consider, that his Habits of Sin and Vice may become so inveterate as to render it morally impossible for him to carry his Resolution into Practice. For it is certain that Repentance is no easy Matter, when Indulgence in Vice has become habitual.

DESPAIR. To have no Hope in God, must be the most miserable State to which an accountable Being can be reduced. As our whole Destiny depends upon the Great Disposer of all Events, if we are conscious that our Character and Conduct are such as to preclude all Hope of His Favour, we are of all Men the most miserable. But we ought never to despair, if we comply with the Terms prescribed in His Gospel, for He is a God, long-suffering, forgiving Iniquity, Transgression and Sin, and will most certainly fulfil all His Promises.

LIVING WITHOUT THE FEAR OF GOD, is in Effect to give up ourselves to all Manner of Vice and Immorality, and to reduce ourselves to that State of Moral Turpitude, which must terminate in Despair

and

ish all Evil Doers, we ought to be most careful lest in any Thing we offend Him. It is true, indeed,

that Fear is not the most noble Motive to Action; but, he who begins to abstain from a vicious Course through Fear, may, and often does, when his bad Habits are broken in upon, come to serious Reflections, and to be actuated by more worthy Principles. The Fear of the Lord is indeed the Beginning of Wisdom, but it ought to proceed on to Love.

A SENSE of the OMNIPOTENCE and OMNISCIENCE of GOD, and our entire DEPENDANCE upon Him for our Existence, and every Enjoyment, ought to be continually present to our Minds; for there is no other Consideration that will so effectually lead us to right Conduct in every Relation we sustain, as a firm Faith and Persuasion, that we are every Moment in the Presence and under the Inspection of an Almighty, All-righteous God, nor can any other Considerations induce us more powerfully to place our

We ought,

TRUST and RELIANCE upon HIM. therefore, to commit all our Cares and Concerns to Him who careth for us, not only in Things pertaining to this Life, but to those of a Future and more durable

and Perdition. Fear, though an inferior Motive, places the Man who has it in a Situation much preferable to his, who lives without it. Let us be careful, then, how we cast off the Fear of God.

THOUGHTLESSNESS, AND NEGLECT OF DUTY, are perhaps the most common Faults that Mankind are apt to fall into. Engrossed with the Cares and Pleasures of the World, "they forget the God that made them, and lightly esteem the God of their Salvation." How a Being, who professes to be governed by Reason, can excuse such Thoughtlessness, to himself, is not easy to say; but it is certain, that it is a most dangerous State of Mind, and shows an utter Absence of those Considerations, which are so well adapted to lead him to his Duty, and his Happiness.

INATTENTION, DISREGARD. "God is not in all his Thoughts," says the Psalmist, of the Wicked. He who has no Trust in, or Reliance upon, that Being, upon whom his present and future Condition depends, cannot have any pleasurable Prospect of Happiness,

durable one; and to repose ourselves with the utmost Confidence and Assurance upon all His Promises, which He has graciously given us in His Word. For He never faileth those who put their Trust in Him, and to know that we have an Almighty Friend, upon whom we can certainly rely, must afford us the greatest Satisfaction we can enjoy in Life or Death

RESIGNATION, SUBMISSION to the Divine Will. This Duty results from the acknowledged Wisdom, Goodness, Rectitude, Omniscience, and Superintendence of the Deity, on the one Hand, and our Ignorance, Imperfection, and entire Dependance on Him, on the other. It is therefore a most reasonable Duty, and enforced upon us, both by Natural and Revealed Religion, and is most Acceptable to God, as it exemplifies a Disposition to conform to His Will which is our highest possible Attainment. It must, however, be confessed to be a Duty extremely difficult in many Instances to perform, in its full Extent. But to animate and encourage us in such trying Cases, we should recollect the Example of our Lord, who in the days of His Humiliation, with the Prospect of a most painful Death full before Him, prayed that not his Will, but his Father's, might be done; and who has taught us to make it Part of our daily Prayer that the Will of God might be done on Earth as it is in Heaven. Nor can any Situation in

VICES AND ILL DISPOSITIONS TO BE AVOIDED, 25

Happiness, with respect to Futurity, but all before him, must be a Scene of the greatest Uncertainty, or gloomy Despair.

DISCONTENT, IMPATIENCE, REPINING under the Awards of Providence; or arraigning, or finding Fault with the Divine Dispensations. As we are under the Moral Government of God, and His Will is our Supreme Law, and as all the Events and Accidents, (as we call them,) of Life, make Part of that Moral Discipline we are under, every Sentiment or Expression of Impatience or Discontent is criminal. But arraigning the Justice or Benignity of Providence, is not only grossly arrogant, in Creatures so ignorant as we are, but being in direct Opposition to the Divine Will, is one of the most odious in the Sight of Heaven of any Disposition we can indulge. All this, Reason and Natural Religion plainly teach us. But if we recur to Revela. tion, how strongly do we find such Conduct reprobated, and Resignation to the Will of God inculcated! We ought never to conceive of our Moral Governour, as an arbitrary Sovereign, but as being, in every Instance, entirely influenced by His own adorable Attributes of Justice, Truth, Wisdom and Goodness. And such a Being, though possessed of infinite Power, can never do any Thing unkind, unwise, false or unjust, for there must be always

the