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with him. You cannot be familiar with books without much reading. You cannot be familiar with any art or employment without repeated practice. So you cannot be familiar with heaven without frequently visiting it in your thoughts and pondering over its glorious objects. There must be seasons for fixed meditation, when every other object is excluded ;-seasons distinct from those set apart for prayer. In these seasons the mind must ponder deeply, undividedly, and for a considerable time together, on the different objects and employments of the heavenly world, on its glorious Author, on the Saviour and his work, on the day of judgment, on the shortness of time, and the like. Without these set There is as

seasons the art of meditating will never become easy. much an art of meditating as an art of singing, and no more one than the other can be acquired without practice. When the mind has become accustomed by these set seasons to drop every other object and to bend its whole attention upwards, and when the thoughts have thus become trained to their flights, it will be easy and sweet to meditate. And the art of commanding the thoughts being thus acquired, it will be easy to redeem from waste and employ in heavenly meditation the hours spent alone in riding or walking or in labor. By this means the soul can live in heaven the greater part of the time, from morning till night and from day to day; and the effect on its holiness and happiness will be immense. Indeed there is no acquiring a heavenly mind in any other way. See you that eminent saint who stands distinguished in all the country around for his sanctity and benevolence, and as one who walks with God! He never reached this elevation by any other means. If you could go back into the history of his closet and his private hours for the last twenty years, you would find that those waste moments which others devote to frivolous thinking or lose in a vacuum of thought, he has employed in heavenly meditation, and that he acquired this habit in seasons specially set apart for this exercise. You look upon those superior Christians who

live on the verge of heaven, and wonder how they arose so high. You need not wonder more. One of the secrets is now out. For many years they have been largely employed in heavenly meditation.

Fourthly, the man who would attain to a heavenly mind must be conscientious and punctual in his attendance on all the means of grace. It must not be a little thing that shall keep him from the house of God or from the prayer meeting. He must be a faithful and conscientious attendant on sacraments. He must be systematic and inflexible in his private devotions, and in reading some portion of Scripture or other devotional book every day.

Fifthly, he must watch. This is a point of the utmost importance, and is frequently in Scripture joined with prayer. Our hearts are a tinder box, ready to take fire from every spark; and the whole atmosphere around us is filled with scintillations as from a furnace. Without the most constant watchfulness some flame will secretly kindle that will burn

up the whole frame of a heavenly mind. There is very much in the memorable command, "Keep thy heart with all diligence." Keep thy heart : guard every imagination and thought and feeling. Keep it with all diligence let it be thy daily and hourly work. Turn not thine eye away: let it be constantly fixed on that moving thing within thee. Have the arm of thy resolution near thee to seize it the moment it attempts to fly. If you were set to keep a bird, unfastened, upon the palm of your hand, you would know what is meant by keeping the heart with all diligence. Watch also the approaches of the enemy and all the occasions of temptation. Watch your words and actions. Watch the approaches of Christ and the motions of the Spirit. Watch the providence of God as your instructer and guide. Watch for opportunities of doing good. The man who intends to live above the world and keep the face of heaven unclouded, must have his eyes about him. He must not suffer imaginations and thoughts and feelings to come and go as they please without examination or care. A heavenly mind is a well regulated mind; and to regulate a thing so complicated and volatile, is as difficult as to govern a kingdom. In this as much as in any thing lies the difference between those eminent Christians who walk with God, and those gay and easy professors who fall in with the manners of the world. One class are keeping their hearts with all diligence, and are cautiously feeling their way, and examining every object around them, and comparing it with the standard of the word; and make this the daily toil and business of life : the other class flit along without examination or care; and if no actions or words escape them which the decent part of the world would condemn, they inquire no further. These are never likely to attain to a heavenly mind, and I am afraid they will never reach heaven itself.

Sixthly, the man who would attain to the exalted dignity and serenity of a heavenly mind, must pursue a course of habitual and universal obedience. I do not say a course of sinless perfection, but a course of obedience extending to every branch of duty, and constant enough to constitute a habit. Every deliberate sin tends to grieve away the Spirit. The frequent recurrence of known sin will therefore cut the sinews of faith and devotion and prostrate the soul in the dust. mount up and abide at the high elevation of a heavenly mind without pleasing God by an habitual course of filial obedience.

A man can never

I may add here, that the man who would reach a heavenly mind must be, like God, much employed in doing good. There are two extremes to which practical religion has been carried. In one extreme it has produced the man of beneficence, who had little to do with devotion, and had perhaps a very superficial knowledge of the truth; in the other extreme it has produced the man of retired devotion, with his many experiences, but who never did any good. Neither is likely to ascend to a heavenly mind. The man of beneficence with little devotion, has many exquisite gratifications; but his business is chiefly with his

fellow-men: the man of devotion without beneficence, may have some intercourse with his Maker, and in the ages of ignorance, when his neglect was winked at, might have had some elevated views of truth; but in these times of light, when the call for beneficent action is loudly heard from heaven and earth, he can never be admitted to an intimate walk with God. God will not walk with any man who is so unlike him as the retired monk, who, with all his prayers, will not give a cent or put forth his hand to save a world from death.

Seventhly, it is necessary to the attainment of a heavenly mind that a man possess a single eye; that he be not divided between the world and God and keep a double object in his view. He must have reached that point where he feels himself habitually not his own but the servant of another; where he goes forth daily to his work, not principally to please himself, but to serve his heavenly Master; where his desire of gain is chiefly prompted by a wish to obtain the means of extending the Redeemer's kingdom. To have two masters, or a double object, is to have an evil eye; to have a single object, as the one which controls the heart and life, is to have a single eye. None but those who answer the latter description can live in the unclouded light of heaven. What saith the Scripture? "If thine eye be single thy whole body shall be full of light; but if thine eye be evil, [double,] thy whole body shall be full of darkness." Those professors of religion whose principal object from month to month is to get gain, will certainly never obtain a heavenly mind; and if there is any truth in the Bible, they will never reach heaven itself.

