countrymen; Elders; Chief Priests ; Scribes ; Pharisees; Doctors of the Law; and such of the "common People, who heard him gladly ;" of those, in short, whom curiosity, or some other less inoffensive motive, had brought to the spot of our Saviour's teaching.

Such my friends, is a short account of the circumstances, which accompanied the delivery of that holy address of our blessed Lord," the Sermon on the Mount."-the first recorded lengthened discourse, which we have of his divine public instruction. A discourse, which embodies within itself, all the morality of the Christian Religion: which describes all the virtues; religious, personal, relative, social, which the Christian must cherish in his heart, and shew forth in his conduct, in order to render him a "child of God;" and, through the mediation and atonement of Jesus Christ, "an inheriter of the Kingdom of Heaven;" and which exposes and denounces, all those sins; vices ; wicked prejudices; and bad feelings, secret or open; which either lurk in the "inner man" of all our fallen race, more or less; or are manifested in the lives and conduct, of a great crowd of those, "who name the name of Christ," but do not " depart from Iniquity." It is a discourse, my friends, which ought to be diligently studied; and carefully adopted as a rule of conduct, through life; by all those, who wish "to see good days" here below,

;

and to enjoy the blessings of Heaven hereafter who can read and judge for themselves; and, woe betide that minister of the Gospel, who, in his addresses to the unlearned, does not take this divine sermon, as a model of his own discourses; who when he speaks of the doctrines of Christianity, does not at the same time, display and enjoin, those moral virtues, and Christian graces; to the conscientious practice of which, God has promised, (through Faith in the only Saviour)" eternal life" --and, who does not expose and interdict, all those hidden, evil thoughts, feelings, designs, and desires, of the heart; and all those open transgressions of God's holy Law; which are, in a greater or less degree, entertained or manifested by the whole corrupted race of man: for, "we are all gone astray: there is none that doeth good: no not one."

Fully convinced, myself, of the high duty incumbent upon the Ministers of the Gospel, of not "shunning to declare" unto their hearers, "the whole counsel of God:" deeply feeling (I humbly trust,) the responsibility which rests upon the Preacher of God's word, of "keeping himself pure from the blood of all men," by rightly dividing the word of truth," and holding up MORAL RIGHTEOUSNESS,- (or the practice of the precepts of the Gospel, embodied in a life of piety, virtue, sobriety, honesty, and brotherly love,) as well as FAITH, to the solemn attention of his congregation-assured

in my conscience, that, without this "Faith working by love" without this visible righteousness; without this personal holiness, " no man can see the Lord"-deep would be my grief: lasting my sorrow; and great my dread of the future account of my ministry; if I permitted those who listened to my PULPIT INSTRUCTION, to depart from the house of God, without a deep impression upon their souls, of the necessity of moral righteousness; of obedience to the commands of Jesus Christ, as a coNDITION of everlasting salvation: without having enjoined them, directly or indirectly, in humble imitation of the holy Apostle, to "add to their faith, virtue and to virtue, knowledge: and to knowledge, temperance and to temperance, patience: and to patience, godliness and to godliness, brotherlykindness and to brotherly-kindness, charity."without having reminded them, of the worthlessness and vanity of all professions of faith; and all "forms of godliness;" unless they be accompanied, by personal holiness; and a true Christian disposition and conduct-in the solemn words, of my, and their, great Lord and Master Jesus Christ-" Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of Heaven, but he that doeth the will of my father which is in Heaven"

With these opinions prevailing in my mind, and pressing upon my spirit; I have judged, that it might be useful to myself, and beneficial to my

hearers; to make this portion of sacred Scripture,

"THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT"-the subject of a short course of pulpit addresses; to be delivered to my present congregation, on several successive Sunday afternoons; should it please God to grant to me health, strength, and ability, for the execution of such an intention.

The most important question ever put from one human being to another, was the enquiry of the gaoler at Philippi, addressed to the Apostles Paul and Barnabas: "Sirs, what must I do to be saved? Suddenly awakened to a sense of his sin and spiritual danger, by the earthquake, which shook the foundations of the prison; and the miracle, which loosed the bands of the prisoners-the keeper of the gaol, with an earnestness proportioned to his alarm, anxiously enquired, what course of conduct he must immediately enter upon, in order to redeem his hitherto mis-spent time; and to rescue his immortal soul, from everlasting destructionMy Christian Brethren, whatever we may think of ourselves: however we may deem ourselves to be more enlightened and less in danger, than this suddenly awakened heathen; we, like him, through our sins; or carelessness; or neglect of the means of grace; or wilful blindness to the laws of God, and the conditions of the great salvation of the Redeemer of souls: we, I repeat, have need to propose a like question with the gaoler of Philippi-" what

must I do to be saved?" and with the Jews of old, "what shall we do that we may work the works of God?" Happily; most happily, for all those who now make the solemn enquiry, in sincerity of heart, and humility of spirit; with a conscientious desire of knowing the truth; and with an honest determination, to regulate their actions by its dictates, when it has shone upon their souls-happily for such awakened and convinced Christians, they have a full, explicit, and satisfactory, answer presented to them, in that blessed map of a Christian's dutyThe Sermon on the Mount"-a map drawn by the hand of Christ himself-including all the duties that Man-the reasonable soul: the accountable being: the heir of immortal happiness: or the object of everlasting perdition-must practise-and all the sins; bad affections; and unchristian prejudices, which he must avoid, renounce, and conquer-in order that he may secure his final salvation, through faith in his Redeemer, and the blood-shedding of his alone Saviour Jesus Christ.--It is to a solemn meditation on this heavenly discourse of Jesus, in general, that I have endeavoured to direct your minds this afternoon; and it is to a serious consideration of its particulars, that I shall call your attention, (as I have already hinted) on a few subsequent sabbath afternoons; by dividing the sacred discourse into certain portions; and endeavouring, (to the best of my abilities,) to expound such portions; and to enforce the precepts, con