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become possessed of a benevolent heart, our life will be benevolent likewise; that is, our conduct will be adapted to the promotion of the public good. If we have godliness within, we shall have godliness without if the law of our God is in our heart, it will most certainly be the rule of our life. Though a wicked man may put on the mask of goodness, a good man can not put on the mask of wickedness. If, then, a life which is externally good, be not full proof that the heart is good, a bad life is incontrovertible proof that the heart is bad.

"Good works," as this phrase is used in the scriptures, mean something more than right external actions; they mean such right actions as are the fruit of right affections of heart. "The term good works," says Dr. Scott, "is never used in the New Testament, for ritual obedience, or moral virtue, as practiced by unbelievers; or for any other works than the fruits of the Spirit." It is undoubtedly true, that, in the sight of God, those alone are accounted good works, which proceed from a good heart. He views the motive and the action together; for they belong together. But as the motive which prompts the action, lies concealed from us, we are often under the necessity of calling those works good, which God will condemn as evil, in the day when he will manifest the secrets of the heart. While, therefore, it is proper for the omniscient God to apply the term good works, exclu-' sively to those actions which result from holy affections; it is not improper for us to use this distinctive term, in application to such actions as holy affections will naturally produce, whether they are all of them the real fruit of such affections, or not.

Holy practice naturally divides itself into two distinct branches, namely; the duties we owe directly to God; and those which we owe more immediately to men. This distinction is noticeable in the ten commandments; the first four of which, relate to the duties we owe to God himself; and the other six, to the duties we owe to our fellow men. This distinction between duties to God, and duties to men, was no doubt one reason why the commandments were written on two tables. The same difference was evidently made by Christ, when he reduced all the precepts of the law into two; the first requiring love to God, and the second, love to men. Being asked, which was the great commandment in the law, he said, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment: and the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." As the whole of a good life, or a correct practice, is comprised in duty to God and man; so we find the whole character of one who was destitute of goodness, is expressed by saying, "he feared not God, neither regard. ed man." Luke xviii. 2.

Let it be understood, that it is God to whom we are under obliga. tion to discharge the whole of our duty, whether enjoined in the first or second table of the law, whether He or our neighbor, be the imme. diate object of it; for every duty is enjoined by his supreme authority. It is God who commands us to do good to our neighbor, and God who bids us render homage to himself. The duty enjoined in the former command, we owe indirectly and ultimately to God, though directly to our neighbor; while that required by the latter is due to God, as both

its ultimate and its immediate object. This difference between the two classes of duties, may be illustrated by the case of parents, who prescribe rules to regulate the conduct of their children towards themselves, and also towards one another. We say of some of these rules, that they relate to filial duties, or duties which the children, as such, owe immediately to their parents; and of others, that they relate to those fraternal duties which, as brothers, they owe to equals in the family. And those children ought to feel, that, in performing the fra ternal, as well as the filial duties, they are but discharging the obligation they are under to their parents. As the above-mentioned classification of duties is both natural and scriptural, I shall adopt it, and* proceed immediately to the consideration of those of the first class, namely:

DUTIES WHICH WE OWE TO GOD.

The duties which belong to this class, are often distinguished from those belonging to the other, by being called religious duties, and duties of piety: but in the scriptures, this branch of holy practice is usually denominated godliness; denoting that God is the immediate object of the affections and services which pertain to it. My design is, not to bring into view every thing which might be comprehended under this class of good works, but enough only to show, that truth can not be reduced to practice, short of its terminating in a life of godliness. Some of those duties or practices which are essential to a godly life, will be considered under the following Articles.

ARTICLE I.

THE WORSHIP OF GOD OCCUPIES THE FIRST PLACE AMONG THE

DUTIES OF GODLINESS.

In scripture, the term worship is sometimes applied to that respect, or deference, which it is proper for one mortal to show to another, on account of his superior dignity of character, or his elevated station in society. God himself has required this deference from inferiors to their superiors. He requires children to honor their father and mother; the young, to rise up before the hoary head, and honor the face of the old man; and subjects, to pay homage to their king. When, on a certain occasion, king David and his subjects had made a very liberal offering for the building of the temple, the whole congregation of Israel "worshiped the Lord, and the king." We can not suppose, however, that with such a spirit of piety as then actuated them, they worshiped their king, in the same sense they did their God; or that their king would have consented to receive any such worship. The pass. age can mean no more than this; that while they paid religious wor

ship to their God, they paid to their monarch that reverential deference which was due to his kingly authority.

