THE soul that has its thoughts fix'd upon God,—firmly relying upon God for help, upon its Maker for protection and countenance, thro' all the changes of this mortal life, is cer­tainly happy beyond any finite comprehension. The divine image, when grafted in the soul, ut­terly excludes all vain and ostentatious thoughts of our own sufficiency; a confidence in which would be inconsistent with the character of a Christian, as well as repugnant to the express command of God, given to the prophet, to de­base the creature, and exalt the Creator.

My mind has been not a little affected, while sitting in this meeting.—How unfit the very best [Page 4] of us are, to render our Maker meet and accept­able service, appears from that express command given to the prophet Isaiah, where the Lord says, cry; the prophet answers, what shall I cry. Cry that all flesh is grass, and all the goodliness there of as the flower of the field. The grass withereth and the flower [...]a [...]h: But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. That all flesh is grass and the goodliness thereof, is an awful truth: How short is the interval between the cradle and the tomb! If so, as most certainly it is, ought we not, my friends, to try diligently,—to try the sincerity of our faith, while here below; and live in a holy and reverential fear of that God, who, when he fees fit, can make the stoutest heart tremble? The fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wis­dom. The soul that truly relies upon God for help, let me say it, and that from a blessed ex­perience, it will find a present help in time of trouble. I know it, and therefore I can speak it. That love which passeth all understanding, and was so manifestly displayed in the redemption of mankind, has lost none of its efficacy; God is the same, yesterday, to day, and for ever; and if we sincerely look unto him for aid, renouncing all suffi­ciency of our own, and set our faces Sion ward (for there is no enjoyment here—to expect any thing else but disappointment, is to deceive our­selves. To think of real happiness, in a state of finite existence, is mere delusion,) I say, if we earnestly look up unto him, who is able and willing to save to the uttermost; we shall have that comfortable assurance, that one day or other, sooner or later, we shall be uninterruptedly hap­py: [Page 5] Sooner or later, my dear friends, we must all die: Death, when he comes, will make no distinction, he will sh [...]w no d [...]ence, but where his errand is, there will he execute it. H [...] have we seen an affectionate husband removed [...] an affectionate wife, an affectionate wife [...] husband! Methinks here [...] may be ready to say, ‘ah! [...] and how soon God only knows; yet I am not without hope, that my melancholy would, in some measure, be alle­viated by the dutifulness of my children.’ I wou'd it were so; and I am concerned to speak to you, youths,—that you would hear the com­mandment of the Lord, and render all due obe­dience to your parents,—that your days may be long in the land, which the Lord your God hath given you; let your readiness to obey, and your eagerness to execute their reasonable com­mands, be as a staff to their age, and as balm to their declining nature. Methinks the language of some parents has affected me very much; to hear them lament how disobedient and refrac­tory their children are. That since the time they had first the reins in their own Hands, and removed from under their governance, they have despis'd their counsels, and wou'd none of their reproof; and that if their commands were en­forced, till their children were constrained to an absolute compliance therewith; with what re­luctance they obey'd, and how tardy they wer [...] in performing so reasonable a service.

O! That youth would seriously consider, and render to their parents, the tribute of obedience; [Page 6] for this is well pleasing to the Lord: It will be for their present, as well as future welfare. The wise man saith, My son hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother, for they shall be an ornament of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck. The [...] of obedi­ence is better than all burnt-off [...]. The Lord saith of the house [...] Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jona­dab, your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you: Therefore, thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

