object of a Christian's prayer was to inform the Almighty of the Christian's dangers, difficulties, and temptations. If the sole ground and motive of the sinner's application to God was, that he might make the Creator acquainted with the situation of the creature, of which he supposed him to be before ignorant, no doubt it would be proper to suggest to such a man that he gains nothing by this practice; that it is all lost labour, so far as he may hope to communicate any new information to God respecting either the present or the future. But admitting this, it will by no means thence follow that secret prayer and supplication to God may be safely given up, by any one who has a due regard to the salvation of his soul for it has been answered again and again, that the reason for prayer to God is, not to inform Him of what passes on earth, but to cultivate and exercise a right temper in the heart of the person that prays. Moreover, independently of any reason, prayer is an express command. We are ordered to seek salvation, if we would be saved; and steady, well-informed prayer, is one of the very best methods of seeking salvation. Still further wherever God gives us a command, it

must not be looked on as a thing in which we may be negligent, careless, slothful; as a thing that may be observed only now and then, or when we happen to have particular leisure: we must devote ourselves to the observance of his commands; we must not only seek, but strive, to enter in at the strait gate. God has bestowed salvation upon men in such a way as should stir them up to a diligent use of their faculties; and in this view, secret prayer is a matter of the utmost consequence, and never to be omitted, for any time together, without great danger to men's spiritual

concerns.

The other method by which men deceive themselves as to this duty is, that they suppose the Christian life is easily attained by any man, as far as it can be necessary; that the use of his own faculties is abundantly sufficient for the practice of all Christian duties in any person's case; and that, therefore, we always have it in our own power to make up, as it were, for any deficiencies of which we may have been guilty; and that this consideration must very much lessen the necessity of repeated applications at the Throne of Grace to obtain spiritual help in time of need.

Both these systems of self-deceit do in fact proceed upon the same idea-viz. that the salvation of the soul is a trifling concern. They differ in degree, rather than in their nature and quality. The first makes little or nothing to be necessary' to ensure salvation: it makes the danger of losing the soul little or nothing. The second admits there may be something to do, but not much; and that that which is requisite, may be done with little trouble: our natural faculties are abundantly sufficient for the purpose.

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Brethren, this is the very method which our grand spiritual enemy, the devil, often takes, with the intention of ruining our immortal souls. He flatters men that the service of religion is an easy service, a trivial sort of business, which may be managed at any time; and by such views and considerations he emboldens them to defer the most important of all undertakings. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find," says the Scripture: Satan suggests, "What can there be to ask for? You know what you have to do, and you are able to do it. And why and where are you to seek? your duty is plain: it is easy and pleasant." But, happily, there is still left so much light

in men's understandings, darkened as they are by the Fall, and so much sensibility in their consciences (that faculty which I think, of all others, has suffered the least by original sin), that the minds of men are not always to be quieted by these impure and mischievous suggestions. Sometimes from bodily pain and distress, sometimes from internal anxieties of soul that admit of no distinct explanation, it happens that men's minds are affected with serious apprehensions of an awful prospect in the next world, and with afflicting reflections concerning those untried scenes where are the righteous on the right hand and the wicked on the left; and not unfrequently, men's consciences, that have been long at ease, are visited in an unexpected manner-perhaps in the night season: as in the Book of Job; "Fear came upon me (when deep sleep falleth on men), and trembling which made all my bones to shake, and the hair of my flesh stood up." Now, in such cases men are frequently driven to make resolutions of amending their conduct in future: they will break off their sins, they will give themselves up to the business of religion, they will comply with God's commands, and are determined to

serve him in holiness and righteousness for the remainder of their lives. But remember, that at no time more than in seasons of this kind do men stand in need of Divine instruction, to be sought for and obtained by asking, seeking, and knocking at the Throne of Grace: for this is the very moment in which the artful tempter successfully changes his ground, and has recourse to the opposite system of temptation and attack. The business of religion he now no longer represents as a trifling, frivolous concern, that calls for little thought, and no anxiety; but, on the contrary, as a thing beset with difficulties, a frightful undertaking, an insupportable bondage, inconsistent with the comforts and pleasures of life, and very doubtful and uncertain as to its issue. He would insinuate, that you may harass and tease yourself all your life, and lose your soul at last on account of an unfortunate and involuntary error. He would have you abandon so unnatural a system: "Eat and drink, for to-morrow you die: enjoy what is to be had in this world: leave the next world out your thoughts for the sake of the present; and when you can make no more of this world and its

of

pleasures it will be soon enough to quit them, and