to operate a strong and pious aversion from all evil, and a daily and constant practice of godliness and virtue. And let the assurance of a future judgment on human actions, of punishment to be inflicted on the bad, and of reward to be bestowed upon the good, excite a desire to perfect holiness in the fear of God, and a corresponding exertion to render yourselves worthy of his forgiveness, through the merits of Jesus Christ. Remember the words of Solomon, and lay them up in your memories to serve you in the hour of temptation. * " Rejoice, O young man, in thy youth; and let thy heart cheer thee in the days of thy youth, and walk in the ways of thine heart, and in the sight of thine eyes; but know thou, that for all these things God will bring thee into judgment.” + “Hear the conclusion of the whole matter. Fear God, and keep his commandments; for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil." * Eccl. xi. 9. + Eccl. xii. 13, 14. SERMON III. ST. MATT. XXII. 37. JESUS SAID UNTO HIM, THOU SHALT LOVE THE LORD THY GOD WITH ALL THY HEART, AND WITH ALL THY SOUL, AND WITH ALL THY MIND. I HAVE endeavoured to explain to you your Duty towards God, as far as it relates to Belief and Fear. I come now to consider the remaining head of that Duty, the Love of him. In my last Discourse I showed you, that the Fear of God is a pious reverence spread over the whole soul, and exciting within it a holy dread of doing any thing to offend him. The principle of Fear deters us from committing that which the voice of Conscience, and the word of Revelation, declare to be wrong. It operates within us an abhorrence of evil, and a resolution to regard the prohibitions of the Almighty. The principle of Love carries us farther. It urges us, not only to avoid Sins, but also to perform Duties ; not only to do as little as we can to offend God, but also as much as we can to please him. Our Belief in God, and our Fear of him, are the first steps towards holiness. Our Love of him, arising from these, and accompanied by them, advances us towards that perfection, which is to be the ultimate attainment of all his faithful followers. We fear God from a conviction of his Almighty Power; from an apprehension that, as he is a just and holy Being, he will visit us with his judgments, if we do wickedly; from a consciousness that he is a perpetual witness of all we think, and say, and do, and from a dread of that future wrath, which he has denounced against all the workers of iniquity. We love him, because we are persuaded that he is a good and gracious Being; because we know and feel that he has showered upon us, particularly in his Redemption of the world through the shedding of precious blood, the abundance of his kindness; and because we |