GOD for his greater goodness to us. The manifold dangers, and excessive labours which others undergo for trifling advanta ges; may shame us out of negligence in our pursuit of heaven and happiness: and indeed, there is scarce any thing but a serious mind may improve to its great advantage. This, no doubt, was the design of the frequent similies and parables of the word of GOD, that we might be taught instruction from sensible objects. Thus we are sent to the ant, Prov. vi. 6. to learn sagacity and diligence; to the potter, Jer. viii. 7. for submission to the will of God; to the refiner, Zec. xii. 9. for consolation and instruction under affliction. And our blessed Saviour's gospel is filled with emblems, for the same purposes: Among which are, the Vine, the Fig tree, the Pearl of great price, the importunate Widow, and prodigal Son. Easy would be the task, and great the advantage, if the religious Tradesman would thus, like the industrious bee, gather honey from every flower. Surely, the consideration is sad, that christians should know how to converse with men, and sometimes with GOD himself, and yet be at a loss to commune with their own hearts.

;

The practice of Religion necessarily includes watchfulness. Wherever the love and fear of GOD is in sincerity, there will be a constant concern to please him and this can never be attained by beings whose natures are imperfect, and appetites and passions strong and irregular, amidst surrounding solicitations to evil from an ensnaring world, and vigilant spiritual adversaries; unless we watch, as well as pray against every temptation. This watchfulness the christian should especially maintain against the particular sins to which his calling, situation, and constitution expose him. The sure sign of uprightness of heart, consists in keeping ourselves "from our own iniquity;" Psal. xviii. 23. that which our dispositions most incline us unto; which we find most difficult to resist, and hardest to overcome; for which conscience most frequently reproves us, and we condemn ourselves when under affliction, or in the apprehensions of death.

But the vices which human nature are most prone unto, are covetousness and sensuality; the Tradesman therefore should be peculiarly watchful against them. They are the root of all evils; they estrange the heart from, and deaden the affections to,

GOD and goodness; the sensualize the ve ry souls of men, and give such a criminal bias to their appetites and inclinations, as produces forgetfulness and contempt of GOD, a disrelish to the purity and spirituality of his laws and worship, the neglect of their immortal souls, and the concerns of another world; they cloud the understanding, pervert the judgment, extinguish the principles of religion, justice, truth and benevolence, in the hearts of men, and debase their natures to a resemblance of the beasts that perish: in a word, the prevalence of them is every where in scripture, represented as absolutely inconsistent with the chrstian life, and destructive of our heavenly hopes. "This ye

know, that no covetous man, who is an idolator, hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ, and of God" Eph. v. 5. 1 Cor. vi. 10. Psal. x. 3. "They that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh: But they that are after the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death.

Because

the carnal mind is enmity against GOD; for it is not subject to the law of GoD, neither indeed can be. So then, they that are in the flesh cannot please GOD. For

if ye live after the flesh ye shall die, &c." Rom. viii. 5, 13. John ii. 15, 16.

Having thus considered some instances of a religious temper and life, let us reflect upon ourselves, and consider what our own dispositions and practice have been. Have we ever experienced such a renovation of mind, as has given us a prevailing bias of soul towards GOD and Christ, heaven and holiness? Or are we the same self righteous, censual, dead and disaffected beings to God and goodness, that ever we were? Have the glorious perfections of the adorable GOD, and the relations in which we stand unto him, had an habitual practical influence upon our tempers and our lives? Or have we forgotten GOD that formed us; neglected to glorify that supreme and transcendant being in whose hand our breath is, and whose are all our ways; and lightly esteemed the Lord Jesus Christ, the Rock of our Salvation? Have we studied and reverenced the holy word of God, and made that the rule and guide of our lives? Or have we made the customs and examples of an evil world, or our own selfish interests and humours, the rule of all our conduct? Have we lived by faith on GOD, for all the supports and supplies

of life? Or "have we made gold our hope, and said to fine gold, thou art our confidence?" Has the worship of the Almighty been performed with seriousness, faith, and constancy, in our families and retirements? Or have we lived as without GOD in the world, and cast off his fear, by restraining prayer before him? Have we honoured, reverenced, and delighted in the sabbaths of the Lord? Or have they been esteemed a weariness unto us, and the time thought long, wherein we were detained from the common business and pleasures of the world? Have we set a watch before the door of our lips? Has our conversation been sober, rational, useful and religious? Have our hearts been frequently aspiring to GOD, by serious reflection and meditation in order to animate and strengthen the life of GOD in our souls? Or has not the vanity and folly of our thoughts and words, been too plain an indication that a wise and religious disposition of heart, and temper of mind, have. been wanting in us? To conclude; have we been watchful and circumspect in our christian course; especially against the predominant sins of covetousness and sensuality? Or have our souls been buried in