and obedient, they should prevail over nations mightier and stronger than they; so may I admonish you, that if you are sincerely desirous of pleasing your Heavenly Father, he will assist you to conquer the most inveterate habits; and, difficult as the undertaking may seem, while you determine to persevere in the attempt, you may be certain of success. "My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness," was the answer St. Paul received to encourage him under the trials which God had appointed for his faith. And in every exigence of the most inconsiderable of his children, he is ready to support them with every needful assistance. His grace shall be sufficient for thee, my young friend, if thou art but earnest in thy desires to obtain it. Be diligent in the use of thy present talents, and these talents shall be increased when that increase shall become needful. Our Sa

viour declares, that "he came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance ;" can you then suppose that, when this was the gracious purpose of his mission, he will reject any one who applies to him for aid to become more virtuous? The most acceptable petition you can offer, must be for supplies of grace; nor will

Such prayers be rejected, when they are accompanied by sincere resolutions of obedience.

Those who pretend to serve God, yet retain their vices, are alone rejected by him. Hence, Saul was deprived of his kingdom, while the penitence of his successor was accepted. David was guilty of the most dreadful crimes : but his contrition was such, as to render him an object of the Divine clemency. But remember, that repentance, if unaccompanied by reformation, cannot entitle you to the advantage of those promises, or to the encouragement of those examples. The apostle who had persecuted the disciples of Christ, continued his faithful follower from the time of his conversion. If he was succoured in temptation, and supported in difficulties, he improved, to the service of his great Master, the assistance he received. So, if you every day, to the utmost of your power, endeavour to overcome the failings you are addicted to, it will be the best means to engage the protection of Heaven, and will be an earnest of its future favour.

Let me forwarn you, in the mean time, that you are not to expect, that assistance will at any period of your life supersede your own

éxertion. As man is a free agent, his good ness must be the voluntary choice of his own will: God will assist us if we desire his aid, but he will not force us to be good against our inclinations. His grace is sufficient for us; that is, if we use, not if we abuse, its influence. When we combat the force of temptation, human weakness shall be strengthened by Heavenly power; but if we comply with inclination, indulge the violence of passion, or cherish the propensity to evil, against which conscience remonstrates, then it will be suffered to increase, and we shall be deserted by that God whose mercies we reject. Thus does the gospel encourage the true penitent, "Believe, and thou shalt be saved." We are to believe, that our Maker created us with faculties suf ficient to the state in which we are placed; and that he does not require a more perfect obedience than he will enable us to perform. While therefore we are told to "work out our own salvation with fear and trembling," lest we should be "overcome of evil," we are at the same time instructed to rejoice, because; "the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth," who will pardon iniquity, transgression, and sin, but will by no means clear the guilty.

From what has been here suggested you should learn, not to presume entirely on your own determination, which may easily be sha ken, when it is proved by strong temptation; but to accompany the best intentions with prayers for Heavenly assistance, at the same time relying, that, as "our God is a God of truth," he will fulfil the promises he has given to animate your obedience.

However forcible may be the power of those dispositions, which long habit has rendered difficult to overcome, you need not be afraid; for unremitting assiduity shall extirpate them by degrees. The life of a Christian must, through the whole course of it, be a continual struggle with what is wrong; but those who are "faithful unto death, shall, at the end, receive a crown of life."

The assistance of the Almighty will be proportioned to your conflicts: therefore, however prevalent your passions, "fear not, nor be afraid of them; be strong, and of a good courage for the Lord thy God, he it is that doth go with thee, he will not fail thee nor for sake thee."

124

SUNDAY XLIV.

ON AVARICE.

EVERY subject will admit of two different representations; and the arguments on both sides may be just, if not carried further than is consistent with truth and equity. But the danger, to young people more especially, is, in not properly weighing those reasons that are on the side of propriety and virtue. They are apt to incline to the dictates of passion, and to listen only to what will justify the part towards which inclination impels them; and in no one instance is this self-deception more evident than on the subjects of avarice and prodigality. The latter is, in general, the predominant failing of an early age; while the former is rather acquired by a long intercourse with the world. However, as no period of life is exempted from temptations, and vice is a weed that will grow in every soil, it may not be unuseful to consider the effects of both these dispositions when carried to excess; it is in the undue indulgence that we become guilty. All our passions were implanted by the great Creator for wise and benevolent pur