EXOD. X. 1.-And the Lord said unto Moses, Go in unto Pharaoh : for I have hardened his heart, and the heart of his servants, DISPOSITIONS FOR, AND GROUNDS OF CONFIDENCE IN PRAYER PSALM lxxxvi. 7.--In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee CHRISTIAN COURAGE AND CONSISTENCY. 2 Cor. vi. 14.-Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbe- lievers; for what fellowship hath righteousness with unright- eousness? and what communion hath light with darkness? and EPHES. V. 6. Let no man deceive you with vain words: for CONSTANCY IN OUR CHRISTIAN PROFESSION. 1 TIM. vi. 12.-Fight the good fight of faith; lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good THE CHRISTIAN INTERPRETATION OF SIGNAL CALAMITIES. LUKE xiii. 4.—Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower of Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all JOHN X. 27, 28.-My sheep hear my voice: and I know them; and they follow me. And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish; neither shall any pluck them out of 1 COR. i. 23, 24.-But we preach Christ crucified: unto the Jews a stumbling-block; and unto the Greeks foolishness: but unto 1 Cor. xv. 3.-I delivered unto you first of all, that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins, according to the MATT. xxviii. 19.-Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, bap- tizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of SERMON I. A GODLY DISPOSITION NECESSARY TO THE HEARING OF THE WORD. JOHN VIII. 47. He that is of God, heareth God's words; ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God. THE words of God, here spoken of by our Saviour, are his message of pardon and reconciliation, conveyed to mankind in the Gospel. To hear them, is not merely to receive their sound with the outward ears; but to listen to them with respect; to receive them with meekness; and to embrace them with cordial affection: and to do this, our blessed Lord declares, is the characteristic and privilege of those who are of God; whereas not to hear them, is the mark and misery of those who are not of God. B If there be any words which pretend to be God's words, two duties, of infinite importance to us all, arise out of that fact; first, to hear, that is, to believe and embrace them, upon sufficient evidence of their authenticity; and, secondly, to submit ourselves implicitly to their authority and direction, as to our sentiments, our practice, and our hopes. With respect to the first of these duties, it is evident, that if the words, which we are called upon to hear, be in truth the words of God, it is a question of life and death eternal, whether we hear them or not. God speaks not in vain: the very circumstance of his speaking obliges us to pay attention to what he says; and the not attending to it is a sin, as well as the rejecting, or disobeying of his commands, when they have been heard and understood. It becomes, therefore, a point of the greatest interest and importance to us, to have a right understanding of our Saviour's declaration, He that is of God, heareth God's words. Now it is plain, that the expression, to be of God, means, to be of the children of God: not indeed as having received Jesus Christ, and believed on his name, and having so been adopted into all the privileges of sonship; but his children in disposition; endued by his Spirit with a certain |