586.]
rebellion against God; and that "everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord " is his just desert. Till a man has that view of himself, he will never be thoroughly broken and contrite ; he will never lothe and abhor himself for his ini- quities ; he will never have that " repentance which is unto life, that repentance which is not to be repented of." We entreat you all then to judge of your repentance by these marks. Do not be satisfied with being humbled on account of sin ; but inquire particularly, whether you are more humbled from a view of it as against man, or a view of it as against God. These ought to bear no proportion in your estimate of your own character. Your own nothingness and vileness can only be estimated aright when viewed in contrast with the majesty you have offended, and the mercy you have despised : and till you see that everlasting misery in hell is your deserved portion, you can never lie so low as you ought to lie.]
2. The true preparative for pardon —
[Something we must bring with us to the Saviour : but what is that which we ought to bring ? Must we get a certain portion of good works wherewith to purchase his salvation? No : this is a price which he will utterly despise. That which we are to bring is precisely what a patient brings to a phy- sician, a sense of his extreme need of the physician's aid. Christ came to save sinners : we then must feel ourselves sin- ners. He came to seek and save that which was lost : we then must feel ourselves lost. A just sense of our guilt and misery is all that he requires : if we come wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked, he will give us that gold that has been tried in the fire, the raiment that shall cover our nakedness, and the eye-salve that shall restore our eyes to sight. If we come to him full, w^e shall be sent empty away : but if we come hungry and empty, we shall " be filled out of his inexhaustible fulness," we shall " be filled with all the fulness of our God."]
3. The best preservative from sin —
[When Joseph was tempted by Potiphar's wife, he an- swered her, " How shall I do this great wickedness, and sin against Godi ?" Thus we would recommend all, when tempted to commit iniquity, to consider, first, what God will think of it ; and next, what they themselves will think of it in the last day ? Now it may appear light and venial, especially if it be not such a heinous sin as adultery or murder : but when it comes to be seen in its true light, as against an infinitely good and gracious God ; and when the judgments which he has de- nounced against it come to be felt ; what shall we think of it
1 Gen. xxxix. 9.