VI. pressed by the dread authority which it car- SERMON ries, shall you not fall down on your knees before your Maker, imploring his mercy to pardon your past offences, and his grace to rectify your future way? SUCH ought to be the effects of the consideration of God as the Governour of the world. It leads to thoughts of a very serious nature. When we regard the work of the Lord, and contemplate him as the Author of the universe, such contemplation prompts devotion. But when we consider the operation of his hands in providence, and contemplate him as the Governour of mankind, such contemplation prompts humiliation before him for offences committed. The former addresses itself to the ingenuous sentiments that are left in the heart; and awakens a sense of our unworthiness, in neglecting the Author of nature amidst our riotous pleasures. The latter addresses itself to our regard for safety and happiness; and awakens fear and dread, from consciousness of the guilt we have contracted. Hence springs up in every thoughtful mind, an anxious concern to avert the displeasure, and regain VI. SERMON the favour of that Supreme Being to whom we are all subject. This, among unenlightened nations, gave rise to sacrifices, expiations, and all the rites of humble though superstitious worship. Among nations, who have been instructed in true religion, sentiments of the same nature pave the way for prayer, repentance, faith, and all those duties, by means of which we may hope, through a divine Mediator and Intercessor, to be reconciled to heaven. Natural and revealed religion here appear in concord. We behold the original dictates of the human heart laying a foundation for the glad reception of the comfortable tidings of the gospel, I HAVE thus endeavoured to shew in what manner, by regarding the work of the Lord, and considering the operation of his hands, we may prevent the dangers arising from a thoughtless indulgence of pleasure; we may be furnished with an antidote to the poison which is too often mixed in that intoxicating cup.-Human life is full of troubles. We are all tempted to alleviate them as much as we can, by freely enjoy ing the pleasurable moments which Provi dence dence thinks fit to allow us. Enjoy them SERMON we may: But, if we would enjoy them safely, and enjoy them long, let us temper them with the fear of God. As soon as this is forgotten and obliterated, the sound of the harp and the viol is changed into the signal of death. The serpent comes forth from the roses where it had lain in ambush, and gives the fatal sting. Pleasure in moderation is the cordial, in excess it is the bane, of life. VI. SERMON VII. On the PRESENCE of GOD in a FUTURE SERMON لرسا PSALM XVI. II. Thou wilt shew me the path of life: In thy presence is fulness of joy; at thy right hand there are pleasures for evermore. HE apostle Peter, in a discourse which TH he held to the Jews, applies this passage, in a mystical and prophetical sense, to the Messiah *. But, in its literal and primitive meaning, it expresses the exalted hopes by which the Psalmist David supported himself amidst the changes and revolutions, of which his life was full. By *Acts, ii, 25-28. L these VII. these hopes when flying before Saul, when SERMON driven from his throne, and persecuted by an unnatural son, he was enabled to preserve his virtue, and to maintain unshaken trust in God.-In that early age of the world, those explicit discoveries of a state of immortality, which we enjoy, had not yet been given to mankind. But though the Sun of righteousness was not arisen, the dawn had appeared of that glorious day which he was to introduce. Even in those ancient times, holy men, as the Apostle writes to the Hebrews, saw the promises afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them; and, confessing that they were strangers and pilgrims on earth, declared that they sought after a better country, that is an beavenly *. Indeed, in every age, God permitted such hopes to afford support and consolation to those who served him. The full effect of them we behold in those triumphant expressions of the text, which are to be the subject of this discourse. They lead us to consider; first, The hope of the Psalmist in his present state; Thou wilt shew |