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to cultivate that Grace, and for the strengthening and refreshing which our souls receive in the blessed Communion1; we may thank HIM for the means of Grace provided for us, and the hope of Glory' set before us; but still we shall be sadly conscious that the seed of all sin is in our hearts; so that if we had been less favorably situated, less carefully educated, less strongly supported, regenerated, renewed by supernatural Grace, if more strongly tempted, there are few sins that we might not have committed. Yes, it requires but little self-examination and self-knowledge to see that we are shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin3; but little of sensibility to reflect with horror on what, without a providential concurrence of circumstances, and the constant support of Grace, we might have been, and what, if that Grace were withdrawn, we might still be. I say not that we should all have been guilty of all kinds of sin, but by one besetting sin we should all have been hurried into misery. Where there is not lasciviousness, there may be pride; where not cruelty, avarice; and even when we have overcome our greater corruptions, still there are what are called "sins of daily incursion"; those innumerable

1 Church Catechism.

• General Thanksgiving. Psalm li. 5.

offences of which the very best of men are guilty, and which, however trifling they appear, may, nevertheless, be destructive; just as a ship may be sunk by a weight of sand, not less than by a weight of iron. Of these sins, the more we grow in Grace the more sensible we become, the more ready to exclaim, "A SAVIOUR, or I die! a REDEEMER, or I perish"!

The true CHRISTIAN will be thus continually humbling himself to the very dust, pulling down every high look and every proud thought, on the one hand, only to elevate himself, on the other, by the blessed conviction that he has a Saviour, that he has a Redeemer, "JESUS CHRIST the righteous," who says of HIMSELF, "I am Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the Ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the ALMIGHTY”.

1 Rev. i. 8.

SERMON XIV.

THE CROSS OF CHRIST.

GALATIANS VI. 14.

"But God forbid that I should glory save in the Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ."

WE cannot accustom ourselves to meditate too deeply or too seriously upon the Holiness of the all-pure God'. This truth is at once, and readily, admitted into the mind. If there be a GOD, He must be Holy: we seem to know this by intuition. But do we meditate upon this truth sufficiently? It is, indeed, because they do not

1 Lev. xix. 2. Isaiah vi. 3. Rev. iv. 8; vi. 10. Psalm cxlv. 17.

sufficiently meditate upon it, that some reject, with contempt, and others pass over in carelessness, the mysterious scheme of man's Redemption propounded to us in Scripture. The Scriptures labor to impress this fact upon our minds by ascribing holiness to every thing connected with GOD: Holy and reverend is His Name1; the Throne HE sitteth on is a Throne of Holiness2; He will hear us from His Holy Heaven3; Holy is HIS Habitation; Holiness becometh HIS House1; HIS Promise is Holy"; and HIS Covenant is Holy"; and HIS Law is Holy"; and His Scriptures are Holy8; and of HIMSELF HE saith, "I am the LORD your HOLY ONE". And there is a beauty in holiness which attracts to it all pure and sinless creatures. The Divine Holiness is a constant subject of sublime meditation to the Hosts of Heaven; it is their unceasing song of praise; their incessant chorus is "Holy, Holy, Holy LORD GOD ALMIGHTY, which was, and is, and is to come"10

But to us fallen and sinful creatures this is an awful subject; to us the Holiness of GOD is a terrible thing, a subject full of terror; conscious

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of unholiness in ourselves, the Holy GoD is to us a GOD of Terror. Why was it that men fell into idolatry? It was because they knew themselves to be unholy, and they felt that there could be no sympathy between holiness and unholiness. And the Heathens imagined, therefore, that their idols were powerful for good or for evil; but they never regarded any of their deities as holiness itself. They delighted, indeed, to record the crimes of their imaginary deities, as if for the very purpose of disarming them of the terrors of holiness, and of bringing them down to a level with themselves. Hence the force of the exclamation of Moses: "Who is like unto THEE, Oh! LORD, among the gods; who is, like THEE, glorious in Holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders"! It was the Holiness of JEHOVAH which alarmed the men of Bethshemesh, when they said, "Who is able to stand before this Holy LORD GOD?" "Ye cannot serve GOD," said Joshua to the people, and why? Because He is a Holy GOD.' He is a jealous GOD; He will not forgive your transgressions, nor your sins". No. To forgive sin, to be reconciled to sinners, without satisfaction being made, would

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1 Exod. xv. 11.

21 Sam. vi. 20.

Josh. xxiv. 19.

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