company, and in the most excrutiating pain; who opposeth to all these the buzz of amusements, the hurry of company, gaming at home or diversions

abroad.

Study all these characters, my brethren, lay aside the specious appearances that men use to conceal their turpitude from themselves, and ye will find that, to dare the Deity, to pretend by superior knowledge and strength to resist the wisdom and omnipotence of God, is not so rare a disposition as ye may at first have supposed.

Let us abhor this disposition of mind, my brethren; let us entertain right notions of sin; let us consider him who commits it as a madman, who hath taken it into his head that he hath more knowledge than God the fountain of intelligence, more strength than he beneath whose power all the creatures of the universe are compelled to bow. When we are tempted to sin, let us remember what sin is: Let each of us ask himself, What can I, a miserable man mean? Do I mean to provoke the Lord to jealousy? Do I pretend to be stronger than he? Can I resist his will? Shall I set briars and thorns against him in battle? He will go through them, he will burn them together, 1 Cor. x. 22. Rom. ix. 19. Isa. xxvii. 5. Let us seek those benefits in a communion with the great God, of which our fanciful passions can only offer the shadows. Let us not pretend to deceive him by the subtilty of our stratagems; but let us endeavour to please him by acknowledging our doubts, our darkness, and our ignorance; the fluc

tuations of our minds about the government of the state, the management of our families, and above all, the salvation of our souls. Let us not appear in his presence boasting of our natural power; but let us present ourselves before him weak, trembling, and undone. By the greatness of his compassion let us plead with him to pity our meanness and missery. Let our supplies flow from the fountains of his wisdom and power; this is real wisdom; may God inspire us with it! This is substantial happiness; may God impart it to us! Amen. To him be honour and glory for ever.

SERMON VI.

The Holiness of God.

LEVITICUS xix. 1, 2.

And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.

I ADDRESS to all the faithful, whom the devotion of this day hath assembled in this sacred place, the command which Moses by the authority of God addressed to all the congregation of Israel. However venerable this assembly may be, to which I am this day called by Providence to preach, it cannot be more august than that to which the Jewish legislator formerly spoke. It was composed of more than eighteen hundred thousand persons. There were magistrates appointed to exercise justice, and to represent God upon earth. There were priests and Levites, consecrated to the worship of God, and chosen by him to signify his will to the church. There were various ranks and degrees of men proportional to so great a multitude of people. God had given particular laws before, which were adapted to their different ranks, and to their various circumstances. But this is a general law: a law which

equally belongs to magistrates, priests, and Levites: a law which must be observed at all times, and in all places. This is the law of holiness; Speak unto all the congregation of the children of Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy: for I the Lord your God am holy.

I repeat it again, my brethren, I address to all the faithful, whom the devotion of this day hath assembled in this sacred place, the same precept that God commanded Moses to address to all the congregation of Israel. The law of holiness, which I preach today, commands you our supreme governors. Arbiters of your own laws, ye see no mortal upon earth to whom ye are accountable for your conduct, but there is a God in heaven, whose creatures and subjects ye are, and who commands you to be holy. The law of holiness commands you, priests and Levites of the New Testament. The sacred character, with which ye are invested, far from dispensing with your obligation to holiness, enforceth it on you in a more particular manner. This law commands you all, my dear hearers, of what order, of what profession, of what rank soever ye be. If ye be a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a peculiar people, ye ought also to be a holy nation, that ye may shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light, 1 Pet. ii. 9. Whatever prerogative Moses had above us, we have the same law to prescribe to you that he had to Israel, and the voice of heaven saith to us now, as it said once to him, Speak to all the congregation of the children of

Israel, and say unto them, Ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy.

This discourse will have three parts. The term holiness is equivocal, and consequently, the command ye shall be holy, is so. We will endeavour to

fix the sense of the term, and to give you a clear and distinct idea of the word holiness: this will be our

first point.

Holiness, which in our text is attributed to God, and prescribed to men, cannot belong to such different beings in the same sense, and in all respects. We will therefore examine in what sense it belongs to God, and in what sense it belongs to men; and we will endeavor to explain in what respects God is holy, and in what respects men ought to be holy : this will be our second part.

Although the holiness that is attributed to God, differs in many respects from that which is prescribed to men, yet the first is the ground of the last. The connection of these must be developed, and the motive enforced, ye shall be holy for I the Lord your God am holy this shall be our third part. And this is the substance of all that we intend to propose.

I. The term holiness is equivocal, and consequently, the command, ye shall be holy, is so. Let us endeavor to affix a determinate sense to the term, and to give you a clear and distinct idea of the meaning of the word holiness. The original term is one of the most vague words in the Hebrew language. In general, it signifies to prepare, to set apart, to devote. The nature of the subject to which it is ap