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fore, else, is that animating address of St. Paul-" Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light?" It follows, therefore, that we whom God has made ministers-would I could say as the Apostle did, able ministers of the new Testament that we are charged with a ministry that is able to raise from spiritual death, and to introduce into the path of eternal life, if we introduce along with the letter which would kill if it stood alone, the spirit which giveth life.

man may make to attain the standard of perfect obedience the grace, the free, unmerited mercy of God having provided, gratuitously, a surety for our perfect acceptance and eternal life, in the manner that seemeth best to the counsel of his own will, by a sacrifice, the bare idea of which could never have occurred to human imagination, had it not been developed by the Almighty himself. Indeed, the complete fitness, the entire adequacy of the mighty agent to the stupendous work, and the apparent impossibility that it could ever be effected by a single person, are among the most lively and convincing attestations of a divine origin and author. It is in these that we observe, most distinctly, the finger of God; not merely the work itself-the salvation of sinners-but the means by which it is effected-the self-devotion and sacrifice of the eternal Son of God. These are considerations in themselves so exalted, so sublime, so overpowering to the least reflecting mind, by which they have ever been seriously contemplated, that the heart receives at once the intelligence of these facts as most worthy of God, as proceeding from the exercise of his adorable perfections, and as utterly incapable of proceeding from any other source. Only infinite wisdom could have planned the mighty scheme-only unbounded power could have accomplished itonly unbounded power could ever have endured that it should have thus been accomplished.

But you will ask, what is the spirit that giveth life? The question may be answered in a two-fold manner. It is, primarily, the Divine Spirit of God, whom we are taught in our creed to term "the Lord and Giver of Life;" and without whose effectual teaching we cannot profit by the doctrine itself: for it is not enough that we have the scriptures in our hands; our understandings must be enlightened, or we cannot comprehend them; our hearts must be softened, or we cannot feel them. The sacred scriptures are a mine of wealth; but then we enter the mine to very little purpose, if we are not furnished with implements to dig for the treasure: and if there be no experienced overseer to point out the direction in which we are to labour, by whom the men of God spake in the olden time, we are unable to discover the inestimable jewel, to disencumber it of the dross of human prejudice, and to take it, as it came from the hand of its Maker-pure, unalloyed, undefiled. We prove ourselves, therefore, minisBut the immediate scope of the pas-ters of " the spirit that giveth life," sage has, perhaps, another meaning. when we do not shun to declare fully to We may infer from the direct opposi- you the whole counsel of God-when tion that is here introduced between we testify in all its fulness and free"the letter that killeth" and "the dom, the richness of the gospel of his spirit that giveth life," that as the one grace-when we lay bare the sources is, such must the other be. The "spi- of human corruption, and track the rit that giveth life," as the term occurs polluted stream from which it flows in this passage, is the same with what from the first dawn of the intellectual is elsewhere termed "the grace of powers, and exhibit to the conscious God that bringeth salvation." It is and shuddering sinner, his fearful por. the one grand truth that pervades the tion in the dark catalogue of human whole gospel-the central truth of the crime-not that we may lash him into Christian system, from whose radii all anguish, or plunge him into despairthe others diverge that God hath ra- but that we may take occasion to magtified the purposes of his mercy by the nify the exceeding riches of God's gift of his Son. It is without any refe- grace; to show that "where sin hath rence, without any regard to human ser- abounded, grace doth much more vices, merits, or performances-without abound;" and that it is the most entaking at all into account the efforts couraging, the most endearing feature

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in the character of our divine Saviour, that he is at once able and willing to save to the uttermost, and that none who repair to him, whatever they may have been, shall ever be cast out.

