of them; that the earth was wisely fashioned by his hands-he had founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods; that we likewise, the people of his pasture, were raised up by the same creating hand, from nothing, to the dignity of rational creatures, made, with his own most perfect image. It was natural to imagine that such a contemplation would light up a flame of devotion in any grateful man's breast; and accordingly it breaks forth in the words of the text, in a kind of religious rapture : O come, let us worship and fall down before him; for he is the Lord our God. couraged by our princes, which not only allows the free study of the Scriptures, but even exhorts and invites us to it ;-a church that is a stranger to the tricks and artifice of having the Bible in an unknown tongue, to give the greater latitude to the designs of the clergy, in imposing their own trumpery, and foisting in what-respect to our reason and understanding, after ever may best serve to aggrandize themselves, or enslave the wretches committed to their trust? In short, our religion was not given us to raise our imaginations with ornaments of words, or strokes of eloquence; but to purify our hearts, and lead us into the paths of righteousness. However, not to defend ourselves, when the attack is principally levelled at this point, might give occasion to our adversaries to triumph, and charge us either with negligence or inability. It is well known how willing the enemies of our religion are to seek occasions against us; how ready to magnify every mote in our eyes to the bigness of a beam; how eager, upon the least default, to insult and cry out, There, there! so would we have it:-not, perhaps, that we are so much the subject of malice and aversion, but that the licentious age seems bent upon bringing Christi-interest in his favour, by a grateful expression anity into discredit at any rate; and, rather than miss the aim, would strike through the sides of those that are sent to teach it. Thank God, the truth of our holy religion is established with such strong evidence that it rests upon a foundation never to be overthrown, either by the open assaults or cunning devices of wicked and designing men. The part we have to act is to be steady, sober, and vigilant; to be ready to every good work; to reprove, rebuke, and exhort with all long-suffering; to give occasion of offence to no man; that, with well-doing, we may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men. I shall close all with that excellent collect of our Church : Blessed Lord, who hast caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning, grant that we may in such wise hear them, read, mark, learn, and inwardly digest them, that, by patience and comfort of thy holy word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life, which thou hast given us in thy Son, our Saviour, Jesus Christ. Now to God the Father, etc. XLIII. 'O come, let us worship and fall down before him; for he is the Lord our God.'-PSALM XCV. 6, 7. IN this Psalm we find holy David taken up with the pious contemplation of God's infinite power, majesty, and greatness. He considers him as the sovereign Lord of the whole earth, the maker and supporter of all things; that by him the heavens were created, and all the host Sure never exhortation to prayer and worship can be better enforced than upon this principle, that God is the cause and creator of all things; that each individual being is upheld in the station it was first placed by the same hand which first formed it; that all the blessings and advantages, which are necessary to the happiness and welfare of beings on earth, are only to be derived from the same fountain ;— and that the only way to do it is to secure an of our sense for the benefits we have received, and a humble dependence upon him for those we expect and stand in need of. Whom have we in heaven, says the Psalmist, but thee, O God, to look unto or depend on? To whom shall we pour out our complaints, and speak of all our wants and necessities, but to thy goodness, which is ever willing to confer upon us whatever becomes us to ask, and thee to grant? because thou hast promised to be nigh unto all that call upon thee, yea, unto all such as call upon thee faithfully; that thou wilt fulfil the desire of them that fear thee; that thou wilt also hear their cry, and help them. Of all duties, prayer certainly is the sweetest and most casy. There are some duties which may seem to occasion a' troublesome opposition to the natural workings of flesh and blood, such as the forgiveness of injuries, and the love of our enemies; others which will force us unavoidably into a perpetual struggle with our passions, which war against the soul, such as chastity, temperance, humility. There are other virtues which seem to bid us forget our present interest for a while, such as charity and generosity; others that teach us to forget it at all times, and wholly to fix our affections on things above, and in no circumstance to act like men that look for a continuing city here, but upon one to come, whose builder and maker is God. But this duty of prayer and thanksgiving to God has no such oppositions to encounter: it takes no bullock out of thy field, no horse out of thy stable, nor he-goat out of thy fold; it costeth no weariness of bones, no untimely watchings; it requireth no strength of parts, or painful study, but just to know and have a true sense of our dependence, and of the mercies by which we are upheld. And with this, in every place and posture of body, a good man may lift up his soul unto the Lord his God. Indeed, as to the