easiest, and most delightful, of all duties; with us it is the most difficult and painful. Thus the first transgression adheres to us as our great sin. Adam suspected his Maker, and was ruined by it. Men continue in unbelief, and perish every day as the consequence. Shall it be so with us? Let us remember that faith, so momentous in its influence, is the gift of God; and that the men who have it not, are the men who seek it not.

GOD now commandeth all men everywhere to repent. In this manner did Paul address himself to the men of Athens. His words distinctly teach, that repentance is a universal duty. It is true, that when the apostle thus spoke, the world was in a peculiarly darkened state on the subject of religion, and its depravity was proportioned to its gloom. Nevertheless, if exceptions had been admissible at all, they might have been found even in that age, as certainly as in our own. But the language of the apostle knows nothing of exceptions on this point, nor does that of scripture in general. Its appeal is to men, in all the possible

conditions of human nature; and its demand on each and all is the same,-Repent. This does not imply that all are to the same extent depraved. But it implies, beyond controversy, that all are so far depraved as to make repentance imperative on all. Nor does it follow from the text just cited, that the change of mind which the word repentance denotes, must be, in all particulars, the same in every instance. It is, however, clearly indicated, that this change, whether wrought suddenly, or by slow degrees, whether produced in a great measure by fearful apprehension, or almost wholly by the milder influence of persuasion, is still a real, a perceptible change, and one having certain marks more or less common to it, wherever it is experienced.

We may add, that the necessity of repentance, and its necessity in the case of the moral and the dissolute, the formalist and the profane, is placed beyond doubt by a memorable admonition from the lips of the Saviour. There were present at that season, some that told him of the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above all the Galileans, because they suffered such things? I tell you, nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish. Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem? I tell you, nay; but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

It is the struggle connected with the change thus insisted on, that will claim consideration in the present chapter. This conflict, like every other in the experience of Christians, is varied, from a multitude of causes; and, in each person, would seem to have something peculiar to itself. We cannot pretend to notice all these peculiarities. Our attention must be directed to the most general and obvious features in a state of penitence, and these it will not be difficult to view in connexion with particular cases. There are no two countenances strictly alike, and still we are all alike; nor is there any one voice that may be often mistaken for another, though the voice of man is readily distinguishable from all other utterances. There is a sameness in these particulars which bespeaks us men, and there is a diversity which pertains to us as individuals. It is the same in the things of the Spirit. We possess enough in common, as penitents and believers, to determine our character as such; while there is a sufficient variousness to render the works of grace conformable, in this respect, to the works of nature,— the spiritual creation of the inner man, being, thus far, a counterpart of what is observable in the outward man.

I. We shall understand our present subject more readily, perhaps, by adverting, in the first place, to THE NATURE OF REPENTANCE, as it is described in scripture. It is of the first importance to remember,

that there is much included in a state of penitence, which we may feel persuaded we possess; and that we may nevertheless be devoid of penitence. There are things which must exist, wherever there is a sincere contrition; and among these are many, that may exist where that state of mind is wanting. There is a certain extent to which we may go, and have the appearance of being true disciples; but there is a farther extent to which we may refuse to go, and, in this, we may discover that we are not disciples. We may thus tread in the steps of the repenting sinner, and, for a while, appear very like him; but when the clouds gather, and we begin to see war, there may be a drawing back, and this resemblance may prove to have been a mockery. Thus Demas forsook Paul; and Herod halted, after he had done many things.

Too much care, therefore, cannot be exercised, to distinguish between what is peculiar to a state of penitence, and the mere circumstances of such a state; between what the penitent man alone possesses, and what the impenitent may possess in common with him. The professor who has never been concerned to judge truly and wisely in this particular, is in danger of finding his place among those over-confident spirits, who go up to the gate of heaven saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us, only to learn, that, as self-deceivers, and workers of iniquity, they have no place allotted to them there.

Among the sins in which an offender has indulged, there may be some to which, in the course