Such, my brethren, are the views of the nature and government of God, which seem to be involved in the opening of this memorable prayer; and I have dwelt so long upon it, because it seems, better than any human commentary, to explain the preparatory dispositions which are requisite for prayer:-those dispositions of heart and mind which are more valuable than the act of prayer itself, and without which all our prayers and all our ceremonies are in vain.

If I have rightly interpreted the words of our Lord, the feelings and dispositions that become us in this first and fundamental exercise of religion are these :

1. The most profound consciousness of the majesty of the Great Being whom we approach, and of the exalted nature of the service we perform :

2. That humble love and confidence in Him, which arises from the considera

tion of his deigning to reveal himself to us as "our Father:"

3. That love of our brethren, and of everything that he hath made, which arises from the consideration of his being the equal Friend and Father of all existence:

And, lastly, That trust in his wisdom, and that hope in his goodness, which spring from the belief, that the great scene of divine administration is as yet only opened, and that there is a Heaven where our Father dwells, and where the 66 pure in heart shall yet see Him."

If such, my younger brethren, be the views and the hopes which the words of your Saviour involve, and which he therefore empowers you to form, is there any school in which life can so nobly begin? If it were with such feelings and convictions, that you were accustomed to come to the service of prayer, whether in your own closets, or in the more solemn assem

blies of the church, how simple and how easy would be the course of goodness and of piety! and if it were in such meditations that the day began, what else would be necessary to render it holy and happy!

In such a frame of mind," to ask," would indeed be "to receive." It would be to receive the spirit from on high, to animate, and to guide you. It would be to receive that spirit which would make you superior to the world, to all its temptations, and all its sorrows. It would be to receive, in the last place, that spirit which is alone the spirit of the gospel, which, while it gives glory to God, seeks also by "good works" to testify its "good "will towards men.'

SERMON IV.

ON THE LORD'S PRAYER.

LUKE, Xi. 2.

"And he said unto them, When ye pray, say "thus:"

In the preceding discourse from these words, I submitted to the young of our people, some observations on the spirit and character of our Lord's celebrated prayer, and on the dispositions of mind which it supposes in the worshipper.

The part of it I then considered was only its opening or commencement ;that simple but sublime form of address

with which it teaches us to approach the throne of God, and in which are involved all the mightiest conceptions we can form of the Divine Nature.

After this majestic opening, and all the high convictions it involves, our Saviour proceeds to prescribe the model of the petitions which it becomes us to present to that Mighty Father. We have prostrated ourselves before the Throne of Eternity, and we are now to be taught what are the wishes, the supplications, or the which we are to offer to " Him' prayers "that inhabiteth it." In this respect, my

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brethren, or, at least, in the arrangement of these petitions, there is something very remarkable and peculiar, and which distinguishes our daily prayer from every other form of human worship.

There is a natural tendency to selfishness in all unenlightened devotion. It is in the hours only of trouble, or of fear, that