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ately to respect their harmonious agreement in the great subject of their praise. They made one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, saying, " For he is good, and his mercy endureth for ever." And, when they thus concurred with heart and voice in extolling the goodness and mercy of God, "it came even to pass," says the sacred historian, "that the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the Lord; so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of God." That agreement in prayer has a mighty efficacy appears from that gracious promise of the Lord, (Matt. xviii. 19.) "Again, I say unto you, that if two of you shall agree on earth, as touching any thing they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven." And my text affords a convincing proof, that agreement in praise has an equal efficacy to bring the glory of God into the assemblies of his people. We may at least take encouragement from it to make the experiment. We have been asking the divine presence by prayer; let us now go a little farther, and seek it in praise and thanksgiving. The EUCHARIST was the ancient name of the sacrament, which tells us that the sacramental devotions of the primitive church chiefly consisted in those laudable exercises I am now recommending; and certainly their example should have considerable weight with us.

Let none say, I am a guilty, depraved creature, and therefore groans, and tears, and sorrowful lamentations, become me better than the voice of praise; for if you are penitent, believing sinners, if, despairing of relief from any other quarter, you have fled to Christ, as your city of refuge, and taken sanctuary in his atoning blood and sacrifice, praise is not only lawful, but highly becom

ing, nay, a necessary part of your present duty;-the design of your redemption, the tenor of the Gospel Covenant, the glorious privileges to which you stand entitled, loudly demand this grateful return. "We are built up," says Peter, "a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." 1 Peter ii. 5. And that praise is one of these spiritual sacrifices appears from the 9th verse, "Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."

But alas! says one, what is all this to me? My harp must still hang upon the willows; for how shall I, a wretched captive, presume to sing the songs of Zion? No evidences of grace are legible in my heart. Grief and fear have so thoroughly possessed it, that the love of God can find no room. How then, or to what purpose, should I lift up my voice, whilst my soul is cast down and disquieted within me?-Now, to such I would answer in general, that, let your case be as bad as you suppose it, yet still you have cause to bless the Lord. If you cannot thank him for his special grace, yet surely you ought to praise him for his unwearied patience, and these offers of mercy which are daily tendered unto you: Bless him that you are still on earth, in the land of hope, and not confined to the regions of everlasting despair.

But I must not stop here. Come forward into the light, thou dark, discouraged soul, and, in the presence of God, give a true and proper answer to these few questions. Thou complainest of the want of love to God, and thy complaints indeed show that thou hast no delight. ing, enjoying love: But answer me,

1st, Hast thou not a desiring, seeking love? A poor

man who desires and seeks the world, shows his love to it as convincingly as the rich man who delights in it; -the tendency of the heart appears as truly in an anxious pursuit as in a delightful enjoyment. But, as the weakness of hope is frequently mistaken for the want of desire, I must ask you,

2dly, Do you not find a moaning, lamenting love? You show that you loved your friends by grieving for their death, as well as by delighting in them whilst they lived. If you heartily lament it, as your greatest unhap. piness and loss, when you think that God doth cast you off, and that you are void of grace, and cannot serve and honour him as you would, this is an undoubted evidence that your hearts are not void of the love of God. Once

more,

3dly, Would you not rather have a heart to love God than to have all the riches and pleasures in the world? Would it not comfort you more than any thing else, if you could be sure that he loveth you, and if you could perfectly love and obey him? If so, then know assuredly that it is not the want of love, but the want of assurance, that causeth thy dejection.

And therefore I charge thee, in the name of God, to render unto him that tribute of praise which is due. To be much employed in this heavenly duty, has an evident tendency to vanquish all hurtful doubts and fears;-by keeping the soul near to God, and within the warmth of his love and goodness;-by dissipating distrustful vexing thoughts, and diverting the mind to sweeter things; -by keeping off the tempter, who usually is least able to follow us when we are highest in the praises of our God and Saviour;-and especially by bringing out the evidences of our sincerity, while the chiefest in exercise.

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Praise brings comfort to the soul, as standing in the sunshine brings warmth to the body, or as the sight of a dear friend rejoices the heart, without any great reasoning or arguing in the case. Come then, my dear friends, and make the experiment. Obey that voice which proceedeth out of the throne, saying, "Praise our God, all ye his servants, and ye that fear him, both small and great." Let no voice be amissing on this solemu occasion, but let us all be as one, praising and thanking the Lord, while we commemorate his goodness and everlasting mercy; and then may we hope that he will grace our communion table with his presence, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and fill all the guests with the fatness of his house. Amen.

SERMON LIV.

EZEKIEL XXxvi. 31.

ways,

and your

Then shall ye remember your own evil
doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves
in your own sight for your iniquities and for your
abominations.

THE Jews were at this time captives in Babylon, and so dispersed through that vast empire, that they said of themselves, in the language of despair, "Our bones are dried, and our hope is lost; we are cut off for our parts." Even the Prophet himself looked on their case as so irrecoverable by human means, that, when God gave him

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a visionary representation of their state, by a valley covered with dry bones, and put the question to him," Son of man, can these bones live?" his answer was, "O Lord God, thou knowest." With thee indeed all things are possible: Omnipotence may do this great thing; but whether it shall be done, or by what means it may come to pass, thou, O Lord God, and thou only knowest.

Thus abject and hopeless was the condition of the Jews, when God published his gracious design to take them from among the heathen, and to bring them back into their own land, (ver. 28.) “Ye shall dwell,” saith he, "in the land that I gave to your fathers; and ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. I will also save you from all your uncleannesses: and I will call for the corn, and will increase it, and lay no famine upon you. And I will multiply the fruit of the tree, and the increase of the field, that ye shall receive no more reproach of famine among the heathen." And then, even at this season of returning peace and plenty, at this season, which so often misleads and intoxicates the mind of man, "Then shall ye remember your own evil ways, and your doings that were not good, and shall loath yourselves in your own sight, for your iniquities and for your abominations."

THE account which we have of these penitents furnisbeth us with some very important instructions with regard to the nature of true repentance, which I propose, in the first place, to illustrate; and then to recommend their example to your imitation. And the

1st Instruction which we obtain from this passage is, That true repentance is the gift of God, and the peculiar effect of his Holy Spirit. The course of Providence is indeed admirably adapted to reclaim the sinner from the error of his ways. Bitterness is written as with a sun

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