fore discontented and unhappy. Thou pitiest our follies, correctest our mistakes, and hast taught us by thy Son to resign ourselves wholly to thy just government, providential care, and wise disposal. Thou madest us for thyself, and evermore desirest to give thyself to us, and art always working in us to guide us to thyself. Oh! be thou the God of our hope, as thou art the God of all our mercies. Teach us by the mighty power of thy Spirit to adore and bless thee; to thank thee for the lot thou hast appointed us; and to be careful above all things to secure our portion in thee, by the knowledge and love of Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. We know it is thy will that we should be diligent in the work of our callings, and not trust in thee for the supply of our wants without using our own endeavours; but, O Lord, let it be in humble dependence on thee, and full submission to thy blessed will. Let us not forget thee in thy gifts; let us cast all our care upon thee who carest for us; let us seek thy kingdom and the righteousness thereof in the first place, and then we may rely on thy word and promise, that all things pertaining to this life, which thou knowest to be necessary and good for us, shall be added. Deliver us from that heathenish, self-destroying care which shuts thee out of our hearts; and grant that we may so pass through things temporal, that we finally lose not the things eternal. Enlighten our understandings, renew our wills and affections, bring us to the knowledge of thy grace and faith in thee, and accept us to thy mercy in Jesus Christ our blessed Saviour and Redeemer. Amen. -- SECTION XIII. ST. MATTHEW, vii. 1. JUDGE not All depends on a close inspection into ourselves; and nothing hinders this more, or blinds us more fatally, than looking at the faults of others. 2. The evil of judging does not consist in seeing things and persons as they are, or fancying them to be good against plain evidence, but in imputing worse motives to the persons, or putting a worse construction upon their actions, than is necessary, in scorn and the pride of selfpreference, without pity, prayer, or endeavour for their amendment. -That ye be not judged. Not so much by others, though we deserve their utmost censure, and shall be sure to have it, but of God, for our malice and uncharitableness. If this does not strike terror into us, and give some check to the daily, unheeded, reigning sin, what will? It is something to govern the tongue, but look further, and remove the evil from thy heart. Ver. 2. For with what judgment ye judge, &c.Having sins of our own, we have already pronounced sentence upon ourselves, and shall be condemned out of our own mouths. Ver. S. And why beholdest thou, &c.-This is no unlikely supposition. Thy brother has his mote, some spot or blemish in his character; thou seest it with a scornful eye, to judge him; alas! thou art hidden from thyself: for thy corruption is naturally great; and if thou knewest it, and wert striving against it, it would certainly teach thee more compassion for others. Ver. 4. Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, &c.— How canst thou have the face to do it with all thy own blindness about thee? Christ, who had a perfect knowledge of the world, knew that nothing is more common. Ver. 5. Thou hypocrite. - Thou mayest be tolerably clear in thy morals, but, perhaps, chargeable with disregard of God in thy inmost soul, base ingratitude to thy great Benefactor, and wretched defect in thy religious character. Let this sharp rebuke guide thee to every beam in thine own eyes, and, not least, to this of uncharitable judging. Ver. 6. Give not that which is holy unto the dogs.— If this is to be understood as a precept, it is, to leave men to themselves, when nothing else is to be expected but provoking and inflaming their brutish natures. But as this cannot certainly be foreseen, and endeavours must be used, and hazards run, to reclaim the worst of men, it seems to be rather a warning of what would too frequently happen in offering the precious truths of the Gospel to them. In the same manner as he said to the disciples at another time, beware of men, chap. x. 17. not meaning that they should be afraid of them, but to signify that there was danger from them. Ver. 7. Ask, and it shall be given you, &c.- Ask for what you should, and for what Christ here intends, viz. spiritual blessings, and you shall be sure to have them. But are you sure you do ask? For falling down upon your knees, and repeating the words of a prayer, is not asking. If the bent of the heart is more to other things, God knows that to be your prayer, and nothing else, whether you speak it or not. If you knew that you were asking to be a new man in the power of a divine faith, an humble, self-denying, despised follower of the Holy Jesus, perhaps, you would withdraw your petition. Ver. 8. For every one that asketh, receiveth. To stir us up to the duty, and cure us of all doubting, he sets as it were his seal to the grant, by repeating it. Ver. 11. If ye, then, being evil. — Who are they that are evil? All; yourselves. He, who knew what was in man, excepts none. If this sermon does not force you to own the charge, you are past conviction. How much more shall your Father which is in heaven give-The reasoning is as plain as it is comfortable. But, alas! we can draw no sweetness from it. Our cold worldly hearts damp our faith and all our prayers, and will not let us ask what God never denies. If he had promised to give health and wealth, &c. we should ask an hundred times a day. -Good things-The best of all good things; Himself, his Son, and Spirit, penitent hearts, pardon and peace, renewed wills, heavenly affections, and heaven itself. To them that ask him. Not else. And why? 1. Because, though great and good in themselves, they cannot be so to us unless we desire them. You know this very well in other cases. 2. Because the will to desire them is the very disposition we should be in, and the want of it is our misery, curse, and death. You now see why we must pray daily, earnestly, perseveringly, for them, and leave our portion of worldly things to God. Ver. 12. Therefore. That is, as we would say, now to conclude; for the doctrinal part of the sermon ends here, and what follows is in the way of exhortation. -Whatsoever ye would that men should do unto you, &c. The equity of the rule is so evident, that hardly a man can be found who will charge himself with the breach of it; and many say foolishly, that as they are clear in this point, God will require no more of them; meaning, that they need no repentance, faith, or change of heart. But, 1. This rule, though so comprehensive as to be here called the law and the prophets, or the sum of what they teach concerning our duty to man, yet goes no further; it does not take in our duty to God. 2. The more confessedly reasonable it is, the greater, and more apparent is our guilt, in case of transgression. And now, 3. Are you not guilty? Deny it not. Impose upon yourself no longer with this lie. I dare be bold to say there is not a day of your life in which you do not want forgiveness on this very account; and if you would follow the guidance of this light, so glaring to your conscience, there needs nothing else to bring you acquainted with the depth of your fall. LECTURE. If we are truly the disciples of Jesus, we shall be thankful for the instructions he has given us, make it our business to know them, and lay them up in our hearts. We may be sure they greatly concern us; it is knowledge of Christ's choosing for us; and if he had known of any thing better, he would have told us of it. Let him not speak to you in vain. Let me advise and exhort you to examine yourselves in this matter, and to judge of your state from your willingness to believe and receive what he has taught you, and the desire you find in yourselves to conform your hearts and wills to it. Indeed, it should be your resolution once for all, your constant study, and prevailing, sincere desire to be well grounded in his doctrine; and, if you have not this proof to give of your being Christians, you have nothing but the name. Is it so, or is it not? The question is for your souls, and must be answered. Do you sit down at the feet of Jesus, to learn of him the one thing needful, to receive his rules of holy living, to be put in the way to heaven? Do you say to yourselves concerning every particular of his sermon on the mount, this is the light of |