expressions of it are still less to be relied upon. But this is not less true of every other external indication of moral goodness. The only Being whom it is of everlasting importance not to deceive, cannot possibly be imposed upon by the most consummate hypocrisy. With regard to the real characters of men, we may as easily be deceived in judging from their public ostensible actions, as from their visible emotions or signs of enthusiastic feeling. We are not more assured of the real intrinsic piety of those who uniformly and punctiliously observe the forms of religion, without passions and without variations, than we are of that of the enthusiastic and over-zealous professors. Under the semblance of regularity, the formalist may conceal a hard heart or a designing head. In truth, there is no modification of human conduct which may not in religion, as in every thing else, deceive us. But when piety is seated, as it must be when sincere, in the heart as well as in the understanding, it is impossible but that it should be productive of that fervency of spirit which gives life to every act of worship which we perform, and makes every such act interesting and comfortable to ourselves; and what greatly enhances its value to every anxious Christian, it affords to himself a

proof that his heart is right towards God. When it is followed up by a good life, by avoiding evil, and doing good, the proof and the satisfaction to be drawn from it are complete. Whilst therefore we are fervent and zealous in every worldly, in every trivial, concern, let us not remain cold and dead in serving the Lord.

Justly may his religious sincerity be called in question, who is warm, and anxious, and sanguine in every pursuit that affects his worldly interests, in trade and commerce, in politics and party, but dull and languid in his sacred duties, and in the cause of that religion, which is the cause of all mankind. It is vain for him to plead that his feelings are not easily excited, or that his constitutional temperament is lukewarm, when his lukewarmness is nowhere else discernible but in his religion. What ardour does the prospect of gain kindle in the covetous! How does the expectation or idea of sensual enjoyment inflame the voluptuary! How does the pageant of grandeur enrapture the proud, and the hope of glory fire the ambitious! And is there no exciting, animating power in the beauty of holiness, and the pleasures of religion? Is there a natural and laudable ardour in the mind of man, in contemplating whatever is grand or beautiful in nature

or in art, and shall the same ardour be exploded in contemplating the great Archetype of all, the source of life, beauty, order, grandeur, and sublimity? Shall we consider God, who made both the object, and the organ of sense that perceives it, with the frigid indifference of abstracted philosophy? Shall we meditate on heaven and hell, death and judgment, with the same coolness with which a lawyer draws an instrument, or a logician forms a syllogism? Such coldness and apathy on divine subjects can only arise from the worldly bent of the inclinations, or the prevalence of some vicious passion. But it is important to state the difference between habitual and accidental coldness in the discharge of religious duties; the former being the symptom of worldly and corrupt minds, but not the latter. Many are the accidents which disturb and indispose the body, and many are the causes which distract and impede the faculties of the mind; therefore our devotion will never be so constant and uniform, as not to have its interruptions and abatements; and dulness and lifelessness will sometimes seize upon the best of Christians. But if this spiritual deadness in religious exercises be fixed, constant, and habitual, it must necessarily be the effect of a corrupt mind; for it is impossible that there

should be a true principle of grace in the heart, which should never or rarely show itself in the sincerity and fervency of devotion. Sincere our religious performances must always be, though they may be very defective in the degrees of devotional ardour and affection. But an aversion from sin, a firm resolution to forsake it, and an earnest desire to be enabled by the grace of God so to do, are qualities which none of us can innocently want. Every Christian who is truly so, must have a lively sense of his own wants and infirmities, a prevailing desire to please God in all things, a grateful remembrance of the mercies of redemption, and an entire reliance on the merits of the Redeemer. These qualifications, if we can by the divine assistance attain, will be sufficient to unite our hearts and our lips in the same petitions to the throne of grace, and to make us in all the duties we perform, " fervent in spirit, serving the Lord."

SERMON XIII.

JOB, c. xix. v. 25, 26.

I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.

THE apostle St. Paul observes of the patriarchs and servants of God under the old testament, that they all died in faith: they died, resting all their hope upon him who by his obedience unto death, was "the end of the law for righteousnes unto every one that believeth." We indeed have greater advantages in point of light and liberty than those of old time. We know that the great atonement typically pointed out by the legal sacrifices, has been actually made; that the Lamb of God has, by the one offering of himself, put away sin. But as to the ground and substance, their faith and hope were the same with ours. Abraham rejoiced to see the