow tho supposition , it wa'i so opposite to all thsn Jewish education, that we find them summoning Petcv before a council ol Christians, and saying to Lm, "Thou wen test in Io men uncircumched and didst eat with them." Nor could Peter exorulate hnnsplf until hp had rehearsed the matter £ully, and said that God had appeared unto him m 11 vision, declaring, " What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common," and that the Lord hrd bidden him pi each the Gospel unto Cornelius and hi? household, inasmuch as they were believers. Afto this the poivei of giaco was so mighty that these Jews could no longer withstand it, and m the teeth of all their previous education they at once assumed the broad principle of Christianity,

" and glorified God, saying, Then hath God also to the Gentiles granted repentance unto life. Let us bless God that now we aie free from the trammels of Judaism, and that wo are not undo those of a Gen<ilism which has in its turn excluded the Jew, bill thai wo live so near the, blcssod 1,11110 that is coming, when Jew and Gentile, bond and free, shall feel themselves one in Jcpus Chust our Head. I am not now, however, about to enlaige upon this, but my subject this morning ip, '' Repentance unto life " May God give mo graco so to speak to you that lm word maj be as a sharp sword, " pieicmg even to tin* dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow."

By "Repentance unto life" J thmk we are to understand that repentance which is accompanied by spiritual lite in the soul, and en surcs eternal life to every one who possesses it *■ Repentance unto lily," I say, brings with it ppmtual life, or, rather, 11 the first consequent thereof Theie are repentances which are not sign? of life, except of natural hie, beeausr they are only effected by the pover of the conscience and the voice of nature speaking in and glorified God, saying, Then hath God men , but the repentance hero spoken of is produced by the Aulhoi v>s hie, and when it comes it begets such life in the foiiJ that ho who was "dead in trespasses and sins" is quickened togethei with Christ, ho who had no spiritual susceptibilities hgw lecoives with meekness th(- engrafted woid, he who sluu:beied in the veiy centre of conuption receives power to become one of the sons of God and to be near his throne. This 1 think is " repentance unto life" — that which gives life unto a dead spirit. J have said also, this repentance ensures eternal hie, for theie ari» repentances of which you hear men speak which do not secure the salvation ol the soul Some preachers will affirm that men may repent and may believe, and yet may J;ill away and perish. We will not consume our time by stopping to expose their erroi this morning , we ha i7 e often considered it before, and have refuted all that they could say in defence of their dogma. Let us think of sin infinitely better repentance. The repentance of our text is rot their leponLance, but it is a, " repentance unto life " — a repentance which is a true sjfu of eternal salvation 111 Christ, a. repentance which preserves us through this temporary state m Jesus, and which when we are 2'assed into eternity gives us a bhss which cannot be destroyed. "Repentance unto Jife " js the actual salvation of the soul, the genii which contains all the essentials oi salvation, which secures them to us and prepares us for them

We aro this morning to give a very careful and prayerful attention to the " repentance" which is "unto hie." First. 1 shall devote a few minutes to the consideration of false repentance; secondly ] shall considei the signs tint mark true repentance, ard niter that, I shall extol the divine beneficence, of which it is written, "Then hath God also to the G2ntile3 granted repentance unto life."