frequency of putting this duty formally in practice, as the precept must necessarily have varied according to the different stations in which God has placed us, so he has been pleased to determine nothing precisely concerning it; for perhaps it would be unreasonable to expect that the day-labourer, or he that supports a numerous family by the sweat of his brow, should spend as much of his time in devotion as the man of leisure and unbounded wealth. This, however, in the general may hold good, that we are bound to pay this tribute to God as often as his providence has put an opportunity into our hands of so doing; provided that no plea drawn from the necessary attentions to the affairs of the world, which many men's situations oblige them to, may be supposed to extend to an exemption from paying their morning and evening sacrifice to God. For it seems to be the least that can be done, to answer the demand of our duty in this point, successively to open and shut up the day in prayer and thanksgiving; since there is not a morning thou risest, or a night thou liest down, but thou art indebted for it to the watchful providence of Almighty God. David and Daniel, whose names are recorded in Scripture for future example: the first, though a mighty king, embarrassed with wars abroad and unnatural disturbances at home-a situation, one would think, which would allow little time for anything but his own and his kingdom's safety, -yet found he leisure to pray seven times a day: the latter, the counsellor and first minister of state to the great Nebuchadnezzar; and though perpetually fatigued with the affairs of a mighty kingdom, and the government of the whole province of Babylon, which was committed to his administration, though near the person of an idolatrous king, and amidst the temptations of a luxurious court,-yet never neglected he his God, but, as we read, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed and gave thanks before him. A frequent correspondence with heaven, by prayer and devotion, is the greatest nourishment and support of spiritual life: it keeps the sense of a God warm and lively within us; which secures our disposition, and sets such guards over us, that hardly will a temptation prevail against us. Who can entertain a base or an impure thought, or think of executing it, who is incessantly conversing with his God? or not despise every temptation this lower world can offer him, when, by his constant addresses before the throne of God's majesty, he brings the glorious prospect of heaven perpetually before his eyes? I cannot help here taking notice of the doctrine of those who would resolve all devotion into the inner man, and think that there is nothing more requisite to express our reverence to God but purity and integrity of heart, unaccompanied either with words or actions. To this opinion it may be justly answered, that, in the present state we are in, we find such a strong sympathy and union between our souls and bodies, that the one cannot be touched or sensibly affected without producing some corresponding emotion in the other. Nature has assigned a different look, tone of voice, and gesture peculiar to every passion and affection we are subject to; and therefore, to argue against this strict correspondence which is held between our souls and bodies, is disputing against the frame and mechanism of human nature. We are not angels, but men clothed with bodies, and in some measure so governed by our imaginations, that we have need of all these external helps which nature has made the interpreters of our thoughts. And no doubt, though a virtuous and a good life is more acceptable in the sight of God than either prayer or thanksgiving,-for, behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams,-nevertheless, as the one ought to be done, so the other ought not by any means to be left undone. As God is to be obeyed, so he is to be worshipped also. For although inward holiness and integrity of heart is the ultimate end of the divine dispensations, yet external religion is a certain means of promoting it. Each of them has its just bounds; and therefore, as we would not be so carnal as merely to rest contented with the one, so neither can we pretend to be so spiritual as to neglect the other. And though God is all-wise, and therefore understands our thoughts afar off, and knows the exact degrees of our love and reverence to him, though we should withhold those outward marks of it, yet God himself has been graciously pleased to command us to pray to him; that we might beg the assistance of his grace to work with us against our own infirmities; that we might acknowledge him to be, what he is, the Supreme Lord of the whole world; that we might testify the sense we have of all his mercies and loving-kindness to us; and confess that he has the propriety of everything we enjoy-that the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof. Thus much of this duty of prayer in general. From every individual it may be reasonably expected, from a bare reflection upon his own station, his personal wants, and the daily blessings which he has received in particular; but for those blessings bestowed upon the whole species in common, reason seems further to require that a joint return should be made by as many of the species as can conveniently assemble together for this religious purpose. Hence arises, likewise, the reasonableness of public worship, and sacred places set apart for that purpose; without which it would be very difficult to preserve that sense of God and religion upon the minds of men which is so necessary to their well-being, considered