his Son, Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities."

The first joy of the new born soul does not arise from the belief that his sins are pardoned; for his sins are not pardoned until the love of God is shed abroad in his heart. He can, of course, have no evidence that he is pardoned, until he finds himself rejoicing in the contemplation of the divine character. The joy of God's salvation may be realized, when the individual has no idea that his sins are pardoned. The renewed soul while contemplating the loveliness of Christ, and other divine objects, forgets himself, and his mind is absorbed in the delightful contemplation of these objects.

This joy of God's salvation, may, for a season, be lost; not only by falling into open and scandalous sins, as in the case of David; but by the indulgence of secret sins; or by becoming cold, formal, or negligent in the performance of duty.

When the Christian loses the joy of God's salvation, all his spiritual consolation departs, and he is filled with sore distress. It was so with David. The pains of hell gat hold upon him, and he found trouble and

sorrow.

And what must the backslidden Christian do, that the joy of God's salvation may be restored? He must consider from whence he has fallen, and repent, and do his first works. Like the Psalmist, he must confess his sins, and turn from them unto God. He must obtain this joy as he did at first, by repentance and faith in Christ. God is ready to forgive those who come unto him with broken and contrite hearts. "Turn O

backsliding children, saith the Lord." "I will heal their backslidings. I will love them freely."

When the Christian is thus restored, he will be like one converted anew; and he will be more humble and watchful than he was before. He will also be more sensible of his dependence on divine grace, and will look to God to keep him from falling. Thus David prayed that God would not only restore unto him the joy of his salvation, but that he would uphold him with his free Spirit-free in two senses.

1. Because the gift of the Spirit is gratuitous. And 2. Because by the operations of the Spirit the sinner is liberated from the bondage of corruption.

"Then," the psalmist says, "will I teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." The best preparation for usefulness in ministers, and in Christians, is the possession of a right state of heart. The spirit which they manifest, they will be likely to diffuse around them.

To teach transgressors God's ways, is to teach them not only their duty and their sinfulness, but the ways in which God deals with his sinful creatures, in bringing them into a state of favor with him. Thus David could say, "when I kept silence, my bones waxed old through my roaring all the day"—"I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said I will confess my transgressions unto the Lord, and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin."

This whole subject is strikingly illustrated in the history of Peter. Think of the warning which Christ gave him, and of his confident assurance that he should not deny his master. Think of his unhappy

fall, and of his deep and bitter repentance. Now witness his preaching on the day of Pentecost, and the remarkable success which attended his labors. God had restored unto him the joy of his salvation, and upheld him by his free Spirit; and he taught transgressors God's ways, and sinners were converted unto him.

27

SERMON XXVIII.

Total Depravity.

And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth; and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart, was only evil continually.—GENESIS vi: 5.

THE object of this discourse will be to illustrate and establish the doctrine of Total Depravity.

The doctrine does not imply that all men are equally wicked. There are evidently degrees of wickedness. It shall be more tolerable for the inhabitants of Sodom, than for those who reject the gospel. The servant that knew his Lord's will, and did it not, shall be beaten with many stripes; but he who knew not his Lord's will and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. In hell all will be totally depraved, and yet all will not be equally bad.

This doctrine does not imply that men are as bad as they can be. "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse." And all the finally impenitent will wax worse and worse forever. The longer sinners suffer in hell, the more will they deserve to continue there.

This doctrine does not imply that men are not free moral agents. They possess all the faculties which are essential to moral agency-reason, judgment,

memory, will, and affections. If they were not free moral agents, they could not be the subjects of moral depravity. To say, therefore, that total depravity is inconsistent with free agency is absurd. If it is, there can be no such thing as sin or blame in the Universe. For if total depravity annihilates free agency, then partial depravity destroys it in some degree. So far as an individual is depraved, so far he is not free, and of course, not blame-worthy.

This doctrine does not imply that men are destitute of conscience. The question is sometimes asked, is there not something in man which tells him what is right and what is wrong? Undoubtedly there is. If man had not a conscience, he could not be a sinner. But it is one thing to know our duty, and another to love it, and to do it. The more clearly a person sees his duty, the greater is his guilt if he does not perform it. Conscience will exist in hell. It is the worm which never dies. And who doubts that the lost spirits in hell are totally depraved?

But positively-by the doctrine of Total Depravity is meant, that all men, by nature, are destitute of love to God, and consequently wholly sinful—or to adopt the language of the text, that every imagination of the thoughts of their heart, is only evil continually. The truth of this doctrine appears

1. From direct passages of scripture. The text is decisive. The language is very striking. Suppose it were affirmed of Gabriel that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only holy continually. Could any one doubt that this language was intended to affirm that Gabriel was perfectly holy..

2. From the doctrine of regeneration. Men must