66

formal professors lived in sin, and must have known that they did so, yet they continued to depend on their outward forms, and to approach the bar of God with a lie in their right hands. Alas! how many deceivers live and die deceived, and their fatal mistake is never detected till it is past remedy! Just like the Jews of old, to whom St. Paul thus speaks, Rom. ii. 17. Behold, thou art called a Jew, and restest in the law, and makest thy boast of God, and knowest his will and approvest the things that are more excellent, being instructed out of the law; and art confident that thou thyself art a guide of the blind, a light to them which are in darkness, an instructor of the foolish, a teacher of babes; which hast the form of knowledge and of the truth in the law." These outward things the Jews rested in, presumed upon, and were proud of; while they were ignorant of the spiritual design of their own rites; and many of them so wicked, "that the name of God was blasphemed among the Gentiles" by their sins. They were strangers to that important distinction which the Apostle makes, ver. 28, 29, of that chapter, where he says, "He is not a Jew, which is one outwardly ; neither is that circumcision which is outward in the flesh; but he is a Jew which is one inwardly; and circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit, and not in the letter, whose praise is not of men, but of God." Thus, you see, there is a great difference between outward and inward religion; between the religion of form, and the religion of the heart. What circumcision, sacrifices, and the temple, were to the Jews of old, baptism, the Lord's supper, and public worship are to professing Christians now; and as the ignorant Jews put their trust in their church privileges, so do many nominal Christians now: but if this be all, their praise will not be of God, but of men only.

nor

I

This is evident from our text, in which a claim on Christ, founded on these things, is rejected. never knew you; that is, "I never esteemed or approved of you as my true disciples and servants; will I own or accept you as such. Depart from me: I now banish you from my blessed and glorious presence to everlasting misery and despair, Oh, ye wilful transgressors!" How dreadful will that word Depart be! How did Peter dread the thought of departing from Christ! When, many of his disciples having forsaken him, he said to the apostles, "Will you also go away?" Peter, in the name of the rest, replied, "Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life." A holy soul dreads the idea of departing from Christ by apostacy; but how terrible will it be to hear the great Judge command us to depart! God grant that now we may depart from all iniquity. If there be any iniquity in us which we know not, merciful Saviour, discover it to us, and deliver us from it; and never let us hear thee say, 'Depart from me, ye workers of iniquity." We now proceed to the last and most pleasing part of our subject, and observe, in the

66

Third place, That all true and obedient believers will be admitted into the heavenly kingdom. Here is our Lord's description of them, of every one of them; "He that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." The will of God cannot be known but by his word. The Scriptures are given us on purpose that we may know his will; and there are two principal things in the Scriptures, namely, what we are to believe concerning God, and the duty which he requires of us; or, in other words, Faith and Practice; and both these are equally necessary; for we can never do the will of God in holy obedience without first believing in God through Jesus

Christ; the whole of the Christian religion consisting in this "faith, which worketh by love."

Faith is first necessary in order to obedience; so Christ taught the people who asked him, "What must we do that we may work the works of God?" John vi. 28, &c. "This is the work of God," said he, "that ye believe on him whom he hath sent;" as if he had said, "The great and important duty which I am come to point out to you, and which leads the way to all others, and is necessary to the acceptance of your persons, and of all your obedience, and which, therefore, God commands, approves, and is the author of, is this:-That ye cordially embrace, and yield yourselves up by faith to me, as the true Messiah, the only Mediator, according to the discoveries I make of myself, and the way of salvation by me." And St. John also says, 1 John iii. 23. "This is his commandment: That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ." When people read or hear of the commandments, they think the Ten Commandments only are meant; but this is a great mistake: for the very first business of a poor, guilty, helpless sinner, is to come to Christ for salvation. We are not to suppose that we must first prepare, or make ourselves worthy, by sorrow for sin, purifying our hearts, or reforming our lives, before we may venture to trust in Christ; all these are proper fruits and effects of faith. We must believe in him "who justifieth the UNGODLY," and not think first to make ourselves godly, and then hope in him. Faith is the first work. Look to Jesus. Come to Jesus. Trust in Jesus; and then a good hope of pardoning mercy will incline the heart to love him, and to hate every evil way. We cannot do good works till we are in Christ by faith, any more than the branch of a tree can produce fruit when separate from the stock. Christ is the

vine and we are the branches; and, by virtue of union to him, we become fruitful in every good word and work.

This also is the will of God, even our sanctification. God is holy; therefore must we be holy. We are chosen in Christ unto sanctification and obedience. The Lord gives his people a new heart, upon which he writes his laws, which, through his grace, become pleasant to them. Being crucified with Christ, the old man of sin is crucified. They reckon themselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive to God, through Jesus Christ our Lord. The daily inquiry of a newborn soul is, "Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?"

-"Teach me to do thy will, for thou art my God.""I will run in the way of thy commandments, when thou shalt enlarge my heart." And this disposition will show itself in all the relations and circumstances of life; in the family, in business, and in all common actions, as well as in the house of God. Whether we are husbands, wives, children, servants, or subjects, filling up our places to God's glory will be our constant aim. Particularly shall we be desirous to fulfil the royal law of love to our brethren, on which great stress is laid in the New Testament; for the law, as far as it relates to our neighbour, is fulfilled in one word -Love.

Now, persons of this character shall have an abundant entrance into the kingdom and glory of Jesus Christ. While formalists and hypocrites are shut out, the blessed Redeemer will smile upon them, and say, "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:" and he will mention, as the evidence of their election, and fruit of their faith, the acts of Christian love which they performed to their hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, or imprisoned brethren; taking them as kindly as if they had been done to himself; "for, inasmuch as

ye did it to one of the least of these my brethren, ye did unto me." See Matt. xx. 40, &c.

APPLICATION.

And now, my friends, having heard how awful the fate of the formalists and hypocrites will prove at the great day, it surely becomes us seriously to examine of what kind our religion is. It plainly appears, from what has been said, "that the kingdom of God is not in word, but in power," 1 Cor. iv. 20. And as there are many who have the form of godliness, but who deny the power of it, it is most necessary, as we value the salvation of our souls, to determine whether our religion is in form or power, that so we may know whether the great Judge will own or disown us at the last. Consider, therefore, what your religion consists in, and what you depend upon. Is it that you were born and bred a Christian; that you were baptized; that you have gone to church or meeting; that you can say the Creed, the Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments; that you have taken the Sacrament, been sorry for your sins, and do to others as you would be done by? Or that you have done your best, and put your trust in God? Are these your pleas? Is this your religion? Then pardon me if I speak the truth in love, and tell you plainly this will not do. These empty boasts prove that you are a stranger to true heart religion. All these things you may imagine you have done; but, if this be all, it is only crying, Lord, Lord! Had you gone much farther than this, and equalled the Pharisees in their zeal and devotion, all would be insufficient, without a conviction of your sin and misery; a heart humbled for your iniquities; a view of the only way of salvation through Jesus Christ; and that faith in him which purifies the heart,