means of grace. They will always profit most by the sanctuary, who are much in the closet.

It furnishes also a good evidence of our state. Do not judge of yourselves by what you are before men -What are you with God? Your sincerity is chiefly evinced by your regard to the unseen duties of religion. These show that you are actuated by pious principle, and not by any of those inferior motives which produce appearances. In public duties you are open to the observation of others. Hypocrites may lift their hands and eyes; and affect great fervor and zeal. Curiosity may prompt our repairing to the ordinances of the Temple; and the dispensation even of divine Truth, in excellency of speech and elegance of manner, may prove an amusement; and persons may flock to it as to a concert. Thus we know it was with Ezekiel's hearers. "And, lo, thou art unto them as a very lovely song of one that hath a pleasant voice, and can play well on an instrument; for they hear thy words, but they do them not." If you are with a person whom you dislike, his presence is tolerable in a large company, where you have other attractions-though even then you would rather he was absent; but should they withdraw, how embarrassed and miserable would you be with him alone! Some of you seem attached to the House of God; but we often wonder how you would feel, if, upon the separation of the assembly, you were "detained" like Doeg "before the Lord."

Here he is clothed in no terror to make you afraid. Here he is, not as a Judge on his tribunal to arraign you as criminals; nor even as a monarch on a throne of state, to receive you as subjects; but as your Father-eager to embrace you as "the sons and daughters of the Lord Almighty." Do children dread to enter a room where a loved and honored father is to be found? Would not this be a sufficient attraction to enter it? "When shall I come," says David," and appear before God?"

It includes his inspection. "And thy Father which seeth in secret." He is not regardless of you; he is not ignorant of your condition; he knows what is the mind of the Spirit. Your desires are before him, and your groaning is not hid from him. He sees you, but not with eyes of flesh. He is no respecter of persons. He will not fail to notice you, however poor and despised. He views you with approbation. The prayer of the upright is his delight. "Let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely."

It includes recompense. "He shall reward thee openly." He "never said to the seed of Jacob, seek ye me in vain." But surely it is enough for a benefactor to be ready to attend to the applications of the distressed, without promising to reward beggars for knocking at his door; and to bestow on them, honor that shall distinguish them in public! as if, instead of being urged by their necessities, The freedom we enjoy in the exercise, is no in- they had been performing some very meritorious considerable recommendation of private devotion. action! The advantage of prayer is all our own: Here we come even to his seat: we reach the secret there can be nothing like desert in it. And yet to place of the Most High. Here we are free from stimulate us to attend to a course founded entirely the restraints we feel in public. Here we are not in a regard to our welfare, the Lord of all makes condemned as deceivers, or ridiculed as enthusiasts, himself a debtor to his suppliants; and engages to if we prostrate ourselves before God, or pray like confer upon them not only a real, but a public and our Saviour "with strong cryings and tears." I acknowledged recompense. Even here he puts a know not why we should be ashamed to be seen difference between his people and others. Even weeping, yet so it frequently is-but here the eye now he induces observers to say, "Verily there is a can pour out tears unto God. Here we may sigh, reward for the righteous;" "This is the seed which and pause, and kneel a third time "saying the same the Lord hath blessed." He can make even a words." Here the mind is affected with those mi- Balaam exclaim, "How goodly are thy tents, O nute but touching recollections and peculiarities Jacob; and thy tabernacles, O Israel! Let me die which cannot be admitted into public worship.-the death of the righteous, and let my last end be Here we may pray for others, in a way we could not do before them, without offence. Would they abide to hear us beseech God to deliver-One of them from the love of money? Another, from a fondness for extravagance? A third, from a hateful and odious temper? Here you can lay open, with proper self-abasement, the secret workings of your own pride, or envy, or carnality. Here you may pour into the bosom of God, things which you And now, my dear hearers, upon the ground of could not divulge to your dearest friend or relation. this important subject, let me address you with all Every heart has a bitterness of its own; and this is fidelity and seriousness. For it is not a light thing frequently, what it is least at liberty to communi--it is your life. I remember the observation of But here no secret is hid; here no complaint an old divine, and it is not too strongly expressed: is suppressed. Here, "in every thing by prayer "It is impossible for a man to be godly, who neand supplication, with thanksgiving, we make known our requests unto God;" and, as the consequence of the full disclosure, we are "careful for nothing" and "feel a peace that passeth all understanding, keeping our heart and mind through Christ Jesus."

cate.

like his." But if at present any dispensations humble them, any clouds obscure them; they will be exalted in due time; they will soon shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the heart, and then shall every man have praise of God."

glects secret devotion, and next to impossible that he should ever become so." To which he adds, "You may as well talk of a wise fool, a wicked saint, a sober drunkard, or an honest thief, as of a If this witness be true, prayerless Christian!" what are we to think, even of many who make But ought we to overlook the promise which the some pretensions to religion! Their lives are full Saviour has here given us, and with which he of action, and void of thought. They visit the would engage us to the performance of this duty?temple, and are ever hearing sermons; but they It would be a reflection upon his wisdom and goodness. "Enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret, and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly." Let us observe the inducement.

