gospel, since this article of our faith is the very foundation of Christianity, the end to which we were created, and the great lesson impressed on our understanding, by the first dawning of reason; yet the generality of men evidently contradict this belief by their actions, giving too ample occasion for the unbelievers to despise and ridicule our holy religion; who, while they see us buried as it were in the pleasures and enjoyments of this life, can hardly imagine that we consider it only as a passage to the next; it is to little purpose that we style ourselves strangers and sojourners in the land, while we labour with such eagerness and care to clothe ourselves with the riches and honours of it, and every moment is employed in vain attempts to secure to ourselves a lasting possession. What then is the result of all our professions ?-if we believe not the promises of the gospel, how can we call ourselves Christians? if

we admit them to be true, why do we suffer them to have such little influence over our actions? Why do we give way to such cold insensibility, as if we had drank deeply of the cup of oblivion, to drown the remembrance of that happiness prepared for us in Heaven, and to cancel our undisputed right to the promised land? The truth is, our religion clearly teaches this doctrine, reason and reflection from time to time remind us of its importance; but pleasure, which silences the voice of reason, stops us in the pursuit; the mind in reality consents to the truth, but the weakness of our nature listens to the allurements of sin; though we are thoroughly sensible, that supreme happiness is reserved for our future lot, yet the corruption of our heart makes it consist in the gratification of sensual appetites, and the indulgence of every unlawful passion.

We need not go farther to seek for the

cause of our coldness and indifference; the pleasures of this world are presentthey are seen and tasted every day; but the object of our faith is far distant, and respects futurity. Besides, the multitude of cares and designs in which man is daily occupied, must so embarrass his thoughts, as to leave him but little leisure to reflect on future events. We find in the Scriptures, that the people of Israel could not hearken to the words of Moses concerning the promised land, while they were under the yoke of slavery, and oppressed by the bonds of Pharaoh. In like manner, it is in vain to talk of the joys of Paradise to a Christian, or reason with him concerning his future happiness, while he is so busily employed in the occupations of this life, and sinking under the weight of worldly concerns; those are the allurements that captivate the heart of man, and intoxicate his understanding, that render him insensible to the advice

of the monitor, and deaf to the voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely. To remedy this misfortune of our nature, it is necessary not only to believe the promises of the gospel, but to reflect upon them seriously and constantly; to make them the object of our earliest and latest enquiries to this end, we should endea vour to wean ourselves from a blind attachment to the good things of this world, since it is evident they are the grand impediments to our heavenly meditation; so dazzling our eyes with their present glittering appearance, and making such a lively impression upon our minds, as not only to lead us insensibly to a careless indifference for futurity, but also to disqualify us for receiving the joys to come.

Having shewn that it is not owing to a want of belief in the promises of the gospel, I come next to examine the second cause from which our insensibility seems

to proceed, namely, that men do not think the rewards there proposed sufficient to recompense the trouble of acquiring them. If we may be allowed to judge of the value of any possession, by the eagerness used to obtain it, or of the inclination of men by their endeavours, it may fairly be determined, that supreme happiness is of little estimation in the eyes of men, and scarce the object of their wishes, by the trifling pains they take to accomplish it. It is true, that, whatever penetration or extent of knowledge we may be endowed with in other respects, this far exceeds the narrow bounds of our comprehension; and therefore, we are not so sensible of its real value as we are of those earthly treasures which fall within the compass of our understanding; but the apostle uses this very argument as a motive to spur us on with more zeal and diligence: "Because 66 eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor "hath it entered into the heart of man to

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