SERMONS. SERMON I. MANASSEH'S PROGRESS IN SIN. 2 Chron. xxxiii. 1, 2. Manasseh was twelve years old when he began to reign, and he reigned fifty and five years in Jerusalem: but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto the abominations of the heathen, whom the Lord had cast out before the children of Israel. It is the commendable practice of many preachers, during the season of Lent, to concentrate the minds of their respective flocks on some distinct historical record of Holy Writ, more immediately pointing to the great duty of Repentance. This doctrine is, indeed, ranked by St. Paul among the mere elements of Christianity; and, therefore, discourses of this nature may, by the B advanced Christian, be looked upon as too rudimental for his higher attainments. Still, the vocation of the minister is of a wide and general scope. He is called on to address human beings of very different gradations in the scale of religion the yet unborn into the faith, the babes in grace, the growing disciples of Christ, the matured saints. He is bound so to distribute himself among the various classes of his hearers, "that he may by all means save some." if a single soul be startled from a career of ungodliness, by means of such periodical illustrations of Scripture characters, the preacher's work has not been in vain. And The subject of my Lectures for the Lent season of the past year* was, "Our Lord's Temptation in the Wilderness." I now propose to lay be. fore you the history of Manasseh, king of Judah, in six consecutive discourses, commencing from the present day.† The two books of Chronicles are, perhaps, less familiarly known than the rest of the sacred writings, from the circumstance of their not being appointed to be read in our churches with First Sunday in Lent, 1834. * 1833. the other books of the canon of Scripture. The reason is this: they may be considered as a kind of supplement to the Books of Samuel, and of Kings. Consequently, it was thought superfluous to bring again before the notice of congregations those details which had become known to them from other sources. In the Greek translation of the sacred volume, they are termed, "Things omitted or left out." But, there is much in these books to interest us; and, as they are stamped with the sacred authority of quotation in the New Testament, they are the genuine outgivings of the Holy Spirit, and therefore claim our reverence, and demand our attentive perusal. It seems to have been the will of the Almighty, that his two great dispensations to mankind should present the fullest intrinsic evidence of their authenticity. The history of the divine dealings with the Jews is a tissue of clear and consistent facts; each book harmonizing with, and elucidating the other. The record of Christ's ministry on earth is attested by so many evangelists and apostles, that any call for additional confirmation, can only result from weakness of intellect, or captiousness of spirit. And there is a kind of challenge to the utmost freedom of inquiry, in the delineation of the same events by different kinds of witnesses. So that, as the minds of a jury are made up by the strong combination of accumulated testimony, the unprejudiced reader of his Bible is forced into the conviction, that all which he reads there is incontrovertibly true. Thus, belief, or unbelief, of the sacred records is fairly made the ground of our trial on earth. We are allowed a few years to decide on the subject-the day of probation is soon over--and our fate is for ever sealed, when death tears asunder the link which fastens soul and body together. Proceeding to my subject, I would first direct your attention to the import of the names, Israel and Judah. The former was applied to Jacob, when God favoured him with a significant proof of the prevalence of earnest prayer, by sending an angel to wrestle with him, and permitting the patriarch to prevail. It implies, "a prince with God;" and all his posterity were distinguished by the same honoured appellation. Judah, the fourth son of Jacob, was so called, because of his mother's fervent gratitude to God on the occasion of his birth-the name signifying "the |