This promise was in consequence of their o­bedience; and will not this same blessing descend upon the obedient, even in this our day? My dear friends, God is the same, yesterday, to day, and for ever▪ And oh! that his grace may be influential on all of us, ‘to will and to do of his good pleasure;’ on the other hand, where a child is stubborn and refractory to its Parents; such disobedience not only brings down with it the judgments of the Lord, but never can ad­mit peace of mind in this Life; much less can it afford you any reasonable hopes of happiness hereafter; for, ‘there is no peace saith my God to the wicked.’ ‘He that honoureth me, I will honour; and he that despiseth me, shall be lightly esteem'd:’ Nay, such is the Almighty's just abhorrence of disobedient children, that as a punishment to such, we real, ‘The eye that mocketh at his Father, and despiseth to obey his Mother, the Ravens of the valley shall [Page 7] pick it out, and the young Eagles shall eat it;’ whereas a life spent in a way conformable to the will and pleasure of the Almighty, will insure to us peace here, and obtain the plaudit of well done, when time shall be no more. How earnest­ly do I wish, that every youth, not only those who are more immediately under the tuition of their pare [...] but those who are arrived to ma­ture years, would consider this. My dear friends, to live in rebellion; is living in open defiance to God and his laws. There is no real, solid con­tentment to be had, but by living a life agreea­ble to the will of our heavenly father; who has promised, ‘that those who honour him, he will honour, and those that despise him, shall be lightly esteemed;’ and whoever thou art, who art any ways stubborn, obstinate and perverse to thy parents, let me tell thee,—Thou can'st never experience any real happiness, but from an entire subjection to the will of God. ‘Chil­dren obey your parents in the Lord,’ faith the apostle, 'for this is well pleasing to God.' O! how many youths are there, (I make no doubt, tho' I hope none within the audience of my voice,) who when their parents have rebuked them for their good, tho' with expressions of the utmost tenderness, have slighted or despised the reproof? How unseasonable have they reckoned the admonition! ‘I don't like to come till my present amusements are over,’ think they, ‘whatever be the consequence, I'll not quit my diversions till I see sit; my companions like it best, they will perhaps deride me, if I leave [...]em, therefore I am determined to enjoy the [Page 8] pleasures of sin for a season, come what will.’ If such is the case, as we have too much reason to fear it frequently is; the fault then does not lie in your tutors, but in yourselves. Tho' I have known many to blame others, when indeed the fault was really in themselves. O consider the shortness of life, and the certainty of death. ‘All flesh is grass, and all the goodness thereof is as the flower of the field, the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the goodness of God endureth forever.’ One day or other, we ‘must all appear before the awful judge of quick and dead, to answer for the deeds done in the body, whether they be good or whether they be evil;’ and O! that we may learn, every one of us, ‘so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom;’ then let us turn inward, and narrowly examine our ways, scrutinize tho­roughly into our own hearts, and see if every thing is right within; let us deny ourselves eve­ry gratification that wou'd, otherwise, divert our thoughts from that which is our highest good.—It is much to be wish'd, that all who really love their children, would endeavour, by all the means in their power, to cultivate their morals, and se­cure for them their immortal interests; to bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, (like one that I heard of, who, on his death­bed, very affectionately exhorted his children to make his God their God) and then you will have great reason to expect in them an useful and un­blamable conduct, through the whole course of their lives; thus by endeavouring to conduct their minds into an early knowledge of Christ, [Page 9] what a reciprocal advantage will it be from the one to the other? Every thing wou'd go on with that good harmony and understanding that it would visibly carry it's own reward along with it; there [...]uld be no more eye-servants, as men-pleasers, but all in singleness of heart, as unto Christ, ser­ving God, from the heart, every one cheerfully and willingly performing his duty, in the station whereunto it had pleased God to call them, and servants would become really valuable to their masters and mistresses. If God was in truth made the ultimate end of all our aims, the first and the last of each day's thoughts, what manner of per­sons shou'd we then be, in all holy conversation and godliness? None would be chargeable with purloining, or breach of trust in affairs commit­ted to their management, but every thing would be done in such a manner, as consists with know­ing that one day we must give an account.