It includes the Divine Presence. "Thy Father which is in secret." He is everywhere; but he is, it seems, peculiarly in the closet. Here "he is waiting to be gracious, and exalted to have mercy."

are shy of the closet. Some of them, in this day of pious and benevolent institutions and exertions, make a figure in public; and their zeal flames at a distance; but it diminishes as it approaches nearer home, and it goes out in a dreadful darkness and coldness between God and their own souls.

In others, a little of this practice of retirement remains, lingering as the effect of custom or conviction only. But though they do not constantly,

they yet frequently neglect private reading, meditation, and prayer. Business, company, the most trifling pretensions, keep them from the duty; and they must be aware, if they would deal honestly with themselves, that whatever they do in this way, is their task, and not their pleasure. And need they be told to what character Job alludes, when he asks, "Will he delight himself in the Almighty, will he always call upon God?"

But some have wholly incurred the reproach; "Thou hast not called upon me, O Jacob; thou hast been weary of me, O Israel." Yes-for it was not thus with you once; you have left off to be wise, and to do good." Apostasy," says Henry, "begins at the closet-door." There your irreligion commenced; and ever since this revolt from God, you have been departing more and more from him. O! what a day was that, when you first left your apartment without prayer! Perhaps you have forgotten it. But no! How can you forget your hesitation your strugglings with conscience-the shame and uneasiness you endured, so that you longed and endeavored as soon as possible to lose the feeling. And you succeeded. You felt less the day following. At length you obtained a victory over every moral embarrassment. And now you lie down and rise up like the beasts that perish, and feel nothing.

reality. You have your occasional forebodings; and it is safer not to look into your condition lest they should be confirmed. You surround yourselves with company, lest, being alone, truth should invade your delusion, or you should be haunted by the ghosts of your own thoughts. The value of your amusements does not consist in the pleasure they yield, but in their power to divert you from reflection. And this power they must soon lose. And its effect at present is limited. It is no easy thing to keep out light, where there are so many apertures to blind up; or to sleep on, where stillness is impossible. What a life of constraint and uneasiness are you leading! "There is no peace, saith my God, unto the wicked.”

Another prevention is to be found in creature attraction and worldly cares. You "mind earthly things." Your farm and your merchandise; your rising early, and sitting up late, and compassing sea and land, to carry some temporal interest-these furnish you with excuses; these yield you substitutes; these keep you from seeking those things that are above. We wish not to render you indifferent to your stations in life, or to induce you to undervalue the good things which he gives you to enjoy. But while you are "not slothful in business, be fervent in spirit, serving the Lord," "Labor not" only, or principally, "for the meat which perisheth, but for that meat which endureth unto everlasting life.""Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you." And if you obtain them not in this subordination, you will find them to be nothing but vanity and vexation of spirit. Your table will become a snare. Your prosperity will destroy you,

"Darkness, death, and long despair,
Reign in eternal silence there."

LECTURE III.

