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with dependence on human merityou venture into the presence of an infinitely righteous and holy God?

himself in general estimation. But he had been taught to see the difference between his own obedience in which O! brethren, it is really dreadful to there was so much short coming, and look upon a world going down quick the obedience of Christ in which there into perdition, deluded by hopes of was no short coming. He felt the mercy that are founded on any thing, force of the alternative between the and every thing, but the cross of one and the other, and therefore was Christ! To see men of fine endow- he so anxious to win Christ, and be ments and extensive erudition reject- found in Him, not having his own ing the offer of salvation in the only righteousness which was of the law, way of God's appointment, and look- but that which is through the faith of ing for it in some other: to hear thou- | Christ, the righteousness which is of sands upon thousands declaring, often GOD by faith. and complacently that GoD is merciful-though not one among them knows clearly and distinctly how only it is that God can be so. Truly the imagination has not power to conceive a more fearful and appalling spectacle, than that of the poor sinner of a day entering into controversy with all the plans and perfections of the Eternalchallenging the approbation of the righteous judge to his respectability of character-his rank in life-his amiable and social qualities—and virtually expecting to get to heaven without obtaining mercy.

Then, brethren, let the saying sink down deep into your hearts, and find a lodgment in your most serious thoughts, that, while they who trust in the general mercy of God, do so at the expense of God's whole character, they who trust in His mercy as it is manifested in Christ Jesus, as it has appeared unto all men through the Saviour, shall assuredly obtain mercy, and never be confounded.

How easily and delightfully are we thus brought to the last remark which I shall make, as suggested by these precious truths; namely this-That no man need despair of obtaining mercy. So long as there is an ear willing to listen to its gracious offers, or a tongue to ask for them, or a heart to receive them, so long may mercy be obtained. Come, then, ye awakened, trembling sinners-come all ye weary and heavy laden-condemn yourselves—renounce all reliance on any thing of your own, and let your trust be in the tender mercy of God for ever and ever.

But let me ask the individuals who expect to get to heaven by their works, if they need no mercy when such a man as St. Paul needed it? Look at him again before his conversion. It was no subordinate degree in the scale of moral dignity and worth at which you find him. The errors of his character, his persecuting and blasphemous spirit, all sprang from good intentions, the only blot in his character was a good intention guided by a Perhaps you will tell me, this you wrong influence. He verily thought have often done. Your soul has been he was doing God service. He hadpro-long in heaviness by reason of strong fited in his, the Jewish religion, above convictions; and you are almost many his equals in his own nation; tempted to fear, that your hope is no man was "more exceedingly zea- perished from the Lord. But you have lous of the traditions of the fathers," God's word to rest upon, confirmed than he was and in all that was con- by the experience of all His ransidered virtuous, and lovely, and of somed people. 'Ask, and it shall be good report among men, he signalized given you; seek, and ye shall find;

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knock, and it shall be opened unto | Lord, and He will incline unto you, you." You are not permitted, by any and hear your cry; and the longer you means, to interpret delays of mercy have been praying for mercy, the into denials of mercy. God is as wise nearer it certainly is to you. Perhaps as He is kind, and has infinitely good some messenger of mercy is now hastreasons for every thing He does. Why, ening his cheerful way towards you. it was three days after Paul was ar- Perhaps the next Christian you may rested in his career to Damascus, be- meet may speak a word in season. fore he obtained comfort. And why Perhaps the next sermon you may hear was this, but to bring him to think- may let in the light of heaven upon to shew him what sin is-to make your gloom, and chase away every him feel the need of mercy-to pre- shadow of your present deep despair. pare him for displays of Divine grace- "The vision is yet for an appointed to dig deep, and lay low, the founda- time, but at the end it shall speak and tion of a superstructure that was to shall not lie: though it tarry, wait rise so high? And so, perhaps, with for it, because it will surely come, it you. Wait, then, patiently on the will not tarry."

A Sermon

DELIVERED BY THE REV. E. Scobell,

AT MARY-LE BONE CHURCH, SUNDAY EVENING, MAY 1, 1831.

Matthew, vii. 13, 14.-" Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. Because strait is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.”

