all good, and that gracious Master, who gave himself for us, to redeem us from all iniquity, this is to make mammon your God, and to cast off the Lord of heaven and earth, and his Son Jesus Christ. We are taught, on the contrary, to "seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness," and whatever draws us away from this duty by the love of gain, must be reckoned among the vanities of a wicked -world, and considered therefore as sinful.

3. You are also engaged to renounce, or cast from you, the lusts of the flesh; those impure desires which lead to filthy conversation, and deeds that shun the light. We are solemnly assured, by St. Paul, that they who take to these courses, shall be shut out from the kingdom of heaven, "for without holiness no man shall see the Lord."

II. The next promise and vow engages that you shall be taught to "believe all the articles of the Christian faith;” that you shall be fully instructed in those great truths, on which the religion of Christ is

⚫ Matt. vi. 33. f Gal. v. 19, 21. Heb. xii. 14.

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built, the birth, death, and resurrection, of Him, who came into the world to save sinners." To make good this solemn promise, undertaken for us at baptism, and taken upon ourselves at our confirmation, we must be fully persuaded, in the words of St. Peter, that "there is none other name under heaven given among men, except the name of Christ, whereby we can be saved." And this belief must be made the rule and spur of all our actions; so that as often as we are tempted to do evil, we must be prepared to say, If I act thus, how shall I be able to face my Saviour, when I appear before him as the Judge of quick and dead? whenever we want encouragement to do what our conscience points out, we must look forward to the reward which the same righteous Judge will bestow on all who, "by patient continuance in well-doing, seek for glory, and honour, and eternal life." For the benefit of all Christians, these leading truths of our religion, taken as they are from the Bible, are brought together into a form of

1 Tim. i. 15.

i Acts iv. 12.

Rom, ii. 7.

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words, which we call the Greed, from the two first words, shobelieve," expressed in the Latin language by the word "credo.” ***Since, therefore, such care has been taken to draw up the most important points of the Gospel for our instruction, that we may be constantly reminded of them, and have them always, as it were, before our eyes, how much does it become each to think often andy seriously of these articles of belief, which, in few words, set before us the history of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, what he has done and suffered for us, and the leading benefits which he holds out to all his faithful servants. We are here taught to regard, with the love and reverence of children, God the Father, who made us; with lively gratitudes God the Son, who redeemed us by his death on the cross; and to rest with firm trust on God the Holy Ghost, who sanctifies and makes us holy, by putting into our hearts good desires, and prompting us to do, on all occasions, the will of God, as made known to us in the Bible.

III. A belief, therefore, in the truths I

have just mentioned, will prepare us, and is indeed the best preparation, for the performance of the third promise made at our baptism; namely, that we should keep God's holy will and commandments, and walk in the same all the days of our lives."

Now these commandments, as St. John declares," are not grievous." By which the apostle means, not that we can keep them without any trouble, or difficulty, or restraint-for certainly we shall find it. necessary to hold ourselves under a continual check, lest we be led astray-but that the path of God's commandments will be found beset with fewer difficulties, and will expose us, on the whole, to less severe trials, than the high road of the world. The great difficulties in the path of duty meet us at the outset, if by diligence and prayer we gain the grace of the holy Spirit to guide us and this assistance: is promised to all who ask for it with sincerity and earnestness-our path, will in time become smooth and easy, whereas the high road of the world, though it appears at first strewed

› I John v. 3.) 14

with flowers, will soon be found full of briars and brambles. The ways of religion, says Solomon, are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace"" while to the worldly man, to him who looks not beyond the present scene, and seeks for his portion in this life only, the same wise teacher has declared that" all is vanity and vexation of spirit"."" What profit," he adds, "has such a man of all his labour under the sun? For no sooner hath he laid up possessions, but he must leave them; "one generation passeth away, and another cometh," but to him who looketh for an abode in the heavens, the shortness of life, instead of being a grief, is a cause of rejoicing: while he thankfully accepts, as from the hand of God, whatever he is pleased to bestow in this world, and endeavours to make the best use of it, he looks forward to a "house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, whose maker and builder is God"."

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The commandments, various as they are, and scattered over the Bible, have been

Prov. iii. 17. v. 1 Heb. xi. 10.

Eccles. i. 2, 3, 4, 17.2 Cor.