But allow me to ask, Is not this neglect of religious retirement, a proof that the love of God is not in you? You treat men with attention; but He is not in all your thoughts. You salute your fellow creatures according to their rank and quality; but you never give Him the glory that is due unto his holy name. You visit your friends and acquaintances, but you never call upon God, though he is We have thus again called you to enter your not far from any one of you. And have you no- closet. And as to many of you, it is probable the thing to do with Him? Is he not your Creator? application will be again refused. But another call Your Preserver? Your Governor? Your Judge ? will soon be addressed to you. It will be to die.— Have you nothing to hope from Him? Nothing to That call you cannot refuse. You live in a crowd fear? In his hand your breath is, and his are all-but you must die alone. You now hate silenceyour ways. Men deny the depravity of human na- but you are hastening to "the house appointed for ture; but we want no other proof of the mortifying all living ;" and truth, than this alienation of your mind from God. Can this be an innocent state? Could this be the condition of man, when God made him upright ?No! We do not go, we need not go to the refuse of society in prisons, and galleys. Setting aside all immorality and profligacy; when we see creatures shunning their Creator, and beneficiaries hating to retain their Benefactor in their knowledge; when we see men, instead of loving God with all their heart, banishing him from his own temple, and forbidding him the bosom that was made for himself -we know they must be fallen, and perverted, and THE human frame is "a body fitly joined toguilty creatures; and without pardon and renova- gether, and compacted by that which every joint tion can never enter into the kingdom of God. And supplieth, according to the effectual working of evethis is your character; your danger. You are liv-ry part." There is nothing in it irregular; nothing ing without God. You are enemies to him. In defective; nothing superfluous. The eye cannot vain you reckon upon your virtue and safety, be- say to the ear, I have no need of thee: nor the hand cause you may be free from the iniquities which to the foot, I have no need of thee. The members disgrace others. Sins of omissions expose to con- are all connected with, all dependent upon, all subdemnation, as well as positive transgressions. They servient to, each other; and were you to separate are violations of the same authority. He that for-them, the body, which is composed of the whole. bids, also enjoins. And you show your contempt would be at once disfigured and destroyed. <f God, by neglect, as well as by insult. If two It is the same with the system of Christianity, as persons living together in the same house, were ne- presented in the Scriptures of truth. By separaver to speak to each other, it would be deemed by tion, it loses both its beauty and its energy; its all, as much a proof of dislike, as their fighting. Be beauty-for this consists in the fine adjustment of not therefore deceived. You are wronging your the parts; its energy-for this results from the harown souls. All they that are far from God shall monious operation of the whole. What God thereperish. "The wicked shall be turned into hell, with fore has joined together, whether it be doctrine all the nations that forget God." and duty; or command and promise; or privilege and service; or hope and fear-let not man put asunder.

Is not, therefore, another cause of your neglect of the closet, a guilty conscience? You are afraid to enter into solitude. You know that however cheerful you appear, you are far from being happy in

THE CHRISTIAN, IN THE FAMILY. "Then David returned to bless his Household." 2 SAM. vi. 20.

The zeal of some professors is not always according to knowledge, or such as to evince a "heart

right with God" It is not full of "good fruits without partiality and without hypocrisy." For these are nearly allied. Partiality is always a proof of hypocrisy; for if you are upright before God, and sincerely desirous of pleasing him, you will come to him, not to dictate, but to submit; not to choose, but to say, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?" "Then shall I not be ashamed when I have respect unto all thy commandments."

I. The WAY IN WHICH THE HEAD OF A FAMILY MAY BLESS HIS HOUSEHOLD.

II. To show THE REASONS WHICH SHOULD ENGAGE HIM TO ATTEMPT IT.

III. TO ANSWER SOME OBJECTIONS TO THE DUTY.

And,

IV. TO CONCLUDE WITH SOME ANIMADVERSIONS AND ADMONITIONS RESPECTING IT.

Some of these particulars, we are aware, in a de

A Christian is not a perfect character; but he is I. If it be asked, How the head of a family may a character. He is always the same; every where BLESS HIS HOUSEHOLD? We would answer, by Examthe same. The same in prosperity and adversity; ple-by Government-by Discipline-by Instruction the same in public and in private; the same in the-by Attendance an the Means of Grace-by the Perdwelling-place, as in the temple; the same in the formance of Domestic Devotion. family, as in the Church. If there be any difference, his immediate connections will have the ad-gree imply and include each other; yet they are vantage; and looking towards those who have the distinct enough for the utility of separate remark. best opportunities of knowing and observing his re- Thus we distinguish countries and provinces; ligion, he will be able to say, "Our rejoicing is though in some places they approximate: and where this, the testimony of our conscience; that in sim- they unite, the air, and the soil, and the produce plicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, will display resemblance and even sameness. but by the grace of God, we have our conversation in the world, and more abundantly to you-ward."When Whitefield was asked, whether a certain person was a good man, he replied, "I know not-I never lived with him." And Philip Henry remarks, that "Every man, in religion, is really, what he is relatively.”

We have to exhibit the Christian this morning
In the FAMILY.

First, He may "bless his household" by Example. I begin with this, because nothing can supply the want of personal religion. He who despises his own soul, will feel little disposition, to attend to the souls of others. Destitute of principle, he will be determined only by circumstances; and his exertions, if he makes any, will be partial and rare.Having nothing to animate him from experience, his endeavors will be dull and cold. Where all is merely formal and official, a man will not go far there of his success, when he does use them? Who even in the use of means; but what probability is loves to take his meat from a leperous hand? A drunkard will make a poor preacher of sobriety to servants.

