have joy: nay, our Almighty Father himself will contemplate and approve such, with a portion of that feeling by which his attendant spirits are influenced!

Thus have I endeavoured to shew, first, the nature of that doctrine laid down in the words of the text; and, secondly, the end of it-and this latter, as applicable to us here, and hereafter. May the same Spirit, which has imparted this merciful and comforting doctrine, continue its guidance and protection to us in every stage of life, and every department of society, in which we shall stand in greater need of such Almighty aid. May no hesitation, doubt, or disbelief, bewilder and intercept us in our immediate return to virtue, after lapsing into vice. May we instantly have recourse to repentance, as the Shepherd flew to save the straggler from his fold; and may a death-bed, of calm resignation, and of a joyful and deeply grounded anticipation of eternity, be the fruits of an early, a sincere, and a steady practice of repentance.

SERMON XVII.

LUKE xiii. 2, 3.

And Jesus answering, said unto them, suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay: but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.*

It has been repeatedly observed to you, that, in the Discourses of our Saviour, a wonderful facility is displayed of putting both convincing and fallacious arguments in a clear, simple, and irresistible point of view. Numberless are the instances which might be noticed as corroborative of this remark; but perhaps few could have been more judiciously selected than that which forms the subject matter of our present attention.

The chapter, from which the text is chosen, opens thus; "There were present at that season some that told him of the Galileans,

* Preached at St. Mary's, August 8, 1824.

whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices." The Galileans were a factious tribe, founded by one Judas Gaulonita, which taught opposition to the Roman government: many of these were slain by Pilate in the act of making their sacrifices, whose blood the Roman governor is supposed to have wantonly poured, along with the blood of the sacrificed beasts, upon the altar. The precipitate feelings of the greater part of the people who surrounded Christ, supposed this punishment to have happened to the Galileans in consequence of their wickedness. Jesus, however, observed to them-"Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." He then takes another instance, by way of illustration: “ Or, those eighteen, (says he) upon whom the tower in Siloam fell and slew them, think ye that they are sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.”

The reflections which are suggested by a due deliberation upon these words, may be divided under the following heads. First, God sometimes permits a premature and severe

death, either as a punishment due to the wickedness of those that suffer, or as a warning to the living who are going on in profligacy. Secondly, the punishment even of the guilty is no extenuation of our own errors or crimes; and that, to be constantly passing a severe judgment upon others, is a sign of a harsh, illiberal, and unchristian-like disposition in ourselves. Thirdly, the miseries that befal others, whether justly or unjustly, are frequently an awful warning to ourselves, to look into our own hearts, and to see, whether or not, according to the equitable decrees of heaven, we may not be amenable to the same visitation.

First, then, it has been remarked that God suffers punishment to be sometimes inflicted as the wages due to sin-as the just consequence of long continued turpitude. In the nature of things, this would appear consonant to every principle of justice and common sense; for men are frequently deterred from crime, not by a deeply rooted abhorrence of it, but from seeing how crimes are punished with death in others. That our heavenly Father inflicts punishment upon some, not from any erring principle or conduct in the sufferer, but for the benefit of others, is most strikingly displayed in the

66

tortures which he permitted to be inflicted upon his only begotten son, Jesus Christ our Lord, in whom was no guile, nor variableness, nor shadow of turning. The chastisement of our peace was upon him; and, wonderful to say, to HIM were imputed, although absolutely immaculate, the sins of the world. Other examples, less awful and striking, may be adduced. Such were the afflictions of Job and Joseph; of David and Daniel; whose stories the Apostle tells us were written for our learning, that we, through patience and comfort of the Scriptures, might have hope.” Such also were the sufferings of St. Paul himself, and of all his brethren and fellow labourers, who trod in the steps of the great Captain of their salvation, and who, like him, were made perfect through suffering. And such, without doubt, are the poverty and sickness, the pain, the sorrow, the contempt, the shame, and all the other acute mental, and sometimes bodily, sufferings, which assailed the holy men of past times, and which you sometimes see assail virtuous people around you. These, so far from being meant as punishments, are frequently considered as blessings and the effect of them, upon those exempt from such maladies, is as fre