apprehend-the exchange of the scriptural term of salvation, faith, for that of prayer. Sinners are exhorted to pray for pardon, instead of to believe to the saving of their souls; thereby invalidating the admirable provision made in the divine wisdom for the exclusion of boasting, "it is of faith that it might be by grace." Let it not be said, that these are merely verbal criticisms, that accuracy in these things is unimportant. Accurate ideas can only be excited by means of correspondent language; and to the importance of the things themselves, the whole strain of the argumentative parts of Scripture bears testimony. St. Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews, expends the main force of his powerful reasoning on these two points, the sufficiency of the one offering of Christ for justification, and the freeness with which the gift is offered to the sinner's acceptance. In the Lord have I 66 righteousness and strength," now, as then, is the grand point to be argued with every unconverted person. Many, I firmly believe, would gladly be brought into the glorious liberty of the children of God, could they only be made to apprehend faith in Christ to be the simple principle that it really is; and that upon believing they would not be called upon to contend alone with difficulties and enemies, which obscurely understood and seen from a distance, they are conscious will be too much for their single arm; but that in Christ, a source of strength is unfolded to them commensurate with their utmost need *. M. B. *The latter part of this paper is not very clear, and there are some expressions which we either misunderstand, or which do not exactly coincide with our views. The former part is especially recommended to the serious attention of our clerical readers. ESSAYS ON THE FIFTY-THIRD CHAPTER OF ISAIAH. ESSAY VI.-OUR WANDerings visitED ON CHRIST. Isaiah, liii. 6.— All we, like sheep, have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the Lord hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. THERE is no truth more necessary to be known, and felt in the heart, than that of our turning away from God: nor is there any method of representing it more clearly and beautifully, than by the comparison of the Prophet, viz. that of lost sheep. It exactly suits our case, and is well adopted in our General Confession, when we are taught to say, "We have erred and strayed from thy ways like lost sheep." At the same time, it is equally important to know the way in which we may return to God. This way is in and through our Lord Jesus Christ; and in order that the wandering sheep might be recovered to his fold, the Lord was pleased to lay, or cause to meet " on him the iniquity of us all." "All we, like sheep, have gone astray." Sheep are prone to go astray, and so are we. Sheep are silly creatures, they will leave the good pasture for the barren wilderness: so it is with man. Sheep, when going astray, are exposed to many dangers: in Judea, they were liable to be devoured by wild beasts; nay, sometimes beasts of prey would attack them even when under the shepherd's care; "Thy servant (said David to Saul) kept his father's sheep; and there came a lion and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock;" and if it was so when the shepherd was at hand to rescue his sheep, how much greater danger would they be exposed to, when wandering from the fold? In like manner, all we as sheep going astray, are ex 66 posed to many and great dangers. Satan, our spiritual adversary, is going about continually, "as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." (1 Pet. v. 8.) The miserable condition of these wandering sheep is thus described by the Prophet: They were scattered because there is no shepherd; and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them." Another point of resemblance between stray sheep and sinners is, that they cannot of themselves find the way back. So it is with us: if left to ourselves we shall only wander farther from God; and unless Jesus, the great and good Shepherd, search us out, we shall be lost for ever. But it will not be so with Christ's sheep, "For thus saith the Lord God; Behold, I, even I, will both search my sheep, and seek them out. As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is among his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and will deliver them out of all places, where they have been scattered in the cloudy and dark day." All we have gone astray originally in Adam, and actually in ourselves. When God made man, he put him in his own fold, even in Paradise. There he had every thing that could make him happy, and all his wants were supplied by the kind and liberal hand of his Creator and Benefactor. But he went astray like a lost sheep, and all his posterity fell in him. All we the children of Adam are become lost sheep through his going astray; we are born out of the fold of God, and we have within us a corrupt and sinful nature derived from our first parent, which leads us continually to go astray from the paths of righteousness. But further, we have all gone astray actually in ourselves; and that wilfully and willingly, as Adam did of old. Since we came to know good and evil, to be capable of distinguishing between what is right and wrong, how often have we chosen the evil, and refused the good, preferred our own ways to the ways of God! "We have turned every one to his own way." Some have gone into the paths of gross and open sin; others have wandered amidst the briers and thorns of a worldly mind; others, again, are following the vain and foolish pleasures of this life, unmindful of God and of the world to come; and some are walking in the paths of self-righteousness. But all, one as well as another, are by nature out of the right way; and in all the wanderings of these lost sheep, each one has consulted his own