Here it is supposed that he has a family. He is not a poor, illiberal, solitary individual; preferring vice, or mopishness, or an escape from expense, care, and trouble, to a state which was designed to complete the happiness of Adam in paradise; and wretched recommender of humility and meekness A proud and passionate father is a which Inspiration has pronounced to be "honorable to his children. What those who are under his care, in all." He believes in the wisdom and veracity of see, will more than counteract what they hear; and God, who has said, "It is not good for man to be all his efforts will be rejected with the question→→→ alone;" and instead of reflecting upon his parents, "Thou that teachest another, teachest thou not thyand undervaluing and injuring the most amiable self? Thou that preachest a man should not steal, part of society, where too they are not even allowed dost thou steal? Thou that sayest a man should to complain; he forms no leading permanent plan not commit adultery, dost thou commit adultery?"of life, in which marriage is not considered as the To what is it owing, that the offspring of many profoundation. And having entered the condition, he fessors are worse than those of other men? Inconwill be anxious to fulfil its duties. He will love his sistency. Inconsistency is more injurious than newife, even as himself. He will train up his child- glect. The one may be resolved into a forgetfulness reu" in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." of principle; the other shows a contempt of it. He will behave towards his servants, as one who You little imagine how early and how effectively knows that he has "a Master in heaven," and that children remark things. They notice them when there is no respect of persons with God. He will they seem incapable of any distinct observation; say, with David, "I will behave myself wisely in a and while you would suppose no impression could perfect way. Oh! when wilt thou come unto me? be left on such soft materials, a fixed turn is given I will walk within my house with a perfect heart.-to many a part of the future character. You must I will set no wicked thing before mine eyes. I hate the work of them that turn aside; it shall not come

nigh me!"

"Then David returned to bless his household." Then-for the period and the occasion are previously marked. The day had been a very pleasing one to David; but it had proved a very active and busy one too. For many hours he had been engaged in bringing up the Ark of God from the house of ObedEdom into the city of Jerusalem. He had not only attended, to witness all the indications of piety and joy; but had contributed himself, in the sacred performances. And when the symbol of the Divine presence was set in the Tabernacle prepared to receive it; he offered burnt-offerings and peaceofferings before the Lord; and dismissed the multitude with presents, after blessing them in the name of the Lord. But the monarch does not make him forget the master; nor does public service hinder domestic. "Then David returned to bless his household."-Let us pass from this instance of excellency, to consider at large,

therefore reverence them, and be circumspect even in your most free and relaxing moments. You must do, as well as teach; and while you are humble before God, you must be able to say to them, "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

It is commonly observed, that example does more than precept. But the young are peculiarly alive to example; and when example has the advantage of nearness and constant exhibition, and unites both authority and endearment, it must prove the most powerful and insensible transformer; and requires in those who furnish it, and who will necessarily be imitated, that they "abstain from all appearance of evil." We only add here, that they who constitute your moral charge, are not so much affected and swayed by any direct and positive urgings, as by the presence, and exemplification, and sight of "whatsoever things are lovely and of good report." The force of the hothouse is not to be compared with the genial influence of the spring, by which, without violence, and without noise, every thing is drawn into bud and bloom.

nijah, at any time in saying, "Why hast thou done so?" When the head of a family cannot prevent the introduction of improper books; the visits of infidel or profane companions; the indulgence of ensnaring usages, and indecent discourse; the putting forth of pretensions above his rank; the incurring of expenses beyond his income;-does he bear rule in his own house? Is it thus that he puts away evil from his tabernacle? Is it thus that he blesses his household?

Secondly, He may "bless his household" by Go- | Here also David erred; he had not displeased Adovernment. Order is Heaven's first law. God himself is the example of it; and by nothing does he bless his creatures more, than by the steadiness of the order of Nature, and the regularity of the seasons. What uncertainty is there in the ebbing and flowing of the tides? What deviations in the changes of the moon? The sun knoweth his going down, and his rising up. Even the comet is not eccentric in traversing the boundlessness of space, he performs his revolutions of fifty or a hundred years, to a moment. And in all the works of God, what seems disorder, is only arrangement beyond our comprehension; for "in wisdom he has made them all."

