account is to be made of his being before God? why, he is not, for it is God only whose name is, I AM. What account is to be made of man in his pedigree, which some, like the princes of Zoan, boast of? why, he is the "degene-. rate plant of a strange vine." What account is to be made

of his riches? why, these take the wings of the morning, and fly away, and cannot "profit man in the day of wrath." What account is to be made of his honours? they cannot "descend to the grave after him." What account is to be made of all his projects and schemes? why, that day "his breath departs, his thoughts perish," and are all disconcerted and dashed in pieces. What account is to be made of his beauty? it is quickly turned into rottenness and deformity. The wisdom of man before God is but folly; his knowledge specious ignorance, his strength and power is but impotency. What is his life in the world, but a vapour which the wind of sickness and death blows away, out of time into eternity? Upon the whole, then, may we not well cry, Lord, what is man, and wherein is he to be accounted of? Let us cease from trusting in man; for "cursed is the man, that trusteth in man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the Lord: but blessed is the man, that trusteth in the Lord, and whose hope the Lord is," Jer. xvii. 5, 6.

2dly, See hence the horrid ingratitude of sinners, in waging war against that God, who is so good and so kind to man. Oh, what tongue can express, or what heart can conceive, the monstrous ingratitude of sinners, in rejecting his laws, trampling on his authority, affronting him every day to his face? May not the Lord say to us, "Do ye thus requite the Lord, oh ye foolish people, and unwise? Oh, my people, what have I done unto thee? and wherein have I wearied thee? testify against me; was I ever a barren wilderness, or a land of darkness unto you ?"

3dly, See hence the way and method that God takes to "lead sinners to repentance:" why, he just pursues them with his kindness, and draws them with cords of a man, with bands of love; knowest thou not, O man, that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?" The first thing that melts and thaws the heart of a sinner, in a kindly way, is an uptaking of the love and kindness of God to man, especially as it vents through the death and blood of Christ, in the free pardon of sin, and acceptance through Christ. Whenever the soul comes to see that love, that grace, that mercy and bowels, that it has been spurning against, it begins to smite upon its thigh, with Ephraim, saying, "What have I done?" and with David, " Against thee, thee only, have I sinned, and done this evil in thy sight," And this it is that influences the

turning of the soul from sin to God, with full purpose and endeavour after new obedience; saying, with Job, “ That which I see not, teach thou me; if I have done iniquity, I will do no more:" the soul is just killed and melted with a sense and uptaking of the love of God.

4thly, Is God so good and so kind to worm man? then see hence, what a reasonable command the first command of the law is, " Thou shalt have no other gods before me:" that is, • Thou shalt know and acknowledge me as God, and as thy God, and shalt worship and glorify me accordingly. Oh! shall we give any thing, any creature, any lust, any idol, that room in our hearts, that is due to such a kind Lord ? shall we not say with Ephraim, “ What have I to do any more with idols? O Lord, our God, other lords besides thee have had dominion over us, but by thee only will we make mention of thy name. All people will walk in the name of their God; and we also will walk up and down in the name of the Lord our God. Whom have we in the heavens but him? and there shall be none in all the earth whom we desire besides him?"

5thly, See hence the criminal nature of the sin of unbelief, which is a saying, upon the matter, God is not to be trusted, notwithstanding all his kindnesses, pity, and love to man. He calls him a liar: and says there is no good to be got at his hand; that he is a hard master, and his words are no indication of his mind : “ an evil heart of unbelief turns us away from the living God :" why, what way does it this? It just acts the part of the false spies that went up to Canaan, and brings up an ill report of a good God, of a true and faithful God: it says, “ His mercy is clean gone, he will be favourable no more, his promise fails for evermore :” and as Israel turned back to Egypt, when they heard the ill report that the false spies brought of Canaan; so the soul, when it hears the ill report, that unbelief brings up of God, the heart turns away from him. O sirs ! take heed of " an evil heart of unbelief," especially after you have been at a communion table. There is nothing that the devil more cherishes and fosters folk in, than in their unbelief: this was the way that he ruined man at first; he made our first parents, first to conceive harsh thoughts of that good God who had been so kind to them, and then he quickly ruins them; and this is the very way that he still goes to work with his posterity; he tells you, that whatever God has done in sending his Son, whatever he has said in his word, whatever experience of his love you have met with, yet you have no ground upon which to trust him, his promise fails,'he has forsaken and forgotten. If he once brings you this length, I know not how far God

a

may be provoked to give you up to the will of the roaring lion.

6thly, Is God so kind to man? worm, worthless man? Is the regard that he shows to us so surprising and wonderful ? then let us discover a regard to him, and to every thing that belongs to him.

I shall instance in a few particulars, in which we are to discover our regard to him and for him.

