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from the lips. One would think it unnecessary to mention such a qualification to be requisite, when we are to be employed in so solemn an act as an immediate address to our Maker. Yet there is ground to apprehend, that an admonition of this nature is necessary to be given to many professed Christians. Men from their childhood have been so oft accustomed to repeat certain expressions, which they call saying prayers, with little understanding, and less attention to what they say, that the habit of it is apt to be continued throughout life; as if the mere uttering of words, or presenting themselves at set times, in a certain posture before God, had some charms in it to attract the blessings of Heaven.-My brethren, this is trifling with one of the most important exercises in which the human mind can be em

men are prompted by an irresistible impulse to lift their eyes, and address their voice, to Heaven. Who is there, for instance, that feeling himself cruelly oppressed by injustice and violence, without any prospect of procuring redress, can forbear appealing to a Power that rules above, and invoking Divine interposition to vindicate his innocence and avenge his wrongs? Who that is standing by the death-bed of a beloved friend, of a spouse, a brother, or a son, and sees them struggling with the last agonies, but finds himself impelled to look up to heaven, and to pray from the heart, that where men can give no aid, God would in his mercy support the dying man? Was there ever a sinner so hardened, that when he finds himself leaving the world, and standing on the brink of an unknown eternity, is not disposed, with earnest and trembling voice, to prayployed; it is turning devotion into that God would forgive his errors, and receive in peace his departing spirit? In such situations as these, man feels what he truly is, and speaks the native unadulterated language of the heart.-Accordingly, throughout all ages and nations, the obligation to prayer as a duty has been recognised, and its propriety has been felt. Over all the world, even among the most savage tribes, temples have been built, worshippers have assembled in crowds; and the wildest superstition has, by the various forms of homage which it adopted, borne testimony to this truth, that there is some God, to whom, as the. hearer of prayer, all flesh should come. In order that prayer may produce its proper effect, there are certain qualifications necessarily belonging to it, which come next to be considered.

One of the first and chief of these is seriousness, or an attentive and solemn frame of mind, in opposition to thoughts that wander, and to words that drop forth unmeaning

childish folly. Let us never forget that it is the heart which must pray. The heart may pray when no words are uttered. But if the heart be not engaged in prayer, all the words we can utter are no better than rude offensive sounds in the ear of the Almighty. Collect then thy mind within itself, before thou preferrest a single petition; nay, before thou pronouncest the name of God in prayer. Be alone with him and thine own soul; under the same impression as if thou wert just about to appear before the judgment-seat of that God to whom thou prayest.

To seriousness, we must join affection in prayer; I mean that devotion of the heart which is inspired by gratitude and love, in distinction from forced prayer, or what is unwillingly preferred from servile fear, or mere regard to decency. We must come into the presence of God, as to a father in heaven; not to a hard and oppressive master, to whom we are obliged to pay obeisance, to prevent him from destroying us.-

Profound humility is perfectly consistent with this affectionate spirit in prayer. No presumptuous familiarity must enter into our addresses to God. We are enjoined to serve him with reverence and godly fear. Our devotion will be most fervent and affectionate, when we entertain the humblest thoughts of ourselves, joined with the most exalted conceptions of that God to whom we pray. Remember that God is in heaven, and thou art on earth; therefore let thy words be few. (Eccles. v. 2.)

Faith is a qualification of prayer expressly required in Scripture. He that prayeth, saith the apostle James, let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. (Jam. i. 6.)—By faith in prayer, two things are meant: first, a general persuasion that God is a Being of infinite goodness and mercy; to whom, therefore, the prayers of his creatures are not put up in vain. He that cometh unto God must believe, not only that he is, but that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him: (Heb. xi. 6.) without some belief of this kind, prayers were altogether superfluous. For who would send up supplications to a God who was believed to be inaccessible to his creatures, and to have no regard to their circumstances and wants?—At the same time, much ground we have to be conscious of our unworthiness, and to tremble at the remembrance of it, when we address ourselves to Heaven; and therefore, secondly, to pray in faith, is, in the Scripture sense of it, to pray in the name of Christ; that is, in the faith that it is through his merits and mediation only we can find acceptance with God. We acknowledge our guilt; we disclaim all trust in our own righteousness; and implore grace from God on account of what his Son has done and suffered for us. This is the clear and express doctrine of the New Testament. We have boldness to enter into the holiest by the

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blood of Jesus. We have this new and living way which he hath consecrated for us within the veil. Having this High Priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith. (Heb. x. 19-—22.)

