What must be the anguish of such a man when he becomes sensible of his own crimes! How will he bear the thought of having promoted the damnation of multitudes by the propagation of known delusions! What lasting contrition, what severe repentance, must be necessary for such deep and such accumulated guilt! Surely, if blood be required for blood, a soul shall be required for a soul.

There are others who deride religion for the sake of displaying their own imaginations, of following the fashion of a corrupt and licentious age, or gaining the friendship of the great or the applause of the gay. How mean must that wretch be, who can be overcome by such temptations as these! Yet there are men who sell that soul which God has formed for infinite felicity, defeat the great work of their redemption, and plunge into those pains which shall never end, lest they should lose the patronage of villains and the praise of fools.

I suppose those whom I am now speaking of to be in themselves sufficiently convinced of the truth of the Scriptures, and may, therefore, very properly lay before them the threatenings denounced by God against their conduct.

It may be useful to them to reflect betimes on the danger of "fearing man rather than God;" to consider that it shall avail a man nothing if he "gain the whole world and lose his own soul;" and that whoever "shall be ashamed of his Saviour before men, of him will his Saviour be ashamed before his Father which is in heaven.”

That none of us may be in the number of those unhappy persons who thus scoff at the means of grace, and relinquish the hope of glory, may God of his infinite mercy grant, through the merits of that Saviour who hath brought life and immortality to light!

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SERMON XXI.

PSALM CXLV. VERSE 9.

The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works.

In this devout, masterly, and useful performance, the author appears deeply sensible of the divine greatness, and peculiarly transported with contemplating God's infinite goodness; even to that degree, that he cheerfully engages in, and absolutely devotes himself to, the very important service of adoring and obeying this almighty, unbounded, and most benevolent Being.

This his religion, as he intimates, was founded upon the most solid ground of reason; for as the great Father and Lord of all is certainly matchless, and unrivalled in majesty and in power, so is he disinterested, wonderful, and glorious, in bounty and compassion; averse and slow to anger, but ready to receive, to favour, and reward, all who diligently seek and faithfully serve him,

"The Lord is good to all, and his tender mercies are over all his works."

In discoursing on this subject, I shall consider,

First, Some arguments that support or prove it.

Secondly, Illustrate its extensive significa tion and import in some remarkable instances, and conclude with a practical application.

First, I am to consider some arguments that establish this sentiment.

Our great Lord and Master has taught us, that "there is none good but one, that is God:" by which expression we may understand, that there is none so perfectly disin terested, so diffusively and so astonishingly good, as God is. For, in another place, he instructs us both how to comprehend, and rely on, this unchangeable and never failing attribute of the divine nature; resembling it to, or representing it by, a human quality or virtue, namely, the affection and tender regard of parents to their children. "If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father, which is in heaven, give

good things to them that ask him!" From whence it is obvious to remark, that as the humane and generous man has a peculiar tenderness for his more immediate descendants, and proportionally to his power and influence, is willing and active to succour and relieve the indigent, to divide care, lessen misery, and diffuse happiness through the world; inconceivably more affectionate is the eternal Parent unto, and regardful of, all his intelligent creatures; truly disposed, according to their rank of existence, to promote their welfare; and beyond comprehension inclined to conduct them, through the greatest variety of circumstances, to the noblest perfection, and the highest degree of felicity. In his righteous and benevolent nature there cannot possibly be the most distant tendency to caprice, severity, or selfishness; for the multitude of sharers, he knows, can never subtract from his inexhaustible fulness. He created to communicate. In every evil which he prevents, he is pleased; and in all the good that he bestows, he glories. His goodness dictated the bestowing of existence, in all its forms and with all its properties. His goodness displays itself in sustaining and disposing of all things. His goodness connects