what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy behaviour and godliness!

The conversation, conduct, or manner of life, incumbent on a Christian, from a great variety of considerations, and particularly from the anticipation of the world's dissolution, is here expressed by "holiness and godliness;" or in other words, by purity and piety; a separation from all that is sinful and polluting, and a dedication or devotedness to the service of God. It is not the mere absence of gross vice, not the suppression of bad tempers and spiritual wickedness alone, that is here required, but an eminence in sanctity and devotion which is inculcated. The requirement of the Apostle rises infinitely higher than the mere negation of overt-acts of vice and wickedness, and demands of the Christian a spiritual purity and heavenly aspiration, which shall for ever distinguish him from the sensual and the earthly minded. The man who has regard either to health or to reputation, or to pecuniary prosperity, will never be a profligate debauchee; and therefore a degree of sobriety and industry, which common worldly prudence dictates, is far short of the holiness and godliness which our text requires; so far short, indeed, that they possess not one particle of the principle of true holiness and real piety; for these, at the outset, have a reference to God, but worldly prudence regards only man. Think not that I am decrying moral and benevolent actions; I ask not for the absence or neglect of these, but I ask for something more, and immeasurably superior to these; I require of the human spirit an entire submission, and a total consecration of itself to God. It must be un-earthly, it must be heavenly, it must be set apart for God, it must "well-worship" God, and must subordinate all affairs to the cause of God.

"The word holiness, when applied to God, signifies the peculiar eminency of the divine nature, whereby it is separated and removed to an infinite distance from moral imperfection, and that which we call sin; that is, there is no such thing as malice, or envy, or hatred, or revenge, or injustice, or falsehood, or unfaithfulness in God; or if

there be any other thing that signifies sin, and vice, and moral imperfection, holiness signifies that the divine nature is at an infinite distance from all these, and is possessed of the contrary perfections." And the Almighty requires in his people resemblance to himself in this particular. As he which hath called you is holy, (saith St. Peter,) so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; because it is written, Be ye holy, for I am holy: and without holiness no man shall see the Lord. The import of the word holy will be more clearly seen by attending to the explications given of it in scripture. Thus it is explained by opposition to sin and impurity. "Let us, (says the Apostle,) cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." Sometimes, by the negation of sin and defilement; so we find "holy and without blame," put together; "holy and without blemish,” "holy, harmless and undefiled." It is true, indeed, this negative notion doth imply something that is positive; it doth not only signify the absence of sin, but a contrariety to it. The absence of sin implies the presence of grace; as, take away crookedness from a thing, and it immediately becomes straight. Whenever we are made holy, every lust and corruption in us is supplanted by the contrary grace.

It is scarcely necessary to remark that the word "conversation," in our text and elsewhere in Sacred Scripture, is not confined to the modern and popular sense of speaking or talking, but includes also behaviour, or conduct, or actions. Holy conversation requires holiness in thought, word, and deed, and not merely talking religiously or piously; nor, on the other hand, is religious conversation excluded. "Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh," and there are times in families, and in general society also, when it is right to speak for God, to confess Christ, and to explain or to defend the truth.

The term godliness, in our text, and in other parts of Holy Scripture, refers to the respect, reverence, or worship, which man owes to God; and in a preceding paragraph of this discourse, I have used for it the words "well-worship," i. e. worship which is sincere, and spiritual, and

devout; in contradistinction from that which is insincere; merely bodily service, or careless and remiss in its manner, that which is mere form without the power. Holiness and godliness include the whole of human duty, the whole law of love towards God and towards man; they include all that tends to human happiness in time, and throughout eternity. Our Lord Jesus Christ, according to his divine power, gives to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue. It is thus Simon Peter, a servant and an Apostle of Jesus Christ, speaks to those who with him had obtained like precious faith. Jesus is the source from whence divine influences flow from heaven, to the guilty and corrupted children of men; and from him, in the exercise of faith and prayer, must be sought the things that pertain to spiritual life, holiness, and godliness. And he most graciously "gives the Holy Spirit to them that ask him." He who commences the Christian course, must begin by an application to Jesus; and he who hopes to abound in holiness and godliness, must "abide" in Jesus. "As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, (says our Saviour,) except ye abide in me."

