future happiness. Every feeling of gratitude to the great Author and finisher of our salvation, every motive of active holiness which the gospel supplies, every aspiration of hope which its promises cherish, derives its reality and its value from the admission, that God is our Saviour and our Guide here, and that he will be our exceeding great reward hereafter, in the world which is to come,

It is impossible to consider the great end for which the gospel was revealed, without perceiving that it must have a direct reference to a practical object. Nothing in the word of God is of a speculative nature; nothing is revealed as a matter of mere curiosity, or useless information; and the doctrine of the Trinity is, in fact, a remarkable exemplification of this peculiarity of the sacred Scriptures. The whole system of Christianity is briefly comprised in that view of this doctrine, which the words of the text exhibit. "Through him we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father." The great means of access to God are, pardon by the sacrifice of Christ, and sanctification by the Holy Spirit. The offices of the Deity are thus expressly stated, and while each person of the sacred Trinity is thus depicted, as carrying on his great and compassionate work, so are we led to ascribe to each the glory and the praise, in the undivided essence of the great Jehovah. Can it be said, then, that we are

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authorized to waive the acknowledgment of this doctrine? Can it be said, that the plan of man's redemption remains equally the same, whether this doctrine be allowed to form a part of it or not? Are these points matters of such indifference, that the denial of them cannot be considered as detrimental to the salvation of those who deny them? Is it to be accounted a violation of Christian charity, to declare the danger in which Scripture represents those persons to stand? Does it become the Christian, who has received these humbling, yet exalting truths, to sit calmly down, and allow the dearest hopes of his salvation to be questioned, and the great name of his Saviour blasphemed? Too much, alas! is this now the case amongst us. Too much of evil has already resulted, from the indifference and lukewarmness so prevalent among professing Christians. Too long has this indifference been complimented with the specious name of liberality, while determined opposition to the truth has clothed itself in the garb of reason. There has not, indeed, been wanting an apparent zeal in the cause of religion: religion is, apparently, more an object of interest than formerly; but it is to be feared that this is merely the result of speculation or curiosity-a love of investigation and discussion, as of a science or a theory: the itching ear that seeks for novelty, the wildness of imagination that riots in conjecture. Has the

increased anxiety for religious knowledge increased our general devotion? Has it brought us to the house of God in the spirit of prayer and supplication? Has it diminished the prevalence of folly, of fashion, of luxury? Has it given really a higher tone to the feelings and affections of society? Or, if indeed there be some stricter observance of moral obligations and of outward decorum, is this the result of religious principle, or of the refinement of modern manners? It is to be feared that with advantages far beyond those of former days, with the means of spreading religious truth along with the diffusion of other knowledge, we are far beneath the standard of real godliness and piety, which distinguished the days of the sainted fathers of our church. The sceptic and the blasphemer did not then find the willing ear, or the careless heart; and the boldness of religion's enemies has only increased, in proportion to the weakness or negligence of her children. But amid the clouds that surround us, we have, as Christians and as churchmen, the means of defence, yea, of victory, within ourselves. The light has lost none of its real brilliance, because we have hidden it for a season under a bushel it needs but to be allowed to shine forth in its own splendour, and the darkness shall flee. The ordinances of religion are still calculated for the support of the Christian life; it is the fault of our own selves

alone, if, like the Mosaic law to the Jews of old, they become to us statutes that are not good, and ordinances by which we shall not live. Let us not be content, then, to care for none of these things; but let us each, in his own sphere, show forth the truth, and adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour in all things. By well-doing we shall put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. It is not every Christian that can enter into the combat with the weapons of human learning, and the defences of scriptural research; but every Christian, be his station ever so humble, or his learning ever so limited, if he will but adopt the truths of the gospel with a lively faith, and live up to the standard of these truths, every Christian will become a good soldier of Jesus Christ; and while, according to the measure of his strength, and the grace given unto him, he wields the sword of the Spirit, and wears the breast-plate of righteousness over his heart, he will have for his defence the shield of faith, and for his helmet the hope of salvation.

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SERMON XXIV.

THE DUTY OF PRAYER.

JOHN XVI. 24.

Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.

It was a strong evidence of the consciousness of guilt, that the first parents of our race, after their sad disobedience to the commands of their Maker, hid themselves from the presence of the Lord, amidst the trees of the garden. They knew that they were naked; they felt that they had lost that innocence which had been their brightest ornament, and the guise in which alone they could stand before their Creator. Intercourse with God was therefore no longer a pleasing privilege, and an agreeable duty it was rather a task irksome to their hearts, which no longer retained the allegiance of supreme affection to him. And thus it has ever been since that melancholy period, with the descendants of our