inclination, without regard to God's word, and, as the Prophet expresses it, "turned every one to his own way." Fallen man being in this deplorable situation, and utterly unable to find the way back to God, the Lord himself, of his own free mercy and grace, hath opened a new and living way to bring back his wandering sheep, by laying upon Jesus his dear Son "the iniquity of us all." He not only sent his servants the prophets to call upon them to return (for this alone would not have been sufficient); but, as a foundation for their return, and as the first step in bringing them back, the Lord caused to meet on the head of Jesus all the iniquities of his wandering sheep. "The Lord hath laid on him the iniquities of us all." The sinner's return to God is in consequence of the Father's laying our sins upon the head of his well-beloved and co-equal Son. The Son of God consented also that "this iniquity of us all " should be laid upon him; so that here we see the wonderful love of both the Father and the Son to lost and wandering sheep. Jesus con ་ sented that our iniquities should be laid upon him. Though he knew that they were to fall upon him as an enemy, with force and violence; to rush upon him as an overwhelming torrent; yet such was his love to his lost sheep, that he willingly consented to it: "Then said I, Lo, I come." (Ps. xl. 7.) Nor was the love of the Father less in laying upon Jesus "the iniquity of us all," For he was his dear Son, the Son of his love; he was in the bosom of the Father, and the object of his most tender regard. Yet such was the Father's love to his lost sheep, that rather than they should perish," he laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all." This was love that passeth knowledge, here was infinite compassion to perishing souls, and it proves that the value of the soul is great. If the guilt but of one unpardoned sin should be laid upon any soul of man, that soul must perish, for "the soul that sinneth it shall die." Sin, as a mortal enemy, strikes at the precious life; but what a host of these enemies fell upon Jesus when he "bare our sins in his own body on the tree;" and fell upon him as so many enemies to take away his life! Yet he willingly submitted to die for sin, and the Father not only permitted it, but stood himself as an enemy, or rather as a righteous inexorable judge, to inflict the penalty of his broken law, and thus to make a way for wandering sinners to return to God. If we But are we brought back to God, or still wandering from him? The only proof that we can have of our being Christ's sheep is, in being brought back to his fold. are still wandering from God in unrepented sin, or in a worldly, careless, or self-righteous course of life; if at this moment we are "turning every one to his own way," whilst we have no heart to return to God, we cannot without deceiving ourselves suppose that we belong to Christ as "his people and the sheep of his pasture." Nor can we take any comfort from the words of the Prophet, that "the Lord hath laid upon Jesus the iniquity of us all;" for, if we live and die wandering from God, we shall surely have to bear our own guilt, and that for ever. But if any wan dering sheep is willing (through divine grace) to return, and is asking the way back to the fold of God, let him hear the words of the inspired Prophet, "The Lord hath laid upon him the iniquity of us all." Let him come without delay, and look to Jesus; and let him say with the Psalmist, "I have gone astray like a lost sheep; seek thy servant," and bring me back to thy fold, O thou good Shepherd, who gavest thy life for the sheep. Happy are they who are indeed brought to the fold of Christ, to whom it may in truth be said, “Ye were as sheep going astray; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls." (1 Pet. ii. 25.) Let them never forget what the Lord has done in order to their return to him, that he laid their sins upon their holy and innocent Saviour; and let them remember for what end they were brought back, not to live as swine, but as the sheep of Christ; to hear his voice, and follow him in newness of life, Let them come out and be separate from the ungodly, for the Lord Jesus will soon come as the great shepherd of his flock to make an everlasting separation between his sheep and the goats, driving these away into everlasting punishment, but receiving his flock into those heavenly pastures where 66 they shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light upon them, nor any heat. For the Lamb, which is in the midst of the throne, shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters; and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes." (Rev. vii. 16, 17.) LITOREUS. NEW YEAR'S SERMON. HAGGAI, i. 5.-Now therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Consider your ways. THE present season, my brethren, is by a large proportion of professing Christians devoted especially to mirth and festivity; and many deem themselves authorized to adopt or sanction a line of conduct at this period, which they would regard as at least inexpedient, if not criminal, at another. But whatever may be the general feeling, there appears to me a somewhat which, as it were, says, Be serious.