sure" in the wretchedness and misery of souls? No: we see every thing that is opposite to this. Over Bethlehem and Gethsemane hovers heaven's compassionate dove; and mercy on the wings of a cherub has reached Calvary's cross, and kisses away the frown from stern justice's brow. "Mercy and truth have met together; righteousness and peace have kissed each other.” See! the Son of God expires! He "tasteth death FOR EVERY MAN." Heb. ii. 9. "Who gave himself a ransom for all." 1 Tim. ii. 6. Blessed be his Blessed be his name, "He is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world:" 1 John ii. 2. And therefore he "will have ALL MEN to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth." 1 Tim. ii. 4. 4. God's "pleasure," in reference to man's salvation is also clearly seen in the universal invitations, and the universal offer of mercy with which the sacred scriptures abound. "Ho every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price." Isa. lv. 1. "Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink." John vii. 37. "And the Spirit and the bride say, come, And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst, come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17. If God has given "all men" an invitation to come to him, then "all men" may come to him; and if he has freely offered salvation to "all men," then salvation is within the reach of "all men." If he would "have all men to be saved," then he has made it quite possible for "all men to be saved;" therefore those that are lost, are lost of their own choice-lost because they would not be saved, and not because it was the "pleasure" of God that they should be lost. "The LORD is not slack concerning his promises, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance." 2 Pet. iii. 9. "SEE, Sinners, in the gospel glass, The Friend and Saviour of mankind! Not one of all the apostate race But may in him salvation find! His thoughts, and words, and actions prove, 5. God's "pleasure" in reference to man's salvation, is strikingly bronght before us in his providential dispensations towards us as individuals. God has borne with our untowardness ever since we have had an existence. We owe our being, our all to him; but have we given him his due? Have we always walked in obedience to his will, and devoted ourselves to his service? No; we know this has not been the case. We have broken from under his parental restraint-rebelled against him—trampled upon his authority-turned a deaf ear to his merciful calls and spurned a thousand times his gracious offers of pardon; and yet he has not cut us off. Is not this long-suffering, patience, and love, a proof of his good intentions towards us? If he delighted in our death and eternal ruin, could he not have effected it? Has he not had abundant opportunities for so doing? Yes. Our insults to high heaven have become aggravated by their repetition. Borne with once, we repeat the insult; borne with again, and we become careless and fearless of God. As time passes on, and judgment is not executed against us, we too frequently become hardened in sin-active and constant in our attacks against the divine laws. Eccl. viii. 11. "Because sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” Has not this been the case with us? Let conscience answer. And yet we are still alive; notwithstanding our ingratitude and rebellion, God has not sent us away into woe and eternal misery. He hath strewed our path with innumerable blessings-has sent us his word, his Spirit, his servants, and given us innumerable opportunities for repentance. Surely then, dear reader, his will and pleasure" is not our damnation; it cannot be, or such conduct as that which he has exercised towards us is unaccountable. 66 "Ah! do not of my goodness doubt: I will in no wise cast him out That comes a sinner unto me; I can to none myself deny; Why, sinners, will ye perish, WHY ?" III. THAT IF THE TRANSGRESSOR RETURN TO GOD BY REPENT ANCE AND FAITH HE SHALL BE SAVED. 1. Although the atonement of Christ is the procuring cause of the sinner's salvation, yet God has been pleased to appoint repentance and faith as conditions upon which the benefits of the atonement should be received by man. Under all dispensations, God has been pleased to confer the blessing of pardon upon those who have sincerely repented and trusted in him. If the Jew obtained pardon, it was conditionally through repentance and faith. If his "sin-offering" was found acceptable in the sight of God, it had been presented with a humble contrite spirit, and with faith in "the seed of the woman," that should come in "the fulness of time, to redeem them that were under the law." Did the blood of lambs daily flow for sin? The blood of beasts could not in reality "take away sin;" but it directed the penitent's mind to "richer blood"-to the blood of "the Lamb of God which taketh away," in reality, "the sin of the world." If under the Mosaic dispensation the sinner returned unto the Lord by repentance and faith in the promised Messiah, he was saved; "For the LORD your God is gracious and merciful, and will not turn away his face from you, if ye return unto him." 2 Chron. xxx. 9. The word "return," embodies all that is implied by the terms "repentance and faith." "If thou return to the Almighty, thou shalt be built up." Job xxii. 23. "The Lord is nigh to them that are of a broken heart; and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." Psa. xxxiv. 18. "Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts; and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon." Is. lv. 7. "That they may return every man from his evil way, that I may forgive their iniquity, and their sin." Jer. xxxvi. 3. "Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of Hosts, and I will turn unto you, saith the Lord of Hosts." Zech. i. 3. Throughout the chapter whence our text is taken, pardon is offered on condition that the sinner repent or turn unto the Lord. "Re 2. But since the gospel dispensation has brought "Grace and truth-life and immortality to light"-" repentance towards God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ," as the condition of obtaining pardon, has appeared in the clearest light. John the Baptist who came to open up, in the moral wilderness, "a way for our God," commenced his important work by saying; pent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iii. 2. And when this spiritual pioneer had nearly finished his work, "Our God" appeared and opened his mission by saying:"The Son of Man is come TO SAVE that which was lost;" Matt. xviii. 