of the kindness expressed in them, and of the obligations con- ferred by thern, is not easily preserved upon the soul. The smallest trifle is sufficient to draw us from heavenly contem- plations, and to engage those affections, which should be exclu- sively fixed on God. Hence Moses bade the people " take heed, lest the things which they had seen should depart from their he art A." What then must we do? We must avoid the things which would weaken our sense of God's mercies to us ; and abound in those exercises which will keep alive the sense of them upon our hearts. Worldly cares, worldly pleasures, worldly company, should all be regarded by us with a godly fear and jealousy, lest they " choke the seed" which is springing up in our hearts, and prevent us from " bringing forth fruit unto perfection." On the other hand, our meditation on the Christian's privileges should be frequent : we shoidd muse on them, till the fire kindle in our hearts, and we are constrained to speak of them with our tongues. It is thus that we must trim the lamps of our sanctuary ; it is thus that we must be keeping up the fire on the altar of our hearts. In a word, if we will improve our privileges, we shall have them augmented and confirmed : if, on the other hand, we slumber over them, we shall give advantage to our enemy to despoil us of theme.]
2. To transmit the memory of them to posterity —
[The Jews were made depositaries of divine knowledge for the good of the Christian Church : and it is in the same light that we are to consider the Scriptures which are committed to us ; they are not for our personal benefit merely, but for the use of the Church in all future ages. Hence then we are bound to " teach them to our sons, and our sons' sons." It is greatly to be lamented indeed that so little attention is paid to the sacred oracles in the public seminaries of learning. Something of a form indeed may be observed; a form, from which the very persons who enforce it neither expect nor desire any practical effect : but if one half the pains were taken to make us under- stand and feel the exalted privileges of Christianity, as are bestowed on elucidating the beauties of classic writers, or ex- ploring the depths of science and philosophy, we should see religion and morals in a very different state amongst us. It was for the instructing of their children in righteousness that the awful transactions that took place at Mount Horeb were required to be more particularly impressed on all succeeding generations f: and if the law from Mount Sinai was to be so carefully communicated to the children of Jews, ought not " the law that came forth from Mount Zions," even " the law of faith," to be proclaimed to our children ? If they were to
d See also Heb. if. 1. e Matt. xiii. 12. f ver. 10. e Isai. ii. 3.