miserable, and blind, and naked-it is too much. I'll think about it; perhaps some time I may. Poor soul, you must humble yourself before God. You are starving; you are the servant of Satan; you are doing the meanest offices to him; you are working for the wages of death, and in the mean time you get nothing but husks. You are afraid of humbling yourself before God. Look at yourself, as an unconverted sinner; can you be lower in the eyes of God than you are? As an unconverted sinner, angels pity, and the devil scorns yousends you to feed his swine, and scorns you. The awakened sinner becomes a little softened; as he looked on himself, one tear found its way to his eye. I am destitute, poor, forlorn. God despises and chastises me. What shall I do? There is my Father's house, but I cannot go there. What shall I do? I am perishing by famine. My Father's house! I am humbled; I am subdued-"I will arise and go to my Father." There is another characteristic of the character of an awakened sinner in the progress of his conversion, his determination of mind. Here is repentance begun; this is its living principle-"I will arise and go to my Father," and I will tell him all. Let me gain his love once more. I am deter

mined.

Brethren, I advise every unconverted sinner among you thus to come to himself, and, with the prodigal, to return to God. The completion of this determination we will consider in another discourse.

SERMON X.

PARABLE OF THE PRODIGAL SON.

LUKE XV. 32.

In illustrating the character of an awakened sinner, by the history of the prodigal son, we left him when just come to the determination to retrieve, if possible, his prostrate condition-"I will arise and go to my father." But there is still a difficulty in the way. The very determination suggests the necessity of a suitable humiliation. The state of the prodigal's mind appears to have been this: I have taken my determination now to return to my father; but in leaving the kindness of his care and protection I was both ungrateful and presumptuous, as in all my subsequent conduct I have been grossly wicked. I will return; I have made up my mind to that; but it is due to my kind and compassionate father, to make the very humblest acknowledgments of my guilt and unworthiness. And this I will do "I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before

thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants." And here again we observe the characteristics of an awakened sinner. The man who is brought from a state of mental derangement to see his lost and perishing condition, and in whose mind, suggested by the Spirit of God, there springs up the determination to retrieve, if possible, his condition, knows and feels that there is the most clear necessity for a deep and full confession of his unworthiness and guilt. The man whose mind is awakened to a sense of his condition, sees, and sees clearly, that every part and parcel of his unconverted life has been beyond the possibility of excuse. It is a bad sign when an individual seeks, by any means whatever, to excuse himself. I have been placed in such and such situations. I have had such and such duties. I have been deterred by such and such embarrassments. I would have turned to the Lord, I wished to have done it, but found so many difficulties in the way. All these and such like excuses are the marks of an yet unhumbled soul. No man truly awakened by the Spirit of God ever makes them. They are suggestions of the devil, and lies put into the mouth by the grand destroyer. The truly awakened man will say-I ought to have given my heart to God. I have been a most ungrateful wretch that I have not done it. I know that it has been my duty every day that I lived, and I feel that I have been not only ungrateful, but presumptuous. I have slighted the mercy and loving kindness of God. I have, in effect, trampled on his goodness, and while I knew better, I have wilfully gone on in "treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath." I do not pretend

to excuse myself; I have no excuse. God's command ought to have been obeyed, and I have not even the shadow of an apology. I am entirely naked and destitute. I have sinned against light and knowledge, love and mercy. There is no language appropriate to me but the language of David"Against thee only have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight;" the language of Job-"I have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear; but now mine eye seeth thee: wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes;" the language of the publican-" God be merciful to me a sinner;" the language of the prodigal-"Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee." It is thus that the truly awakened sinner shuts himself up from excuse, and he makes up his mind that as this is his real condition, he must and he ought to confess it to God. What would be the benefit of his efforts to conceal it? My dear brethren, yet unconverted, God sees and knows that you have no excuse. I am aware that Satan is busy in suggesting to your minds, that had you been in other situations you would have been more disposed to turn to repentance and live. But you may depend upon it, that God is perfectly acquainted with the whole matter, and no delusions of self-justification can be practised upon Him who reads the heart. You have no excuse. Your life has been one series of ingratitude and presumption; trampling on love, despising mercies. You might as well be humbled and confess it. If you are ever savingly awakened you will confess it; and if ever a real and sincere determination of repentance settles on your minds, it will be accompanied with a most perfect disposition to ac

cuse, and not excuse yourselves; to justify, and not accuse your God. You will find no hesitation in making up your mind to adopt the language of the prodigal. And when your mind is made up to the confession, there is a step taken in conversion which sets the angels to the delightful task of tuning anew their harps; running over the strings to see if they are rich and full in harmony, and then are they ready to take up the song of joy. What wait they for? They only wait for an instant to begin the song, till they see the determination carried into effect. And this leads me to the last characteristic in a sinner's conversion, viz:

The instant carrying of the resolution into action. Take the case of the prodigal for the illustration-"And he arose and went to his father," and though his father the moment that he saw him, bestowed on him most lavishly the tokens of affection, it did not shake the purpose of his mind. He actually did that which he had purposed to do— "And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son ;" and it was this which testified the sincerity of that purpose, and it was this that constituted the climax of his repentance. And this is the case with every sinner whose mind is savingly awakened to a knowledge of his condition as a sinner, and the necessity of repentance. His mind is made up, and he does that immediately to which his mind is made up. And here you may distinguish, brethren, between the mere occasional relentings which may agitate your bosoms, and true evangelical repentance. The one may be consistent with hesitations and arguings pro and con; but the other