us.

the profession of Christianity, for we have all long since assented to its truth. Belief alone will do us little good, for like the devils "we believe and tremble." A bare belief in Christianity we may have admitted from our youth up, and yet we feel and know, that belief will not savė But what has our belief been; a cold, nominal, formal assent. We have assumed the profession, but we have neglected the spirit of the Gospel. "With the heart," says St. Paul, "man believeth," unto what? "unto righteousness, and," then and then only," with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation." Our belief must become the living spring of action, it must not only be the shadow, but the substance of Christianity. The Gospel is not a religion of doctrine only, but it is a religion also of practice; and so closely interwoven are they, that the one cannot be separated from the other, without the certain destruction of both.

When therefore the trembling sinner is instructed to "believe in the Lord Jesus Christ and to be saved," his faith must be shown in his works, and his belief in his new and amended life. Let him take the Gospel not merely as a standard of doctrine, but as a rule of conduct. The commands of Christ are as much a subject for belief, as his cross and his passion; our obedience to them is the test, and the only true test

of our love. It is Christ himself that saith," he that hath my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me."

The first act therefore of the trembling and awakened sinner, is to study the commands, no less than the doctrines of the Gospel; to write them on his heart, and fulfil them in his life. Then will his belief be a spring of comfort, and an instrument of his salvation. To them who thus believe, will the Lord Jesus Christ be indeed " a saving of the soul;" and, "if our heart condemn us not, then shall we have confidence towards God."

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Most merciful is God in the means which he takes of bringing the careless and infatuated sinner to himself. In all the changing, all the terrific scenes of life, he speaks as in an earthquake to our souls; and even with the alarming language of his judgments, is the still small voice of his mercy ever mingled. Even in the most awful warnings there is a something which ever gives peace and comfort to our minds, and which assures us of the lasting love of that Saviour who died for us; which answers every fearful enquiry in the words of the Gospel: "Believe thou in the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved."

Let not these calls to repentance and to favour be passed unregarded by us. That we are

able to ask the question," what shall I do to be saved," is an act of God's overwhelming mercy. May his grace enable us to understand, to receive, and to practise the answer. Then every danger and every judgment from without, then every pang of conscience and self-accusation from within, will, under his grace and mercy, become the instrument of our final salvation.

But let us not wait for the judgment of God, to put this most important question to our souls. Now in the moment of security and of ease, let us enquire, "What shall I do to be saved." Now we are able to think, now we are able to pray, now we are able to believe on the Lord Jesus, and by that belief to be saved. But the day of wrath may come, a day which we shall not be able to abide. Now while the prospect is clear before us, it would be well for us to consult our consciences, and our Bibles, and ask " what we shall do to be saved;" whether the paths in which we are now carelessly and confidently walking, lead to salvation or to destruction, to hope or to despair? And, remember, that the longer we delay the question, the more difficult will it be to comprehend, and to practise, the answer.

SERMON XXVIII.

JEREMIAH V. 3.

Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction.

EVERY page of the Jewish history abounds with the most salutary instruction, and impresses upon the Christian mind a most practical and awful warning. The judgments of the Almighty upon his chosen nation are not recorded to amuse our curiosity, but to awaken our consciences, and to teach us, that if God "spared not the natural branches" of his chosen tree, neither will he spare ourselves. Let us then be "not high-minded, but fear." There is much in the conduct of the Jewish people that bears a very close resemblance, both individual and national, to our own. Even in the chapter before us we may without difficulty discern many of the signs of the present times. The name of the Almighty is in the mouth, but his laws are not

written in the heart. "Though they say the Lord liveth, yet they swear falsely." If we go to the great men, to those who profess to enlighten and to reform mankind, "have they not altogether broken the yoke, and burnt the bonds;" the yoke of whom? of their Redeemer, and their God: the bonds of what? of all attention to his word, and all obedience to his laws. How strongly do the words of the prophet apply to ourselves. "How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods." True it is that we bow not down to images of wood or of stone; but do we not prostrate ourselves before the more dangerous idols of our own pride and obstinacy, of covetousness and conceit? Are we not, in the words of the Apostle, "without excuse, because that when we know God, we glorify him not as God, neither are thankful, but become vain in our imaginations, and our foolish heart is darkened; professing ourselves wise, we become fools.” Let us read the chapter from which the text is taken, and say whether the same ingratitude and neglect, obstinacy and crime, prevail not as much among Christians at the present day, as they did among the Jews of old, and whether without half their excuse, we are not guilty of double their sin.

Let us now turn from ourselves to our God;