wise than as the Providence of God has ordered; and, by these devices and desires, our conduct is too often influenced to violate the laws of God. The transgression of our first parents was caused by the indulgence of these unlawful desires of their hearts; they first gratified their lust for the forbidden fruit, and then had recourse to sinful excuses for their conduct,—the one alleging the solicitations of his partner in guilt, whilst the other urged the temptation of Satan. How prone are their posterity to follow the example thus set before them! We inherit a similar propensity to pursue too much the devices and desires of our hearts, and alas! instead of mortifying the corrupt inclinations of our nature, we cherish and indulge them. Why do we not seek the aid of God's restraining grace to overcome them? Why do we not persevere in resisting their encroachments? If we will but use our best endeavours to subdue our sinful lusts, God will furnish us with ample means. He will not withdraw his mercy, nor take away his Holy Spirit from us, although we have offended against his laws, and have broken his commandments.

The

Church assumes that all are guilty of this charge, and does so most justly: there is not one amongst her children but must join with her in saying, "We have offended against thy holy laws;" for St. Paul assures us that God has concluded all men under sin, so that there is none righteous, no not one.

In this respect our Saviour's atonement made no difference; the Law must still be observed. "Think not that I am come to

destroy the law and the prophets : I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil." So far from encouraging any deviation from the plain and literal sense of the law, Christ enforces it with still greater strictness. Is it not then in the true spirit of the Gospel that we are taught to proceed with increased shame and sorrow in confessing that we have left undone those things which we ought to have done, and that we have done those things which we ought not to have done. We rebel as much by omitting to perform what God requires, as by doing that which He has expressly forbidden; and this, even when the sin of omission has not been intentional. Although our fellow mortals, and even our own consciences, do not charge us

with the guilt attaching to involuntary error, yet we must answer for it to another Judge. God has plainly expressed his indignation against sin, even when the sinner is unconscious of his guilt. In the 4th chapter of Leviticus, we find that, He appointed a special sacrifice to be made for such offences, and, in the succeeding chapter, He declares, "If a soul sin, and commit any of these things which are forbidden to be done by the commandments of the Lord; though he wist it not, yet is he guilty, and shall bear his iniquity."

Let us then, my brethren, humbly pray that God will not remember against us our former iniquities, and that He will cleanse us from our secret faults; let us constantly bear in mind that there is no health in us, and let us lose no time in applying to the great Physician of our souls, the Lamb of God. which taketh away the sins of the world. None will be forgiven and made happy by means of Christ, but those who are also reformed and made holy by his means. For his sake God is induced to work in us new dispositions, and, if we cultivate them faithfully, our Redeemer will procure our

acceptance, so so that, although we have erred from his ways, and broken his commandments, although we have provoked his Divine Majesty by thought, word, and deed, until our depravity is by human means incurable, yet if we confess and repent, and, like the lepers of old, cry with earnestness, faith, and perseverance, "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," He is able and willing to cure our infirmity, to bear our burden, and to save and deliver us. The Ethiopian cannot change his skin, nor the leopard his spots; but God can teach those to do good who have hitherto been accustomed to do evil; He can turn away the wicked man from his wickedness to do that which is lawful and right, and to save his soul alive.

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LECTURE X.

THE GENERAL CONFESSION,-(CONTINUED.)

PSALM XCV.,

6.

O come, let us worship, and fall down, and kneel before the Lord our Maker. MALACHI iii., 7.

Return unto me, and I will return unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts.

WHEN the miraculous draught of fishes first gave the Apostle Peter some conception of the nature of that Master of whom he afterwards became so zealous a disciple, the impression immediately produced upon his mind was one of amazement and terror. Peter was still unconverted, and, although the first result of his consciousness of being in the Divine presence was such as became a true follower of Christ (for it led him to humble himself before God, and to confess his sins), yet the petition which accompanied that confession evinced his total ignorance of the office of the Messiah; had he understood the