children, and that the Saviour's name shall be known to all generations.. Happy man! Like Simeon, thou shalt depart in peace; like him, thou shalt have the Saviour enclosed in thine arms, and eternal glory full in thy view.

Let those of us who are aged in the ministry imitate the apostle's example.

Students, be diligent; honor Christ and the Holy Spirit; aim sincerely to do good; be not afraid of difficulties; let us go on, &c., &c.

In so doing, we shall both save ourselves and those that hear us.

Amen.

471

SERMON XXI.

GOD'S GRACIOUS REGARD FOR THE PENITEFT.

"He looketh upon men, and if any say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profitted me not; he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light."-JOB Xxxiii. 27, 28.

How desirable a thing is genuine penitence; it appears eminently so from the attention God pays to it; from the salutary and holy feelings it calls into exercise; from the blessed effects which arise from it to the penitent individual, for "They that sow in tears shall reap in joy;" from the pleasure it occasions in heaven, for "There is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth." All this you may see in the testimony of God, and in the experience of every true penitent. O that you may see it in your own!

We will endeavor now to gain instruction upon this sub ject, from the passage I have read to you, a passage replete with consolation, and fraught with the richest truths. O that while we meditate upon it, its goodness and suitableness to our case, its kind report of the mercy of the Lord Jehovah, may dissolve our hearts in thankfulness, and melt our eyes to tears! "He looketh upon men, and if any say I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and

it profited me not, he will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Observe here, how this text

I. Presents to us the extent of the divine inspection, "He looketh upon men."

II. Unfolds the language of genuine repentance, "I have sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not.”

III. Discovers the triumphs of reigning grace, "He shall deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light."

And all these things are closely connected together; for the truth of my text is, that God, in surveying the different ranks of men, beholds a penitent individual, hears his earnest cry, and forgives him the iniquity of his sin. We say, then, that our text,

I. Presents to us the extent of the divine inspection.

"Jehovah looketh upon men." God's omniscience ought to make us adore and tremble; for He confines not his observation to the heavens, in which he more particularly dwells, but he also looketh upon men. Though He surveys the bright armies of saints and angels, who are ever before him, hearkening to the voice of his word, yet he also looketh upon men. Mortals are beheld by him. The inhabitants of the earth are looked on as grasshoppers, yet not one escapes his notice. He watches over their actions, and there is no darkness, or shadow of death, where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from his eye. The text teaches us that he looketh upon men

universally, and at once. I say, he surveys men universally. He looks upon all the tribes and conditions of men,. from the helpless babe to the hoary sage; he sees them all. Every one of the human race must exclaim, "Thou God seest me!" For "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in behalf of them whose heart is perfect before him." "The Lord is in his holy temple; the Lord's throne is in heaven; his eyes behold, his eyelids try the children of men." "O Lord, thou hast searched me and known me: thou knowest my down-sitting and mine up-rising, thou understandest my thoughts afar off; thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways; for there is not a word in my tongue, but lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether: thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me." Thus he does from his throne behold all the dwellers upon earth; and here the wise and the illiterate, the righteous and the wicked, the just and the unjust, meet together; the Lord is the observer of them all! So he surveys them at once. He looketh upon men, he sees them all at one glance, in one view; his eyes behold all that is done upon the face of the earth, and the darkness and the light are both alike to him. At once the Lord looketh from heaven upon the children of men, for "the ways of man are always before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings." The eyes. of the Lord are at one moment in every place, beholding the evil and the good. "Can any hide himself in secret places, that I should not see him, saith the Lord? Do not I fill heaven and the earth, saith the Lord ?" "All things, then, are naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do." Yet are there, amongst the numer

ous objects which engage his notice, some particular ones that attract his special and marked attention; while he sees all, some he observes with peculiar pleasure, as well as with the nicest inspection; for "Though the Lord be high, yet hath he respect unto the lowly;" his name is holy and he dwells on high, yet to that man he looks, and with him he also dwells, that is poor and of a contrite spirit, and trembleth at his word. For among all the tribes of men that pass before him, it is not the rich man, it is not the mighty man, it is not the self-righteous man, that attracts his notice; but he that confesses his sins with "a humble, lowly, penitent, and obedient heart." He sees and he loves to see, he hears and he loves to hear, the man who says, “I have sinned and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not." Having attempted to illustrate the text, on the divine inspection, let us now behold how it—

"I have

II. Unfolds the language of unfeigned repentance. For here God fixes his eyes upon one who says, sinned, and perverted that which was right, and it profited me not." The man who makes a confession like this, is far better in the sight of God, than he who says he has no sin, and thus deceives himself. The humbled publican shall go down to his house justified, rather than the vaunting pharisee. This is a confession which deserves attention; it is one that will suit us all. It is a confession, an acknowledgment, 1st, of having committed enormous crimes, "I have sinned;" 2d, of having abused the best of blessings, "I have perverted that which was right;" 3d, of having experienced disappointment from sinful pursuits, "and it profited me not." This is, I say,

1. A confession of having by sin offended against God.