tenderness, zeal, and prudence. And I beg your diligent attention, while I lay before you a few hints with regard to each, by which you may judge the better, both of your state and your duty.

Examine then, I entreat you, the temper of your heart, with regard to the blessed God. Do you find there a reverential fear, and a supreme love and veneration for his incomparable excellencies, a desire after him as the highest good, and a cordial gratitude towards him as your supreme Benefactor? Can you trust his care? Can you credit his testimony? Do you desire to pay an unreserved obedience to all that he commands, and a humble submission to all the disposals of his providence? Do you design his glory as your noblest end, and make it the great business of your life to approve yourself to him? Is it your governing care to imitate him, and to " him in spirit and in truth?" (John iv. 24.)

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Faith in Christ I have aiready described at large; and therefore shall say nothing farther, either of that persuasion of his power and grace, which is the great foundation of it; or of that acceptance of Christ under all his characters, or that surrender of the soul into his hands, in which its peculiar and distinguishing nature

consists.

If this faith in Christ be sincere, it will undoubtedly produce a love to him; which will express itself in affectionate thoughts of him; in secret fidelity to him; in a careful observation of his commands; in a regard to his Spirit, to his friends, and to his interests; in a reverence to the memorials of his dying love, which he has instituted; and in an ardent desire after that heavenly world where he dwells, and where he will at length "have all his people to dwell with him." (John xvii. 24.)

I may add, agreeably to the word of God, that thus believing in Christ, and loving him, you will also rejoice in him; in his glorious design, and in his complete fitness to accomplish it; in the promises of his word, and in the privileges of his people. It will be matter of joy to you, that such a Redeemer has appeared in this world of ours; and your joy for yourselves will be proportionable

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to the degree of clearness with which you discern your interest in him, and relation to him.

Let me farther lead you into some reflections on the temper of your heart towards the blessed Spirit. If we have not the Spirit of Christ, we are none of his; (Rom. viii. 9.) if we are not led by the Spirit of God, we are not the children of God. (ver. 14.) You will then, if you are a real Christian, desire that you may "be filled with the Spirit;" (Eph. v. 18.) that you may have every power of your soul subject to his authority; that his agency on your heart be more constant, more operative, and more delightful. And, to cherish these sacred influences, you will often have recourse to serious consideration and meditation: you will abstain from those sins which tend to grieve him: you will improve the tender seasons, in which he seems to breathe upon your soul: you will strive earnestly with God in prayer, that you may have him shed on you still more abundantly, through Jesus Christ: (Tit. iii. 6.) and you will be desirous to fall in with the great end of his mission, which was to "glorify Christ," (John xvi. 14.) and to establish his kingdom.-You will desire his influences as the Spirit of adoption, to render your acts of worship free and affectionate, your obedience vigorous, your sorrow for sin overflowing and tender, your resigna tion meek, and your love ardent; in a word, to carry you through life and death, with the temper of a child who delights in his father, and who longs for his more immediate presence.

Once more, If you are a Christian indeed, you will be desirous to obtain the spirit of courage. Amidst all that humility of soul to which you will be formed, you will wish to commence a hero in the cause of Christ; opposing with a vigorous resolution the strongest efforts of the powers of darkness, the inward corruption of your own heart, and all the outward difficulties you may meet with in the way of your duty, while in the cause and in the strength of Christ you go on conquering and to conquer.

All these things may be considered as branches of god. liness; of that godliness which is profitable unto all things,

and hath "the promise of the life which now is, and of that which is to come." (1 Tim. iv. 8.)