Many I know are apt to complain, and say, the fault lies sometimes in their masters and mistres­ses; I grant it, but this is not a case so general as the contrary; I should rather suppose, good servants would make good masters. I would not be misunderstood, as laying the stress wholly up­on children and servants; but I would be under­stood thus, that while all act agreeably to their respective characters, and consistently with their duty, every thing they take in hand will undoubt­edly prosper; they will have joy in this life, and a comfortable assurance of a better one to come; for the God of heaven delights in such, they will die in his favour, and have the plaudit of ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant, thou hast [Page 10] been faithful over a little, thou shalt be made ruler over much.’ And now, my friends. I would speak to you all in an unlimited sense. Let us get above the delusive amusements of this world. Let us get as well through this [...] as we can, that we may arrive at those [...] ­joyments in store for us, which will yield a full and complete satisfaction. What can we think of the pleasures of this world, but that they are below the care of us who are born to so great ex­pectation? ‘All flesh is grass, and the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field.’ Thus must we think of innocent delights; they are frail, transitory, and uncertain: We are immortal.—The pleasures of this life, should not divert our attention from the one thing needful; these are unworthy objects of our desires; fit to be used, but too mean to be courted; proper for our di­version, but never good enough to become our business.

Let us, my brethren, earnestly set about the great work of our salvation while it is day. O! listen to that small still voice that whispers peace to the conscience! Don't let us refuse to obey the Lord any longer, or great will be our con­demnation: To live disrespectful and unmindful of an earthly parent, is certainly a temper of mind very different from that of a christian; and how much greater want of gratitude does it ar­gue, to live unmindful of that being, by whom we live and move, and have every blessing we en­joy? Shall I forget the God of my salvation? Shall I render him no expressions of thankful­ness? Yes, and my life shall [...]eak his praise in [Page 11] the language of devout obedience. My dear friends, it is very improbable I shall ever have an opportunity of seeing you, or any of you, again: Cleave unto the Lord, and serve him with a per­fect heart and willing mind, lest the Lord of hosts should swear in his wrath, that such abusers of his long-sufferings shall never enter into his rest.—Evil habits are soon apt to get rooted and ingrain'd in the disposition; by that means we contract as it were a familiarity with sin, and with Solomon's fools, learn to make a mock of it, till by degrees our consciences are hardened, and not to be touch'd by any soft impression: My fear is, that many of you, by a long course of wick­edness, have so accustomed yourselves to that which is sinful, that evil habits have grown in­sensibly upon you: Evil habits steal impercep­tibly upon us; to the truth of this, experience daily witnesses. With how much pain and un­easiness do men bring themselves to do the things, which in a little time, they glory and take pride [...], or at least grow easy and contented under; and so become like those of whom it is said, they have drunken up iniquity, as the ox drinketh up water.

My friends, the moment you give yourselves up to sin, you give yourselves out of your own power; you lay a restraint upon reason, and set the passions free: Upon the whole, there is great reason to fear, that sin, if once we indulge it, should get the better of and destroy our resoluti­on of repentance; and, Oh my friends! I wish you would reason calmly upon these things. Enter into this debate with your own hearts, and consi­der [Page 12] what danger you are in; a few moments can­not be too much to spend in so weighty an affair; and whenever you retire to these cool thoughts, may the father of mercies influence those mo­ments of your life, upon which all eternity de­pends: Most people are apt to say, "I have now such and such business to do, and will not bestow a serious thought upon religious matters until the morrow;"—when, alas! we know not whether we shall ever [...] the light of another day.—O! that all who love their own souls, would seek the Lord, while happily he may be found; before that day comes, when the hea­vens being as brass, and the earth as iron, shall be wrapt up like a scroll: We have had repeat­ed warnings, and that again and again, to repent­ance, to depart from sin, and Satan that grand and potent adversary of mankind. Let us ret [...]n unto our divine Lord, in whom is no variableness nor shadow of turning; he is an undivided foun­tain, thither let us repair: He giveth unto all men liberally, and upbraideth not; many and manifold are the blessings that God has in store for them that fear him. He who has fixed in his mind a just notion of God, will find his way to peace, be the darkness about him ever so thick. It is a great misfortune for a person to know much of religion, and little of God; such a person's reli­gion must either be his plague or his contempt; it must appear to him either ridiculous or terri­ble; and let him take it which way he will, he will find a terror in it at last. It is in vain there­fore to seek for satisfaction till we know God; till we can witness to our hearts, that we know him [Page 13] in whom we have trusted: This will make our religion become an holy and reverential fear, un­mixed with terror and confusion; it will make our knowledge in religious matters become a wisdom unto salvation, and preserve to us that true freedom of mind, to which, as well the scof­fers of the age, as the superstitious, are mere strangers.

