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praise from lips quivering with agony. I have seen it enable the most affectionate relatives to part in death; not without emotion, but without repining; and with a cordial surrender of all that they held most dear to the disposal of their heavenly Father. I have seen the fading eye brighten at the promise of Jesus, Where I am, there shall my servant be also. I have seen the faithful spirit released from its clay, now mildly, now triumphantly, to enter into the joy of its Lord."

Who, among the children of men, that doubts this representation, would not wish it to be correct? Who, that thinks it only probable, will not welcome the doctrine on which it is founded, as worthy of all acceptation? And who, that knows it to be true, will not set his seal to that doctrine as being, most emphatically, the gospel preached to the poor?

In applying to practical purposes, the account which has now been given of the Christian religion, I remark,

1. That it fixes a criterion of Christian ministration.

If he, who spake as never man spake, has declared his own doctrine to abound with consolation to the miserable, then certainly, the instructions of others are evangelical, only in proportion as they subserve the same gracious end. A contradiction not unfrequent among some advocates of revelation, is to urge against the infidel its powers of comfort, and yet to avoid, in their own discourses, almost every principle from which that power is drawn. Disregarding the mass of mankind, to whom the gospel is peculiarly fitted; and omitting those truths which might revive the grieved spirit, or touch the slumbering conscience, they discuss their moral topics in a manner unintelligible to the illiterate, uninteresting to the mourner, and without alarm to the profane. This is not "preaching Christ." Elegant dissertations upon virtue and vice, upon the evidences of revelation, or any other general subject, may entertain the prosperous and the gay; but they will not mortify our members which are upon the earth; they will not unsting calamity, nor feed the heart with an imperishable hope. When I go to the house of God, I do not want amusement. I want the doctrine which is according to godliness. I want to hear of the remedy against the harassings of my guilt, and the disorder of my affections. I want to be led from weariness and disappointment, to that goodness which filleth the hungry soul. I want to have light upon the mystery of providence; to be taught how the judgments of the Lord are right; how I shall be prepared for duty and for trial-how I may pass the time of my sojourning here in fear, and close it in peace. 'Tell me of that. Lord Jesus, who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree. Tell me of his intercession for the transgressors as their Advocate with

the Father. Tell me of his Holy Spirit, whom they that believe on him: receive, to be their preserver, sanctifier, comforter. Tell me of his chastenings; their necessity, and their use. Tell me of his presence, and sympathy, and love. Tell me of the virtues, as growing out of his cross, and nurtured by his grace. Tell me of the glory reflected on his name by the obedience of faith. Tell me of vanquished death, of the purified grave, of a blessed resurrection, of the life everlasting--and my bosom warms. This is gospel; these are glad tidings to me as a sufferer, because glad to me as a sinner. They rectify my mistakes; allay my resentments; rebuke my discontent; support me under the weight of moral and natural evil. These attract the poor; steal upon the thoughtless; awe the irreverent; and throw over the service of the sanctuary a majesty, which some fashionable modes of address never fail to dissipate. Where they are habitually neglected, or lightly referred to, there may be much grandeur, but there is no gospel; and those preachers have infinite reason to tremble, who, though admired by the great, and caressed by the vain, are deserted by the poor, the sorrowful, and such as walk humbly with their God.

2. We should learn from the gospel, lessons of active benevolence, The Lord Jesus, who went about doing good, has left us an example, that we should follow his steps. Christians, on whom he has bestowed affluence, rank, or talent, should be the last to disdain their fellowmen, or to look with indifference on indigence and grief. Pride, unseemly in all, is detestable in them, who confess that by grace they are saved. Their Lord and Redeemer, who humbled himself by assuming their nature, came to deliver the needy, when he crieth, the poor also, and him that hath no helper. And surely an object, which was not unworthy of the Son of God, cannot be unworthy of any who are called by his name. Their wealth and opportunities, their talents and time, are not their own, nor to be used according to their own pleasure; but to be consecrated by their vocation as fellow-workers with God. How many hands that hang down would be lifted up; how many feeble knees confirmed; how many tears wiped away; how many victims of despondency and infamy rescued by a close imitation of Jesus Christ. Go with your opulence to the house of famine, and the retreats of disease. Go, deal thy bread to the hungry; when thou seest the naked, cover him; and hide not thyself from thine own flesh. Go, and furnish means to rear the offspring of the poor; that they may at least have access to the word of your God. Go, and quicken. the flight of the Angel, who has the everlasting gospel to preach unto the nations. If you possess not wealth, employ your station in promoting good-will toward men. Judge the fatherless; plead for the

widow. Stimulate the exertions of others, who may supply what is lacking on your part. Let the beauties of holiness pour their lustre upon your distinctions, and recommend to the unhappy that peace, which yourselves have found in the salvation of God. If you have neither riches nor rank, devote your talents. Ravishing are the accents which dwell on the tongue of the learned, when it speaks a word in season to him that is weary. Press your genius and your eloquence into the service of the Lord your righteousness, to magnify his word, and display the riches of his grace. Who knoweth, whether he may honor you to be the minister of joy to the disconsolate, of liberty to the captive, of life to the dead? If he has denied you wealth, and rank, and talent, consecrate your heart. Let it dissolve in sympathy. There is nothing to hinder your rejoicing with them that do rejoice, and your weeping with them that weep; nor to forbid the interchange of kind and soothing offices. A brother is born for adversity; and not only should Christian be to Christian, a friend that sticketh closer than a brother, but he should exemplify the loveliness of his religion to them that are without. An action, a word, marked by the sweetness of the gospel, has often been owned of God for producing the hap. piest effects. Let no man, therefore, try to excuse his inaction; for no man is too inconsiderable to augment the triumphs of the gospel, by assisting in the consolation which it yields to the miserable.