I. First, ilien, we wjII consider certain ;aJ?o repentances. I will begin with tins rervail:that tiemblmg beneath the found of the Gospel is not "repentance." There are many rutn who, when they hear a faithful gospel sermo.... aie exceedingly stirred and moved by at. By a certain po>wr which accompanies the "Word, God testifies that it is his oy/n Word, and ho causes those who hear it involuntarily to tremble. I have seen some men, while the tniths of scripture have been sounded fiom this pulpit, whose knees have knocked together, whose eyes have flowed vrilb tears as if they had Lfcen fou.itain.s of watei 1 have witnessed the deep dejection of their spirit, when — s.t some of them have told me — they have been shaken until they knew not how to abide ibe soidid of the voice, for it seemed like the terrible tj limpet of Sinai thundering only their destruction. "Well, my headers, yon may be very much disturbed ander the preaching of the gospel, and yet you shall not have that '' lepenlanca tinto life.' You may know what it is to be very seriously and vory solemnly affected when you go to Uod's house, arid yet you miy bs hardened sinners. Let me conihm the remark by an instance: Paul stood befcie Feh;; with the chains upon his hands, and as he preached of "righteousness, temperance, and ot judgment to come/ it is written, '"Felix trembled," and yet prooas-tmnlin-j F«lix is in perdition, among the ie^t. of those who ha^'o said, Go thy way for (hi? tini-v. wlion J have a moie convenient season J vjII call fo.- thee." The»e are many of rou who cannot aiteiid the licnse of God without being alarmed; you know what it is offce 1 ) to stand aghast at the thought that God will punish you; you may often have been moved to .sincere emotion under God's ministei ; but, let me tell you, you may be after all a castaway, because you have not lepeiHcd of jour sins, neither have you turned to God.

l^uithei- ilUl. It is quite possible that yoi may not only t) - embJe befoie God's Woid, but you may become, a sort of amiable Agnpp.i and be ''almost persuaded" 'to turn to Jesus Clni&t, and yet have no repentance; you may £50 further and even clean e the gospel; you may say. " Oh, this gospel is such a goodJy thing I wonlc! I had it. Jt ensures so much happiness hoie, and bo much joy liereaftfr, 3 wish I mighl call it mine." Oh! it is good, thus io hear this voice of God; but you may &ifc, and, while some powerful text is facing well handled-, jou may say, " I think it in true"; but it must entei the heart before you can repent. You may even go upon your knoes in prayer, and you may ask with a toinficj up th'.'t this may be blessed to you/ soul; and niter all jou may be no child of Ccd. Yon may say as Agrippa said unto Paiil, "Almost thou peisuadest mo fa be a Chios-

tiap. " ; yet, like Agrippa, jou may never proc^d beyond Iho "almost." lie was almost persuaded to be 0 Christian, but not " altogether." Now, ho.v n any of jou here h.u r ,» bun " almost persuaded" and yet jou aro not really 111 the way ol eternal lilu? How oftei. has conviction brought you on your kuoes and you hare "almost" repented, but you have remained there, without actually repenting Sec that corpse? It is lately de.id. ]t has scarcely acquired the ghaslliricss of death; the colour is ski) hfe-hke. It's hand is still warm, you iray fancy it is alive, and it veins almost to breathe. Bveiy thing is there— tho verm hath scarcely touched it, dissolution hath scarcely appioched, llicie 1^ no fated smell — yet life is gone; life is not there So it is wiih jou j'ou sue almost dive; you have almost every external oiga.ii of 10hgiou wlu°h the Chiistian h.is, but jou have not, life. You nuy have repentance, but not sincere repentance. O hypocnle! I warn yon this morning, you may rot only ticmble but feel a complacency towards the Woid of God, and yet. alter all not have " lepoiitancc unto life.' Y r ou may sink down into the pit that ir bottomless, and he.ll it said, " Depart from me, ye curbed, into cveilasting fire, prepared for the devil and his engcls."

