sorrow to his God. It was tlius that Manasseh's most enor- mous wickedness was purged : " God took him among the thorns ; and bound him with fetters, and carried liim to Babylon : and when he was in affliction, lie besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers, and prayed unto him : and so God was entreated of him, and heard his supplication^ In fact, " without the grace of Christ we can do nothing'':" it is " by his Spirit alone that we can mortify the deeds of the body*^," or " bring forth any fruits of righteousness to his praise and glory '^." But to all his chosen people God will "give more graced" even "grace sufficient for them V' whatever their necessities may be ; and will thus " fulfil in them all the good pleasure of his goodness, and the work of faith with power^."]
Let me now address myself,
1. To those who are trembhng through fear of God's displeasure —
[Amongst those whose destruction God contemplated as a source of ease to his own mind, there was yet a remnant, towards whom he was " filled with thoughts of love." And why may not you be amongst that happy number ? Certainly, if you have begun to " tremble at the word of God, that vei'y circumstance is a proof that " the Spirit of God is striving with you," and that you are not given over to a reprobate mind. Peradventure God has already said, " I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin:" and who can tell but that this may be the very hour fixed, in his divine counsels, for the accomplishment of this blessed end ? Lift up your heart to him ; and beg him now to work effectually upon you, that, being created of him anew, and transformed into his image, you may serve him worthily on earth, and participate in his glory in a better world.]
2. To those who are desiring to experience the full work of God's grace upon their souls —
[Limit not God to any particular mode of acting ; but be as clay in the potter's hands ; and let him deal with you as, in his unerring wisdom, he shall see fit. If he be pleased to put you into a furnace, complain not of it ; but say, ' This he has done to purge me from my dross.' You cannot but know that there is an abundance of dross within you. You cannot but be conscious that every thing which you do is very imperfect ; your very prayers and your praises being little better, for the most part, than a cold and formal service. Will you not, then,
. a 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11 — 13. ^ John xv. 5. <= Rom. viii. 13. d Phil. i. 11. e James iv. 6. ^ 2 Cor. xii. 9. e 2 Thess. i. 11.