the pain which has attended them. But neither the careless word-service of the formal professor, nor the reluctant homage of the terrified bigot, are acceptable in the sight of that God, who will be worshipped "in spirit and in truth," who demands the devotion of the heart, the humble supplication of sincere repentance and self-abasement, the adoration of fervent gratitude, the service of faithful love. Whether you possess these essential requisites of that spiritual-mindedness which your Redeemer expects, you cannot fail to discover, if you honestly explore your own hearts. You cannot but discern what is the frame of your own soul with regard to religious subjects, you cannot but be conscious whether you have in reality set your affections on things above, or whether they are wholly sunk in earth; whether the current of your thoughts, when unchecked by impediments, flows gladly and habitually towards God and your Redeemer; whether the hour of prayer is a burden to you or a relief; whether theobservance of the Sabbath is gloomy, heavy and wearisome; or whether, on the contrary, you welcome its arrival as giving you leisure to approach your heavenly Father, to commune with your God, to lay all your desires and wants and weaknesses, before Him, "knowing that He careth for you," to examine into the state of your own heart, and meditate on your eternal interest; whether the supper of the Lord attracts you as the enjoyment of one of the highest privileges, and the remembrance of the dearest Benefactor. In the hurry of business, in the intercourse of society, does your mind frequently raise itself in fervent aspirations, in short but sincere praises to the throne of grace? Do you delight to contemplate the works of God, because they are His works, and are you led by them to admire, to venerate, and to adore their Author? When you are master of your own time, and your own studies, does the word of God, that sacred volume which contains the wonders of His providence, and the promulgation of His will, form your principal study, and attract and fix your attention? Do you accept with joy and thankfulness the plan of salvation there exhibited, however humbling to human pride, however mortifying to sensual and worldly desires? Do you prostrate yourself at the foot of the cross, and hope for acceptance only through the merits and mediation of your Redeemer, know ing that when you have done your utmost, you are still but unprofitable servants, having barely done that which it was your duty to do? 66 Such my brethren are the internal feelings, the governing sentiments, which would prove that your affections are set on things above, which form the animating principle of that newness of life required by Christianity. The existence of such feelings, you cannot but distinctly perceive in yourselves, if indeed they really exist; and they will assuredly produce effects upon your outward conduct every day more plainly distinguishable. " Every good tree," says the Judge of the heart, "bringeth forth good fruit."* The heart thus devoted to God through Christ, thus alive to every virtuous and pure feeling, dead to every sordid and sensual, every selfish and worldly desire, animated with piety to God and charity to man, will gradually purify and sanctify the whole tenor of your lives. Not contented with merely avoiding positive crimes, it will lead to the zealous exertions of piety and beneficence; it will teach you to imitate that all-perfect Jesus, who went about doing good; it will make you delight in visiting the fatherless and widows in their affliction, in actively assisting every scheme for the diffusion of piety and the advancement of virtue, in calming dissensions and wrath, as knowing that peace-makers shall be ranked with the children of God. Thus also in the choice of your friends, of your studies, of your very amusements, you will each day exercise an increasing vigilance to avoid every approach to evil, to render them all subservient to the great object which occupies your thoughts and desires-the advancement of your virtue, and the glory of your heavenly Father. Whatever station in society you fill, you will discharge its duties with scrupulous fidelity and active zeal, with sincerity and singleness of heart, "not as pleasers of men, but as servants of God."t Far removed from the insatiable aspirings of ambition, the sordid cravings of avarice, and the brutal voluptuousness of sensuality, you will keep yourselves unspotted from the world, day by day with increasing holiness adorning "the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things." * Matt. vii. 17. +Eph. vi. 6. Col. iv. 22, 23. This it is to be spiritually minded, to set your affections on things above, to walk in newness of life being risen with Christ. But is not this a strain of piety, a height of virtue, to which human weakness never can attain, which it is idle and arrogant to attempt? Deceive not yourselves by this pretence of humility, which is a mere pretext to excuse your base submission to the slavery of sin. Undoubtedly, to the unassisted weakness, the unpurified corruption of our depraved nature, such piety and such virtue are unattainable. But your "sufficiency is of God."* You have the assurance of His word that you "can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth you."† The more sensibly you feel your own inability to obey the whole law of God, to imitate the all-perfect example of your Redeemer, the more humble, the more earnest, the more unwearied will be your supplications to the throne of grace, the more constantly and perseveringly will you implore the divine Spirit to assist you in subduing each vicious disposition which lurks within, and each seductive temptation which allures from without; the more you will look to Him to support your frailty, to strengthen your weakness, to make clean your hearts, and renew a right spirit within you. Combining these two essential characters, a persevering zeal as to your own efforts, and a complete dependence upon divine assistance as the only certain source from which these efforts can attain success, you will comply with the apostolic command-" work out your own salvation with fear and trembling"-and that for this very reason, because you know that it is God alone "which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure." That such supplications, if continued with a full assurance of faith and a truly contrite heart, will in no wise be rejected, you have the illustrious encouragement, the express and immutable promise of your Saviour and your God:-" Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you;" for if ye, "being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?"§ To conclude with * 1 Cor. iii. 5.—ix. 8. † Phil. iv. 13. Phil. ii. 12, 13. § Luke xi. 9. the prayer of the great apostle of the Gentiles-" Now the God of peace, that brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work to do His will, working in you that which is well-pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen." * Heb. xiii. 20, 21. 167 SERMON XVI. THE PRODIGAL SON. LUKE XV. 18, 19. "I will arise, and go to my father, and say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son; make me as one of thy hired servants." PERHAPS no passage of Holy Writ is received by the generality of Christians with more complacency, than this beautiful parable of the prodigal son. In truth, my fellow-Christians, I am not surprised at our dwelling with delight on so engaging a picture of the divine mercy to guilty, but repentant sinners. Yes, it is not wonderful, conscious as we must be of our many transgressions against the divine law, that we should contemplate with the most heartfelt consolation this declaration of the Son of God, that his heavenly Father regards frail and guilty man, when penitent, with all a father's tenderness and love; that he is ever anxious to recall him to virtue and to happiness, ready to be reconciled and prompt to forgive. But, my friends, we should not give ourselves up to contemplations of this nature without much precaution, and much sober self-examination. We cannot think too highly of the neverfailing mercy, the redeeming love of God; but we may easily form a mistaken judgment of being ourselves the objects of that mercy and that redemption. We may sympathize with and admire, the kindness of the parent, who forgives; but are we equally prompt to sympathize with, to desire and cultivate, the humiliation, the sorrow, the repentance of the son who is forgiven? On the contrary, I fear we seldom think of the parable of the prodigal son as recounting an example for our imitation; we too generally consider it as applicable only to him who abandons himself to profligacy, who riots in sensuality. If we are not |