He who came from God hath said, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor; He hath sent Me to heal the broken-hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord:" adding what we, the Gospel preachers, may also add, "This day is this Scripture fulfilled in your ears." 12 There is, then, hope for all: for those who are dead in trespasses and sins, as well as for those who are wounded unto death; for the dead, because Christ has cried over the grave of him that was dead four days, "Lazarus, come forth:"13 much more, then, for those whose life is yet in them, though the fatal wound has been inflicted. The deadly bite of a serpent may be healed by at once extracting the poison; even the dreadful effect of the bite of a mad creature may be hindered, if the wounded flesh is immediately cut or burnt away; and the man who is apparently drowned may be restored to life by timely remedies. None of these cases are so hopeless, as the case of one dead; they need no miracle to restore them. The mercy of God often restores them by the ordinary skill of a good physician. Even so in spiritual things; it needs not so great a miracle of grace to restore to holiness one who has fallen suddenly into sin which he hates, as it does to inspire the breath of a new life into one who has "loved darkness rather than light" so long, that it has come to be his natural con12 St. Luke, iv. 18-21. 13 St. John, xi. 43. of sin is death." But wages are dition. When the week's work is Meantime, by earnestly over the wages are paid. turning again to our rightful master, we may escape from receiving in full those miserable wages. By a quick, true, and deep repentance, a repentance that will last, we may find life instead of death; instead of death in the service of Satan, eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord-the free gift of God's boundless mercy. To us, poor penitent sinners, extend Thy mercy, O Lord; and give us light for darkness, life for death, peace for misery, holiness for sin. From sin, and the wages of sin, good Lord, deliver us. Meanwhile let us remember that, when the time shall come for receiving our wages, we cannot refuse them, though they be death; but sin we may refuse. Sin is a matter of choice; sin is our own deliberate act: if, therefore, we die at last, we shall die in the sins which we have made our own. From this subject, dear brethren, let us learn two lessons, each according to his needs. First, let those who by the gracious help of God are free from wilful and deadly sin, fear and avoid the first incitements and allurements towards those sins by which they are as yet undefiled. Let those who have preserved their innocency, keep it with all diligence. Watch the beginnings of temptation, turn from it, and at once seek help from Him who alone can deliver you. O, how many miseries you will thus escape! what bitter selfreproach, what overwhelming fear, what debilitating despondency you will be spared! How calmly will the work of renewal go on in your souls; how uninterruptedly will the image of Christ be formed in you! How beautifully will the divine life be developed, "first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear!" How glorious to be enrolled among those "few names .... which have not defiled their garments;" and of whom Christ says, "They shall walk with Me in white; for they are worthy!" 15 Secondly, I need hardly say that those of us who have incurred the guilt of wilful sin, must wipe off the stain before it sinks in too deeply; must heal the deadly wound, or have it healed before it causes death, must seek and find the gift of life before the wages of sin are paid. Unless we wish to die for ever, we must turn and live now. Let us take care that we perish not. Let us pray to our merciful God that He would lead us away from death to life. Let us ask of Him the gift of a deeper penitence; that we who worthily deserve to be punished, may by His great mercy be delivered. Should we unhappily fall again into sin, let us not for a moment think of finding either remedy or comfort, except in quickly turning again in penitence to Him against whom we have offended; remembering that to seek for any earthly remedy is only to double our condemnation, according to the word of the Lord by Jeremiah, “My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water." " 16 14 St. Mark, iv. 28. 15 Rev. iii. 4. 16 Jer. ii. 13. 251 SERMON XXI. ETERNAL LIFE, THE GIFT OF GOD. ROMANS, vi. 23. "The gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." WE cannot earn life as we can earn death: for death is the wages of sin; that is, he who sins deserves death; but he who abstains from sin, and follows after holiness, receives eternal life, a free gift from the Author of Life, through Jesus Christ our Lord. By no good works could we possibly earn for ourselves eternal life; because by no good works could we undo the sins which have deserved death. The same law may be observed in the life of nature. Our natural life is the gift of God communicated through our parents: our death is very often the consequence of our own acts. Every man has the power of destroying his life, either wilfully seeking death, or obstinately persisting in a mode of living which he has been warned will hasten the hour of death; but no man ever has given, and no man ever can give life to himself. In like manner, spiritual life is the free gift of God in Jesus Christ. What, then, is our life, and wherein does it consist? What is that great gift of God in Jesus Christ, eternal life, and how is it communicated to us? How does it remain in us? How is it renewed and deepened in us? Why, even our natural life, with the manner of its presence in our mortal bodies, is beyond our comprehension. How, then, can we hope to understand the higher mysteries of our spiritual life? About the natural life of the body we know little more than this, that it depends in some unknown way upon the presence of the immortal soul. As long as the soul that lives and thinks, remembers, loves, hopes, and fears, abides in the body, so long the body lives, and moves, and feels, the hands can handle, the feet can walk, the eyes can see, and the ears can hear; the blood flows through the veins, the heart beats evenly, and all the members perform their proper functions: the body lives while the soul is in it. But what the life is, or how the soul maintains its indwelling and upholds the life, who knows? Where is the soul? It is not in the hand or in the foot; for if either of these members be cut off, the soul remains uninjured: and yet it is in the hand and foot, as it is in every part, else why does the hand or foot feel, and guide itself according to the soul's bidding? Why does the tongue utter the soul's thoughts, if the soul is not in it? Yet if the soul be in it, why does the soul remain entire, when the tongue is removed from the body? How can the soul see by the eye, unless it dwell in the eye? Yet if it dwell there, how can it retain the images which |