greater part of the world should still remain in ignorance and idolatry. Some noble efforts, indeed, have been made; but they are small in number, when compared with the magnitude of the object. And why is it so ? Are the souls of men of less value than heretofore? No. Is Christianity less true or less important than in former ages? This will not be pretended. Are there no opportunities for societies or individuals in Christian nations, to convey the gospel to the heathen? This cannot be pleaded, so long as opportunities are found to trade with them, yea, and, (what is a disgrace to the name of Christians,) to buy them, and sell them, and treat them with worse than savage barbarity! We have opportunities in abundance: the improvement of navigation, and the maritime and commercial turn of this country, furnish us with these; and it deserves to be considered, whether this is not a circumstance that renders it a duty peculiarly binding on us.

The truth is, if I am not mistaken, we wait for we know not what; we seem to think the time is not come, the time for the Spirit to be poured down from on high. We pray for the conversion and salvation of the world, and yet neglect the ordinary means by which those ends have been used to be accomplished. It pleased God, heretofore, by the foolishness of preaching, to save them that believed; and there is reason to think it will still please God to work by that distinguished means. Ought we not, then, at least, to try, by some means, to convey more of the good news of salvation to the world around us, than has hitherto been conveyed? The encouragement to the Heathen is still in force. WHOSOEVER SHALL CALL UPÓN THE NAME OF the Lord, shalL BE SAVED; but how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? and how shall they preach, except they be sent ?

Let it be farther considered, whether it is not owing to this principle, that so few and so feeble efforts are made for the propagation of the gospel in places within our reach. There are many dark places in our own land, places where priests and people, it is to be feared, are alike destitute of true religion, all looking to their own way, every one for his gain from his quarter.

Were every friend of Jesus Christ to avail himself of that liberty which the laws of his country allow him, and embrace every opportunity for the dissemination of evangelical principles, what effects might we hope to see? Were every true minister of the gospel to make a point of preaching, as often as possible, in the villages within his reach; and did those private Christians who are situated in such villages open their doors for preaching, and recommend the gospel by a holy and affectionate behaviour; might we not hope to see the wilderness become as a fruitful field? Surely, in these matters we are too negligent. And when we do preach to the unconverted, we do not feel as if we were to do any good. We are as if we knew not how to get at the hearts and consciences of people. We cast the net, without so much as expecting a draught. We are as those who cannot find their bands in the day of battle; who go forth, not like men inured to conquest, but rather like those inured to defeat. Whence arises all this? Is it not owing, at least a considerable degree of it, to a notion we have, that the time is not come for any thing considerable to be effected?

3. It is this plea that keeps many from a public profession of religion by a practical acknowledgment of Christ. Christ requires of his followers, that they confess his name before men; that they be baptized; and commemorate his dying love in the ordinance of the Supper, Yet there are many who consider themselves as Christians, and are considered so by others, who still live in the neglect of these ordinances. I speak not now of those who consider themselves as having been baptized in their infancy, but of such as admit the immersion of believers to be the only true baptism, and yet do not practise it, nor hold communion with any particular church of Christ. It is painful to think, there should be a description of professed Christians who live in the neglect of Christ's commands. What can be the motives of such neglect? Probably they are various: there is one, however, that must have fallen under your observation; that is, the want of some powerful impression upon the mind, impelling them, as it were, to a compli ance. Many persons wait for something of this sort, and because they go from year to year without it, conclude that the time is not come or that it is not the mind of God that they should comply

with those ordinances; at least, that they should comply with them at present. Impressions, it is allowed, are desirable, provided it be truth or duty that is impressed; otherwise, they deserve no regard: but, be they as desirable as they may, the want of them can never justify our living in the neglect of known duty. Nor are they at all adapted to show us what is duty, but merely to excite to the performance of that which may be proved to be duty without them. We might as well wait for impressions, and conclude, from the want of them, that the time is not come for the performance of other duties, as those of baptism and the Lord's Supper.

Some are kept from a public profession of Christ's name by mere mercenary motives. They have relations and friends that would be offended. The fear of being disinherited, or injured, in some sort, as to worldly circumstances, has made many a person keep his principles to himself, till such time as the party whose displeasure he fears shall be removed out of the way. This is wicked; as it amounts to a denial of Christ before men, and will, no doubt, expose the party, if he die without repentance for it, to being denied by Christ before his Father, at the last day. Lord, said one, I will follow thee, but let me first go and bury my father. -Let me first go and bid them farewell who are at home, says another; Jesus answered, Let the dead bury their dead, follow thou me.-No man having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God.

