of the remorse which he once felt, and was not ashamed to acknowledge? None, who is deliberately resolving to sacrifice a good conscience, and to set at nought the example of pious parents, and the counsels of faithful Ministers, that he may enjoy the hollow "pleasures of sin for a season? If such there be here present, let him know, that his fears were his wisdom, and his shame is his folly. Full soon did the poor king know this. The burning of Jerusalem, the captivity of his subjects, the massacre of his household, the slaughter of his own sons before his eyes, the extrusion of those eyes themselves by the pitiless conqueror, and the wearing away of life's wretched remnant in chains at Babylon,-these were the fatal results of Zedekiah's short conference with the holy and affectionate prophet; nor was there one among all his people, who mourned that fate with more sincere grief than Jeremiah.-But what was this temporal judgment, when compared with the woes that await every impenitent, every unbelieving soul? Did you not notice, or have you forgotten, or have you heard them so often that, with Zedekiah, you have ceased to regard, the words which Wisdom-" the Wisdom of God"has this afternoon addressed to all who will not "turn at her reproof?" "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded"—you know the rest. Oh, let not those words be spoken in vain! "Be not

ashamed of the testimony of Christ, nor of us his Ministers; " lest" of you also the Son of Man be ashamed, when he shall come in the glory of his Father, with the holy angels." What fate can be more awful than that?

In conclusion, this history may teach us many negative lessons, at some of which I shall briefly glance. It warns us, first,

1. Nor to trifle with convictions.-The thought of approaching danger, and more especially of sin as the cause of it, is painful. It must be so. But the inspiring of such thoughts is God's first mercy, to a sinner whom he loves. Do not, therefore, make light of them. Cherish the faithful Monitor within your bosom. Better is it that a diseased member should be in pain, than that it should mortify. While you tremble at "the wrath to come," there is hope: but " woe unto them that are at ease in Zion!"—This history warns us, secondly,

2. Nor to imagine that the danger is past, when convictions are overcome.—Zedekiah was perhaps less uneasy in his mind, when he had dismissed the prophet; but his ruin was more certain, and it was nearer at hand. And is there any thing to envy in the condition of him, who cries, "Peace, peace," when God says, "There is no peace?" -Be warned, thirdly,

3. Nor to put any confidence in religious privileges, whether domestic or national.-All the three sons of Josiah, though he himself had been the most pious of the kings of Judah, shared the fate of unbelievers. From their near relation to him, they might be, more frequently perhaps than they otherwise would have been, the subjects of awful conviction. But that was all. True faith descends not by inheritance. Each must believe for himself, and obey for himself, or perish (if he will do neither) by himself.-Neither do national privileges, in the day of wrath, profit those who have enjoyed without improving them. The land which possessed a Jeremiah, was still lost through unbelief: and we, though members of a pure, Apostolical, Christian church, shall fall in like manner, if from the heart we obey not the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ."-Learn, finally,

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4. Nor to doubt, that God-a holy and jealous God-is yet earnestly desirous of our salvation. He well knew the fickleness of those motives, which induced Zedekiah to seek a conference with the prophet. Yet he graciously met him on his own ground, allured him by a new and singular promise, and would not permit Jeremiah easily to take a refusal. He is still, from Sabbath to Sabbath, acting the same merciful part towards you. Oh, then, trust his grace,

and "follow him fully." Do not disappoint his love, and he will not disappoint your hope. However obdurate you may have been hitherto, you shall find that "he will turn again, he will have compassion upon you, and he will cast all your sins into the depths of the sea."

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SERMON XI.

MATTHEW XXI. 10, 11.

And when he was come into Jerusalem, all the city was moved, saying, Who is this? And the multitude said, This is Jesus the Prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.

It is usual with earthly princes, when visiting their subjects after long absence, or on their first accession to the throne, to assume, on their own part, all the emblems of royal majesty; and to expect demonstrations of loyalty and affection on the part of their admiring beholders. Nor are they often disappointed. The populace, proverbial for their fickleness, are yet ready enough to repay, with thoughtless acclamations, the splendour of a spectacle which can be but rarely exhibited.

The scene, however, depicted in the chapter before us, is of a different character. Here, too, we have a Royal Sovereign-" the Prince of the kings of the earth;" heralded, it is true, by acclaiming multitudes-but, with what grief upon