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thank him for the grace of baptism, and for that good religious education, or that hearty sincere repentance, by which we have been able to cultivate that grace, and for the strengthening and refreshing which our souls receive in the blessed communion; we may thank him for the means of grace provided for us, and the hope of glory set before us; but still we shall be sadly conscious that the seed of all sin is in our hearts; so that if we had been less favorably situated,— less carefully educated, less strongly supported, regenerated, renewed by supernatural grace,—if more strongly tempted, there are few sins that we might not have committed. Yes, it requires but little self-examination and self-knowledge to see that we are shapen in iniquity and conceived in sin; but little of sensibility to reflect with horror on what, without a providential concurrence of circumstances, and the constant support of grace, we might have been, and what, if that grace were withdrawn, we might be. I say not that we should all have been guilty of all kinds of sin, but by one besetting sin we should

all have been hurried into misery. Where there is not lasciviousness, there may be pride; where not cruelty, avarice; and even when we have overcome our greater corruptions, still there are what are called "sins of daily incursion"; those innumerable offences of which the very best of men are guilty, and which, however trifling they appear, may nevertheless be destructive; just as a ship may be sunk by a weight of sand, not less than by a weight of iron. Of these sins, the more we grow in grace the more sensible we become, the more ready to exclaim, "A Saviour, or I die! a Redeemer, or I perish!"

The true Christian will be thus continually humbling himself to the very dust, pulling down every high look and every proud thought, on the one hand, only to elevate himself, on the other, by the blessed conviction that he has a Saviour, that he has a Redeemer, "Jesus Christ the righteous," who says of himself, "I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the ending, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty."

SERMON III.

GOD'S WAY OF ANSWERING PRAYER.

ACTS, xxviii. 30, 31.

"And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him, preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him."

THE character of St. Paul is one which will bear the strictest investigation. The more we search into the history of his life and conversation, the more we are struck with its conformity to that of his Divine Master, "who went about doing good." This is a summary of his conduct; and that, under every circumstance into which he was thrown.

In the passage I have read to you as my text, he is set before us in the character of a

prisoner at Rome. Had he been an hireling who cared not for the sheep, or one who sought his own worldly ease and indulgence, he would have claimed, in his present calamitous condition, at least the liberty of resting from his labors. On the contrary, he is, even then, the zealous minister and tender shepherd of the flock; admitting to his house all who were anxious to receive instruction from his lips;

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preaching the kingdom of God, and teaching those things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ, with all confidence, no man forbidding him."

My object, however, in the selection of the text, is not so much to afford myself an opportunity of describing the character of St. Paul, or of stating the subject of his preaching, as to exemplify, by means of his case, the manner in which God hears and answers the prayers of his people. To set the matter in the clearest light, I shall make three observations on this portion of his history, and shew,

I. that GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYER:

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I. GOD HEARS AND ANSWERS PRAYER.

The short historical event recorded in the

text was an answer to a prayer time before by the apostle Paul.

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That prayer will be found recorded in the first chapter of his epistle to the Romans. I will just remind you of the circumstances which gave occasion to it.

In consequence of a violent persecution which had taken place at Jerusalem, several of the apostles and first disciples of our Lord had been scattered abroad into different nations of the earth; and some of them had travelled as far as Rome; where they preached the gospel with considerable success. A church in consequence was formed there, which was eminent, not merely for its numbers, but for the piety and Christian graces of its professors. To such a degree indeed did these graces grow, that its faith was spoken of throughout the world.

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