And further, friends! don't let us entertain wrong notions of God; that is, don't let us con­sider him in his attribute of justice only, nor his darling one, that of mercy; but let us consider him as a God, who himself hath said, ‘I will vi­sit the iniquities of the fathers upon the chil­dren, unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, and will shew mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments.’ There are too many, now a days, who forget the plain parts of scripture, (of which there are enough for every man to pro­fit withal) and from a want of understanding the more obscure ones, are too apt to think irreve­rently of the Deity, and so grow entirely negli­gent with respect to the great work of their salva­tion.—But, my friends, the word of God is plain to every man who has the light of reason, ‘that without holiness, no man shall see the Lord;’ this is the foundation of all religion. Surely no one need be at a stand how to act with respect to God, his neighbour and himself. God has promised his assistance to all who en­deavour to serve him; and surely there can be no difficulty in understanding this. When we read, that all who in any manner injure their neigh­bours [Page 14] and fellow-creatures, shall perish everlast­ingly; we perceive that the crimes and the pu­nishments are so inseparably connected, that, being conscious of the crimes, we see no way to escape the punishment.

But, when on the other hand, we consider, ‘that unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall much be required;’ we are too apt to infer from thence, that unto whomsoever little is given, of him shall little be required; and so conclude, that all our imperfections, of what kind soever, are well secured; and so we think, who­ever errs, be it for want of understanding, or the outward means of knowledge, or through passion and prejudices, that such want the light, and are to be considered as those to whom little is given. I say, my friends, this is one way the lukewarm have to lull their consciences to sleep, as it were: But still conscience returns, and proves that they have had the light, in many instances in which they have been great offenders.—Surely, the state of such people plainly answers to our Lord's likening the kingdom of ‘Heaven to a man's travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods: And to one he gave five talents, to a­nother two, and to another one, to every man according to his particular ability, and straight­way took his journey. Then he that had re­ceived the five talents, went and traded with the same, and by a prudent management made them other five talents. And he that had re­ceived two, gained also other two. But he that received one, went and hid his Lord's ta­lent. [Page 15] And when their Lord came to reckon with them, he that had received five talents, came and said, Lord thou deliveredst unto me five talents; behold I have gained beside them five talents more. His Lord said, well done thou good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord. He that had received two talents, gained beside them other two:’ He likewise had the answer of, ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant, thou hast been faith­ful over a little, I will make thee ruler over much.’ But the other came, we are told, say­ing, ‘Lord, behold here is thy pound, which I have kept laid up in a napkin: For I feared thee, because thou art an austere man: Thou takest up that thou laidst not down, and reap­est that thou didst not sow.’ But his Lord's reply was, ‘Out of thine own mouth will I judge thee, thou wicked servant; thou knewest that I was an austere man, taking up that I laid not down, and reaping that I did not sow; where­fore then gavest not thou my money into the bank, that at my coming I might have required mine own with usury.’ Here then we see is no excuse;—it is in vain to plead ignorance, ‘for there is given unto every man, to profit withal.’ No one shall be condemned by a law he knew nothing of; every one shall stand or fall by the light that was given him; it being true of every action, what the apostle has affirmed of alms-gi­ving, ‘It shall be accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath [Page 16] not.’ Upon the whole, my friends, it appears from scripture, that every man hath the light of reason to direct him, knowing thus much, ‘That without holiness no man shall see the Lord.’—And since morality is founded upon that reason which is a common gift to mankind, every man must answer for the use of his reason: And there­fore where reason shews him the difference of good and evil, if he chooses the evil, he is with­out excuse. And since there is given unto every one to profit withal, let us instantly set about im­proving the talents that God has given us; nay, even tho' it were but one, for it shall be accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not: Neither let us, my friends, look with envy on those above us, who may be endowed with greater gifts than we; or contemp­tuously on those below us; but let each act up to the light of reason, which we have given us, and we shall do well. 'Tis an old received max­im, in my country, that evil thinkers are generally evil doers: And the case is so general indeed, every where, that methinks there needs not much to be said to prove it. I could wish, that all the difference amongst us, was only, which should live a life most consistent with the character of a christian.

