taken, we have a very remarkable inftance of the latter kind.

Fatigued and oppreffed with those Labours of Love, in which he was perpetually employed, his human nature required a little repofe. During his engagements with the multitude, his difciples, agreeable to his direction, had prepared a ship, into which he afterwards entered with them : "And there "arose a great tempeft in the sea, in"fomuch that the fhip was covered "with waves-But he was afleep."

Every circumftance of our REDEEMER'S Life had a manifeft reference to that Great Work, which his Heavenly Father had given him to do. The common refreshments of nature were fanctified to this falutary purpose: and even his fleep was made subservient to the benefit and improvement of his disciples.

VOL. II.

е

Peaceful

Peaceful and ferene, amid the war of nature's elements, the Lord of Nature lay, unhurt by their conflicts, and fuperior to their fierceft rage! Nor could aught have roufed him from this sweet compofure, but that Divine Sympathetic feeling of Love, which ever awakes at the cry of human distress.

At the profpect of approaching death, the fears of his difciples were instantly alarmed; and, together with these, an inward conviction of their own impotence prompted them to exclaim, in the language of defpondency and hope,

Lord, fave us! we perish." Recollecting the various inftances, in which they had feen their Mafter's Power manifefted to others, they eagerly applied to him in their prefent distress, in hopes that he would exercise the fame power in their favour. "Knowing whereof they were made, membering that they

re

were but

“ dust,”

"duft," he made the most affectionate allowances for their timidity; and removed their terrors by this mild and gentle rubuke: Why are ye fear"ful? O ye of little faith!" Were ye Were once poffeffed of that firm Reliance on my Heavenly Father, and that entire Submiffion to his Bleffed Will which I feel in my heart, and which I have been fo long labouring to communicate to your's, you would have turned to that Divine Power, which now lies dormant in your breafts, and it would have restored as effectual a calm to the fears and agitations of your earthly part, as I now do, by the fole motion of my will, to thefe contending elements of nature.

Every individual of our fallen race may justly be compared to that frail bark, which the difciples had prepared for their Mafter. The earthly nature, with all its infirmities and corruptions,

is

is properly represented by the weak and wayward disciples themselves. In every human heart there is lodged an Heavenly Power and Virtue, which may be faid to fleep, till it is awakened and called forth by fome inward or outward tempeft, alarming the fears of the earthly man, and preffing him to feek for refuge to a fource, of which he had been heretofore ignorant or regardless. For the truth of this, let us appeal to the common fenfe and experience of mankind.

In every unconverted perfon, whether he be a philofopher, or a man of the world; whether the idol he worships be a system of abstract ideas, without sense or feeling; or whether it be merely the fenfe and feelings of corrupt nature, voluptuoufnefs, pride, or covetousness; certain it is, that the Powers of Heaven are in a ftate of Inactivity in his breaft. These Powers

might, indeed, gradually open and operate with the gradual growth of the body but fuch is the strange corruption of our nature, that they are foon checked, either by the pride of human reason, or the prevalence of human paffion. These shut up the spiritual fenfes of the Inward Man, and, according to the expreffion of the Apostle, "blind the minds of those that believe "not."

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The philofopher, who is determined not to believe the existence of GOD, or even his own existence, and that of the world around him, till he can convince himself by a chain of reasoning, may with truth be faid, to lull his internal powers and fenfes to fleep. For if he would fuffer them to fee, and judge, and could attend to their motions and dictates, every primary and fundamental truth of religion would ftrike these fenfes with

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