Yet, again, it. is po^-'iblr for nip;i to progress ceil further than this, and positively to Ju'.mb'f thennoives under the hand of God, and yet they may be total s-tianjrcrs to repentance. Tli ci 1 gojdness is not. like the mcrning cloud 31 d the caily dew that passeth nwaj , but when the sermon is heard they go home and commence whxt, they conceive to be the work of ic-pciilaiu'o they lenouncc ceitam vice^ am 1 follies, they clo'he themselves m sackcloth, their tears flow very iieely on account of what they have done, they weep before God; and jet with all that then lepentance is but a temporary repentance, and they go back to their sins again Y)o you deny th it such a penitence can exists Let me tell you of a, case A certain man named Ahab coveted the vinoyajd of his neighbour jVfdbot.li, who would not sell it foi a pi ice nor make an exchange He consulted with his wife Jezebel, who cojitnved to put Naboth to death, and thus secure the vineyard to the king After Naboth was put to death and Ahab had taken possession of tho vineyard, the servant of the Lord met Ahab and said to linn, " Hast thou killed and alfo taken possession Thus saith the Lord, in the place where the dogß licked the blood of Naboth shall the dogs lick thy blood, even thine Behold, 1 will bring evil upon tliec, and will take away thy piospenty " tVc read that Ahab went away and humbled luni3elf , and tho Lord sa.d, ' Because Alia'i humbleth himself before me J will not bung c-vil in 1115 days." He had 31 anted him some kind o! meic} , but we zeacl m the very ne;.t chapter that Ahab rebelled and in a. byttlo in K.imoth-Gilcad, according to the sot* ant of the Lord, he was slam there , co that ' the dogs licked his biooc] in the very vineyard of Kaboth. Y r ou too, 2 tell you may humble ycurselves before God for a time and yet le'nam th<; slaves ol jour transgiessions You are afraid of damnation, but you are not afraid of sinningyon aio an aid of hell, but yon are not afraid of your iniquities, you aie. afiaid of being cast into the pit, but not afraid to harden you 1 hesirtK against hiss commands. Is it aot true, O sinnei, that you are trembling at hell. It is not the soul's state that trouble? you, but hell. If heN weto extinguished your repentance would be extinguished, if the tenors awaiting you were withdiawn, you would sin with a higher hand than befoie, and your soul would he haidened and would rebel against its sovejcigii Be i.ot deceived, my biethrcn. hero, examine yourselves whether you aio 111 the faith , ask yourselves if you have that wi lch is "repentance unto lilo", for j-ou may humble j'ourselves foi v timo and yet never icp"tit beioi? God

.Beyond tins many advance, and yet fall short of grace. It is possib'e that you may confess your .sins, and yet may not repent. You ir,ay »p;>ioach God and tell him you aie a wiefceh indacd ; you may enumerate a long list oS your transgiessions and of the sins that yon have committed without a hense of the heinousness of your guilt, without a spark oi real hatred of your dooJs. You may confess did acknowledge yout transgi p^ons an'! yet have no abhorrence of sin , and 1E yo-i do not, in the strength of God resist sin, if you do not turn fiom it, tlm fancied lepentarce shaU be but the giuldmg which displays th ■ paint which decorates, it is no* the grace whcli transforms into gold, which will abide the fire. Yon may oven, I say, confess your faults and yet nave no repentance

Once more, and then 1 have gone to the fiiithcst thought 2 have to give on this point. You may do some work meet foi repentance, and yet jou may i:e impenitent. Let me give you a pioof of this in a fact authenticated by ui.spiratiou.

Juda.3 betrayed his Master, and after having done so an overwhelming sense of the enormous evil he had committed seized upon him His guilt buried all hope of repentance, and in tho misery of desperation, not the grief of true regret, he confessed his sin to the high iinests, ciying, " I have sinned, in that. 1 have betrayed innocent blood." They said.

"What is that to us, see thou to that." \Vheieupon he cast down the pieces of silver in the temple, to show thai he could not bear to carry the price of guilt upon him, and left them there. He went out, and — was he saved 9 No. "He went out and hanged himself." And even then the vengeance of* God followed him. foi when he had hanged hi?nself he fell fum the height whtre-he was suspended, and was dashed to pip<ts, he was lost, and his soul perished Yet spc what this man did He had sinned, ho confessed his wrong, he returned the gold, still after all that he was a castaway Doe« not this make- us tremble 0 Yon &co how possible it. is t(i be the ape of the Christian so nearly that wisdom itself, if it be only inorto). may be deceived.

11 Now, h.ivni" thus warned you that there are many false kinds of lepentance, I propose to occupy a short time by some remarks on true repentnjjce. and the signs whereby we may discern whether we have that repentance vihich is " unto life."

