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any of you,” saith St James,“ lack wis“ dom, let him ask of God, who giveth 6 to all men liberally, and upbraideth

not, and it shall be given him. But 6 let him ask in faith, nothing wavering.” “ If any of you, being evil, know how to

give good gifts unto your children, how “ much more shall your heavenly Father

give his Holy Spirit to them who ask “ him ? Ask, therefore, and ye shall re“ ceive ; seek, and ye shall find; knock, 66 and it shall be opened unto you. For

every one that asketh, receiveth ; and " he that seeketh, findeth ; and to him “ that knocketh, it shall be opened." In this way, then, does the Lord guide

, his people in their journey through life ; -by his providence making all things work together for their good-by his word, pointing out the path of duty, as the pillar of cloud and fire directed the march of the Israelites through the wilderness ;-and by his Spirit, enlightening their understandings to perceive his will, and inclining their hearts to obey what it commands.

Thus have I endeavoured to point out

.

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some of the ways in which the Lord conducts and guides his people in the present state. Happy, surely, is the

people that is in such a case as ye are; yea, happy is that people who are under the care and guidance of their Father in heaven. “Let this animating thought per

vade, and influence, and invigorate all your

life : let it give energy to your “ exertions, consistency to your proceed

ings, strength to your resolutions, fer“vour to your devotion *," and

courage under all the evils which flesh is heir to. With confidence and comfort commit yourselves to his direction, who is given to be a leader and commander to his people. Walk in the steps in which he also walked. Follow the leadings of his providence. Observe the directions of his word. Cease not daily to implore the promised influence of his Holy Spirit ; and when granted, yield to its suggestions ;-in this way looking for the hope of eternal life, and waiting the happy hour that will set you free from all the cares and burdens of mortality, and introduce

Cooper's Practical Sermons.

you to the possession of inconceivable and endless glory.

Placed as you are in an evil and ensnaring world, where you have to struggle with the weakness and deceitfulness of your own hearts,—with the

power

and malice of Satan, and with countless temptations on every hand to folly and to sin,-what reasons have you to accept and value the offer of a heavenly guide, who alone can conduct

you

in
peace

and in safety through all the windings and snares of the wilderness in which you are wandering ? “ Refuse," says the same pious author, 66 the offer of his “ heavenly guidance, and where will

your “ trust be placed ? You will be like a “ vessel in a boisterous sea, without a

pilot to direct your course. The sport “ of every wind, the victim of every cur“ rent, you cannot but quickly split on “ some of the many rocks and shoals 66 which wait for

your destruction.” Then choose the Lord for your guide. However dark or stormy the passage may be, yet know to your comfort and joy, that it is an infallible Pilot who has under

taken to conduct you through all its dangers, that the winds and the waves obey his voice, and that he will bring you at last into the wished-for haven. Amen.

SERMON VIII.

THE LORD, THE GUIDE OF HIS PEOPLE.

PSALM LXXIII. 24.

Thou shalt guide me with thy counsel, and afterward receive me to glory.

IN a former discourse on this text, I showed

you
the
way

in which the Lord conducts and guides his people in their journey through life, viz. by his providence, making all things work together for their good ;—by his word, pointing out the path of duty, as the pillar of cloud and fire directed the march of the Israelites through the wilderness,--and by his Spirit, enlightening their understandings to fulfil whatever his plea

sure is.

But, my friends, the Lord's care of his people does not cease with this present