I am concerned to admonish each and every of you, to seek the Lord while he may be found. ‘Let the wicked forsake his ways, and the un­righteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon him’. But then, my friends, we are [Page 17] not to plead any merit in ourselves, nor stand up, and, with a self-sufficient temper, think to vindicate or justify ourselves for our own righte­ousness, which is as filthy rags, and can stand us in no stead before the eyes of a perfectly pure and holy God. Oh friends! the day is coming, when all that is on the earth shall be as stubble: Then the scoffers, who mock at sin, and make their game of the serious and devout;—those, who, instead of giving all diligence to make their calling and election sure, have trampled upon the frequent admonitions given them to a better life; will wish they had employed their time to a bet­ter purpose.—But it will be too late!—For when once the master of the house has shut to the door, in vain we shall stand without and knock. Alas! are we not stupid? Are we not senseless to the last degree, to live thus in open rebellion against the best of beings, when, for ought we know, the next minute we may be call­ed, we may be summoned to appear, all guilty as we are, before an injured God, in whose presence no impure thing can enter? ‘Every man's work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it.’ There is no other way to secure to our­selves the favour of the Lord, but by a timely re­pentance; and repentance is the gift of God: Ask it of God, saying, we are unworthy servants, and he will give it you; he will send none away that thus come unto him, nay, he delights in such; don't let thy sins, tho' heinous as they may be, retard thee one moment from supplicating for mercy. Christ says, ‘I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance:’ He came [Page 18] 'to seek and to save that which was lost;' for as he saith himself. ‘what man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it? And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing. And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neigh­bours, saying unto them, rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost. I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in Hea­ven, over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons who need no repentance.’ So we see here is a promise of life everlasting, provided we repent: We have only to repent, and live. Oh▪ then, ‘let the wicked forsake his ways, and the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon him.’

The very end and design of Christ's coming, was to abolish sin, and bring in a new and com­plete satisfaction, a new and sufficient righteous­ness; which he did, by offering himself a ransom for sinners, and suffering in their stead, ‘that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.’

O! that there was, from this moment, ‘a death unto sin, and a new life unto righteousness.’—Finally, my brethren, since Christ Jesus has stood in the place of sinners, ‘has become sin for us, who knew no sin, that we may be made the righteousness of God in him▪’ Then let there [Page 19] be, from this moment, ‘a death unto sin, and a new life unto righteousness.’ Let us listen to the apostle's admonition. ‘Walk not in cham­bering and wantonness, in strife and envying, but put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.’ God has given us appetites, and made it part of our trial to govern and restrain them within their proper channels; and to in­dulge these appetites beyond measure, wou'd be the highest ingratitude to our heavenly benefac­tor. Let us look to the glory and immortality which is placed before us, the everlasting mansi­ons, prepared for those who serve their master in holiness and newness of life, and keep themselves unspotted from the world: Then, let us view the vast variety of temptations which are so apt to fix us down to this world, and interrupt all our hopes of a better.

