made thee whole." There is no help for a man suffering under thirst, if he refuses to drink. So there is no help for the sinner, who refuses to receive Christ. The man, in the case supposed, as certainly dies of thirst, as if there was no water. So the sinner as certainly perishes, as if there was no Saviour, and no atonement. He perishes, however, under different circumstances, and all that is peculiar in his circumstances goes to aggravate his perdition. He perishes within sight and even within reach of the Saviour. If he would but look, he should live. His own perverseness destroys him. His obstinacy is his ruin. It is as if a man should lie down by a fountain to die of thirst. He dies under circumstances the most aggravating. So dies the sinner.

FAITH AND PRACTICE.

Men love to suppose that they are irresponsible for their faith that inclination has nothing to do in the matter, but evidence every thing. Ah, if it be so, how comes it to pass, that we so uniformly find the worst practice in connexion with the worst belief? If belief is decided altogether by evidence, how happens it that those who act most iniquitously, uniformly believe most erroneously? According to this theory, bad men ought to be found with as correct views as good men. I like

Christ's account: "Light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."

REPENTANCE.

No one denies that some sinners ought to be ashamed of themselves, as for example, liars, thieves, adulterers, adulteresses, hypocrites, the dishonest, the ungrateful, and many more. But I affirm that all sinners have reason to be ashamed of themselves, and that the course they all pursue is dishonorable and degrading. The blush equally as the tear becomes every sinner. To look back on the past with shame, no less than with sorrow, behooves him. If he have no cause to be ashamed before men, yet he has great cause to be ashamed before God. If we need not blush for our treatment of our fellow-creatures, yet ought we not to blush for our treatment of our God and Saviour? All true penitents do blush as well as weep. They are ashamed as well as grieved for the things they have done. Was it not so with the publican, who neither looked up, nor approached the place where those esteemed worthy worshippers stood? Was not Job ashamed, when he said, "Behold I am vile, what shall I answer thee?—I will lay mine hand upon my mouth -I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes"?

Hear Ezra too, "Oh my God, I am ashamed, and and blush to lift up my face to thee, my God; for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our trespass is grown up unto the heavens." Daniel said, "Oh, Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of face, because we have sinned against thee." Ezekiel, speaking of the repentance of Judah, says, "Then shalt thou remember thy ways, and be ashamed; and I will establish my covenant with thee, that thou mayest remember and be confounded, and never open thy mouth any more because of thy shame, when I am pacified towards thee, for all that thou hast done, saith the Lord God." And again, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways and your doings that were not good, and shall loathe yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and for your abominations. Not for your sakes, do I this, saith the Lord God, be it known unto you: be ashamed and confounded for your own ways, O house of Israel.” Paul also says, that his brethren to whom he writes, in Rom. vi, 21, are now ashamed of unprofitable things previously done by them. If the sense of shame for having sinned, be not felt now, it certainly will be hereafter. David in speaking of the resurrection says, "Some shall awake to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt." The sense of shame will be one ingredient in the perdition of the ungodly. There will be the burning blush, as well as the scalding tear.

"AND THE LORD TURNED AND LOOKED UPON PETER."

Its

He uttered no word-he made no sign-he simply looked the eye of the disciple met the eye of the Lord, and it was enough. I dare not attempt to describe what that countenance expressed, and what that steadfastly fixed eye conveyed. No language can set it forth-no pencil has power to represent it. It was not one simple expression. It was not reproof alone, nor was it all pity, nor all indigntion, nor all sorrow, but a mingling of many emotions into one compound expression. It chided, it convinced, it pitied, it lamented, it invited, it subdued. Peter understood its manifold meaning, and felt its mighty power. eloquence was irresistible. Its pathos pierced his very soul. It was a look of mild upbraiding: "Thou dost not know me, Peter!-me, thy Lord, whose glory thou sawest on the mount; whose sorrow thou didst witness in the garden. Didst thou not know me then? Was it not thou, that saidst a little while ago, that thou wast ready to lay down thy life for me?" It expressed a deep sense of injury. "And thou, Peter, art thou too among mine enemies?-hast thou also taken side against me?-did I deserve this at thy hands?" It was a look of compassion. It seemed to say, "Poor unhappy Peter, alas! what hast thou done?-how thou hast wounded thy own soul!—what work for repent

ance thou hast made!"

It did not indignantly repel

him. It did not say, "I disown thee, as thou hast done me. I cast thee off from me now, and I will deny thee before my Father." It seemed to say, "Notwithstanding thy perfidy, I have still a place left for thee in my heart, if thou wilt return to me. I will still own thee, though thou hast disowned me. Go and commune. with thy heart on what thou hast done." There was also power in that look of Christ. It convinced, it melted, it overcome him quite. Grace went with it to his heart. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord: (how astonishing that he should have forgotten it until now). The tender scene that had taken place in the communion chamber, his promises and his protestations, all rushed into his mind at once, and he went out and wept bitterly.

WHAT WE HOPE FOR.

Think not, ye whom God has called by his word and Spirit out of the community of the world, that the object of your vocation is mere service or mere suffering. It is true you are called to serve and to suffer, but you are also called to enjoy. Are you acquainted with the labors of your calling, and the trials of your calling, you should also know "the hope of your calling." Light is the task imposed upon you, and it is