of comfort, and debarred from hope, without confidence to ask pardon, without faith to receive it, man, under these circumstances, descends to the receptacle of all flesh in the horrors of guilty despair.

What then remains but to embrace the offers of mercy, whilst mercy remains sure; "for the night cometh in which no man can work." A night of darkness and tribulation, which may overwhelm the sinner in the midst of iniquities, without offering him even a chance of a doubtful and dangerous repentance. The time cometh, and, O Lord, who may abide its coming! While health and strength remain, the season of mercy still shines upon us; but how long that season shall last, man cannot know. When the opportunity of repentance is gone, the season of mercy is gone also. And how soon to every man among us this ray of heavenly light may set in darkness, who can tell! This night, thy soul may be required of thee; this night, the faculties of thy mind may be destroyed; this night, the season of mercy may be for ever closed; and "in the grave there is neither wisdom nor device;" no power of forgiveness, nor hopes of pardon there our doom is sealed for ever.

Viewing then the extent of the mercy of God, in respect to the season of acceptance, as involved in necessary obscurity, let not man com

plain of the indefinity of pardon, or of the uncertainty of his destiny ;-the nature of it is clear, the terms are definite, and as far as relates to himself, the extent is clear also. Can we look for greater precision? At this moment, is the mercy of God offered to every one who hears me, on the terms of repentance from sin, by the blood of his Redeemer. At this moment, are the ears of the Lord open to the prayers of the contrite sinner. At this moment, is the Holy Spirit ready to invigorate every effort, and to animate every hope. Shall we then complain because we know not how often this gracious offer may be repeated, or how soon it may be finally withdrawn? Shall we murmur, that we cannot indulge ourselves in the pollutions of sin, with the full security of future mercy ? Such a complaint is an insult to the divine attributes; it is trifling with God. Enough I trust has been said, to satisfy the most timorous and distrustful mind, of the truth of the proposition, " that there is mercy with thee;"-it will be the object of my ensuing discourse to consider the inference-" therefore art thou to be feared."

SERMON 'XIII.

PSALM CXXX. 4.

For there is mercy with thee, therefore shalt thou be feared.

FROM the consideration of the nature, the conditions, and the extent, of the divine mercy, enough having been said, I trust, to satisfy the most timorous and distrustful mind, of the truth of the proposition, that "there is mercy with thee," I now proceed to examine the inference, "therefore shalt thou be feared."

It may at first sight appear somewhat unaccountable, that the richest treasures of the Lord should be the object of alarm; that the exercise of that first, that most holy attribute of the Almighty, should create apprehension and dismay; that the Majesty of heaven, even in its dispensations of mercy, should be arrayed in the terrors of vengeance. As love is the cause, so should it be the effect of mercy; to the assurance of pardon we flee with gratitude and joy, to the

threatenings of punishment we bow with submission and dread. Where then can be the connection between mercy and fear, and wherefore shall the blessing of the one, be alloyed by the curse and distractions of the other?

Strange, however, as the inference at first may appear, on a careful examination of the quality of that fear, the difficulty will vanish; and when we consider it in reference to the nature, the conditions, and the extent of the divine mercy, we shall readily admit the justice of the reasoning, and acquiesce in the deduction of the Psalmist, "there is mercy with thee, therefore shalt thou be feared."

The fear of God is not as the fear of man. In our connection with the world, in its joys and sorrows, in the triumphs of success, and the vexations of disappointment, every fresh object is the cause of fresh alarm; our fears are the slaves of circumstances, and are varied with every changing scene, in which we are doomed to sustain a part. The fear of God is a steady and a permanent principle of action. In the dark and troubled ocean of human events, it directs its view to that Almighty power, at "whose command the stormy wind ariseth," who speaketh the word, and "the waves thereof are still." The fear of man has for its object a being subjected to the dominion of lust, weakened by

the conflict of contending passions, at one moment proud, positive, unrelenting; at another, the creature of wavering, capricious irresolution; himself, the constant victim of that very terror, which he strikes into those around him. The fear of man is the service of a slave, a slave under the empire of sin, and the powers of darkness. The fear of God is the call of liberty, the voluntary sacrifice of a free agent, before the throne of perfect freedom, before that great Being, "who is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever;" constant alike in its object, and its application, it bows to no other Lord, but the God of heaven and of earth; it knows no other law, but that of his eternal, immutable will; it follows no other path, but that which he has pointed out. It listens to the promises, it hears the threatenings of its eternal Lord. Assured at once of the fulfilment of his mercies, and the infliction of his vengeance, it reposes itself on the justice of infinite perfection. The fear of God is the devotion of a free creature to the will of an omnipotent Creator; the rational submission of man to the power, the promises, and the commands of that eternal Being," who was, and is, and is to come." It is founded on the contemplation of his majesty, whose brightness cannot be extinguished; it relies on the perfections of his attributes; it is dependant on a re