and resolutions they have made; or, it may be, they have fallen under some violent temptation, which they have not so vigorously resisted as they might and ought to have done. Instances, however, of this kind, I trust are but rare. Whereas on the other hand, how many are there, who having forsaken the company and conversation of the wicked, and, having lamented the folly and madness of their past lives; have, from being the slaves of sin and Satan, become the servants of God? these will tell you from their own experience, that they have found more true peace and satisfaction in conquering one vicious habit, than they ever met with in the most sensual enjoyment; that all their past sinful pleasures yield them now no other fruits, than those bitter ones of shame and remorse: and that in Religion, on the contrary, they find such a spring of comfort continually refreshing their souls, as they would not part with for all this world can possibly give them; that they taste such a pleasure in the service of God, as makes them with holy David, desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of their lives, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple; Psalm xxvii. 4. and, like him, esteem it better to be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord, one of the meanest of God's servants, than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness, amid the delights and pleasures of a wicked and deluded. world. In fact, nothing can give a man so exquisite a satisfaction, as to reflect upon the actions of a well-spent life; to consider that he has made God his friend and secured an interest in the favour of him who is the eternal source and fountain of all good; infinite in mercy and loving-kindness, as well as in his power; not only able, but willing and ready to help and assist him in all difficulties: a Being to whom he may have recourse under every trial and temptation; under the greatest calaties and troubles of life; to whom he may lay open all his wants and infirmities pour forth all his sorrows and afflictions, and may at all times with confidence look up, as being assured that and resolutions they have made; or, it may be, they have fallen under some violent temptation, which they have not so vigorously resisted as they might and ought to have done. Instances, however, of this kind, I trust are but rare. Whereas on the other hand, how many are there, who having forsaken the company and conversation of the wicked, and, having lamented the folly and madness of their past lives; have, from being the slaves of sin and Satan, become the servants of God? these will tell you from their own experience, that they have found more true peace and satisfaction in conquering one vicious habit, than they ever met with in the most sensual enjoyment; that all their past sinful pleasures yield them now no other fruits, than those bitter ones of shame and remorse: and that in Religion, on the contrary, they find such a spring of comfort continually refreshing their souls, as they would not part with for all this world can possibly give them; that they taste such a plea-sure in the service of God, as makes them with holy David, desire to dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of their lives, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple; Psalm xxvii. 4. and, like him, esteem it better to be a door-keeper in the house of the Lord, one of the meanest of God's servants, than to dwell in the tents of ungodliness, amid the delights and pleasures of a wicked and deluded. world. In fact, nothing can give a man so exquisite a satisfaction, as to reflect upon the actions of a well-spent life; to consider that he has made God his friend and secured an interest in the favour of him who is the eternal source and fountain of all good; infinite in mercy and loving-kindness, as well as in his power; not only able, but willing and ready to help and assist him in all difficulties: a Being to whom he may have recourse under every trial and temptation; under the greatest calaties and troubles of life; to whom he may lay open all his wants and infirmities pour forth all his sorrows and afflictions, and may at all times with confidence look up, as being assured that he has a powerful Intercessor in heaven, Jesus Christ the righteous, in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins; Col. i. 14. and who is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them. Heb. vii. 25. I say, for a man to consider these important truths; to think that he is answering the end of his creation; that he is doing the work for which he was sent into the world; that he is become a member of Christ, a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of Heaven-how must such thoughts cheer and refresh his soul with a solid, substantial, and lasting pleasure! in comparison whereof all the vain and empty enjoyments of this world are as nothing. But then, on the contrary, for a wicked man to reflect, that the face of the Lord is against them that do evil, Psalın xiv. 16. and consequently that he is in the number of those against whom God has declared his displeasure; that instead of working out his Salvation with fear and trembling, he is daily heaping up to himself wrath |