repents. Every one has at different times felt regret at something that he has done; has made confession; has resolved to do so no more; has turned from the evil course. This is repentance; and no one in such a case has resorted to any plea that it was impossible or that it was unreasonable. It is only in religion that we hear that it is unreasonable, and that it is beyond a man's power. But why should it be there more than elsewhere? Why easy any where else; why impossible there? The answer is simple. It is, that men wish to find an excuse for not repenting; and regardless of any reflections on the character of their Maker, rather than forsake their sins, they charge him with requiring that which is impossible, and coolly say that they have no power to obey his commands. Every where else it is easy in their view to repent, here they say it is impossible, and is only to be done by the Almighty power of God. 4. It is the sinner who is to repent. It is not God who is to repent for him-for God has done no wrong. It is not the Saviour who is to repent for him-for he has violated no law. It is not the Holy Spirit that is to repentfor how can that blessed Agent feel sorrow, and why should he? My impenitent friend, it is your own mind that is to repent; your own heart that is to feel regret; your own feet that are to be turned from the evil way; your own lips that are to make confession. I know that if ever done it will be by the aid of God the Holy Ghost; but I know also that YOU ARE YOURSELF to be the penitent, and that this is a work that cannot be done by another. That very heart that has sinned must feel; those very eyes that have looked with delight on forbidden objects must weep; and those lips that have been false, profane, or impure, must make confession. I will add here, that God is willing to impart to you all the grace which is needful to enable you to repent if you are willing, for he has "exalted Christ Jesus to give repentance and the remission of sins." With his offered and promised grace you can never allege before him that repentance was wholly put beyond your power. 5. Finally, it is right and proper to call on men to repent of their sins. If they repent when they have wronged a friend, or violated the laws of a parent; if repentance is an operation of mind with which all are familiar; if it is not beyond the proper reach of the human faculties; and if the sinner himself is actually to feel sorrow and make confession, and if you have in fact violated the law of God, then it is right to call on you to repent at once. This command, then, I lay across your path to-day, and call on you to repent of all your sins, and to make confession unto God. It is a command reasonable, proper, easy, imperative;-and I end as I began by saying that it is as positive as any other in the Bible; that it is simple and easily understood; that it is addressed to all, and that there are no exceptions made in favor of the great, the learned, the honored, the gay, the amiable, the moral. We shall all alike die; and when we come to die it will be one of the sincerest wishes of our souls that we had honestly yielded obedience to ALL the commands of God; one of the sincerest wishes of our hearts that we had confessed and forsaken our sins before we were called to stand at the awful bar of our final Judge. SERMON X. SALVATION EASY. Matthew xi. 30. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. ALL religion, like virtue of all kinds, implies restraint. The Saviour did not come to institute a religion that would be without law, or that would give unrestrained indulgence to the passions. He did not come to establish a religion where there would be no burden to be borne, no cross to be taken up. He speaks, therefore, in the text, of his religion as a yoke'-the emblem of restraint; of a burden'-the emblem of obligation, implying that there were duties to be discharged and conditions of salvation to be complied with. But he says that the one was easy,' the other light.' Compared with the heavy yoke of Jewish rites and ceremonies, (Acts xv. 10;) compared with the oppressive burdens of the heathen systems of religion every where; and compared with the yoke which fashion, and ambition, and corrupt passions impose on their votaries every where, the yoke which he required his followers to bear was easy, and the burden light. It was not a hard thing to be a Christian; it was not difficult to be saved. In illustrating this truth, my object will be, 6 I. To show that salvation is easy; and I. Salvation is made easy for mankind. I know that this proposition is one that will not be conceded to be true by all men. It stands opposed to many feelings of the human heart, as well as to some sentiments maintained by a part of the Christian world. It is not introduced here for controversy, nor will my discussion of it be pursued for purposes of debate, but with reference to some prevalent feelings in the minds of men. It is felt by many to whom we preach, thât salvation is difficult, or wholly impracticable for them. The feeling assumes a great variety of forms, for the existence of which we have only to appeal to your consciousness. It is felt by some that God has provided no salvation for a large part of the human family; or that the Holy Spirit strives with only a part of the race; or that God is insincere in his offers of salvation; or that he has determined by unalterable decree those who shall, and those who shall not be saved; or that man has no power to repent or believe, and that should he put forth all possible efforts, they would be utterly fruitless. At one time an impenetrable obscurity seems to rest on the whole subject of religion, and the mind of the sinner is in thick darkness; at another he feels that his sins are so strong that he has no power to overcome them; at another that some invisible power thwarts all his efforts and blasts all his purposes; and at another that salvation resembles some object in heaven to be brought down like bringing Christ again from the skies, or is like crossing the mighty deep to seek for it on a pilgrimage in the dreariness of a distant land. It is this feeling which I wish to meet in defence of the proposition derived from our text, that salvation is easy. There are three considerations which I trust will make it clear; or three sources of argument to which I shall refer you. (1.) The first is, that such is the express testimony of the Bible. To this I appeal as perfectly plain on the point, and as meeting all the difficulties which are felt in the case. I appeal to the following passage, the very design of which is to state this truth with the utmost explicitness. "The righteousness which is of faith," or the plan of salvation in the gospel, "speaketh in this wise, say not in thine heart, who shall ascend into heaven? that is, to bring Christ down from above; or, who shall descend into the deep? that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead. But what saith it? The word is nigh thee, even in thy mouth and in thy heart, that is, the word of faith which we preach; that if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thy heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." Rom. x. 6-9. The meaning is, the Christian religion does not require us to ascend into heaven -to perform an impossible work like going up to the throne of God, and bringing the Mediator down. It does not require us to go into the abyss, the grave, the regions of departed souls, and perform a work like raising a man from the dead. It demands an easier task-one that lies within the proper exercise of human power. It demands, says Paul, simply a confession with the mouth of the Lord Jesus, and a belief in the heart that God raised him from the dead. And is this all, and is it then an erroneous inference, that Paul meant to teach that salvation is easy; that it demands no impracticable thing, and nothing which lies beyond the proper compass of human responsibility? I appeal, in further confirmation of this position, to the following plain declarations of the Bible. "Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters; and he that hath no money; come ye, buy and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money, and without price. Incline your ear, and come unto me; hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David." Isa. lv. 1. 3.Is it impossible to incline the ear and hear? To come and buy?" Behold," said the Saviour, "I stand at the door and knock if any man will hear my voice, and open. the door, I will come in to him and sup with him, and he with me." Rev. iii. 20.-Is it impossible for a man to open his door for a friend, or for a stranger? “And the Spirit and the bride say, come. And let him that heareth say, come. And let him that is athirst, come: and whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely." Rev. xxii. 17.—Is it impossible for the thirsty to drink at a running fountain? "Come unto me," said the Redeemer, "all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. My yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matth. xi. 28-30. "In the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If any man thirst, let him come unto me and drink." John vii. 37. These passages, it will at once occur to you, are but a specimen of the language of the Scripture on the subject, and the meaning of such language cannot be mistaken. It is as far as possible from any representation that the provisions of salvation are limited in their nature or design; or that man is incapacitated from embracing the offer; or that there are, from any cause whatever, insuperable obstacles to his salvation. If there are |