Worship, in its appropriate, and (in the scriptures) almost its only meaning, is the expression of supreme regard and confidence. There is no being but "Him that is higher than the highest," who can reasonably be made the object of such worship. Until we arrive at the source of all dependent existence, intelligence, holiness, and blessedness, we have not found the being who can claim religious homage, or in whom we can repose supreme confidence. This makes a broad line of distinction between the worship we are required to pay to the Most High, and that honor which is to be given to our fellow men. It is not wrong to ask needed favors of them; or to render thanks for such as they have conferred on us; nor to solicit their forgiveness, when we have trespassed against them. But were we to ask their aid, or to give them thanks for aid afforded, as though it came from them as its source: or were we to ask their forgiveness, as though they had the power to pardon sins, and to secure us from enduring the penalties of the divine law, it would be giving to the creature the place of the Creator. As Jehovah is an eternal, self-existent being, from whom all other existence is derived, and on whom it is entirely and constantly dependent, he requires (and how infinitely just is the requisition) all his intelligent offspring to feel and conduct towards him, as the God in whose hand their breath is, and whose are all their ways. On this point, he could not have made known his will more explicitly, than he has done in these words: THOU SHALT WORSHIP THE LORD THY GOD, AND HIM ONLY SHALT THOU SERVE. We are here commanded to worship Him, and forbidden to worship any besides Him. The worship of God, under the New Testament dispensation, has only two distinct branches, namely, prayer and praise. Under the Old Testament dispensation, it was a part of their worship to offer to` God" the calves of the stall;" but now there is nothing more required than to render "the calves of our lips." By praise, as distinguished from prayer, is meant the singing of "psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs.' Of these two parts of worship, prayer holds by far the most prominent place. By this it is not meant, that thanksgiving is less important than supplication; (for thanksgiving constitutes no inconsiderable part of a devout prayer;) but the praising of God in measured lines, or by musical modulations of the voice, is not, like prayer, absolutely indispensable to a life of piety. These two branches of worship will both receive our attention, though the first will claim the greatest share of it. Let us now with a devout spirit, enter on a consideration of the duty of

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PRAYER.*

What I have to say on this subject, will be comprised under the following heads: the obligation to the duty-its nature-its benefitsand the proper occasions for its performance. Let us consider,

It may be proper for the author to state, that the greater portion of what follows on the subject of prayer, though originally prepared for this work, he has already given to the public in the form of a Tract. It constitutes No. 271 of the American Tract Soci ety's series.

I. THE OBLIGATION TO PRAYER.

This duty, which is in perfect accordance with the dictates of reason, is expressly and abundantly enjoined in the holy scriptures. It is enjoined,

1. By precept. The following are a few of the many passages, which require the performance of this duty. "Call upon me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify me." " Pray for the peace of Jerusalem." "Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near." “Ye that make mention of the Lord, keep not silence, and give him no rest till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth." “Thus saith the Lord, I will yet for this be inquired of (i. e. prayed to) by the house of Israel, to do it for them." Ps. 1. 15; cxxii. 6. Isa. lv. 6; lxii. 6, 7. Ezek. xxxvi. 37. Sacrificial offerings were confined to the former dispensation, but prayer is rendered obligatory under both dispensations. The New Testament abounds with injunctions to prayer. Scarcely any other duty was so frequently inculcated by Christ. Take the following instances: "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you." 66 And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint." "Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation." Luke xi. 9; xviii. 1. Matt. xxvi. 41.

