Him. God is, as you have heard, infinitely worthy of these affections and exercises of our minds. We can never exceed in them, while they do not overwhelm our faculties. And without feeling them in some measure, we can never glorify Him at all.

3. God is to be glorified by obeying his laws, and keeping all his commandments. Without this, indeed, all our professions of honouring, or delighting in Him, will be but vile hypocrisy, or wretched delusion. "If ye love me keep my commandments"— was the injunction of the Saviour; and it is the test by which all our avowed regard to the honour and glory of God must be tried.

4. And especially-If we would glorify God, we must be reconciled to him through Jesus Christ his Son, our Saviour. We must accept of Christ as he is offered in the gospel; rely on him alone for our acceptance with God; know the power of the Holy Spirit, the Sanctifier, in forming us into the likeness of Christ; and always approach the Father of mercies, through the mediation of the Redeemer, by the aids and influence of the blessed Spirit. It is in the work of redemption by Christ, that it is the purpose of God to glorify Himself, more than in all his other works: and it is utterly vain to think of glorifying Him, if we do not humbly and thankfully receive Christ for all the purposes for which he was given; and do not see and admire the glory of God, as it shines transcendently in the great work of our redemption.

But we are to enjoy God, as well as to glorify him

1. By choosing him as the portion of our souls, and seeking and finding our highest happiness in Him. "Whom have I in heaven but thee, and there is none on earth that I desire beside thee"-was the language of holy Asaph-and every holy soul that has ever lived, has known, that in communion with God, in a consciousness of his love and favour, and in the expectation of enjoying his blissful presence for ever,

there is a present enjoyment, unspeakably greater than all the delights of sense, or than all that the pleasures of mere intellect can ever afford.

2. God is enjoyed, as well as honoured, by trusting him. It is equally the privilege, the duty, and the comfort, of every child of God, to trust Him without reserve, and with unshaken confidence. "We know that all things work together for good, to them that love God." But only those who have experienced it, can know what a consolation and satisfaction there is, in an assured belief that every present and every future event, will be ordered by an Almighty, and an infinitely wise and good Being-and ordered for the greatest good of the soul, that has a covenant interest in his friendship and faithfulness. But,

3. God is to be enjoyed perfectly and eternally, by all who make the glorifying and enjoying of Him their chief end. This is expressly stated, in the answer we consider, as that at which we ought constantly to aim. The present is but the bud of beingthe smallest part, the incipient stage of our existence. Time, in comparison with eternity, is as nothing. We ought, therefore, to renounce every temporal gratification and pleasure that is inconsistent with preparation for a happy eternity; and to disregard all pain, and privation, and suffering, which we may be called to endure, in making such preparation-in performing duty, or in showing resignation to the will of God. Heaven is, indeed, in all cases begun on earth. The temper that qualifies for heaven must be implanted here; and a foretaste of its joys is, in some measure, known by every Christian believer. But in his present state, all is imperfect, broken, and of short duration. Soon, however, he will escape from this state of trial, pass beyond the reach of all his enemies, rise an immaculate spirit to the presence of his Saviourthe bosom of his God-and there he will enjoy an interminable existence, in the full fruition of his Creator's love, and an unceasing showing forth of his glory.

VOL. I.- -4

Two short reflections, on what you have heard, will close the present discussion.

1. If man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever, what a view does this give us of the actual state of the world, and the general pursuits of mankind? alas! how few of them-how few, even among those who live under the light of the gospelare aiming at the glory of God and the enjoyment of Him, as the great concern of life, the governing motive of all they do! Are not a very large majority aiming at every thing else, rather than at this? Do they often even think of this? Are they not eagerly pursuing every worldly object, every temporal concern-often the merest toys and trifles, to the total neglect and disregard of this great end of their being; which yet they must be brought to regard, or be lost for ever. Is it to be wondered at, that those who know the worth of the soul are so much in earnestnay, is it not wonderful that they are not much more in earnest to bring this deluded throng to consideration, and to "turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God;" that they escape the awful and impending danger to which they are exposed? But,

