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Still, in the gradual operation of these measures, let an unremitted attention be paid to the rule of the Scriptures, nor let it be imagined that any degree of virtue has been obtained, until the terms of the Apostle's prophecy shall be inverted. The perilous times shall not cease, nor the age of security and peaceful joy succeed, before men shall be generous, disinterested, liberal, modest, diffident, and humble; full of honour to God, and of respect toward each other; of filial piety, and reverence

"at hand: he that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and "he which is filthy, let him be filthy still; and he that "is righteous, let him be righteous still; and he that is "holy, let him be holy still: and behold I come quickly, "and my reward is with me, to give every man accord❝ing as his work shall be!" Although it is righteousness which "exalteth a people," and sin which is their weakness and disgrace; it is not only for the offences of the "poor and the foolish," for these have their excuse, but it is when "the great men," who might “have "known the way of the Lord, and the judgment of their "God;" it is when these have "altogether broken the "yoke, and burst the bonds," that the sentence is pronounced; "Shall I not visit for these things? and "shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as

to parents; gracious and grateful; holy and devout; affectionate; faithful in their engagements, and reconcileable in their animosities; not calumniators or detractors; temperate, gentle, rejoicing in goodness; worthy of all confidence; cautious, discreet, and humble-minded; forsaking the temptations of pleasure from a sense of duty, and exact in the observance of prescribed forms, only as a means of improvement in the power of godliness.

The revival of this pure and undefiled religion is an object which is worthy of the most strenuous and combined exertions, without which it cannot be expected or attained: and let us engage in the attempt under a full persuasion, that he “who con"verteth a sinner from the error of his

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way, shall save a soul from death, and "hide a multitude of sins";" and that they "who turn many to righteousness, shall "shine as the stars for ever and ever." If we fail in the attempt, we shall nevertheless save our own souls; if we succeed,

q James v. 20.

r Daniel xii. 3.

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we may save our brethren also. The time is not distant, when in a neighbouring nation the general neglect of the power godliness was punished by a contemptuous rejection of all its forms, and by a deluge of civil anarchy and religious unbelief, which swept the nations of the earth. If in that momentous crisis we have been preserved a peculiar people, may we, in the conclusion of the storm, pause, and reflect on the casual injuries which we have received; on the convulsive shock which has shaken our faith, our principles, and our practice. May He, "without whom no

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thing is strong, nothing is holy," enable us to strengthen what has been weakened, and to purify what has been corrupted! May the God of love and peace consolidate all our efforts, and instruct every man in this remaining hour of improvement and renovation, to exercise his zeal in personal repentance, and in provoking others to a holy competition for excellence in love and good works! May it be granted to us, in this day of comparative ease and security, by public and by private exertions, to re

deem the evils of "the day of wrath, re"buke, and blasphemy." It is the perilous, it may be the last, time in which we are permitted to labour in retrieving our national character; and may God, who hath said, that "without holiness no man shall 66 see him," and that "he who doeth " righteousness is righteous," so prosper all our endeavours and designs, as to put away from us the imputation of being "lovers of "pleasures more than lovers of God," of having "the form of godliness, but deny

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ing the power of it!" May he make us to act in the sight of all nations, and more especially in his judgment, as becometh a wise and faithful, a moral and religious people, as a people whose Christian practices are worthy of their Christian profession and belief!

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SERMON VII.

THE DOCTRINES OF THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND COMPARED WITH THE SCRIPTURES.

1 THESS. V. 21.

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good.

THE good fight of faith has been fought';

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and it is time for the Christian soldier to retire within his own intrenchments, and rest in peace and security. Covered with "the shield of faith, with which he is able "to quench the fiery darts of the wicked "one," and armed with " the sword of the

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Spirit, which is the word of God," he has penetrated the camp of the several enemies, that have come up against the city of God. Moving under banners, on which is inscribed, the integrity of human nature, and the simple humanity of Jesus Christ, the boldest of the hostile party

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