in such a walk.7 soul to ascend in living aspirations after him, will constantly increase; and every act of secret communion with the Lord, will assist in confirming that love towards him, from which it springs. Nor are these acts confined to prayer—often are they the movements of a spirit filled with praise. If it is our duty and

The proneness of the regenerate

7 "En effet, mes freres," says the eloquent Massillon, “la prière n'est pas un effort de l'esprit, un arrangement d'idées, une pénétration profonde des mystères et des conseils de Dieu; c'est un simple mouvement du cœur, c'est un gémissement de l'âme vivement touchée à la vue de ses misères; c'est un sentiment vif et secret de nos besoins et de notre foiblesse, et une humble confiance, qui l'expose à son Seigneur, pour en obtenir la delivrance et la remède. La prière ne suppose pas dans l'âme qui prie de grandes lumières, des connaissances rares, un esprit plus élevé et plus cultivé qui celui des autres hommes; elle suppose seulement plus de foi, plus de componction, plus de desir d'être délivré de ses tentations et des ses misères." "In fact, my brethren, prayer is not an effort of the understanding, an arrangement of ideas, a profound inquiry into the mysteries and counsels of God; it is a simple movement of the heart; it is the groaning of a soul keenly affected in the view of its own wretchedness; it is a lively and secret feeling of our wants and our weakness, and a humble confidence in exposing them to the Lord, in order to obtain deliverance and cure. Prayer does not imply, in the soul which prays, great talents, rare acquirements, an understanding more exalted and cultivated than that of other men ; it implies only more faith, more compunction, and a greater desire to be delivered from our temptations and our misery."-Sermon sur la prière.

'Nay one thing I know more; that the prayer which is the most forcible, transcends and far exceeds all power of words. For St. Paul, speaking unto us of the most effectual kind of prayer, calls it sighs and groans that cannot be expressed. Nothing cries so loud in the ears of God as the sighing of a contrite earnest heart. It requires not the voice, but the mind; not the stretching of the hands, but the intention of the heart; not any outward shape or carriage of the body, but the inward behaviour of the understanding. How then can it slacken your worldly business and occasions, to mix them with sighs and groans, which are the most effectual kind of

privilege to "pray without ceasing," it equally becomes us, in "every thing," to "give thanks." 8

It appears, then, that in order to be fitted for communion with God, fallen man must first repent and be reconciled to his Creator-that the stedfast maintenance of that communion in the Christian beBever, is a principal means, in the order of divine graces for the increase and confirmation of his love— that he is therefore bound to exercise diligence in the devotional duties of the closet, of the family circle, and of the church that the outward part of these duces is salutary and even needful, as an aid to inward worship: but that without 4, it is useless, and Met de injurious daily, that the secret interwuse of son with God is the ritul breath of the Chustans and superate the whole course ha Mer and experrence

The sadius extasy be mate in onclusion. “སེམསོས་བཅོའ ་ ཟི ན མ སྡུག==n;

से

It

connexion between public worship and the ministry of the gospel, which universally professes to be an expression of the mind of God. And such undoubtedly it ever will be, so long as it is scriptural in its character, and is offered under the influence and teaching of the Holy Spirit. But our Heavenly Father is graciously pleased to communicate his will to man, by a voice which speaks within, and which will ever direct us in the way of holiness. As long as his reconciled children obey that voice, and lead a life of righteousness, so long are they the children of light, and enjoy a free communion with Him in whom there is no darkness. But no sooner do they disobey their divine Monitor, and follow the devices of their own hearts, than their communion with God is interrrupted. Even an angry feeling, or a polluting thought, will hinder the breathing of the soul towards the eternal Source of peace and purity. The spiritual man is gifted with a knowledge of "the mind of Christ,"9 and just in the degree in which he is conformed to it, in his own disposition and conduct, is he capable of communing with God, in that love which sin alone can separate. pure

2. We have now been considering communion with God as an act of the soul, eminently calculated to increase our love for him; and, therefore, to prepare us for loving him eternally. But this com

munion with God-the Father, Son, and Spiritlike the contemplation of that glorious Being, is itself one blessed occupation-one boundless source of enjoyment and happiness-to the saints in glory. The frame and habit of it are suited to the very nature and character of heaven: and will there be found a source of infinite and endless pleasure. there the soul, delivered from the shackles of mortity, draws near to its Creator, and converses with sis. Saviours in the treedom of perfect purity; there the assendied suns numbered and innumerable, Sexe ever worship de Taner in spirit and in truth; #um, te jul infueences or that tar un what ails ther iness mi vr..

SECTION VII.

ON SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF GOD.

THE Christian is accustomed to trace all things in nature, in providence, and in grace, to the will of that infinite Being, in whom dwells the perfection of wisdom and holiness; and in those rules by which the world is governed, both naturally and morally, he recognises the fixed determinations of that will--the laws of an unchanging God.

1. In the order of nature, phenomena or events succeed each other on perfectly uniform principles; so that we soon learn from experience, and afterwards, from the constitution of our minds, cannot but feel assured, that certain causes, in the material world, are

always followed by certain effects. Now that any given cause should, under the same circumstances, uniformly produce a particular effect, is an appointment of the divine will, which is usually called a law of nature. We cannot doubt that many such laws are in action, which have not yet been detected by the scrutiny of man; but others are either obvious to common observation, or have been brought