And we must do this without limitation and without reserve: not even the fear of being misconceived or misapprehended must keep us back. We must not, in a mean compliance to those whom we address, detract in any measure from the completeness of that salvation which Christ has wrought out. We must not allow man to be exalted into a co-partner and associate in that great and God-like work. We must ever maintain that it is through Christ, and therefore that it is a finished work; and it is only as it is so, that it affords to the true believer such a hope, and such a confidence, as shall satisfy his soul when hovering on the borders of the eternal world, and conscious of its own immortality. Then it is felt, by solemn experience, how essential, how indispensible is a hope that cannot be ashamed, that must ever be sure and steadfast—a kingdom that cannot be moved-a house whose foundation standeth sure.

or any of the discouragements, which
must arise if he were to be justified in
any degree by his own works. Never
would he be free then from the fear,
that he might possibly fall short of the
proposed measure of attainment—that
though Christ has done his part, he
may not do his own. It has always
been found in the history of the Church,
that, of all motives to obedience which
ever were proposed to mankind, this
has been the most efficient-that it is,
at once, the evidence and the result of
the love of God in the heart.
If ye
love me, keep my commandments."

Let me, then, exhort you, brethren,
in the application of this subject, to
constitute yourselves judges of the
word that is preached from this place—
so far, at least, as relates to your own
welfare-to determine whether it be
"the letter that killeth," or "the spirit
that giveth life." You can do this if
you will; for the best criterion is, the
effect it has produced on your hearts,
and upon your lives. The Church to
which you belong does not require you
to receive any doctrine on the mere
statement of her ministers: she places
the holy scriptures in your hands, and
bids you consult them for yourselves.
This renders you individually respon
sible for the truth of the doctrines to
which you yield assent.
Ask your-
selves, each of you, What effect has
been produced on my character and my
conduct by the years I have attended
on the ministry of the gospel? What
is my opinion of myself? Is it high
or low? is it satisfactory, or is it humi-
liating? Am I impressed with a sense
of sin, or do I rest content with being
better than some, and not worse than
others? Do I rely for pardon and ac-
ceptance on the merits of the Redeemer,
and on him only? or am I resting any
dependance on a fancied obedience to
the divine commands? Do I receive the
hope of salvation as the free gift of
God-a gift, not only independent of
any merits of my own, but even in
direct opposition to my conscious de-
serts ?-or do I strive to do the utmost
for myself, trusting that Christ will
make up the deficiency? Have I laid
the right foundation?-and if so, do I
build with gold, silver, precious stones

There have been indeed, and perhaps there still are, persons who will object to such an exposition of the scriptures, that, in thus magnifying the grace of God, we diminish the responsibility of man; that if grace be all, works are nothing. But this captious objection has been so often refuted, both by argument and facts, that I shall content myself at present with stating what the apostle says. "The grace of God which bringeth salvation hath appeared unto all men; teaching us"-what? That since the blood of Christ cleanseth from all sin, we are released from the obligation to righteousness? No; quite the reverse-" teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world." Never, indeed, will the full and copious exhibition of the grace of God damp the Christian's ardour in the pursuit of Christian virtues; rather will it quicken his diligence, and stimulate his zeal; for he has every motive that can arise from a consciousness of divine love, from a desire to render again the genuine unimpoverished docaccording to the benefits received; | trines of the gospel-or with the wood, without any of the misapprehensions, the hay, the stubble of mere worldly

Am I striving to do the will of God at all? and, if I am, is it from a principle of love to him, because it is his will that I do? or because I expect that my efforts, such as they are, will endure the divine scrutiny, even if they are not rendered acceptable by the precious blood of Christ?

inferences, of mere human invention? | fast, therefore, in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made you free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." Rejoice that your God, knowing the extent of your corruptions, the extremity of your weakness, the urgency of your necessities, and with what arduous temptations you are beset, has provided for all your need by giving you a Saviour, who of God is made unto you-what you cannot be in yourselves-wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption; who never has failed, and never will fail, them that trust in him; and who, as surely as you this day receive the sign and symbol of his precious death and passion, will open a path to the paradise of God; where you shall praise your God that you were turned aside from the letter that killeth, to the spirit that giveth life-the life that is here the life of grace-the life that is the life of glory there.

