dared at one time hope, yet would it ill become us to put away all sorrow, and shame, and fear, for the grievousness of our offences, and the foulness of our sin, and the awfulness of the danger which we trust we are escaping. To remember our sin with grief and shame is the only good, and the only safe way. For, let us hear a few more words from this awful chapter: "Nevertheless I will remember my covenant with thee in the days of thy youth, and I will establish unto thee an everlasting covenant. Then thou shalt remember thy ways, and be ashamed: establish my covenant with thee; and thou shalt know that I am the Lord: that thou mayest remember, and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified toward thee for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God."9

... and I will

Hitherto I have only spoken of the remembrance of our past sins as a cause for shame and grief; their remembrance, viewed in themselves, as actions passed away which cannot be recalled or undone, nor made to be as though they had not been.

But alas! there are present consequences which force this sad remembrance upon us; effects which are in themselves lamentable if their causes could be forgotten. Other lords have had dominion: they will not let go their hold. I have hinted at this already, though I have not brought it distinctly forward. With the brightness of childhood its innocency has gone too; and that in proportion to the greatness of our past sins. And this lost innocence 9 Ezekiel, xvi. 60–63.

is, in many instances, especially in their case who have fallen very deeply into sin, only imperfectly recovered, even by those whose penitence is, on the whole, sincere. The ordinary rule is this: the more frequently and grievously we have sinned, the more naturally and easily we sin again; the oftener conscience has spoken and been disregarded, the feebler has its voice become; the longer an evil habit has been indulged, the harder we find it to break through all its fetters.

Consider what we might have been now, if we had preserved an undefiled conscience! how secure of God's favour, how full of love, how dead to the world, how ripe for heaven! It might have been that we had by this time been numbered among the saints. Picture to yourselves what we might have been. Think of the holiest person you know. See him forgetful of himself, abounding in love; gentle, considerate, tender over the faults of others, severe upon his own; unmoved by anger, calm, hopeful as a child, resigned as one who has no wishes; ready to depart, willing to live for his brethren's sake; taking with a thankful heart such earthly blessings as God gives him, but finding his true deep joy in communion with God; living as an angel among men, but esteeming himself less than the least of all saints. And such we might have been; such might the grace of God have made us, if we had never grieved the holy Spirit of purity, revolting from beneath His guiding hand.

But now what are we? Ever failing, ever falling; weak in purpose, faltering in action; self-indulgent,

yet self-flattering; even when we seem most to humble ourselves, full of self-complacency; watching for, and eagerly accepting men's praises, and soon displeased when they blame us most justly. And then, how we cling to the world; and how hard we find it to realize the presence of God; and when we do meditate upon divine truths, how coldly and unmovedly we contemplate even the holiest and most touching of them, even beholding with very little grief or shame or self-condemnation, the Lamb of God enduring the penalty of our sins! Miserable consequences of past misdeeds! How long must we bear about with us so great a burden-a burden which we feel to be heavier and more disheartening because it was self-imposed?

Our only remedy is in self-humiliation, confession, and prayer. But here, again, another cause of sorrow meets us. Wandering thoughts and vain imaginations are ever intruding on our holiest occupations; so distracting us in our devotions that many holy words are uttered by us without a thought of their deep meanings. The presence of our Lord and Saviour is forgotten, even when we are on our knees before Him. Has it not happened to most of you to have knelt down full of reverent thoughts, with an earnest purpose of presenting to God a heartfelt sacrifice, and with this intention to have begun to repeat some good prayer or inspired psalm; and when you have come to the end, to find, with sorrow and shame, that your thoughts have wandered far away to other subjects, recalling, perhaps, some bygone scene of life; how, on such an occasion, you

felt, and thought, and spoke, and how your friend answered you; or how, under certain trying circumstances, you appeared in the eyes of those who observed you? Alas! our own thoughts and deeds, and men's thoughts about us, our business, our pleasures, our transient hopes, our varying fears; these steal away our hearts from holy prayers and heavenly contemplations.

These miserable failings are, in a great degree, the consequences of our past transgressions. By these we are compelled to mourn over the sins of by-gone years; for they are themselves occasions of sorrow, and obliging us to feel, they will not permit us to forget, even were we willing, the sins that are past.

Whither, then, shall we turn to find that comfort of which we stand in need? Mourners require comfort. If we are to be in some sense mourners all our lives, through the influence of our own past deeds, yet our mourning is to be no bleak, dreary, dismal, or hopeless grief. By the boundless mercy of God, there is mingled with the sorrow of repentance the holiest, surest comfort. For we pour out our complaints against ourselves to a compassionate Saviour. "For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us, therefore, come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need." 10 Let us turn from all earthly comforters, for they are insufficient, and turn to Him whose ear is ever open to the tale of our 10 Heb. iv. 15, 16.

sorrows, and say, "O Lord our God, other lords beside Thee have had dominion over us: but by Thee only will we make mention of Thy name." "There be many that say, Who will show us any good? Lord, lift Thou up the light of Thy countenance upon us."" Confiding in Him who is our only hope, let us say with penitent Ephraim, "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised.

Turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for Thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh: I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth." Then surely we may trust that Almighty God will graciously reply, as of old, "Is Ephraim my dear son? is he a pleasant child? for since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember him still; therefore my bowels are troubled for him; I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.” 12

11 Psalm iv. 6.

12 Jeremiah, xxxi. 18-20.