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were created and redeemed for
the sole purpose of praising and glorifying our Creator; and if we refuse or
neglect to do this, we transgress the great law of creation, frustrate the end
of existence, leave unperformed the work for which we were made, and do all in
our power to prove that we were created in vain; and to cause God to repent of
having made us. Should the sun refuse to shine: should the showers refuse to
descend; should the earth refuse to bring forth food; or should trees in a
fruitful soil continue barren—would you not say that it was contrary to nature
and to the design of their creation; and that since they no lodger fulfilled
this design, they might properly be reduced to nothing again? And do you not see
that while you refuse to praise God, your conduct is equally unnatural, and that
you may justly be made the monuments of his everlasting displeasure ? What would
only be unnatural in inanimate creatures, is the height of folly and wickedness
in us; because we are capable of knowing our duty, and are under innumerable
obligations to practice it. Let the sun then refuse to shine, the showers to
descend, and the earth to be fruitful; but let not rational creatures refuse to
praise their Creator, since it is the purpose for which they were created.