message of mercy, or of the diligent use and improvement of those institutions which the Saviour has appointed for the prosperity of his church. It must not supersede a conviction on the part of ministers of Christ, that in order to revive his cause they must preach his truth with increased simplicity and fidelity-with more pointed and searching appeals to the judgment, the conscience, and the affections of men--with more of apostolic earnestness-with more of that solemn impression of the responsibility attaching to their office, and of the worth of immortal souls, and the prospect of a coming eternity, which made an apostle exclaim, Who is sufficient for these things? Nor must it supersede on the part of Christians generally, whether in public or private stations in the church, a steadfast attachment to the institutions of Christ-a sedulous discharge of the duties which they owe in their connexion with his church, and in the domestic and social relations of life-and a readiness to devote time, and labor, and property to every means of Christian usefulness that comes within their reach. But while all this must be admitted, and not only admitted, but kept most prominently in view, we must observe, that there is need at all times, and especially in the present state of the Christian world, to direct the serious attention of the people of God to the duty of abounding in prayer for the pouring forth of the influences of the Spirit. This ought not to be kept in the back ground because it is not in Scripture so prominent as the doctrine of the cross, for it does hold a very conspicuous place there. It influenced the whole measures and spirit of Christ's first disciples; and it cannot be neglected by us without the deepest injury to personal religion, and the most serious loss to the cause of God. The inculcation of it is necessary to the personal spiritual prosperity of Christians. There is a possibility, my brethren, of putting even the doctrine of the cross out of its proper place in the business of personal and social religion. This is done when it is made the subject of attention to the exclusion of those views of truth which are necessary in order to the cultivation of the habit of devout dependence on God for his gracious teaching. In order to growth in knowledge and love, there must be habitual waiting upon God, with earnest prayer for his enlightening and quickening grace, as well as intellectual contemplation of the objects of divine knowledge: and Christian instruction will fail in promoting the vitality of true religion in proportion as devout dependence upon God is not earnestly cultivated. When we forget this, we put ourselves in the place of God as to one essential part of our salvation; and surely the spirit of pharisaic pride may be as offensively indulged, in trusting to ourselves in the work of sanctification, as by self-righteous confidences in the work of justification. When we forget this, we withdraw ourselves from those life-giving influences in which our spiritual being originated, and by which alone it can be sustained. When we forget this, our study of divine truth degenerates into vain speculation; and our knowledge may be expected to puff us up with complacency in ourselves and contempt of others, instead of leading to sanctifying communion with God, conformity to Christ, and zealous, self-denied activity for the advancement of his cause. Oh how much is there among us of evangelical preaching and doctrinal knowledge compared with the living exhibitions of practical piety and pure and undefiled religion ! Without an increase of personal religion among the members of the professing church of Christ, it is impossible that any rapid or remarkable extension of that church can take place. So long as there is much of barren speculation instead of personal devotedness and prayer— so long as we are overrun with conformity to this present world in its fashions, its maxims, and its spirit-with that love of ease which declines all arduous exertions in the cause of Christ-with that proneness to worldly indulgence which refuses any sacrifice that calls for a perceptible retrenchment on the means of pleasure-with many of those works of the flesh by which the Spirit of God is grieved and the character of true Christianity misrepresented-so long the most effectual means of commending the truth to the world have no existence, and those which are employed must want that abundant blessing from Heaven which is indispensable to prosperity. In order to the abundant success which we desire, it is necessary that the gospel should not only be preached in discourses from the pulpit and treatises from the press-not only held up to view in the various plans of religious institutions and the operations of their various agencies-but above all, recommended by the holy conduct and living activities of the whole body of the professing church, in all its connexions with society, and in all the intercourse of its members with unconverted men. If the source and influence of this deficiency be as has been described, how is it to be remedied but by endeavoring, with divine assistance, to urge upon Christians and Christian churches generally the necessity of a revival of personal religion among them; by sending them to the serious examination of their own hearts, to humiliation before God, and to earnest prayer in private and in public, for the communication of more abundant measures of gracious influence from above to themselves, and for the pouring forth of the Spirit of God on their families, and on the churches of Christ, and |