which the monarch and the people revelled? Here it is:"The Lord would not destroy Judah for David his servant's sake." (2 Kings viii. 19.) Still, time passes on. Hezekiah is on the throne, Jerusalem is besieged, the danger is appalling and seems inevitable. Why was it not destroyed? Here is the exposition :will defend the city to save it, for mine own sake and for my servant David's sake." Here, then, is a man, who in his day, notwithstanding some grievous criminalities, had in the main his heart right with God, made the ground of blessings to his countrymen ages after he had gone to sleep with his fathers. May not this be a striking example of an ever-operative principle in the Divine government? May it not be that God always blesses some on account of the excellences of others? For the sake of one good man, God might bless some men through all coming ages. Thus, the Eternal has the righteous in everlasting remembrance." They exist in His mind as reasons for the display of His mercy. The truth of the

text is seen—

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II. IN THE GOOD WHICH THE ALMIGHTY ACCOMPLISHES BY THEIR INSTRUMENTALITY THROUGH DISTANT TIMES. God

employs good men here to do good, ages after they have gone. First: The biography of good men He uses for the good of posterity. The holy lives. recorded in the Sacred Book are perpetual organs for usefulness. For many a century they have been doing the work of Heaven, and they will continue to do so until the end of time. Joseph, Moses, David, Peter, Paul-these are all in everlasting remembrance. And the memoirs of righteous men which abound in the religious literature of the world, continue to exert their high influence, and keep their heroes up from age to age in the minds of men. Though dead they yet speak. Secondly: The literary productions of good men He uses for the good of posterity. A book is a second incarnation of the man's self, a body in which he works after his flesh and blood has gone to corruption. Baxter, Bunyan, Watts, Wesley, are the representatives of untold numbers of righteous men who will continue, by their writings, to live in the memory of posterity; though dead they yet speak. The truth of the text is seen

III. IN THE CONNECTION OF THEIR LABORS WITH THE INDESTRUCTIBLE CONSCIOUSNESS OF MEN. Their labors,

whether successful or unsuccessful, will never be forgotten by those upon whom they have been employed. The saved and the lost will remember their counsels, their reproofs, their exhortations, their sermons, their prayers, for ever and ever. They burn like quenchless stars in the firmament of every soul they have endeaIvored to bless. From the deepest experience of all upon whom they have acted, their works will rise to memory as regularly and resistlessly as billows from the abyss of ocean. The truth of the text is seen

IV. IN THE BLESSINGS WHICH THE ALMIGHTY WILL IMPART TO THEM THROUGH ALL

ETERNITY. They will always be the objects of Divine thought and care, and out of the fulness of His love, will He continue to supply their wants

"While life and thought and being last, And immortality endure.'

The subject teaches (1) The immense value of a righteous man in society. His usefulness is as permanent as the stars. (2) The best method of achieving lasting fame. Men desire lasting fame. With some the desire is a passion. Usefulness alone can give it. He who saves one soul builds up a monument for himself that

shall stand for ever. (3) The infinite regard which God has for goodness. He endows it with immortal honor.

CONVERTING A SOUL.

"Brethren, if any of you do err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that be which converteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins."-James v. 19, 20.

FROM this verse observe two things.

I. A SOUL LOST BY ERROR "If any of you do err from the truth." Two things are implied in this expression:First: A safe antecedent state. That state is a non-erring from the truth, a harmony with the truth. What is it to be in conformity with the truth? (1) Our conceptions in harmony with its essentials (2) Our life in harmony with its spirit. This is to be in the truth, and to be thus in the truth is to be safe. The other thing implied here is:Secondly: A fearful possi bility. It is implied that a soul can fall from that state, can err from that truth; can bound away from that orbit. (1) This, man can do because he is moral. Had he not the power to do so, he could feel

nor esponsibility for his conduct. (2) Man has done so. Adam, David, Peter, &c. So indeed have angels that excel in strength. Many forces are at work here to drive men away from the truth,-reckless speculation, Church inconsistency, Satanic agency, worldly fascinations, &c. Another thing to observe here is

II. A SOUL SAVED BY MAN. "Let him know, that he which couverteth the sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall hide a multitude of sins." Three things are included in this language. First: That it is possible for man to convert a soul. This is most manifestly implied; when we say it is possible we mean (1) It is possible for a converted man to do so. A soul in error cannot lead into truth. Spiritual ignorance cannot enlighten. Carnality and worldliness cannot convert to Christ. The man himself must be a converted man to convert. No other has the qualification, no other will Heaven bless. (2) A converted man can only do so by the gracious agency of God. His power and sufficiency for the purpose are of God. This he feels in his work, and all success he ascribes lovingly and gratefully to his Maker.

