And to be consistent, we must, according to our means, contribute of our substance, and devote a reasonable portion of our time, to support the ministrations of religion, and to propagate the faith of Christ among all people. Without this correspondence of our practice, there can be no more sincerity in our prayers for the coming of God's kingdom, than there is of charity in those who say to the poor, be ye warmed and filled, without giving them what they need. "Be not deceived; God is not mocked." In nothing is a Christian more likely to be deceived, than in mistaking the form for the power of godliness; and especially in supposing that saying prayers is praying.

4. The like may be said of the next petition. If in your heart you daily pray that God's will may be done on earth, can you, without very great inconsistency, break God's commandments, or any way neglect that which you know to be his will? In heaven all is obedience, harmony and love; and the sincerity of this prayer is to be shown, by our doing what is in our power to promote the like holiness and peace

on earth.

5. So our prayers for daily bread, to be really prayers, must be accompanied with endeavours to "provide things honest in the sight of all men." Be temperately industrious, and be moderate in your desires for temporal things. "Having food and raiment, let us be therewith content." And as "man does not live by bread alone, but by the word of God," let it be your desire, and use all proper means, to obtain the heavenly manna, the bread of eternal life. And

6. Not only should you ask God to forgive your sins, but chiefly you must forgive those who trespass against you. This was our Saviour very particular in teaching, that what is so essential may be deeply impressed upon our minds. Before you bend your knees to offer this petition, see that you are "in charity with all men." Can you sincerely ask for mercy, except you also "love mercy ?" Never forget who has said, and with reference to this very petition, "If ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your heavenly Father forgive you.”

7. With our lips we may pray, "Lead us not into temptation;" but not with our hearts, except we are careful to avoid temptation, and not unnecessarily to be in situations which expose us to evil. If you would pray thus in spirit and in truth, shun whatever will entice you to sin. Do not needlessly visit places, frequent company, read books, or follow any kind of pleasures, which have a tendency to corrupt your heart, weaken your faith, or draw you into evil; and you may then hope, that in all those trials to which it shall please God to call you, he will deliver you from evil.

8. Finally, if the kingdom be God's, obey him in all things; if his be the power to relieve your wants, and to save your soul, trust in him and submit to his righteousness. And let us so live to his glory here, that we may shine forth as the sun in his kingdom, ❝for ever and ever. Amen."

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SERMON XXIII

ON RELIGIOUS ZEAL.

Luke, xvi. 8.

The children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of light.

"IT is good," says an apostle, "to be zealously affected in a good thing." Men are often, and very generally, actuated by an ardent zeal in the pursuit of worldly things, though many of them, far from being good, are vain and sinful. Among the objects of a wise and laudable zeal, none is more excellent than the Christian religion. This is the most profitable pursuit; it is the noblest object which can engage the attention of a human being; for it has respect to the honour of God, and the eternal happiness of mankind. But our blessed Lord has in this text declared, and by the parable which precedes it he has shown, that "the children of this world;" that men in the concerns of the present life, in the pursuit of wealth, and honour, and pleasure, are more ardent, active and careful, than Christians are in what regards their faith and religious practice. The authority of the

person who makes this remark, and our daily observation, leave no ground to doubt of its truth; and it is a fact, which certainly should awaken in the minds of those "who profess and call themselves Christians," the most serious concern.

It is true that many Christians, of various names and description, manifest great zeal for promoting the honour, and interest, and increase of their own sects, and respective denominations, and there are still those, who "compass sea and land to make one proselyte." But sectarian zeal, which is not primarily for the honour of God and the promotion of Christ's religion, but chiefly for tenets or points peculiar to their own party, and which distinguish, and because they distinguish them from other Christian societies, is not the wisdom which our Lord here recommends. In such party zeal, as St. Paul writes to the Corinthians, we are carnal, and walk as men ; we are actuated by worldly wisdom, and do no more than the children of this world;""publicans and sinners do the same." Wisdom of this sort, however ardent, however active, however prevalent among the disciples of Christ, does not, nor can it affect the correctness of his words in our text; that his disciples, generally speaking, do not feel or manifest such earnest concern, such awakened diligence, such prudent, consistent and persevering efforts to honour God, to do his will, and promote the cause of pure religion, as worldly men manifest and feel for temporal things, the fading goods of time and sense. This is a deplorable weakness, a folly which would be incredible, were it not so obvious and common. It is a fault exposed and complained of, not in our text only,

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but throughout the scriptures. That subject excepted, which, in the word of God is ever most prominent and conspicuous, his mercy to men in Jesus Christ, there is none so often and continually met with, as the carelessness and unconcern with which his people receive his mercies; the languor with which we labour for the bread of life; the heaviness with which our souls advance to reach eternal joys."

This then, is a subject on which they must often preach, who would faithfully declare all the counsel of God. On this theme must they who sit upon the watch tower in Zion, "reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all long-suffering and doctrine." It will not, if the Lord vouchsafe his blessing, be deemed a subject ill chosen, nor be found unprofitable. And nothing, perhaps, will more clearly evince the truth of our Lord's remark, and be more likely to impress upon our minds a sense of its importance, than contrasting the zeal, and prudence, and activity of worldly men in their various pursuits of life, with the supineness, inconsistency, and negligence of Christians in similar situations; and to such contrast or comparison, the text does indeed direct us.

First, then, religion or Christian life, is in the scriptures often and aptly compared to husbandry; to that culture of the soil by which we obtain the bread of this life, and feed and clothe our bodies. The husbandman is wise in his generation; he attends carefully to every branch of his business, and in its most proper season. With all necessary labour he prepares the soil, selects the choicest seed, secures his crop by fences, and aids its growth by tillage.