sight of; that each individual will find it far easier to do nothing, or even to do wrong, than if, instead of dividing the responsibility with many, he was obliged literally to bear his own burden. And just in proportion as this spirit pervades any public body, it may reasonably be expected, either that they will accomplish nothing, or nothing to any good purpose.

Now, let this same spirit pervade a church, or any community of professed Christians, and you can look for nothing better than a similar result. True it is, as we have already had occasion to remark, that in a revival of religion there is much of divine agency, and of divine sovereignty too: but there is human instrumentality also, and much of what God does, is done through his people; and if they remain with their arms folded, it were unreasonable to expect that God's work should be revived. Let each professor regard his own personal responsibility as merged in the general responsibility of the church, and the certain consequence will be that the church, as a body, will accomplish nothing. Each member may be ready to deplore the prevalence of irreligion and spiritual lethargy, and to acknowledge that something ought to be done in the way of reform; but if, at the same time, he cast his eye around upon his fellow-professors, and reflect that there are many to share with him the responsibility of inaction, and that as his individual exertions could effect but little, so his individual neglect would incur but a small proportion of the whole blame-if he reason in this way, I say, to what purpose will be all his acknowledgments and all his lamentations? In order that God's work may be revived, there must be earnest

prayer; but where is the pledge for this, unless his people realize their individual obligations? There must also be diligent, and persevering, and self-denied effort; but where are the persons who are ready for this, provided each one feels that he has no personal responsibility? Who will warn the wicked of his wicked way, and exhort him to turn and live? Who will stretch out his hand to reclaim the wandering Christian, or open his lips to stir up the sluggish one? Who, in short, will do any thing that God requires to be done in order to the revival of his work, if the responsibility of the whole church is not regarded as the responsibility of the several individuals who compose it? Wherever you see a church in which this mistaken view of obligation generally prevails, you may expect to see that church asleep, and sinners around asleep; and you need not look for the breaking up of that slumber, until Christians have come to be weighed down under a sense of personal obligation.

Moreover, let it be remembered, that the evil of which I am speaking is fitted to prevent the revival of God's work, inasmuch as it has within itself all the elements of a grievous backsliding. Wherever you find professors of religion who have little or no sense of their own obligations apart from the general responsibility of the church, there you may look with confidence for that wretched inconsistency, that careless and unedifying deportment, that is fitted to arm sinners with a plea against the claims of religion, which they are always sure to use to the best advantage. And, on the other hand, wherever you see professing Christians realizing that arduous duties

devolve upon them, as individuals, and that the indifference of others can be no apology for their own, there you will see a spirit of self-denial, and humility, and active devotedness to the service of Christ, which will be a most impressive exemplification of the excellence of the gospel, and which will be fitted at once to awaken sinners to a conviction of its importance, and to attract them to a compliance with its conditions. In short, you will see precisely that kind of agency on the part of Christians which is most likely to lead to a revival, whether you consider it as bearing directly on the minds of sinners, or as securing the influence of the Spirit of God.

IV. The toleration of gross offences in the church, is another serious hinderance to a revival of religion. We cannot suppose that the Saviour expected that the visible church on earth would ever be entirely pure, or that there would not be in it those who were destitute of every scriptural qualification for its communion, or even those whose lives would be a constant contradiction of their profession, and a standing reproach upon his cause. He himself hath said, "It must needs be that offences come;" though he has added, with awful emphasis, "Wo unto that man by whom they come." And the whole tenor of God's word goes to show that it is required of the church of the whole body, and of each particular member that they keep themselves unspotted from the world; that they have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness; that they exhibit, in all respects, that character which becomes "a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people." And inasmuch as there was danger,

from the imperfection and depravity of man, that the church would embody a greater or less amount of hypocrisy and corruption, it pleased the great Master to prescribe rules for the maintenance of her purity. Hence Christians are exhorted to stir up one another, by putting each other in remembrance; to reprove and admonish each other with fidelity as occasion may require; and in case of scandalous offences persisted in, or not repented of, the church, as a body, is bound to cut off the offender from her communion. In performing this last and highest act of discipline, as well as in all the steps by which she is led to it, she acts not according to any arbitrary rules of her own, but under the authority, and agreeably to the directions of her Head.

Now it is impossible to look at the state of many churches, without perceiving that there is a sad disregard to the directions of the Lord Jesus Christ, in respect to offending members. It sometimes happens, that professors of religion are detected in grossly fraudulent transactions-that they grind the face of the widow and orphan—that they take upon their lips the language of cursing, and even profanely use the awful name of God-not to speak of what has been more common in other days, their reeling under the influence of the intoxicating draught, I say it sometimes happens that Christian professors exemplify some or other of these vices, and still retain a regular standing in the church, and perhaps never even hear the voice of reproof, especially if the individuals concerned happen to possess great worldly influence, and the church, as it respects temporal interests, is in some measure dependent upon them. But rely

on it, brethren, this is an evil which is fitted to reach vitally the spiritual interests of the church, and wherever it exists, it will, in all probability, constitute an effectual obstacle to a revival of religion.

For its influence will be felt, in the first place, by the church itself. The fact that it can tolerate gross offences in its members, proves that its character for spirituality is already low; but the act of tolerating them must necessarily serve to depress it still more. It results from our very constitution, and from the laws of habit, that to be conversant with open vice, especially where there is any temptation to apologize for it, is fitted to lessen our estimate of its odiousness, and to impair our sense of moral and Christian obligation. If a church tolerates in its members scandalous sins, it must know, as a body, that it is in the wrong; nevertheless, each individual will reconcile it to his own conscience as well as he can; and one way will be, by endeavouring to find out extenuating circumstances, and possibly to lower a little the standard of Christian character. Thus it will almost of course come to pass, that that deep and awful sense of the evil of sin, which the Christian ought always to cultivate, and which is essential to a high degree of spirituality, will no longer be found; and in place of it there will be, if not an exhibition of open vice, yet a disposition to regard iniquity in the heart, and a readiness to partake of other men's sins.

Besides, the neglect of one duty always renders the neglect of others more easy; not merely from the fact that there is an intimate connection between many of the duties which devolve upon Christians,