nity to which they are hastening, may wring from their souls this prayer for mercy-but it will be too late.

Now then, brethren, in this accepted time, this day of salvation, let us offer it with the deep sincerity of our souls-" God be merciful to us sinners." And let us go to that holy table, and plead the all-sufficient merits of him who is there set forth, the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, and God will be merciful to our unrighteousness, and our sins and iniquities will he remember no more.

SERMON XVII.

THE NATURE AND NECESSITY OF PRAYER.

MATT. vii. 7.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

THE duty of prayer is enforced by the dictates of reason and the solemn injunctions of the word of God. 66 Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you;" is a declaration, which, while it establishes the duty of prayer, affords the most animating encouragements to the performance of it: for this declaration teaches us that prayer is the means of procuring whatsoever blessings our infinitely merciful and gracious Father may deem requisite and necessary, as well for the body as for the soul.

The Sovereign Arbiter of nature and of grace has so arranged the course of events, and of his moral dispensations, as to suspend his favours on the qualifications of his intelligent creatures, and particularly on their humble and earnest prayers. In this suspension of his favours on our humble supplications, there is not any thing which reason would not approve and sanction in a human governor or an earthly parent. The conduct of that magistrate would not be considered wise and prudent, who, intrusted with the sword of punishment for maintaining the welfare of civil society, should

remit the penalties of their crimes to affenders so hardened and arrogant as to refuse to entreat for pardon? Forgiveness granted to such offenders would not deserve the commendation of being generous and humane: on the contrary, it would be subject to censure, as calculated to give impunity to crime, and to loosen the bands of civil society. And surely that would not be wise and proper in the infinitely glorious Sovereign on whose decisions rests the harmony of the moral universe, which, in a human agent intrusted with the authority of society to promote its welfare, we should condemn as the height of folly and rashness.

Again; the human parent would not be considered as pursuing a wise course to improve the moral dispositions of his children, who should confer his favours on the arrogant child, who disputed the reasonableness of his requisitions, and disdained the respectful and dutiful language of supplication and entreaty. It is with the view to form in us the virtues of humility, submission, and holy gratitude, that our heavenly Father requires the duty of prayer. It is in the exercise of prayer that we are taught our dependence as creatures, our guilt as sinners; that we recognise the power of Him who ruleth over all, and with lively gratitude acknowledge the goodness of Him who gives us all things to enjoy. It is prayer which awakens in us a sense of the enormity of those sins, deliverance from which we supplicate; which engages us in earnest endeavours to subdue them; and which thus cherishes in the soul that holiness which constitutes her resemblance to God, who is infinitely holy, and reinstates her in the divine favour. Prayer, then, is enjoined by God: it is the chanVOL. III.

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nel of communication between our souls and the Father of mercies: it is the means by which all holy tempers are formed in our hearts: it is the condition, in the performance of which we have the promise that we shall obtain what may be necessary and convenient for us-" Ask, and ye shall receive; seck, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

Let us consider the dispositions with which our prayers should be offered, in order to render them. acceptable.

1. We should pray with humility.

That humble temper of mind which realizes the supreme authority and power, justice and holiness of the Almighty Sovereign of the universe, and our distance from him as creatures and sinners, lies at the foundation of the duty of prayer. If God were not infinitely powerful, just, and holy, and we weak, imperfect, and sinful, there would appear no cause to supplicate his favour, or to deprecate his wrath. When we contemplate him as that Almighty Being who at first spoke the world into existence, and whose providence sustains and directs the vast and complicated machinery of the universe, regulating the motions of the orbs that traverse infinite space, as well as the course of the humble sparrow that falleth to the ground; when we contemplate him. as the Lord of the armies of heaven and of earth, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders; when we contrast with his infinite power and majesty, our own weakness and imperfection, sprung as we are from the dust, and fast tending to it again -unable to tell what a day may bring forth, or to preserve for an instant that breath which fleeth as

a vapour; when to the consideration of our weakness and imperfection we unite the sense of our guilt, burdened as we are with offences that have insulted the Majesty of heaven and provoked the divine displeasure-alas! surely we, who are worms of the dust, creatures of a day, sinners laden with iniquity, cannot approach the most glorious and high God with emotions of humility too profound! "God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace unto the humble."* Humility is the disposition which becomes the suppliant; for it discovers his sensibility to his own wants and to the power of his Almighty Benefactor.

Let us humble ourselves, therefore, brethren, before God, if we wish that he should exalt us. Let our humility be that of the heart, uniformly exerting itself in the virtues of gentleness and meekness. Let us not insult the all-seeing Jehovah with that spurious humility which, while it profusely pours forth the language of self-abasement, has not subdued the self-sufficiency of the heart, nor corrected a censorious temper and arrogant deportment, and which, in its lowest abasement, displays the rankest pride. Let us cultivate that humility which, realizing our manifold imperfections, subdues the arrogant, and censorious, and unkind passions, and calls forth the virtues of meekness, gentleness, and courtesy. Our prayers, thus offered in that humble spirit which prostrates us before God, and renders us lowly in our intercourse with men, will be heard and answered by that High and Holy One, who, though he inhabiteth eternity, dwelleth with the man that is of an humble and contrite spirit.

* 1 Pet. v. 5.