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read their Bibles, and many of them understand very wonderfully the doctrine of imputed righteousness; yet these have no conviction of righteousness. All awakened souls

read their Bibles very anxiously, with much prayer and weeping; and many of them seem to understand very clearly the truth that Christ is an all-sufficient righteousness; yet they tell us they cannot close with Christ-they cannot apply him to their own case. Again: the devils believe and tremble. The devil has plainly much knowledge of the Bible; and from the quotations he made to Christ, it is plain that he understood much of the work of redemption; and yet he is none the better for it—he only trembles and gnashes his teeth the more. Ah, my friends! if you have no more than head knowledge of Christ and his righteousness, you have no more than devils have-you have never been convinced of righteousness.

What is it?

Answer. It is a sense of the fitness and preciousness of Christ, as he is revealed in the Gospel.

1. I have said it is a sense of the preciousness of Christ, that you may see plainly that it is no imaginary feeling of Christ's beauty; that it is no seeing of Christ with the bodily eyes; that it is no mere knowledge of Christ and of his righteousness in the head, but a feeling of his preciousness in the heart. I before showed you that there is all the difference in the world between knowing a thing and feeling a thing-between having a knowledge of a thing, and having a sense of it. There is all the difference in the world between knowing that honey is sweet, and tasting that it is sweet, so as to have a sense of its sweetness. There is a great difference between knowing that a person is beautiful, and actually seeing, so as to have a present sense of the beauty of the person. There is a great difference between knowing that a glove will fit the hand, and putting it on, so as to have a sense of its fitness. Just so, brethren, there is all the difference in the world between having a head knowledge of Christ and of his righteousness, and having a heart feeling of his fitness and preciousness. The first may be acquired from flesh and blood, or from books; the second must come from the Spirit of God.

2. Again, I have said, it is a sense of the fitness of Christ. It is conceivable that a person may have a sense of Christ's preciousness, without having a sense of his fitness. Some awakened souls appear to feel that Christ is

very precious; and yet they dare not put on Christ: they seem to want a sense of his fitness to their case. They cry out: "O how precious a Saviour he is to all his people!" "O that I were one of his people! O that I were hidden in his bleeding side!" And yet they have no sense of his fitness to be their Saviour; they do not cry out: “He just fits my case!-he is the very Saviour for me!" For, if they felt this, they would be at peace-their lips would overflow with joy. But no; they dare not appropriate Christ. Now, then, conviction of righteousness is to have such a sense of Christ as leads us, without hesitation, to put on Christ; and that I have called a sense of his fitness.

It gives no comfort to know that Christ is a precious Saviour to others, unless I know that he is a precious Saviour to me. If the deluge is coming on-the windows of heaven opening, and the fountains of the great deep broken up-it gives me no peace to know that there is an ark for others, unless you tell me that it is an ark for me. You may tell me of Christ's righteousness for ever, and of the safety of all that are in him; but you must convince me that that righteousness answers me, and is offered to me, else I have no comfort. Now, this is what the Spirit does when he convinces of righteousness. This, and this only, is conviction of righteousness.

O brethren! it is no slight work of nature to persuade a soul, even an anxious soul, to put on Christ. If it were a natural work, then natural means might do it; but it is a supernatural work, and the hand of the Spirit must do it. Flesh and blood cannot reveal Christ unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. No man can call Jesus Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.

1. Let all unawakened persons see how far off they are from salvation. Many of you may be saying just now in your heart: It is quite true I am not at present a saved person; but I am not very far from the kingdom of God. I have just to repent and believe on Jesus, and then I am saved. Now, since this is so short and simple a matter, I may do it any time. I may enjoy the world and its pleasures a little longer; and then, when death or disease threatens me, it may be good time to become anxious. Now, all this argument proceeds upon a falsehood.

You think you are not far off from salvation; but, ah! my friend, you are as far from salvation as any one can be that is in the land of the living. There is only one case in which you

You are

(1.) In

could be farther from salvation, and that is in hell. as far from salvation as any one that is out of hell. my last discourse, I showed you that there must be a divine work upon your heart before you can repent. You may have much head knowledge of sin without the Spirit, but he only can convince you of sin. That Spirit is a sovereign Spirit. He is given to the children of God as often as they ask him; but he is not at the bidding of unconverted men. You cannot bid him come when you fall sick, or when you are going to die; or if you should bid him, he has nowhere promised to obey. (2.) And now, I wish you to see that there is a second divine work needful on your heart before you can believe. The Spirit must convince you of Christ's righteousness. Flesh and blood cannot reveal Christ unto you, but my Father which is in heaven. That God is a sovereign God. He hath upon whom he will have mercy. He is not at the bidding of unconverted men. He has nowhere promised to bring to Christ all whom he awakens. Oh! how plain that you are as far from salvation as any soul can be that is out of hell. And can you be easy when you are at such a distance from salvation? Can you go now, and sit down to a game of chance to while away the time between this and judgment? Can you go and laugh, and be merry in your sins? How truly, then, did Solomon say: "The laughter of fools is like the crackling of thorns under a pot" -a loud noise for a moment, then everlasting silence—a short blaze, and a dark eternity.

