lities for no other end than to get for himself ho nor or profit, that he employed his influence all for the fame purpose; and that he spent the wealth which God gave him in order to do good with it, in nothing elfe than in procuring eafe and pleasure, and a multitude of fuperfluities for himself and his family. A man of this kind poffibly may be brought in guilty of no very fignal crime, but he, undoubtedly, is the perfont who is pointed at in the parable, and who is condemned by that fentence denounced at the end of it. "Caft ye the unprofitable fervant into outer darkness, there fhall be wailing and gnafh. ing of teeth."

This may not be an improper place to add, that a man's faith will unqueftionably be enquired into on the day of judgment. "Without faith," fays the fcripture, "it is impoffible to pleafe God." Faith alfo in our Saviour, as well as in the great doctrines of his golpel, is every where required, as neceffary to falvation. "Go Preach the gospel to all nations, he that believ. eth fhall be faved, and he that believeth not fhall be damned." "He that believeth not, is condemned already, because he hath not believ ed in the only begotten Son of God." And the reasonablenefs of thus condemning men for their unbelief, is alfo explained; "for this," fays our Saviour, "is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men love darknefs rather than light, because their deeds are evil!" When men do not believe, the fcriptures

describe the reason to be, that there is in them, "an evil heart of unbelief to depart from the living God." They never talk of the good heart of an unbeliever. All, all are called upon to repent and believe at their peril, and to obey God's bleffed gofpel, and are taught to expect that they fhall be rewarded or punished in the next life, as they have or have not done fo.

What an astonishing proof was it of the condefcenfion and goodness of God, that he should fend his only begotten Son down into the world to die for us, as well as to teach us the way in which we ought to walk, and to bring life and immortality to light by the gofpel; what mercy is it that God fhould provide for us mansions in the heavenly world; and that he should offer us his Holy Spirit to produce all the necessary preparations of heart within us! This rich offer of God in the gofpel, is compared in the fcripture to the invitation of a man who prepares a great feaft or fupper, and fends to call many guefts, faying, "my oxen and my fatlings are killed, come, for all things are ready." The world, in general, flight the offer of the gofpel; they plead bufinefs, or amufement, or engagement with their connexions; and they are therefore compared in the fame parable to perfons who, when the invitation to the fupper comes, 66 go one to his farm, and another to his merchandize, and a third to his wife," each of them faying, "I pray the have me excufed."

It is obfervable, that the invitation of the

pa

rable appears here to be fomewhat civilly declined, and that certainly, no violent infult to the mafter of the feaft feems intended; and yet he is reprefented as confidering it to be a fufficient affront that they merely will not come to partake of the feaft which he had been at the expence of preparing for them. "None of thofe men," fays he" which were bidden, shall taft of my fupper." In this manner are we taught, that if we attend not to the gospel, even though we fhould be guilty of no intentional difrefpect to God, or to Jefus Chrift, we fhall not be permited hereafter to tafte of the heavenly happiness; "for how fhall we escape if we neglect fo great falva

tion !"

The fame point may be very decifively prov ed from fome expreffions at the end of the fol lowing awful paffage; "For the Lord Jefus fhall be revealed from Heaven, with his mighty angels in flaming fire, to take vengeance on them that know not God, and that obey not the gof pel of our Lord Jefus Chrift, who fhall be punifhed with everlasting deftruction from the prefence of the Lord, and from the glory of bis power, when he fhall come to be glorified in his faints, and admired in all them that believe, because our teftimony was believed in that day."

And here, ifit fhould be afked, But how comes it that we are to be tried for our faith, when it has been already faid, that it is by our works that we shall be judged? I answer, most evidently the word "works" is in such places as

thefe to be understood in the very largest and moft general fense; a point which must have partly appeared already. The word is to be understood, as it feems to me, in a sense so large, that even our faith is to be included in it. The juftice of this obfervation will, perhaps be more fully admitted, after confidering the following paffages. When the pharifees come to Chrift, and faid, "What fhall we do that we may work the works of God?" he answered, "this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath fent ;" that is to fay, this is the first and great work that you have to attend to, namely, to believe in me, and then the other good works which God would have you to do, will follow in their due order. Believing then, is exprefsly termed, a work that is to be done in this paffage of fcripture. It is faid in another place, "This is the commandment of God, that ye believe on the name of his Son Jefus Chrift." Here then, to believe in Chrift is spoken of as one of God's commandments; and to disbelieve in Chrift, is, of course, to break God's commandment. Now it is plain, that to break God's commandment in this, in the fame manner as in any other point, must be an evil work, and that it must be a work for which we fhall have to be judged when we come to the day of judgment.

But here let it alfo be ftrongly infifted on, that it is not a barren and unfruitful faith that will stand the teft of that awful time of trial.

It is not a man's having been right in his doc trines, and found and orthodox in his creed, that will be the means of faving his foul. No: we are well warned in Scripture, that all that faith which did not teach a man to depart from iniquity, will be pronounced to have been a dead faith, and utterly unavailing; " for as the body without the fpirit is dead, even fo faith without works is dead alfo ;" and "without holiness no man fhall fee the Lord."

The Scriptures give us much reafon to fuppose, that the number of perfons who will have had this falfe faith, and will have fondly trufted to it, and who will therefore, quite unexpectedly to themselves, be condemned as evil doers on the judgment-day, will prove not inconfiderable; and it feems, from feveral paffages, that among these perfons will be fome who had known Chrift familiarly in the days of his flesh; others who had poffeffed great gifts in his church; and not a few in all ages who had made a forward profeffion of his religion, who had had a ftrong conceit of their being some of the people of God, and a high confidence of their falvation.

The following paffage, which defcribes the future disappointment of the Pharifees, and it is to be feared also of many others, who will, in like maner, be fhut out of heaven, is very remarkable. "Strive to enter in," fays our Saviour, "at the ftrait gate; for many fhall feek to enter in, and shall not be able. When once the master of the houfe is rifen up, and has fhut