their displeasure more than the displeasure of Almighty God?

But if you are still ashamed of Christ, remember a most righteous retribution awaits you. Christ will treat you, as you have treated him; and he will be as much ashamed of you, as you are now ashamed of him. "If we deny him, he will also deny us." In this punishment, there is a fitness which cannot fail to commend itself to every conscience. "With what measure ye meet, it shall be measured to you again." By your conduct you are now deciding the point how the Saviour will treat you when he shall come to judgment.

Finally-Let those who have confessed Christ before men, be careful never to betray his cause. If you are real Christians, you are no longer ashamed of Christ, but you are ashamed of yourselves, and of your conduct in having rejected him so long. Brethren, "If ye be reproached for the name of Christ happy are ye." Choose "rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season." "Blessed are ye when men shall hate you, and shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of Man's sake. Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy, for behold your reward is great in heaven; for in like manner did their fathers unto the prophets."

And now let every one adopt from the heart the sentiment contained in the following lines.

"Jesus, and shall it ever be,

A mortal man ashamed of thee?

Ashamed of thee, whom angels praise,-
Whose glory shines through endless days!

Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend,
On whom my hopes of heaven depend!
No: when I blush, be this my shame,
That I no more revere his name.
Ashamed of Jesus!-Yes, I may,
When I've no sins to wash away;
No tear to wipe, no good to crave
No fear to quell, no soul to save.
Till then-nor is my boasting vain,
Till then, I boast a Saviour slain;
And O, may this my glory be,

That Christ is not ashamed of me."

SERMON IV.

True repentance not antecedent to regeneration.

Surely after that I was turned, Irepented.-JEREMIAH XXXi: 19.

THE people of Israel had departed from God. In this chapter, their restoration is predicted, and the happy effects which would follow, are described. "They

shall come and sing on the height of Zion, and shall flow together for the goodness of the Lord, and their soul shall be as a watered garden; and they shall not sorrow any more at all."

But this happy season was to be preceded by deep repentance. In the description of the prophet, we behold a vast company assembled, and commencing their journey to Zion. Thus saith the Lord, they shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them." The repentance of Ephraim, a name which here stands for the people at large, is thus further described. "I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus. Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke. Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God. Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea even confounded, because I did bear the reproach of my youth."

In the first part of this description, we have an account of what is commonly called a state of conviction. God had taken him in hand. "Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised." But he would not yield. His heart was too proud, and too stubborn to bow. He was, he tells us, like a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke-wild, unmanageable, and determined not to yield to the hand of its master. Such was the opposition of his heart, that he was convinced that he should never; of himself, overcome it. He was convinced, that the conversion of a sinner, like himself, could not be effected by the power of moral suasion-that none but the God who made him, could subdue the obduracy of his heart. Under the conviction of this truth, he prayed "Turn thou me, and I shall be turned, for thou art the Lord my God." Then follows the account of his conversion. "Surely after that I was turned, I repented; and after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh. I was ashamed, yea even confounded.” The language which is here put into the mouth of Ephraim, expresses the feelings of every real penitent. We may, therefore, derive from the text, this doctrine.

True repentance does not precede regeneration.

It may be proper here to observe, that there are two kinds of repentance. One kind arises from a view of the consequences of sin, or the fear of punishment; and implies no love to God or hatred of sin. Such was the repentance of Saul, of Judas, and of others. Such is the repentance of awakened sinners; and at times, of all sinners, in a greater or less degree. This kind of repentance, implies no change of heart, and of course, may precede regeneration. This is not the

repentance to which the promise of salvation is made. That the repentance which God requires as the condition of pardon, does not precede regeneration, is evident from the following considerations.

1. From the nature of true repentance. This repentance implies love to God. As sin is committed against God, the sinner must exercise repentance towards God. But this cannot be done without love; and previous to regeneration, there is no love to God in the sinner's heart; for "every one that loveth, is born of God." No one can feel heartily sorry that he has offended a being whom he does not love. Much less can he feel sorry that he has offended a being whom he hates. But all the unregenerate possess carnal minds; and "the carnal mind is enmity against God." If, then, repentance does precede regeneration, it must be the repentance of a carnal mind which is enmity against God. But this surely is not evangelical repentance.

True repentance implies also love to God's law. No one feels unfeigned sorrow that he has violated a law which he does not love-much less a law which he hates. But the carnal, or unrenewed mind is "not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be." If then, evangelical repentance implies love to God and his law, it cannot be an exercise of the unrenewed, heart.

2. To all who truly repent, salvation is promised. "Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted." "The Lord is nigh unto them that are of a broken heart, and saveth such as be of a contrite spirit." But the unregenerate have no promise of salvation. For "except a man be born again, he cannot see the