THERE is a habit which prevails to a very great degree among men, of speculating upon God's declarations when it suits their purpose, and drawing imaginary conclusions, far beyond the warranty of the sacred word. I say, "when it suits their purpose;" and this is literally the case, whenever it accords with their own wishes and with their own practice, that a particular doctrine should be established in such and such a way; then they have a host of conjectures and verbal refinements and excuses ready, by which they endeavour to bring the passage within the scope of their own purpose: whereas, when they find words in the Bible that help them, as they fancy, and support their pretensions, no peo

ple can be more strenuous to interpret them in their literal and strictest sense. But in reading the Bible there are two things which should be particularly observed, and they are these that passages are to be taken, in general, in their plain and obvious sense, without unnecessary refinement, or far fetched qualifications. And, in the next place, that whenever difficulties really do occur; whenever statements are made, that we cannot easily reduce to the standard of our apprehension; whenever, for instance, any of the attributes of GoD seem to interfere with each other, either his mercy with his justice, or 'his justice with his mercy, or his presence with both, or any thing, in fact, which goes

beyond our rules of reason and our intellect, yet, we are implicitly to acquiesce notwithstanding: our faith must operate; we must first say to ourselves, "it is the undoubted word of GOD, therefore it must be true" then ask ourselves, "why do we not comprehend the doctrine?"-because we are not in possession of the materials for judgment; or even if we were, these materials may depend, in their operation, upon principles with which we are and shall, nay, more, must be, totally unacquainted, as long as we are here below in the flesh! Lastly, we should reflect, that God will, in his own good time, justify his ways to man; that every valley shall then be raised, and every hill brought down to our own level; then, we shall know in whom we have trusted, and that our confidence has not been in vain in the Lord.

Having laid down these rules of proceeding, I shall now go on to consider the words of our Lord in the text. It is possible that the terms there used may strike some of you, at first, as appalling and terrifying and melancholy; they may appear harsh and discouraging and irreconcilable to other accounts in the Bible; to those, for instance, which describe the ways of religion to be pleasant and peaceful, or to those which assert, in general terms, Christ's love for sinners, and his suffering disgrace and death for the sins of the whole world.

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Upon this head I shall only, at present, say what St. Paul said to the Romans, respecting human laws :"Rulers are not a terror to good works but to the evil. Wilt thou, then, not be afraid of the power? Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same."-My brethren, man is fallen from GOD; and when we talk of the spirit and course of this world, "we mean the collected force of that habitual neglect of GOD, and

supreme love of things present, in which the great mass of mankind live.” Now this spirit is perfectly consistent with an outward form of religion. It is not necessary that men should be grossly immoral, in order to be of the world. To seem religious and to be so are two very different things. To have the grace of GoD at our baptism and to use it; to take the sacrament and to act up to it; to bear the cross of Christ on our foreheads, and to have it engraven on our hearts, are far from being always united in one and the same thing; and it is from a presentiment of this frequent inconsistency, that our Saviour, at the conclusion of two of his parables, uses twice these remarkable words, "For many are called but few chosen." And in the history connected with the text, as you will find it given in the thirteenth chapter of St. Luke, we have a specific question put to our Lord upon this very point. "Then said one unto him, Lord, are there many that be saved?"

Now you will remark here, that our Saviour does not give a direct answer to this: and he hereby reads us this important lesson, that we should not endeavour to be wise beyond practical benefit. Whenever we can draw a good influence upon our hearts and lives from any doctrine, however abstruce or metaphysical, then, up to that point, it is fair and allowable to pursue and search it out: but we should most cautiously be aware of a vain and rude curiosity, that, in the absence of facts, would deal in surmises; and which, after all, tends to unsettle, rather than confirm, the faith which is delivered to us.

Upon another occasion, however, our Lord speaks upon the subject in plainer terms-"Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go

I remember, almost in my infancy, to have seen what made, and still continues to make, a strong impression on my mind, a picture descriptive of this very scene of our Lord. On one side stood a massive gate and castle, ornamented on every part with the most beautiful proportions of architecture ; the pillars were at a great distance from each other, and the entrance grand, spacious, and noble. This led to a high road within, broad and beautiful; surrounded by verdant meadows; ornamented with blooming flowers, gently sloping with the most delightful declivity. The gate was thronged with eager visitants, and the road was covered with joyous, and many of them gorgeously drest travellers. Some were sporting in the fields—others refreshing in the streams

