"those times of ignorance" when men deformed his worship by the rites of idolatry and superstition; we may, therefore, reasonably conclude that he will not be strict to mark what is done amiss in those dark corners of the earth where the light of his Gospel has not shone, and where, of course, benighted man has no means of knowing, in the full lustre of his attributes, that one living and true God who must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. Nor will God reap where he has not sown -he will not exact from those who sit in darkness, who enjoy only the feeble intimations of his being, worship, and will, discoverable by the obscure lights of tradition, of reason, and of conscience, the same spiritual improvements which he will exact of those who are blessed with the full revelation of his glory in Jesus Christ; and as the virtue of the heathen must necessarily be far inferior to that of the Christian, so, according to the rules of justice, will be his final reward. This is no imputation on God's goodness; he has a just right to do what he will with his own. In the exercise of this right he renders his intelligent creatures capable of different degrees of virtue and happiness. This is no infringement on his goodness, for he deals with them according to the improvement which they make of the advantage that they enjoy. The source of goodness, he diffuses felicity in various degrees through the countless orders of intelligent beings. He thus, powerfully illustrating his glory in the variety of his works, and yet making all his virtuous creatures happy in proportion to their various capacities, establishes his justice. Angels, pure and celestial spirits, are created capable of higher happiness than man; and

even among celestial spirits, as among men, one star differeth from another star in glory. The seraph who bows in adoration near the throne, enjoys fuller communications of the divine glory than the ministering spirit who worships at a humbler distance. God then will accept, through the merits of his Son, those among the heathen who fear him and work righteousness, according to the means which they enjoy and the light which he vouchsafes them. They They are destitute of many advantages which Christians enjoy, in being deprived of that Gospel which would dispel all their darkness, their doubts, and fears, and rendering them capable of higher virtue, would also render them capable of higher bliss; and our exertions should be united with our prayers, that God's "way may be known upon earth, his saving health among all nations."* But to make salvation absolutely impossible to the heathen-to doom them to eternal perdition, because they have not believed in a Saviour who was never made known to them, is no doctrine of our church; for, though she condemns those who assert that men may be saved according to the law which they profess, independently of the merits of Christ, yet, in declaring that he made an atonement for the sins of the whole world, both original and actual, she is of course led to maintain that God is no respecter of persons, but accepts, in every nation, those that fear him and work righteousness.

Another inference from this important truth is, that the guilt of those must be aggravated, and their punishment severe, who, where the Gospel is proclaimed, reject or neglect it.

Psalm lxvii. 2.

Can they plead that, notwithstanding their neglect or rejection of the Gospel, they still fear God and work righteousness! What must be that fear of God which rejects the record that God has given of his Son; which ranks among the tricks of knavery, or the delusions of superstition, those mighty signs and wonders that attested the mission of the Son of God; which hesitates not to brand as an impostor him whom the Father hath.glorified and sent into the world! What must be that righteousness which daringly violates the command of God to believe on his Son; which disclaims those exalted means of piety and virtue afforded in the revelation of Jesus Christ, and which, under the pretence of doing the will of God as obscurely intimated by the lights of reason and conscience, opposes that will clearly and forcibly proclaimed from heaven; teaching men to deny ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live righteously, soberly, and godly in the world? Surely if justice be an attribute of the Governor of the universe, signal must be the punishment of those who contemn his authority, who reject his merciful counsel for their salvation, the rules of righteousness, the messages of peace, the glories of eternity! Even they who despised his law proclaimed by Moses, who was but his servant, perished; of how much sorer punishment shall they be thought worthy who trample under foot the Son of God, and count the blood of the covenant an unholy thing!

But, my Christian brethren, aggravated also will be our guilt, and severe our punishment, if, while we profess to believe in the revelation of the will of God contained in the Gospel, we do not fear him nor work righteousness.

The luminous pages of God's written word, delineating our duty and exciting us to perform it, lie open before us. The interesting truths, the holy laws, the powerful aids, the cheering promises, the awful threatenings of this word, are constantly promulgated to us. The ordinances of the church, enforcing holiness, dispensing grace, offering mercy, are administered before us. God calls us in the warnings of his providence and the strivings of his Holy Spirit: he calls us to receive his counsel, to hearken to his reproof. He, the Son of God, manifest in the flesh, who died to redeem us from the sorrows and sins of the world, invites us to follow him, to be like him holy, that with him we may be for ever happy. Heaven displays its glories -hell unfolds its terrors. If thus urged, invited, warned, we do not fear God and work righteousness, reason will brand our conduct with shame ; conscience will fix on it the stain of the blackest ingratitude, folly, and guilt: and he whose name we have dishonoured, will finally, as the Judge of the world, seal our eternal condemnation. For assuredly a day is approaching, when, in the everlasting bliss assigned to the righteous, and the everlasting misery allotted to the wicked, the truth will be proclaimed with awful power-" God is no respecter of persons: but in every nation, they only who fear him and work righteousness, are accepted with him."

SERMON XI.

THE CALLED AND THE CHOSEN.

MATT. xxii. 14.

For many are called, but few are chosen.

THIS solemn admonition of our blessed Lord was delivered at the conclusion of a parable, in which, under the appropriate figure of a marriage feast, he set forth the blessings of the Gospel; the earnest calls of God to mankind to accept these blessings; the rejection of these calls by some, and the forfeiture by others, of the blessings promised. One had married a wife, another went to his farm, and another to his merchandise. The pleasures, or the cares, or the business of the world, induced many to reject the Gospel call. And many of those who regarded and accepted it, were not finally chosen, were not finally advanced to the participation of its eternal joys, because they wanted the wedding garment-that spiritual righteousness which is an indispensable qualification for the enjoyment of the holy presence of God in the kingdom of heaven. Who are the called? And

Who are the chosen?

Are the inquiries which my text naturally leads us to consider.

In a general sense, all men are called to the service of God: they are all bound by the law of their nature to serve him who is the gracious