—We are hastening to an eternal world. One year after another is hurrying us on with an incessant course to that state which admits of no change-of no alteration. If, indeed, we can say to each succeeding period, Fast as ye bring the night of death Ye bring eternal day, we may well rejoice; another portion of our pilgrimage is over; and now is our salvation nearer than when we believed: but if there is the least doubt of this happy issue— if our lamps are not burning, and we ourselves as those who wait for the coming of our Lord- if we hesitate to adopt the language of the Apostle, and say, "We know that if our earthly house of this tabernacle were dissolved, we haye a building of God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens," it surely becomes us, instead of eagerly joining in the amusements of the passing season, to attend to the solemn exhortation in my text, "Now therefore thus saith the Lord, Consider your ways." These words were spoken with immediate reference to the case and circumstances of the Jews. They had met with considerable difficulties in rebuilding the temple after their return from Babylon, and had therefore been induced to listen to the indolent and covetous suggestions of those who said, "The time is not come, the time that the Lord's house should be built;" hence they neglected that important undertaking. In consequence of this neglect, they were visited with providential judgments; they had sown much, and reaped but little; their most reasonable expectations and calculations were disappointed. Because the Lord's house lay waste, therefore the heaven over them was stayed from dew, and the earth was stayed from her fruit. Hence God called upon them to consider their ways; to go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and promised, that from the time they complied with this direction he would graciously vouchsafe to bless them. How far, indeed, the present pressure and distress under which many labour is to be regarded in the light of a divine judgment for our past neglect and unfaithfulness, we are not perhaps competent to decide; but surely every trial which we meet with, every circumstance which leads us for one moment to conjecture that the Lord hath a controversy with us, should excite us all to consider our ways: and we may well do this with reference to three distinct periods;the past, the present, and the future. First, Consider your ways as to the past. What has been your conduct hitherto? What especially during the year which is now closed? Alas! during how large a part of our time have we entirely neglected that spiritual service, and that devoted obedience, which Almighty God requires at our hands! We have attended, indeed, outwardly at his house, and, in the eyes of our fellow-creatures, have been employed in prayer and praise-in hearing the word read and preached; but life has been but feeble, and we ourselves, in comparison of many others, exceedingly unfruitful? Have we, who profess to be the disciples of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, seriously attended to, and diligently improved, the written and preached word? The character of the righteous is, that his delight is in the law of the Lord, and that therein doth he meditate day and night. The Bereans are especially commended, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the Scriptures daily_whether those things were so. Has such been our conduct? Has there been in us that continual reference to the word of God? that habitual comparison of the sermons we hear, with the unerring standard of sacred truth? that meditation in the divine statutes which the Psalmist so often speaks of? that regular perusal of them in our families and in how often have our hearts been engaged with the world, and our thoughts occupied on the veriest trifles, instead of the solemn service of the sanctuary! We have professed, indeed, as the Jews of old, an attachment to God's service; but when the temple was to be built, when painful duties or expensive sacrifices and services were to be rendered, have we not often shrunk from the divine requirements? Have we not often transgressed the divine law, and done violence to the dictates of our consciences, as our present pleasure, interest, or reputation seemed to suggest? O! how many of us have, during the year that is past, neglected that great salvation which is proclaimed to us through the sacrifice of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ? Instead of coming as sinners unto him, and seeking pardon through his allatoning merits-instead of striving to work the work of God by be- our closets, which our conlieving on Him whom he hath sent; sciences testify there ought to have how have we neglected and lost been? Has there been also in us sight of the only way of access a holy degree of regularity and to the Father through his sacrifice? fervency in secret and family worInstead of seeking, by daily fer- ship? The great enemy of souls vent prayer, for pardon, accept- is continually endeavouring to draw ance, and grace, O how many of us off from secret communion with us have risen up in the morning and God. And the calls of business, the lain down at night without seeking temptations of sloth or pleasure, for his mercy! Surely, if such has often prevail, if not to the entire been our conduct, to say nothing neglect of this important duty, yet of those grosser and more flagrant to the diminution of the time which sins to which many are enslaved, ought to be appropriated to it, or it becomes us with all seriousness to the introduction of a spirit of to consider our ways, that we may coldness and wandering, instead of repent and return to God before it that lively zeal and devotion with be too late. which our petitions should be presented to the divine Majesty. Has not this too often been the case with us? and have we not come to that service, which ought ever to be regarded as a most delightful privilege, with somewhat of the feeling of reluctance and backwardness with which we would approach a hard and unpleasant task? Have we been devout and regular in family worship; in instructing our If, however, during the year that is past, or during some preceding years, we have not been thus entirely negligent of the things which belong to our everlasting peace; is there not too much reason to fear, that in various respects our faith and obedience have been exceedingly partial and defective? that, if we have not been altogether dead in trespasses and sins, our spiritual |