let us begin to be fruitful, by lamenting our past unfruitfulness. Verily, sins of omission must be confessed and lamented, or else we add to their number. The most useful men in the world have gone out of it, crying, "Lord, forgive our sins of omission!" Many a good man, who has been peculiarly conscientious about the profitable employment of his time, has had his death-bed rendered uneasy by this reflection, "The loss of time now lies heavy upon me!" Certain it is, that all unregenerate persons are unprofitable persons; and they are properly compared to " thorns and briars," to teach us what they are. An unrenewed sinner! alas, he never performed one good work in all his life! In all his life, did I say! I recall that word. He is "dead while he liveth"-he is "dead in sin; he has not yet begun to "live unto God;" and as he is himself dead, so are all his works-they are " dead works." O, wretched, useless being! Wonder, wonder, at the patience of heaven, which yet forbears to cut down such " а cumberer of the ground!" O that such persons may immediately acknowledge the necessity of turning to God; and how unable they are to do it; and how unworthy they are that God should make them able. O that they may cry to God for his sovereign grace to quicken them; and let them plead the sacrifice of Christ for their reconciliation to God; seriously resolve on a life of obedience to God, and resign themselves up to the Holy Spirit, that he may lead them in the paths of holiness. No good will be done, till this be done. The firstborn of all devices to do good, is in being born again.

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But as for you, who have been brought home to God; you have great cause not only to lament the dark days of your unregeneracy, in which you produced only "the unfruitful works of darkness;" but also that you have done so little, since God has quickened you, and enabled you to do better. How little have you lived up to those strains of gratitude which might justly have been expected from you, since God brought you into his "marvellous light." The best of us may mourn in his complaints, and say, " O Lord, how little good have I done, compared with what I might have done!" Let the sense of this cause us to loathe and judge ourselves before the Lord; let it fill us with shame; and abase us wonderfully. Let us, like David, "water our couch with tears," when we consider how little good we have done. "O that our heads were waters," because they have been so dry of all thoughts to do good. "O that our eyes were a fountain of tears," because they have looked out so little for occasions to do good. For the pardon of this evil-doing, let us fly to the great sacrifice, and plead the blood of that "Lamb of God," whose universal usefulness is one of those admirable properties on account of which he is styled" a Lamb." The pardon of our barrenness of good works being thus obtained, we shall be rescued from condemnation to prepetual barrenness: the dreadful sentence" Let no fruit growon thee for ever," will thus be prevented. A true, evangelical procedure to do good, must have this Repentance laid in the foundation of it. We do not "handle the matter wisely" if a foundation be not laid thus low, and in the deepest self-abasement.

How full of devices are we for our own secular advantage! and, how expert in devising many little things to be done for ourselves! We apply our thoughts with mighty assiduity to the old question "What shall we eat and drink, and wherewithal shall we be clothed?" With strong application of mind we inquire, What shall we do for ourselves, in our marriages, in our voyages, in our bargains? We anxiously contrive to accomplish our plans, and avoid numerous inconveniences, to which, without some contrivance, we should be obnoxious. We carry on the business of our personal callings, with numberless thoughts how to perform them well; and to effect our temporal affairs we find out witty inventions." But, O rational, immortal, heaven-born soul, are thy wonderous faculties capable of no greater improvements-no better employments? Why should a soul of such high capacities-a soul that may be clothed in the" scarlet" of angels, yet " embrace a dunghill!" O let a blush, deeper than scarlet, be thy clothing, for being found so meanly occupied. Alas, in the multitude of thy thoughts within thee, hast thou no disposition to raise thy soul to some such thoughts as these-What may be done for God-for Christ-for my own soul, and for the most important interests of mankind? How many hundreds of thoughts have we for ourselves, to one for God, his cause, and his people in the world? How then can we pretend that we love him, or prove that a carnal, a criminal self-love has not the dominion over us? I again come to a soul of heavenly extract, and smite it, as the angel smote the sleeping prisoner, and cry,

Awake; shake off thy chains. Lie no longer

fettered in a base confinement! Assert the liberty of thinking on the noblest question in the world"What good may I do in the world?" There was a time when it was lamented by no less a man than Gregory the great, the bishop of Rome-" I am sunk into the world!"-This may be the complaint of a soul that minds every thing else, and rarely recollects that noblest question. Ah!" star fallen from heaven," and choked in dust, rise and soar up to something answerable to thy origin. Begin a course of thoughts, which will be like a resurrection from the dead; and pursue the grand inquiry "How may I become a blessing to the world ?" and," What may I do, that righteousness may dwell on the earth?"

How much mischief may be done by one wicked man! Yea, sometimes, one wicked man, of slender abilities, becoming an indefatigable tool of the devil, may effect incredible mischief in the world. We have seen some wretched instruments, of cursed memory, ply the intention of doing mischief at a strange rate, till they have ruined a whole country. It is a melancholy consideration, and I may say, an astonishing one: you will hardly find one of a thousand who does half so much to serve God and his own soul, as you may see done by thousands to serve the devil. A horrible thing!

"O my soul, thy Maker, and thy Saviour, so worthy of thy love-a Lord, whose infinite goodness will follow all thou dost for him, with remunerations, beyond all conception glorious; how

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little, how little is it that thou dost for him! At the same time, look into thy neighbourhood. See there, a monster of wickedness, who, to his uttermost, will serve a master that will prove a destroyer to him, and whose wages will be death; he studies how to serve the devil: he is never weary of his drudgery; he racks his invention to go through with it. Ah! he shames me; he shames me wonderfully! O my God, I am ashamed, and blush to lift up my face unto thee."

We read of a man "who deviseth mischief upon his bed; who setteth himself in a way that is not good." Now, why should not we be as active, as frequent, as forward, in devising good? Why should not we be as wise to do good, as he is to do evil? I am sure that we have a better causé, and better reasons for it. Reader, though, perhaps, thou art one who makest but a little figure in the world" a brother of low degree," yet, behold a vast encouragement! a little man may do a great deal of harm; and pray, why may not a little man do a great deal of good? It is possible that "the wisdom of a poor man" may start a proposal which may save a city"-serve a nation! A single hair, applied to a flyer that has other wheels depending on it, may pull up an oak, or pull down a house.

It is very observable, that when our Lord Jesus Christ would recommend zeal for the kingdom of heaven, he did not propose for our imitation, the example of honest wisdom: no, but that of an unrighteous and scandalous dishonesty-that of the unjust Steward. The wisdom of our Lord herein is much to be observed. His design is not only to represent the prudence, but the industry, the inge