will be of no consequence whether we have been honoured for keeping the world in countenance, or despised for putting them to shame. The only thing that will then be of any consequence, will be, whether we be approved of our God. Let this end then be kept in view : let us regulate our ways in reference to it : and let us both by precept and example endea- vour to undeceive the world around vis. Then shall we be blessings to the generation in which we live, and shall attain that glory which ought to be the one object of our constant pursuit.
Prov. xvi. 33. The lot is cast into the lap ; but the whole dis- posing thereof is of the Lord.
THOUGH we would not be unnecessarily fasti- dious in condemning the use of any particular term, where we knew that in its popular sense it was not very exceptionable, yet we cannot altogether approve the use of such terms as ' luck,' and ' chance,' and * fortune :' for though we know, that the persons who adopt those kind of expressions do not intend to deny tJie doctrine of a superintending Divine Providence, yet we cannot but think that such language tends exceedingly to weaken a sense of God's Providence upon the soul, inasmuch as it excludes his agency from the affairs of men, and regards them as left to mere and absolute contingency. With the Scriptures in our hands, we are perfectly assured, that all things, however casual or contingent with respect to man, are under the controul of a Superintending Providence ; or, as it is said in our text, that, " when a lot is cast into the lap, the whole disposal thereof is of the Lord."
In confirmation of this truth, we shall shew,
L That God is the disposer of all events —
Events, of whatever kind they be, are equally
under the direction of Almighty God. He disposes of, 1 . The things which are most dependent on human
agency —