Having thus pointed out the chief and most essential qualifications of prayer, it remains that I lay some considerations before you to shew the importance and advantages of it.

In the first place, Prayer is one of the most powerful means of recalling our minds from the vanities of life to serious thoughts; to a proper sense of God, and our duty; and to all the high objects with which we are intimately connected as rational and immortal beings. Surrounded as we are with the objects and pleasures of the world; busied with its avocations, and continually immersed in its pursuits; man would become altogether the victim of sense, and a prey to its temptations, if there were not some stated occasions which brought him home to himself, and to the thoughts of another world. Prayer has a much more impressive effect for this purpose, than can be expected from simple meditation. An immediate and solemn address to an omniscient Being, in whose presence we consider ourselves as then particularly placed, tends to produce a higher degree of serious and awful recollection, than would arise from a mere soliloquy of the mind with itself. In Prayer, the soul approaches to the borders of an invisible world, and acts as a spirit holding intercourse with the Father of spirits. It drops for a time the remembrance of its earthly connexions, to dwell among everlasting objects. Prayer, by this means, both composes and purifies the heart; it gives the soul its proper elevation towards God, and has a happy effect to counterwork the dangerous impressions made by the corruptions of the world around us.

In the next place, Prayer is useful,

attended moreover with this great advantage, that it tends to fortify the worshipper in the practice of all his duties. For it impresses him with a sense of God as the great friend and protector of righteousness in the world; to whom, therefore, all righteous men may look up with confidence and hope; whose strength is more than sufficient for their weakness; whose gracious aid none that served him ever implored in vain.

In the last place, Prayer is important, not only as a means of high improvement in religion, but as an instrument of consolation and relief under the distresses of life. How many situations are found in the world, where men have no resource left to them but prayer to God! How forlorn would the persecuted and afflicted, the sad and the sorrowful be, if even this last sanctuary were shut against them; if they had no Protector in heaven to whom they could look up in the hours of anguish! We all know what a relief it is to be able to unbosom our griefs to some friend whom we believe compassionate and kind, even though it be not in his power to give us any effectual aid. In our heavenly Father, we can look up, not only to one in whom compassions flow, who knows our fame, remembers we are dust, and pities us as a father pitieth his children ; but to One, whose arm is all-powerful, either to support us under our distress, or, if to his wisdom it seem meet, to relieve us altogether from it.

not only as a corrective of our natural levity and forgetfulness of God, but as an actual exercise of the best affections of our nature, which are thereby confirmed and strengthened. As far as prayer is not a mere emission of empty words, but speaks, as it ought to do, the language of the heart, it is an assemblage of all the affections which constitute piety. It implies the highest sentiments of reverence and adoration, of love and gratitude to God, of trust in his mercy, and of faith in our blessed Redeemer, all animating the heart. Whatever nourishes such affections as these in the soul, gives strength and support at the same time to active virtue; and thereby prepares and assists us for every duty of life. With respect to ourselves, the view which prayer gives, of our necessities and wants, of our sins and offences against God, and of the dangers which we have thereby incurred, produces becoming humility of mind. Prostrate before that great Being whom we have so much offended, all the pride of man is laid in the dust. He is impressed with a sense of what he truly is, and taught how far removed from what he ought to be. By the prayers he puts up for being assisted to repent of past follies, and to make improvements for the future in virtue, the desire of virtue is cherished, and the pursuit of it excited; and if this desire after virtue which is expressed in prayer be genuine, it is a degree of goodness already in some measure begun within the heart.--Hence, Prayer is so often the last Prayer is, at the same time, an exercise of benevolence towards men, as well as of piety towards God; when, as was before observed, not merely as individuals, but as members of the great family of God, we come before our heavenly Father, and express our affectionate wishes for all our brethren. While Prayer in this manner gives exertion to many of the highest parts of goodness, it is

retreat of the miserable. Where men can give them no aid, God is their present help. To him they can pour forth those secret griefs, which to men they sometimes cannot disclose. He hears those groans of the labouring heart which no words can utter, and circumstances which would expose our requests to be despised by the world, prevent not our prayers from finding acceptance with God.