Secondly: That the man who converts a soul accomplishes immense good. (1) He saves "a soul from death." What is the death of a soul? Not extinction of being, not cessation of consciousness, not the abrogation of responsibilities, but the loss of all that makes existence worth having. (2) "He hidesa multitude of sins -shall cover them over so that they shall not be seen. (1) The act causes the blotting out the iniquities of the converted. They are swept away clear from the sky of his soul. (2) The act prevents an unknown number of sins being committed. Had the soul remained in a state of error from the truth, what sins it would have committed.

(3) The act brings out an agency for the destruction of sin. The converted soul sets to work to convert others. Thirdly: That the immense good he accomplishes should be well considered by him. "Let him know it." "Let him know it," to cheer him amidst the discouragements of his labors, and to inspire him with persevering zeal. "Let him know it," in order that he may adore his allmerciful Creator, in employing him in a mission so transcendently glorious and beneficent.

HUMAN sinners surround us. We are with them-we are of them. Our acquaintance with them is a terrible reality. Of angelic sinners. we know nothing but what is revealed in the Holy Word, and in that Word we have a great deal concerning them; and the information is undoubtedly designed for our study, and our profit. We may mention a few of the things which we learn from the Divine Record concerning them. We learn

I. That they are the most ANCIENT sinners. They were the first transgressors of Heaven's eternal law. They sinned before man was created, and when his home perhaps lay in chaos. They were the first to break the moral harmony of the universe. Being the first sinners, two things strike our attention concerning them. First: The uniqueness of their circumstances. They had tempter. Adam had; so has his race ever since; so have we. But all the circumstances that surrounded them flowed in a mighty tide in favor of

no

our

virtue. They had no depraved propensities. All the descendants of Adam have, which account for their sinful conduct. All their propensities were in favor of holiness. The other thing that strikes attention concerning them is Secondly: The force of their freedom. Having neither an outward tempter nor an inward propensity to wrong, they must have risen up against all the external circumstances, and internal tendencies of their being. We learn

II.

most

That they are the INFLUENTIAL sinners.. First: They were the original introducers of sin to this world. They have a mighty leader, spoken of as the "Devil," "Satan," "Prince of this world," "the God of this world," "the Prince of the power of the air." He it was that appeared to our first parents in pristine innocency, and turned them from the true, the righteous and Divine. Secondly: They are the constant promoters of sin in this world. The principalities and powers of darkness under the direction of their tremendous leader, have been for six thousand years unremittingly engaged in promoting wickedness amongst men. They have a kingdom. here, and the vast populations

of the world have been, since the fall, and still are, their loyal subjects. They are terribly powerful. One of them has power to lead the world captive at his will. They can tempt men, men cannot tempt them. We learn

-

III. That they are the most INCORRIGIBLE sinners. Instances of man's conversion from sin are numerous, and ever multiplying. The greatest of human sinners have been changed Manasseh, Mary Magdalene, Saul of Tarsus, &c.; but we have no record of the conversion of one fallen angel; their character seems stereotyped. From age to age, century to century, millenium to millenium, they continue rebels against God, opponents to holiness, and enemies to the creation. Their incorrigibility shows two things. First: That intellectual knowledge cannot convert. They have intellects of vast capacity, they commenced their education under the immediate radiance of the Divine throne. They have studied God and His universe, both as innocent and as sinful beings. Their knowledge must be immense, yet they are unconverted. Ah! knowledge, alas, is all in vain. Do not dream of our little science and philosophy

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Their

ever converting men. incorrigibility shows:-Secondly: That an experience of the evil of sin cannot convert. There are some who say that men will get their moral evils one day corrected, as physical evils are corrected, by the experience of the evils of their mistakes. Angels have had experience of the evils of sin. They know what the wrath of God is, what hell is. They have felt it through many a rolling age, yet they are unreformed, more obdurate now perhaps than ever. Misery, like law and terrors, does but harm. We learn

IV. That they are the most MISERABLE of sinners. There are three things which indicate something of the extent of their misery-First: Contrast between their present and past condition. Our condition to-day, happy or otherwise, is greatly controlled by its felt relation to the past. The humble cot, furnished with the mere necessaries and common comforts of life, would make the homeless pauper happy, but the born lord of a mansion miserable; and that on account of the felt contrast between the past and the present. The original condition of angels was transcendently glorious and blessed

they were the morning stars of creation, the elder-born of

I