only as a civil society, and with regard to the purposes of this life, and the influence which a just sense of it must have upon their actions. Besides, men who are united in societies can have no other cement to unite them likewise in religious ties, as well as in manners of worship and points of faith, but the institution of solemn times and public places destined for that use. was not abolished with the ceremonial part of the law. Our Saviour came not to destroy, but to fulfil the law; and therefore the moral precepts of it, which promoted a due regard to the divine Majesty, remained in as full force as ever. And accordingly we find it attested, both by Christian and heathen writers, that so soon as the second century, when the number of believers was much increased, and the circumstances of rich converts enabled them to do it, that they began to erect edifices for divine worship; and though under the frowns and oppression of the civil power, they every Sabbath assembled themselves therein, that with one hand and one lip they might declare whose they were, whom they served, and, as the servants of one Lord, offer up their joint prayers and petitions. I wish there was no reason to lament an abatement of this religious zeal amongst Christians of later days. Though the piety of our forefathers seems in a great measure to have deprived us of the merit of building churches for the service of God, there can be no such plea for not frequenting them in a regular and solemn manner. How And it is not to be questioned that if the time, as well as the place, for serving God were once considered as indifferent, and left so far to every man's choice as to have no calls to public prayer, however a sense of religion might be preserved awhile by a few speculative men, yet that the bulk of mankind would lose all knowledge of it, and in time live without God in the world. Not that private prayer is the less our duty, the contrary of which is proved above; and our Saviour says that, when we pray to God in secret, we shall be rewarded openly;-but that prayers which are publicly offered up in God's house tend more to the glory of God and the benefit of ourselves, for this reason, that they are pre-often do people absent themselves (when in the sumed to be performed with greater attention and seriousness, and therefore most likely to be heard with a more favourable acceptance. And for this one might appeal to every man's breast, whether he has not been affected with the most elevated pitch of devotion when he gave thanks in the great congregation of the saints, and praised God amongst much people? Of this united worship there is a glorious description by St. John in the Revelations, where he supposes the whole universe joining together, in their several capacities, to give glory in this manner to their common Lord: Every creature which was in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and such as were in the seas, and all that were in them, heard I crying, Blessing, and honour, and glory, and power, be unto him that sitteth upon the throne. But here it may be asked, that if public worship tends so much to promote the glory of God, and is what is so indispensably the duty and benefit of every Christian state, how came it to pass that our blessed Saviour left no command to his followers, throughout the gospel, to set up public places of worship, and keep them sacred for that purpose? It may be answered, that the necessity of setting apart places for divine worship, and the holiness of them when thus set apart, secmed already to have been so well established by former revelation, as not to need any express precept upon that subject; for though the particular appointment of the temple, and the confinement of worship to that place alone, were only temporal parts of the Jewish covenant, yet the necessity and duty of having places somewhere solemnly dedicated to God carried a moral reason with it, and therefore utmost distress how to dispose of themselves) from church, even upon those days which are set apart for nothing else but the worship of God! when to trifle that day away, or to apply any portion of it to secular concerns, is a sacrilege almost in the literal sense of the word. From this duty of public prayer arises another, which I cannot help speaking of, it being so dependent upon it,-I mean a serious, devout, and respectful behaviour when we are performing this solemn duty in the house of God. This is surely the least that can be necessary in the immediate presence of the Sovereign of the world, upon whose acceptance of our addresses all our present and future happiness depends. External behaviour is the result of inward reverence, being part of our duty to God, whom we are to worship in body as well as spirit. And as no one should be wanting in outward respect and decorum before an earthly prince or superior, much less should we be so before him whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain. Notwithstanding the obviousness of this branch of duty, it seems often to be little understood; and whoever will take a general survey of church behaviour will often meet with scenes of sad variety. What a vein of indolence and indevotion sometimes seems to run throughout whole congregations! What ill-timed pains do some take in putting on an air of gaiety and indifference in the most interesting parts of this duty, even when they are making confession of their sins, as if they were ashamed to be thought serious with their God! Surely to address our selves to his infinite Majesty after a negligent and dispassionate manner, besides the immediate