Having, as I hope, reminded you of the absolute necessity of an interest in Jesus, and a never-ceasing connexion with Him; I shall now close with enforcing the duty of looking onward to eternity; or, as the words of our text denote, "Expecting, and earnestly desiring, the coming of the day of God."

It appears to me that the doctrine of the world's approaching dissolution, because it may have in some instances been abused, is, in the present day, more lost sight of by the Christians of this land, than the Holy Scriptures warrant. Our Saviour, and his Apostles, and the primitive Christians, looked not at the things seen, but at the things not seen (by the carnal eye); for visible things are transitory and temporary, but the unseen realities which faith discerns are eternal. Oh, how rarely, I imagine, can it be affirmed, that Christians in our day, are expect

ing, and earnestly desiring, the coming of the day of God, which would so greatly promote an elevated spirit of devotion, and an unearthly spirit of public benevolence. How completely would it tend to eradicate the lust of covetousness, and the aspirings of worldly ambition, if men and Christians were expecting, as they have good reason to expect, the day of God, when the earth, and all the works that are therein, shall be burnt up! Would they then lay up their treasure here, where moth and rust corrupt, and thieves break through and steal; and where the whole is doomed, by the righteous Providence of God, to one general and all-consuming conflagration? Oh! alas for that day, when it shall be said, "Go to now, ye rich men, weep and howl for the miseries that shall come upon you. Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten; your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of them shall be a witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it were fire-ye have heaped treasure together for the last days;" injustice, and luxury, and niggardliness in the cause of righteousness, marked your course on earth; and now ye receive the fruit of your own doings.

But it is not to unbelievers that I now address my exhortation, it is to the parents, and children, and kindred, of those who have received precious faith. Endeavour, my brethren, to let the exhortation of the Apostle be reduced to a practical influence on your minds. Let your hearts be in heaven, and your expectations and desires have a reference to the last day. In prosperity it will induce you to spend much for God, to give your property to his cause; your time to his cause, your persons, soul, spirit, and body, to his cause; which is, whatever some may think, a reasonable service. And, in adversity, it will induce you to be patient unto the coming of the Lord. Time, and suffering-Oh! how short! Eternity, and enjoyment-Oh! how long! "I reckon that the sufferings of this present time, which are but for a moment, are not worthy to be compared with that exceeding great and eternal weight of glory" which shall be conferred on all God's people; through our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ, Amen!

DISCOURSE XXII.

TRUST IN THE MOST HIGH, THE BEST DEFENCE AGAINST FEAR.

PSALM LVI. 2, 3.

"O thou Most High,—what time I am afraid I will trust in Thee."

THESE are the words of one of the most extraordinary men, whose names, from a high antiquity, have descended to us, either in sacred or profane history. In early life he was a simple shepherd, on the hills of Judea. Whilst yet young, his musical talents, under Providence, caused him to be brought to the court of king Saul; from which time he became a warrior, and the leader of a brigand. After being long persecuted, and hunted from place to place by the jealous monarch, he at last himself ascended the throne of Israel; where war, and poetry, and sins, and reverses filled the latter period of his days. David, the beloved son of Jesse, and the sweet singer of Israel, the devout poet of Judea, penned the words of our text.

The commencement of his exaltation was the beginning of a continual series of anxieties and difficulties. His heroic conduct in the affair of the gigantic Goliath, excited against him the envy of his sovereign, who foresaw that the young shepherd, the fair and ruddy minstrel, was destined by Providence to succeed to the throne; and, with a sort of fatuity, he sought to thwart Providence, by attempting the life of David with his own hand; and,