SERMON XI.

A SUMMARY.

MY LITTLE CHILDREN, THESE THINGS WRITE I UNTO YOU,

THAT YE SIN NOT.

THESE words are from the First Epistle of John, second chapter, first verse. They represent, in a brief form, the object of religious instruction, whether it be addressed to children or to persons in mature life. The purpose of the apostle is the purpose of every Christian teacher. I have written to you, my children, and preached to you from first to last that I might keep you from sin, and help you to be virtuous and worthy; and not merely that I might entertain you for a few moments at a time, with words that should make no lasting impression on your minds and hearts. I have written to you, and spoken to you, "that ye sin not."

And now that I speak to you once more, it is my intention to refresh your memory of what has been formerly said to you, by re

peating to you the substance of these discourses, which had for their only design your improvement in knowledge and goodness and piety.

1. I taught you in my first discourse that you were not here in the world by chance, without a Maker; but that just as certainly as a rich musical instrument, for instance a church organ, must have been made, and made by a being having a mind or intellect, so certainly must you have been made, and made by a Being having a mind or intellect. I told you that as an organ could only be made by some one who intended to make it, and knew how to make it, and was acquainted with all its various parts, so you yourselves could only be made by some One who intended to make you, and knew how to make you, and was acquainted with all the various parts which compose the wonderful frame of your bodies and the still more wonderful frame of your souls. That One is God. He made also the earth and the stars and everything we behold. He is before all other beings and above them all. He is God alone. To know him, is to take the first step in religious knowledge; and you will presently

see how your knowledge of him may keep you from sin, and help you to be good.

2. In my second discourse I exhorted you from the words of Solomon, to remember your Creator in the days of your youth. I set before you the duty of thinking seriously and frequently of the Almighty Being who made you. I told you that you should think for what purpose he made you, and what he wishes you to do while you live. To remember your Creator is to think of him; and to think of him properly is to reflect upon his design and will concerning yourselves. I then proceeded to show you that God created you to be happy, and to find happiness in goodness. These two things cannot be separated. You cannot be happy in any way you choose, but in the way only which he chooses, which is the way of virtue and piety. Although the church organ may produce discord, yet it was not built to produce discord, but music and harmony; and though you may do wrong and commit sin, yet you were not made to do wrong but to do right, to be virtuous and to be happy. Thus you were taught to perceive how the knowledge of God as your Creator tends to preserve

you from sin. As he made you, so did he make you to be happy in obeying him; and to obey him is to be virtuous and holy. The remainder of this discourse was occupied in expounding to you three particular rules of goodness. The first of these rules was, To love and obey your parents; the second, To speak the truth always; and the third, To be just and kind to all persons.

3. As I told you in the first sermon, that God created you, and in the second, that he created you to obey his commandments, and to be happy in this obedience, I explained to you in the third, that he certainly knew whether you obeyed him or not, because he is present everywhere throughout his own universe, and is perfectly acquainted with everything and every being that he has made. To him there is no night, and from his vision there can nothing be hid, no action, no feeling, no thought. The thought that God sees you always, will naturally tend to prevent you from sinning in his sight; and will also stimulate you to do good, knowing that he sees you, and seeing, will love you.

4. My fourth sermon was on the duty of

praying to God. Praying to him is speaking to him. You think it right to speak to your earthly father, to ask him for what you need; it is right also to speak to your heavenly Father, who is God, to ask him for what you need, and to thank him for what he has given you. You can speak to God with your thoughts, as well as with words, because he hears thoughts as well as words. It is right that you should pray to him both with your mind and with your tongue. He wishes you to pray to him, and has promised that he will hear you. And when you pray to him, the most important gifts which you can ask for, are those virtues and good dispositions which will make you his well-beloved children. And when you ask for them, sincerely and heartily, you will receive them. You will be assisted to be virtuous, you will be defended from sin.

5. Those four sermons were on your relations and duties to God. In the fifth discourse, I spoke to you of his Son, Jesus Christ, who, next to God our Father, demands our reverence, gratitude, and love. I spoke to you of the great wisdom and power which Jesus had from God, and of his great love toward