First ol all, let me corrc-cf one or two mistakes whicii those who are coming to Jesus Christ very offon make One m, they frequently think they must have deep, horribL 1 , and .-ivvfu) manifestation? of the terrors of law and of hell before they cm be saul to icpcnt. How many have J conversed wifb who have said to me what I can only translate into English to yon this morning something in this way . "I do not, repent enough, I do not. feel myself enough of a sinner. J have not been so gross and wicked a tmusgressoi as many — I could almost wish I had, not because J love sin, but because then I thin!; J should have deeper convictions of my guilt, and feel mow sure that I had tiuly come to Jesus Christ." Now, it is a great mistake to ima. gme that those toinblo and horrible thoughts of n. coming judgment liavp anything io do with the validity oJ " repentance." They are often not the gift of God at all, but the insinuations of the devil ; and even whcie the law worketh and proclucutli these "thought*, you must not logard them as being part and parcel of "repentance" They do uot enter into the essence of repentance. " licpentancp " is <i hatred oi sin ; it is a turning fiom sin and a determination in Ihe stiength of God to forsake it. " Repentance " is a hatred of sin and forsaking it. It is possible for a man to repent without any terrific display of the terrors of the law, he may repent without having heard the trumpet &c\i:: r h cf Sm&i, without having heard more than a distant rumble of its thunder. A man may repent entirely thiough the power of the voice of mercy. Some hearts God opens to faith, as in the case of

Lydia. Others ho assaults with the sK;dg9 hammer of tho wrath to come; sonic he opens with the picklock of grace, and some with tho crov.'baz of the law. There may be ehfTcicnt ways of getting there, but the question is, has lie got there? Is lie there? Ifc often happens that the Lord is not in the tempest or in the eaithquake, but in the "still small vo:co."~