It is his character to hear the cry of the poor, and to regard the prayer of the destitute: He is the helper of them who have no help of man.-Hence, Prayer may be termed the Temple of Tranquillity to the unhappy; where their minds are soothed, and their cares and sorrows are for a time hushed and forgotten. It may jusly be said, that there only, on this side of the grave, the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest. There, the prisoners rest together; they hear no more the voice of the oppressor. The small and the great are there; and the servant is free from his master. (Job iii. 17. 19.)

sent themselves to our view in the earth and the heavens when we are solitary and alone, may suggest matter of devout ejaculation towards God. By cherishing such a habit, we preserve on our minds the native spirit of prayer. We correct those evil dispositions which intercourse with the world is always apt to introduce; we improve our contemplation of the objects which surround us into an act of devotion; and either from the crowded city, or the solitary field, can send up to Heaven that homage of the heart, which is no less acceptable to the Almighty, than if it arose in vocal form from the midst of the temple. In this sense I understand the injunction given, to pray without ceasing.-And surely, my brethren, when we consider the high value of those blessings for which we depend on Heaven, it must appear to every reflecting mind, that we cannot be too earnest in our supplications to obtain them. To what purpose tend all our present solicitude and care; all the application of the thoughtful, and all the industry of the active and diligent? Is it not in order to pass through life content

The reasonableness of prayer, as a duty, and the advantages attending it, being such as I have now endeavoured briefly to set forth, there is no wonder that so many repeated recommendations of it occur in the sacred writing; and that we are enjoined to be fervent in prayer, to be instant in prayer, nay, to pray without ceasing. (1 Thess. v. 17.)-By such precepts I do not understand that we are bound to frequent repetitions of long and tedious prayers. Our Saviour, in his excellent discourse on this subject, (Matt. vi.) has sufficient-ed, easy, and happy? But can you ly cautioned us against the hypocrisy of those who use vain repetitions, and think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. But besides the stated times of both public and private prayer, which we ought devoutly to observe, there is a habit of devotion, in occasional elevations of the soul towards God, which highly deserves to be cultivated. A thousand occurrences which happen when we are engaged in the affairs of the world, and a thousand objects which pre

pass through life with contentment and happiness, unless you enjoy peace within, a good conscience, and a comfortable hope of a future existence? Are not all these things directly and immediately the gifts of God, imparted by him to the souls of men? And can you expect to receive such gifts, unless you confess your dependance on him who bestows them, and implore them from that gracious God, who giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not?

SERMON XCI.

ON THE LAST JUDGMENT.

For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.-2 Cor. v. 10.

THESE words present to our view the great event which is to determine the fate of all mankind. No article of Christian faith is more clearly ascertained in Scripture, is of greater importance in itself, and more worthy to dwell upon our minds, than this, of the final judgment of God. It adds solemnity to every part of religion it introduces an awful seriousness into our thoughts, by placing in the most striking light, the close connexion between our present behaviour and our everlasting happiness or misery. In the gospel it is described with so many circumstances of awe and terror, as may, to many, render the consideration of this subject dark and disagreeable. But we must remember, that though religion be often employed to soothe and comfort the distressed, and though this be one of its most salutary effects, yet this is not the only purpose to which it is to be applied by ministers of the gospel. In the midst of that levity and dissipation with which the world abounds, it is necessary to awaken the giddy and unthinking, by setting before them, in full view, all the dangers they incur by their conduct.-Knowing the terror of the Lord, adds the apostle, in the verse immediately following the text, we persuade men.—In treating of this subject, I shall, in the first place, state the arguments which reason affords for the belief of a judgment to come; and shall next shew the improvements which we ought to make of the particular discoveries the gospel hath made to us concerning it.

I. By taking a view of the arguments which reason affords for the

belief of a general judgment, our faith in the discoveries of the gospel will receive confirmation, from discerning their consonance with the natural sentiments of the human heart.

In the first place, and as the foundation of all, I begin with observing, that there is in the nature of things a real and eternal difference between right and wrong, between a virtuous and an immoral conduct; a difference which all men discern of themselves, and which leads them unavoidably to think of some actions as deserving blame and punishment, and of others, as worthy of praise and reward. If all actions were conceived as indifferent in their nature, no idea of justice and retribution would be found among men; they would not consider themselves as in any view accountable for their actions to any superior. But this is far from being the case. Every man feels himself under a law; the law of his being, which he cannot violate without being self-condemned. The most ignorant heathen knows and feels, that when he has committed an unjust or cruel action, he has committed a crime, and deserves punishment. Never was there a nation on the face of the earth, among whom there did not prevail a consciousness that, by inhumanity and fraud, they justly exposed themselves to the hatred of those around them, and to the displeasure of any secret invisible power that ruled the world. This, therefore, may be assumed as an incontrovertible principle, that the difference of good and evil in actions is not founded on arbitrary

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