can only judge from appearances, but the latter knoweth the secret counsels of the heart.

God, therefore, is the Lord OUR GOD, by a more excellent covenant or engagement than he was theirs, as we see proved by St. Paul (Heb. viii. 6-8), in the following passage: In that Christ hath obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the Mediator of a better covenant, which was established in better promises. And to confirm this doctrine, the Apostle repeats, from the Prophet Jeremiah (xxxi. 31), Behold, the days come (saith the Lord) when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; as is expressed and continued to the end of the chapter, which concludes with the same positive injunction of, KNOW the Lord.

Further, it is more binding upon us, because God has brought us out of that slavery, of which the Jews' Egyptian bondage was but a type or prefiguring sign (Luke, i. 69); for, he hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David; (72), to perform the mercy promised to our forefathers, and to remember his holy covenant, (73), the oath he sware unto our father Abraham, (74, 75), that he would grant us, that we, being delivered out of the hands of our spiritual enemies, might serve him without fear, in holiness and righteousness before him, all the days of our life.

Again, he has prepared for us an inheritance in heaven, to which surely their land of Canaan is nothing worthy to be compared; and of which, in truth, it was only a figure. In short, for God's own wise reasons, from the peculiar character of this people to whom he thought it proper to make the law a schoolmaster, and until the fulnesss of time was come, when he saw it good to send his Son into the world, the outward commandment was alone appointed for the training up the Israelites in the knowledge and fear of the Lord. Outward and particular atonements were appointed for the occasional breach of it. But when faith and truth were preached by Jesus Christ, that is, when the pure spirit of the law was explained to Christians, then, that which was old was done away; the law of ordinances was abolished, but not the righteousness or fulfilling of the law, which is through faith.

The full meaning, then, of all this first commandment is, that we should have the Lord for our God, and that we should have no other beside him.

We will now inquire, first, what it is to have the Lord for our God; and, secondly, how our case differs from that of the Jews, in one sense of the commandment, that is, in having no other God beside him. To abide by the commandment in its primitive sense, is first to think

of God, and then to worship and serve him as God. I shall confine myself chiefly, in this Discourse, to the benefit of keeping a due sense of God's presence in our minds; reserving the explanation of the several branches of our duty to him, for that particular part of the Catechism where they are more expressly specified; not but that this examination would come in very properly here, but I rather choose to follow the exact order of the words of the Catechism, as this duty cannot be repeated too often, or enforced too strongly.

Now, we have the highest authority for principally observing and making ourselves perfectly acquainted with this fundamental law of all religion: Christ our Lord calling it THE To think of,

FIRST AND GREAT COMMANDMENT.

and believe in God, which are much the same thing, is the only sure way to obtain all saving knowledge, and secure an eternal shield of defence from every harm. The soundest divines place the very essence of religion in the contemplation of the Deity; in always considering ourselves as in his presence: and it must be the surest and most effectual rule; for as in Him we live, move, and have our being; as the riches of eternity must consist in admiring his power, wisdom, and goodness; the more we abstract or wean ourselves from the attractive temptations of this world, and accustom our

selves to heavenly meditations; or, in the Apostle's words, the more we place our affections on things above, not on things on the earth, we shall daily become less liable to be tempted and hurt by the vain and unsatisfying baubles of this perishable state, and become better prepared for that, where He dwells who is our principle of a life of holiness, while here, and through whom alone we can be admitted into a life of glory.

The manner in which we ought to think of this great Being, must be obvious to every sincere Christian. I shall not, therefore, enter into any deep reasoning upon the nature and existence of God, which, however plain, satisfactory, and perhaps proper, for educated and reasoning minds, can be of little profit to the lower orders of the community. With a view, indeed, of rendering these Lectures as universally useful and perfect as my abilities and studies would allow, I ventured, in the beginning of them, to adopt this mode of instruction concerning the being and attributes of God, upon the received opinion of the most learned and holy writers, as opportunity presented itself in due order, under the first article of the Creed; so that I shall now content myself with only saying, that if we truly and uniformly consider the GREAT JEHOVAH as an eternal and all-perfect Being, the Maker and Preserver of all

things, and our most gracious and merciful Father, in and through his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, these notions will abundantly excite that principle before mentioned-humble gratitude. This will prevent our straying from him, and will keep us always under the shadow of his wings.

Let us then dwell a little (my brethren) on this grand preservative and promoter of the bounden duty here before us.

God is invisible-incomprehensible. No man can see him and live, as a human creature; but if we search after him, we shall behold him throughout all nature: nay more, we shall feel him the very life and comfort of our souls; for what is the best part of us but the breath of his Spirit? The body shall return to dust, whence it was taken; but the spirit shall return unto the Lord who gave it. Whether we view him in the marvellous and beautiful order of his works, or as our Shepherd who leads the hungry souls of the godly into fresh pastures of improvement, how does it call forth our praise and duty to so wise and good a Being? When we consider the astonishing mazes of his divine providence; how he hath protected us from our mother's womb; his long suffering with our innumerable provocations; the grace of sparing us, to repent of our abominable transgressions; the multiplied acts of mercy he bestows on his