• -HOMILIES DY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vers.-1, 2.-Sin's record. I. THE RECORD 1s INEFFACEABLE, This is contrary to the notions of very ma.ny. Sin, when it is committed, wears the aspect of insignificance and triflingness," • It is the gra.tifica.tion of a momentary impulse, of a persona.I a.ncl iudividual character; and it is not supposed that any one else, or at any rate any large uumber of persons, can be affected by it. The sinner supposes tha.t he himself ,vill be able to condone it, and that, when the active prompting of which he is conscious retires into the background, he will be as he was before. All sins, e.g. idolatry, which deeply engage the affections and the highest capacities of men, have a lasting influence upon their character. • And when they are systematized into a religion they exert a daily influence which at last fixes itself. But the same is true, in a very serious degree, with all sins. They ar~ contradictions of conscience and the Law of God, and can only be repeated withont scruple by inverting and hardening the moral nature. Jn this sense we are all -guilty be,fore God. Our every sin has had its influence upon m,, and has left its indelible impress. Conscience stores the guilty memory in its archives; habit perpetuates the evil impulsa in conduct; and our relations and associalions are involved in the wicked practices which ensue. lI. How USELESS, THEREFORE, ATTEMPTING TO EXCULPATE OURSELVES! This arrange- ment, by which ·sin leaves its impress upon the character and life, is of God. It is a law of nature, a.nd cannot be set -aside by private understanding. Even where it appears to be inoperative, its effects a.re only accumulating themselves in a more hidden manner, and some day they '\"'ill be the more overwhelming in their manifestation. It is the common question. of the sinner, when addressed by the ministers of God, "Wherein: have we sinned?" But this only shows a dulness of spiritual self-know- ledge and a ·general"lowering of the nioml standard, Others are not so oblivious to the fact.' They have witne~sed the' excesses and been involved in the complicaUons of their immorillity. In this oase the children whose companions had been sacrificed to Moloch looked on the horns of the altars with aversion and loathing. It was a memory of horrid cruelty never to be effaced. There is every reason to believo that the sin we- commit does not cease its work when its immediate outward effects take place. An ever deepening and ·widening circle of influence results. And, just as now it is impossible for us -to plead i,unoceni:e with so many proofa of our guilt staring us in the face, in the great day of judgment the secret sins will be set in the light of God's coutitetianoe, aurl . the thoughts and intents of the heart revealed. Our character will ·be our condemnation, and many witnesses will rise ou every side to swell its testimony. III. How NECESSARY, TOO, THAT TIIE PRINCIPLE OF SALVATION SilOULD IlE RADICAL AND TIIOROUGH ! 'fhe sinner neecls a saving power that can penetrate to his inmost nature, cleansing the conscience, rectifying the character, and making the weaknesses and defects created by sin a means of grace. And this fa supplied liy the gospel, which furnishes a new motive and principle to the character and " now law to the conduct. So profound is its effect that it may be said by the saved sinner, "Old things are passed away; behold, all things·are 'become new." It is as a character-power that tlrn "cross" asserts its pre-eminence over every other principle of reformation. There is nothing superficial, partial, or one~sided about it.-M.
Vers. 9, 10;-Heai·t mysteries and their Interpreter. The repudiation of his charges by Judah and Jerusalem lends the prophet to advert to the causes of this behaviom. They not only declare their innocence when guilty, but purst10 11fter unholy aims on the plea of serving God. Ho~ are ~uch ignorance and infatuation_ produced? The reply is that the nabural heart 1s deceitful and corrupt above cvcrythrng else. I. THE MYSTERY OF THE .HEART. 1. It is a "mystery of iniquity." The heart Is affected by what it contains. It is itself the greatest dupe nnd sufferer. Anti, baing so inextricably bound up with evil, it is involved in its uangcr auu judgmc11t, THE BOOK OF 'l'HE PROrm:T JEll~MIAl:t. (ctt. lMt. 1-27,