From these considerations, what more power­ful arguments can there be imagined, to prevail with us, to abstain from fleshly lusts, than this; that ‘we are strangers and pilgrims on earth, and look for another, even an Heavenly habitation, whose builder and maker is God.’ Let us then instantly bid adieu to all unlawful, worldly de­lights, which are so apt to enslave and captivate the heart of man. Let us instantly set about the great work of our salvation, while it is day, that is, while we have the blessed opportunity. Let us say, with the apostle, ‘The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.’ Let us in­stantly beg of God, to ‘lead us into the way, the truth and the light.’ Oh! that his holy [Page 20] spirit may guide you into all truth. The scrip­ture saith, ‘It is God that worketh in us both to will and to do of his good pleasure.’ The a­postle positively renounceth all sufficiency of his own, he will have no merit imputed to the crea­ture; 'not I,' saith he, ‘but Christ that dwell­eth in me.’ All human accomplishments are no more than dross or dung, when compared to the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.

If there was really a thorough change in our natures; if there was really a longing, an earnest longing after God, what universal charity wou'd then abound among all ranks of people? Mi­nisters wou'd have that care and sincere love for their flock, as knowing that one day they must give an account. In short, my friends, were we to consider the great and almighty Being, as he really is, the Alpha and Omega, the First and the Last! I say, my friends, were we to make this God our ‘God, the First and the Last of each day's thought; what manner of persons should we then be in all holy conversation and godli­ness?’ Our lives would be such as would be­speak us ‘a peculiar, chosen people, zealous of good works.’

The day is hastening, when all that we see now, will be no more! Then let us secure to ourselves an everlasting inheritance; and inheri­tance among the first born, whose names are written in Heaven.

The day is hastening, when that awful doom will take place,—‘He that is holy, let him be holy still, and he that is filthy, let him be fil­thy still!’ This is an alarming thought, and well deserves our attention.

[Page 21] Methinks I am concerned to speak it again and again in your ears, that you all earnestly attend to the one thing needful; that you press forward towards the mark of the 'prize of our high-calling in Christ Jesus.' It will not do to be lukewarm, to be listless and careless in an affair of the utmost consequence, and especially since we know, ‘It is appointed unto all men once to die.’

Methinks it argues a depravity of understanding, as well as the greatest impiety, to make no provision for another world, whither we are all hastening.

Here is no abiding place.—Give all diligence, I beseech you, to secure to yourselves an interest in Christ, before that day come, when proclamation will be made, ‘That time shall be no more.’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all the goodli­ness thereof as the flower of the field. The grass wi­thereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.’ This was the prophet's declaration. Every thing relating to human life will cease, the world it­self will come to an end.

Be wise then betimes, lest that day come upon you when you think not, and in an hour when ye are not aware: O! 'buy the truth, and sell it not;' like the merchant our Lord speaks of, ‘who when he had found the costly pearl, the pearl of great price, he immediately sold all that he had,’ (he denied himself of every gratification that might otherwise divert his thoughts from that which was his chief­est good) that he might purchase that field where the inva­luable pearl lay.

Most men live as though they were never to die.

There is either a total neglect, or a general carelesness, with regard to spiritual things, in every thing they do; but this is certainly bad,—'tis shocking to the last degree, to live regardless of futurity; to live thus unmindful of that being who has set a day in the which he will judge the world! A tribunal, at which every created being must ap­pear, there to answer for the deeds done in the body! And, my friends, I will ask you this plain question: Is not this a matter that well deserves our attention? Is it not a con­sideration sufficient, of itself, to draw off our attention from the vain and trifling amusements of this transitory life, and engage ourselves in the pursuit of the one thing needful, the pearl of great price, which will visibly carry it's own re­ward along with it? The grave is the land where all things [Page 22] (of temporal concernment) are forgotten: Let us give all diligence to have our lamps trimmed, that if sickness should attack us, and death stare us in the face, we may say, with resignation, cheerfulness and triumph, ‘O death! where is thy sting? O grave! where is thy victory? All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof as the flower of the field, the grass withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth forever.’