2. Some of you may be awakened by God.

mercy

to

(1.) Remember, unless you attain to conviction of righteousness, your conviction of sin will be all in vain. Remember, anxiety for the soul does not save the soul. Sailors in a shipwreck are very anxious. They cry much to God in prayers and tears; and yet, though they are anxious men, they are not saved men-the vessel goes pieces, and all are drowned. Travellers in a wilderness may be very anxious-their hearts may die within them; yet that does not show that they are safe-they may perish in the burning sands. So you are much afraid of the wrath of God, and it may be God has, in mercy, stirred up these anxieties in your bosom; but you are not yet saved unless you come to Christ all will be in vain. Many are convinced who are never converted. Many are now in hell who were once as anxious to escape as you.

The

(2.) Remember, God only can give you this. Spirit convinces of righteousness. It is not flesh and blood that can give you a sense of the preciousness of Christ. It is true, the Bible and preaching are the means through which God works this conviction. He always works through the truth– -never without the truth. If you be truly awakened I know how anxiously you will wait on these means-how you will search the Scriptures with tears, and lose no opportunity of hearing the preached Word. But still, the Bible and preaching are only means of themselvesthey can only make natural impressions on your mind. God only can make supernatural impressions. Cry to God, then.

(3.) But remember, God is a sovereign God. Do not cry to him to convert you, as if it were a debt he owed you. There is only one thing you can claim from God as a right, and that is a place in hell. If you think you have any claim on God, you are deceiving yourself. You are not yet convinced of sin. Lie at the feet of God as a Sovereign God-a God who owes you nothing but punishment. Lie at his feet as the God who alone can reveal

Christ unto you. Cry night and day that he would reveal Christ unto you that he would shine into your darkness, and give you the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ. One glimpse of that face will give you peace. It may be you shall be hid in the day of the

Lord's anger.

3. Some of you have come to Christ. Oh, what miracles of grace you are! Twice over you are saved by grace. When you were loathsome in your sins, and yet asleep, the Spirit awakened you. Thousands were sleeping beside you. He left thousands to perish, but awakened you. Again, Though awakened, you were as loathsome as ever : you were as vile in the sight of God as ever, only you dreaded hell. In some respects you were more wicked than the unawakened world around you. They would not come to Christ, because they felt no need. But you felt your need, yet would not come. You made God a liar more than they, yet God had mercy on you. He led you to Christ-convinced you of righteousness. So you are twice over saved by grace. "O to grace how great a debtor!" "What shall I render to the Lord for all his benefits? Will you not love him with all your heart? Will you not serve him with all you have? And when he says: Feed

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this poor orphan for my sake, will you not say: Lord, when I give for thee, it is more blessed to give than to receive?

Dundee, Feb. 11, 1837.

SERMON XLVI.

MY LORD, AND MY GOD.

"And after eight days again his disciples were within, and Thomas with them: then came Jesus, the doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said, Peace be unto you. Then saith he to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands, and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing. And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord, and my God."-JOHN xx. 26-28.

I. Lesson. When believers meet together, Jesus stands in the midst, and says: "Peace be unto you." "His disciples were within," &c.-Verse 26.

It was on the evening of the day in which Jesus rose from the dead that the disciples were assembled together. He had appeared unto Mary Magdalene, and unto Peter, and unto two of the disciples, on the way to Emmaus; and now they were met together to meditate, to wonder, to pray over these things, when Jesus stood in the midst, and said: "Peace be unto you." "Then were the disciples glad when they saw the Lord."

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Again: it was upon the same evening, a week after, that the disciples met again; and Jesus again revealed himself to them, saying: "Peace be unto you.' This was a fulfilment of the promise which he made long before: "Where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." And again he said: "Lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world." This promise has always been, and always will be, fulfilled. Jesus still loves the assembly of his saints. If you could look into the private history of Christians, you would find that

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