Almighty propitious, reason suggests very strong doubts, and revelation invests them with the character of certainty. Repentance, although required by God and exceedingly appropriate to the sinner's condition, is but a single advance in the way of life; it must be associated with faith in Christ. It is the prerogative of the Almighty to declare the conditions upon which his favor shall be extended. He has connected forgiveness with an humble reliance on the mediation of one who, in conformity with the divine will, died to make atonement for sin. It is a merciful dispensation, altogether suited to our circumstances of impotence and wretchedness. A want of regard to its provisions will be attended with fatal consequences. "For while he that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life, he that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth on him."

From faith and repentance proceed all the elements of Christian piety. He who has experienced these exercises of the mind, is prepared to obey the will of God, and to become holy in his life. In relation to the indispensable necessity of this holiness, numerous testimonies might be adduced from holy writ. It is not necessary to do so. It is the admitted object of the gospel to produce the spiritual renovation and moral improvement of our race; and where it fails in producing these results, through the obduracy of those to whom it is

preached, the consequence must be their abandonment to destruction. "Without holiness no man shall see the Lord." "Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap; he that soweth to the flesh, shall of the flesh reap corruption, while he that soweth to the Spirit, shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."

To repent, to believe the gospel, to lead a life devoted to God, are the duties enjoined on us; the performance of them will prepare the the way for our introduction into the kingdom of God above.

Seek, then, this happiness and the qualifications for it as your highest object. Nothing is in itself so worthy of regard; nothing is so adapted to our wants. The promise of pardon to a sinful being, of durable happiness to an immortal one, ought surely to be most interesting. I beseech you, therefore, to bring your minds resolutely to the contemplation of this subject; say to yourselves-a few years shall pass, and this earth shall know me no more; but a little while and I pass under the view of my Judge, and receive the recompense of the just or the unjust. I have now two courses of life marked out to my view, the one leading to ultimate happiness of the highest degree, but attended with a few present privations; the other attractive at its entrance, but issuing in final wretchedness. Upon which of these courses shall I enter? Can you make this a subject of deliberation for a moment?

Does not a regard to happiness, the most powerful motive to action, impel you to make a prompt decision? You do make a decision. You are convinced that the favor of God is supremely desirable; you are resolved you will seek it. But when will you do this? Here lies your fatal error, whose consequences are oftentimes irretrievable.

You will become pious when the morning of life is past. Then you persuade yourselves you will be satiated with pleasure; the passions will flow in a more even current and the restraints of religion can be better tolerated. But you remember not, that indulgence in sin while it confirms evil propensities, gives a death blow to the few remaining purposes of good; and, above all, you do not consider that the morning of life may be all that is afforded to you. But you have attained the meridian of life and you are still destitute of religion. You therefore resolve to reserve the great concern of reconciliation with your God for the cheerful period of old age, and for the bed of affliction and death. But the mandate of Jehovah is issued. You are cut off in the midst of your days; the great duty of life is unperformed; the consequence is the loss of your souls. These are awful considerations; I pray you to weigh them maturely; and may the God of grace grant you repentance, reconcile you to himself and fit you for his kingdom.

77

SERMON VI.

THE DEATH OF THE RIGHTEOUS.

NUMBERS XXIII. 10.

Let me die the death of the righteous; and let my last end be like his !

THE history of the individual whose exclamation has just been recited, is one of the most remarkable in the sacred volume. It has been thought strange that the gift of prophecy should have been bestowed upon one who was obviously not a good man, and who has been supposed to have been addicted to the practice of sorcery. It does not appear however, that this is an estimate of his character altogether just. In some respects it undoubtedly is, for he loved the wages of unrighteousness. Yet there is no sufficient evidence that he was addicted to the use of unlawful arts, and some expressions in

the scriptural narrative seeming to denote this may be otherwise explained. He certainly possessed the knowledge of the true God, and rendered worship to him, and in the instance at present under view, received direct communications from him. The occasion on which he is introduced to our notice was this: The approach of the immense body of Israelites who had left Egypt excited the utmost consternation in the king of Moab. Despairing of effectually resisting them by ordinary means, he sent to the Euphrates for Balaam, one of those to whom it was supposed was committed the power of cursing things and persons so as to confound all their designs, frustrate all their purposes, enervate their strength, and fill them with terror and dismay. Instances of thus devoting an enemy to destruction occur frequently, in profane as well as sacred historical records.

We shall not make any reference to the difficulty experienced by the king of Moab, in obtaining the coöperation of this prophet or divine, but direct our attention to the result. The ordinary ceremonial being gone through, Balaam instead of devoting the Israelites to destruction, exclaims-" How shall I curse whom God hath not cursed? or how shall I defy whom the Lord hath not defied? For from the top of the rocks I see him, and from the hills I behold him. So the people shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Who