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was distinct from that allotted to the Gentile proselyte; he represents the Saviour as having broken down the middle wall of partition between them, and intimating that all who would approach God must tread one common road; he points, in the words of my text, to the true path: Through him," that is, Christ, both have access by one Spirit unto the Father."

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All devotion, whether it be the unpremeditated aspirations, which a trial not foreseen calls forth from the deep of the heart; or the stated offering in the secrecy of the closet; or the sweet savour that ascends from the domestic altar; or the consent of numbers to which this day these walls have borne record; all devotion must take the prescribed course, else the ear of the Almighty will be closed to our petitions, else the face of our covenant God will be against us.

Following the order which I stated last

Sunday, the morning and evening Services of the Church will engage our attention.

First, I would remark, that the foundation on which effectual fervent prayer must be built, is laid in our Liturgy. The influences of the Holy Spirit are recognized in the absolution, in which we beseech God "to grant us his Holy Spirit;" in the alternate sentences after the belief, in which the congregation say, "Take not thy Holy Spirit from us;" in the prayer for all sorts and conditions of men, where, naming the Catholic Church, we pray that "it may be guided and governed by God's good Spirit;" in the general thanksgiving, where we bless the Father of mercies "for the means of grace," and throughout the supplications for the king, the royal family, the clergy, and people.

It is hardly consistent with my plan to introduce at present any allusion to the Litany, yet I cannot allow a beautiful example which it presents, to pass un

noticed; I mean, where we beseech the Lord" to give to all his people increase of grace, to hear meekly his word, and to receive it with pure affection, and to bring forth the fruits of the Spirit." That every spiritual tree among us should have attained the same maturity of growth, cannot in reason be looked for; the varieties in the natural world, from the tender shoot to the massy stem, have their correspondences in the spiritual world. Only be there in this congregation "no vine of Sodom," none "whose grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters bitter." The mediation of our Lord and Saviour is so constantly held up to view throughout the Services, that to name particular instances is unnecessary.

I said, in my former discourse, that most, if not all religious societies—and ours dates its constitution, in uninterrupted succession, from the times of the apostles-agree in investing the minister with

the office of conducting the devotions of the people. That ambassador of Christ, to whom a commission is delegated, more fearful than was ever laid on mortal man, exercises not the least solemn, the least responsible of his functions, when he leads a company of fellow-sinners to the footstool of the throne of grace. Redeemer! who willeth that thy strength should be made perfect in our weakness, keep us in thine infinite compassion from offending in holy things. But the people also bear their appointed part: if the minister kneel to confess his sins, they kneel too; if his voice be lifted up in penitence, theirs ascends with his; if he beseech a blessing on the congregation, his country, his sovereign, the universal fold of Christ, their assenting amen is given. If, in heart he travel, whither his eye cannot reach, nor his hand relieve, to the abodes of wretchedness, of sorrow, and of sin, commending to a Father's goodness the afflicted and distress

ed, they in heart go with him, and by their already named assent, declare their interest in, their sympathy with, his petitions. Take good heed, brethren, that ye mock not your God, now clothed in the attributes of love, hereafter to be arrayed in the terrors of judgment, by approaching him with the lip while the heart is far from him.

But to enter immediately on my subject, in the first place I propose to take a general view of the two Services, (which resemble each other so closely, as to admit of their being comprehended in a single discourse,) in order to show how well adapted the design is to meet the circumstances of mind under their natural character, softened, however, and elevated by religious emotions; and, secondly, I desire, by examining each member in detail, to satisfy you that the execution is equal to the design.

First, the design: overpowering, must be the sense of guilt, with which man, the

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