Isai. lviii. 1 . Cry aloud, spare not, lift up thy voice like a trumpet, and shew my people their transgression, and the hoity.e of Jacob their sins.
CERTAINLY, one of God's richest mercies unto man has been the appointment of an order of men to be his ambassadors to a guilty world, and to beseech their fellow-sinners to be reconciled to him. The ungodly indeed have never appreciated this mercy aright : for, from the very beginning of the world, have the Prophets of the Most High been regarded as " the troublers of Israel," fit objects for hatred and contempt. " Which of the prophets," says our blessed Lord, " have not your fathers persecuted?" But when a dispensation is committed to any man to declare the mind and will of God, woe will be unto him if he execute not the office that has been assigned him.
The words which I have read will naturally lead me to set before you,
I. The office of a minister —
This is, " to shew to men their transgressions and their sins." But it may be asked, What need is there for their services for such an end as this ? Do not all of us know ourselves better than any one else can know us ? Can any one be so well acquainted with the workings of my heart, or with the actions of my life, as I myself am? To this, however, I answer, that,
1. The world at large stand in need of such moni- tors—
[There is, in the generality of men, a thoughtlessness about their ways ; so that they are altogether unconscious of having contracted any great guilt. They never consider the requirements of God's Law ; they never refer their conduct to any other standard than public opinion ; and they rest satisfied that all is right, so long as they do not violate the laws which the common consent of those around them has established for the regulation of their lives. As for the spirituality of God's Law, they are utterly unacquainted with it ; and consequently they never dream of their responsibility to God for any thing beyond their overt acts : or, if they think themselves account- able for their motives, they give themselves credit for mean inn well, even where they are conscious of having acted ill : and, though their actions have not been altogether correct, they persuade themselves that their hearts are good, and that their aberrations from the path of duty have been the result of chance