You, brethren, who will repair this day to the altar of your Redeemeryou, at least, I may fondly hope, as I would fervently pray, have not received the grace of God in vain. You have found it to be a savour of life unto life. This has been proved by the peace it has imparted to the conscience -by the calm it has produced among the passions-by the affections it has kindled in the heart-by the fruits it has brought forth in the life. You have experienced it already-though full and perfect experience must be reserved to a later period-to be the power of God unto salvation. "Stand

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY THE REV. J. H. EVANS,
AT JOHN STREET CHAPEL, KING'S ROAD, AUGUST 29, 1830.

Jeremiah, iii. 13.—“ Only acknowledge thine iniquity.”

"Be

THE greatest stress is laid in God's
sacred word on the subject of confes-
sion. The great ends of God's deal-
ings with Job were not accomplished
till he was brought to confess.
hold I am vile; I repent in dust and
in ashes." The great sufferings of
David, the son of Jesse, were not
brought to their close till he was brought
to confession. You will find from the
14th of Hosea that Israel heard not
the words, "I will heal thy back-
slidings, I will love thee freely," till
Israel was brought to confession. There
is infinite wisdom in God's dealings
with us on this point. He will make
the rebel lay down his arms-he will
have the iniquity of the sin to be felt-
he will have the grace of the pardon to
be experienced he will have his child
brought back again in heart to himself.

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There is infinite wisdom, beloved, in
God's dealings with us on this behalf.
Great is the stress in God's sacred
word which is laid upon confession.

This is one of the passages which seems to astound us as we take it up.

Only acknowledge thine iniquity." It seems so wondrously great, even in the infinitely great God, that he should say to the transgressor—that he should thus address himself to backsliding Israel-that he should thus extend his hand, saying, “Only acknowledge thine iniquity.' The first view that ought to present itself to our minds from it is, the infinite compassion of the Divine nature. What a God that God must be that says to a sinner, "Only acknowledge thine iniquity." And well convinced am I, if only that truth be laid upon the heart effectually by the

Holy Ghost this night, it shall bring that soul to repentance. "The goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance."

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in the 1st Epistle of John it is written, If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." It goes through every dispensation, and is the clue-line throughout the whole labyrinth: it is God's command under all circumstances and in all situations.

What is that confession? We find, in the 51st Psalm, it is not that general confession which meaneth nothing. You find in David's confession there was a minute detail: general confession means nothing. A man can confess his sins in the abstract, and call himself a great sinner. We can find many professors who do it, and outtalk and out-profess some of God's feeble ones. Loud speech sometimes means nothing; but when the heart feels sin it goes into particulars. "Against thee," says David," against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight." What a variety of expression is contained in the fifty-first Psalm-iniquity, transgression, sin; he goes over every mode of expression, as if all expression was too little to set forth the feelings of his heart.

My dear brethren, may the Eternal Spirit guide my soul and your souls into a real and profitable and holy consideration of this awful subject. I would sum up my remarks on this text in three different points of view, as to the inducements there are to a sinner's acknowledging his iniquity. The first is, the command of God. The second is, the character of God. The third is, the immense blessings to that soul which is led in the spirit of the gospel to acknowledge its iniquity. First, the great inducement arises from ITS BEING GOD'S COMMAND. We find that his command runs through the whole of his sacred word-that in every dispensation this clue-line goes through the labyrinth. Thus if you turn to the 26th of Leviticus you find "If they shall confess their iniquity, and the iniquity of their fathers, with their trespass which they trespassed against me, and that also they have walked contrary unto me, and that I also have walked contrary unto them, and have brought them into the land of their enemies; if their uncircumcised hearts be humbled, and they then accept of the punishment of their iniquity. then will I remember my covenant with Jacob." At the dedication of the Temple, Solomon prayed, "If they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried cap-partures, high thoughts, waste of tives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives saying, We have sinned and done perversely, we have committed wickedness; and so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name: then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause." In the 3d chap. of Matthew you read of John the Baptist, "Then went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the region round about Jordan, and they were baptised of him in Jordan, confessing their sins." So

The greater number of our poor fellow-creatures never confess sin at all: but there are some who only confess great matters: little sins, as they think them, sins of the lips, slips of the tongue, as they call it, unkind insinuations, flattery, secret de

money, waste of time-these are things that they confess not to God. But when the heart feels its own bitterness

when the heart feels as David did, it can neither satisfy itself with general acknowledgments of prayer, nor with general acknowledgments of sin. There is a particular, a minute detail the soul goes into; and sometimes conscience fastens upon one sin, as if it were the master sin which seems to swallow up every other sin, even as the rod of Aaron swallowed up the other rods of the magicians. Oh, there is nothing more heartless than some of those general confessions that come from the lips of man.

