and could not work with him in the way you defired, I fuppofe, you would endeavour to work with him in fome other way. You do not make

him a bad beaft: you wish him to be otherwife: but being a bad beast, you make what use of him you can.---Thus God does not make you wicked; but being wicked, he ufes you for his own wife purpofes. And tho he makes you the means of trial to others, he will ftill punish you for your wickednefs; just as you correct your beaft for its obftinacy.---Thus then, as no event can fall out without the direction of God, we muft believe, that all the schemes, and wicked projects of our enemies against us are likewife under his direction. do I know any thing fo effectual in keeping down revengeful thoughts, and perfecting a chriftian life in this hardest of all leffons, as this very confiration, that our enemies are only mere inftruments in the hands of God.

Nor

Since then we may make fuch excellent use of the christian doctrine of a particular providence; drawing from it contentment of mind---a prefervative against the mifchief of vain hopes, and vain fears---against vanity, and felf-importance; and laftly againft malice---it will be wife in us to

endea.

endeavour to imprefs our minds ftrongly with it. Confider how fafe you think your affairs in the

hands of a wife and prudent man.

give equal credit to God?

He is your trueft friend. trueft friend.

Dare not you

Truft

then to him.

In his hands, who cre

ated, and preferves you, you must be fafe. Leave him to be the conductor of your affairs. He knows them intimately by him the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

SERMON

SERMON XVI.

1 CORINTHIANS 10. xxxi.

WHETHER YE EAT OR DRINK, OR WHATEVER YE DO, DO AIL TO THE GLORY OF GOD.

SIX days fhalt thou labour, fays the command

ment, and do all that thou haft to do; but the feventh day is the fabbath of the Lord thy God. This commandment fome people are inclined to interpret very literally as if all religion were confined to the fabbath; and had little, or nothing to do with the other fix days of the week. If they go to church regularly on funday, the bufinefs of religion is well performed for the week; and on this flock they go very unconcernedly

about

about their ordinary affairs, and think no more of religious matters, till funday comes round, when they put on their beft clothes, and grave faces, and go to church.

Now tho it is a very good thing to bring people at any rate to such a sense of their duty, as to go regularly to church, where, it may be hoped, they will at least receive some benefit; yet they certainly make a very great mistake, who think going to church is the chief part of religion or indeed if they think going to church is any thing more than the means of being religious. If the religious thoughts we get at church, do not mix with all our actions, during the other days of the weck, they are of as little value, as our food would be, if it did not tend to nourish the body, and fit it for the purposes of life.-Sunday's inftruction foon flies off amidft the cares of the world, if it be not preserved by religious practice. You would fee the abfurdity at once, if a man fhould fay, he would eat a hearty meal on funday, which fhould ferve him, till funday came again. But perhaps you do not see the same absurdity in taking your spiritual meal only on a funday: and yet the fole difference is, that in one the body fuffers, in the other the foul.

Religion

Religion then was never meant to be confined to fundays; but to guide us every day by its good precepts, and govern all our actions. Our lives are made up of actions. One action fucceeds another; and yet in all this courfe of actions, there is hardly one, trifling as we may think it, which has not its faulty extreme, and which we may not make either right or wrong. In fhort we may turn almost every action of our lives into religion, by giving it a religious motive; and acting with a view to please God.

Now this is exactly the doctrine of the text. Nothing feems to have less of a religious caft about it, than eating and drinking; and yet the text plainly afferts, that we may turn eating, and drinking to the glory of God-that is, if we eat, and drink under fuch rules of temperance as the fcriptures give us, and practife thefe rules with a view to pleafe God, we may make even eating, and drinking, acts of religion.

In the following difcourfe I fhall explain the text to you more fully by fhewing in feveral instances, how you ought to carry your religion into common life.

VOL. I.

Ο

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