Ten more years have passed. It is now 1718; Ebenezer Erskine is
thirty-eight. Filled with concern for the souls of his people at
Portmoak, he preaches a sermon on the text that had played so great a
part in bringing his own spirit out of bondage.
'_I am the Lord thy God!_'
'_I am the Lord thy God!_'
As he preaches, the memory of his own experience rushes back upon him.
His soul catches fire. He is one moment persuasive and the next
peremptory. No sermon that he ever preached made a greater impression on
his congregation; and, when it was printed, it proved to be the most
effective and fruitful of all his publications.