Whatever distressful circumstances may befal you, always remember that you are under the eye of a benevolent and almighty Providence, who is able to bring good out of evil, and who is continually concerned for the happiness of his creatures. From this conviction, you will endeavour to engage his particular regard by the exercise of that virtue he is most in love with.

Be kindly affectioned one to another.

SERMON VII.

Î. THE REASONABLENESS OF RELIGIOUS DUTY.

II. THE UTILITY OF PRAYER.

JOB XXI. 15.

What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? or what profit shall we have, if we pray unto him?

A VERY interesting enquiry indeed! But here it seems to be offered only as the insult of abandoned profligacy, which had previously said unto the Almighty, Depart from me, for I desire not the knowledge of thy ways. Many such enquirers there are, who put the question not from a desire of information, but from a spirit of insolence; and answer themselves according to their folly.

It is not in answer to such as these, then, that I mean to discuss the questions before us; nor shall I, on this occasion, fight against the prejudice of infidelity, which, in my opinion, stands more in need of prayers than of preaching. Infidelity and her friends have

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generally connections too strong to be overborne by truth, and too interesting to be broken by any power, but that whose existence they affect to disbelieve. Yet, is it possible? You will say, can the connections of infidelity be interesting? For, what is she that men should serve her? and what profit shall they have if they pray unto her? Is length of days in her right hand? Are riches and honours in her left? Are her ways unexceptionably ways of pleasantness? and are ALL her paths peace? Those circumstances, perhaps, may not be quite so clear, yet infidelity must be allowed to have her advantages: for, is it not hers to soothe the alarming terrors of conscience? to encourage vice with the hopes of impunity? and to promise that at last it shall perish in non-existence? Is the Christian steady in his principles? and is not the infidel obstinately steady? Have the disciples of Jesus embraced their religion even in tortures and in death? and has not infidelity likewise had her martyrs, voluntary martyrs? It may perhaps be suggested, that her friends dispatch themselves, because they cannot bear the horrid delays of a natural death, and are apt to shrink from their fortitude, if they make a gradual approach to the grave: it may be so suggested, I say, and,

possibly, the suggestion may be true; but, for the present, let us drop the subject.

To enquire by what obligations we are bound to serve the Almighty, and to set forth those advantages which may be derived from prayer, I am naturally led by the order of the questions before us; What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? or what profit shall we have, if we pray unto him?

I. With respect to that part of the question, what is the Supreme Being? we must indeed acknowledge, that touching the Almighty, we cannot find him out. The mode of existence peculiar to a Being that is infinite in all his capacities, finite creatures can neither know nor conceive. From what he has been pleased to communicate of himself, we may conclude that he is an all-powerful, all-intelligent Being, necessarily existing from all eternity; that he is, as it were, the diffusive soul of nature, who formed the world, and actuates what he has formed; that he is, therefore, every where present, and the universal source and support of life.

But the question here is, more immediately, what is the relation which man, in particular, bears to the Almighty that he should serve him? what obligations has he to do him service? or what hopes are annexed to his services?

The divine obligations which man lies under are, first and principally, those of a creature to its Creator. These obligations commence with his existence, and no time or services can acquit him of them. As long as he continues to enjoy that instance of the divine bounty, the use of a living and a thinking being, so long necessarily must he be bound by duty to the Giver of so good a gift. Nor, when the motives that must have induced the Creator of the universe to call him into existence, are considered, will these obligations appear to have less weight: for, what could those motives be but the original principles of infinite goodness, willing to communicate the happiness of conscious life? to give that pleasure which arises from the power of motion and sensibility, and which we may suppose to exist in the highest degree in his own perfect nature, in a proportionable measure to beings less perfect? Hence, through the whole scale of animal life, we observe that every creature is supplied with faculties capable of conveying to it all the happiness of which its nature can partake.

Thus those creatures, that have not the power of reflection, are not struck with the magnificence of the universe, nor with the symmetry and order of its several parts; yet