ing earnestness, throughout this state of trial. The command of the ascended Saviour to his imperfect, backsliding people, is"be zealous and repent." In what way can we exercise zeal and resolution so justly and so laudably, as in the work of ridding ourselves of the abominable thing which God hates the work of getting cured of that loathsome, fatal disease which has seized. upon our souls, and which must be cured, before we can be admitted to the presence of Christ in heaven! I have said that Christians, as well as unsanctified sinners, have much to do in the work of repentance. And such is the practical importance of this view of the subject, that I cannot close without attempting to impress it more fully upon the minds of those who are preparing for the holy office of the ministry. As the office with which you are to be invested is one of uncommon sanctity, uncommon purity and excellence of character will be justly expected of you. And as you possess the same fallen nature with others, you must attain to the requisite excellence by the same process, that is, by the continual exercise of repentance. This duty is specially incumbent on persons in your circumstances, because sin, existing in you, must evidently be attended with fearful aggravations. Of this you cannot doubt, if you consider in what sacred studies you are daily employed, and how many advantages your situation affords for growth in grace. Happy will you be, if you may have a just and adequate conviction of the necessity of thorough evangelical repentance, and correspondent resolution and perseverance in discharging the momentous duty. It is a duty which returns upon us every day, because every day we have sin dwelling in us; and so it will doubtless be, while life lasts. This, I think, must be the clear conviction of every Christian who faithfully examines himself, and compares his heart and life with the perfect standard of holiness. And he must consequently feel, that he is continually urged by the most powerful motives to the humiliating, but indispensable work of repentance. Is it not, then, a great fault of Christians generally, and may it not be the fault of many theological students and many ministers of the gospel, that they do not, with suitable diligence, pursue the work of repentance? They have begun it, but they do not urge it on to its full accomplishment as they ought; and, consequently, they do not make due advances in the divine life, and are so far from being complete in all the will of God. How different would it now be with us, had we, from the moment when, as we trust, the Spirit of God first visited our hearts, diligently prosecuted the work of repentance! Let us be diligent in the work for the time to come, making it a part of our daily business, as the followers of Christ. If we find pride or ambition, envy or ill will, covetousness or selfishness, or any other form of sinful affection working within us, we see here what is to be done. We must forthwith repent; that is, we must put away the sin, whatever it is, and vigilantly guard against its regaining any influence over us. We must be resolute in this indispensable work, and, relying on the help of God, must never give it over, whatever discouragements may come in our way. How often soever we may be foiled or driven back, we have no cause to be disheartened, for we follow a powerful and glorious Leader, who has conquered sin for us, and who will make us partakers of his victory, if we faithfully adhere to him. We have, I say, no cause to be disheartened; for there is no corrupt disposition so confirmed by use, no law of sin in our minds so powerful, that it cannot, through the grace of Christ, be effectually overcome. But, in order to our success, we must pursue the work unceasingly; just as the Israelites were commanded unceasingly to fight against the Canaanites in the land of promise, till they were utterly destroyed. Whenever we enter on the business of self-inquiry, we find ourselves guilty of some manifest transgressions of the law, or some neglects of duty. Here is the place where repentance should come in. We should immediately reform what is amiss; should make haste and delay not to keep God's commandments. of God, when we read his word, and call upon his name, and when we engage in the duties of our calling-yes, everywhere and continually, we should have a penitent heart and a contrite spirit. Nothing should be suffered to turn us aside from this all When we appear in the house important work. It would be far better for us to neglect our bodily health, or our intellectual improvement-better to forego any worldly profit or pleasure, than to neglect the work of putting away the evil that dwells in us and curing the diseases of our souls. This work is of the highest moment. The Lord Jesus, after he ascended on high, stooped down from his throne in the heavens to say to his imperfect, erring followers "Be zealous, and repent." Here is an exercise of zeal which, though incomparably important, is little thought of. We manifest zeal in our worldly pursuits; but where is our zeal in our pursuit of holiness, in correcting what is amiss, and in amending our character as Christians? And yet we must have zeal and earnestness, or the work will not be done. Did we but attend rightly to this high command of our Lord, "Be zealous and repent," looking to him for grace to help in time of need, we should no longer be found retrograde or stationary in our spiritual course. We should no longer show, at the end of the month or year, the same faults and blemishes as at the beginning the same faults unchecked, undiminished, and sometimes even growing upon us. Instead of this, we should be constantly making advancement in godliness. Forgetting the things behind, we should press on towards perfection. Noxious weeds, now growing in our garden, would be plucked up, and useful vegetables would flourish in their place. Plants, formerly neglected, would be cultivated; and trees, once barren, would bear fruit. And why is it that we are not in this happy state? Why have we made so little progress? Why this want of growth and fruitfulness? Why have we so little conformity to Christ, and why do our prayers obtain so small a measure of spiritual good for ourselves and for others? It will be easy for us to account for these evils, if we consider how little we have done in the momentous duty of repentance. LECTURE XCIII. FAITH. WHY NOT MORE CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD ? FAITH IN A ENJOINED AS ALTHOUGH the language of Scripture respecting faith seems to be very intelligible, there are few subjects on which more obscure and erroneous opinions have been entertained. This deplorable fact results from various causes. senses. 1. The objects of faith are remote from the province of the Our attention, from the beginning of life, is directed to the present world. We look at the things which are seen. Those, therefore, who would get right views of faith, are under the necessity of casting off the dominion of their early habits; of breaking away from the enchantments of sense, and turning the current of their thoughts and feelings into a new channel. All experience shows this to be a work of difficult accomplish ment. 2. Another thing which renders it difficult to obtain clear and satisfactory views of faith, is, that the language which describes it has been so often spoken and heard without correspondent concep tions or feelings. This custom of speaking and hearing the words of divine truth, without the conceptions which those words ought to kindle within us, creates a new difficulty. For whenever those words are repeated, the mind is apt to lie in the same listless state as before. It is no easy matter to feel a lively interest in a subject which has often passed before us without exciting our attention. 3. Such is the nature of faith, that it cannot be rightly apprehended, without being experienced and felt. Christian faith, instead of consisting chiefly in a speculative discernment of external objects, is, in a great measure, a matter of affection. But how can an affection be known, except by those who have been the subjects of it? And as to believers themselves, faith exists in them in so low degree, that they are by no means free from the same difficulty. For how can they form adequate conceptions of that which operates in their own minds so feebly and so inconstantly? a 4. Right apprehensions of faith are prevented, by the prevalence of corrupt dispositions in the heart. These dispositions render us blind to spiritual, holy objects. They not only prevent us from exercising faith, but make us unwilling to perceive what it is, because such perception would lead to selfreproach and self-condemnation. In this, as in other cases, "the natural man discerneth not the things of the Spirit; for they are foolishness to him; neither can he know them; because they are spiritually discerned." And, so far as sinful affections prevail in Christians, they hinder spiritual discernment as really as in the unrenewed. Such considerations as these may help us to account for the obscure and erroneous views which are commonly entertained of the nature of faith, and for the difficulty of making it well understood. There is no part of the holy Scriptures which so particularly illustrates the nature and influence of faith, as the eleventh chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews. The writer begins with a brief description of faith. "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." Tróoracis literally Υπόστασις signifies what stands under, as a basis or support. It is here used metaphorically, and signifies firm trust, or confidence, on which the mind rests, and which gives to spiritual, invisible objects a substance and reality, as though they were present. Faith is also the "evidence of things not seen." Its objects have not the evidence of sense. But they have an evidence of another |