Address—
1. Are there any amongst you who have no dis- position to praise the Lord ?
[Alas 1 there are too many, who have no delight in this blessed work, and have never spent one hour in it in all their lives I Ah I wretched and ingrate ! What think ye of your- selves ? Are ve not blind, when ye cannot see the perfections of your God ? Are ye not base, when ye can receive such mercies at God's hands, and never acknowledge them ? Are ye not brutish, yea, worse than brutish ? for " the ox and ass know their owner ; but ye know not," nor acknowledge, your Creator, your Benefactor, your Redeemer ? See how far you are from a truly Christian state 1 Tell me not of your moral (|ualities ; ye are base ungrateful creatures : and, if a fellow-creature were to treat you as you treat your God, you would abhor him utterly. O repent, and embrace the mercy that is yet offered you ! or else you will find that He, who is true to his promises, will be true to his threatenings also.]
2. Are there amongst you some who desire to praise the Lord ?
[We believe it ; we rejoice in it : we pray to God to increase their number an hundred-fold. But do ye not find that your thanks and praises are infinitely short of what the occasion for them demands ? Yes, Methinks there is nothing so humiliating to a Christian as the services which he attempts to render to hi*
Qod.
418.] CONFIDENCE FROM CHRISt's EXALTATION. 393
God. However, still go on to serve him as ye can, when ye cannot serve him as ye ivould. And, to quicken your zeal, con- template much and deeply the greatness of God's mercy to you, and the inviolability of his truth. God has designed that such contemplations should be a rich source of comfort to yourselves, as they will be also of love and gratitude to him. And, whilst your own souls are iilled with these divine affections, endeavour to diffuse the sacred flame, that all around you, and, if possible, all the nations of the world, may be stirred up to render unto God the praises due unto his name.]