2. Bring this subject, my dear youth, home to yourselves. Who of you have-and who of you have not -made it your chief end, to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever? Those of you who have not— whose consciences tell you that you have not-ought to be reminded-and let me, in faithfulness and tenderness, tell you plainly, that hitherto you have lived worse than in vain. The chief end of your existence -the very purpose for which you were sent into the world-you have entirely neglected and disregarded. Such neglect and disregard, even on the supposition that you have been chargeable with no flagrant vice, nay on the supposition that you have exhibited an amiable example before the world-such neglect and disregard of God and of the best interests of your immortal souls, renders you unspeakably guilty in

his sight. It places you in the fearful situation of living, while thus you remain, under his constant displeasure; and in danger of being cut off in your sins and rendered miserable for ever. Be intreated therefore to consider your situation; to think of the reasonableness of devoting yourselves to God-of your sacred obligations to do so; and of the safety and happiness of the state in which you will be found, if you make it your chief end to glorify God and to enjoy him for ever. Implore the aids of divine grace, to enable you humbly and firmly to form, and to carry into effect, the resolution, that henceforth you will endeavour to act as becomes your rational, moral, and immortal nature-that you will regard and live for eternity more than for time.

But I rejoice in having reason to believe that some of you have already devoted yourselves, unfeignedly and unreservedly, to the glory and service of God. Thrice happy youth! you can never be thankful enough for that rich grace which has inclined you, in the morning of life, to make this dedication. Be not high minded but fear. Study to adorn the doctrine of God your Saviour in all things. Endeavour to keep your chief end constantly in view, through the whole of your subsequent life-assured that the more fully you do this-the more steadily and unreservedly you seek to glorify God-the more true. happiness you will enjoy; the more useful you will be in the world, and the more exalted will be that state of endless felicity on which you will enter, when mortality shall be swallowed up of life. Amen.

NOTE. The author is willing to place in a note, what he could not conveniently introduce into the lecture. In Exodus xxxii. 31-33, we thus read"And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold. Yet now if thou wilt forgive their sin and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written. And the LORD said unto Moses, whosoever hath sinned against me, him

will I blot out of my book." Scott's admirable commentary on this passage is in the following words:

"The meaning of this vehement language has been much disputed: and some contend, that he expressed his willingness to be blotted out of the book of life, and so finally to perish, provided this might be accepted as an atonement for the sin of his people; and they put the same construction on the words used by St. Paul, on something of a similar occasion. But this interpretation seems inadmissible: for the spiritual law of God only requires us to 'love our neighbours as ourselves;' not more than ourselves, which surely is implied, in being willing to be for ever miserable, either for their temporal or eternal salvation. Even Christ, of whom Moses is supposed to have been a type in this proffer, was only willing for our salvation to die a temporal death, with every possible circumstance of inward and outward suffering; not to be eternally miserable: and the apostle says, We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren;' not that we ought to devote our souls to destruction for them.-No doubt zeal for the honour of God glowed in the heart of Moses, when he thus expressed himself; and perhaps he could not conceive, how that could be secured and manifested, either by destroying or sparing his people. But it should be remembered, that not only final misery, but final desperate enmity to God, is implied in the proposal, if thus understood; and it is wonderful that any man should think, a willingness to be eternally wicked and a desperate hater of God, can spring from love to him, and be a proper expression of zeal for his glory!-If, therefore, Moses referred to this proposal, when he said, Peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin;' the words may be thus paraphrased; O Lord, instead of destroying Israel as a sacrifice to thy justice, and making of me a great nation, let me be the sacrifice, and spare them: and if it may not consist with thy glory to spare them otherwise, and my death may suffice for that purpose, exclude me from Canaan, and take me out of life, in any way thou seest good, that my people may be preserved and thy name glorified.'-But perhaps he only meant to say, 'If my people must be destroyed, cut me off also, and let me not survive or witness their destruction.'-The expression, blot me out of thy book,' is an allusion to the affairs of men, which is used in various senses in the Scriptures, as may be seen by the marginal references.-Whatever Moses meant by the request, the Lord did not accede to it, at least on that occasion; but only answered, that he would blot those who had sinned out of his book;' that is, he would punish the guilty, not the innocent; yet, when Moses afterwards offended God, and was excluded from Canaan while his people inherited it, this request may seem to have been remembered against him.

·

"The Lord, in commanding Moses to lead the people to Canaan, and in promising that his angel should go before him, intimated that he would not immediately pour out his vengeance upon them to destroy them: but at the same time he declared, that this national violation of the covenant should be remembered against them, when their other crimes should induce him to visit them in anger. The Jews have to this day a saying current among them to this effect, 'That all the calamities which have ever since befallen the nation, have in them