upright? No! We do not go, we need not go, to the refuse of society in prisons and galleys. Setting aside all immorality and profligacy; when we see creatures shunning their Creator; and beneficiaries hating to retain their Benefactor in their knowledge; when we see men, instead of loving God with all their heart, banishing him from his own temple, and forbidding him the bosom that was made for himself-we know they must be fallen, and perverted, and guilty creatures; and without pardon and renovation can never enter into the kingdom of God. And this is your character; your danger. You are living without God. You are enemies to him. In vain you reckon upon your virtue and safety, because you may be free from iniquities which disgrace others. Sins of omissions expose to condemnation, as well as positive transgressions. They are violations of the same authority. He that forbids, also enjoins. And you show your contempt of God, by neglect, as well as by insult. If two persons living together in the same house were never to speak to each other, it would be deemed by all, as much a proof of dislike, as their fighting. Be not therefore deceived. You are wronging your own souls. All they that are far from God shall perish. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, with all the nations that forget God."

Is not, therefore, another cause of your neglect of the closet, a guilty conscience? You are afraid to enter into solitude. You know that however cheerful you appear, you are far from being happy in reality. You have your occasional forebodings; and it is safer not to look into your condition lest they should be confirmed. You surround yourselves with company, lest, being alone, truth should invade your delusion, or you should be haunted by the ghosts of your own thoughts. The value of your amusements does not consist in the pleasure they yield, but in their power to divert you from your reflection. And this power they must soon lose. And its effect at present is limited. It is no easy thing to keep out light, where there are so many apertures to blind up; or to sleep on, where stillness is impossible. What a life of constraint and uneasiness are you leading! There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked."

Another prevention is to be found in creature attraction and worldly cares. You mind earthly things." Your farm and your merchandise; your rising early, and sitting up late, and compassing sea and land, to carry some tem

58

THE CHRISTIAN, IN THE CLOSET.

poral interest-these furnish you with excess; these yield you substitutes; these keep you from seeking those things that are above. We wish not to render you indifferent to your stations in life, or to induce you to undervalue the good things which he gives you to enjoy. But while you are "not slothful in business, but fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." "Labour not" only, or principally, "for the meat that perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life." "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." And if you obtain them not in this subordination, you will find them to be nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. Your table will become a snare. Your prosperity

will destroy you.

We have thus again called you to enter your closet. And as to many of you, it is probable the application will be again refused. But another call will soon be addressed to you. It will be to die. That call you cannot refuse. You live in a crowd-but you must die alone. You now hate silence-but you are hastening to "the house appointed for all living;" and

"Darkness, death, and long despair,
Reign in eternal silence there."

"Then David returned to bless his household."-Sam. vi. 20.

THE human frame is "a body fitly joined together, and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working of every part." There is nothing in it irregular; nothing defective; nothing superfluous. The eye cannot say to the ear, I have no need of thee; nor the hand to the foot, I have no need of thee; the members are all connected with, all dependent upon, all subservient to each other; and were you to separate them, the body, which is composed of the whole, would be at once disfigured and destroyed.

It is the same with the system of Christianity, as presented in the Scriptures of truth. By separation, it loses both its beauty and its energy: its beauty-for this consists in the fine adjustment of the parts; its energy-for this results from the harmonious operation of the whole. What God therefore has joined together, whether it be doctrine and duty, or command and promise, or privilege and service, or hope and fear-let not man put asunder.

The zeal of some professors is not always according to knowledge, or such as to evince a "heart right with God." It is not full of "good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy." For these are nearly allied. Partiality is always proof of hypocrisy; for if you are upright before God, and sincerely desirous of pleasing him, you will come to him, not to dictate, but to submit; not to choose, but to say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "Then shall I not be ashamed, when I have respect unto all thy commandments."

The

A Christian is not a perfect character; but he is a character: he is always the same; every where the same. same in prosperity and adversity; the same in public and in private; the same in the dwelling-place, as in the temple;

the same in the family, as in the church. If there be any difference, his immediate connexions will have the advantage; and looking towards those who have the best opportunities of knowing and observing his religion, he will be able to say, "Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience; that in simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward." When Whitfield was asked, whether a certain person was a good man, he replied, "I know not-I never lived with him." And Philip Henry remarks, that "Every man, in religion, is really what he is relatively."

We have to exhibit the Christian this morning

In the FAMILY.

Here it is supposed that he has a family. He is not a poor, illiberal, solitary individual; preferring vice, or mopishness, or an escape from expense, care, and trouble, to a state which was designed to complete the happiness of Adam in Paradise; and which inspiration has pronounced to be "honourable in all." He believes in the wisdom and veracity of God, who has said, "It is not good for man to be alone:" and instead of reflecting upon his parents, and undervaluing and injuring the most amiable part of society, where too they are not even allowed to complain; he forms no leading permanent plan of life, in which marriage is not considered as the foundation. And having entered the condition, he will be anxious to fulfil its duties. He will love his wife, even as himself. He will train up his children "in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." He will behave towards his servants, as one who knows that he has "a Master in heaven," and that there is no respect of persons with God. He will say, with David, "I will behave myself wisely in a perfect way. Oh! when wilt thou come unto me? I will walk within my house with a perfect heart. I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not come nigh me!"

"Then David returned to bless his household." Thenfor the period and the occasion are previously marked. The day had been a very pleasing one to David; but it had proved a very active and busy one too. For many hours he had been engaged in bringing up the Ark of God from the house of Obededom into the city of Jerusalem. He had

not only attended to witness all the indications of piety and joy, but had contributed himself in the sacred performances. And when the symbol of the Divine presence was set in the tabernacle prepared to receive it, he offered burnt-offerings and peace-offerings before the Lord; and dismissed the multitude with presents, after blessing them in the name of the Lord. But the monarch does not make him forget the master; nor does public service hinder domestic. Then David returned to bless his household."-Let us pass from this instance of excellency, to consider at large,

1. THE WAY IN WHICH THE HEAD OF A FAMILY MAY BLESS HIS HOUSEHOLD.

II. To shoW THE REASONS WHICH SHOULD ENGAGE HIM TO ATTEMPT IT.

III. TO ANSWER SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE DUTY.

And,

IV. TO CONCLUDE WITH SOME ANIMADVERSIONS AND ADMONITIONS RESPECTING IT.

I. If it be asked, How the head of a family may BLESS HIS HOUSEHOLD? we would answer, by Example-by Government-by Discipline-by Instruction-by Attendance on the Means of Grace-by the Performance of Domestic Devotion.

Some of these particulars, we are aware, in a degree imply and include each other; yet they are distinct enough for the utility of separate remark. Thus we distinguish countries and provinces; and though in some places they approximate, and where they unite, the air, and the soil, and the produce will display resemblance and even sameness.

First, He may "bless his household" by Example. I begin with this, because nothing can supply the want of personal religion. He who despises his own soul, will feel little disposition to attend to the souls of others. Destitute of principle, he will be determined only by circumstances; and his exertions, if he makes any, will be partial and rare. Having nothing to animate him from experience, his endeavours will be dull and cold. Where all is merely formal and official, a man will not go far even in the use of means; but what probability is there of his success, when he does use them? Who loves to take his meat from a leprous hand? A drunkard will make a poor preacher of sobriety to servants. A proud and passionate father is a wretched

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