2. What should be your view in attending on the ordinances of the Gospel —
[You should not come to be amused, but to be instructed and edified. You should come desirous of knowing wherein you have erred, and how you may get safely into the way of truth. Your minds should be open to conviction. You should be av/are of the danger of self-deception. You should beg of God to instruct his Ministers how to speak most to your edifi- cation; and should intreat him to accompany the word with power from on high, and to render it effectual for the sal- vation of your souls. You should bear in mind, that, " though Paul should plant, and ApoUos water, it is God alone that can give the increase;" and you should judge of your profit- ing, not by the pleasure with which you heard, but by the insight which you have gained into the evils of your own heart, and the ability that has been imparted to rectify your errors. As God in the appointment of ordinances seeks the conversion of your souls, so should you in attending on them ; " receiving with meekness the engrafted word," and praying tliat, as it is able, so also it may be effectual, to save your souls alive''.]
3. What should be the one object of your whole lives —
[What is there of any importance, compared v/ith the sal- vation of the soul? I do not hesitate to say, that the care of the soul is the " one thing needful." If there were no future state, men might go on in their own ways without much con- cern. But, when there is an eternity av/aiting us, — an eternity, either of happiness in heaven, or of misery in hell ; when our destination to the one oi' other of these depends entirely on our conduct in this present life ; and when no man knows that
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' I Tiai.iv. 16. *Jam.i. 21.