will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me then I will walk contrary unto you also in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins." Lev. xxvi. 27, 28.

One of the most grievous things which an enlightened eye can behold is, to see people contending with second causes, instead of seeing in every thing God's hand. In their afflictions they sometimes look to their minister to speak a word of comfort to them but a minister can do nothing till they return to God. What can a minister do for a man who is resisting and opposing the very means used for his benefit? A medicine may be very powerful,-a surgeon may cut deep, -but if there be a mortification in the part, the means will fail. In the cases of men spiritually, there is often unsoundness at the bottom: as it is said, Psalm lxxviii. Their heart was not right with him." This unsoundness of heart is the case with multitudes; and it is at the bottom of all the cavils of infidels.

One of the first symptoms of the heart being right with God, will be found in the language of the text: "Come, and let us return unto the Lord :" He has smitten; we have deserved it; there is nothing else to be done: "My wound is incurable," but not with God: He can bid me stretch out my withered arm. Another symptom will be, when the penitent can act upon a command, and can come and accept offered mercy, and say, I would stretch forth my arm; I wait for power to be communicated; I lie sick of the palsy ; but I bring my withered heart to him that is the Incarnate God; who alone can lift me above the ruins of sin and Satan, and heal all my diseases.

See the language of a penitent heart, Psalm xxxix. 8-13. "Make me not the reproach of the foolishdeliver me from all my transgressions." So, also,

Lam. iii. 27-32. "He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there may be hope." David also says: "It is good for me that I have been afflicted." If, in affliction, a man has a proud, contradictory spirit, self-excusing, and disputing, it is a sign that the heart is false but if he has learned to put his mouth in the dust, this contrition is the way to solid peace and satisfaction. "He looketh upon men, and if any say, I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profiteth me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." If the Scripture pulls down the pride of human nature, it also points out the remedy-" Let us turn unto the Lord."

But how is it that the enlightened mind returns to God? Not by "the letter," which "killeth," but by "the spirit," which "giveth life." He will not look, as a felon, to the "Act of Parliament" that condemns him; but he will look to the Gospel. Affliction is a summons from God, for us to come and treat with him in secret. Certain it is, that Christ is our life, and that his Spirit alone can revive us, and cause us to grow. So in regard to the resurrection; if we are delivered from the grave, if not only from the grave, but from hell, it is only through the mediation of Christ, and through the aid of the Spirit. How hard soever the sinner's heart may be, "dead in trespasses and sins,”— however withered, it shall revive and live at the command of Christ; for "with the word of a king there is power." There is nothing too great for this King to give; no case too bad for this great Physician to cure. The Lord says, "O Israel, thou hast destroyed thyself, but in me is thy help!" He says to the penitent, "Take with you words;"-declare that you no longer trust in your own power to help yourself,-" Take with you words, and turn to the Lord: say unto him, Take

away all iniquity, and receive us graciously:"—and what do we hear God replying to this? "I will heal their backsliding, I will love them freely: for mine anger is turned away from him. I will be as the dew unto Israel."

In conclusion: I may, perhaps, be speaking to some that have been "torn" and "smitten," in their circumstances or families; and they have a feeling and consciousness that they have "sown the wind and reaped the whirlwind." To such I would drop a word or two of general remark on the subject: and,

1st. Beware of losing the benefit of the dispensation you are called to pass through. Do not lose it by despair. Every dispensation has its particular lesson, which we should be careful not to lose, either by fainting and desponding under it, or by being inattentive to it. "Whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth." This is far better than if you had been left to your idols: God might have said, "Ephraim is joined to idols; let him alone."

2ndly. Beware of losing the benefit of your dispensation by forgetfulness of the sentiments and feelings which you have, under present sorrows; for this we are all apt to do. It is astonishing what views, feelings, and sympathies, a man sometimes has under an affliction yet they soon vanish. Affliction is the school of wisdom; and we should carefully record the instructions we have in it. "Set thee up way-marks."

3rdly. Beware also of impatience, and fretfulness, in walking through the rough and thorny path before you. We can only improve a dispensation as we walk with God in it. We must live and walk as in his sight, to know his mind. There is also a season, a proper opportunity, for relief." After two days he will revive us in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall

live in his sight." The Lord would not keep the furnace heated so long, if there was not a good reason"a needs be." Beware of hasty conclusions, as if God did not know what he was about, not considering that your present trials are a part of that course of purifi cation which is to prepare you for a house above,-a part of that blessed economy which is to purify your dross. Be not like to those to whom it was said,Why should ye be stricken any more? "Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God; that he may exalt you in due time." "If thou return unto the Almighty, thou shalt be built up."

4thly. Let us learn, that a return to God is the first step towards relief and deliverance. Take care how you say in the darkest circumstances, There is no hope! There is no hope in any carnal expedients that Satan or your own evil hearts can suggest: none but God can help your fellow-creatures may consider your case desperate; there are a thousand cases in which man can do nothing! But if God takes up your cause, "is any thing too hard for the Lord ?"

If we are impoverished and beggared, smarting and groaning under our wounds, yet if, at the same time, we feel a true brokenness of spirit, let us remember Him who "was wounded for our transgressions ;" and let us take refuge in his rich mercy. Hear what he says to his backsliding Israel: "In a little wrath I hid my face from thee, for a moment; but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord, thy Redeemer." Isa. liv. 8.

5thly. We may observe, from this subject, that the knowledge of true religion is progressive,—there is an advancing in the work. In the third verse we read, "Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord; his going forth is prepared as the morning ;"

there is first a little dawn, then the sun is just seen above the horizon; but it looks brighter still in the meridian splendor! "He shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." There is "first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear." We are all children, only of different growth and we must sit as children at the feet of Christ, and he will teach us by degrees, as we are able to bear. We must seek him by prayer: there is nothing done in religion without prayer. When a man has been taught in the school of Christ, and learned something of the evil of his own heart, and experienced the power of sovereign grace, he becomes an extensive blessing to all around him. Religion is a social good: it concerns us all; and it is an honor to be a leader in such a cause, and to stand as a witness of its benefits. If Satan has his leaders, spreading mischief on every side, it is an honor to be one of the first to say, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord." God will put honor upon such See Abraham, standing between the living and the dead! such a man is a public blessing. So in regard to the Church: if a man wishes to bring plausible objections, he may find them in every Church; but if a man say, as a member of the Church, "Come, and let us return unto the Lord," he is a public blessing. The same may be said as to a family; any one, even a child, may set a family in a blaze: a wasp is a very small insect, but it can inflict great pain by its sting. It is an easy thing to find cause of blame,-"It is this, and it is that!" but what is to heal? The holy resolution in the text-"Come, and let us return unto the Lord:" "It is the Lord that maketh men to be of one mind in an house." God will put singular honor upon that person in a family who, in the midst of trials and disorders, will call the rest of the house together, and