thy faculties, pursue the business of thy improvement with the utmost intenfity of thy mind, let not any obstacle and any difficulty deter thee from it, let the fentiment of God, the example of Jesus and the profpects of the future world accompany thee on all occafions; fo wilt thou affuredly walk with firmer pace along the path of christian rectitude, much feldomer stumble, and no longer fall, an Hearn from thy own experience, that the divine commandments are not grievous. Yes, my dear friends, this is and will for ever remain an inconteftible truth: God's commandments are not grievous: it is not only poffible, it is easy to keep them and to lead a truly virtuous and godly life! Yes, the commandments of our God and father in heaven merit our most willing and cheerful obedience, and this obedience we can and fhall affuredly pay them, if we do but seriously resolve upon it! Oh may this truth be always prefent and always certain to us, may it be undeniably proved and loudly proclaimed by the whole of our future lives! SERMON XL. The Folly of a finful Course of Life. GOD, affectionate, merciful father, everywhere may we hear thy voice, the voice of the most benign and gracious parent: within us, without us, in thy works, in thy word everywhere cautions against fin and corruption, excitements to duty and to virtue, calls to happiness. No, none of us can fall unadmonished into fin and mifery, none but by their own fault mistake the path of wifdom! - But how often, o merciful father, how often do we miftake, how often difdain to hear thy voice! How often do we harden our hearts against thy admonitions, and refift thy call to happiness! For still we are not wife nor virtuous, nor happy, or at least are not fo to that degree, as we might and ought to be! Ah, we are still deluded by the wiles of fin, ftill is the voice of our reafon and our confcience drowned by the clamour of our lufts and paffions. Still are we too fenfual, too distracted, too reftlefs engage too feldom in filent meditation for admitting and attending to the doctrines of wisdom, the fuggestions of thy holy spirit. And thus are we ever rufhing from one deviation into another, retreating ever farther from thee and from happiness, and expofing L. 4 - our Send ourselves to the danger of becoming completely miferable both in the present and in the future world! Ah spare us ftill, great God of mercy, in pity spare thy wandering progeny, fave us from the dreadful illufions into which we are fo liable to fall! out thy light, the effulgence of eternal truth, to guide our steps into the way of peace, to dispel the mifts of ignorance and error from before our eyes, to diffolve the charms of fin and vice, to bring us to reflection and ftop us fhort on the carreer of perdition. Teach us fo fenfibly and convincingly to perceive the folly of a finful, an unchristian life that we may stand ashamed and confounded at it, that we may be moved to the firm refolution of altering and correcting our conduct, that we may regulate it entirely henceforth and for ever by the precepts of wifdom. Bless in this refpect, o God, bless in an abundant measure the doctrines of truth, in the confideration whereof we are now to be employed. Cause their facred efficacy to be powerful in us all, and hearken to the prayer of thy fuppliants through Jefus Chrift, in whofe name we farther call upon thee, faying as he taught us: Our father, &c. PROV. ix. 6. Forfake the foolish, and live; and go in the way derstanding. of un WE need not be very great proficients in the study of mankind, for having remarked that the generality of people make lefs account of being accused of a defect in moral excellence, in virtue and integrity, integrity, than of any deficiency or weakness of understanding; that they had rather pafs for finners than for fools; that they commonly fet a greater value on the qualities of the mind, than on those of the heart. An irregular, unchriftian, licentious life appears lefs fhocking and defpicable, than fimplicity and a flighter intellect. It is but too frequently seen, that a man had rather deceive than be deceived, rather do an injury than fuffer an injury from others without revenge, rather over-reach and fupplant his neighbour than be over-reached and fupplanted by him; had rather be charged with culpable, but fharp-fighted fufpicion, with exceffive, but ever watchful diftruft, than with plain, downright and easily cheated honefty. It is not my intention at prefent to explore the fource of this way of thinking, which cannot poffibly be good, or to point out what a deeply feated, predominant corruption it implies among mankind, and how diametrically oppofite it is to the spirit of christianity. I fhall only just obferve, that by this way of thinking we separate things which in their very nature belong to one another and are always together. Every defect of virtue and integrity fuppofes a defect or weaknefs of understanding, every irregularity in life fuppofes irregularity in thinking, every depravity of heart infirmity of mind, every wicked action implies error. To fin and to act foolishly is one and the fame thing. A finner, an obftinate, hardened finner and yet not a fool, is an abfolute impoffibility. Folly misleads to fin fin and fin misleads to folly. Both are at once caufe and effect, both lead the man whom they have manacled with equal paces continually nearer to wretchedness and repentance. And this it is of which I would this day convince you, my dear audience, to-day that I would recall you from the ways of fin and rouze you to amendment. Holy fcripture throughout, and therefore in our text, represents the way of fin as the way of folly, and those who walk it as foolish, filly people, as perfons who in any other cafe would themselves condemn what they conceive and do as folly and abfurdity. It expreffes the greatest aftonishment, that intelligent beings, or beings endowed with underftanding, should act fo irrationally and so long continue this irrational manner of acting. Forfake, fays wifdom in our text to finners, forfake the foolish, and go in the way of understanding. It is certainly an address, which in our language and in our refined, but not therefore excellent, state of manners, founds rather rough. Here however our bufinefs is folely with truth and not with the style in which she speaks to us. Let us therefore hearken to her voice, even though it should seem grating and offenfive. Let us at leaft for once examine, whether we are acting wifely or foolishly, prudently or fillily, in leading a finful, a vicious course of life. The decifion of this question cannot methinks prove difficult to any one capable of only a moderate degree of reflection. Only have a care in this in |