1. Let us regard him even in the works of nature; the works of creation in heaven above, and in the earth below. . This is a large volume, opened and spread out before all mankind: it was a book in which David was frequently reading, and he took great pleasure to see God there: “O'Lord my God, how great and manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all.” The whole 104th psalm is a lecture upon the works of creation, and the order God has established among the creatures. See, also, the beginning of the 8th and 19th psalms.

2. Let us regard him in his works of providence, in the government of the world, and in the government of his church, through all periods of time; and let us regard him in all the dispensations of his providence towards the land we live in, and to our families and ourselves in particular; Psal. cvii., at the close: “ Whoso is wise, and will observe these things, even they shall understand the loving-kindness of the Lord.” When he is trying us with favourable dispensations, let us observe this with praise: and when he is trying us with afflictive dispensations, let us humble ourselves under his mighty hand, that he

may lift us up, &c., Psal. xxviii. 5: “Because they regard not the works of the Lord, nor the operation of his hands, he shall destroy them, and not build them up."

3. Let us regard him in his Christ, and the glorious work of redemption through him, and, beholding him, lift up the everlasting doors of our hearts to “ the Lord of hosts, the Lord mighty in battle.” It is the great sin of Scotland, for which the Lord is contending, that Christ has not been received and regarded, either in his prophetical, priestly, or kingly offices. You know what came of them who did not regard the Lord, and reverence him, in the person of his Son: he “sent forth his armies, and miserably destroyed them.” I fear armies of men, whose language we do not understand, shall travel through our land, and avenge the quarrel of a despised, contemned, and affronted Christ, &c.

4. Let us regard him in his book of the scriptures. We call the scriptures the book of God; and so it is, for it is given by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; and therefore let us regard it, by reading and searching and diving into it, till we find

the pearl; John v. 39: “ Search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” And, to encourage a regard to it, see Prov. ii. 2—4. God observes what regard is paid among people to his book: - Take heed to it, as unto a light shining in a dark place.”

5. Regard him by attending his courts, I mean the ordinances of his worship, word, and sacraments, especially the word preached, where his heralds are sent to proclaim and intimate his mind " in the high places to men, and to the sons of men.” David, though a great king, looked on it as his honour to attend the courts of the King of kings, and esteemed

a day in his courts better than a thousand in the tents of wickedness. God's way is in his sanctuary : these are the galleries where he has many a sweet interview with his subjects. “One thing," says David, “have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after, that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire after him in his temple.” These are the banqueting-houses, where he entertains them with “ fat things full of marrow." 6. Show a regard to his great name.

This is one of the ten commands of his moral law, “ Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for he will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain." Oh! “ “sanctify that great. name, the Lord your God," and make it “

“your

fear and your dread.” Beware of profaning it either in your common conversation, or by your unnecessary customary swearing by it, or by a slight mentioning of it even in religious duty; and always when you go to mention that name in any duty of worship, study to fill your minds with a holy awe and dread of it.

7. Show a regard to his day, and put respect upon him, by remembering it, “ to keep it holy." See a sweet and en

, couraging promise to them that regard God's day, Is. Iviii., at the close; “ If thou turn away thy foot from the Sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day, and call the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, honourable; and shalt honour him, not doing thine one ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking thine own words; then shalt thou delight thyself in the Lord, and I will cause thee to ride upon the high places of the earth, and feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father; for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it.” I am ready to judge, that people's acquaintance with God himself is known by the regard they show to his holy day.

8. Show a regard to his voice; the voice of his word; the voice of his Spirit; the voice of his providence; the voice of mercies, and the voice of afflictions: for the Lord's voice cries in all these, and it is the man of wisdom that hears his voice, “ To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts: be not like the deaf adder stopping her ear at the voice of charmers, charming never so wisely.” Whenever he comes, say, “Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth.” His voice is sweeter than the melody of angels and archangels to the soul that knows him : " It is the voice of my beloved; behold he cometh, leaping upon the mountains, skipping upon the hills."

9. Show a regard to all his laws and commandments ; get them engraved upon your hearts, that they may be a lamp to your feet, and a light to your paths.

10: Show a regard to his promises and words of grace, and any word of grace that he seals, and sends home by his Spirit upon thy heart; let that be a michtam or golden word to thee; and say of it, “It is better to me than gold, yea, than much fine gold: God hath spoken in his holiness, I will rejoice:" roll it like a “sweet morsel under thy tongue.”

11. Show a regard to his members, by esteeming them as the “excellent ones of the earth, and doing all the offices of kindness to them that you are capable of: for what says he, Matth. xxv. 40 : “ Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Cultivate fellowship and acquaintance with those that belong to the Lord, and let them be the men of your counsel, and your intimates. My "delight is with the saints." Tell them that fear the Lord, what he has done for your soul.*