XXIV. Matt. vi. 2. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward. OUR Saviour is here considering the motives of prayer, and ascribing to each motive that return which it must expect. The pious prayer, which is poured out to God in secret, finds its way directly to the throne of grace; while the prayer of the hypocrite meets also with its reward but that reward consists only in the praise of men. Now, what our Saviour observes of prayer, may be observed of every action of our lives in which morality is concerned. It may be dedicated, if I may so speak, either to God or man. An act of temperance, for instance, performed on a principle of pleasing God, becomes an act of reli gion. But if it is performed merely for the sake of procuring health and spirits, the motive is not bad, and it may still have its reward; but it is a reward of a lower kind. It may procure us health and spirits, but it has no connexion with religion. Thus, again, when a man behaves decently merely for the sake of his character, the motive is allowable; but there is no religion in it. Nothing will be carried to a religious account but what proceeds from a religious motive. The great conclusion is, that if we could persuade ourselves to make all our actions in which morality is concerned, acts of religion, as well as acts of prudence, they might receive, at the same time, both their heavenly and their earthly reward. XXV. Psalm ciii. 13. Like as a father pitieth his own children; so is the Lord merciful to them that fear him. THE justice and mercy of Almighty God are those attributes with which our future hopes and fears are most concerned; and the great danger lies in resting on the latter, without paying a sufficient attention to the former. But yet, on the other hand, many a pious soul, full of sensibilities, may be more dejected with the fears of the Almighty's justice than it reasonably need be. Far should I be from suggesting false hopes to any person on a subject so near him as the salvation of his soul; and, to say the truth, it is a more dangerous dangerous extreme to indulge false hopes than false fears. Yet, when we see pious people making their lives miserable with fears, which seem to have no foundation in religion, we cannot help, in Christian charity, endeavouring to administer some comfort to them. Now, the text I have just read, and many other passages of a similar kind, may be offered as cordials to a mind thus distempered with superstitious fears. From such passages we may speak in this language: Consider how you yourself would act as a father. If your son's filial piety, in the general conduct of his life, led him to be affectionate and obedient to you; though he might, in some instances, either not comprehend your meaning, or be somewhat remiss in his observance of it, would not you be inclined to pass over such negligences, if you saw plainly, that, in his general conduct, he endeavoured to please you, and was always hurt when he found he had displeased you? Can you conceive, then, that the God of mercy will treat you with less kindness than you would treat your son?- God calls himself our Father. Our blessed Saviour, in the prayer he has given VOL. III. BB us. us for daily use, enjoins us to call God our Father and shall not we believe he will act like a Father? Are we to suppose he is a mere nominal Father, without the affections of one? It is, in a degree, impious to believe it. It is calling God's word in question. If, then, you are conscious that you live in the habitual practice of no known sinif you feel that, in the general conduct of your life, you are desirous to please God, and always hurt when you do any thing that you think will displease him, why may you not trust his mercy with your salvation? The merits of Christ are of no avail, if they do not atone for those ignorances and negligences, which are inherent in human nature. Like as a father, therefore, pitieth his own children; so is the Lord merciful to them that fear him. Pity and mercy belong to failings. If we had no failings, we should want neither. |