duct of our God towards penitent sinners, even from among those who have most disgraced themselves by their crimes? Well might he say, "Let "the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous "man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy on him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon. My thoughts "are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord: for as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher "than your ways, and my thoughts than your "thoughts."

"Now his elder son was in the field, and, as he

came and drew nigh to the house, he heard “music and dancing. And he called one of the "servants, and asked what these things meant. "And he said unto him, Thy brother is come, and

thy father has killed the fatted calf, because he "hath received him safe and sound. And he was angry, and would not go in: therefore his father came out and intreated him. "said to his father, Lo, these

And he answering many years do I

serve thee, neither at any time transgressed I thy commandment; and yet thou never gavest "me a kid, that I might make merry with my "friends. But, as soon as this thy son was come, "who hath devoured thy living with harlots, thou "hast killed for him the fatted calf." If the prodigal was the emblem of the publicans and sinners, who came to hear Christ, and were received by him; who can doubt, that the picture of the murmuring Scribes and Pharisees is set before us in

1 Is. lv. 7, 9.

he elder brother? Here is "the righteous person, "who needs no repentance," having " for many

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years served his father, neither at any time trans"gressed his commandment." Here is the boasting Pharisee, who "trusted in himself that he was righteous, and despised others; saying, God I "thank thee that I am not as other men, extor"tioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this pub"lican." Here is the discontented labourer, who "murmured against the good man of the house," saying, "These last have wrought but one hour, " and thou hast made them equal to us who have "borne the burden and heat of the day." His eye is evil, because his father is good; and he deems a favour bestowed on another an injury done to himself; and can not allow his father to "do what' "he will with his own," without charging him with partiality, and with being a respecter of persons." While all the rest of the family concur with the father in rejoicing over his recovered son, the elder brother refuses to go in, is angry, will not acknowledge the prodigal as his brother, but says "this thy son;" aggravates his crimes, boasts of his own services, complains of his father, as if he had been an austere master, and at least behaves towards him with marked disrespect. Had he been consulted, the disdained prodigal should have been left to perish, or, at best, received only in the capacity of a menial servant. Should we even attempt to make something better of his character, (as some have done, I apprehend, with little success,) because our Lord introduces the father,

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Luke xviii. 9, 14.

as saying, "Son, thou art ever with me, and all "that I have is thine;" which seems only to imply that, had he been as obedient and deserving as he thought himself, he would be in no way injured by the kindness shewn to his brother; even then he cannot possibly be considered as more than a believer of the very lowest order, and most incongruous disposition, and most inconsistent behaviour.

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On the one hand, therefore, "God, even our Father," rejoices over the penitent sinner: "He "rejoices over him to do him good:" "He will save, he will rejoice over him with joy; he will "rest in his love, he will joy over him with singing;""Because he delighteth in mercy." "The good shepherd, who laid down his life for the "sheep," "rejoices when he finds the sheep which "was lost," "and calls on all his friends and neigh"bours to rejoice with him." Doubtless the Holy Spirit, "the Comforter," "whose fruit is love, and "joy, and peace," rejoices over the work of his new creating power. The innumerable company of holy and loving angels rejoice; "the spirits of just men made perfect" rejoice; and all deeply humbled, thankful, and consistent believers on earth rejoice. On the other hand, the Scribes and Pharisees; the self-wise and self-righteous; the formal and hypocritical; the boasters and complainers; they who think they need no repentance; or who suppose that they owe but a small debt, and need little forgiveness; and a few ́very imperfectly humbled and instructed believers; re

'Jer. xxxii. 41. Zeph. iii. 17. Mic. vii. 18.

fuse to share the joy. Let these things be well considered; and then let every one ask himself, Whence do objections arise against the design of the London Female Penitentiary?

III. We proceed to consider the reasons of this rejoicing over one sinner that repenteth.

Men often rejoice in things of little consequence, either to themselves or others: and indeed all our passions and affections are frequently excited about matters which will not bear investigation; or which, if investigated, prove insignificant, and comparatively trifling. But not so the joy of our God and Saviour, and of all his saints and angels. An adequate object of this joy may then be clearly ascertained, as far as we are capable of understanding and estimating subjects of so transcendent a nature.

1st. When a sinner repents, an immortal creature is rescued from eternal misery, and becomes an heir of everlasting glory and felicity. "Godly

'

sorrow worketh repentance unto salvation; "1 "Then hath God to the gentiles also granted repentance unto life:"2 The penitent "obtains the "salvation which is in Christ Jesus, with eternal 'glory."3

Could we, my brethren, adequately realize ETERNITY; endless duration; duration no nearer conclusion, when ages, numerous as the sands on the sea-shore, or the drops of water in the ocean, have elapsed, than at the present moment: could we realize, I say, this endless duration, as certainly spent either in ceaseless, hopeless misery, or in "the fulness of joy, and in those pleasures which

12 Cor. vii. 10.

Acts xi. 18.

2 Tim. ii. 10.

"are at the right hand of God for evermore :" the deliverance even of one individual of our race from that state of endless, hopeless, misery, and his admission to a state of complete and eternal felicity, must appear to our minds an event of such vast importance, as to render all the causes of rejoicing among men, which merely relate to this present life, comparatively frivolous, like the mirth of children, or the laughter of fools. For, notwithstanding all that prosperity, and those successes, which. cause men to rejoice on their own account, and others to congratulate them, and rejoice with them; they themselves may, nay they must, unless truly penitent, "go away into everlasting punish"ment," into "the blackness of darkness for ever."

Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish." "The things that are seen are temporal, but the "things which are not seen are eternal." The period, my beloved brethren, in endless duration, will assuredly arrive, when each of us shall either have enjoyed more happiness, or suffered more misery, than will equal the sum total of all the happiness or misery, enjoyed or endured by all the thousands of millions on earth, from its creation to the final consummation of all things!

In this contemplation, what does enlightened, ardent, and expanded love of our fellow mortals feel and judge concerning the repentance unto life, even of a single individual; were it wholly unconnected with other consequences? "He that "converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall .. save a soul from death." Who can withhold his approbation, or his help, if his circumstances allow of it, from the Humane Society, the object of