4. It is this plea that keeps us from a thorough self-examination, and self-denial. The importance of being right in the sight of God, and our liability to err, even in the greatest of all concerns, render a close and frequent inquiry into our spiritual state absolutely necessary: It is a dangerous, as well as an uncomfortable life, to be always in suspense; not knowing what, nor where we are, nor whither we are going. There are seasons, too, in which we feel the importance of such an inquiry, and think we will go about it, we will search and try our ways, and turn from our sins, and walk more closely with God. Such thoughts will occur when we hear matters urged home upon us from the pulpit, or when some affecting event draws off our attention from the present

world, and causes us to reflect upon ourselves for our inordinate anxiety after it. We think of living otherwise than we have done but, when we come to put our thoughts into execution, we find a number of difficulties in the way, which too often deter us, at least, for the present. Here is an undertaking that must first be accomplished, before I can have time; here is also a troublesome affair that I must get through, before I can be composed; and then, here are such temptations that I know not how to get over just now: if I wait a little longer, perhaps they may be removed.' Alas! alas! thus we befool ourselves; thus we defer it to another time, till the impressions on our minds are effaced, and then we are less able to attend to those things than we were at first. As one who puts off the examination of his accounts, and the retrenchment of his expenses, till, all on a sudden, he is involved in a bankruptcy; so do multitudes, in the religious world, neglect a close inspection into the concerns of their souls, till, at length, either a departure from some of the great principles of the gospel, or some foul and open fall, is the consequence.

5. It is this principle that keeps us from preparedness for death, and thus being ready when our Lord shall come. There is nothing that Christ has more forcibly enjoined than this duty: Be ye also ready, for at such an hour as ye think not, the Son of man cometh.What I say unto you I say unto all, watch. Why do we not im mediately feel the force of these charges, and betake ourselves to habitual watchfulness and prayer, and self-denial, and walking with God? Why are we not as men who wait for the coming of their Lord? Is it not from a secret thought, that the time is not come? We know we must die, but we consider it as something at a distance; and thus. imagining that our Lord delayeth his coming, we delay to prepare to meet him, so that when he cometh he findeth us in confusion. Instead of our loins being girt, and our lights burning, we are engaged in a number of plans and pursuits, to the neglect of those things, which, notwithstanding the necessary avocations of life, ought always to engross our supreme attention. Let us next proceed to consider,

II. THE EVIL NATURE, AND DANGEROUS TENDENCY OF THIS PRQ

I need not say much to prove to you that it is a sin. The conscience of every one of you will assist me in that part of the work. It is proper, however, in order that you may feel it the more forcibly, that you should consider wherein its evil nature consists.

1. It is contrary to the tenor of all God's commandments. All through the scriptures we are required to attend to divine things immediately, and without delay. Work while it is called to-day ; the night cometh when no man can work.-To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts.—While ye have light, believe in the light, that ye may be the children of light.-Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest. God not only requires us, in general, to do what we do quickly, but calls us to serve him particularly under those temptations or afflictions which we find placed in our way. The terms of discipleship are, Deny thyself, take up thy cross, and follow me. He does not call upon us to follow him barely when there are no troubles, nor difficulties to encounter, nor allow us, when those difficulties occur, to wait a fairer opportunity; but to take our cross, as it were, upon our shoulders, and so follow him. It would be of use for us to consider every situation as a post in which God has placed us, and in which he calls upon us to serve and glorify him. If we are poor, we are required to glorify God by contentment; if afflicted, by patience; if bereaved, by submission; if persecuted, by firmness; if injured, by forgiveness; or if tempted, by denying ourselves for his sake. Nor can these duties be performed at other times; to put them off, therefore, to another opportunity, is the same thing, in effect, as refusing to comply with them at all.

2. To put off things to another time, implies a lurking dislike to the things themselves. We do not ordinarily do so, except in things wherein we have no delight. Whatever our hearts are set upon, we are for losing no time till it is accomplished. If the people of Judah had had a mind to work, as is said of them on another occasion, they would not have pleaded that the time was not come. Sinful delay, therefore, arises from alienation of heart from God; than which nothing can be more offensive in his sight.