temple, which was formed for God. Oh! then, turn from all your idols; for it is written, "Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve." Yield to him an undivided service; and you will then know the peace, that keeps those souls, in which the Lord omnipotent reigneth. These are the souls which form the Gospel kingdom. They have quitted the service of many masters; and now acknowledge but one master, which is in heaven. They have made the decisive choice. The conflict is over; the warfare is accomplished; they have found the peace of God; they have entered into the joys prepared for his faithful people.

Would you, then, be true and living members of Christ's spiritual kingdom? Would you thus enter into life? Keep, in all its fulness, its length, and breadth, and height, and depth, the first and great commandment, "Thou shalt have no other gods before me."

To invite men to this unqualified dedication of themselves to the one true God, might only discourage them; were it not always impressed upon their minds, that there is a gracious Mediator, ever ready to present them before the throne of God. There is one way open to us all: one door of access to the Father, through which, alone, the holiest of the sons of men can pass; and which is

equally open to the most guilty, and the most lost, of the race of Adam. These latter have only to repent, and believe the Gospel. Though their sins have been red like crimson, and as the sand on the sea-shore innumerable ;-yet let them, even now, forsake their evil ways, and rest their hopes on the all-sufficient atonement of the Lord Jesus; and God is not slow to pardon. His promise is engaged. His heart is inclined to forgive. He will yet be their God; and they shall be reckoned among his people.

The great commandment of my text, is not, my brethren, the stern mandate of resistless power: it is the call of a heavenly Father, to leave the service of strangers and usurpers, and to become the children of his family, and the heirs of his rich possessions. The terrors of the Lord have power to awe and to convince: but, if you would yield your hearts, think upon his mercies, and let his goodness pass before you.

I may be, at this moment, addressing some, who are slaves to sin, and in captivity to the world. And yet the time may not be far distant, when some affliction may soften your hearts; when disappointment may shew you the vanity of idols; when the still small voice may penetrate your souls; when, as wax melteth before the sun, your stubborn enmity may dissolve, in showers of

your

penitence, at the presence of that God of mercy, whom you now despise. But life is uncertain. No man can reckon on the future: and therefore, "to-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts."

My brethren, the message on which, as a minister of the gospel, I am sent to you, is to offer full and free forgiveness, to every sinner in this place, who will turn from his sins, and live. And on this message I am sent to each soul, individually, and apart from all the rest. You are now assembled, as one congregation, together: but, in the habitations of eternity, you may be further from each other, than the east is from the west, or than the heaven is high, in comparison of the earth. It is our part, to scatter the seed amongst you: but where it will strike root, and bring forth fruit to God, he alone can tell. It is our part, to bring God's gracious offers of reconciliation to your ears. But who will reject the counsel of God against themselves or who will eat of the tree of life, and live for ever; we may never know, till we see you standing, some upon Christ's right hand, and, if any of you will reject the mercies which are freely offered you, others upon his left hand, in the day of judgment.

To conclude. While many among you may have heard me, this day, with careless unconcern ;

there may be others, who, though hitherto regardless, have heard the voice, which commands them to take the Lord for their God, not merely with their outward ears, but in the secret chambers of the heart. In a word, whether young or old, rich or poor; does conscience seem to call to you? Does the sure approach of death—the certainty of a judgment to come-the awful prospect of shortly passing into the unknown region of spirits, into the eternal world, and into the presence of your God;-do these vast interests seem to rise, in all their immeasurable importance, before your view? Have these suggestions broken in upon the darkness of your minds, like beams of light from some brighter world; and caused you to see, whether willing or unwilling, the madness of sin, the reality and glory of the life to be revealed? Moments like these, if rightly used, are of more value than the treasures of the whole earth. Such a moment may be the crisis of your everlasting destiny: and now may be the accepted time-now the day of your salvation.

Let, then, the language of your heart and conscience be," Speak, Lord, for thy servant heareth." Attend to that voice; for it is thy life. It is the voice of him, who says to you, in all the height and depth of its spiritual meaning, "I am the Lord thy God: thou shalt have no other Gods before me."

167

SERMON XII.

LEVITICUS, Xix. 2.

"YE SHALL BE HOLY: FOR I THE LORD YOUR GOD AM HOLY."

It was the noble sentiment of a heathen, that the highest summit of religion, is to imitate that being whom we worship. This is a truth, unchangeable as God himself; and as extensive as the wide range of intellectual being. This principle, however perverted, may be traced in the most degraded corruptions of religion. And though, as the Psalmist informs us, the gods of the heathen were but idols, yet between the worshippers, and the object of their worship, the correspondence and resemblance were still apparent. "They that make them, are like unto them; and so are all such as put their trust in them."

In the same manner, it may be affirmed, in every instance, and without exception, that every man, in his tastes and character, resembles the god he worships. For whatever a man mainly cleaves to, and loves; whatever is his first object,