SERMON III.

He delighteth in mercy.-MICAH Vii. 18.

THERE are statements in the Bible which, to a superficial observer, seem to proceed from erroneous views of human nature. But on investigation it will be found that they rest upon a thorough and profound knowledge of man, his condition, wants and exercises. Many illustrations might be given of the correctness of this remark; but my purpose admits the suggestion of only one. A careful and considerate reader of the Bible will perceive that great and unwearied pains are taken by its writers to persuade sinners that God is a merciful being, a very merciful being, entirely worthy of their confidence in this respect; that he has no pleasure in their death, that he is quite willing and altogether disposed to save them; and this, however inveterate their sinful habits, however depraved their hearts, accumulated their guilt, deep their unworthiness, multiplied and enormous their transgressions. We find God assuring men on this subject in every variety of language, inviting them to reason with him about it, and for the sake of securing their confidence, actually condescending to asseverate under oath that he has no pleasure in their death; and we find Christ not only in the most affectionate and earnest manner inviting sinners to come to him,

but assuring them that he will in no wise cast out any that do come. Why this? say some; what need of these repeated assurances, these strong asseverations, this oath? Is any one disposed to distrust the mercy of God, or the willingness of him who died for sinners, to save them? These declarations appear to proceed on a mistaken view of human nature. They seem to imply that there is in sinners a proneness to doubt on these points; to fear that their sins are too many and great to be pardoned and that they have carried them beyond the reach of mercy's most extended arm; whereas, say these objectors, there exists no such proneness in human nature, and there is nothing that men are more ready to admit and acquiesce in than that God is merciful and salvation easily attainable. Truly in some of mankind it must be confessed this proneness to call in question the mercifulness of God does not appear. They do not doubt in the least the mercy of God. They even exercise a most presumptuous and unwarranted confidence in it. They believe that God is so very willing to save, that he will save them in their own way; that he is not only willing to save men from their sins, but will even save them in their sins; so ready to pardon, that he will pardon them whether they repent or not; and that he will not let them perish, however obstinately bent upon perishing they maybe. These I own, need no such statements to assure them, as those I have referred to; and for them they were not made. They were designed for quite another class of persons, in whom there does exist the very tendency to doubt, which they are calculated tomeet. They were intended for convinced and

concerned sinners. These need them; and the Bible would be an incomplete work, did it not contain such statements. I appeal to those who have been convicted of sin, who have seen and appreciated the evil of sinning against God, and have been introduced to an acquaintance with their own hearts, if they have not been troubled with these doubts, and subject to unbelief in this respect. Before you were illuminated you found nothing easier of belief than God's ability and willingness to save you. Indeed you saw no reason

why you should perish. But since you were enlightened, have you not found the greatest difficulty in persuading yourselves that God can and will save such as you are? You have not doubted that he is merciful, and that he can and will save some sinners, but that he should save such a sinner, as you perceive and feel yourself to be, one so vile, so unworthy, so rebellious, that there should be mercy and forgiveness for you as well as for them, this is what you have found it difficult to believe. Nothing is more common, where the spirit of God is, than these doubts and this unbelief. I hear them expressed almost every day. "I fear that my sins are too great to be forgiven; that my day of grace is past; that there is no mercy for me; I see clearly that God might most justly withhold his forgiving mercy from me, and I fear that he will do it." Expressions such as these I hear, not from all of you, not from those who have greatest cause to use them, not so frequently from the elder portion of the congregation; the more criminal class; but generally it is from those who have sinned least, and who have been the shortest time

engaged in sinning. Those who have least to fear are almost the only ones that entertain and express fear. The reason is, God has opened their eyes to see, what the others have closed their eyes, that they might not see. I recently conversed with a person of sixteen, and shortly after with one past sixty. The first said with agitation and weeping unfeigned “I fear that I have sinned past forgiveness." The other said "it is true, I have been a sinner, but" aud here followed a long string of apologies, exceptions and extenuations. The youth of sixteen had no apology to make. Here is a phenomenon. What is your explanation of it? We are at no loss to explain it. The former had been awakened and enlightened by the Spirit of God; the latter had not been. To him and such as correspond to him a discourse intended to persuade them that mercy belongeth unto God, and that they may hope in it for their salvation, would be inappropriate and worse than useless. I speak not to them therefore, but to those, if any there be here, who in conviction and feeling answer to the description given of the other individual; and my aim shall be to persuade them now without further delay and without any mixture of doubt to confide and hope in the revealed mercy of God, however many have been their sins, and however crimson be their guilt. May God enable me to reach their case.

For the proof that God is merciful we are entirely dependent on revelation. The deist is challenged to produce one valid argument in demonstration of the divine mercifulness. The light of nature discovers nothing beyond bare forbearance; and for

bearance does not necessarily imply mercy. A being may forbear to punish for other reasons than that he intends to forgive the transgressor. A respite is not always granted as a preliminary to a pardon. But be it admitted that God is merciful; we lose nothing by the admission; for it does not follow, because a being is disposed to show mercy, that he will, in every case, exercise it. There may be considerations of paramount weight forbidding its exercise. In the case of the fallen angels, such reasons existed, we needed a revelation, therefore, if not to assure us that God is merciful, yet to assure us that, and how he can and will exercise mercy towards fallen men. Such a revelation God has given to us; and,

1. It announces to us that God is merciful, and this repeatedly and in terms the most explicit; and that he is disposed to show mercy to men, and can do it in perfect consistency with the other attributes of his character, and to the full extent, too, of forgiving all their sins, relieving all their wretchedness, and supplying all their wants. Thus the fact is declared, that God is merciful; but there is something very peculiar in the manner in which this doctrine is taught, to which I would solicit your notice, as well worthy of it. Observe, first, the words synonymous or nearly so with merciful, which are used in connection with it, gracious, long-suffering, slow to anger, pitiful; and, not satisfied with the positive, the superlative is used very pitiful and very gracious, too. Observe, secondly, that the inspired writers, not content with the singular, mercy, by a felicitous fault of style, adopt and employ the plural