Theio is another mistake many poor people make when they arc thinking about salvation, and that is, that they cannot repent enough; they imagine that were they to repent up to I a ccttain degree they would be saved. " Oh, pit I" some of you Wd say, "I have not 1 penitence enough. ' Uelovcd, let me tell you ! that there is not auj- eminent degree of rej pentanco which i; neccssaiy to saivation.You know thoio are degrees of faith, and yet tho least faith saves, &o theio aio degrees of repentauce, and the lcrst repentance will save the soul if it is Finccrc. The Bible says, "He that beljeictfi shall bo saved"; and" when it &aya- that it includes the very smallest degiee of faith fto when il says " Repent and be saved," it inchnlcs the mn.it vho has the lowest degrcv of real repp italic. .Repentance, moreo\e,, is 11 ever pel feet m any man in this mortal st-ito "We never get peifect faith so as to ba entirely freo from doubting; and we never got repc-.itaiicc which is free from some hardness of hcait. Tltc most sincere penitent that you know will fee! himself to be partially impenitent. 'Repentance i.s al-p a continual life-long not. It will grow continually. I believe it Christian on his death bed wilt more bitterly repent than ever he did before. It is a- thing to be do-To all yom life long. Sinning and repenting, sinning md repenting make up a Cluistian's life. Eepontinjr and believing in. Jesus, repenting and believing in Jesus make up the consummation of Ins happiness. You must not expect that j'ou will be perfect iv I repentance before you are saved. No Christian can be i^erfeet Jlzpenhanc? is «i giaco. Borne people preach it us a condition of salvatxou. Condition of nonsense' There arc ie conditions of salvation. God givpg the salvation himself, and he only gives it to those to whom he will. T-Je says, " I will have mercy on whom J. will have mercy " If, then, God has given you the least jepentanee, if it be sincere repentance, praise him lor il, ami expect that io2sentancp will giow deeper and deeper as joa go further on. Then this remark, I think, ought to bo applied to nil Christians. Christian rae;i a.id woman, you feel that you have not deep enough repentance. You lee! thao you have not faith large enough. What are you to doV Ask for an increase of faith, and it will gio-.v So with lepentance. Have you evei oiled to get deep repentpnee? My fiionds, if you hive failed {herein,* still trust in Jesus, and trj' evoy day to get a penitential spirit. Do not expect, I sny again, to have perfei.6 lejentiinee ai firt-t ; sincere penitence you must have, and then under divine grace you will go on from &liingth to strength, until at last you fchall hate r.nd abhor sin as a serpent or a viper, find then shall you be near, very near, tho pcifeclion of lepentance. These few thoughts, then, in opening the subject. And now, jx>u saj r , what arc the signs of true " repe.jti.jior" iii the sight of God? First, I tell you, there is alw&ys a soiiov/ wiLli it, No man ever repents of sin. without having tome kind of sorrow vith : fc. Mere or k-hs.in-U-n«.;, il miy be, wending to the way in wliifh God calls him, and his previous manner of life, but there must be pome sonow. We do not care when it comes, but at eodio time" or other it must come, or it is not the repentance of the Christian, I knew a man once who profesced that he had lepcnted, and he certainly ■uas a changed chari-ctcr, so far as the external was concerned ; but I never could see tlMfc he had any leal sonov. for sin; neither when he professed to believe In Jesus did I ever see any marks of }>cmt3nce in him. I considered in "th.it nv.ui it was a kind of ecstatic jump in'o grace, and I found afterwards he had just 5.% ecstatic a jump .into guilt again. lie was not a sheep of God, for he had not beeu washed iv penitence, for all Gods people hiwe to bo warhed there when converted from their sins. iNTo man can come to Chriet and know his pardon without feeling that sin is a hateful thing, for it puts Jems to death. Ye who have te.vrlcss eyes, unbended knees, unbroken hearts, how can ye think ye are saved? The gospel promised salvation only to those who really repent. Lest, however, I should hurt, some of you, and make you fe?l what J do not intend, let me remark that I do not mtan to say that you must shed actual teais. Some men are so hard m constitution that they could not shed a tear. I have known some who have been able to sigh and to groan, but tears would not come. "Well, I say that though the tear often affords euiUrce ol" penitsnee, yon may have " repentance unto life" without it. "What I would have you uderstand is, that thsre must bo some ier.l sorrow. If the prayer may not Oe vocal, it must be secret. There must be a groan if there is no word; there must be a. sigh if theic be no tear, to show the repentance, c\en iliojgh it be but small. There must be in this repentance, I think, not only sorrow, but there must be practice— practical rep'.ntance. " 'Tis rot enough to say we're sorry, and repont, And then go on from day to day just as we always went." Many people are very sorry and very penitent "for their past sins. Hear them talk. "Oh," they say, "I deeply regret that ever I should, have been a drunkard, and I sincerely bemoan that I fchould have fallen into that sm ; I deeply lament that I should have done so." Then they go straight home, and when 1 o'clock oji Sunday comes you will find them at it again. And yet such people say they have repented. Do you believe them when they say they aro sinners, but do not love sin ? They ruay not love it for the time, but can they be sincerely penitent and then go and transgiesa again immediately in the same way as they did before i How can we believe you if you transgress agiin and again, and do not forsako ycur sin ? Wo know a tree by its fruit; unel you who aie penitent will bring forth works ol repentance ] have oftcMi thought it was a very beautiful instance, showing the powci.* of penitence, which n pious minister once related. He had been preaching oa penitence, snd ha.il in ihc course of his sermon spoken of the .-m of stealing On his way home a labourer came alongside of him. and the minister observed that he had something under his smocL" frock. He told him he need not accompany him farther, but the man persisted. At last he "s.iid. " 1 have a spade under my arm which I stoic up at the farm; I heard j'ou pleaching about the sin of stealing, and I must go and put it there again." That was sincere penitence which caused him to go back sud it'placc the stolen article It was like those South Sea Islanders of whom we read, who stole the missionaries' articles of apparel and fnrnitnie, and everything out of their they brought them all back. But many of you say yon repent, yet nothing comes of it; it is "not worth the &nap of the finger. People sincerely repent, they say. that they should have committed a robbery, or that they have kept a Rambling house; but they are very careful that all the proceeds shall be laid out to their heaits' best comfort. Tiue repentance will yield works meet for repentance — it will be practical lepentance. Yet faithei. Y T on may know whether your rei:>entance is practical by this teat. Does it last or does it not/ ilany of yom repentances are like the hectic iiush upon the cheek of the consumptive person, vhich 13 no pign of health. Many a timo h.'\e I seen a joung man in a flow of nei\ly-.'cqu!iecl but unsound godliness, aiiel lie lias thought he was abcutl

