feet, and a light unto our paths. They contain gene ral principles and particular rules. There are defcribed the duties we owe to ourselves, to our fellow creatures, and to God; the duties which fpring from the various connections and conditions of life; the duties of kings and of fervants; the duties of profperity and adverfity. Viewing us as finners, they fhew unto us the way of falvation, and preach repentance towards God, and faith towards our Lord Jefus Chrift.

The man therefore that would do the will of God walks by this rule. He repairs to the Scripture, not for advice but law; he enters the fanctuary of revela tion, and bowing before the lively oracles of God he cries, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "Speak, Lord, for thy fervant heareth." For you

will obferve that his concern with the will of God lies not in knowing, but in DOING it. And indeed if this be not in our defire and defign when we fearch for the will of God, we are not likely to be honest in our investigations, or fuccefsful in our attempts. For "he "that doth his will, fhall know of the doctrine wheth"er it be of God; and we fhall know if we follow on "to know the Lord." But allowing it to be poffible to obtain the clearest knowledge unaccompanied with obedience, it would be ufelefs; for "if ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them;" yea it would be even injurious, by enhancing our fin and aggravating our condemnation; for "to him that knoweth "to do good and doth it not, to him it is fin." " And "that fervant which knew his Lord's will, and pre"pared not himself, neither did according to his will, "fhall be beaten with many stripes. For unto whom

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"foever much is given, of him fhall be much requir"ed; and to whom men have committed much, of "him will they afk the more."

To be a Chriftian then you must act, and live, and act and live as God would have you; you must do the will of our Father which is in heaven. By two things you may know whether your obedience be fuch as will clafs you in the number of our Lord's difciples. For, firft, their obedience is AFFECTIONATE, arising from a defire to please and glorify God. Hence the declaration of our Saviour, "I call you not fervants, "but friends." This was not to release them from an obligation to obedience, but to purify and elevate the principle of it. And his own language is in a fubordinate degree the experience of all his followers; "I delight to do thy will, O God, yea thy law is within my heart" "My meat is to do the will of Him "that fent me, and to finish his work." This is every thing in the view of God; he would have us in his fervice to be liberal and generous; he upholds us by "his free Spirit." He values not the forced fubmiffion of the flave; he difdains thofe actions in the performance of which the will revolts. His demand is," My fon, give me thy heart ;" and when this is given nothing else can he withhold; then the eyes are open to fee, the ears to hear, the lips to praise, the hands to communicate. And the man " prefents "his body a living facrifice, holy and acceptable to "God, which is his reasonable service."

For, Secondly, their obedience is IMPARTIAL. I speak here of their aim and their difpofition. With regard to these they have no referve, no objections,

no exceptions. Their concern extends to every thing whether great or little, whether eafy or difficult, whether pleafing or repulfive; they efteem all his commandments concerning all things to be right, and they hate every falfe way. The neceffity of this will readily appear. "For whofoever fhall keep the "whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty "of all." The reafoning by which this is established is folid; for if a man voluntarily tranfgrefs one of the commands of God, why does he obferve the reft? Not from a principle of obedience; for this would lead him to obferve the command he tranfgrefles, as well as thofe he obferves, feeing they iffue from the fame authority, and are enforced by the fame motives; "for he that faid, Do not commit adultery, faid also, "Do not kill now if thou commit no adultery, yet "if thou kill, thou art become a tranfgreffor of the "law." He therefore obeys because the injunction happens to fall in with his humour, or reputation, or advantage. But if doing what we like, and refufing what we do not like, be obedience, it is obedience to our own will, and not to the will of God; and by fuch a fubmiflion we defpife God in reality, while we profess to serve him; we exclude his authority, and eftablish our own pleasure as the governing principle of our lives. This therefore annihilates the fyftem of compofition, and all endeavours to balance virtues against vices, and to atone for the indulgence of fin by the performance of duty; for unless you regard the will of God univerfally, whatever you do, fprings not from a principle of religion, but from fome other fource; for if you performed any one duty because

you

God had commanded it, you would most certainly practife every other for the fame reafon; and if avoided any one fin because God had forbidden it, you would unquestionably forfake every other on the fame ground. It is in vain for you therefore to plead that you avoid that which is evil, unless you cleave to that which is good. It is in vain for you to visit the fatherlefs and widows in their affliction, if you do not keep yourfelves unfpotted from the world. It is in vain for you to be faithful to your engagements with fellow creatures, if you are ftrangers to devotion ; this is to be moral without piety; or to pray and hear the word of God, and not provide things honest in the fight of all men; this is to be pious without morality. It is in vain for you to affemble together in public, if you never enter your closets; or to be faints in the houfe of God, if you are demons in your own. It is in vain for you to liften to the Gofpel, while it teaches you doctrines of acknowledged importance, if

your

you do not learn by it to deny all ungodlinefs and worldly lufts, and to live foberly, righteously, and godly in the prefent world. In all thefe instances in which you appear to conform to the will of God, there is not one act of true obedience; for true obedience confults the will of God, and this enjoins an attention to the things you neglect, as much as to those which from other confiderations you regard. And thus having described the character of his difciples, let

us,

II. Survey their PRIVILEGE. Our Saviour confiders them as his relations; regards them as his kin

dred; they form one family with himfelf.

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"He

ftretched forth his hand toward his difciples and faid, Behold MY MOTHER and MY BRETHREN! for "whofoever fhall do the will of my Father which is. "in heaven, the fame is MY BROTHER, and SISTER, "and MOTHER." As fuch I view them, as fuch I will behave towards them; they fhall enjoy every advantage which can flow from connections fo intimate. For our Lord does not speak ceremonioufly; his words are true and faithful. Let us fee what we can find to embody the meaning of his expreffions.

As foon as we hear him claiming his difciples as his kindred, we look, First, for family-likeness, and we have it. "Whom he did foreknow, them he alfo' "did predeftinate to be conformed to the image of "his Son, that he might be the first-born among many "brethren." "The firft man is of the earth, earthy; "the fecond man is the Lord from heaven. As is "the earthy, fuch are they also that are earthy; and "as is the heavenly, fuch are they alfo that are heav

enly. And as we have borne the image of the ear"thy, we fhall alfo bear the image of the heavenly." The refemblance indeed is not complete in this world, but it is real; it is fufficient to fhew that they have a common origin. One end governs them; their inclinations harmonize; "the mind which was in him is alfo in them; and as he was, fo are they also in the world meek and lowly, tender and compaffionate, patient and forgiving, active and zealous. And the likenefs is inceffantly growing and becoming more and more vifible; beholding as in a glafs the glory of "the Lord, they are changed into the fame image