Once more. "An obedient heart" is also necessary to be brought with us to the throne of grace. By "an obedient heart" our reformers meant a heart fraught with holy desires and steadfast purposes, formed in the strength of Divine grace, of walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. A readiness to submit to whatever God enjoins is inseparable from genuine confession. With the great Apostle of the Gentiles every awakened sinner inquires, "Lord, what wilt thou have "me to do?" and with the Psalmist prays, "Teach me thy way, O Lord; I will walk in thy "truth: unite my heart to fear thy name." +

The object, which a contrite sinner proposes to himself in making confession of his sins, is "that he may obtain forgiveness of the same by "God's infinite goodness and mercy." Remission is "the one thing needful" to an awakened mind. Go to the dying traveller, stretched on the burning sands of Nubia; offer him gold and silver and gorgeous apparel; and, if he has sufficient strength left, he will express his astonishment at your folly, or his abhorrence of the insult shewn him. The refreshing draught is the boon he wants. Present the pitcher to his lips, and his eyes will speak the gratitude of his soul. So when a sinner is Divinely convinced of sin, the pleasures, profits, and honours of the world become tasteless as the white of an egg. The lectures of the Philosopher, and the exhortations of the moralist, are insults to his misery. Forgiveness of his sins is the object †

*Acts ix. 6.

Ps. lxxxvi. 11. The simplicity of the following lines, in The Lamentation of a Sinner, is very beautiful:

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of his fervent wishes, and this he hopes for only as the effect of "infinite mercy and goodness." Nothing short of infinite compassion can reach his case; but he has heard that "with God "there is mercy, and that with him there is plenteous redemption;" and this report, like a sovereign cordial, cheers his spirits and preserves him from despair. The boundless compassion of Jehovah, and the all-cleansing virtue of Immanuel's blood, are the only ground of hope to a conscious sinner. Erase these consolatory truths from the book of God, and he must lie down in black despair and everlasting

sorrow.

For

There is no circumstance of time or place that renders the performance of the duty of confession unseasonable. For "we ought at all "times humbly to acknowledge our sins before "God." There are those who think that religion should be confined to the church, or at least to the sabbath-day: but these are persons, who do not think that the business of the world is to be confined to the remaining six. those who do not carry their religion with them, through the six days on which God has allowed them to attend to their worldly business, will be sure to employ the little portion of time which God has reserved to Himself, in worldly thoughts and conversation, and even carry the world in their hearts to the house of God. These, however, are not true members of the church of England, which makes it a part of her Creed,

"Mercy, good Lord! mercy I ask;
"This is the total sum:

"For mercy, Lord, is all my suit-
"O let thy mercy come!"

that " we ought at all times humbly to acknowledge our sins before God." "In season and "out of season," is her motto. Religion with her is daily work. Not that we are bound to be always repeating the confession that follows; but we are bound to live habitually in the spirit which it breathes, the spirit of self-abasement and contrition. Whether we are alone in our closets, enjoying the society of Christian friends, or engaged in the necessary business of our lawful callings; self-renunciation and self-abasement are always necessary and never unseasonable. His own unworthiness and God's mercy are subjects suitable for a sinner through every hour of the day. "Thou shalt talk of them "when thou sittest in thine house, and when "thou walkest by the way; and when thou liest "down and when thou risest up." David could say, "My sin is ever before me;" not on the Sabbath only, or during the hours of public worship. Therefore feeling his constant need of mercy, he makes the following resolution : "At evening and morning and at noon day will "I pray." Would you blame a sick man for employing much of his time in the use of means for the recovery of his health? or a criminal lying under sentence of death for a too frequent employment of the opportunities afforded him of presenting petitions to his Sovereign for mercy? A sinner who is alive to the importance of eternal salvation, needs no comment to explain the Apostle's injunction, Pray "without ceasing.'

But there are certain seasons when this duty is peculiarly indispensable; even those "when we assemble and meet together" for the purposes of public worship. The several parts of public worship, as here described, We

shall have occasion more minutely to consider hereafter. They are here introduced to shew, that confession is essential to a right performance of each of them. "We meet "together to render thanks for the great "benefits which we have received at the hands "of God;" but in this we shall fall short, unless a conviction of our demerit stimulate our hearts to gratitude. "We meet to set forth "His most worthy praise;" but we can never sing with melody in our hearts unto the Lord, until our hearts have been prepared to make melody by conviction of sin. It is fabled of the nightingale, that she sings most sweetly with her breast on a thorn. The sinner who has felt most deeply the effects of the fall, will celebrate most gratefully the riches of the grace of God. The new song, mentioned in the Revelation of St. John, could only be sung by those who were redeemed from the earth. But redemption can only be duly celebrated by the captive who has felt the galling chain, who has tasted and remembers the bitter taste of the wormwood and the gall of sin, and who has experienced deliverance through grace. "We "assemble and meet together to hear God's "most holy word," the sanctifying Gospel of his grace; which we can never relish, till we feel our need of the blessings it proposes. also meet" to ask those things which are "requisite and necessary, as well for the body “as the soul." But an unawakened sinner, however sensible he may be of his corporeal maladies or infirmities, knows not what is requisite and necessary for his soul." He has no desire after pardon, holiness, and communion with God. And even with respect to

We

his body, though he feels its wants, yet he looks for their supply to chance, or merely to his own endeavours, and not to God. Contrition is therefore an essential ingredient in every part of worship.

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The persuasive to confession is followed by an earnest invitation to prayer, the necessity of which arises from the former act of duty. "Wherefore, I pray and beseech you, as many "as are here present, to accompany me, with a pure heart and humble voice, to the throne "of the heavenly grace." Who will refuse the invitation? None but the man who is so proud and ignorant as to conclude that he has no sins to be forgiven, no wants to be relieved. In the subsequent confession, the congregation is directed to accompany the minister with an audible but "humble voice," expressive of inward compunction. But "a pure heart" is that which God respects, without which the act of an automaton would be as acceptable as our's. Purity here is synonymous with sincerity. A man is then sincere, when the language of his lips harmonizes with the feelings of his heart. O what a mercy is it, that there is "a throne of heavenly grace" erected for the free access of returning sinners to their offended God! The expression alludes to the mercyseat on which God sat in glory between the Cherubim, and towards which all the prayers of His people, during the continuance of the Jewish œconomy, were directed to be offered. As that mercy-seat was sprinkled with the typically atoning blood of bulls and goats, this "throne of heavenly grace" has been sprinkled with blood of infinitely greater value. Fear not, conscious sinner, to draw near, to confess