bless the Lord for all his goodness; and to be ever ready to declare to others what he hath done for your souls in pardoning your sins, in renewing your hearts, in comforting you in your sorrows, in delivering you in times of temptation, and in enabling you to look forward, without fear, as to the remainder of your earthly course. Tell them that you are happy in believing that when the end of life's troubled voyage comes you shall reach that haven where your soul desires to be, even the kingdom of heaven; there to behold and to dwell with that Jesus who was as an anchor to your soul on earth; and who will thenceforth be your joy and portion for ever. Amen.

"How oft have sin and Satan strove
To rend my soul from thee, my God!

But everlasting is thy love,

And Jesus seals it with his blood.

"The oath and promise of the Lord

Join to confirm his wond'rous grace;
Eternal power performs the word,

And fills all heaven with endless praise.

"Amidst temptations, sharp and long,

My soul to this dear refuge flies: Hope is my anchor, firm and strong, While tempests blow, and billows rise.

"The Gospel bears my spirit up,

A faithful and unchanging God
Lays the foundation of my hope,
In oaths, and promises, and blood."

SERMON XVII.

THE DUTY AND PRIVILEGE OF PRAYER.

LUKE XI. 9-13.

"And I say unto you, Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? or if he ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him ?”

NOTHING can be more plain than these commands to ask, to seek, and to knock; and nothing can be more clear and positive than the promise that such as obey them shall obtain the blessings they are seeking. God is, indeed, a prayer-hearing and a prayer-answering God; ever more willing to hear than we are to pray, and ever disposed to grant beyond all we can ask, or think, or deserve! Whatever

men ask agreeable to the divine will, and profitable for their own souls, they really have the thing they ask for. Abundant as the rich mercies of the Lord are, and ready and willing as he is to give grace for grace, yet the greater portion of mankind go on from youth to old age, from the cradle to the grave, with but a small portion of these rich blessings; and how and why is this? Many never feel their destitution; and many are so puffed up with vain imaginations of their own supposed worth and wisdom, of their own self-sufficiency and goodness, that they scorn to acknowledge themselves before God, as poor, and helpless, and miserable, and blind, and naked, in a spiritual sense, just as was the case with the people of Laodicea. Rev. iii. 17. Oh, that men did but understand and feel their real state and character, and carry their complaints to God in humble, earnest supplications, in believing and persevering prayer, then they would find it good thus to wait upon God; for out of his fulness they would receive grace for grace! But,

alas, many a real Christian is sadly deficient in this necessary and profitable path of duty! Indeed, there is much room for us, individually and collectively, to stir up our own hearts, and the hearts of each other, to more frequent and more fervent exercises of prayer, as well as for rousing each other to the exercise of more firm faith in the divine promises, and to a more deep sense of the value of those graces and good things which the Lord holds out to his praying people. From day to day, in the various stations and circumstances of the great family of mankind, there will arise a vast number and variety of wants and necessities which only our heavenly Father can supply. But be they what they may, he has more than sufficient to answer every individual's needs. And while some wants may press on some men more than on others, and while peculiar necessities may furnish matter to one man for prayer more than to his neighbour, there are certain things which every child of Adam has to carry to, and which he will, if wise,