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ed God, on whom you depend for every breath that you draw, for every moment that you continue in exiftence? I have often thought, that it was one of the greatest evidences of the depravity of human nature, that an abundant and opulent ftate on earth fhould fo generally lead to neglect of God. What is this, when interpreted, If I may fpeak fo, but that the greater our Maker's goodness is to us, commonly the less is our gratitude to him?

But I would speak to thofe whofe confciences are more enlightened, and who have not wholly forgotten the Lord. Are not you alfo chargeable with manifold omillions! What fenfe of gratitude have you retained, and expreffed, for innumerable mercies, fpiritual and temporal, to yourfelves, and to your families? How unequal the payment of gratitude to the debt of obligation! What ufe have you made of them in God's fervice? What advantage have you reaped, for your own fanctification, from the bounty of Providence, from the ftrokes of Providence, from the ordinances of divine inftitution, from the truths of the everlasting gofpel, from feafons of inftruction, and opportunities of worship, from edifying examples, from faithful admonitions? What have you done for the good of others? How often have you relieved the neceffitous, comforted the diftreffed, inftructed the ignorant, admonished the negligent, punifhed or reftrained the profane? I hope I fpeak to many who have not been wholly negligent in improving their time and talents; yet furely there is just ground of humiliation to the beft, that even under a conviction of duty, they have fo imperfectly discharged it ; and probably the very perfons who have done most, will be most fincerely grieved that they have not done more.

Alas! my brethren, it is a great miftake to think lightly of fins of omiffion. How much do I pity the condition of those thoughtlefs perfons, who, forgetting that they were made to ferve God, feem to live for no other purpose than to enjoy themselves! And oh the miferable delufion of those finners who fet their minds at eafe by the filly excufe, That they do harm to none but themfelves! Let them hear and tremble at the tenor of the fentence in the great day, Matth. xxv. 30. "Caft ye the unprofitable

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"fervant into outer darkness: there fhall be weeping and gnashing of teeth." It is the firft duty of natural religi on, "Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name ;" and it is the fum of all the duties of the gospel, 1 Cor. vi. 19, 20. "Ye are not your own; for ye are bought with "a price therefore glorify God in your body, and in "your fpirit, which are God's."

2. Confider in how many inftances you have been guilty of exprefs tranfgreffions of the law of God, his law written upon your hearts, and repeated in his own word. If you know any thing at all of the law of God in its fpirituality and extent, you must be deeply convinced of your innumerable tranfgreffions, in thought, in word, and in deed. (1.) How many are the fins of your thoughts? Sin is feated in the heart: it hath its throne and domini. on there. Every enormity in the life takes its rife from the impurity of the heart. None will think light of fins of the heart, who have any acquaintance with the word. of God. Let them but reflect upon the account given of the guilt of the old world, Gen. vi. 5. " And God faw "that the wickednefs of man was great in the earth, and "that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was "only evil continually." Let them reflect upon the faying of the wife man, Prov. iv. 23. " Keep thy heart with "all diligence; for out of it are the iffues of life;" or on the diftinguifhing character of God, Jer. xvii. 1o. "I the "Lord fearch the heart, I try the reins, even to give eve"ry man according to his ways, and according to the "fruit of his doings.'

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How many thoughts are there in your hearts admitted and entertained, difhonorable to God, unthankful for his mercies, impatient under his providence? How many thoughts envious, malicious, fpiteful, towards your neighbor? How many wanton, lafcivious thoughts, and irregular defires? How many covetous, worldly, vain, ambitious thoughts? Let me befeech you alfo to confider, that these are not fins that we fall into feldon, or by occafional temptation, but multitudes break in upon us every day, and in a manner every hour. What an infinite number, then, must we be chargeable with in twenty, thirty, forty,

or fifty years! If fo many are the fins of a fingle day, what muft be the guilt of a whole life? What reafon to cry out, with the prophet to Jerufalem, "How long fhall vain "thoughts lodge within us?

(2.) Let me befeech you to confider the fins of the tongue. Here I fhall not infift much on the groffer fins of the tongue, lying, flandering, backbiting; of thefe, though few will be fenfible they are guilty themfelves, all are abundantly ready to complain, as reigning in the world in general. Neither shall I infift on impure conversation, filthy and lafcivious expreffions, or allufions to obfcenity; though I am afraid many here prefent are far from being innocent of the charge. But befides thefe, the fins of the tongue are fo many, that the most watchful Chriftian cannot fay he is guiltlefs. Even the meek Mofes was provoked to fpeak" unadvisedly with his lips." The apoftle James has given us a very ftrong defcription, both of the general prevalence, and mifchievous influence, of the fins of the tongue, James iii. 2.-8. "For in many things "we offend all. If any man offend not in word, the fame " is a perfect man, and able alfo to bridle the whole body. "Behold, we put bits in the horses mouths, that they may

obey us; and we turn about their whole body. Behold "alfo the thips, which though they be fo great, and are "driven of fierce winds, yet are they turned about with a "very fmall helm, witherfoever the governor lifteth. "Even fo the tongue is a little member, and boasteth "great things. Behold how great a matter a little fire "kindleth. And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity:

