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of it, as to be able to be early at his prayers, can have no reason to think that he hath taken up his cross, and is following Christ.

What conquest has he got over himself—what righthand has he cut off—what trials is he prepared for— what sacrifice is he ready to offer unto God-who cannot be so cruel to himself as to rise to prayer at

correct. The passage above, is an instance of this :-while the broad, simple, and well-proportioned statements of Scripture, though they strike the imagination less, yet make the right impression on the heart. The whole subject of "the Mortification of Sin in Believers" is fully set forth in the two following passages of Scripture: Romans viii. 5-13. Colossians iii. 1-11. Here we find "the very life and soul of piety" to be derived from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in the heart: it is a "hidden life:" the actings of it consist in "faith which worketh by love." Having first laid down these principles, which contain nothing mystical, nothing but what is simply experimental; and, then, keeping constantly in our view Christ, who is "All, and in all;" we may safely and effectually consider all the details of the Mortification of Sin. Nor can that be a true and lively faith, which does not, by uniting the soul to Christ, make it a partaker in the fellowship of his sufferings, and in the power of his resurrection.-Should it be said, that Mr. Law means all this to be understood, though he has not expressed it, the reply may be, that this imperfect mode of inculcating Practical Piety is not safe for a young Christian; neither is it animating to an aged one: it does not come up to the whole scope of Scripture. Much of his work savours of somewhat like Popery: not in the strictness of its standard—(that cannot be too strict)—but, in the manner by which the heart is forced to that standard. The severity of Pharisaïsm has a plausible style about it: the love of Christ works in another, and a more excellent way.EDITOR.

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such time as the drudging part of the world are content to rise to their labour?

Some people will not scruple to tell you, that they indulge themselves in sleep because they have nothing to do; and that, if they had either business or pleasure to rise to, they would not lose so much of their time in sleep. But such people must be told, that they mistake the matter; that they have a great deal of business to do:-they have a hardened heart to change; they have the whole spirit of religion to get. For, surely, he that thinks devotion to be of less moment than business or pleasure, or that he has nothing to do because nothing but his prayers want him, may be justly said to have the whole spirit of religion to seek.

You must not, therefore, consider how small a crime it is to rise late; but you must consider how great a misery it is to want the spirit of religion-to have a heart not rightly affected with prayer-and to live in such softness and idleness, as makes you incapable of the most fundamental duties of a truly Christian and spiritual life.

This is the right way of judging of the crime of wasting great part of your time in bed.

You must not consider the thing barely in itself, but what it proceeds from-what virtues it shows to be wanting-what vices it naturally strengthens. For every habit of this kind discovers the state of the soul, and plaiuly shows the whole turn of your mind.

If our Blessed Lord used to pray early before day; if he spent whole nights in prayers; if the devout Anna was day and night in the temple; if St. Paul and Silas, at midnight, sang praises unto God; if the primitive Christians, for several hundred years, besides their hours of prayer in the day-time, met publicly in the churches, at midnight, to join in psalms and prayers; is it not certain that these practices showed the state of their hearts? Are they not so many plain proofs of the whole turn of their minds?

And, if you live in a contrary state, wasting great part of every day in sleep, thinking any time soon enough to be at your prayers, is it not equally certain that this practice as much shows the state of your heart, and the whole turn of your mind?

So that, if this indulgence is your way of life, you have as much reason to believe yourself destitute of the true spirit of devotion, as you have to believe the Apostles and saints of the primitive Church were truly devout. For, as their way of life was a demonstration of their devotion, so a contrary way of life is as strong a proof of your want of devotion.

When you read the Scriptures, you see a religion that is all life and spirit, and joy in God-that supposes our soul risen from earthly desires and bodily indulgences, to prepare for another body, another world, and other enjoyments. You see Christians represented as temples of the Holy Ghost, as children of the day, as candidates for an eternal crown, as watchful virgins that have their lamps always burning,

in expectation of the bridegroom. But can he be thought to have this joy in God, this care of eternity, this watchful spirit, who has not zeal enough to rise to his prayers?

When you look into the writings and lives of the first Christians, you see the same spirit that you see in the Scriptures;-all is reality, life, and action. Watchings and prayers, self-denial and mortification, was the common business of their lives.

From that time to this, there has been no person like them, eminent for piety, who has not, like them, been eminent for self-denial and mortification. is the only royal way, that leads to a kingdom.

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You perhaps now find some pretences to excuse yourself from the severity of fasting and self-denial, which the first Christians practised. You fancy, that human nature is grown weaker; and that the difference of climate may make it not possible for you to observe their methods of self-denial and austerity in these colder countries.

But all this is but pretence; for the change is not in the outward state of things, but in the inward state of our minds. When there is the same spirit in us that there was in the Apostles and primitive Christians, when we feel the weight of religion as they did, when we have their faith and hope, we shall take up our cross and deny ourselves, and live in such methods of mortification as they did.

Had St. Paul lived in a cold country, had he had a constitution made weak with a sickly stomach and

often infirmities, he would have done as he advised Timothy he would have mixed a little wine with

his water.

But, still, he would have lived in a state of selfdenial and mortification. He would have given this same account of himself:-I therefore so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that beateth the air: but I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection; lest by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-away.

I do not insist much on the crime of wasting so much of your time in sleep, though a great one; but I desire you to renounce this indulgence, because it gives a softness and idleness to your soul, and is so contrary to that lively, zealous, watchful, self-denying spirit, which was not only the spirit of Christ and his Apostles, the spirit of all the saints and martyrs which have ever been amongst men, but must be the spirit of all those who would not sink in the common corruption of the world.

Here, therefore, we must fix our charge against this practice: we must blame it, not as having this or that particular evil, but as a general habit, that extends itself through our whole spirit, and supports a state of mind that is wholly wrong.

It is contrary to piety; not as accidental slips and mistakes in life are contrary to it, but as an ill habit of body is contrary to health.

On the other hand, if you were to rise early every morning, as an instance of self-denial, as a method of renouncing indulgence, as a means of redeeming your

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