is, in all cases, unreasonable, iniquitous, and condemnable. To prove this, is the

II. Leading truth in the text which requires explanation.

And here arguments, various and infinite, press into the mind, so that the great difficulty will be to select the most obvious.

First, then, Hath not God manifested himself the best Friend of his people? Has he not borne with their infirmities, passed by their transgressions, and given them the strongest assurance of his loving kindness? Consider, ye who act as if you were weary of God, that he has spared you, and continued his favours towards you. From him you receive all your blessings, the greatest as well as the least. They are freely given, with nothing on your part to merit them in the least. Consider, further, the astonishing gift of his Son, for sinners like

you, to redeem you from death! How vast your obligations, that you have been born in a land of Christian light and liberty; of Christian parents; that you have been brought, by divine mercy, into the bosom of

his Church, and have been called with a holy calling Greater love has never been displayed than this, that God should not spare his only begotten Son, but freely give him up for us all, and that while we were enemies. Where is there an earthly friend that has done for you what God has done? How unreasonable, then, to grow weary of his service! how iniquitous! Testify against him, if Has he ceased to be your you can. friend? Are not his mercies fresh every morning, and renewed every evening? Do you not still enjoy the day and the means of grace? Are you not still invited to come to Christ's fulness? May you not still plead the divine promises in faith, and cherish the hope of everlasting life? But,

Secondly, Doth God require any thing from any of his creatures, but what is just, holy, and good? His laws remain the same; for he is the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. The same perfection is still in them. They are calculated to make all who obey them happy. He is not a hard Master, for his "yoke is easy, and his bur"den is light." Why, then, do any act as

if the contrary of all this were true? Let them bring forth their charges, and testify against God. Are his laws too strict? They forbid nothing save sin, and sin must be destroyed in your hearts, or you are miserable. Do they not provide for the wellbeing of society? They demand all those virtues, without which mankind would be converted into furies, and our world into a place of torment. Do they abridge individual enjoyment, so much as to impair individual comfort? They require from you a denial of all those passions and appetites, which tyrannize over your reason, and render you by nature slaves of unrighteousness. They prescribe such actions as God himself displays in his government of the world. They are actions which your very creation and preservation bind you to perform. Redemption by Jesus Christ imposes yet stronger obligations on you. What, know ye not "that ye are not your own, but bought with a price? Therefore glorify God in soul "and body which are his."

Thirdly, What do you merit, if weighed in the balance of justice? Look to the rock from whence you were hewn, and the hole

of the pit from whence you were digged.
Are you not sinners by nature? Are not
your hearts deceitful above all things, and
desperately wicked? Is your conduct such
as gratitude requires? Now, compare this
view of yourselves with what God has done
for
you, and is still doing. Do you deserve
any thing but afflictions and sorrows at his
hands? If he thus acts towards
you, ought
you not to say, "It is well, I merit the in-
dignation of the Lord."

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Fourthly, Is not God the overflowing Fountain of happiness? In his favour is life, and in his loving kindness that which is better than life. Where shall we look for pleasure, if not in conformity to his nature, and in fulfilling the duties of his service? In his communion his people find all that their hearts can desire; a fulness of joy, an excess of delight, which no language can describe, nor imagination conceive. His ways. are strictly ways of pleasantness, and all his paths are peace. The very practice of religion affords them a satisfaction, a relish of which the world can form no idea. They may be outwardly afflicted, but they are inwardly supported, " because the love of God

" is shed abroad in their hearts by the Holy "Ghost, which is given unto them." This Comforter cheers them in sorrow, guides them in darkness, and animates them with the foretastes of future glory. How unreasonable, how iniquitous, how condemnable, for any to be weary of the service of that God, who grants such happiness here, and the prospect of greater hereafter!

Thus it is, my brethren, that God pleads with his people who are weary of him, who have declined in their love, diligence, and faithfulness towards him.

Are there any such here present? The Lord has a controversy with you. What can you say against God? You who are guilty worms of the dust before him? His glory brightens the heavens, and fills the earth. Dazzled with the splendour of its beams, angels veil their faces before him, and, with extatic rapture, cry, "Holy, holy, holy art thou, Lord God Al

mighty." If he unveil it full on your view, you perish; for no mortal eye can behold it and live. Oh! cast yourselves at the feet of his mercy; acknowledge your transgressions, lest he swear in his wrath, "Ye

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