Eternity is at hand, ‘behold he that cometh, will come; and will not tarry.’ Let our lives be such, that when our Lord comes to reckon with us, we may be able to render him a just and true account. And indeed by conducting ourselves in the path of religion and virtue, and where on­ly true joy is to be found, our lives will be influential of the lives of others: Example is better than precept, it would speak to them thus, 'you follow us, as we follow God.'

O that ministers might have a watchful care over their flocks! O, that their lives may be a transcript and pattern of what they teach. Finally, my brethren, let me advise you to live as becometh christians: There would be that harmony, that content and satisfaction, that the world's ap­plause cannot give, nor it's censure take away.

God has promised his peace to all who seek it: It is a peace which far surpasseth all human understanding. ‘My peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you’

But then, my dear friends, we can never expect this peace, if we live in a course of wickedness; for, ‘there is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked:’ ‘He that ho­noureth me, I will honour, and he that despiseth me shall be lightly esteemed.’ Neither must we content ourselves with thinking that by thus departing from the most enor­mous crimes, God will be thus satisfied. No, this is a mis­taken notion: God is not to be mocked; he saith, ‘My son, give me thine heart.’

There must be an utter destruction of Amaleck, or God is not satisfied, it is not doing our duty in part, that will avail us; we must give up every thing, every darling sin, that most easily besets us. ‘That for the fire to the fire, and that for the hammer to the hammer. God is of pu­rer eyes than to behold iniquity.’ He will not dwell in an unclean temple. Let us narrowly inspect into our ways, [Page 23] and scrutinize into our own hearts, and see if every thing be right within; and if so, it will be readily manifested by our lives and conversations. Oh! my friend, whoever thou art, that is within the audience of my voice, let me intreat thee to make God thy friend; for, after death, comes the judgment,—on each of us! I would also, that ministers give all diligence in their callings, for if we fall, we fall not alone. ‘Cry aloud, and spare not; tell my people their transgressions, and the house of Jacob their sins.’—Our business (as preachers) is to preach repentance to all, without respect to persons, ‘whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear.’ If we act counter to this, if we, for fear of it's hurting our temporal concerns, ne­glect to preach with that plainness that ought ever to dis­tinguish a gospel minister,—Let me tell thee, whoever thou art, that neglectest to strike at the root of sin, and dost thy duty but in part, thou wilt receive Saul's condemna­tion; who, notwithstanding his express order from God, was to make an utter destruction of Amaleck, yet spared what was best, agreeable to his own fond inclination: we read, he saved the best of the sheep and oxen, and Agag.

But, however merciful this may appear, in Saul's spar­ing Agag, his foolish pity and compassion to the captive king, was ill timed, when God's will was otherwise. I don't want to go through with every proof that could be brought in support of what I have been endeavouring to enforce: Let us only act agreeable to the will and pleasure of our maker, and what he orders to be done, to do it with cheerfulness and alacrity as unto a faithful Creator. I can say truly, that he who th [...]s approves himself, is worthy of all honour. Finally, my brethren, let us instantly sacrifice every darling sin that may seem to stand in our way to glo­ry. Let us give up every thing;—'that for the fire to the fire, and that for the hammer to the hammer.' Don't be drudges to the Devil any longer. Hard task-masters, sin and Satan are: But our God, whom we serve, is no au­stere nor hard master. His unbounded mercy hath in this our day lost none of it's efficacy; he requireth nothing without giving suitable abilities.

O! that we may all gather the manna, the blessed man­na, the which he who eateth shall even live thereby. Let me utter it in your ears again and again, ‘All flesh is grass, and all the goodliness thereof, as the flower of the field; [Page 24] the gr [...] withereth, and the flower fadeth, but the word of the Lord endureth for ever.’ Let me exhort every one of you, with a heart full of compassion, that you seek the Lord while he may be found; and before that time come, when these blessed opportunities, which we now have, for repentance and reconciliation, will be offered no more.