The doctrine of the text teaches you irresistibly, that, since you cannot command gratifications, you should command your desires; and that, as the events of life do not accord with your wishes, your wishes should accord with them. Multiplied enjoyments fall to but few men; and are no more rationally expected than the highest prize in a lottery. But a well regulated mind, a dignified independence of the world, and a wise preparation to possess one's soul in patience, whatever circumstances may exist, is in the power of every man; and is greater wealth than that of both Indies, and greater honour than Cæsar ever acquired.

3dly. As your course, and your success, through life, are not under your control; you are strongly urged to commit yourselves to GOD, who can control both.

That you cannot direct your course through the world; that your best concerted plans will often fail; that your sanguine expectations will be disappointed; and that your fondest worldly wishes will terminate in mortification; cannot admit of a momentary doubt. That God can direct you; that he actually controls all your concerns; and that, if you commit yourselves to his care, he will direct you kindly, and safely; can be doubted only of choice. Why, then, do you hesitate to yield yourselves, and your interests, to the guidance of your Maker? There are two reasons, which appear especially to govern mankind in this important concern: they do not, and will not, realize the agency of GoD in their affairs; and they do not choose to have them directed as they imagine he will direct them. The former is the result of stupidity; the latter, of impiety. Both are foolish in the extreme; and not less sinful than foolish.

The infinitely wise, great, and glorious, Benefactor of the universe, has offered to take men by the hand, lead them through the journey of life, and conduct them to his own house in the heavens. The proof of his sincerity in making this offer has been already produced. He has given his own Son to live, and die, and rise, and reign, and intercede, for our race. Herein is love, if there ever was love; not that we have loved him, but that he has loved us. That he, who has done this, should not be sincere, is impossible. St. Paul, therefore, triumphantly asks, what none can answer: He, that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Trust, then, his word with undoubting confidence; take his hand with humble gratitude; and with all the heart obey his voice, which you will every where hear, saying, this is the way, walk ye therein. In sickness and in health, by night and by day, at home and in crowds, he will watch over you with tenderness inexpressible. He will make you lie down in green pastures; lead you beside the still wa ters; and guide you in paths of righteousness; for his name's sake. He will prepare a table before you in the presence of your enemies; and cause your cup to run over with blessings. When you pass

through the waters of affliction, he will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle on you. From their native heavens, he will commission those charming twinsisters, Goodness and Mercy, to descend, and follow you all your days.

But if you wish GOD to be your guide, and your friend, you must conform to his pleasure. Certainly you cannot wonder, that the infinitely Wise should prefer his own wisdom to yours; and that he should choose for his children their allotments, rather than leave them to choose for themselves. That part of his pleasure, which you are to obey, is all summed up in the single word, Duty; and is perfectly disclosed in the Scriptures. The whole scheme is so formed, as to be plain, easy, profitable, and delightful; profitable in hand; delightful in the possession. Every part, and precept, of the whole, is calculated for this end; and will make you only wise, good, and happy.

Life has been often styled an ocean; and our progress through it, a voyage. The ocean is tempestuous and billowy, overspread by a cloudy sky, and fraught beneath with shelves and quicksands. The voyage is eventful beyond comprehension; and at the same time, full of uncertainty, and replete with danger. Every adventurer needs to be well prepared for whatever may befal him, and well secured against the manifold hazards of losing his course, sinking in the abyss, or of being wrecked against the shore.

These evils have existed at all times. The present, and that part of the past, which is known to you by experience, has seen them multiplied beyond example. It has seen the ancient, and acknowledged, standards of thinking violently thrown down. Religion, morals, government, and the estimate formed by man of crimes and virtues, and of all the means of usefulness and enjoyment, have been questioned, attacked, and in various places, and with respect to millions of the human race, finally overthrown. A licentiousness of opinion, and conduct, daring, outrageous, and rending asunder every bond, formed by GoD or man, has taken place of former good sense, and sound morals; and has long threatened the destruction of human good. Industry, cunning, and fraud, have toiled with unrivalled exertions, to convert man into a savage, and the world into a desert. A wretched, and hypocritical, philanthropy, also, not less mischievous, has stalked forth as the companion of these ravagers: a philanthropy born in a dream, bred in a novel, and living only in professions. This guardian genius of human interests, this friend of human rights, this redresser of human wrongs, is yet without a heart to feel, and without a hand to bless. But she is well furnished with lungs, with eyes, and a tongue. She can talk, and sigh, and weep, at pleasure; but can neither pity, nor give. The objects of her attachment are either knaves and villains at home, or unknown sufferers,

beyond her reach abroad. To the former, she ministers the sword and the dagger, that they may fight their way into place, and power, and profit. At the latter, she only looks through a telescope of fancy, as an astronomer searches for stars, invisible to the eye. To every real object of charity, within her reach, she complacently says, Be thou warmed; and be thou filled; depart in peace.