to repent of his sins. For some hours such an one was deeply penitent before God, and for weeks he relinquishes his follies. He attends the ho aue of prayer, and converses as a child of God. But back he goes to his sins as the dog returns to his vomit. The evil spirit has gone " back to his house, and has taken with him seven others more wicked than himself; and the last state of that man is W oi-3e than the first." How long has your penitence lasted Did it continue for months 7 or did it come upon you and go away suddenly ? You said, " I will join the church— l will do this, that, and the other for God's cause." Are your works lasting? Do you believe your repentance will last six months? Will it la s'. until you are wrapped in your winding sheet?

Yet again, I must ask you one question more. Do you think you would repent of your sins if no punishment were placed before you? or do you repent because you know you shall be punished for ever if you remain in your sins? Suppose I tell you there is no hell at all ; that if you chooso you may swear; and, if you will, you may live without Cod. Suppose there Wis 110 reward for viitue and no punishment for sin, winch would you .-Loose? Can you hmet>tly say this morning—" I think, I know, by the grace of God, I -would choose righteo isness if there were no reward for it, if there were nothing to be gained by righteousness ai-d nothing to be lost by sin " ? Every sinner hates Ins sin when he conies near to the mouth of hell ; every murdi-rer hates his crime when he comes to the gallows; I never found a child hato its. fault sq much as when it was gom°- to be punished for it. If you did not dread the pit— if you knew that you might give up your life to sin, and that you might do so with impunity, would you still feel that you hated sin, ai.d that you would not, could r.ot commit sin except through the infirmity of the flash? Would you still desire holiness c Would you still desire to live like Christ? If so— if you can say this in sincerity— if you thus turn to God and hate your sm with an everlasting hatred, you need not fear but that you have a repentance which is " unto life. 111. Now comes the concluding and third point, and that is the blessed benificence of God in granting to men "lepentance unto life." " Kepcntance," my dear friends, is the gift of God. It is one of those spiritual favouis •which ensure eternal life. It is the marvel of divine mercy that it not only provides tho way of salvation, that it not only invites inou to receive grace, but that it positively makes men willing to be saved. God punished his sou Jesus Christ for our sins, and therein he provided salvation for all his lost children. He sends his minister; the minister bids men repent and believe, and he labours to bring them to God. They will not listen to the call, and they despise tho minister. But then another messenger is sent, a heavenly ambassador •who cannot fail. He summons men to repent and turn to God. Their thoughts are a httle -wayward, but after he, the Divine Spirit, pleads •with them, they forget what manner of men they were, and they repent and turn. Now, what would we do if we had been treated as God was? If we had made a supper or a least and sent out messengers to invite the guests to come, what would we do? Do you think we should take the trouble to go round and visit them all, and get them to come? And when they sat down and said they could not e,".t, would we open their mouths? If they still declared they could not eat, should we still make them eat? Ah, beloved 1 I am inclined to think you would not do so. If you had signed the letters of invitation, and the invited would not come to your feast, would you not say, " You shall not have it." But •what .does God do? He says, "Now I will make a feast; I will invite the people, ar.d if they do not come in, my ministers shall go out and fetch them in bodily. I will say to my servants, go ye out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that they may partake of the feast I have prepared." s it not a stupendous act of divine mercy that he actually makes them willing? He does not do it by force, but uses a sweet spiritual sucsion. They are first as unwilling to be caved as they can be; "but," says God, "that is nothing; I have power to make you turn to me, and I will." The Holy Ghost then lbrings home the Word of 'God to the consciences of his children in so blessed a manner that they can no longer refuse to love Jesus. Mark you, not by any force against the will, but by a sweet spiritual influence changing the will. O, ye lost and ruined sinners! stand here and admire my Master's mercy. He sets not only a feast of good things before men, but he induces them to come and partake of them, and constrains them to continue feasting until he carries them to the everlasting eternal mansion. And as he bears them up, he says to each one, " I have loved thee with an everlasting love, therefore by my lovmgkindness I have drawn thee. Now, dost thou love "rue?" "Oh, Lord," they cry, "thy grace in bringing 113 here proves that thou dost love us, for we were unwilling to go. Thou saidst, you shall go; we said we would not go, bul thou hast made us go. And now, Lord we biess thee, and love thee for that force. It was sweet constraint.'' I was a stiuggiing epptive, but I am now made willing.

