rors of the grave are dispelled, and we descry beyond it another and a better world, where we shall enjoy repose after our toils, find a refuge from all the evils of life, receive the reward of our labours, and rise to the utmost perfection and felicity of which our nature is capable. Are you borne up under a load of sorrows? are you enabled to triumph over temptation? do you taste the delights, and feel the raptures of prayer, and holy meditation? when you languish, are your spirits revived? when you begin to faint, is your vigour restored? These are the happy effects of the doctrines, the exhortations, the promises, the examples of the scriptures; and, as these writings are divine, the dictates of immutable truth and infinite goodness, the joys which they create are not delusive, and the hopes which they inspire, cannot be disappointed. Be thankful, therefore, for the scriptures. Secondly, Be on your guard against the attempts of those who would overthrow your faith in the scriptures. Persons engaged in this impious design have appeared in every period of the christian church; but at present they are uncommonly numerous and active. This, we are told, is the age of reason; and its claim to this high character is proved by hostility to all ancient institutions, whether civil or religious. Innovation is the order of the day; what is old, is instantly pronounced to be foolish and iniquitous; and the hasty productions of visionary and inexperienced projectors are hailed as the dictates of wisdom. We ought not, therefore, to be surprised, that the unusual fermentation of the human mind has given rise to endeavours to abolish christianity, as well as systems of govern T ment. Let the danger to which you are exposed rouse you to vigilance and activity, in repelling the assaults made upon your faith. It was always necessary, that the friends of the gospel should know the grounds on which they believed it to be a divine revelation; but it is peculiarly necessary at present, when the trial of their faith is uncommonly severe. Study to be thoroughly acquainted with the manifold excellencies and uses of the scriptures, of which a slight view hath been given,in the preceding exhortation. It is not to be wondered at, that they who hardly know any thing about the scriptures but their name, should be easily persuaded to renounce them. Like a blind man, they throw away a diamond which they mistake for a pebble. But he will not so easily part with them, who hath experienced the benefit of their instructions and counsels, on many important occasions; and into whose wounds they have poured the oil and wine of consolation. Infidels are all ignorant of the scriptures; unacquainted with the letter, or with the spirit. Many of them have never read them, but have formed their opinion of them upon trust, from the misrepresentations, and sneers, and falsifications of their brethren in unbelief; and of those who have read them, we may safely say, what was said of Julian, that they did not understand them, because there was a veil of prejudice over their eyes. Beware of the influence of the world upon your hearts, and of the prevalence of sinful dispositions. It is in the heart more than in the head, in the passions more than in the judgment, that infidels find the means of seduction. They would not, it is probable, have themselves been unbelievers, if they had not, in the first place, been lovers of sin; and their arguments would make few converts or none, if they were not assisted by certain inclinations, which the scriptures condemn, but infidelity grants them full permission to indulge. "He that doth evil hateth the light." Thirdly, Read the scriptures with humility of mind. We are not required to believe their inspiration without evidence; but having once ascertained this point, we should be satisfied. All that remains is to act the part of humble disciples, who are sensible that they are naturally destitute of spiritual wisdom, and are willing to be taught by him, who cannot err. We must sit down at the feet of Jesus, and receive the law from his mouth. Our reason is no farther necessary than to help us to examine the evidences of revelation, to understand the meaning of the words and phrases in which it is expressed, and to trace the connexion of its several parts. To presume to criticise the scriptures, is, in effect, to deny their inspiration; for criticism is not applicable to a divine production, but to a work of man, which may be compared with a standard, and may be found to be inaccurately executed. It would be arrogant to set out in the perusal of the scriptures, with a resolution not to be pleased, unless we fully understand them, and be able satisfactorily to account for every thing. There are mysteries in revelation, which astonish and overwhelm our reason; there are difficulties, which human wisdom will in vain endeavour to solve. Let us not be surprised and offended, when such things occur. Were we modest, did we consider our own ignorance and weakness, we would look for them; Observing difficulties and mysteries every where, even in the most common and familiar objects, we would expect to meet with them likewise in the scriptures. To wonder, therefore, when we do meet with them, and to complain of revelation as not sufficiently simple and perspicuous, is to indieatc that we had formed a very extravagant estimate of our intellectual powers. It is to wonder that we are not as wise as God, and that any thing in his nature and counsels should surpass our comprehension. Humility is the first lesson, which is learned in the school of Christ; the first virtue required in his followers. "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself." "Verily, I say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." "* If ye you will not read the scriptures with humility, you will soon begin to doubt, and you will probably end in denying, their divinity. Fourthly, Be careful at all times to treat the scriptures with profound reverence. They are the word of that Being, whose voice makes the pillars of heaven to tremble, and in whose presence the loftiest angels prostrate themselves with humility, and holy fear. To sit down, therefore, in a light and thoughtless state of mind to peruse them; to read them with the same indifference, with which we would look over some idle story, or uninteresting dissertation; to suffer our attention to be diverted by every vanity which intrudes itself; to think and speak of their contents with indecent * Mat. xvi. 24. xviii. 3. levity and familiarity, is to offer an insult to him, whose will they declare, and of whose majesty and glory they bear manifest signatures. We should study to feel the same awe upon our spirits, as if God audibly addressed us. We should endeavour to possess a composed and solemn frame of mind, arising from the consideration, not only of their Author, but likewise of our interest in them; and leading us to banish every thought tending to counteract the impressions, which they are calculated to make upon our hearts. How holy and venerable, we should say, is this book which we take into our hands? It was dictated by infallible wisdom it is sanctioned by the highest authority in the universe; it is the law, by which we shall be judged; it is the messenger of life or of death. : In this place, I cannot forbear to warn the reader against the profane practice of jesting on the scriptures, or of introducing any of the stories and expressions which occur in them, to enliven conversation, and excite the laughter of the company. To hear jests of this nature uttered by an infidel would not surprise us; but how must every pious 'person be shocked, when they proceed from the mouth of a professed friend of revelation! The wit, which consists in an unseasonable application of the scriptures, is not of difficult attainment, as is evident from this consideration, that it is within the reach of almost any person who chooses to display it. Accordingly we observe that the dullest, and most phlegmatic creatures, whose ideas and conversation are usually sluggish, and insipid, are occasionally able, by the help of the scriptures, to produce among their fellows a momentary flash of merri |