The sinner can never

supreme in his penitent heart. cease to regret what he has done, but as soon as repentance has had its perfect work, he looks upon his past sins as he looks upon those of others; because the sinful state of his heart, from which they proceeded, has passed away. Regret remains, but remorse ceases; even as the wound that is caused by the arrow, remains, after the lips of a friend have drawn out the fatal poison.

We are all sinners; we all stand in need of the corrective justice and redeeming love of our God. There is, indeed, a balm in Gilead, and there is a physician. But unless we confess ourselves sick, or unless we apply and submit to the true physician, we cannot be healed. O let us not, with treasonable cowardice, shrink from his painful, but salutary appliances, and trust our recovery to the flattering ointments, the deceitful quackery, of the world. The traveller in the snow, overcome by cold and fatigue, desires no greater felicity, than to lie down and sleep. Who, then, is a true friend to him, who, deceived by the fatal attractions of sleep, is throwing himself into the open arms of death, the man who shows him a place where he may lay his weary head, and covers him over with garments; or the man, who, by incessant, painful excitement and seeming cruelty, urges him on to irksome, yet saving effort? My friends, what now is our choice? The fatal repose, or the quickening pain? Pleasures of life, which are the earnest of death; or pains of death, which are the tokens of returning life? Sin with remorse, or sin without remorse?

The blood of Jesus is shed for many, that is, for all those who are truly desirous of being cleansed from their sins. We are saved from sin and all its consequences, by the death of Jesus, if, moved by his example, we die daily to the charms of sinful desire, and the temptations that most easily beset us. We are saved by the cross of Christ, if, moved by his example, we deny and crucify our vain and ambitious strivings and passions. We are saved by the blood of the Son of God, if, moved by his example, we stand ready to sacrifice our earthly interests, and pour out all our treasure, and, if needs be, our blood, for the good of mankind.

SERMON XXXII.

MATTHEW V. 8.

"Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God."

LET us inquire, first, who they are whom the Saviour here calls blessed; and then, in what that blessing consists, which is promised to the pure in heart.

A man is pure, in the eye of the law, if he abstains from injuring his neighbour in his property, life, honor, and liberty; and such a man has a right to be protected by the law in his liberty and honor, his life, and his property. But a man may be justified in the eye of the law, and be entitled to its protection, and yet fall short of the standard of excellence held up by public opinion. By public opinion I mean that sense of propriety which is generally found in the majority of the members of every community, and which may well be called the conscience of society. This public sentiment is ever active in forming an average judgment of every action that falls under its jurisdiction; and its jurisdiction extends to the most minute as well as to the essential parts of human conduct; to our dress, our conversation, our appearance at home and abroad, our manners, as well as our

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morals. A man is pure in the opinion of the world, in the sound and enlightened sentiment of his fellowmen, if, in every eye that is turned upon him in his private and public walk, you may read the sentence, "I find no fault in him." Although the popularity of men and of measures, particularly in a free community, be subject to frequent changes, yet the moral credit of a man, in the long run, is founded on his whole conduct bearing testimony to his sincere desire to perform the duties of his station, whatever it be. It is this practical evidence of a sincere desire to avail himself of all the means of excellence, whether great or small, which circumstances have placed within the reach of an individual, which, in the opinion of those whose esteem is worth obtaining, forms the only basis of true respectability, for the poor as well as for the rich, for the ignorant and weak, as well as for the learned and powerful. A person, therefore, may deserve the protection of the law, and nevertheless not enjoy the public esteem and sympathy, because his conduct does not come up to the high mark of excellence required by public opinion.

But although we duly prize the conduct and the condition of a man who satisfies both the law and the public mind, it is nevertheless true, that a man may be pure. in the eye of the law, and in the opinion of men, and yet stand convicted in the sight of a higher tribunal, and be unworthy and incapable of true and perfect happiness. When a certain ruler asked Jesus, "What good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?" that is, eternal happiness, he said unto

him, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments; thou shalt do no murder; thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt not steal; thou shall not bear false witness; honor thy father and thy mother; and thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself." Then the young man said unto him, "All these things have I kept from my youth up; what lack I yet?" Jesus said unto him, “If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven; and come and follow me." "But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions." Then that saying of Jesus was verified, "Where your treasure is, there shall your heart be also." This man had done all that the law and the moral judgment of his fellow-men required of him, and was fairly entitled to all the benefits of the law and the esteem of his fellow-citizens. Yet there was within himself a source of dissatisfaction, which prompted him to ask Jesus what he lacked yet to be perfect, and which made him shrink back, when the unerring probe of the Searcher of hearts touched the sore spot in his moral frame. He would gladly have obeyed the voice of him who said to him, "Follow me," if he could have enlisted in the service of God without abjuring that of mammon. What he lacked yet, lay not in his conduct, but in the root of all human conduct; he could not be perfectly happy, he could not see God, because his heart was not perfectly pure, that is, not free from those selfish and earthly interests which so contract the mental sight, that it mistakes the nearest