ing, the practice of every Christian virtue. This combined view of the subject seems, on the one hand, to be the only means of preventing the fubftitution of Pagan morality for Chriftian holiness; and on the other, of securing the leading doctrine of juftification by faith, from the dreadful dangers of Antinomian licentiousness; every human obligation being thus grafted on the living stock of a divine principle. IT CHAP. XX. On the duty and efficacy of prayer. T is not proposed to enter largely on a topic which has been exhausted by the ablest pens. But as a work of this nature feems to require that fo important a fubject should not be overlooked, it is intended to notice in a flight manner a few of those many difficulties and popular objections which are brought forward against the use and efficacy of prayer, even by those who would be unwilling to be fufpected of impiety and unbelief. There is a clafs of objectors who ftrangely profefs to withhold homage from the Moft High, not out of contempt, but reverence. They affect to confider the use of prayer as derogatory to the omniscience of God, afferting that it looks as as if we though the stood in need of being informed of our wants; and as derogatory to his goodness, as implying that he needs to be put in mind of them. But is it not enough for fuch poor frail beings as we are to know, that God himself does not confider prayer as derogatory either to his wifdom or goodnefs? And fhall we erect ourselves into judges of what is confiftent with the attributes of Hм before whom angels fall proftrate with felf-abafement? Will he thank fuch defenders of his attributes, who, while they profefs to reverence, fcruple not to disobey him? It ought rather to be viewed as a great encouragement to prayer, that we are addreffing a Being, who knows our wants better than we can exprefs them, and whofe preventing goodness is always ready to relieve them. It is objected by another clafs, and on the fpecious ground of humility too, though we do not always find the objector himself quite as humble as his plea, that it is arrogant in fuch infignificant beings as we are to prefume to lay our petty neceffities before the Great and Glorious God, who cannot be expected to condefcend to the multitude of trifling and even interfering requests which are brought before him by his creatures. These and fuch like objections arife from mean and unworthy thoughts of the Great Creator. It feems as if thofe who make them confidered the Most High as " fuch an one as "themselves;" a Being, who can perform a certain quantity of bufinefs, but who would be overpowered with an additional quantity. Or at beft, is it not confidering the Almighty in the light, not of an infinite God, but of a great man, of a king, or a minifter, who, while he fuperintends great and national concerns, is obliged to neglect fmall and individual petitions, because he cannot fpare that leisure and attention which fuffice for every thing? They do not confider him as that infinitely glorious glorious Being who, while he beholds at once all that is doing in heaven and in earth, is at the fame time as attentive to the prayer of the poor deftitute, as prefent to the forrowful fighing of the prifoner, as if these forlorn creatures were the objects of his undivided attention. 7 These critics, who are for fparing the Supreme Being the trouble of our prayers, and would relieve Omnipotence of part of his burden, by affigning to his care only fuch a portion as may be more easily managed, if I may fo speak without profanenefs, feem to have no conception of his attributes. They forget that infinite wifdom puts. him as easily within reach of all knowledge, as infinite power does of all performance that he is a Being in whose plans complexity makes no difficulty, and multiplicity no confufion: that to ubiquity distance does not exist; that to infinity space is annihilated: that past, prefent, and future, are difcerned more accurately |