Such was the beginning of true repentance in these Jews; and such the efficacy of divine grace in blessing the words they had heard. It might appear incredible that hearts so hard should be so soon impressed; that they who had lately crucified their Messiah as a blasphemer, should thus sink at once from the height of presumptuous iniquity to the depths of contrition. And in truth the change would be beyond belief, especially when we consider the accumulated evidence of our Lord's personal character and miracles, and the obstinate unbelief of many of the very same Jews when they witnessed them; if we did not know that the Holy Ghost, the purchase of the Saviour's death, had been communicated to remove the veil of pride, prejudice, and sinful affections from their minds. Thus the truth had its due effect in convincing their understandings and piercing their hearts.

Effects of the same kind follow in our own days, the faithful instructions of the ministers of Christ. The conviction of truth indeed is not always so immediate and so powerful; the work of conversion is often slow and imperceptible; and neither the time of its commencement nor the exact steps of its progress can be traced. And it is especially gradual among those who have had the blessing of a religious education, or who have been much accustomed to religious

reading and inquiry. Still the commencement of true repentance is substantially the same in all. Men must be convinced of their sins, or perish. And whether this conviction resemble the sudden alarm of the Philippian jailor, and of the Jews in my text, or the gradual illumination of Cornelius, Lydia, the Ethiopian eunuch, and the Bereans, the results are the same. The careless and wicked are effectually brought to feel their sins and their danger, and to inquire after the way of salvation. They are pricked in their hearts with remorse and confusion, their vain excuses are silenced, they feel their lost condition, they humble themselves in contrition of soul before God; and admit without reserve the charge of guilt and condemnation which his holy law prefers against them.

In many cases, where there has been previously an entirely wicked and ignorant life, truth is more suddenly communicated to the soul. Like the Jews in the text, such men often discover at once, what they never felt before, their extreme danger and misery. The sword of the Spirit lays open their hearts; their mouths are stopped; their sins arise in terrible array before them. They feel for the first time their accountableness, their ingratitude to God, the abuse of their talents, the neglect of their souls, the wickedness of their hearts and affections. They compare them

selves with the spiritual standard of God's law, and conviction of sin breaks in upon their minds with the brightness of a sun-beam. They feel that their former lives have been full of rebellion, vanity, and ungodliness; that their best deeds have been polluted with evil, their merits demerits, their virtues a mask, their religion a form. Thus the arrows of God stick fast in them. Pain, and grief, and perplexity, and alarm agitate and rend their minds.

Whether the manner, however, of this conviction of sin be sudden or gradual, the essential point is to feel our transgressions with deep sorrow and compunction of heart. This is the beginning of true repentance. This forms the broad distinction between a careless, worldly, wicked man, and a lowly and teachable one, Such was the change in Manasseh when he humbled himself before God in the time of his affliction; such was it in Josiah, whose heart was tender; such in Zaccheus; such in Mary Magdalen; such in the woman of Samaria; such in the Apostle Paul. In all these cases, there was a poignant grief for their iniquities as committed against God.

And here let us stop, and inquire if we have ever thus felt the weight of our sins, Religion is a personal concern. Have we, then, discovered and confessed our own transgressions against God? Do we know what it is to weep

for our rebellion and enmity of heart? Is sin a heavy burden, too heavy for us to bear? Did we ever mourn for it as unspeakably odious and abominable? When we hear the word of God read or preached, does it convince and affect our minds? If it does not, O let us implore the illumination and grace of the Holy Spirit, that such an effect may be produced! It is by his influence alone that our hard hearts can be changed. It is in vain for me to proceed with this discourse if there be no impression on our souls. I shall strive as one that beateth the air. Let us then pause, and fervently beg of God to" cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of his Holy Spirit ;" and to take away the heart of stone out of our flesh and give us an heart of flesh; that thus we may have a right judgment and feeling of this important subject, and be touched with penitence for our unnumbered offences against God.

But I proceed to notice,

III. THE INQUIRY TO WHICH REAL COMPUNCTION FOR SIN WILL LEAD,

The converts in the text are described as saying unto Peter and the rest of the Apostles, Men and brethren, what shall we do? This was the spontaneous language of an awakened mind. When the understanding is informed, and the heart changed, the inquiry will imme

diately be, What shall we do? Thus the jailor at Philippi fell at the Apostles' feet and said, Sirs, what shall I do to be saved? Thus St. Paul at his conversion, when Jesus met him by the way, said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? The various classes of persons also who heard John the Baptist are represented as inquiring, Master, what shall we do? These various persons, like the Jews in proposing the question of my text, appear to have been anxious to do any thing or suffer any thing which might be prescribed to them; and to renounce their prejudices and their vices, if only they might obtain relief from their alarm and perplexity, and escape the impending danger.

Thus, in all cases of true conversion to God, compunction for sin will lead to diligent inquiries after a way of escape. The sinner, "pricked to the heart, will apply with seriousness to the ministers of God's word to receive further directions in the road to heaven. So long as men are proud and unconcerned about practical religion, they are well contented to follow their own opinions, or the commonly received opinions of their day. anxiety for better instruction. tisfied with general notions of not so, when they are in some measure convinced of their sins. They are then anxious to be led in the only way of salvation. They

They feel no They are sa

religion. But