11. And in order to prevent the sinner from being in any error as to the state of mind essential to the reception of this salvation, he also taught, "I am come to call sinners to repentance." Matt. ix. 13. "From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matt. iv. 17. "Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: REPENT YE AND BELIEVE THE GOSPEL." Mark i. 14, 15. Here then repentance and faith are laid down by the Son of God as the instrumental means of obtaining the remission of sin. Mary received pardon from the hands of Christ, but prior to the reception of this blessing she had repented; for the Saviour observes concerning her:-"She hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head-wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven." Luke vii. 44, 47. She repented and believed in the Messiah, and he gave her to taste of his pardoning love, and she went on her way rejoicing. Peter fell from his faithfulness to Christ and denied him; but he was restored to peace, and reinstated in his Master's favour by repentance and faith; for it is written"Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew. And Peter remembered the word of Jesus, which said unto him, before the cock crow thou shalt deny me thrice; and he went out and WEPT BITTERLY." Matt. xxvi. 74, 75. Repentance was the condition upon which he received his Redeemer's forgiveness; and behold after this he was found among the most zealous and faithful propagators of the Saviour's cause; and all who return to Christ as Peter did, shall receive the same measure of love, and the same fulness of pardon; "For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of." 2 Cor. vii. 10. "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." Acts xvi. 31. 66 3. Faith is the gift of God, and when this principle is legitimately tested, it brings salvation to the soul. It brings good tidings to the fearful-happiness to the miserable-joy to the sorrowful-comfort to the mourner-pardon to the guilty-holiness to the unclean-strength to the weak-health to the sick, and life to the dead. Its work is great; its achievements are glorious; and its results are the most salutary and blissful: Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word and BELIEVETH on him that sent me, HATH EVERLASTING LIFE, and shall not come into condemnation: but is passed from death unto life." John v. 24. "Jesus saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life: he that BELIEVETH IN ME, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?" John xi. 25, 26. "To him gave all the prophets witness, that through his name, WHOSOEVER BELIEVETH IN HIM shall receive remission of sins." Acts x. 43. "If thou canst believe, ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE TO HIM THAT BELIEVETH." Mark ix. 23. "THY FAITH HATH SAVED THEE; go in peace." Luke vii. 50. "Look unto me," by the eye of faith," And be ye saved, all ye ends of the earth :" Isa. xlv. 22. "The cross once SEEN, is death to every vice: 4. "Why WILL ye die?" Our text teaches the doctrine of man's free agency-that his will is left free to act, unshackled and unrestrained-free to choose either good or evil-life or death. Life and death are both set before him, and unto him is given the power of choice: if he dies, he does so of his own choice, because he "will" die. Therefore if the sinner chooses death, and hurries himself into eternal woe, let him not blame God with the cause of his death, after God had offered him life, given him the power to choose it, and most affectionately and pressingly invited him to receive it and live. "Why will ye die ?" This question was originally put to the Jews who were the people of God by national election, and who had therefore been exalted to heaven with privileges. He solemnly asks them why, after that he had broken the Egyptian yoke from off their necks-delivered them out of the hands of their enemies-planted them in "a land flowing with milk and honey”—thrown around them the shield of his protecting care-given them a law that was "holy, just and good"-strewed their paths with innumerable mercies, and promised them never failing goodness, and sure and perpetual defence, "Why," after all this evidence of his goodwill towards them, they wOULD die? And, O! ye people of Australia; born of christian parents; born the most of you in England-in that land of superior light and liberty – and the whole of you, perhaps, in a land of bibles, either in Britain, or in those colonies, "Why will ye die?" "Ye" who have been nursed in the midst of a christian community, to whom God has sent his servants to teach you the way of life; for whom God has given his well-beloved Son-to weep, and bleed, and die-to whom he has given the bible, that most precious treasure, to be "a lamp unto your feet, and a light unto your path," Psa. cxix, 105; "Ye" to whom he has sent his Spirit, to open your minds, change your hearts, comfort and strengthen your drooping spirits, and to lead you into all truth; "ye," at the door of whose heart the Son of God stands, and has for a long time stood, knocking and waiting for admission thereinto; "ye" on whose brow the beams of "the glorious gospel" ever shine -around whose head, as a shield, hang the protecting robes of mercy and love; "ye," who have been blessed with a thousand privileges, and ten thousand invitations to turn and live; who are at this moment freely offered LIFE, "why," "O! why, will ye die ?" "Die!" what does this terrifying word mean ? No mortal can fathom the profundity of its meaning? The following are a few things which are implied in it. To "die" is to be eternally deprived of joy, and peace, and hope too, that last lingering spark of the human breast. To "die" bodily is only to "yield up the ghost;" but to "die," spiritually and eternally, as referred to in the text, is something most fearful! Thus to "die" is to be forever separated from the merciful presence of God-from heaven, and from all happiness, and all the means of happiness! To "die," is to gain Satan for our uncontrollable oppressor-hell for our eternal abode-and inexpressible misery and woe for our eternal possession! To "die," is to sink overwhelmed by wrath's bursting flood, the wrath of an avenging God! O! that sinful men were wise, that they understood this, that they would consider their latter end! "Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings ?" Isai. xxxiii, 14. sinner, will you infatuated as to force your way down into be so 66 and Why," |