healed of that worst disorder, a sinful inclination or a sinful habit. If in bodily sickness a man desires the prayers of his pious friends or of the elders of the church, let him seek the same assistance, when he needs it more, in the sickness of the soul. Even bad men have sought and valued the prayers of the good, and have acknowledged that the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much. Saul entreated the prayers of Samuel: and the impostor Simon (Acts viii. 24) implored Peter and those with him, "Pray ye to the Lord for me, that none of those things which ye have spoken come upon me." Indeed, every part of the scripture shows us the honour in which it pleases God to hold the prayers of righteous men. St. James refers to the example of Elijah, taken from 1 Kings xvii. 1," As the Lord liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, but according to my word." The same truth is forcibly expressed in Exod. xxxii. 10: when the Israelites had fallen into their grievous sin, and made to themselves an idol which they worshipped in the place of God. "And the Lord said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and behold, it is a stiff-necked people. Now, therefore, let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them." Let me alone. Let not thy fervent effectual prayer turn aside the indignation which their idolatry has incurred. But it was turned aside, "when Moses besought the Lord his God;" as if to leave us an example of fact, to prove that which we might be slow to believe. In the same manner that great event, the restoration of

Judah from the captivity at Babylon, is represented as fulfilled through the prayer of Daniel. Dan. ix. 21-23. The angel Gabriel was commissioned to bring him word, "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and I am come to show thee." Thus an encouragement to prayer is handed down to every age, and a memorial is set up to assure us how much avails the effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man.

The apostle concludes his letter with an urgent motive thus to pray one for another, and heal each other, and "exhort one another daily."

2

19. Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him;

20. Let him know, that he which converteth the sinner from the error of his way, shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins.

They might, then, err from the truth. There was indeed great danger. The rebukes conveyed in this epistle sufficiently prove the danger: prove how ready Satan was to draw back, if power were given him, those who had seemed to escape from his dominion. Therefore, if enemies are on the watch to destroy, friends must be watchful to preserve. And St. James here gives encouragement, if any should err from the truth, should be led aside from the true faith or the true practice which belongs to Christians, to rebuke the erring brother, and not "suffer sin in him:" to admonish and exhort him. It might be that he should thus "gain his brother."

2 Heb. iii. 13.

And if this were granted, the recompense should be great indeed. He should save a soul from death, and hide a multitude of sins. For sins confessed, and repented of, and forsaken, are forgiven. And sins forgiven, are hidden; hidden from the sight of God: he "casts them behind his back," as the prophet expresses it: or as St. Paul, they are "blotted out :" washed away by the blood of Christ applied to them.

We know, indeed, that thus to convert a sinner is not the work of man, but of God. Whosoever attempts it in his own strength will soon discover how small is the power in spiritual things of one mind over another. But God is often pleased to make use of the warning, the advice, the influence, the authority of his faithful people to fulfil his gracious purposes. And the apostle excites us to this service by the strongest of all motives: the saving a soul from death: from that moral, that spiritual death here, which leads to death eternal.

If it were as clearly established in all our minds as it was in the mind of James, that "sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death;" more eagerness would be felt, and more pains taken, to turn a sinner from the error of his way. When we meet with one who either in his manner of thinking, or his manner of living, errs from the truth, we meet with what is common, unhappily, in the practice of men; too common to be much noticed we do not apprehend the nature of such error in God's sight: we do not see those conse

3 Isa xxxviii. 17. Col. ii. 14; also from Isa xliv. 22.

quences which God has ordained to follow it: and therefore we are slightly moved, slightly affected, and become "guilty concerning our brethren." It is a part of faith to believe that to convert from sinful error, is to save from death. So that the apostle, in conclusion, leaves this thought upon our minds: a thought which may justly excite our earnestness, repress our scruples, overcome our natural indolence. Not for the present time alone, but through all eternity, it may be a subject of rejoicing, that through our teaching, our warning, our counselling, one that had erred has been converted, or one that would have erred has been kept stedfast in the faith, and preserved from the way of

error.

THE FIRST EPISTLE GENERAL OF PETER.

A. D. CIR. 64.

LECTURE XXII.

ST. PETER ADDRESSES HIS EPISTLE TO THE CHRISTIANS SCATTERED THROUGHOUT DIFFERENT COUNTRIES OF ASIA.

1 PETER i. 1, 2.

1. Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2. Elect, according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit unto obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace be multiplied.

The Lord had declared, (Mark ix. 1,) "There be some of them that stand here who shall not taste of death, till they have seen the kingdom of God come with power." Peter was one of those then stand