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inward agony, all are of no avail-there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked, and until the heart be changed we are still wicked. But when the Holy Ghost has done his work, and our hearts have willingly yielded to his influence; when we have abhorred our sin, and cast it away from us with all sincerity, then the terrors vanish at once, and the sun breaks forth without a cloud. It is like those climates where there is no spring; but in a few days the whole face of the country changes from winter to summer the trees are clothed with leaves, and the air becomes clear, and warm, and genial. Then God declares himself to us as a reconciled Father in Christ Jesus: he hastens to raise us and comfort us; when we are yet a great way off, our Father sees us, and has compassion on us. Let me repeat also the words that follow in the parable, "the Father saw his son, and had compassion on him, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." These are the expressions chosen by our Lord himself, to express in the strongest possible manner the readiness of God to receive the penitent. Whilst the sinner is impenitent, there is nothing shewn towards him but severity; the moment he is melted, there is nothing but the most free and unupbraiding mercy. Thy sins

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are forgiven thee;" was our Lord's address to all those who truly repented. What becomes then of those bitter sufferings and that horrible despair with which the fear of man often stifles the rising feelings of repentance? It is not sorrow for our offence that can save us from earthly shame; it cannot wash away the stains which our character has once contracted; it cannot clear the appearance of grave displeasure; it cannot soften the manifest suspicion of a cold forgiveness, with which the sinner, even when penitent, is received by his fellow men. Nor is this always a matter of blame for man cannot read the heart; and as he cannot be sure of the sincerity of another's repentance till a course of consistent good conduct has proved it, so neither can he forget what is called for as an example to others; and he fears to take off all punishment at once, even from the penitent, lest others should be encouraged to commit the same offence, in the hope of gaining by a counterfeit repentance the same easy forgiveness. But the fear of God leading to a true repentance, while it saves us from despair, and fills us with comfort by the assurance of God's unreserved pardon and fatherly love, yet does it at the same time fill us with humility, and dispose us to bear with all meek

ness our worldly punishment of shame or loss, as what our sins have justly merited. Nor, again, can it be said to give a sinner encouragement too soon, or to foster carelessness and self-satisfaction. With every changing disposition of our hearts, the countenance of God is changed towards us too; and we may be well assured that there is no change within us so trifling as not to be observed by Him with whom we have to do. And as God sees what is passing within us, so has he furnished us with a certain glass in which we may discern his dispositions-the glass, namely, of his holy word. It is the especial value of the Scriptures, that they contain texts suited to every condition and state of our souls and if there are some which seem to contradict each other, it is because they are addressed to different persons, and in order to give to each, as strongly as possible, the medicine which his case requires. So long, then, as a man is entirely humble and penitent, he may apply to himself all those comfortable promises of full and entire forgiveness with which the Scripture abounds; for comfort and encouragement is what he for the present most needs. But as soon as ever he begins to presume upon God's favour, to think lightly of his own unworthiness, and to relax in his watchfulness over

his conduct, then the sterner sentences of the law are addressed to him; the fearful threatenings denounced against the stout-hearted, against them that are at ease in Zion, against those that laugh and are full, are all turned against him; and what worldly censure or worldly punishment can urge him so strongly to flee from evil and to choose the good, as that perfect mixture of kindness and strictness which is displayed in the dispensations of God?

So much, then, for the effect produced on the sinner himself by the fear of God. Let us now consider how it acts upon us with regard to our treatment of the sins of others. In the first place, it will lead us to judge rightly of the comparative guilt of different offences, and to value them, not according to the opinion of men, but according to the word of God. We shall thus be sometimes more severe towards a fault than we otherwise should have been; but we shall always be led to act with a truer kindness towards the person of the offender. In our care of our children and of our families, in our behaviour towards those with whom we are any way connected, we shall follow, no doubt, a very strict and high standard of duty: waste of time and opportunities, a love of pleasure, a careless spirit, or a worldly one, will be all of

them things which we shall strive to check wherever our power or our influence may enable us. But in our personal treatment of those who have done wrong, we shall carefully put away those feelings which lead to severity further than God has sanctioned; we shall take care to be angry without sin, that is, to keep our anger unmixed with any selfish feelings of wounded pride or disappointment. There have been instances on record, of men retaining throughout their lives so strong a sense of some particular crime, by which they have been directly or indirectly the sufferers, that they never could prevail on themselves to forgive the offender. Now, most assuredly, such unforgiving persons are amongst those on whom the judgment of God will fall most heavily, and of whom it may be said that mercy itself rejoices in their judgment. It is in vain that they would talk of the greatness of the injury done to them, of the dishonour which has been brought upon them, of the stain which has been thrown upon a family and a name hitherto without reproach. How will such excuses be received before the judgment-seat of Christ, when brought forward to justify disobedience to one of his most solemn and most earnestly repeated commands? They who plead them will only

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