let righteousness spring up together; I the Lord have created it, (Isaiah, 45. 8.) After Sermon is sung part of PSALM XCII. BUT like the palm-tree flourishing shall be the righteous one : He shall like to the cedar that is in Lebanon. grow Those that within the house of God They shall grow up, and flourish all And in old age, when others fade, To show that upright is the Lord : And he from all unrighteousness Let us Pray. WE bless thee, O God, for the greatness of thy mercy, and the renewed opportunities afforded us of coming to thee as the God of mercy. Thou hast not cut us down as cumberers of the ground, but hast waited to be gracious, and art to-day calling unto us,-Turn ye, turn ye, from your evil ways, why will ways, why will ye die, O house of Israel ! We come to thee with all our sins and shortcomings, desiring that for thy Son's sake thou wouldest forgive us. We have not loved and served thee with all the heart and soul. Thou dost look for fruit from the vineyard thou hast planted. But largely we have been unfruitful, and have not abounded as we ought in works of faith and labours of love, and fruits meet for repent ance. Especially we have not sufficiently prized the day of sacred rest, thy house of prayer, and all the public ordinances of our holy religion. At times we have not remembered the day to keep it holy, but remembered it rather to thinking our own thoughts and doing our own pleasure. How seldom have we come up to thy house desiring to hear what God the Lord will speak, and with hearts thirsting for the living God. And how little of religion has there been in our families. How little of it, alas, in our daily life. How few faults amended! How few evil passions subdued! How few temptations overcome! How little fruit have we brought forth unto holiness. Enter not, we pray thee, into judgment with us. But take away all iniquity, and receive us graciously. Heal our backsliding, and love us freely; and let thine anger be turned away from us. We bless thee that thou hast provided a remedy for our unfruitfulness. And whilst thou art calling us to forsake sin and seek the Lord, may our response to thy call be prompt and cordial. May ours be no merely external reformation. But abandoning our evil ways, may we with heartfelt desire seek thy face, confessing and forsaking our sins. Search us, O God, and know our hearts, try us, and know our thoughts, and see if there be any wicked way in us and lead us in the way everlasting. Hear us for the sake of Jesus Christ thy well-beloved Son. Amen. Then is Sung part of PSALM LI.* Create a clean heart, Lord, renew Cast me not from thy sight, nor take with thy free Sp'rit me stay. And those that sinners are shall then be turned unto thee. O God, of my salvation God, me from blood-guiltiness Set free; then shall my tongue alou My closed lips, O Lord, by thee let them be opened; Then shall thy praises by my mouth abroad be published. Then is read 2 COR. VI. 14-vII. 12. 14 Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? *There is not usually now any interval in country congregations between the forenoon and afternoon service, but after the psalm is sung the preacher proceeds at once to give the second discourse. In many cases, indeed, the length of the service has been so much shortened as not to admit of two sermons. 15 And what concord hath Christ with Belial? or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel? 16 And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them; and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. 17 Wherefore, come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you, 18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty. VII.-12. 1. Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. 2 Receive us; we have wronged no man, we have corrupted no man, we have defrauded no man. 3 I speak not this to condemn you: for I have said this before, that ye are in our hearts to die and live with you. 4 Great is my boldness of speech toward you, great is my glorying of you: I am filled with comfort, I am exceeding joyful in all our tribulation. 5 For when we were come into Macedonia, our flesh had no rest, but we were troubled on every side: without were fightings, within were fears. 6 Nevertheless God, that comforteth those that are cast down, comforted us by the coming of Titus; 7 And not by his coming only, but by the consolation wherewith he was comforted in you, when he told us your earnest desire, your mourning, your fervent mind toward me; so that I rejoiced the more. 8 For though I made you sorry with a letter, I do not repent, though I did repent: for I perceive that the same epistle hath made you sorry, though it were but for a season. 9 Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to repentance: for ye were made sorry after a godly manner, that ye might receive damage by us in nothing. 10 For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of: but the sorrow of the world worketh death. 11 For behold this self-same thing, that ye sorrowed after a godly sort, what carefulness it wrought in you, yea, what clearing of yourselves, yea, what indignation, yea, what fear, yea, what vehement desire, yea, what zeal, yea, what revenge! In all things ye have approved yourselves to be clear in this matter. 12 Wherefore, though I wrote unto you, I did it not for his cause that had done the wrong, nor for his cause that suffered wrong, but that our care for you in the sight of God might appear unto you. SERMON :-REPENTANCE UNTO LIFE. Godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not to be repented of; but the sorrow of the world worketh death."-2 COR. vii. 10. The REPENTANCE is a duty conspicuously enjoined in the Word of God. John came preaching-"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." The Apostles everywhere delivered substantially the same message. Redeemer himself commenced his public ministry with the same call. The object of his coming was not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. And while he startled the self-righteous Pharisees with the declaration that unless they repented they would assuredly |