meekness, and kindness of heart, and purity of thought, and innocence of manners ;-yet I would avail myself of this solemn occasion to set these promises still more fully, if possible, before you; and to press them upon your faithful observance by all those motives, which are so abundantly furnished in the Gospel of Christ for our encouragement in well-doing.

You are on the point of taking on yourselves these promises: the solemn act will in a few moments have been ratified in the presence of the Church, between God and yourselves; your word will have been passed; the covenant will have been sealed; the contract will have been registered in earth and in heaven. I am assured that you will listen attentively to what I say; for who, when he is about to make a promise, would wilfully be ignorant of any one particular by which he is to bind himself? You will listen seriously, for does it not concern the salvation of your souls? You will listen readily, for I comfort myself with the thought that you are fully convinced I have but one end in view, which is the promotion of your good, out of affection to your souls, and for the peace and welfare of that community in which, if it pleases God to preserve your lives, you will have to dwell.

The promises which were made in your names at Baptism, and which you are now assembled publicly to take on yourselves at Confirmation,

are divided into three distinct heads: These, for shortness-sake, may be thus enumerated :

Renunciation of sin,

Faith, and

The Obedience of a holy life.

The answer which in the Catechism you are directed to give, is more full: in that you are taught what sin is; in what articles you must believe; and in what a holy life consists. In considering these three brief heads, into which we have divided the baptismal promises, we will take this answer in the Catechism for our guide. What is it then1st, To renounce sin?

It is to renounce the devil and all his works, the pomps and vanity of this wicked world, and all the sinful lusts of the flesh."

St. John viii. 44.

The devil, we are told by our most blessed Lord, is the father of lies, and a murderer from the beginning. He deceived our first parents; and his constant wish and endeavour is to deceive us. But thanks be to the mercy of God in Christ Jesus, he cannot deceive us, if we do not give ourselves up to him ; he has no power over us but what we give him : "God will never suffer us to be tempted above that we are able" to bear, unless, in our folly and waywardness of heart, and lustful dispositions, we are resolved to take the heavy burthen of sin upon ourselves.

1 Cor. x. 13.

us.

St. James, iv. 7.

If we resist the devil," the Scripture tells us," he will flee from We cannot see him any more than we can behold the angels who are "sent

Heb. i. 14.

forth to minister to them that are

heirs of salvation;" but of the latter we are assured, that they minister for our good, as of the former,

2 Cor. ii. 11.

destruction.

:

that he is wholly employed in com

passing, if possible, our everlasting

What

Shall we suffer him to seduce us to ruin? are his works? His first and greatest attempt is to draw souls away from Christ; to estrange those whom God has adopted for His own; to quench the Holy Spirit within them; to habituate them to sin, and thus to " separate between them and their God." As long as, through God's assisting grace, we keep our baptismal vow, we are safe in Christ he would tempt us, therefore, to break that vow, that we may fall from the grace in which we stand; he would suggest doubts within us of the truth of religion, or debase it by the admixture of many corrupt opinions, or introduce superstitious practices, which have their foundation in, or necessarily lead to, a practical disbelief of God's general and effective Providence; or he would weaken our sense of virtue, and magnify the weight of custom; or lower the extent and authority of God's written word, and endeavour to break down every barrier which the mercy of God has

opposed, for our preservation, to the inroads of sin. He is altogether opposed to God. As children therefore of God, as soldiers of his beloved Son, as saints through the sanctification of the Spirit, we can hold no parley with him; we cannot treat with him; he is the enemy of God and man. We must pray against him, we must strive against him, we must renounce him, and all his works, and the company of all those unhappy persons, who by their wilful continuance in sin are doing his work on earth. With such we must not associate on any terms of friendship. In this sense we are to take the words of the Apostle, "The friendship of

the world is enmity against God."

St. James iv. 4.

The world is the next object of renunciation: not the material world-the heavens and the earth, in which we are living-for this we cannot renounce but by going out of it; and God himself has placed us in it; and till He calls us away in His own good time by death, we must remain in it, and perform the duties expected from us in our passage through it. Neither by the world are we to understand the honest and useful employments of it, nor what is innocent and good in it, and calculated to promote our own happiness, and the happiness of others, without endangering our piety and virtue. But by the world we are here to understand what the aged Apostle understood and denounced. "The lust of the flesh, the lust of the eye, and the

1 St. John ii. 16, 17.

pride of life;" or what in the Catechism is called "the pomps and vanity of this wicked world"-all that over fondness for outward distinction-all that display in our dress and mode of living—all those notions of our consequence, which are unworthy of those who are persuaded that this "world shall pass away and the fashion thereof;" and that, whether this event be near or distant, yet that from each of us individually death can never be very far off, which will put an end at least to all our worldly prospects of honour, wealth, and pleasure.

The third subject of renunciation is the sinful lusts of the flesh; these we carry with us: the retirement which shuts out the world, still leaves the soul open to the rush of evil thoughts and affections! Our hearts are so corrupt, through the fall of Adam, and so inclined to evil, that we can never, without great danger, slumber on our spiritual watch. Whether we are in the world or out of it; whether we are in company or in solitude; we have still an enemy within us to contend with. The flesh lusteth against

Gal. v. 17. the Spirit" of God, and is ever ready to indulge itself in defiance of God's express commands. But what! is there any thing so dear to us, as that gracious Being who made, redeemed, and sanctified us? Can there be any honor like unto that which cometh from the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Is there any wealth