"Oh. sovereign gracel my heart subdue 1

I would be led in triumph too; A willing captive to my Lord, To sing the honours of bis Word."

Well now, what say you? Some of you will say, " Sir, I have been trying "to repent for a long time.- In paiufi and afflictions I have been oiaying and trying to believe, and doiti? all I can." 1 will tell you another thing: you will try a long time before you will be able to do it. That, is not the way to gefc it. 1 heard of two gentlemen travelling. One of them said to the other, "I do not know Low it is, bul you always seem to recollect your wife and family and all that is doing at home, and j'ou seem as if you connected all things around you with them ; but 1 try Lo bung mine to my recollection constantly, a.nd yet I neter can." " No." said the other, " that is the very reason— because you try. If you could connect them with every little circumstance we meet, you would easily remember them. I think at such and such a timesnow they are rising ; at such and such a time— no>" they are at prayers , at simh and such a time — now they are having their breakfast. In this way [ have them still before me." I think the same thing happens with regard to repentance. If a man says, " I want to believe, ' end tryj by somo mesl ai.ical means to ■ > »o r iL himself into repentance, it is an absuidity, a:;d he will never eccon f. li&h it. But the way fcr him to repeat is by God's grace to believe, to believe and think on Jesus. If he picture to himself the wounded, bleeding side, ths crown' of thorns, the terrs of anguish— if he takes a vision of all that Christ suffered, L will be bound for it he will turn to him in repc-t.l&i cc. I would stake what leputation t may have in spiritual things upon this— that a man can'iofc, under God's Holy Spirit, contemplate the cross of Cluist without a broken heart. If it is not so, my heart is different from auy one's else. I have never known a man who has thought upon and taken a view of the c:oss who has not found that it begat repentance and begat faith. We look at Jesus Chribt if we would be saved, and we then &ay, "Amazing sacrifice! that Jesus thus died lo cave sinners." If you want faith, remember he gives it; if you want icpentance, he gives it, if you want everlasting life, he gives it lileially. He can force yon to feel jour great em, and C3ii-o \ou i.> i.^<nt by the sigL' ."' Calvary's <."> „ and 'he -wind of the great < f deepest de.uh blmok, " iCloil Eloi! lama > ' bacthani?" "My (jrcii m / Godl 'why V ' thou for-siikoi lac?" Then, beloved, if <i would he.ye uici-t' < n , tnr- is my best ad > Jo you — look to. J<.vu&. i\ao may. the blef,.q

(liver of all " repentance unto salvation " guard you from the false repentances which I have dej.cn bed, and give you that repentance whu:h existeth unto lite. "Rrspcnt! the \oice celestial cries, Nor 'ougor clare delay; The wretch that scorns the mandate dies, And meets a fiery clay. No mors the sovereign eye of God O'eilooks the crimes ot mc-n ; His heralds arc despatched abroad To warn the .world of sin. The summons reaches thro' all the earth ; Lot earth attend and fear; Listen, ye moa of royal birth, And let your vassals hearl Together in his presence bow, And all your guilt confess ; Embrare the Llessed Saviour row, Nor trifle with his giuce. Bow, ere the nn'ful trumpet sound Aiid call you tc his bai ; For mercy knows the appointed bound, And turns to 1 cngeance thore."