God with a willing mind, he will " not be extreme to mark what is done amiss ;" but will be " well pleased with our sacrifices," notwithstanding the imperfection of them, and will vouchsafe to confer upon us a recompence of reward e.
Now, then, let us inquire how far we comply with the gra- cious terms of the Gospel. What know we of repentance, even of " that broken and contrite heart which God will not despise?" Have we not still found " a heart of stone" within
us, even whilst we have desired " an heart of flesh ?"
And how have we exercised faith ? Have our souls gone forth to the Saviour, to lay hold on him, and trust in him, and glory in him ? Have we not found a most astonishing backwardness towards this holy exercise, insomuch that we seem to have accounted the Gospel a cunningly-devised fable, rather than a
divine reality ? Then, as to the surrender of ourselves
to God, how has it been with us ? Has there been that entire devotion of our souls to him, which his love and mercy have so justly demanded ? Have we not rather been amazed at our own insensibility and ingratitude, so far exceeding all that we could ever have conceived?
If, then, we weigh ourselves in this balance, what shall we find, but sad occasion for grief and shame ? ]
3. The balance even of our own conscience —
[This, I must confess, is a very inadequate mode of esti- mating our real character. Conscience is blind. Its views of duty are very imperfect : its observation of our conduct also is extremely partial; and its judgment very erroneous. Yet even in this balance, unduly favourable as it is, we shall be found sadly wanting. We all know that God ought to be loved and served : that the Lord Jesus Christ also ought to be precious to our souls. We know that sin should be mortified; and that holiness of heart and life should be cultivated. We know, that, as immortal beings, we should rise superior to the things of time and sense, and seek chiefly the happiness and glory of eternity. Now, then, how far have we corresponded even with our own standard of duty ? Are we not sensible that the interests of the soul, and the concerns of eternity, have not been of such paramount value in our estimation, as their real importance has required ? Defective as our own standard of duty has been, have we not fallen greatly and shamefully below it ? ]
Let me. then, proceed to shew you, II. What lessons we should learn from our defects —
There is no reason for us to despond : on the
e Heb. xiii. 15, 16.