must still keep it under, or it will soon prevail again, and bear down all before it. On this account, therefore, if you wish to" mortify your members which are upon the earth," and to "abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against your souls;" if you wish to avoid temptations, or to be enabled to resist and overcome them; nothing can be of any service to you, but the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.

4. You need it also for the performance of duty.

Every day brings its duty, and every duty has its difficulty. Even to perform the duties of your common calling with a good conscience, and to God's glory; to provide things honest in the sight of all men, amidst great temptations to the contrary; is more than you can do of yourselves. And as to spiritual duties, till the grace of God has begun a saving change in your souls, there is a total unfitness and incapacity for them: you are, as the Apostle expresses it, "dead in trespasses and sins" (Eph. ii. 1.) As to common actions, there may be life and liveliness enough; you can eat and drink, and buy and sell, with all the dexterity and alertness imaginable but if you are put upon repentance, faith, prayer, or any such spiritual exercise, you are motionless as a statue; you know not how to begin nor how to go on: like those God complains of in the 4th chapter of Jeremiah (ver. 22); "For my people are foolish; they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have no understanding; they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge.' But if you take the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ with you, your work will go on pleasantly. Few were

called to harder service than the Apostle Paul, and yet he went through it all with ease and cheerfulness: " I can do all things," says he," through Christ, which strengtheneth me" (Phil. iv. 13:) and again; I laboured more abundantly than they all: yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me." (1 Cor. xv. 10.) And the same grace that assisted him, will be always ready to assist you.

5. For enabling you to bear and improve trouble:

And trouble, of one kind or another, you must expect, go where you will. Trouble in the way of your calling contrary winds; frequent storms; waiting long before you can get your cargo, and waiting a great deal longer before you can discharge it again; and, after all, working hard,' and risking every thing, for little or no profit. These things may be no small trials of faith and patience. But there are many other troubles, worse than all these, which in a sea-faring life you are exposed to; and to bear them well that is, to bear them patiently, and with an humble submission to the will of God; to bear them so as not to endeavour by any unlawful methods to get rid of them-I say, so to bear trouble, is no such easy matter. If you are merely carnal persons, disappointments will only sour your spirits, and make you toss and fret,

like bullocks unaccustomed to the yoke.". You will quarrel with every one that you think stands in your way; you will quarrel with Providence, and charge God foolishly; because things go cross with you, and he doth not make every thing happen just as you would have it. But the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ would calm your ruffled spirits,

and dispose you to take every thing as it comes, and say,--- It is the will of God, and I am content. He knows what he doth, for "he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in working:" and if he hath been pleased to put me among his children, he will not let me be hurt; he will even cause all things to work together for my good: and therefore, why should I be uneasy, or angry, at the supposed instruments of my trouble? Let me look higher, to the hand that guides and governs all. Fire, and hail, and snow, and vapour, and stormy winds --all fulfil his word; so that, if my troubles were never so many, or never so much greater than they are, I know who sent them, and that reconciles me to them all.'

This is a great attainment. But grace goes further still it will enable you, not only to bear trouble, but to profit by it. We have been ready to think, sometimes, when we have seen persons groaning under heavy and complicated afflictions,

Surely this will do them good. It is impossible but that they must be convinced of the exceeding sinfulness of sin, the emptiness of the world, and the vanity of all creature dependence. Now they cannot help thinking on their ways, and turning their feet unto God's testimonies.' But no such thing. Mere trouble never yet converted one soul, The smart of the rod may draw tears from their eyes, aud some passionate expressions from their lips; but their hearts, like Pharaoh's, still remain un humbled. "Blessed It is God only that can teach to profit.

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is the man whom thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of thy law," (Psalm xciv. 12.) There are many useful lessons to be learnt in the

school of affliction; but you may go there many years, and not learn any thing to purpose, unless Christ be your teacher.-This, then, is another reason why I wish, that, whenever you go abroad, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with you.

6. It is the only thing that can support and com fort you in a dying hour.

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And an awful hour you will find that to be, when it comes, though it may be difficult to make you think so now. Indeed, the truth is, you seldom think of it at all: the business or the gaieties of life so engage and engross your attention, that the gloomy, and (as you suppose) distant, scenes of death are almost forgotten. But if you would al low yourself to think of it seriously even now, it must strike you with some awe. with some awe. To change worlds

to go from places and persons that are endeared by long acquaintance, and to go where you know nobody; and to fix there for ever, whether you like it or not, whether it be a state of the most perfect joy or complete wretchedness;-to know, that when you are once entered either into heaven or hell, you shall go no more out for ever :-Can you think of it at all, and especially can you think of it as near, without a serious concern upon your minds, and wishing that you may die the death of the righteous? But methinks I would fain have you to do something more than wish it, before you go to sea.I do not aim at alarming you with needless, groundless fears; but there can be no impropriety in say ing, that a sea-faring life is a very hazardous one; that you are "in deaths oft." Take the year round, there is scarcely a week---I might say,

scarcely a post--- but brings an account of some ships lost.---But it is possible for a sailor to be drowned without a shipwreck. You can recollect many instances, where one man hath been washed overboard, and the rest preserved. You may be that one! And are you prepared for such a sudden summons? Could you, at so short a warning, be willing to appear before the judgment-seat of Christ, and take your trial for eternity?—I tell you again, you may not all live to come home again; and therefore it is that I so earnestly wish and pray, that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ may be with you: for then die when you will, or die where you will, or (as to external circumstances) die how you will, Christ will take care that your death shall be safe and happy and if I could attend you at that awful hour, I should find you clasping about Jesus, and singing, "Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me. My flesh and my heart faileth; but God is the strength of my heart, and my portion for ever."

II. I shall consider how it appears that the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ is better than any thing that could be wished you.

And here my business lies principally with the parents and friends of those who are going abroad.You are now busy looking up their things, and charging them, 'Be sure you do not forget to take this, and do not forget to take that :' but if you loved them as you ought, this would lie most upon your hearts, and this would be your most frequent and solemn charge to them; My dear child, my dear brother, my dear friend, Be sure you carry the