Now, observe in the second place, that the great inducement to the acknowledgment of sin arises from God's GRACIOUS CHARACTER. It is such

words as these that wins the heart to confess sin-"Only acknowledge thine iniquity." One may imagine some poor sinner that hears it, crying out, Well, Lord, after all that I have done, after all that I have left undone, after my repeated transgressions, after my complicated iniquity, after my departures from thee in thought, in word and in deed, dost thou say to me "Only acknowledge thine iniquity?" What! dost thou come and stretch out thine hands to such a poor wretched being as I am? What! does the first overture come from thy blessed self? What! dost thou step from thy glory to come down to me, to such a wretch as I am? and dost thou say "only acknowledge thine iniquity?" Oh, how many thousands have felt the drawing power of that truth in their souls! It has convinced them of their sin, of their baseness, of their ingratitude, of their vileness. They have been placed in the lowest dust, and have cried out, "God be merciful to me a sinner;" how wonderful that the great God, the holy, the holy Jehovah, should say to such a wretch as I am, "Only acknowledge thine iniquity."

Such is the gracious character of God that he is on the look-out for his returning prodigals:-the first desire, the first misgiving, the first tear that they drop for sin, the first heaving of their sighs on account of sin, the first secret desire after him, are all the fruit of his own blessed spirit. This great truth is developed in that wondrous parable of the Prodigal. "When he was yet a great way off his Father met him." Oh, my brother, is there not something, now, that seems to break thy very heart, when thou dost think that if thy soul has been led, by the Eternal Spirit, one step towards God, that great God has taken a thousand towards thee? Is there not something infinitely melting to thy heart, when thou dost see that in all cases the first step is taken by God? He begins; then thou followest-he leads thee; thou travellest after-he stretches out his hand, works secretly upon thy will; thou stretchest out thy half unwilling hand, but behold him meeting his prodigal, though a great way off, and falling on his neck and kissing him.

Right views of God lay at the foundation of all religion. I do not hesi

tate to say, that some of God's people seem to me to have the most sour views of God: and I believe it just as like the God of the Bible as the god of Mahomet; the god of Mahomet is about as much like that God as the god they fancy. I would not forget, beloved, that at this present moment, God may be searching out this congregation, collecting out some of his hidden ones, breaking down the pride of their hearts, and melting their souls. The Eternal Spirit may now be sent forth, according to the certainty of the everlasting covenant; and some poor wretched sinner may this night feel the power of the inward drawings of grace in his heart, to come just as he is, a poor wretched man, and ground his arms before the Cross, and welcome the grace of the Gospel. God keep you from being wiser than his word. I dare take this word against all the men, and all the churches on earth. This is God's word, and I believe of all the displays that he ever gives of his own character, it is the most soulsubduing, the most God-exalting; it runs throughout the Bible from Genesis to Revelations. I would be content to meet any man on the simple testimony of God's word, and ask him, whether He does not stretch out his hand to an obstinate sinner? whether it does not form, as it were, the very baseness of unbelief, that man-proud, haughty man-never will submit, till the mighty grace of God takes out his stubborn nature, and works in him will and to do of his own good pleasure. There is something in this part of my subject which seems well adapted to poor feeble believers. Such is the gracious character of God, that he looks out for the buddings of the pomegranite, the little buddings of grace, the little openings of the heart. Num. bers may be found who, resting in creeds instead of resting in God, have fallen into a most dreadful lethargy of soul; and instead of finding their peace in walking with God, I fear that they find too much of a belief that after all they shall be saved; forgetting that all the blessedness of it consists in the present walking with God.

Am I addressing a backslider, one who can look back and say, Oh, I remember the days, when I could go to a corner, and praise God; I could

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