Are there any,

disregard or resist this motive? who will still cast off fear and restrain prayer? It must be because they are utterly thoughtless, and consider not what a Being God is. Open your eyes, I beseech you, upon his works in every direction around you. Look up to the heavens, "the spacious firmament on high." Consider the sun, that immense globe of fire, whose splendor overspreads the hemisphere with light. Observe the milder lustre and the serene majesty of the moon, ruling the night. Let worlds on worlds be presented to your imagination in the hosts of stars gilding the celestial arch. Think of the rapidity and yet perfect regularity of their motions, through the lapse of ages, from the beginning of time. From these celestial heights, descend in your thoughts to this earth, swarming with inhabitants, and yet made to furnish regular supplies for all, satisfying the desires of every living thing. Mark the rotation of the seasons, and the vicissitudes of day and night. Lastly, think of yourselves, lately called into existence, and endued with minds capable of reasoning upon all these objects, and of discerning their relation as effects to their almighty, all-wise, and all-beneficent Cause and Author. Think of yourselves as admitted into this material universe, as into a vast temple, whose every part, as well as whole frame and structure, bespeaks the majesty and glory of the builder. Are you not awed by such a scene of wonders? In the view of them, does not your very

nature prompt you to reverence and adore this great Creator? Knowing that it is in him you live and move, that in his hand your breath is, and that his are all your ways, shall not his dread fall upon you? Will you not fear him, at whose rebuke "the earth trembleth, and the mountains flee away?" Knowing his will, is it conceivable that his rational creatures should venture to disregard his authority in any one of his commands? Must not his fear compel them to obey?

In cases of sudden and extreme danger, all men fly to God and implore his protection. Under such circumstances, nature forces men to think of God and seek to him. The most hardened despiser of prayer during the days of health and ease, is no sooner attacked by a painful and threatening illness, than he begins to pray, and even to solicit the prayers of others for him. Can you stand by the dying bed of a beloved relation or friend, can you see him beyond all human aid, sinking into the grave, into eternity, and not lift up your soul to God on his behalf? And when you yourselves shall be in this situation, as you certainly will be, and may be very soon,—when all hope of life is gone, will you not then most fervently pray to that great Being, who has in his hand the diposal of your lot for eternity?

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But, if you persist in the neglect of prayer through life, or while you enjoy health and prosperity; and at last, in a time of trouble or at the hour of death, have recourse to it as a refuge when every other

refuge is shut against you, can you rationally hope that such forced devotion will prove successful? There is an alarming and awful passage of Scripture, which I leave with you for your serious consideration. "Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded ; but ye have set at nought all my counsel, and would none of my reproof; I also will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer; they shall seek me early, but they shall not find me."

SERMON VIII.

PROFESSING RELIGION.

ROMANS x. 10.

For with the heart, man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth, confession is made unto salvation.

In the verse immediately preceding, the terms of the gospel salvation are thus explicitly stated, "If thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart, that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved." As explanatory of this method of salvation, the words of the text are added, "for with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." The full meaning of the text will be unfolded and brought into view, by ascertaining the import,

First, Of "believing with the heart unto rightness ;" and then of "making with the mouth confession," or a profession of this faith, "unto salvation."

Our first inquiry is into the import of "believing with the heart unto righteousness." This comprises faith both in its objects and exercises. Its objects, or the things to be believed, are the truths revealed in the word of God. Many of these are discoverable by our own reason, contemplating the works of God, and reflecting upon them. The invisible things of him, even his eternal power and godhead are clearly seen, being understood or easily inferred from the things which he has made. The heavens declare his glory, the earth is full of his riches. We cannot open our eyes upon these his works, without beholding convincing proofs of his being, power, wisdom, and goodness; nor without witnessing the constant and universal agency of his providence; nor without from thence discerning our dependence upon and relation to him as his creatures, and in this way learning some of the duties and obligations resulting both from our relation to Him, and to one another, as partakers of one common nature. But these truths of natural religion are, by revelation, vastly extended and rendered more clear and convincing; and to them are added innumerable other truths, far surpassing the powers of human reason to discover.

From the word of God, we learn the history of the creation, of man, of his first or primeval state, of that into which he fell by transgression, the consequences of his fall, the mediatorial scheme devised for his recovery, its gradual developement from the