By the daring spirit, the vigorous efforts, and the ingenious cunning, so industriously exerted on the one hand, and the smooth and gentle benevolence, so softly professed on the other, multitudes have been, and you easily may be, destroyed. The mischief has indeed, been met, resisted, and overcome; but it has the heads, and the lives, of the Hydra; and its wounds, which at times have seemed deadly, are much more readily healed, than any good man could wish, than any sober man could expect. Hope not to escape the assaults of this enemy: To feel, that you are in danger, will ever be a preparation for your safety. But it will be only such a preparation; your deliverance must ultimately, and only, flow from your Maker. Resolve, then, to commit yourselves to him, with a cordial reliance on his wisdom, power, and protection. Consider how much you have at stake; that you are bound to eternity; that your existence will be immortal; and that you will either rise to endless glory, or be lost in absolute perdition. Heaven is your proper home. The path, which I have recommended to you, will conduct you safely, and certainly, to that happy world. Fill up life, therefore, with obedience to GOD; with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, and repentance unto life; the obedience to the two great commands of the Gospel; with supreme love to GoD, and universal good-will to men; the obedience to the two great commands of the law. On all your sincere endeavours to honour him, and befriend your fellow-men, he will smile: every virtuous attempt he will bless: : every act of obedience he will reward. Life in this manner will be pleasant amid all its sorrows; and beams of hope will continually shine through the gloom, by which it is so often overcast. Virtue, the seed that cannot die, planted from heaven, and cultivated by the divine hand, will grow up in your hearts with increasing vigour, and blossom in your lives with supernal beauty. Your path will be that of the just; and will gloriously resemble the dawning light, which shines brighter, and brighter, to the perfect day. Peace will take you by the hand, and offer herself as the constant and delightful companion of your progress. Hope will walk before you, and with an unerring finger point out your course; and Joy, at the end of the journey, will open her arms to receive you. You will wait on the Lord, and renew your strength; will mount up with wings, as eagles; will run, and not be weary; will walk, ana not faint.

SERMON XVII.

CREATION.-AIR.-STARRY AND SUPREME HEAVENS.

GENESIS i. 1.—In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

IN the preceding discourses I have considered the existence and perfections of God; his decrees, or that pleasure, or choice, with which he willed the existence of all things; and the sovereignty with which he disposes of them. The next subject in such a system of discourses is the Works of God; which are no other than the execution of that pleasure. These are generally and justly distributed under two great heads, Creation and Providence. Under these heads I propose to consider them.

In the text it is asserted, that, In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. The phrase, In the beginning, is universally expressive, in the Scriptures, of the commencement of created, or finite existence. Whether it is intended to be applied in the present case to both the heavens and the earth, with exactly the same meaning, is uncertain; as will be evident from the proper import of this phraseology. The word, created, denotes, brought into existence. The heaven and the earth, is a Jewish phrase, denoting the Universe and all things which it contains. As some of these things, particularly the souls of men, were not created at the same time with the earth, it is evident, that the phrase, in the beginning, cannot be particularly, and strictly applied to every created being. In the text, thus explained, the following doctrine is evidently asserted;

THAT ALL THINGS WERE BROUGHT INTO EXISTENCE BY GOD. The truth of this doctrine has been already sufficiently evinced in the two first of these discourses; so far as arguments from Reason are concerned. That it is the real doctrine of the text; and that the word, created, does not mean merely moulded, or fashioned, is completely evident from the explanation of Moses himself; who undoubtedly will be allowed to be his own Commentator. In Gen. ii. 3, he says, And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work, which God created and made. In the original language it is, which God created, to make; that is, which he created or brought into being, first; and made or fashioned afterwards, into all the innumerable forms and beings, with which the Universe is, in a sense endlessly, replenished.

This truth has by various persons, of no small note in the world, as men of science, been called in question. It seems so evident

that all things, which do not involve a contradiction, are possible with the Omnipotent God; that a sober man can scarcely fail to wonder, how these persons can hesitate to believe, that the act of creating or giving being, is within the limits of his power. The acts of preserving and governing the universe, also seem to be equally evidential of Omnipotence, and equally to demand its exertions. I cannot easily conceive how any man can admit, that God governs the Universe, and doubt whether he brought, or was able to bring, it into being. At the same time, the several modes, adopted by these very men to account either for the existence, preservation, or government, of all things, are attended with incomparably more difficulty: being indeed palpable absurdities, and involving evident contradictions. This, it is believed, has been proved in a former discourse.*

But the formation of the human Soul, is itself a continual exhibition of creating power. It is, unquestionably, as difficult to create Minds, as to create Matter. But that God creates Minds is cer tain; because Matter, being unintelligent, cannot communicate intelligence, and therefore, even if admitted to possess active power, cannot bring into existence a Mind. Nor ought it to be forgotten, that this opinion rests upon no evidence. On the contrary, it is a doubt, or denial, gratuitously assumed. The abettor of it merely doubts, or denies, the fact, that God created all things; and to justify himself, alleges, that he cannot conceive such an act to be possible. But he ought to show, that he does see it to be impossible. That he cannot discern what Omnipotence can do, any farther than God discloses it, either by his acts, or his declarations, is very obvious; but that this ignorance should be a foundation of doubt to himself; or of conviction, or even of attention, to others; is, I think, explicable only by the supposition of extreme folly in either case.

As this amazing Work is in the text divided into two great parts; the Heavens, and the Earth; I shall adopt this natural, and pertinent, division in my discourses; I shall begin my consideration of it with the subject, mentioned first in the text, viz. the Heaven.

The word Heaven, in the text, is used to denote what is elsewhere called the Heavens; as is evident from the first verse of the following chapter; in which it is said, with a reference to exactly the same subject, Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. As the term is variously applied in the Scriptures; it will be proper in this place to mention the objects, to which this application is made. In the first place, Heaven, or Heavens, (for the word is used indifferently in either the singular or plural number) is applied to God. Until thou know, that the Heavens do rule. Dan. iv. 26.

2dly. To Angels. The heavens are not clean in his sight. Job

XV. 15.

See Sermon II.