faith, do you be much in fervent prayer, that you may do his will in all things. Perhaps you have hitherto been known by coming out of the world, by your constant attendance upon public worship, by your zeal for religious institutions, and by other acts of the same kind. But stop not here: rest not satisfied, till, as God's dear children, you are known by your resemblance to your Father; so that when your brethren meet you in common life, when they transact business with you, or visit you in your family, this thought may readily occur to them, 'Here is one of God's dear children; one who, whenever I see him, reminds me both of the privilege and of the character of a true Christian.' Let this, my friends, be your standard. Your Heavenly Father expects it of you your younger brethren expect it of yea, your own heart expects it of you. It is not by the number of years which you have professed religion that your felicity is to be estimated; it is by your growth in likeness to your Heavenly Father. Now that we are assembling for the season, let me inquire, How do we meet? Do we come together more like the children of God than when we parted? Is truth and goodness and holiness more our daily standard? and is there more of love visible in our walk? This is one end for which

you:

God adopts us into his family. Not that we should be the mere bigots of a party; not that we should say to others, "Stand off, for I am holier than thou;" not that our minds should be occupied in doubtful points of theology; but that we should exhibit his likeness to men. Do you, then, my Christian friends, make this your model; that when we observe your dress, your dwelling, your daily walk, your spirit, your conversation, we may say, This is the dress, the dwelling, the walk, the spirit, the conversation, of God's dear children.

Next, I would speak to those who may be setting out in religion, or who feel weak in the faith. Do not be discouraged, my dear friends, at the standard I am giving you. Recollect, that all these precepts are promises, conveyed in another form;-that when the Lord says, "Be ye followers of God as dear children, and walk in love," it is only as the expression of the desires of the kindest Parent; with this difference, that an earthly parent, when he gives such a precept, has no power to enable his child to perform it not so your Heavenly Father: He can "give power to the faint, and to them that have no might he can increase strength." He can give you both the desire of a child and the spirit of a child. Oh, then, be imitators of God.

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Finally let those who have not yet much reflected upon the subject, consider from these words how different the religion of the Scriptures is from that mere formal profession which passes current for Christianity. God regards his people as dear children, and he sends his Spirit into their hearts, crying, Abba, Father. As a parent, he expresses his will, and they, as they pursue it, willingly say, Not my will, but thine be done, O Lord. Surely, then, viewing the general state of society, the distance at which men live from this relation, we must see the truth of our Lord's declaration, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." To propose a standard like this to the world, is to propose what they have neither the ability nor the desire to imitate. And, therefore, let the subject thus operate upon your minds: that as none but the children of God will inherit the mansions of their Heavenly Father; and as none but those who receive Christ, and are born of the Spirit, are his children; here is your wisdom, to believe in Christ, and in that belief say, with David, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me."

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SERMON XVII.

THE SAME SUBJECT CONTINUED.

PHIL. ii. 14-16.

Do all things without murmurings and disputings; that ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.

THESE words may be considered, my Christian friends, as a continuation of the Apostle's counsel, or of the expression of the desire of of our Heavenly Father as to his dear children. For in these words, as in those which were opened in my last discourse, the inspired writer does not make use of arguments drawn from the Law, but taken from their principles and hopes as members of the family of God. He calls upon them to appear in the world in their

proper character; and he leads them forward to that blessed day when the servants of Christ and those whom they have served in the Gospel shall rejoice together. Allow me, then, still to call your attention to this interesting part of Divine truth. May the Holy Spirit graciously assist us, and incline our hearts to receive and practise the will of God concerning us!

In my text the precepts and the motives are mixed; but it may be more convenient to consider them distinctly.

First, the Apostle says, "Do all things without murmurings and disputings." This is one instance, among many which might be adduced, of the comprehensive mode in which the Holy Spirit of God teaches practical lessons. The design of the Lord, in giving a revelation which should not be inconvenient by its length, or cumbersome by its weight, did not admit of the inspired writers' entering into a minute detail upon every point of practice; but the Lord declares in a few words that which comprises volumes. "Do all things without murmurings." As if the Apostle should say, 'You enter into the world with an evil heart, which, though renewed by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, yet remains, even in the regenerate, in its