when you come here you are supposed to come in the faith that you shall be accepted of Him whom you profess to worship, for the sake of that Saviour who died that by his blood he might deliver your consciences from the burden of dead works, and dispose and qualify you for “ serving the living God.” And as it was sin which occasioned all the shame and agony of that death, and as that death was endured for the express purpose of saving you from the punishment and the power of sin, and making you holy unto the Lord your God, you cannot rightly or consistently ap proach him, in a dependence upon its merits, without stirring up your souls to a more decided hatred of sin, a more vigorous resistance to its temptations, a more fixed and unqualified determination to keep yourselves from its pollutions, and to “walk in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless." And see what encouragement you have to come forward with the oblation of this holiness. Christ died for you that your persons and your services might be accepted or God; and approaching God as in "Christ reconciling you to himself," you may cherish the comfortable hope, that for his sake he will “receive you graciously and love you freely,” and put all your self-denials, and all your pious affections, and all your good purposes, and all your virtuous endeavours, into that book of remembrance which shall be to his believing and

obedient people the book of life. And when you remember that grace of his which sent Jesus to suffer for your sake, let that grace and those sufferings which you thus remember, open your eyes still more to the evil of sin and to "the beauty of holiness," and determine you more than ever to consecrate yourselves to the service of him who has redeemed you to God, and redeemed you for heaven. And while And while you think of "Christ and him crucified," as holding out a most affecting testimony against disobedience, and a most powerful motive to every thing that is " lovely, and pure, and of good report," let your anticipations also stretch forward to his second coming, that by the hope of meeting him in glory, you may be animated to pursue with renewed ardour and unwearied perseverance, that "path of righteousness" which leads to heaven and immortality.

E

Offer the sacrifices of righteousness, and put your trust in the Lord.

IN discoursing on these words, we proposed to enforce the exhortation which they give, in reference to several particulars. In the first place, offer the sacrifices of righteousness, by cherishing those sentiments of humility and sorrow, which become creatures who have lost their righteousness; and put your trust in the Lord, that he will comfort you and lift you up. In the second place, offer the sacrifices of righteousness, by a believing application to the obedience of Christ, as that righteousness for the sake of which God justifies the ungodly; and put your trust in the Lord that he will forgive your trespasses, and bestow upon you all the other blessings of salvation. In the third place, offer the sacrifices of righteousness by an earnest desire and a uniform endeavour to be adorned with

the graces of personal holiness; and put your trust in the Lord, that you shall be successful in the good work, and that it will redound to your eternal advantage.

IV. And we now exhort you, in the fourth and last place, to offer the sacrifices of righteousness, by striving to promote the interests of righteousness among your fellow-men; and put your trust in the Lord, that he will bless your efforts, and make them effectual for accomplishing that important object.

No doubt our primary and principal concern is to be holy ourselves. And if this be neglected, or but indifferently attended to, it is quite evident that nothing which we can offer to God, in the way of advancing the holiness of others, can either be of any value in itself, or in any measure acceptable to Him. We should never forget, that the requisition to be holy comes to us directly and individually, and that if obedience to this requisition be postponed for the sake of any foreign object, we not merely put that last which God has wisely put first, but at once indispose and disqualify ourselves for doing, with adequate zeal and effect, the very thing which we profess a desire to accomplish. If we are so regardless of what we owe to God, as to refuse or to delay giving him the tribute of our own obedience, it is not to be supposed-or rather it is impos

sible, that we shall feel much ardour, or display much activity, in securing that tribute to him on the part of our brethren.

But though it is clear, that our main business is to have ourselves holy in all manner of conversation, it is equally clear, that if we be sincere in that work, we will be anxious that our neighbours shall be holy in the same manner, and to the same extent, and will make every exertion that may be requisite for attaining that end. A hatred of sin and a love of righteousness are essential to the truly righteous character. These are the principles which go to form it, and without which no righteousness that we might otherwise pretend to, could “exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees." But how could we be said to have a real hatred of sin, if we saw it reigning in the world around us, and yet did nothing to destroy or to circumscribe its dominion? And how could we be said to have a real love of righteousness, if we saw it generally set at nought or trampled under foot, and yet used no means for regaining to it its legitimate influence, and its absolute supremacy, over the hearts and lives of mankind? All this would unequivocally show, that whatever might be the regard for holiness which we professed, or by which we believed ourselves to be actuated, we were undoubtedly destitute of its fundamental principles-its animating sentiments,