3. Let all classes of the unhappy repair to the Christian truth, and draw water with joy out of the wells of salvation! Assume your own characters, O ye children of men; present your grievances, and accept the consolation which the gospel tenders. Come, now, ye tribes of pleasure, who have exhausted your strength in pursuing phantoms that retire at your approach! The voice of the Son of God in the gospel is, Wherefore spend ye your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which satisfieth not; hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good and let your soul delight itself in fatness! Come, ye tribes of ambition, who burn for the applause of your fellow worms. The voice of the Son of God to you is, The friendship of this world is enmity with God; but if any serve me, him will my Father honor. Come, ye avaricious, who, pant after the dust of the earth, on the head of the poor. The voice of the Son of God is, Wisdom is more precious than rubies; and all the things thou canst desire are not to be compared unto her-but what shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Come, ye profane! The voice of the Son of God is, Hearken unto me, ye stout-hearted, that are far from righteousness; behold I bring near my righteousness. Come, ye formal and self-sufficient, who say that ye are rich, and increased with

goods and have need of nothing; and know not that you are wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked. The voice of the Son of God is, I counsel you to buy of me gold tried in the fire that ye may be rich; and white raiment, that ye may be clothed; and that the shame of your nakedness do not appear, and anoint your eyes with eye-salve, that ye may see. Come ye, who, being convinced of sin, fear lest the fierce anger of the Lord fall upon you. The voice of the Son of God is, Him that cometh unto me I will in no wise cast out. I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake, and will not remember thy sins. Come, ye disconsolate, whose souls are sad, because the Comforter is away. The voice of the Son of God is, The Lord hath sent me to appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. Come, ye tempted, who are borne down with the violence of the law in your members, and of assaults from the evil one. The voice of the Son of God is, I will be merciful to your unrighteousnesses; and the God of peace shall bruise Satan under your feet shortly. Come, ye children of domestic woe, upon whom the Lord has made a breach, by taking away your counsellors and support.— The voice of the Son of God is, Leave thy fatherless children with me; I will preserve them alive; and let thy widows trust in me. Come ye, from whom mysterious providence has swept away the acquisitions of long and reputable industry. Thê voice of the Son of God is, My son, if thou wilt receive my words, thou shalt have a treasure in the heavens that faileth not; and mayest take joyfully the spoiling of thy goods, knowing that thou hast in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Come, ye poor, who without property to lose, are grappling with distress and exposed to want. The Son of God, though the heir of all things, had not where to lay his head; and his voice to his poor is, Be content with such things as you have, for I will never leave thee nor forsake thee; thy bread shall be given thee, and thy water shall be sure. Come, ye reproached, who find cruel mockings a most bitter persecution. The voice of the Son of God is, If ye be re. proached for the name of Christ, happy are ye, for the Spirit of God and of glory resteth upon you. Come, in fine, ye dejected whom the fear of death holds in bondage. The voice of the Son of God is, I will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. O death, I will be thy plague! O grave, I will be thy dėstruction! repentance shall be hid from mine eyes !-Blessed Jesus! thy loving kindness shall be my joy in the house of my pilgrimage! and I will praise thee while I have any being, for that gospel which thou hast preached to the poor!

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JOB xxi. 15.- What profit should we have, if we pray unto him?

THE utility of prayer, which, according to this scripture, wicked men dispute, the present discourse humbly attempts to demonstrate. This might be quickly done, by showing that God requires men to pray; for God, being infinitely perfect, cannot prescribe a useless or vain service. Consent, however, to the utility of prayer, so obtained, would be grounded on the presumption of its usefulness, not on the vivid perception of the intrinsic evidences of its utility. The former kind of consent is not the most desirable. The heart is never completely and permanently won to truth, but by the perception of its inherent excellence. When we have convinced men that God has required anything, they are bound to admit its excellence or utility. But before we can effectually commend it to their joyful concurrence, their complacency and love, we must present to their minds the proofs of its essential excellence. This is what I now propose to do in relation to prayer.

Two things let me premise: First, that I speak only of true prayer; not the prayer of formality, nor of enthusiasm, nor of selfish anxiety; but that prayer which, through the mediation of Christ, offers up the heart's desires unto God with repentance, and faith, and true submission. Secondly, that in nothing which I say concerning the inherent tendencies and the influence of prayer, do I intend an exclusion of the Holy Spirit's agency in this exercise, although I do not anywhere distinctly mention it. The object of No. 2.

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