But this is no longer his nature; since he looks to creatures, to his own pleasure, and makes an idol of himself.” Acts of Synod, chap. viii.

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This doctrine is also set forth in the Augsburg confession; as well as in articles ix. and x. of the church of England, where it is expressed in the following terms:Original sin standeth not in the following of Adam, but is the fault and corruption of the nature of every man, whereby he is very far gone from original righteousness. and is of his own nature inclined to evil, so that the flesh lusteth alway contrary to the spirit; and therefore, in every person born into this world, it deserveth God's wrath and damnation." "The condition of man, after the fall of Adam, is such, that he cannot turn and prepare himself, by his own natural strength and good works, to faith and calling upon God; wherefore we have no power to do good works, pleasant and acceptable to God, without the grace of God by Christ preventing us, that we may have a good will, and working with us when we have that good will."

Nothing less than a lively conviction of the corruption, weakness, and misery described in these confessions of faith, can properly dispose a man for evangelical repentance.

WITHOUT EVANGELICAL REPENTANCE, A LIVELY FAITH IN CHRIST, OR REGENERATION BY THE HOLY SPIRIT, WILL APPEAR NOT ONLY UNNECESSARY, BUT ABSURD.

As the knowledge of our depravity is the source from whence evangelical repentance and Christian humility flow, so it is the only necessary preparation for that living faith by which we are both justified and sanctified. He who obstinately closes his eyes upon his own wretchedness shuts himself up in circumstances which will not suffer him to receive any advantage from that glorious Redeemer whom "God hath anointed to preach the gospel to the poor;" to heal the "broken-hearted; to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind; to set at liberty them that are bruised; to preach the acceptable year of the Lord." Luke iv. 18, 19. Reason itscif declares, that if sinful man is possessed of

sufficient ability to secure his own salvation, he needs no other Saviour, and "Christ is dead in vain." Gal. ii. 21. In short, so far as we are unacquainted with our degenerate estate, so far the important doctrine of regeneration must necessarily appear superfluous and absurd.

Here we may perceive one grand reason, why the ministers of the present day, who are but superficially acquainted with the depravity of the human heart, discourse upon this mysterious subject in a slight and unsatisfactory manner.

The true minister, on the contrary, following the example of his great Master, speaks upon this momentous change with affection and power. Observe the terms in which our Lord himself declares this neglected doctrine :"Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." John iii. 5. As though he should say, The natural man, how beautiful an appearance soever he may make, is possessed of an heart so desperately wicked, that unless it be broken by the repentance which John the baptist preached, and regenerated by the faith which I declare, he can never become a citizen of heaven; for the doors of my kingdom must remain everlastingly barred against those "ravening wolves" who disguise themselves as sheep, Matt. vii. 15, and those painted hypocrites who salute me as their Lord, without embracing my doctrines and observing my commands. "Verily," therefore, "I say unto you," my first disciples and friends, "Except ye be converted, and become as little children," who are strangers to ambitious, envious, and impure thoughts, "ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." Matt. xviii. 3.

Such is the doctrine that is still able to convert every inquiring Nicodemus. At first it may perplex and confound them; but, at length, submitting to the wisdom of their heavenly Teacher, they will be constrained to cry out, "Impart to us, Lord, this regenerating faith ;" and when once they have obtained their request, they will adopt the prayer of the disciples, Luke xvii. 5, and proceed, like them, from faith to faith, till all things in their regenerate hearts are become new.

But if this doctrine is a savour of life unto some, it is also a savour of death unto others. It gives offence to blinded bigots, while modern infidels strengthen themselves against it, as Pharaoh once strengthened himself against the authority of Jehovah. "Thus saith the Lord," said Moses to that obstinate monarch, "Let my people go, that they may serve me;" Exodus viii. 1; and the haughty infidel replied, "Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go." Exodus v. 2. Come up out of mystic Egypt, saith the Son of God to every sinful soul: Follow me in the regeneration,” Matt. xix. 28, and I will teach you to worship God in spirit and in truth." John iv. 24. And who is the Son of God? replies some petty Pharaoh: I know neither him nor his Father, nor conceive myself in anywise obliged to obey his commands.

