DISCOURSE III. 557 concerns of religion, anda life to come. Then the sacred truths and duties of christianity shall be impressed deep on my memory, and written there as with a pen of diamond, never to be 'blotted out. O may the warm passions melt my soul to tenderness, and make me susceptive of every holy impression ! May this heart of mine, this table of stone, be softened by devout affection, till all the necessary and important parts of religion are written there in lasting characters ! May my heart, O Lord, receive the stamp of thy gospel with all its sacred lineaments, till I am be- come a new creature, transformed into the image of the Son of God? " How easy will all, the duties of holiness become, and all my temptations to sin how weak and ineffectual, if the passionate powers of my nature are warmly engaged for God? " How delightful and pleasant shall I then find even the difficult practi- ces of religion ! How hateful will every sin be in my eyes, and how painful to my heart, when divine love as a sovereign has taken possession of it, and set all the train of affections at work there in its own service! No more shall I complain of weari- ness, or be tired of religious worship : I shall say in my heart no more, when will the sabbath be over ? Nor cut short my prayers and meditations, to gratify the flesh and obey its corrupt influ- ence. If I am winged with holy passion I shall climb over mountains of difficulty in my way to heaven, or remove hills of temptation that 'obstruct my course: Divine love, as well as faith, can remove mountains. " O how happy shall I be when all my passions are sancti- fied. Theyhave been, and I mourn to speak it, they have been wretched engines of mischief in the hand of sin and Satan : Theyhave defiled my soul shamefully; they have broken the law of my God ; they have abusedhis grace and his gospel, dis- honoured mySaviour, and grieved his holy Spirit. Wherí shall these powers of my nature be rescued from their sinful slavery, and be devoted to purposes divine and heavenly ? O that my fear and my love, my anger, and my desire, my grief and my joy, were all pointed to their proper objects, that they might 'never more break out in an unruly manner to dishonour God, or to awaken sharp anguish in my own conscience ! I would watch, I would pray, I would labour, and wrestle day and night against the body of sin that dwells in me. O for the sovereign influence of almighty grace, to correct all the disorders of my soul, and to turn every passion of my nature into a principle of holiness! Let the blessed gospel of Christ obtain this triumph over me: Let the gospel subdue these rebellious powers to the obedience of my Lord and Saviour : May the gospel have the glory of so divine a change!
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