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Closing catastrophe.

not have had to have made my bed in hell, and dwelt amid everlasting burnings. But now it is too late. I die in despair." These were his last words! How awful

his end!

What a solemn admonition is this to you, that the covenant which you are about to renew is an everlasting covenant, never to be forgotten!

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Hazael's interview with Elisha.

LECTURE V.

THE VOW OF RENUNCIATION.

Creatures no more divide my choice,
I bid them all depart.-

THOUGH the capital of Syria was situated far to the east of the remote northern boundary of the Holy Land, the name of Elisha was not unknown there. The wondrous cure that he had effected upon the leprous Naaman gave to him a notoriety that would not soon pass away. Years had elapsed; another general occupied the place of Naaman, and Syria had repeatedly rolled the crimson tide of battle over the fields of Palestire; still the memory of the man of God was cherished with the highest reverence.

But now the Syrian monarch was stretched upon the bed of sickness; and hearing that Elisha was about to pay a visit to Damascus, he sent Hazael, the captain of his host, and prime minister, to tender to him every mark of respect, and make inquiries of him in reference to the issue of his present illness. The prophet, having replied to his inquiries, fixed his eye upon Hazael with an intensity of gaze, that quite discomposed and embarrassed the Syrian general. Though Hazael would have shrunk away from this searching look, he could not; for the keen piercing eye of Elisha was still riveted upon him. At length, the prophet's countenance became more expressive of grief than displeasure, and tears of anguish in torrents coursed down his manly cheeks.

Hazael's curiosity was now all awake to know the cause of these various emotions, and he therefore inquired:

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Why weepest my lord?"

And Elisha answered, "Because I know the evil that thou wilt do unto the children of Israel."

He then proceeded to inform him, that looking into the

Unrenewed persons compared to Hazael.

future he perceived that he would become the successor of the present Syrian monarch, and exercise the most horrid and heaven-daring cruelties upon God's chosen people.

And Hazael said, "But what, is thy servant a dog that he should do this great thing?"?

My hearers, the minister of Jesus Christ who stands up in the midst of an audience of impenitent men, has greater reason to weep than Elisha had. With the lamp of God which he holds in his hand, throwing its rays of light over that audience, what does he not see? Those hearts that appear to the natural eye lovely and attractive, he sees, by the light of divine truth, deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. And like Hazael, unrenewed sinners are totally ignorant of their own character, and the prevailing dispositions of their heart. They are ready to exclaim, Am I a dog, that I should be supposed to possess such guilt and vileness? Perhaps there is no stronger proof, nor one more demonstrably evincive of the corruption of our moral nature, and the absolute necessity of an entire and radical change of heart, than the different views which men entertain of themselves anterior and subsequent to an illumination from above.

Until men are thus enlightened, they have very elevated views of themselves. Their great desire and constant study is self-exaltation. To give consequence to themselves, to justify their own conduct, and gain the admiration of their fellow-men, seems to be the great and exclusive object for which they live and labour. Hence we see

how quick they are to resent injuries, how susceptible of flattery, and how readily they become inflated with superciliousness and pride. But when the scales drop from the eyes of an unregenerate sinner, when God takes away the veil from his heart, and the light of divine truth darts in upon his mind, as he turns his gaze inward upon himself, his first exclamation is, unclean, unclean, "wo is me!" And then when, by the aid of the same divine light, he looks up to the Eternal, and beholds in contrast the stainless purity of His character, the words that rise spontaneous to his lips will be those of an eastern patriarch: "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." "Wo is me, for I am a man of un

Consideration of the vow of renunciation.

clean lips, and dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips."

The first ray of divine light that dawns upon the darkened soul of the sinner will reveal to him the unquestionable fact, that all is wrong with him. His heart is wrong, his affections wrong, his pursuits wrong, and the objects of his attachment are wrong. There must be a great, entire, universal renunciation. Sin must be renounced; self must be renounced; every thing that is hostile to God must be renounced.

It is remarked by a writer upon the antiquities of the Christian church, that three things were indispensably required of Catechumens, before they were admitted to the ordinance of baptism: "A formal and solemn renunciation of the devil, a profession of faith made in the words of some received creed, and a promise or engagement to live in obedience to Christ, or by the laws and rules of the Christian religion." They who are acquainted with our baptismal service will instantly perceive that these are precisely the three things required of those who stand before the font to receive the baptismal water. Those qualifications which constitute one a fit subject for this ordinance are comprehended in these three requirements; and these will form the three great divisions under which we shall consider the qualifications of fitness for the ordinance of confirmation.

In the first place, then, we are to consider the vow of renunciation.

The candidate who presents himself to receive the waters of baptism is not permitted to approach the sacred font until interrogated as to his present views and future purposes, until he has "professed a good profession before many witnesses." The first question proposed is, "Dost thou renounce the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh, so that thou wilt not follow nor be led by them."

The candidate's reply is, "I renounce them all, and by God's help will endeavour not to follow, nor be led by them." They who are confirmed voluntarily and cordially make this same renunciation. For the inquiry is put to each one of them, "Do ye here, in the presence of God,

The object of this lecture.

and of this congregation, renew the solemn promise and vow that ye made, or that was made in your name at your baptism, ratifying and confirming the same, and acknowledging yourselves bound to believe and to do all those things which ye then undertook, or your sponsors then undertook for you?" And the audible answer of each one is, "I DO."

The first qualification required of those who present themselves to receive the imposition of hands, then, is "a death unto sin." There must be an open, frank, cordial, and eternal renunciation of sin, and the author of it. This renunciation, to be acceptable with God, must not be simply the declaration of the lips. The honest feelings of the heart must prompt us to say, "I renounce the devil, and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world, with all covetous desires of the same, and the sinful desires of the flesh, so that by the help of God I will endeavour not to follow nor be led by them." Now, if we make this renunciation cordially, understandingly, and with full purpose of heart to abide for ever by what we aver, looking unto God for his heavenly grace to enable us to keep the solemn promise and vow, we may indeed be regarded as being "dead unto sin," and as having received the great blessing of the gospel in being "turned away from our iniquity."

The object of the present lecture will be to explain and illustrate this vow of renunciation, so far as relates to external agencies and things.

We pledge ourselves to renounce, or rather we declare that we have renounced, "the devil and all his works, the vain pomp and glory of the world."

In this declaration there is recognised separate evil influences exerted upon us from two distinct quarters. It is true that the works of the devil comprehend whatever is contrary to religion and good morals, whatever God forbids, every sin of every kind. And it is also true, that the Scriptures ascribe all sin to the agency of the devil, and consider every sort of wickedness appropriately denominated his work. For every sort of wickedness is often suggested by him, and always acceptable to him; and therefore may be considered so much service done, and obedience paid to him. The subsequent clauses, there

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