in thereat because strait is the gate | broad is the way that leadeth to deand narrow is the way that leadeth struction, and many there be which unto life, and few there be that find it." go in thereat because strait is the Now, from these passages it strikes gate and narrow is the way which me, as a certain inference, that the leadeth unto life, and few there be number of those who are walking in that find it." Such are the words of the way of truth and life, with the the evangelist. probability of eventual salvation, is far less than those who are pursuing the paths of sin and of error. I grant that this is awful! But what then? is GOD the author of sin? is it his decrees that thus decide the fate of his creatures? Is He, who willeth not the death of a sinner, thus to send so many souls (the value of which is, by his own account, beyond all description or price) into wretchedness and punishment? GOD forbid, my brethren. Never for a moment suffer your minds to suppose that GoD arbitrarily decrees for death. It is all the fault of man. There never was a single sinner lost but he brought destruction upon himself. If not, the whole Gospel is a fable "your faith is vain, and our preaching is vain ;" nay more, I contend that the doctrine of the text is a doctrine full also of hope, and comfort, and support, that while it shows the wicked this awful truth, that if they persevere, die they must; there is no escape-no false hope in the mercy of GOD-no chance-that heaven will relax from its declarations, so often, so fully, so plainly given in the Bible. So, on the other hand, it shews the humble and willing disciple, that if he comes up to the terms he is sure of the reward; that so far from fighting uncertainly-so far from beating and buffetting the air, that the crown of glory most indubitably will be ready for him, who, through grace, endureth to the end.

Let us now then examine fairly the state of these two entrances, through one of which we must all pass, and of which the descriptions appear so very different. "Wide is the gate, and

others in parties singing, and dancing, and banquetting—and all apparently delighted at the ease with which they were pursuing their luxurious journey. Further on, however, the road began to get less beautiful, and signs of a rocky and barren soil to appear. Just round the angle of the prospect, unseen by them, there was situated a deep and dismal gulph; in this the journey ended; and to this, all who were travelling, imperceptibly declined.

On the other side, what a contrast existed to this splendid scene. There stood a low, humble, unpolished entrance, so close, as scarcely to allow room to pass, that led to a small straggling, solitary looking pathway, winding up the side of a steep and craggy mountain; no flowers, no splendours, no crowds! A few poor

or a desire to be thought liberal and unshackled by narrow prejudices; one or more of these, operating upon the natural inclination and depravity of his own sinful heart, brings the man thus to the "broad gate."

abject tottering figures were seen here and there toiling up the precipice, too inconsiderable to excite notice, or at all events, only raising the contempt of those who were journeying in a different direction. But mark their progress; the higher they ascended, O sinner! whoever you are, stop for the easier became their march. The one moment before you enter, and ask road grew more and more verdant and yourself, "What is it I am about to cheering; the sun brightened upon do?" You are about to pass that their course; the flowers began to en- barrier which you shall never repass, liven the prospect, and they were at but with tears, and sighs, and agony last lost to the view amidst groves and of heart. Stop while there is time. bowers and temples. Such was the But no-thoughts like these may, and picture, and such also is the fact, in in fact do, constantly arise in the life and in religion. Look at the mul- failing transgressor; for I will venture titudes of the world, and at the tenor to say there never was a beginning of of their practice. There stands the sin made by any one: but the holy gate of sin, wide, spacious, open, in- Spirit of GoD offered many a whisperviting. Dressed off in the most beau- ing warning, and many a forcible reteous colour-it tempts every one, and monstrance; but still they are too escapes no one's observation. Every often heard only to be disregarded— attraction is there. Music and gaiety, onwards he goes he is borne along and title, and equipage, and wines, with the crowd-and he passes the and feasts, and lusts, and passion. fatal gateway. Look in the same way There they are, fluttering around the at the liar, the swearer, the profaner gateway, beckoning and smiling, and of the sabbath, the miser, the man of using every artifice of seduction. And pleasure, and the man of fraud. There what is the consequence? Why ex- they are all in the crowd-and how actly the one which the text declares, came they there? Why, most of them in "Many there be which go in thereat." the very way I have just been describing, The road is crowded-for how easy is imperceptibly, gradually; because the it to enter-examine your own hearts road was broad, and easy, and in-trace the progress of any one sin inviting, and required no trouble nor your lives, with what facility has it grown upon you-from what small, and sometimes accidental, beginnings has it derived its origin with us! to what a degree has it arrived, before almost we are aware of our danger, or its magnitude!-take any sin. Look at the drunkard for instance. He began, perhaps, by indulging the good humour of his disposition. The idea of becoming the character he has at last assumed, was the farthest from his thoughts and intentions; but pleasant company, delightful entertainments, or fascinating music, or a want of fortitude to refuse a hospitable host,

labour; because it was crowded, they floated with the stream-they went with the "multitude to do evil.” Companions give courage.

But there is not a more destructive mode of reasoning than this; namely, that the danger is none at all, or at all events not so great, because so many in the world, besides, are in the same predicament. And yet how frequently is this done! men cheer themselves with this very circumstance. They look around, and behold so many of their neighbours doing like themselves; many, whom they respect for their talents, their in

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