indignity offered, it is a sad sign we littie consider the blessings we ask for, and far less deserve them. Besides, what is a prayer unless our heart and affections go along with it? It is not so much as the shadow of devotion; and little better than the Papists telling their beads, or honouring God with their lips, when their hearts are far from him. The consideration that a person is come to prostrate himself before the throne of high Heaven, and in that place which is particularly distinguished by his presence, is sufficient inducement for any one to watch over his imagination, and guard against the least appearance of levity. An inward sincerity will of course influence the outward deportment; but where the one is wanting, there is great reason to suspect the absence of the other. I own it is possible, and often happens, that this external garb of religion may be worn when there is little within of a piece with it; but I believe the converse of the proposition can never happen to be true, that a truly religious frame of mind should exist without some outward mark of it. The mind will shine through the veil of flesh which covers it, and naturally express its religious dispositions; and, if it possesses the power of godliness, will have the external form of it too. May God grant us to be defective in neither, but that we may so praise and magnify God on carth that, when he cometh at the last day, with ten thousand of his saints in heaven, to judge the world, we may be partakers of their eternal inheritance. Amen. XLIV. THE WAYS OF PROVIDENCE JUSTIFIED TO MAN. 'Behold, hese are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they increase in riches. Verily I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency.'PSALM LXXIII. 12, 13. THIS Complaint of the Psalmist concerning the promiscuous distribution of God's blessings to the just and unjust, that the sun should shine without distinction upon the good and the bad, and rains descend upon the righteous and unrighteous man, is a subject that has afforded much matter for inquiry, and at one time or other has raised doubts to dishearten and perplex the minds of men. If the sovereign Lord of all the earth does look on, whence so much disorder in the face of things? why is it permitted that wise and good men should be left often a prey to so many miseries and distresses of life, whilst the guilty and foolish triumph in their offences, and even the tabernacles of robbers prosper? To this it is answered, that therefore there is a future state of rewards and punishments to take place after this life, wherein all these inequalities shall be made even, where the circumstances of every man's case shall be considered, and where God shall be justified in all his ways, and every mouth shall be stopped. If this was not so,-if the ungodly were to prosper in the world, and have riches in possession, and no distinction to be made hereafter, to what purpose would it have been to have maintained our integrity?-Lo! then indeed should I have cleansed my heart in vain, and washed my hands in innocency. It is further said, and what is a more direct answer to the point, that when God created man, that he might make him capable of receiving happiness at his hands hereafter, he endowed him with liberty and freedom of choice, without which he could not have been a creature accountable for his actions; that it is merely from the bad use he makes of these gifts, that all those instances of irregularity do result, upon which the complaint is here grounded, which could no ways be prevented but by the total subversion of human liberty; that should God make bare his arm, and interpose in every injustice that is committed, mankind might be said to do what was right, but at the same time to lose the merit of it, since they would act under force and necessity, and not from the determination of their own mind; that, upon this supposition, a man could not with more reason expect to go to heaven for acts of temperance, justice, and humanity, than for the ordinary impulses of hunger and thirst, which nature directed;-that God has dealt with man upon better terms; he has first endowed him with liberty and freewill; he has set life and death, good and evil, before him; that he has given him faculties to find out what will be the consequences of either way of acting, and then left him to follow his reason. I shall desist from enlarging any further upon either of the foregoing arguments in vindication of God's providence, which are urged so often with so much force and conviction as to leave no room for a reasonable reply; since the miseries which befall the good, and the seeming happiness of the wicked, could not be otherwise in such a free state and condition as this in which we are placed. In all charges of this kind we generally take two things for granted; first, that in the instances we give we know certainly the good from the bad; and secondly, the respective state of their enjoyments or sufferings. I shall therefore, in the remaining part of my discourse, take up your time with a short inquiry into the difficulties of coming not only at the true characters of men, but likewise of knowing either the degrees of their real happiness or misery in this life. The first of these will teach us candour in our judgment of others; the second, to which I shall confine myself, will teach us humility in our reasonings upon the ways of God. For though the miseries of the good, and the prosperity of the wicked, are not in general to be denied; yet I shall endeavour to show that the particular instances we are apt to produce, when we cry out