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manded you to "train them up in his nurture and admonition?" In sovereignty the Lord may "pluck them as brands out of the burning, and make them monuments of his grace; but if your duty is neglected, you have neither reason nor scripture to expect it. I might call you to habituate your offspring to the ordinances of God, from a regard even to their temporal respectability and happiness.-Are any lessons on morality which you can give, which are taught them in the common schools, or from the heathen philosophers so well calculated to form them virtuous men or useful citizens, as those which are derived from the glorious gospel? Dare you compare the ribaldry of a Paine with the heavenly principles of a Solomon in his proverbs, or a Paul and Peter in their epistles? Examine, in all its parts, his Age of Reason, which may more justly be called the essence of corruption and buffoonery, and see whether he affords precepts either so pure in their nature or so weighty in their obligation, to qualify them for filling with propriety the different stations of life-for rendering them obedient children, dutiful parents, amiable citizens, or useful magistrates.

To all these I may add a concern for your neighbors around you, as another argument urging you to reverence the sanctuary. Every man is in some measure "his brother's keeper, and ought by precept and example to aim at promoting his welfare.

Are you not influenced in some degree by the conduct of others? When you observe them cold and indifferent about their spiritual concerns, do you not feel a secret temptation to imitate their conduct? Others will as probably be influenced by your example; and thus through this treacherous neglect, not only your own souls may be lost, but others led to everlasting ruin, through the influence of your example.

Thus have I addressed you, in this familiar manner, on the importance of attending gospel ordinances. You appear obligated to this duty by considerations no less than the authority of the great God, gratitude to the divine Redeemer, the welfare of your own souls and the souls of your children and others. Are you convinced of their importance, and resolved to yield to these admonitions, or are you starting objections to justify your present neglect?

1. You may possibly object, that your residence is distant from the place of worship; that the necessities of your family require unwearied labor through the week; that you have no comfortable conveyance, and owing to the fatigue of hard labor, are unable to walk.

This objection I should scarcely have expected from any who believe the worth of the soul, an approaching judgment, or endless eternity. What, can you labor six days in providing for your bodies, and not even a part of the seventh in promoting the salva

tion of the soul? Can you encounter the toil of thirty, or forty, or fifty miles in going to market, to procure things temporal, and shrink from two, or three, or four, to the sanctuary, for providing things eternal? Will you thus eagerly "labor for the meat that perisheth," and utterly neglect that "which endureth to everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give?"

But not to mention your spiritual interest, which might be promoted, does not gratitude to your great Benefactor call for this small acknowledgment of his authority ?-Who supports you in life, while multitudes are daily consigned to the silence of the grave? Who imparts to you health of body, while others around you languish in affliction, or who crowns with success the labors of the week? Do you not live, and breathe, and move in God, and is not every enjoyment a stream from his bounty? Thus highly favored of him through the week, is the employment unreasonable, is the task intolerable to repair on the sabbath to the sanctua ry for celebrating the memory of his goodness? Or,

2. You may object that your condition is indigent; with much difficulty you can provide the necessaries of life, and are unable to dress yourselves or your children in a manner decent for appearing in public.

To this I might reply, that the "Lord seeth not as man seeth ; man looketh to the outward appearance, but the Lord look

eth to the heart." It is not a splendid outside, a body richly adorned, which receives the divine approbation, but the soul sanctified by his grace, resting on his righteousness, thirsting for his communion. Besides, it is to such that the promise is more immediately directed. "To the poor the gospel is preached." Not many wise men, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom." To shew his utter contempt of all human glory, it was with the externally obscure and indigent, that the great God our Saviour usually associated on earth; and to such his salvation is yet more generally bestowed. If you, therefore, cannot recommend your children by outward pomp and grandeur, be the more industrious to have them adorned with the brighter and more unfading beauties of holiness: If you cannot promise them the wealth of this world, be more anxious to secure for them the better inheritance of immortal life. Never be ashamed to serve God with such raiment as his providence affords you.-As the rich man should not glory in his riches, neither should the poor man be ashamed of his poverty. Or,

3. Do you object that occasionally you have attended the preaching of the gospel, but without any sensible advantage; you feel no greater love to God, nor pleasure in discharging the duties of religion; you have obtained no satisfactory assurance of pardon VOL. 3.

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or salvation, and are therefore discouraged from attending?

To attend the means of grace, without receiving any saving advantages from them, is reason of regret and humiliation, but will by no means justify you in the utter neglect. In temporal affairs, if the first attempt be unsuccessful, we repeat and redouble our exertions. Because the prospects of the husbandman have been frequently blasted by untimely frosts, or any other accident, does he pass a sullen resolution to cease from farther attempts: does he fold his arms in sloth, and conclude, if I perish, I perish? Rather does not a sense of his wants rouse him to greater exertion? Thus should we also persevere in spiritual concerns. A mere peradventure that the Lord will be gracious is sufficient encouragement for a patient and persevering attention to the means. Although in several instances the ordinance has been ineffectual, who knows but on the next occasion, it may become the power of God to your salvation. Frequently did the woman of Canaan address the compassionate Jesus in behalf of her daughter: she prosecuted her appeal with many arguments from her own necessities, and his infinite fulness. Long did the venerable Jacob urge his plea with the redeeming angel, and resolve not to let him go without the blessing: Thirtyeight years did the diseased man wait at the pool without any apparent advantage; but although their patience was long tried, and

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