Hear the Apostle. "Let every thing be done decently, and in order." The welfare of your household requires that you should observe times. Every thing should have its season-your businesses, your meals, your devotional exercises, your rising, and your rest. The periods for these will vary with the condition of families; but labor to be as punctual as circumstances will allow. It is of importance to peace and temper, and diligence, and economy. Confusion is friendly to every evil work. Disorder also multiplies disorder. For no one thinks of being exact with those, who set at nought all punctuality.

The same principle requires that you should keep every thing in its place. Subordination is the essence of all order and rule. Never suffer the distinctions of life to be broken down. All violations of this kind injure those who are below the gradation, as well as those above it. The relinquishment of authority may be as wrong as its excesses. He that is responsible for the duties of any relation, should claim its prerogatives and powers-how else is he to discharge them? Be kind and affable to servants; but let nothing divest you of the mistress. Be the tenderest of fathers; but be the father-and no sensible woman will, I am sure, be offended if I add-Be the most devoted of husbands, but be the husband.

Thirdly, By Discipline. This regards the treatment of offences: "For it must needs be that of fences will come;" and what is to be done with them? Here are two extremes to be avoided. The one is severity. You are not to magnify trifles into serious evils; and instead of a cheerful countenance, to wear a gloom; and instead of commend ing, to be always finding fault; and instead of enlivening every thing around you like the weather in spring, to be a continual dropping in a rainy, winter-day. Instead of making home repulsive, let it possess every attraction, and abound with every indulgence and allowance the exclusions of Scripture do not forbid. Instead of making a child tremble and retreat, gain his confidence and love, and let him run into your arms. "Fathers," says the Apostle, (for this fault lies mostly with our sex,) "Fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, lest they be discouraged." The other is indulgencea foolish fondness, or connivance at things actually wrong, or pregnant with evil. This often shows itself with regard to favorites. And here ye mothers, let not your good be evil spoken of. Do not smother your darlings to death with kisses; and let not your tender bosom be an asylum for delinquents appealing from the deserved censures of the father. The success of such appeals, with kind but weak minds, is very mischievous; it makes preferences where there should be an evenness of regard, and tends to check and discourage wholesome reproof; and "he that spareth the rod hateth his son, but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes." "Chasten thy son while there is hope, and let not thy soul spare for his crying." Here Eli failed: "his sons made themselves vile, and he restrained them not."

For what is Abraham commended? "I know him, that he will command his children and his household after him, and they shall keep the ways of the Lord to do justice and judgment." Not that he was a tyrant; and terrified his family with the blackness of his frown, or the roughness of his voice. We no more admire a despot in the house, than in the state: but he was decided and firm; not only telling his servants and children what they were to avoid or what they were to perform; but requiring and enforcing obedience by the authority of his station. But proper authority requires dignity, as well as power. What can he do, whose levities, and follies, and ignorance, and weakness, deprive him of all awe, and all influence, and all impression ?— Are we to smile or sigh at the thought of some children being in subjection to their parents; and of some wives being called upon to reverence their husbands? Is there no law to protect females and children ?— As to children, the case with them is not voluntary; they deserve pity. But no sympathy is due to females who throw themselves into the empire of folly and weakness; and willingly choose a condition, whose duties it is sinful for them to neglect, and impossible for them to perform.

Fourthly, By Instruction. "For the soul to be without knowledge, it is not good." And this holds supremely true of religious knowledge. Hear the address of Moses: "These words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up. And thou shalt bind them for a sign upon thine hand, and they shall be as frontlets between thine eyes. And thou shalt write them upon the posts of thy house, and on thy gates." Here observe not only the duty, but the manner in which he has enjoined the performance of it. He would make it a constant, a familiar, an easy, a pleasing exercise--a recreation rather than a task. In another place he says,"When thy son asketh thee in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies and the statutes and the judgments which the Lord our God hath commanded you? Then thou shalt say unto thy son, We were Pharaoh's bond-men in Egypt; and the Lord brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand. And the Lord shewed signs and wonders, great and sore, upon Egypt, upon Pharaoh, and upon all his household, before our eyes: and he brought us out from thence, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he sware unto our fathers. And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as it is at this day. And it shall be our righteousness, if we observe to do all these commandments before the Lord our God as he hath commanded us." Nothing can be more natural than this recommendation. The curiosity of children is great, and will commonly, if judiciously treated, furnish you with sufficient opportunities to inform them. Their questions will show you the bias of their disposition, the state of their minds, and the nature and degree of the information it is proper to administer; and in various