men. If religion be essentially necessary to promote and secure the blessings of civil government and civil society, as our wisest statesmen tell us, then it is our imperious duty to diffuse the knowledge and spirit of the gospel as far as possible through the United States, in order to secure and promote our highest temporal as well as spiritual interests. These are interests which God undoubtedly intended to promote, by giving us a national existence; and by the great and peculiar privileges and blessings which he has already conferred upon us. What he has done for us, is a presage of what he still intends to do for us in future. We have good grounds to place an unshaken confidence in his wisdom, power and goodness. The prayers of our pious ancestors and of their pious posterity, have entered into the ears of Him, who is able and ready to answer them. The burden of their fervent petitions has been for the temporal and spiritual prosperity of America. They have availed much, and will avail much, to draw down future blessings upon this favorite land. We have the same encouragement to trust in God that they had, and are bound by the same obligations to do it. But our trust must be accompanied with our best efforts to make this people both holy and happy. All our national interests are now lodged in our hands, and it depends upon us, whether we will maintain or destroy them. If we are faithful to God, to ourselves, and to our posterity, God will never leave nor forsake us, nor suffer us to leave and forsake him. We have lived to see what none of us will ever live to see again -the close of a century. To-morrow we may see the beginning of a new century; but we have no ground to expect to see the end of it. Before that period arrives, we shall all follow one another into that world from whence we shall never return. In the course of the current year, there have been nineteen deaths among this people. We shall not soon forget those who were near and dear to us. Though one century be just as long as another, not so are the lives of men. The grave is without any order. Let no man boast of to-morrow, for he knoweth not what a day, and much less what a year, or a century, may bring forth. What vast numbers of mankind have the last hundred years carried to their long home; and how many will the next sweep off from the face of the earth; how many more will live and die, before that great day shall come, when the whole human race will find their final and unchangeable condition! We must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, where we shall be deeply and eternally interested in the decisions of that Supreme Judge. The celebration of the last century of time will be a joyful festival to some, but a day of darkness and hopeless destruction to others. If any have the witness in themselves that they are prepared to meet their Judge in peace, let them rejoice; but if any are conscious to themselves that they are not prepared, let them mourn, repent, and return to God upon the gracious terms of the gospel, before their day of grace expires, and their feet stumble upon the dark mountains of death. SERMON XXIV. THE BLESSING OF GOD UPON THOSE WHO HONOR HIS INSTITUTIONS. JANUARY 7, 1821. AND the ark of God months. remained with the family of Obed-edom, in his house three IN the days of Eli, the Philistines waged war with Israel, and in one battle slew thirty thousand footmen, and took the ark of God, and set it in the house of Dagon their god. But the next morning they found their false deity fallen upon his face to the earth before the ark of the Lord. Though they immediately sent the ark of God from Ashdod to Ekron, yet it remained in the land of the Philistines seven months. At length, at the direction of their priests, they carried the ark to Beth-shemesh. But God awfully frowned upon the men of Beth-shemesh, who presumed to look into the ark; upon which they sent to the inhabitants of Kirjath-jearim to come and take it from them. Accordingly they came, and carried it to the house of Abinadab, where it remained twenty years. After David had come to the throne, and effectually subdued the Philistines, he determined to fetch the ark from the house of Abinadab to his own city, Jerusalem. But while he was joyfully performing this pious work, Uzzah, one of the priests who accompanied him, put forth his hand to steady the ark, which was displeasing to God, who struck him dead in a moment for his error. This sad catastrophe so affected the heart of David that he said, "How shall I bring the ark of God home to me? So David brought not the ark home to himself to the city of David, but carried it aside into the house of Obed-edom the Gittite. And the ark of God remained with the family of Obed-edom in his house three months. And the Lord blessed the house of Obed-edom, and all that he had;" or as it is said in another place, "all his household." The ark was a small elegant chest, which contained the two tables of the law, written by the finger of God in alphabetical ` letters. This was probably the first alphabetical writing in the world. Though the Egyptians and other heathen nations used to employ hieroglyphics, to record past events, and denote the actions and intellectual and moral qualities of men, yet they were totally ignorant of letters, which compose words and sentences by their particular sounds. For there was no analogy between hieroglyphics and letters. Hieroglyphics were pictures, or signs, and conveyed ideas by their shape, without sounds. Letters convey ideas by their sounds, and not by their shapes. Though some conjecture that letters were a human invention, yet no author has presumed to tell us positively when, or where, or by whom, letters were first discovered; which is a strong presumptive evidence that no man ever did discover them, and consequently that they were at first revealed to Moses, at the giving of the law at Mount Sinai. The law contained in the ark was the Hebrew Bible, written by the finger of God in alphabetical letters; and is now the oldest as well as the best book in the world. Obed-edom knew that the ark contained the written word of God, and esteemed it, as David did, "better unto him than thousands of gold and silver." He gladly received it into his house as the richest treasure, and treated it with the highest veneration and respect; which was highly pleasing to God, who for that reason "blessed him and all that he had;" that is, all his household. From this we may justly conclude, That God will bless those families who treat his word with proper respect. I shall show, I. That they ought to treat it with proper respect. II. That if they do this, they may expect God will bless them. I. I am to show that families ought to treat the word of God with proper respect. By the word of God, in this discourse, we are to understand not only the two tables of the law, written by the hand of God, in alphabetical letters, but also all the books of the Old and New Testaments, written at different times, by different men, as they were moved by the Holy Ghost. After God had written and delivered the two tables of the law to Moses, he inspired him to write the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. After Moses had written the five books which have been mentioned, and which are commonly called the Pentateuch, God inspired Samuel, David, and a succession of prophets, to write all the rest of the books of the Old Testament, from Joshua to Malachi. Then divine inspiration ceased for about two hundred and twenty years. At the close of that period God inspired the evangelists and apostles to write all the books of the New Testament, at different times and in different places. These books of the Old and New Testaments compose the Bible, which contains the whole word of God. The Bible is the most venerable and valuable book in the world, and ought to be treated in every family as the ark was treated in the family of Obed-edom, who highly esteemed and respected it. Here then it may be observed, 1. That every family ought to have the word of God in their house. It was sent to the family of Obed-edom providentially, who received and kept it gladly. It was not sent to every family in Israel in the same extraordinary way. No family could have a Bible without writing one out themselves, or applying to some priest to write one out for them. The case is far different here, at this day. Bibles are now multiplied, and may be easily obtained by every family. This is generally if not universally true, with respect to those who live in this land of Bibles. Though thousands are actually destitute of this sacred volume, yet it is owing more to their contempt and disregard of the word of God, than to any other cause. No family who have a proper respect for the word of God will fail to have and keep the Bible in their house. It is the most valuable and important article they can possess, whether they are poor or rich. But I will not dwell upon this particular, since I would charitably hope that but few families in this place, or in these parts, are so unwise and negligent as not to have and keep the word of God in their houses. 2. Parents, or heads of families, should not only have the word of God in their houses, but read it seriously every day in their families. Having the Bible in their houses, while they neglect to read it, is treating it with contempt, instead of respect. "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." Parents and children, masters and servants, old and young, rich and poor, all need the daily instructions of the word of God; and, for this reason, it ought to be read every day in every family, for the benefit of all its members. Paul intimates that Timothy had known from a child the scriptures, by such family instruction. God required the heads of |