in the words of the Psalmist, Lo! these are the ungodly,—these prosper, and are happy in the world;-I say, I shall endeavour to show that we are so ignorant of the articles of the charge, and the evidence we go upon to make them good is so lame and defective, as to be sufficient by itself to check all propensity to expostulate with God's providence, allowing there was no other way of clearing up the matter reconcilably to his attributes. And first, What certain and infallible marks have we of the goodness or badness of the bulk of mankind? If we trust to fame and reports, if they are good, how do we know but they may proceed from partial friendship or flattery? when bad, from envy or malice, from ill-natured surmises and constructions of things? and on both sides, from small matters aggrandized through mistake, and sometimes through the unskilful relation of even truth itself? From some or all of which causes it happens that the characters of men, like the histories of the Egyptians, are to be received and read with caution: they are generally dressed out and disfigured with so many dreams and fables, that every ordinary reader shall not be able to distinguish truth from falsehood. But allowing these reflections to be too severe in this matter,-that no such thing as envy ever lessened a man's character, or malice blackened it; yet the characters of men are not easily penetrated, as they depend often upon the retired, unseen parts of a man's life. The best and truest piety is most secret, and the worst of actions, for different reasons, will be so too. Some men are modest, and seem to take pains to hide their virtues; and, from a natural distance and reserve in their tempers, scarce suffer their good qualities to be known: others, on the contrary, put in practice a thousand little arts to counterfeit virtues which they have not, the better to conceal those vices which they really have; and this under fair shows of sanctity, good nature, generosity, or some virtue or other, too specious to be seen through, too amiable and disinterested to be suspected. These hints may be sufficient to show how hard it is to come at the matter of fact; but one may go a step further, and say, even that, in many cases, could we come to the knowledge of it, it is not sufficient by itself to pronounce a man either good or bad. There are numbers of circumstances which attend every action of a man's life which can never come to the knowledge of the world, yet ought to be known, and well weighed, before sentence with any justice can be passed upon him. A man may have different views and a different sense of things from what his judges have; and what he understands and feels, and what passes within him, may be a secret treasured up deeply there for ever. A man through bodily infirmity, or some complexional defect, which perhaps is not in his power to correct, may be subject to inadvertencies, to starts and unhappy turns of temper; he may lie open to snares he is not always aware of, or, through ignorance and want of information and proper helps, he may labour in the dark ;-in all which cases he may do many things which are wrong in themselves, and yet be innocent,-at least an object rather to be pitied than censured with severity and ill-will. These are difficulties which stand in every one's way in forming a judgment of the characters of others. But, for once, let us suppose them all to be got over, so that we could see the bottom of every man's heart ;-let us allow that the word rogue or honest man was wrote so legibly in every man's face that no one could possibly mistake it; yet still the happiness of both the one and the other, which is the only fact that can bring the charge home, is what we have so little certain knowledge of, that, bating some flagrant instances, whenever we venture to pronounce upon it, our decisions are little more than random guesses. For who can search the heart of man? It is treacherous even to ourselves, and much more likely to impose upon others. Even in laughter (if you will believe Solomon) the heart is sorrowful: 'the mind sits drooping, whilst the countenance is gay;' and even he who is the object of envy to those who look no further than the surface of his estate, may appear at the same time worthy of compassion to those who know his private recesses. Besides this, a man's unhappiness is not to be ascertained so much from what is known to have befallen him, as from his particular turn and cast of mind, and capacity of bearing it. Poverty, exile, loss of fame or friends, the death of children, the dearest of all pledges of a man's happiness, make not equal impressions upon every temper. You will see one man undergo, with scarce the expense of a sigh, what another, in the bitterness of his soul, would go mourning for all his life long: nay, a hasty word, or an unkind look, to a soft and tender nature, will strike deeper than a sword to the hardened and senseless. If these reflections hold true with regard to misfortunes, they are the same with regard to enjoyments: we are formed differently -have different tastes and perceptions of things; by the force of habit, education, or a particular cast of mind, it happens that neither the use nor possession of the same enjoyments and advantages produce the same happiness and contentment; but that it differs in every man almost according to his temper and complexion: so that the self-same happy accidents in life, which shall give raptures to the choleric or sanguine man, shall be received with indifference by the cold and phlegmatic; and so oddly perplexed are the accounts of both human happiness and |