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and' rescued from imminent danger, so large a proportion retain no just sense of obligation to God, and frustrate the most reasonable hope of their friends! We fear it may be said with truth-" Were there -not ten cleansed? but where are the mine?”

Some have enjoyed exalted privileges.-You were born of pious parents; you have lived in religious families; you have read the Scriptures and heard the Gospel from your earliest years: and what is the result of these advantages? Alas! in many, many instances, no saving effect appears! You were taught the words of prayer, and you professed to pray; you have joined with others in petitions similar to this of the lepers" Jesus, Master, have mercy on us;" but, like nine of these ten, you have forgotten your prayers and the mercy which you sought together: your root has been as rottenness, and your blossom has gone up as dust: because you have cast away the law of the Lord, and despised the word of the Holy One of Israel." What does this evidence, but a proud and impenitent heart, the indulgence of evil passions, and the prevalence of corrupt propensities? And hence you have loved your sins more than the Saviour, and have preferred the world to God. It is matter of most serious concern that this should be the case! It is cause of painful regret, that of many whose early advantages have been distinguished, so few come out from the world, and are separate; so very few decidedly follow Jesus, and return to give -glory to God!

But the subject admonishes such as have more than a profession of religion: it speaks to you who have known the grace of God in truth.-Is your gratitude warm? Are your returns of love and praise cheerful and constant? The answer, we fear, is easily suggested. Think of what the Lord hath done for you; the

change he hath wrought, the hope he hath inspired, and the comfort he hath imparted; reflect on your vows, your resolutions, your solemn engagements to be the Lord's; and contrast with these your forgetfulness, your negligence, your multiplied provoca tions, and say, Is no reproof merited from this of fended, this compassionate Saviour? Does no charge of base ingratitude rest on us-the best of us? Some sort of languid returns perhaps are made, and this languor we profess to lament; but, in the absence of lively, vigorous, active praise, may it not be asked with astonishment and grief, "Were there not ten cleansed? but where are the nine?"

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When shall our improvement keep pace with our privileges? When shall our zeal for God, our love to Christ, our diligence in the cause of truth and holiness, bear some proportion to our obligations? Not till the Holy Spirit convince us effectually of sin, and humble us deeply for our folly: never, till we are filled with compunction and covered with shame on account of our relapses and rebellions. Then let us earnestly pray that these effects may be produced; and let our supplications be accompanied with sincere and persevering efforts. A true conviction of dependence on the grace of the Spirit of God cannot lead to indifference and sloth; it must rouse to diligence in the use of appointed means, and be friendly to the cultivation of proper feelings. "Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead; and Christ shall give thee light." Let us resolve to follow him, and strength shall be equal to the day: let us press forward, and he will never leave us, never forsake us let us abound in affectionate service, and he will graciously accept the humble tribute, and at last will welcome us into unutterable joy.

SERMON XVIII.

SEEKING GOD IN TROUBLE.

JOB Xxiii. 3, 4.

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O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with argu

ments.

THIS is exclusively the language of men on earth. In heaven, they seek not God; they are with him, ever near him, and are happy in the enjoyment of his uninterrupted smile. In hell, they labour to forget him: their fruitless effort is, to shun his presence; to escape for ever the notice of his eye, and the power of his

arm.

And among the inhabitants of earth, all are not thus seeking God. Some have found him, have daily fellowship with him, and rejoice in the light of his countenance. But the majority of men are ignorant of God, are far from him, averse to him, and are saying in their heart, "Depart from us; we desire not the knowledge of thy ways." The text, therefore, is the sentiment of a different class: it is the prayer of one in affliction; the language of a child of God in dark

ness and distress; the humble suit of a believer who has enjoyed brighter days, and who ardently longs for their return.

Eliphaz had spoken in the preceding chapter, but his words seem not to have produced any good effect. "Then Job answered and said, Even to-day is my complaint bitter :"-perhaps he means the cause of his complaint; for he adds, "My stroke is heavier than my groaning." He mourned under the pressure of unusual trials, but he uttered not half the anguish which he felt. The very men who undertook to comfort him, augmented his grief, and added to his distress he turns, therefore, from them to his God. But here also was darkness; his presence seemed to be withdrawn, and scarcely any thing left but the painful recollection of past enjoyment. What shall he do? He cannot live without his God; he will not live without prayer. His only refuge. he must pursue, and is resolved to search till he obtain success:-"O that I knew where I might find him! that I might come even to his seat! I would order my cause before him, and fill my mouth with arguments."

The text is evidently the language of DISTANCE, of DESIRE, of FREEDOM, and of HOPE

I. It is the language of painful DISTANCE. Men of no religion are distant from God, but it gives them no concern. They live "without hope, and without God in the world," but have no serious regret on this account.

With a godly, man it is otherwise: he has experienced an important change. Once he was "afar off," but is brought nigh by the blood of Christ, and by the renewing influence of the Holy Spirit. He

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66 was dead, but is alive again; he was lost, but is found."

And is it possible that this man should have to complain of distance? What can occasion it?-A burden of heavy affliction may do it. Thus it was in the case of Job. No other reason is assigned, or circumstance stated, which accounts for the peculiar language of the text. His afflictions were accumulated, as a thick cloud which he could not penetrate: the dispensations of Divine Providence were so complex and difficult, that faith was unable to explore them, or hope to rise above them. His God, in reality, was not more distant than at other times, but he appeared to be so: "clouds and darkness were round about him ;" and his own imagination, obscured and disordered by adversity, magnified the distress.Hence the language which follows in this chapter: "Behold, I go forward, but he is not there; and backward, but I cannot perceive him on the left hand, where he doth work, but I cannot behold him : he hideth himself on the right hand, that I cannot see him."

But there is another and more serious cause of distance, though we know not that it applied to Job in this instance. The Prophet explains it, when he says, "Your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you." Yes, it is sin that alienates the soul from God; no matter how secret its indulgence, or how trivial its guilt in the estimation of men. The righteous desert of sin is distance that is real; and its effect is darkness which may be felt. God is near to man by his Spirit: in this way he dwells with man, his heart becomes "an habitation of God through the Spirit;" but sin indulged, grieves the Sacred

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