providence and grace, he shall have purged away its dross, it shall be presented before him glorious in holiness," without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing."

"Having therefore these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord." Excel in holiness. Live no longer at "this poor, dying rate." If you fear God and love his Son; if you have an enlightened and tender conscience; if you know anything of the blessedness of being like your Divine Master, and of being constrained by his love; you will long, and pray, and pant after still greater similitude, and never be satisfied till you "awake in his likeness."

And is all this nothing to those of my readers who live without God and without hope? Why is it that they live without hope, but that they live without God in the world? There it stands engraven on the foundations of the Heavenly City, "Without holiness, no man shall see the Lord." All others are without the gates of the New Jerusalem. "The pure in heart shall see God."

CHAPTER XIX.

The First Definition of Buman Sinfulness.

It is one thing to describe human sinfulness, and another to define it. We describe it, when we furnish illustrations of it, when we speak of its nature or properties, and when we represent it by its resemblance to other things; we define it, when we so describe it that it cannot be mistaken, and show wherein it differs from other things which it resembles.

Next to just views of God, just views of the morally depraved character of man, are essential to the knowledge of divine truth. There is no doctrine more important to a scriptural theology and a scriptural piety, than the truth which the Scriptures reveal in relation to the character of man prior to his conversion. It stands among the first things which God has so distinctly revealed.

One reason why he left the family of man without a written revelation, during the patriarchal

age, and without those specific laws and numerous restraints imposed upon them in subsequent ages, and without those tokens of his displeasure which ultimately cut off almost the entire population of the earth; was to give the human heart the opportunity of acting itself out, of developing its true character, and of showing the obduracy, strength, and growth of its wickedness. The experiment was full, and the lessons to be derived from it are such as may never be forgotten. The sun shone brightly; the blessings of providence were showered down on every side; the wise gloried in their wisdom, the rich in their riches, and the mighty in their might. Men everywhere walked in the ways of their hearts, and in the sight of their eyes. The proud were happy, and the men of violence and blood triumphant. The most enviable comforts were reserved for the proudest heart; the highest honors for the most flagitious life; the most remarkable deliverances for the most irreverent and presumptuous. "The earth was corrupt and filled with violence; for all flesh had corrupted his way upon the earth." They filled up the measure of their iniquity, and treasured up to themselves wrath against the day of wrath. They were left, in no small degree, to themselves, and at liberty to act as they pleased. And most fully did they discover their true character, and show what was in their hearts. Giant sinners they were, and

men mighty and renowned for wickedness. And not until this melancholy development was made, was that memorable sentence written, the force of which no philosophy has been able to pervert, no criticism to fritter away, and no false and smooth theology to pare off: "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." We have nothing to do, but honestly and faithfully analyze this definition, in order to have some just conceptions of human wickedness, and of the natural heart.

The first remark we make concerning it is, that this is the view of man's fallen nature, AS IT IS PRESENTED TO THE EYE OF GOD. It were no marvel that men do not take this view of themselves, or of one another. They are not wont to take a just view of their own character; nor is it an easy thing for them so to do. We read of one whose prayer was, “Lord, make me to know my transgression and my sin !" There are obstacles to be surmounted in becoming acquainted with themselves, so great, that it requires even more than the ordinary lights of truth and conscience to make this honest disclosure. The Saviour has taught us that "when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will convince the world of sin." To nothing are men more blind than to the abominations of the human

heart; nor are there any impressions which they stifle and resist more vigorously than those which give them just conceptions of themselves.

We do not suppose that any other being in the universe would have given such a picture of the human character as is here furnished, except that God who searches the reins and tries the hearts of men. The characters of men are not concealed from him; he sees that the picture, dark as it is, is true to the life. It is not God who caricatures men by representing them better than they are. They are men who daub with untempered mortar, and speak smooth things, because they are partial, and seek to please men, and do not look on the heart. God knows and sees all things; it is the heart that he looks at, as well as the outward deportment; nor is his judgment ever wrong or perverted. He has no mistaken views of the human character; nor does he ever form a false or extravagant estimate. There is no secret place where the workers of iniquity may hide themselves from his searching scrutiny. No knowledge and no ignorance, no original or incurred obligations, no station in society and no influence however acquired, no circumstances which render human wickedness more or less aggravated, escapes his notice. Whatever gives character to it,-whether it be the motive, the deed, the time, the place, the manner, the struggles of conscience resisted, the admonitions