which so much zeal is exhibited, and that the good intention of the Contributors of the Sermons will be liberally seconded both by those who are most interested and by the Public at large. They will add no more, except a sincere prayer that HE who has promised that his word shall not return unto him void, but prosper in the thing whereto he sent it, would make this Volume, so far as its contents are agreeable to his revealed Will, the instrument of spiritual as well as temporal benefit; so that by means of it many may be recovered from the effects of that sad moral Catastrophe in which all mankind were involved, and, being built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with JESUS CHRIST himself for the chief corner stone, may grow up unto an holy temple in the Lord,-an habitation of God through the Spirit. LEEDS, MAY 21, 1839. SERMON V. The Christian's Sandals : Page 88. THE REV. JAMES CLARKE FRANKS, M.A. SERMON VI. Public Indignation against Crimes : THE REV. JOHN SINCLAIR, M. A. SERMON VII. The Goodness of God leading to Repentance; Page 131. THE REV. RALPH LYON, D.D. HEAD MASTER OF SHERBORNE GRAMMAR SCHOOL. SERMON VIII. A Practical View of the Trinity THE REV. JOHN HOLROYD, M. A. SERMON IX. Christ seeking the Lost: THE REV. WILLIAM SIN CLAIR, M. A. MINISTER OF ST. GEORGE'S CHURCH, LEEDS. SERMON I. ON THE NATURE AND EFFECTS OF SAVING FAITH GALATIANS, v. 6. "In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth any thing, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love." THE institution of ceremonial rites and positive ordinances in religion has been sanctioned by Divine authority, as a means, not only of imparting to the Church the precious communications of heavenly grace, but also of recalling its members periodically to a closer consideration of those higher interests which are in such danger of being overlooked amidst the unceasing distractions of the world. Yet, valuable as they are in this point of view, when thus limited to their own proper sphere of B application, experience convinces us that there is a danger of their usurping an importance with which it was never intended to invest them. Mankind are in this instance too willing to mistake the means for the end; to grasp the shadow and persuade themselves that they possess the substance; to uphold, perhaps with the most scrupulous rigor, the forms by which devotion may be assisted, and to imagine that this affords sufficient evidence of their possessing the spirit itself of religion; to 'substitute outward observances for inward amendment and reformation. The motive for this self-delusion is too manifest; it is compatible with a continuance in known sin: and there are many, we fear, who live on under the influence of this fatal error, with a sort of vague conception that their punctual compliance with appointed ceremonies will atone, in some degree at least, for their deficiences in other respects; and that, though the heart be not under the control of the Spirit of God, they may plead what they are willing to estimate a meritorious exertion as an offset |