SERMON be observed in his church. His undertak

I.

ing is to be consummated in that perfect order which he shall introduce at the last day. In the new earth and the new heavens, undisturbed order shall for ever prevail among the spirits of the just made perfect; and whatever farther preparation may be requisite for our being admitted to join their society, it is certain that we shall never share in it, unless we make it now our study to do all things decently, and in order.

SERMON II.

On the GOVERNMENT of the HEART.

PROVERBS, iv. 23.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

A

II.

MONG the many wise counsels given SERMON by this inspired writer, there is none which deserves greater regard than that contained in the text. Its importance, however, is too seldom perceived by the generality of men. They are apt to consider the regulation of external conduct as the chief object of religion. If they can act their part with decency, and maintain a fair character, they conceive their duty to be fulfilled. What What passes in the mean time within their mind, they suppose to be of no great consequence, either to themselves, or to the world. In opposition to this dan

SERMON gerous plan of morality, the wise man ex

11.

horts us to keep the heart; that is, to attend not only to our actions, but to our thoughts and desires; and keep the heart with all diligence, that is, with sedulous and unremitting care; for which he assigns this reason, that out of the heart are the issues of life.-In discoursing on this subject I purpose to consider, separately, the government of the thoughts, of the passions, and of the temper. But before entering on any of these, let us begin with inquiring, in what sense the issues of life are said to be out of the heart; that we may discern the force of the argument which the text suggests, to recommend this great duty of keeping the heart,

The issues of life are justly said to be out of the heart, because the state of the heart is what determines our moral character, and what forms our chief happiness or misery.

First, It is the state of the heart which determines our moral character. The tenour of our, actions will always correspond to the dispositions that prevail within.

II.

To dissemble, or to suppress them, is a SERMON fruitless attempt. In spite of our efforts, they will perpetually break forth in our behaviour. On whatever side the weight of inclination hangs, it will draw the practice after it. In vain therefore you study to preserve your hands clean, unless you resolve at the same time to keep your heart pure. Make the tree good, as our Saviour directs, and then its fruits will be good also. For out of the heart proceed not only evil thoughts, but murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies*. If that fountain be once poisoned, you can never expect that salubrious streams will flow from it. Throughout the whole of their course, they will carry the taint of the parent spring.

But it is not merely from its influence on external action that the importance of the heart to our moral character arises. Independent of all action, it is, in truth, the state of the heart itself which forms our character in the sight of God. With our fellow-creatures, actions must ever hold the chief rank; because, by these only we can

SERMON judge of one another; by these we effect II. each other's welfare; and therefore to these

alone the regulation of human law extends. But in the eye of that Supreme Being, to whom our whole internal frame is uncovered, dispositions hold the place of actions; and it is not so much what we perform, as the motive which moves us to performance, that constitutes us good or evil in his sight. Even among men, the morality of actions is estimated by the principle from which they are judged to proceed; and such as the principle is, such is the man accounted to be. One, for instance, may spend much of his fortune in charitable actions; and yet, if he is believed to be influenced by mere ostentation, he is deemed not charitable, but vain. He may labour unweariedly to serve the public; but if he is prompted by the desire of rising into power, he is held not public-spirited, but ambitious: and if he bestows a benefit, purely that he may receive a greater in return, no man would reckon him generous, but selfish and interested. If reason thus clearly teaches us to estimate the value of actions by the dispositions which give

them