4. We can, indeed, _return to the favour of God_, through the merits of the death of Christ; but every return from mortal sin is a revival from the dead, a special call back out of the state of transgression into which we have thrown ourselves, into the way of salvation. To obtain this we must _realize_ that we have sinned, _repent_, be sincerely sorry for what we have done, and _resolve_ never to do the same again. Then, and not till then, does God for Christ's sake forgive us. No repentance is sufficient that has not the character of recognition of the gravity of the offence, sorrow for having offended God, and sincere desire for amendment. When there is true repentance, then God _pardons the guilt_, but He does not remove the consequences of the act. The punishment must still be undergone. Thus, a man may have ruined his constitution by his excesses, or squandered his patrimony. He may bitterly deplore his sin, and sincerely resolve to avoid all occasions of sin for the future, but, though God on his true repentance blots out his iniquity, He does not restore robustness to his constitution, nor does He return to him his wasted patrimony. [Illustration] Fifth Saturday in Lent. _THE EFFECTS OF SIN._ (CONTINUED.) We will now further consider the effects of Sin, and these the particular effects. We live three lives; as we are made up of Body, Mind, and Soul, each has its special life. The Body lives an animal life, the Mind an intelligent life, and the Soul a spiritual life. Sin produces a disturbing and poisoning effect on all these lives. 1. _The life of the Body._ God made man healthy, vigorous, and immortal. The introduction of Sin into the world has produced disease, infirmity, and death. Sin is the cause of hard and exhausting toil, of the many hardships, privations, troubles to which we are exposed in this life, and it is the cause of the separation of soul and body in death, and of the corruption that ensues in the grave. Sin has a certain deteriorating effect on the body when indulged in, at all events those sins which are sins of the flesh, such as drunkenness, gluttony, sensuality. They bring their condemnation with them on the body that sins. 2. _The life of the Mind._ The true illumination of the mind is God. An intellectual life is willed by God. No man may lawfully neglect to cultivate his understanding by neglecting to acquire knowledge, or his reason, by neglecting to use his rational power. If man does, he sins, he is wasting a precious gift of God, and the light that is in him is darkened, he becomes a prey to superstition, ignorance, stupidity. The life of his mind becomes stunted and extinguished. Sin acts on the mind as well as on the body, it distorts its perception of the truth, narrows its view, and leads it to mistake falsehood for truth.