Let me now farther lay before you some branches of the Christian temper, which relate more immediately to ourselves. And here, if you are a Christian indeed, you will undoubtedly prefer the soul to the body, and things eternal to those that are temporal. Conscious of the dignity and value of your immortal part, you will come to a firm resolution to secure its happiness, whatever is to be resigned, whatever is to be endured in that view.-If you are a real Christian, you will be also "clothed with humility." (1 Pet. v. 5.) You will have a deep sense of your own imperfections, both natural and moral; of the short extent of your knowledge; of the uncertainty and weakness of your resolutions; and of your continual dependence upon God, and upon almost every thing about you. And especially, you will be deeply sensible of your guilt; the remembrance of which will fill you with shame and confusion, even when you have some reason to hope it is forgiven. This will forbid all haughtiness and insolence in your behaviour to your fellow-creatures. It will teach you, under afflictive providences, with all holy submission to bear the indignation of the Lord, as those that know they "have sinned against him." (Micah vii. 9.) Again, If you are a Christian indeed, you will labour after purity of soul, and maintain a fixed abhorrence of all prohibited sensual indulgence. A recollection of past impurities will fill you with shame and grief; and you will endeavour for the future to guard your thoughts and desires, as well as your words and actions, and to abstain, not only from the commission of evil, but from the distant appearance and probable occasions of it; (1 Thess. v. 22.) as conscious of the perfect holiness of that God with whom you converse, and of the purifying nature of that hope, (1 John iii. 3.) which by his gospel he hath taught you to entertain.

With this is nearly allied, that amiable virtue of temperance, which will teach you to guard against such a use of meats and drinks as indisposes the body for the service of the soul; or such an indulgence in either, as

will rob you of that precious jewel your time, or occasion an expense beyond what your circumstances will admit; and beyond what will consist with that liberality to the poor, which your relation and theirs to God and each other will require. In short, you will guard against whatever has a tendency to increase a sensual disposition, against whatever would alienate the soul from communion with God, and would diminish its zeal and activity in his service.

The divine philosophy of the blessed Jesus will also teach you a contented temper. It will moderate your desires of those worldly enjoyments, after which many feel such an insatiable thirst, ever growing with indulgence and success. You will guard against an immoderate care about those things, which would lead you into a forgetfulness of your heavenly inheritance. If Providence disappoint your undertakings, you will submit; if others be more prosperous, you will not envy them, but rather will be thankful for what God is pleased to bestow upon them, as well as for what he gives you. No unlawful methods will be used, to alter your present condition, and whatever it is, you will endeavour to make the best of it; remembering, it is what infinite wisdom and goodness have appointed you, and that is beyond all comparison better than you have deserved; yea, that the very deficiences and inconveniences of it may conduce to the improvement of your future and complete happiness.

With contentment, if you are a disciple of Christ, you will join patience too, and "in patience will possess your soul." (Luke xxi. 19.) You cannot indeed be quite insensible either of afflictions or injuries; but your mind will be calm and composed under them, and steady in the prosecution of proper duty, though afflictions press, and though your hopes, your dearest hopes and prospects, be delayed. Patience will prevent hasty and rash conclusions, and fortify you against seeking irregular methods of relief; disposing you in the mean time, till God shall be pleased to appear for you, to go on steadily in the way of your duty; "committing yourself to him in welldoing." (1 Pet. iv. 19.) You will also be careful, that

"patience may have its perfect work," (James i. 4.) and prevail in proportion to those circumstances which demand its peculiar exercise. For instance, when the successions of evil are long and various, so that deep calls to deep, and all God's waves and billows seem to be going over you one after another; (Psalın xlii. 7.) when God touches you in the most tender part; when the reasons of his conduct to you are quite unaccountable; when your natural spirits are weak and decayed; when unlawful methods of redress seem near and easy; still your reverence for the will of your heavenly Father will carry it against all, and keep you waiting quietly for deliverance in his own time and way.

N. B. If this chapter seem too long to be read at once, it may properly be divided here.

I have thus led you into a brief review of the Christian temper, with respect to God and ourselves: permit me now to add, that the gospel will teach you another set of very important lessons with respect to your fellowcreatures. They all are summed up in this, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself; (Rom. xiii. 9.) and "whatsoever thou wouldst, (that is, whatsoever thou coulds! in an exchange of circumstances fairly and reasonably desire) that others should do unto thee, do thou likewise the same unto them.” (Matt. vii. 12.) The religion of the blessed Jesus, when it triumphs in your soul, will conquer the predominancy of an irregular self-love, and will teach you candidly and tenderly to look upon your neighbour as another self. As you are sensible of your own rights, you will be sensible of his as you support your own character, you will support his. You will desire his welfare, and be ready to relieve his necessity, as you would have your own consulted by another. You will put the kindest construction upon his dubious words and actions. You will take pleasure in his happiness, you will feel his distress, in some measure as your own. And most happy will you be, when this obvious rule is familiar to your mind, when this golden law is writter upon your heart; and when it is habitually and

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