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io is the tongue amongst our members, that it defileth "the whole body, and fetteth on fire the course of nature; "and it is fet on fire of hell. For every kind of beasts, "and of birds, and of ferpents, and things in the fea, is "tamed, and hath been tamed of mankind: but the tongue "can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly

poison." And that none may prefume, after all, to think thefe fins of the tongue inconfiderable, let us remember what our Saviour tells us, Matth. xii. 36, 37. "But I fay unto you, that every idle word that men fhall fpeak, they fhall give account thereof in the day of

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judgment. For by thy words thou fhalt be justified, and by thy words thou fhalt be condemned."

(3.) Now, to thefe fins of heart and converfation, let us add the confideration of all the fins of our actions, by which we either offend God, ourfelves, or are the means, by a doubtful or fufpicious example, of inducing others to offend him all the acts of infobriety and intemperance with regard to ourfelves; of injuftice, treachery, or oppreffion, with regard to others. Let us confider those fins to which we are led by our refpective callings and employments, or by our refpective ages or tempers, or by our fituation, and the fociety with which we ftand connected. The lightness and frothinefs of fome, the fourness and morofenefs of others, the inconfideratenefs and folly of youth, the plotting and ambitious projects of riper years, the peevifhnefs and covetoufnefs of old age, and the vanity and felfifhnefs we carry with us through the feveral ftages and periods of life. These things are most, if not all of them, fins in themfelves, and do infallibly betray us into a great number of others. If we confider all this with any measure of attention, can we refufe to adopt the language of the holy fcripture, that our fins are more in number than the hairs upon our heads, or than the fand that is upon the fea-fhore? In fine, if we confider the fins we are guilty of, according to our conditions and relations in the world, as husbands and wives, parents and children, maflers and fervants, magiftrates and fubjects, minifters and people, we fhall find the account fo prodigioufly fwelled, that we shall have more than reafon to cry out with the Pfalmist, Lord, if thou fhouldst mark iniquities, O Lord, who "fhall ftand?"

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3. Confider the fins that cleave to your religious duties, and every thing you do in obedience to the will of God. The pureft worshipper on earth muft afk forgivenefs for the fins even of his holy things. I am not here to, infilt upon the hypocritical performances of many profelfing Chriftians, done merely, or chiefly, to be feen of men, or fpread, as a covering, over their hidden and flameful deeds; nor am I to mention that religious zeal which arifes from ftrife, contention, and vain-glory, and which VOL. I.

chiefly aims at the fupport of party names; because these are directly and eminently finful: they are an abomination in the fight of God. But, my brethren, even in those performances which you go about with fome measure of fincerity, how many defects are to be found? Oh! how much negligence, coldnefs, and formality, in worship! how many wandering, vain, idle, and worldly thoughts, in your hearts, when your bodies are in the house of God! Confider only the infinite glory and majesty of God, in whofe fight the heavens themselves are not clean, and who charges his angels with folly; and fay whether you have ever prayed at all with becoming reverence of fpirit. Confider only the unspeakable condefcenfion of that God to his creatures, and the unfearchable riches of his grace to the finner; and fay, whether your hearts have ever been fuitably affected with his love.

It is our duty, my brethren, to confider, how far we have been from preaching the word of God with proper impreflions of the majesty of him in whofe name we speak; how far we have done it with fimplicity and dignity, neither fearing the cenfure, nor courting the applaufe, of our fellow-finners; how far we have done it with that tendernefs and affection, with that holy fervor and importunity, which the value of thofe precious fouls to whom we speak manifeftly demands. And is it not your business to confider, how feldom you hear with that attention, reverence, humility, and love, with which the facred and important truths of the everlafting gofpel ought to be received; how many hear much more as judges than as learners, as critics rather than as finners; and content themselves with marking the weakness of an indifferent, or praising the abilities of an animated fpeaker? And how many run with itching ears from one congregation to another, or even from one party or profeffion to another, not that they may be edified, but that curiofity and fancy may be gratified? How many loft ordinances, how many mifpent fabbaths, have we to lament before God?

When we come to the fecond table of the law, how many finful motives mix their influence in the duties we perform to our neighbors? how many acts of juftice owe

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