wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?'

Now, you will be pleased to remember, that the command of Christ was Peter's warrant for venturing on the agitated lake of Tiberias. Without this command, the attempt would have been presumptuous in the extreme: and had he kept that in view during the perilous excursion, instead of the wind and the waves, he would have reached the object of his confidence without alarms of danger, or manifesting symptoms of distrust. It is said, indeed, that the wind was boisterous; and on a cursory survey of the passage, it seems as if this circumstance alone had occasioned his fears: but it is much more consistent with the divine narrative, and the rebuke with which he was afterwards accosted, to attribute these fears to his unbelief. The wind appears to have been high during great part of the night, and was most probably tempestuous at the time of Christ's appearance: but were it allowed to be otherwise at the instant of Peter's debarkation, this would only be admitting an apology for his timidity at the expense of his understanding. For he could not be so ignorant as to imagine that the watery element was more solid because less turbulent, and he must have known that the power which was able to consolidate the sea in a calm, was also able to make the foaming surge firm as adamant. The fact is, the renowned Cephas forgot his own request, and also the command and the almighty power of his Master. He began to look at second causesto reflect, perhaps, that he had precipitately left the bark where safety might have been reason

ably expected, and was attempting to tread on a wave that threatened to ingulf him in a moment.

Now, thus it frequently happens with the trembling sinner that is awakened to a sense of his danger; and who, as a wretch that deserves to perish, is encouraged to rely on Christ as a complete Saviour from the guilt of sin, and from the curse of the divine law which he is conscious of having violated in a thousand instances. The invitation and the promise exhibited to the dejected and burdened suppliant, are not suspended on the performance of certain conditions, or on the conscious possession of holy qualities. It is not said, Look into yourselves, or to something you have done, either to merit, or to predispose you to receive my salvation; but'Look unto me, and be saved, all the ends of the earth-I am the Lord; and beside me there is no Saviour-Thou hast destroyed thyself; but in me is thine help-I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins-Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls-Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast outVerily, verily, I say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto

life.'

Now, instead of attending entirely to these encouraging declarations, the self-condemned sinner is apt to contemplate the magnitude of his guilt to stand questioning whether it be not too enormous to be forgiven: or, on the other hand, whether, if pardonable, he be sufficiently hum

bled to receive the astonishing favour. But this is to act the part of Peter-to look at sin and its guilt (as he did at the wind and the waves) instead of the Saviour-to regard the suggestions of unbelief more than the invitation and the promise. The question in this case, is not whether my sins be great, or comparatively small-not whether I have attained a certain degree of humiliation, and am conscious that my compunction is proportioned to my guilt; but whether Christ have not unequivocally declared, without any reference to the depth of my contrition or the magnitude of my sin, Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out?-Whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die-Verily, ve: rily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life-He shall never perish.' Now if this be true; if Jesus have made these infinitely gracious declarations, the trembling sinner is not to hesitate, but confidently to believe the soul-cheering testimony-to come to him as a vile sinner-as a wretch that deserves to perish-and, without looking into himself for any pre-requisites in order to the reception of mercy, to cast his burden of guilt upon Christ as a sin-bearing Saviour, looking to his atonement as the only ground of forgiveness; knowing and believing, that what he hath said, he will most assuredly perform. This is to receive by faith the testimony of God concerning his Son, rather than that of manthan of Satan-than of the clamorous accusations of a guilty conscience; and to give glory to the expiation of him that once suffered for sinthe just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God.

But though the divine declarations respecting salvation by Jesus Christ, are exactly suited to the wretched condition of man, and adapted to produce hope and excite confidence; yet they seldom meet with implicit credit, or at least, are rarely viewed as exhibiting all that is necessary to exempt from condemnation and from death. There is in the hearts of all natural men a propensity to expect deliverance by the deeds of the law and there are perhaps but few Christians in whom the same legal principle does not, more or less, imperceptibly operate.

Whence originates that distrust of forgiveness with which many of those who have been eminent for vice are perpetually harassed, but from a consciousness of enormous guilt! It is not, in this case, my being a sinner merely, but my being so great a sinner, that is the ground of discouragement; which is virtually saying, Were I less guilty, I should have more hope. But this conclusion is fallacious. It is true I may have been notoriously profligate, and when contrasted with others, a monster in wickedness; but it should be remembered, that the commission of one sin, though not attended with the same degree of guilt, nor deserving the same punishment, will as certainly bar the way to heaven as the perpetration of a thousand. The felicity first promised to man, was connected with perfect obedience to the divine precept. The question therefore is-Am I a transgressor? If so; I am excluded from all hope of pardon on the ground of personal desert. The law of God, as a covenant promising life, is abrogated; and the only concern it hath with me as a sinner, is to denounce sentence of death. Future blessedness is therefore as far out of the reach of the comparatively virtuous, as the completely vicious.

Neither of them can obtain it on the ground of merit: they must, if candidates for divine favour, both stand indebted to absolute grace and as it is no more difficult with God to remit, in virtue of an atonement, enormous than trivial offences; the most abandoned wretch has, in application for mercy, the same foundation on which to build his hope, and as much encouragement to expect forgiveness, as he that may be properly denomi nated the least of sinners. The one indeed will have much forgiven, and should endeavour to proportion his gratitude to his grace; but the other will, notwithstanding, have to ascribe his salvation to the same source, and be under equal obligation to adore the hand which, if it have not rescued him from the same depths of iniquity, has nevertheless graciously restrained him from the desire, or the opportunity of committing it.

The awakened sinner is apt to imagine, that it is great presumption to come to God for pardon in his natural defilement. He therefore looks into himself for a pious turn of heart, or for something to recommend him to mercy. But such a conduct is offensive to God. This is not to consider ourselves as possessing nothing-as deserving nothing-as wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. We do that which is pleasing in his sight, when we believe - on his Son, Jesus Christ--when we come as sinners for pardon through his blood. This is a practical confession of guilt. It is in fact saying, Lord, I am vile; magnify thy great name in my forgiveness-I am helpless; do thou undertake for me-in myself, I am entirely lost; do thou save me! Or in other words-I feel and acknowledge, O Lord, that whatever the Scriptures have said concerning sin and its consequences, is perfectly just. I see that Jesus Christ is the only