and too rich to be ever exhausted-how much more shall such a Father "give good things to them that ask him!" Such a Father is your Father in Heaven, my believing brethren. And why should not you go to him and make your requests known to him, without any fear of having your suit rejected; or rather with the confidence of obtaining from him what you need and supplicate. Has any thing occurred to discourage you from drawing near to God in prayer, and asking from him any of the blessings which are yet warrantable subjects of petition, and requisite for your welfare? Be assured that the discouragement has no foundation in truth, and should have no influence on your minds. Remember that the God whom you thus tremble to approach, and whose mercy you thus distrust, is your Father, and that this is a character which he has assumed, and in which he appears to you, for the very purpose of reviving, establishing, and cherishing your confidence in him. Do not dishonor him by imagining that he will lay it aside, or act inconsistently with it, in any part of the intercourse which he maintains with you, or of the treatment which he gives you, as those whom he has taught to look to him with filial regard. And, especially, beware of allowing such thoughts to enter your minds, when your circumstances dictate to you the exercise of that precious privilege, which holds such an important place amid the various privileges that belong to the sons and the daughters of a redeeming God-the privilege of asking from him whatever blessing is accommodated to your need. Rather go with the freedom, and the frankness, and the undoubting affiance of those whom he has called to be his children, and whom he therefore invites into his presence, and assures of an affectionate reception; and spread out all the wants of your condition, and pour out all the desires of your hearts before him-satisfied that he cannot but be willing and ready to give you every token of his loving-kindness which your exigencies may require. Whenever any thing happens to keep you away from

him, or to hinder your applications to him, as if "he had forgotten to be gracious, and would be favorable no more," call to mind what you were once enabled to say on the warrant and by the help of his own Spirit, "doubtless thou art our Father;" and on that ground, ask what you will without fear, and without wavering. And let the encouragement which thus arises from remembering God's willingness to hear and answer your requests, be continually present to your mind, and be realized to your feelings, by your habitually prefacing your devotional applications to him with that significant and cheering address, "Our Father which art in Heaven."

4. I have still to mention another proof of God's willingness to bestow the blessing that you need and ask. And this consists in his having given his own Son to save you by his sufferings and his death. It is impossible for us to estimate the value of this gift, or to conceive what love it implied on the part of God from whom it proceeded. But, whether we look to the declarations of scripture respecting it, or attend to its nature and consequences, so far as we are capable of comprehending them, its value must be accounted infinite, and we must consider it as bespeaking a love, that "passeth knowledge." Now, my believing friends, you have received that gift: you have been permitted to contemplate, to admire, to experience, its excellence; and you will be ready to confess that, both as to the mercy in which it originated, and the extent and magnitude of its importance to your souls, it is unspeakably and immeasurably great. But acknowledging and feeling this, why should you ever be doubtful of receiving any thing that you ask, in so far as it is essential or conducive to your real welfare? You have already received the greater boon; and can any reason be assigned for your not receiving, with equal certainty and liberality, all the lesser boons? The bestowal of the former intimates a boundless compassion in the Being who imparted it; and when it is the very same Being to whom you apply for every

thing else, have not you ample security in his boundless compassion for the attainment of the latter? And as the one would not be effectual to its purposes, respecting your final salvation, which it was intended to secure, without the others being conveyed to you in all their appointed variety and abundance, do you not see that the wisdom and the faithfulness, as well as the mercy, of God, are pledged, to grant them as constituent parts of his own plan of redemption? These considerations are sufficient, and more than sufficient, to satisfy you that he must be perfectly willing to answer your petitions for every thing connected with your present welfare and your future happiness. The apostle Paul employs this very argument, when he says, "He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all; how shall he not with him, also, freely give us all things?" These words represent it as utterly impossible that any of the subordinate blessings should be refused, or should not be conferred with the utmost readiness and generosity, since that has been conferred on which they all depend, and which exceeds them all in its intrinsic worth, and conferred by Him who, in the mission, the humiliation, and the sacrifice of his own dear Son, has afforded such an overpowering display of love, that it would be irrational in itself and injurious to his character, to harbor even the slightest suspicion of his unwillingness to give to his people any one of all the multiplied comforts and advantages which can enter into the lot, or can contribute to the well-being of a redeemed soul. You may be assured, then, that God will not, and cannot despise the prayer, which ascends to him from your hearts; which is offered up in faith, and which refers to benefits that you need and are authorized to ask. Pray for these; and when at any time the apprehension steals in upon you, that they will not be given, call to mind the ineffable gift of his own Son, that you may be encouraged to ask; and let your belief in its atoning efficacy, as well as in its inestimable preciousness, give energy and urgency to the requests

that you send up to Heaven. Be assured that that gift is the earnest of every other. He to whose unparalleled bounty you are indebted for it, will give you grace here, and glory hereafter, and will withhold from you nothing that is good. "What is your petition and what is your request?" Present it; and He" will give" you, not only "to the half," but the whole of that salvation which he has provided for you in the gospel. And amidst all your misgivings, and anxieties, and apprehensions, encourage your hearts by remembering these words, "Fear not; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom." "Ask, and ye shall receive."

And let the holy ordinance of communion, in which you are now to engage, inspire you with renewed confidence in the exercise of prayer. It is well fitted to do so. For it sets before you that very gift of God which implies, or which brings along with it, all others. At the table of the Lord, you partake of the memorials of that sacrifice by which God makes over to you, who receive them in faith, all the blessings and privileges which you can possibly desire to make you perfectly and forever blessed. And in virtue of your union with Christ and your interest in his finished work, “all things are yours." Why then should you be fearful or hackward to ask what is thus your own by covenantright and by solemn engagement? Over the symbols of Christ's broken body and shed blood, take courage, and plead for whatever your circumstances require. Carry with you the remembrance of his death into all your scenes of devotion, and let it embolden and stimulate you to implore even the richest blessings that are laid up in the storehouse of divine bounty. And with hearts enlarged by the influence of those considerations which we have been pressing on your attention, and guided by the Spirit of all grace, "pray without ceasing,"

" and "in every thing by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God." Bear about with you the promise and the

pledge for its fulfilment, and recal them to your recollection as often as you come before his throne, and especially when doubts and suspicions would fetter your devotion, or keep you at a distance from the Hearer of prayer. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: for every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened."

EXHORTATION AFTER THE COMMUNION.*

Before we separate, my friends, let me address to you a few exhortations suited to the circumstances in which you now stand, as having been engaged in the solemn duty of commemorating the Saviour's dying love. I shall endeavor to comprise what I have to say within as small a compass as possible. At the same time, you will allow me to address myself, for a little, to the different classes into which, in point of conduct and condition, my hearers may be considered as, on this occasion, divided.

1. In the first place, are there any whose consciences tell them that they have come to the Lord's table, without any fitness for it, and have partaken of the ordinance, without any interest it? that they have been influenced by unworthy motives; that they have been destitute of right principles; that they have acted in an irreverent and unchristian manner? To such of you, I must declare that you have been "guilty of the

Addressed to the congregation of St. George's Church, Edinburgh, after the celebration of the Lord's Supper, 7th November, 1830.