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the tempter fled. So also shall he flee before us, if we oppose to the machinations of his evil designs the truths of the word of God. The plain and positive declarations, the clear and explicit rules, the strong and powerful motives, the rich and precious promises, the urgent encouragements which the scriptures supply; these, added to the numberless examples of their successful use against this very enemy of God and man, will enable us to perfect holiness in the fear of God: we shall resist the enemy, and he will flee from

us.

But be it remembered, that our resistance must be firm and constant. We have no permission to retreat before our foes. No armour is provided for the back of him, that yields to the violence or the subtlety of his enemies. The principle of the christian warrior is to press forward; and it is only while so pressing forward, that he can expect a blessing upon his exertions, or that victory will crown his conflicts. And hence arises the necessity for the concluding advice of the apostle, "Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance." Little will be the advantage of being armed with even the panoply of heaven, if our energy be not kept alive by the sustenance of prayer, and our faculties on the alert by the exercise of watchfulness. We ought to remember, that it is the armour of God;

and that, as it is his gift, so must he give us strength to wear it, and power to wield it. Powerless is the giant's strength, unless exerted in reliance upon the might of God; and irresistible the arm of the child, if lifted up in the power of his grace.

My brethren, are not ye the soldiers of Christ, going out under his banner, as ye have professed yourselves ready to do, going out under his banner, manfully to fight against sin, the world, and the devil? Seek earnestly for that armour with which he will gird you for the battle. "Take to you the whole armour of God: stand, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace. Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye may quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Praying always, with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints." Thus strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might, you shall at last be more than conquerors through him that hath loved us.

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SERMON V.

THE PRODIGAL SON.

LUKE XV. 21.

And the son said unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am more worthy to be called thy son.

THE object for which our blessed Saviour appeared upon earth was declared by himself in these terms: "The Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." We cannot trace the events of his life, without perceiving how all his actions tended to exhibit this grand purpose of his coming: and this same merciful love of the Father is the prevailing theme of his discourses; and is illustrated by many of his most beautiful parables. The chapter from which the text is taken contains three of these inimitable delineations of the compassion of God; in which the best feelings of our nature, and the most sacred ties of human affection, are employed

to give us some idea of that great love wherewith he has loved us. These parables appear to have been spoken, in answer to the unreasonable and uncharitable cavils of the pharisees and scribes, whose pride and bigotry were considerably offended, by the attention which Jesus paid to the publicans and sinners, who crowded to hear his doctrine. "This man receiveth sinners and eateth with them," was, in their opinion, a sufficient condemnation of the teaching, and a complete answer to the claims, of one, who could thus forget the dignity of the more exalted professors of religion, and seek for his followers and disciples, amid those who truly felt their need of his divine instruction. In order to show the folly of such absurd and exclusive notions, the Saviour justified the anxiety which he felt to bring back sinners to the path of holiness, by comparing that holy joy which the righteous ought to feel at the conversion of a sinner, to that sacred impulse of satisfaction, with which the same event would animate the hosts of heaven. He shows, in the two former parables of this chapter, from the feelings of human nature, that to seek and to save that which was lost, is a task which ought to engage the best affections of the heart; a task which excites the deepest interest, and calls forth the warmest sympathies of all those, who can best appreciate the value of the soul, or estimate the happiness to which the

gospel restores it. And then, in the parable before us, he displays the selfish and ungenerous motives of the scribes and pharisees; men, who, at the same time that they were themselves unwilling to enter into the kingdom of heaven, would hinder those who were anxious to avail themselves of its privileges. The harsh and unfeeling temper of the brother, who refused to welcome to the paternal home the penitent and pardoned wanderer, was evidently portrayed with a view to reform the spirit of pharisaic pride, and to show the injustice of the predominant opinion among the Jews, that they were alone God's people, and the children of his heritage; while to all the sons of Adam were equally proclaimed the glad tidings of the gospel, the good tidings of great joy which should be to all people.

It is not, however, upon this portion of the scope of this parable, that we intend to employ. our present meditations. Whatever of selfishness might have entered into the feelings of the pharisee or scribe, it is probable that the selfishness of the present time involves not the wish for the exclusive participation of spiritual blessings. The desire for the communication of them to others, generally accompanies the sense of our own enjoyment of the privileges of the gospel; and carelessness respecting the promulgation of the word of life arises, amongst ourselves, rather

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