them, and in due time subdue their stubborn hearts, and bring back their affections to God, however hardened they may be. But what then becomes of that awful warning of the Almighty," Because I have called, and 66 ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, "and no man regarded; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your cala 66 66 mity, I will mock when your fear cometh i?" Or how shall we understand that expostulation of our blessed Lord to the Jews, "Ye "will not come unto me, that ye may have "life ;" and his affecting complaint that he "would have gathered them together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her 66 66 k wing, but they would not1?" Do not such passages (and they abound in the sacred writings) plainly intimate, that the means which God graciously vouchsafes for the conversion of the wicked are not always effectual; and that when they are not so, the failure is to be ascribed solely to the abuse of men's own liberty? Our Lord's intention, then, in this parable, can only be to give the strongest assurance that pardon is never unattainable, while there space for repentance. His design was to is i Prov. i. 26. * John v. 40. 1 Matth. xxiii. 37. warn the proud and self-righteous Pharisees, that even publicans and sinners might find admission into his kingdom more readily than they themselves; since "every one that "exalteth himself shall be abased, but he "that humbleth himself shall be exalted." It was to assure the penitent and contrite in all ages, that "them who come unto Him "he will in no wise cast out ";" and to shew that his mercies fail not even towards those whose condition appears to be lost and irrecoverable, if they will receive those overtures of mercy and peace which the Gospel makes known. It was to give additional encouragement to a ready acceptance of these overtures, by representing the joy in heaven over persons so recovered, to be even greater than over those whose faith and practice had been more uniformly irreproachable. 3. But what are we to understand by there being "more joy" over a repentant sinner, than over those who do not "need such re"pentance ?”—This was the last point proposed for our consideration. The joy here spoken of is that which men are wont to express on the occurrence of some unexpected and improbable event; a joy of surprise, as well as of complacency m John vi. 37. and satisfaction. Speaking after the manner of human affections, and in a way adapted to ordinary apprehensions, our Lord represents the recovery of a repentant sinner as producing extraordinary emotions of delight. It is the delight of benevolent beings of a higher order than our own, nay, of the supreme Being himself, on the escape of the sinner from destruction; on the proof that the grace of God, vouchsafed for that purpose, has not been bestowed in vain. Contemplating the subject in this point of view, it seems hardly possible we should so misapprehend our Lord's meaning, as to infer that any preference is hereby given to a late, however sincere, repentance or conversion from a wicked course of life, when put in comparison with a generally blameless tenor of conduct, carried on with little interruption or deviation, from the first entrance upon the Christian life to its happy termination. The very reverse of this would be the more proper and natural inference. For if this greater degree of rejoicing arises from the improbable and unexpected nature of the occurrence, it is implied that such a recovery from a state of sin is at best a difficult and a doubtful work. To suppose that the recovery from such a state is preferable to a state of comparative innocence, is something like supposing that recovery from a dangerous bodily disease is more desirable than a course of uninterrupted health, because it usually excites more lively emotions of delight. As well also might we infer that the owner of the lost sheep in the parable set a greater actual value upon that one, than upon his whole flock besides; or that a piece of money which has been lost, and found again, will from that circumstance pass current for a higher price than nine other pieces of the same kind still remaining in our possession. It is a dangerous notion also which some have ventured to inculcate, that higher degrees of holiness and greater experimental assurance of the Divine favour are attainable by those who have been converted from a reprobate course of life, than by sober and vigilant Christians, whose consciences have not undergone such keen convictions of remorse. True it is, that greater degrees of grace may be conceived necessary in such cases, to arouse the sinner to a sense of his danger; and greater efforts also on his own part in answering the awakening call. And when the arduous work of reformation has been thus effected, correspondent feelings of gratitude, of faith, of humility, and of every pious affection towards his heavenly Benefactor and Deliverer, may reasonably be expected to abound within him. Nor is it improbable, that the very wretchedness occasioned by a heavy pressure of guilt upon the conscience may contribute, by the blessing of God, to make a man feel, what he would not otherwise be brought to feel, the necessity of an all-powerful atonement for his offences, and of strong supplications to the throne of for intercession and acceptance. It is also probable, on the other hand, that where this painful stimulus is wanting, and where, with fewer deviations from rectitude, and fewer temptations to sin, a smooth and equable practice of religion has been long maintained, the strong and ardent feelings of the mind will be less powerfully excited. grace But it will always be hazardous to make our internal feelings on such a subject the criterion of our spiritual condition. That agitation and perturbation of mind which may be necessary to awaken a careless or a stubborn offender to a sense of his danger, cannot be equally so to preserve the faithful Christian in the ordinary and regular discharge of his duty. Nor need the pure and peaceful serenity of him who is going on progressively from strength to strength, and |