As it is necessary to have a single eye, or a single controlling object, in order to enjoy the light which brings the elevation and serenity of the heavenly mind, it must be manifest that too much involvement in worldly cares is unfavorable to this attainment. There are indeed instances in which men of large business and wealth in an eminent degree walk with God; but it is only where they have written HOLINESS TO THE LORD on all their possessions, and of course retain the single eye. We cannot

therefore make a law that Christians shall not embark in extensive business; for some, we see, do this with great advantage to the kingdom of Christ. But so many are the temptations connected with such a state, that for one I bless God that I am excused.

Finally, a man cannot expect to ascend to this holy and happy elevation without setting his mind upon it as the personal good to which all others must submit, and decreeing in his heart, (with a proper dependance on God,) that he will attain to this though every thing else be lost. He must determine to have this whatever else is given up,- to have it at all hazards and sacrifices,―to make every thing else bend and give way to this. He must say, and continue to say, "God helping me, I must and will have this. Let every thing else go: this is my point; this is my all." The man who thus resolves and perseveres, in the manner already described, will obtain this most desirable good. It is an old maxim, that if

a man says, I will be rich, he will be rich. The meaning is, that if he resolves to be rich at all hazards, and makes every thing else bend to his purpose, and has no other object day or night, and sticks at no hardships or self-denials; the probability is that he will succeed. The same may be said of a resolute pursuit of learning, and indeed of almost every other object. But there is a certainty in the present case which does not attend any other; for God has promised success. "Seek and ye shall find:" "The soul of the diligent shall be made fat :" thyself in the Lord and he shall give thee the desires of thy heart :" "How much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him."

"Delight

Here then is a good within the reach of every man who will feel right and do his duty. And it is worth more in the present life than thrones and kingdoms. And now the question is, will you drop every other concern and rise up to this pursuit? Not one of you is excluded from spending your life high under the arch of heaven, far above the world, in full view of the heavenly city, knowing that to be your eternal home, and sheltered there from all the cares and troubles of life. The means by which you can make the ascent have been pointed out. And now the question is, will you come up to this high and holy life, or will you grovel still in the dust, sighing, suffering, dying? There is but one mind that can decide for you, and that mind is your own. What say you now, my brethren? Will you start from your slumbers and take hold of the strength of God and mount? or will you lose it all and linger still in the dust? If the latter, complain not hereafter of the want of comfort. If the troubles of life find you sleeping in their own domains, accuse not God. Be it remembered then that you had an opportunity to escape from them all and live above their reach. If dismal doubts find you and break your peace, remember that you have none to blame but yourselves; for you had the offer of an abode in the confines of the New Jerusalem, surrounded with light that would have chased every fear away. My brethren, you are all eager for happiness. Now the way is pointed out in which you may obtain it: a short way; the only way. You have met with disappointments in the world. Some of you have been unfortunate in business: others of you have lost near and dear friends. You find below only what breaks your heart. Now then let us escape from all these and live above their reach. Let us go up and be happy. Blessed be God for these tidings to sooth the anguished mind. Blessed be God for this offer of rest before we die. Our habitation here is desolate; thanks to God that he has offered us an abode so near his seat. O my brethren, let us gratefully accept, and nerve ourselves with strength to climb the heavenly road. Let us tread every idol beneath our feet. Let the wide world be dead to us. And let us say to our Father looking out of heaven, Lo, I come, I come.Amen.

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THE GUILT OF INEFFICIENCY AND DELAY.

JEREMIAH, iv. 14.-How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? THIS expostulation was addressed originally to Jerusalem, when threatened with invasion. The inhabitants knowing that judgments were from Heaven, to avert the danger, externally reformed: but they were directed, if they would be secure, to correct the source of the evil-to wash, or purify their hearts. This they were slow to do. The duty was plain and imperative, and connected with their highest interests. Hence the solemn expostulation of the text; "How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?--That is, How long wilt thou continue to cherish sin, after thou art convinced of its ruinous consequences? How long wilt thou neglect an imperious duty which is connected with salvation?

By vain thoughts we understand feeble resolutions, ineffectual purposes, good intentions never performed. This disposition to suffer the present opportunity to pass unimproved, with the secret purpose of renewing the effort in future, this dilatory, inefficient spirit, is the sin of our common nature, and the fatal destroyer of much good. It is our purpose to expose the prevalence and the evil of this spirit of procrastination.

This disposition is discovered as early as the appearance of intellectual and moral powers. You perceive it in children. They are always planning something for the morrow; little is accomplished because they are promising to do more--because a delusive splendor invests the future. Youth is literally the season of promise; the imagination is filled with images, the mind with schemes, the heart with good intentions; the picture glows with all that is bright and excellent; but these brilliant purposes, these enchanting creations exist only in thought: the fair morning passes away and nothing is done. Thus, for the most part, insensibly glide the first stages of human life. And when the young man might be expected to be disciplining his mind to severe habits of study, some dream of ambition, some airy hope, some fascinating purpose often dissipates the thoughts and breaks up intense application. Sometimes, indeed, waking from his day-dream, and remembering that sound knowledge is not acquired but by the most patient and persevering industry, the student returns to his task with determined purpose-only to learn the feebleness of his resolution and the instability of his nature. Generally, when he has completed his preparatory course, his attainments are so limited that he reproaches himself for

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