SERMON II.

THE CONVERSION OF MANASSEH.

2 CHRON. Xxxiii. 13.

Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God.

THE Bible records a brief history of a double race of kings-the kings of Israel and of Judah. Not one of the former was pious. Of the latter, several were mixed characters; some were eminently good, and others were notoriously wicked: Manasseh was one of the worst. It is not easy to conceive of greater excesses than those into which he fell. But he lived to regret them: his heart was penitent, and his subsequent conduct evinced that his repentance was sincere. Manasseh ranks among the most illustrious instances of the riches of Divine mercy, and the power of Divine grace.

An epitome of his history is contained in the two or three preceding verses, which we shall consider in connexion with the text:-" And the Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people; but they would not hearken. Wherefore the Lord brought upon them the captains of the host of the king of Assyria, which took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon. And

when he was in affliction he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. And prayed unto him, and he was entreated of him, and heard his supplication, and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord he was God." From this narrative observe,

I. That early advantages may be succeeded by

COMPLICATED SIN.

We infer the early advantages of Manasseh from the character of Hezekiah his father. He was a man of distinguished piety, of holy zeal and diligence. Such a father would doubtless be attentive to the welfare of his family, and exert his best efforts to train them up in the way of truth and righteousness. Zealous as he was for the revival of true religion in his kingdom, he certainly would feel peculiar solicitude for his son, who was to succeed him in the throne of Judah, and in all the influence of that elevated station.

Manasseh was not more than twelve years of age when his father was taken from him. It was a heavy affliction to lose so early the guide of his youth; yet already he had received much valuable instruction, and this must have been attended with some religious impressions: he had also his father's excellent example in immediate recollection, and the advice of his father's friends. But painful is the fact, he broke through every restraint, and rapidly sunk into the deepest degeneracy.

You will excuse the offensive detail of his crimes: it is enough to remark, they were a compound of idolatry, profaneness, cruelty, and presumption; while each of these was marked with circumstances of unnatural and atrocious aggravation. Nor was he left without admonition and rebuke in this career of wickedness:" The Lord spake to Manasseh, and to his people," who had been corrupted by his in

fluence; "but they would not hearken." His heart was "hardened through the deceitfulness of sin :" impenitence had degenerated into obstinacy; and nothing seemed more probable than speedy and final destruction.

Let us pause a moment, and ask-How is this awful defection to be accounted for? It proves, beyond a doubt, the extreme and total depravity of man. The atrocities of Manasseh were only the effect of an inward propensity to evil, secretly indulged, and permitted to prevail. He had received a good education; but instances are innumerable from which it is evident that something more is wanted to eradicate evil passions, and to fix and preserve right principles in the heart. Has it never occurred within your own observation, that the children of pious parents have turned out the very reverse of what might have been expected? Restrained for a time, they have been moral in their behaviour; but when such restraints have been removed, their true character has been developed, they have sunk into their element of sin; and have rushed forward in the practice of wickedness with the more violence, for having been subject to a temporary controul.

Let not parents, however, be discouraged: redouble your efforts, your admonitions, and prayers, and be assured they shall not be lost.-And, children, remember that you are accountable to God for all the privileges which you enjoy. If you disregard them, your guilt is unspeakably great. If you turn aside to folly against the high advantages with which you are favoured, your condemnation is just, and its weight is awfully aggravated.-Observe,

II. That sin is frequently the cause of SEVERE

AFFLICTION.

It was so in the instance before us. The Assyrians' were stirred up to invade the land of Judah,

and their hostile design was accomplished: :— "The captains of the host of the king of Assyria took Manasseh among the thorns, and bound him with fetters, and carried him to Babylon." What a reverse of condition! and what a visible recompence of daring impiety! The expression, he was taken "among thorns," is most likely to be understood literally; and it betrays the base timidity of this mana temper not uncommon to tyrants. It has often been found that men who in power have been most cruel, in danger have been the meanest cowards.But perhaps it is meant figuratively, and in this view it intimates perplexity and embarrassment: the guilty monarch of Judah, vanquished by his enemies, felt completely at a loss, and utterly unable to extricate himself. In this degraded situation, they took him prisoner, deprived him of his kingdom and glory, led him in chains to Babylon, and there confined him a wretched captive.

Now this, you recollect, was the result of his impiety; and surely it is instructive to us! "God is angry with the wicked every day;" and sooner or later his displeasure will be expressed. A man goes on in a course of sin, and some heavy affliction overtakes him gladly would he hide himself from severer punishment, but the effort is vain; it only involves him in greater confusion and distress. There is no concealment from the notice of the Almighty. Wherever we are, his eye beholds us, and his hand covers us: "the darkness and the light are both alike to him."

And who can tell the misery of sin! It is bondage itself, and it leads to thraldom still more degrading. The man who is bound with the fetters of his own lusts, becomes entangled yet more and more; his vices are strengthened by indulgence; they are rivetted faster by each repetition, and the grand adversary of souls takes him captive at his will. "The way of

transgressors is hard"-"The wages of sin is death." In every case of persevering provocation, and, alas! such cases are abundantly common: it is only of the Lord's mercy that the offender is not that the offender is not "driven away in his wickedness," and lost in the gulph of perdition. -But observe,

III. That affliction, when sanctified, excites to PRAYER, and promotes HUMILIATION.

This also was illustrated in the experience of Manasseh, and we perceive the commencement of a most wonderful change in his whole disposition and character:-"When he was in affliction, he besought the Lord his God, and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers."

But affliction does not necessarily produce these effects: some men are hardened by their trials: when "the hand of God presseth them sore," they discover the greater enmity against him. It is recorded of Ahaz, another of the kings of Judah, and the grandfather of Manasseh, that "in the time of his distress he did trespass yet more against the Lord." And in that place of torment reserved for the finally impenitent, there is no genuine contrition: "they gnaw their tongues for pain, and blaspheme the God of heaven, because of their pains, and their sores, and repent not of their deeds *.” All the energy of affliction to produce saving effects is derived from the influence of the Spirit of God. He works by means of affliction: he sanctifies adversity, and then it conduces to salvation.

As in the case before us: imprisonment gave Manasseh leisure to reflect; seclusion from his former connexions and pursuits would render reflection more free; he would think of his present degradation, his past wickedness, his future gloomy prospects: and

* 2 Chron. xxviii. 22. Rev. xvi, 10, 11.