Prayer is much insisted on by the apostles, in their letters to the churches; particularly by Paul, who wrote the greater part of them. Paul writes to the Romans, "Continue instant in prayer:" to the Ephesians, "Pray always, with all prayer and supplication, in the Spirit:" to the Philippians, "Be careful for nothing; but in every thing, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God:" to the Colossians, "Continue in prayer, and watch in the same with thanksgiving:" and to the Thessaloni. ans, "Pray without ceasing." Rom, xii. 12. Eph. vi. 18. Phil. iv. 6. Col. iv. 2. Thess. v, 17. James called on Christians to pray one for another; assuring them that "the effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." Peter exhorted them to "watch unto prayer," and to cast all their cares upon God, as one who cared for them. John did not neglect to enforce this duty; nor did Jude, although all he wrote is comprised in one chapter. Jam. v. 16. 1 Pet. iv. 7; v. 7. 1 John, v. 14-16. Jude, ver. 20.

2. By example. Those who lived before the flood, called on the name of the Lord. Gen. iv. 26. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, are all described as men of prayer. Gen. xviii. 23-33; xxiv. 63; xxxii. 9-32. Those illustrious descendants of theirs, whose names adorn the pages of sacred history-statesmen and monarchs, as well as priests and prophets are all represented as men who had communion with God. What reader of the Old Testament history is ignorant of the fact, that a spirit of devotion marked the character of such men as Moses, Joshua, Samuel, David, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Hezekiah, Elijah, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Daniel? and of such women as Hannah, Deb, orah, and Esther?

The worthies of the New Testament, both male and female, are de

scribed as persons who conscientiously regarded this duty. We know this was the case with Christ himself. He prayed much. To engage in this duty, he arose early, and sat up late : he was known to continuc all night in prayer to God. Mark i. 35, and vi. 46, 47. Luke vi. 12. 3. The scriptures inculcate this duty as universal. "I will," said one who spake as he was moved by the Holy Ghost, "that men pray every where." As we can never remove from under the dominion of the Most High, nor cease to need his merciful protection, we can never be freed either from the obligation or necessity of prayer. Daniel, residing at Babylon, the seat of a pagan empire, felt both. Nehemiah prayed at Shushan as well as at Jerusalem; Jonah, in the whale's belly; and Paul and Silas, in the prison. This duty extends its claims to all classes of society-to men in secular life, as well as those in the holy ministry-to rulers as well as private citizens—to the rich as well as the poor. None are so exalted as to be above, nor so depressed as to be below, either the obligation or privilege of prayer. The servant of Abraham prayed to the same God to which his master prayed, and was equally accepted. From the claims of this duty, no age or condition in life is exempt. "Both young men and maidens, old men and children, let them praise the name of the Lord." The little child, as well as the aged man, should kneel before the Lord his Maker. Psalm cxlviii. 12, 13. 1 Samuel, i. 28. Luke ii. 49, 52.

4. The scriptures represent this duty as essential to Christian character. "Just and devout"-" giving alms unto the people, and praying to God always," are joined together to constitute the character of the good man. Luke ii. 25. Acts x. 2. None are considered as giving more certain indications of a wicked heart than those who say, "What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? and what profit shall we have, if we pray unto him?" Job xxi. 15. An immoral life is not a surer index of an unsanctified heart, than a life without prayer. Nor is it any more certain, that a renovation of heart will transform the immoral into a moral man, than that it will convert the prayerless into a praying man. "Behold he prayeth," is the scripture announcement of a sinner's conversion to God: and a neglect of this duty is considered as furnishing sufficient proof of the unsoundness of any man's religion, however promising it may have been. Acts ix. 11. Job xxvii. 10.

II. THE NATURE OF PRAYER.

The

Though the scriptures thus inculcate the obligation to prayer, they are very far from approving everything which bears the name. Pharisees made long prayers, and yet to the holy Jesus no class of sinners were more offensive. Matt. v. 20; vi. 5. It concerns us all to know, what are the essential characteristics of that prayer which God will accept. The scriptures represent it under a variety of phraseology; as, " drawing near to God"-" speaking unto the Lord" "declaring to him our ways"-" pouring out our heart before him" "coming to the throne of grace," &c. Psalm lxxiii. 28; Gen. xviii. 27. Psalm cxix. 26; lxii. 8. Heb. iv. 16. It has, by men uninspired, been well defined to be "the offering up of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will." Without desires, there can be no prayer; and none that is good, except the desires be holy; and

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