PRAYER.

O holy and eternal God! who art of purer than to behold iniquity: nor can any unrighteousness dwell with thee!

eyes

With a deep sense of the infinite distance betwixt thee and ourselves, who are sinful dust and ashes, and a penitent concern for our past transgressions, we desire help of thee, to understand what is our condition here, and what thou, our God, requirest of us.

And, as we are placed by thy hand in a world full of snares and dangerous temptations, by complying with which we may not only undo ourselves, but bring lasting ruin upon others :

Fortify and prepare us, we beseech thee, for the hazardous warfare in which we are engaged, by a knowledge of thy holy truth, and dispositions to follow and promote it; that we may be able to overcome every evil, and, through thine aid, to stand approved in thy sight.

We desire to be filled with deep humiliation before thee for our former miscarriages. If any by our neglect and evil example have been drawn to think lightly of thy holy word, or violate

violate thy sacred laws, bring them back, O thou Father of mercies, to thyself, and to the paths of virtue which they have forsaken; and deliver us evermore from the guilt of having the sins of others to answer for as well as our

own.

Our time is in thy disposal, O God! and passeth away like a shadow. Suffer us not to be removed hence, we pray thee, till we are fully reconciled to thee and thy righteous administration and laws. But spare us, that we may repair whatever breaches sin hath made in our spirits, and may finish the work thou hast appointed for us in this day of our trial, before we go hence and are no more

seen.

And blessed be thy holy name, O Lord our God! for the leisure thy good providence affordeth us on the returns of this day, to attend to the concerns of our future everlasting state; and to edify one another in the virtues of our most holy faith, which must qualify us for it. Direct and dispose us to make the right use of this, and all other thy blessings conferred upon us that we may in the end attain to that eternal life and happiness, which

is thy gracious promise to us by Christ Jesus our Lord through whom, &c.

Now unto Thee, O Father, &c.

The Lord bless us and keep us! The Lord make his face to shine upon us, and be gracious unto us! The Lord lift up the light of his countenance upon us, and give us peace, now and for evermore!

March 11, 1781.

SERMON

SERMON XXII.

JOHN viii. 29.

And he that sent me is with me: the Father hath not left me alone, for I do always those things that please bim.

THESE words are at the close of a conversation which our Saviour held with some of the

chief persons of his own nation in the treasury of the temple, a place of great resort, on account of the offerings made there by those who came to worship, and which were continually sent from all countries. A brief review of what had passed between them will give us a fuller comprehension of our Lord's declaration, which I propose to call your attention to at present.

The sacred historian then, having mentioned how much he had irritated his enemies by the freedom of his reproof, so as to endanger his