that our condemnation will be deeper than his. Our call is clearer; we know the Lord; therefore if we sin, our sin is greater; if we are punished, our punishment is greater, for it is more deserved. These thoughts seem to be given to us by the Lesson ordered by the Church to-day, when we weigh ourselves and the King of Egypt in the balance of God's Word.

To end all, let us remember that Pharaoh, before he was cut off, had many plagues, and that every plague was a call on him to fear God and to obey the Lord. "He knew not the Lord;" but the Lord, by His mighty power and His outstretched arm, was making Himself known. Howbeit, Pharaoh hardened his heart; as it is written, "When he saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not," "He hardened his heart, and would not let the people go." Again, "when Pharaoh saw that the rain, and the hail, and the thunders were ceased, he sinned yet more, and hardened his heart, he and his servants." The Lord was speaking unto him, but he stopped his ears, till his "destruction came upon him unawares k.” In like manner, let every one of us remember, if he is in any trouble, that then he is under an especial call. Sin may make doubt, or even despair, look reasonable; Satan may urge such feelings upon you; but if you are in grief, be very sure that you are then in

h Exod. viii. 15.

i Ib. ix. 34.

k Ps. xxxv. 8.

God's correction. Take the caution, "Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as Pharaoh and the Egyptians hardened their hearts, when God had wrought wonderfully among them1?" My brethren, troubles come forth from the providence of God; there is no chance in the world; everything is sent: take it, then, as what you deserve; take it in all humility as a punishment; take it, as better than you deserve, with all thankfulness; take it as another call to walk in the fear of God, and to strengthen by prayer your faith and obedience. Pharaoh's hardened heart has been remembered in God's Word, that hearts now may be hardened no more; the King of Egypt's overthrow is recollected, that now the true children of Israel, the new Jerusalem may be saved. This is the great lesson which the Church would teach her people to-day, and she requires you to accept it.

But, my brethren, how many a sinner is there who has felt as yet no plague, with whom God still deals gently, and whom Christ would as yet win back only with His love? My brethren, shall this man still go on to wound the Redeemer? shall he turn the abundance of the Lord's mercy into a reason why he will insult them the more? in the riches of Christ's loving-kindness shall he seek for a spear to pierce His side again? My brethren, such sinners there are; men who turn God's goodness

1 1 Sam. vi. 6.

to themselves into an encouragement to transgress God's laws, and who build up pomps and vanities, pride, love of the world, riotous and wasteful living, licentiousness, sins of many kinds, who build up these things on the abundance of the mercies wherewith they have been blessed. Surely they must repent, as it were in sackcloth and ashes, or they shall receive "the greater damnation m.'

m James iii. 1.

SERMON XXII.

Sixth Sunday in Lent.

EXODUS ix. 12.

And the Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh, and he hearkened not unto them; as the Lord had spoken unto Moses.

"THE

HE Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart;" these words may require to be explained. It may seem to some that Pharaoh was doomed unto his downfal by the Lord our God; that he was one marked and fated for destruction, and that God hindered his obedience, and kept him back from any place of grace, by hardening his heart of His own divine will; so that Pharaoh was brought into punishment because first he was hardened to sin by the Lord God. Now this is far from being a right view of the case, and it would be to contradict Gospel teaching; therefore explanation may be necessary; and the more so, as we are now come to the Sunday immediately before Good Friday, the day on which we commemorate the sacrifice of Himself which our Lord and Maker Jesus Christ then offered up before the Godhead, that

there all the miseries, the wants, the broken hearts and the shortened days, the daunted hopes and the despairing deaths which sin so often brings upon us? Why are there these wretched endings to the days of many,-these perplexities, these dark and terrifying visions which haunt so many a departing soul? These are things which ought not to be within the fold of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christianity has been given in grace to us before many others, Christ has been preached to us, that we might have peace in this world, love one another, hope all through life, hope stronger and stronger as life grows shorter, and "joy in believing" when the last hour comes. This is what Christianity ought to bestow on this side the grave. Why, then, does she not bestow these blessings upon us? Is she weak? No! Is she false? No! Is she of earth? No! Is she deserted of the Lord? No, not so! She bestows not these spiritual blessings in the plenty that she might, because we, like Pharaoh, though she is amongst us, do not seek after her. Like the Egyptian, we have our objects which we will not give up. Many of the troubles which harass and perplex our lives, and all the miseries which burden our consciences, come from this same temper; we have things which we will not give up.

Whatever wicked passion any one indulges, that goes to swell the quantity of evil in the world. If we must have wealth, there will be griping, and over-reaching, and hard-heartedness to get it. If we