addition to the natural effects of inattention and sloth, we have spiritual enemies who are constantly on the watch to obtain advantages over us, that they may not only prevent our improvement, but accomplish our ruin. It is of the last importance, therefore, that we be "steadfast and unmoveable, always abounding more and more in the work of the Lord." If we are so, we know for certain, that our labour shall not be in vain in the Lord; for even here, our happiness shall commence, and the time cannot be distant, when they who have hungered and thirsted after righteousness, shall be abundantly filled with the plenteousness of God's house, and made to drink of the rivers of his pleasures for evermore. Amen.

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SERMON VI.

ON MERCY.

MATTH. V. 7.

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.

THE oftener we consider, and the more deeply we study the nature of our holy religion, the greater reason we shall still find to admire the wisdom, and to adore the goodness of its great Author. If we carefully examine the precepts delivered in it, and at the same time attend to what we are ourselves, we cannot but be forcibly struck with their suitableness to the nature and capacity of man,-we must acknowledge that they are admirably adapted, not only to promote individual happiness, but also to establish and maintain peace, good order, and harmony, among men, in their mutual intercourse as members of society. They bear evident marks of their Divine origin, excelling the productions of human wisdom, and the maxims of human prudence, as far as light excels darkness.

The great duty of a Christian is to be constantly endeavouring to bring his heart and life to a conformity to these precepts, as the only means by

which his nature can be purified from corruption, and restored to that excellence and perfection from which it fell, and by which alone it can be rendered capable of true and lasting happiness. Those who call, and perhaps believe themselves Christians, and make not this the great object and constant business of their lives, do only deceive themselves, and will be fatally disappointed at the last.

If a man join himself to any particular society, with the view of securing some present or future advantage, it is not the mere act of enrolling himself a member that entitles him to that advantage, but a conformity in his behaviour, as far as the society is concerned, to its rules and regulations,-in which if he fail, he thereby forfeits his title to the privileges and benefits which accrue to the conforming members. In like manner, it is not alone being admitted by baptism into the Christian Church, that society of the faithful which Jesus Christ hath established upon earth, nor even confessing him before the world by a regular attendance upon the ordinances of his religion; it is not, I say, this alone (though such admission and confession are absolutely necessary, wherever circumstances admit of their taking place,) that gives an interest in the promised blessings and advantages, but, together with this, a strict conformity in all respects, to the laws of the Founder. By every rule of equity and reason there can be no right to benefits offered upon certain conditions, if what these conditions require is slighted, neglected, or forgot; and therefore, it is plainly our temper and practice, and

not any outward profession of faith, that determines whether we are really, and not merely nominally, members of Christ and of his Church. Faith in the doctrines revealed in Scripture there must be, in order to true discipleship to Christ; but the grand test or evidence of the sincerity and efficacy of faith is obedience to his precepts, in a holy and virtuous life. This is essential: without it we are briars and thorns, and not branches of the true vine, and any thing but true members of that spiritual society of which Christ is the head. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven."

But it is important to observe, that by lives unsuitable to the engagements we virtually, if not formally, come under, by joining ourselves to the society of the faithful, we not only forfeit all title to promised blessings, but incur a heavy condemnation, a condemnation aggravated by privileges abused, and opportunities neglected. As sinners, we are in a dreadful state,-under the wrath and curse of God; and without an interest in Christ, there can be no deliverance for us from the awful consequences of guilt; the Divine justice requiring that sentence be executed upon those who offend against it.

How infinitely then does it concern us, in this view of our situation, to approve ourselves by our dispo sition and conduct to be members of the great Christian family—against whom, we are assured, there is no condemnation, because they walk not after the

flesh, but after the Spirit. The fruits of the Spirit are what constitute a real Christian,—that is to say, every pious disposition, and every virtuous habit, go to form his character. He does not found his claim to be a disciple, or his hope of acceptance, upon any occasional exercise of faith, or any single instance of obedience, but is steadfast and immovable in Christian principle, and ever solicitous to improve himself, and to abound more and more in the practice of every Christian grace and virtue.

It is a first principle of our religion, that "Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners," and that through him alone mercy is extended to the children of men. But mercy is to be obtained through him, only by those who obey him and though we are to obey him in all respects, in order to our partaking in this mercy, yet he hath been pleased in many of his discourses to distinguish a particular virtue, as peculiarly necessary to render us fit objects of the Divine pity and compassion ;-namely, kindness to one another, placability of temper, and a readiness to forgive, and even to do good to those who at any time may offend or injure us. In the beatitude now before us, he declares that "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy;"-intimating, not that the exercise of this virtue alone gives an interest in the pardon procured by his death, but that it is essential for this purpose; that there can be no pardon without it. And as in the other beatitudes the nature of the promise in each is suited to the nature of the virtue recommended, so in the beatitude under

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