"fer up fpiritual facrifices, acceptable to God " by Jefus Chrift;" I. Peter, ii. 5.; And, that praife is one of these fpiritual exercises appears from the 9th verfe, "Ye are a chofen "generation, a royal priesthood, an holy na❝tion, a peculiar people, that ye should fhew "forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light."

But alas, fays one, What is all this to me! My harp muft ftill hang upon the willows; for how fhall I, a wretched captive, prefume to fing the fongs of Zion? No evidences of grace are legible in my heart. Grief and fear have fo thoroughly poffeffed it, that the love of God can find no room. How then, or to what purpose, fhould I lift up my voice, whilft my foul is caft down and difquieted within me! Now, to fuch I would answer in general, that, let your case be as bad as you suppofe it, yet ftill you have caufe to blefs the Lord. If you cannot thank him for his spegrace, yet furely you ought to praise him for his unwearied patience, and thefe offers of mercy which are daily tendered unto you: Blefs him that you are ftill on earth, in the

cial

land

land of hope, and not confined to the regions

of everlasting defpair.

But I must not stop here. Come forward into the light, thou dark difcouraged foul, and, in the presence of God, give a true and proper answer to thefe few questions. Thou complaineft of the want of love to God, and thy complaints indeed fhow that thou haft no delighting, enjoying love: But answer me,

ift, Haft thou not a defiring, seeking love? A poor man who defires and feeks the world, shows his love to it as convincingly as the rich man who delights in it ;-the tendency of the heart appears as truly in an anxious pursuit as in a delightful enjoyment. But, as the weakness of hope is frequently mistaken for the want of defire, I must ask you,

If

2dly, Do you not find a moaning, lamenting love? You show that you loved your friends by grieving for their death, as well as by delighting in them whilst they lived. you heartily lament it, as your greatest unhappiness and lofs, when you think that God doth caft you off, and that you are void of grace, and cannot ferve and honour him as you would, this is an undoubted evidence that your

O 2

your hearts are not void of the love of God. Once more,

3dly, Would you not rather have a heart to love God, than to have all the riches and pleasures in the world? Would it not comfort you more than any thing else, if you could be fure that he loveth you, and if you could perfectly love and obey him? If fo, then know affuredly, that it is not the want of love, but the want of affurance that causeth thy dejection.

And therefore I charge thee, in the name of God, to render unto him that tribute of praise which is due. To be much employed in this heavenly duty, has an evident tendency to vanquish all hurtful doubts and fears;by keeping the foul near to God, and within the warmth of his love and goodness ;-by diffipating diftruftful vexing thoughts, and diverting the mind to sweeter things;-by keeping off the tempter, who usually is leaft able to follow us when we are highest in the praises of our God and Saviour ;—and especially by bringing out the evidences of our fincerity, while the chiefeft graces are in exercife.

Praise brings comfort to the foul, as ftanding in the sunshine brings warmth to the body, or as the fight of a dear friend rejoices the heart, without any great reasoning or arguing in the cafe. Come then, my dear friends, and make the experiment. Obey that voice which proceedeth out of the throne, saying, "Praise our God all ye his fervants, and ye "that fear him, both fmall and great". Let no voice be amiffing on this folemn occafion, but let us all be as one, praifing and thanking the Lord, while we commemorate his goodnefs and everlasting mercy; and then may we hope that he will grace our communion-table with his prefence, proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound, and fill all the guests with the fatnefs of his house.

Amen.

214

SERMON XII.

EZEKIEL, XXXvi. 31.

ways,

Then fhall ye remember your own evil and your doings that were not good, and fball loathe yourselves in your own fight for your iniquities and for your abominations.

HE Jews were at this time captives in

THE

Babylon, and fo difperfed through that vaft empire, that they faid of themselves, in the language of defpair, "Our bones are

હે

"dried, and our hope is loft; we are cut off "for our parts." Even the Prophet himself looked on their cafe as fo irrecoverable by human means, that, when God gave him a vifionary reprefentation of their state, by a valley covered with dry bones, and put the queftion to him, "Son of Man, can these "bones live?" His anfwer was, 66 O Lord "God, thou knoweft." With thee indeed all things are poffible; Omnipotence may do