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Impious as this language may appear, the conduct of every irreligious Christian must be considered as equivalent to it, according to those words of our Lord: "He that despiseth" my servants and my doctrines, "despiseth me; and he that despiseth me, despiseth him that sent me." Luke x. 16. Whatever mask such a pharisaical professor may wear, he loves the world; therefore "the love of the Father is not in him;" 1 John ii. 15; he hates both Christ and his Father, John xv. 24; his repentance is superficial, his faith is vain, and, sooner or later, his actions or his words will testify that he is an utter enemy to Christ and his members.

HOW THE FAITHFUL PASTOR LEADS SINNERS TO

REPENTANCE.

WHAT was spoken by God to Jeremiah may, in some sort, be applied to the true minister: "I have set thee to root out and to plant, to pull down and to build." Jer. i. 10. For before the sacred vine can be planted, the thorns of sin must be rooted up, together with the thistles of counterfeit righteousness; and before the strong tower of salvation can be erected, that spiritual babel must be overthrown by which presumptuous men are still exalting themselves against heaven.

To lead sinners into a state of evangelical repentance, the true minister discovers to their view the corruption of the heart, with all the melancholy effects it produces in the character and conversation of unregenerate men. After he has denounced the anathemas of the law against particular vices, such as swearing, lying, evil-speaking, extortion, drunkenness, &c., he points out the magnitude of two general or primitive sins. The greatest offence, according to the law, he declares to be that by which its first and great command is violated; consequently, those who love not God beyond all created beings, he charges with living in the habit of damnable sin, since they transgress that most sacred of all laws, which binds us to love the Deity with all our heart. Matt. xxii. 37, 38. Hence he goes on to convict those of violating a command like unto the first, who love not their neighbour as themselves; Matt. xxii. 39; and to these two sins, as to their deadly sources, he traces all the crimes which are forbidden in the law and in the prophets. Matt. xxii. 40.

And now he proceeds to lay open before the eyes of professing Christians the two greatest sins which are committed under the gospel dispensation. If the two great commands of God under the new covenant are to this effect, that we believe on his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another; 1 John iii. 23; it is evident that the two greatest sins under the gospel are, the want of that living faith which unites us to Christ, and that ardent charity which binds us to mankind in general, as well as to believers in particular, with the bands of cordial affection. As darkness proceeds from the absence of the sun and moon, so from these two sins of omission flow all the various offences which are prohibited by the evangelical law. And if those who are immersed in these primitive sins are withheld from the actual commission of enormous offences, they are not on this account to be esteemed radically holy, since they are possessed of that very nature from which every crime is produced. Sooner or later, temptation and opportunity may cause some baneful shoots to spring forth in their outward conduct, in testimony that a root of bitterness lies deep within, and that

the least impious of men carry about them a degenerate nature, a body of sin and death.

To give more weight to these observations, he sets forth the greatness of the supreme Being, enlarges on his justice, and displays the severity of his laws. He tramples under foot the the pharisaical holiness of sinners, that he may bring into estimation the real virtues of the new man, which, after God, is created in righteousness and true holiness. To awaken those who are sleeping in a state of carnal security, he denounces the most alarming maledictions, calling forth against them the thunders of mount Sinai, till they are constrained to turn their faces Zionward; till they seek for safety in the Mediator of the new covenant, and hasten to " the sprinkling of that blood which speaketh better things than the blood of Abel." Hebrews xii. 24.

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By this method he conducts his wandering flock to the very point where ancient Israel stood, when God had prepared them to receive the law by his servant Moses. Now, after the people had heard the "thunderings," and "the noise of the trumpet;" after they had seen "the lightnings, and the mountain smoking;" Exodus xx. 18; when, unable any longer to gaze on the dreadful scene, they said unto Moses, Speak thou with us, and we will hear; but let not God speak unto us," without a mediator, "lest we die;” Exodus xx. 19; then it was that Moses began to console them in the following words: "Fear not; for God is come to prove you, and that his fear may be before your faces, that ye sin not." Exodus xx. 20. So, in the present day, they only who are brought to this poverty of spirit are properly disposed to receive the riches of divine mercy. As soon, therefore, as the evangelical minister has sufficiently alarmed a sinner with the terrors discovered upon mount Sinai, he anxiously prepares him for the consolations of the Gospel by a sight of the suffering scene upon Calvary.

Many pious divines have supposed that, by preaching the cross of Christ alone, mankind might be brought to true repentance. What the fathers of the synod of Berne have said upon this point deserves the attention of those