to the door, and ye begin to ftand without, and knock at the door, faying Lord, Lord, open unto us, and he fhall anfwer and fay, I know you not whence ye are; then fhall ye begin to fay, we have eaten and drunk in thy prefence, and thou haft taught in our freets, But he fhall fay, I tell you, I know you not whence ye are: depart from me, all ye workers of iniquity. Then fhall be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when ye fhall fee Abraham, and Ifaac, and Jacob, and all the prophets in the kingdom of God, and you yourselves thruft out. For they fhall come from the caft, and from the weft, and from the north, and from the fouth, and fhall fit down in the kingdom of God, and be hold there are laft which fhall be firft, and the firft laft."

Thus it feems that there will be numbers whom Chrift will acknowledge as his faints, and will gather in to his church in heaven, who were not acknowledged as true Chriftians by many of their brethren here below; and the reafon of this error is, that here we judge fome. times too haftily and by outward appearance, and, at other times, by false marks of grace; for it is not eafy to bring men to try either themselves or others by the true fcriptural teft. "Depart from me," (fays our Saviour in like manner, in another place, to fome who boasted much of their attachment to him) "I know ye not, ye workers of iniquity." O, how much eafier is it to attend the preaching of the gospel, and to

be prefent alfo at the Lord's table, to talk religioufly, and to get credit with a religious circle, and even to persuade ourselves that we are religious, than it is to leave off iniquity. "Not every one that faith unto me, Lord, Lord, fhall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." Indeed, it is not poffible at prefent to separate exactly the truly pious Chriftian from the hypocrite and felf-deceiver; "the tares and the wheat therefore must grow up together until the time of harveft; but then fhall the husbandman fay unto the reapers, Bind ye together the tares in bundles to burn them, but gather ye the wheat into my garner."

There are various figns to which on the judgment-day, our Saviour will appeal for the reality of the religion of his followers, and one of thefe I will now dwell upon, because it is in the evangelift Matthew very specially mentioned; I mean that kindness and condefcenfion which Chriftians will have been in the habit of exercifing to the poor, and to all their fuffering brethren. Their alms, indeed, not like the alms of the worldly man, will have been bestowed for the Lord's fake, and with a fimple and humble mind, according to that precept of their Saviour, "Let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth." Let every man, therefore, and efpecially every rich man, who calls himself a Chriftian, try himself by this tell, as ever he would hope to stand uncondemned at

the great day of our Lord's appearance. That great and folemn fcene is thus defcribed by our Saviour: "When the Son of man fhall come in his glory, and all his holy angels with him, then fhall he fit on the throne of his glory; and before him fhall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another, as a fhepherd devideth the fheep from the goats; and he shall set the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. Then fhall the King fay unto them on his right hand, Come, ye bleffed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was an hungry, and ye gave me meat; thirsty, and ye gave me drink; a stranger, and ye took me in; naked, and ye clothed me; fick, and ye vifited me; in prifon, and ye came unto me." But they, being little difpofed to take credit for any good works which they had done, are reprefented as replying, "Lord, when faw we thee a hungry, or thirsty, or na ked?" Then fhall he fay unto them, "Forafmuch as ye did it to the least of these my brethren, ye did it unto me." "Then fhall he fay to them on his left hand, Depart from me, ye curfed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was an hungry, and ye gave me no meat; thirsty, and ye gave me no drink; naked, and ye clothed me not; fick and in prifon, and ye vifited me not" Then fhall they fay, (being aftonished at the accufation brought against them, and, quite unwil

ling to allow it)" Lord, when faw we thee hungry or thirsty, or aftranger, or naked, or fick, or in prison, and did not minifter unto thee?" Then fhall he answer them, "Verily I fay unto thee, forafmuch as ye did it not to one of the leaft of thefe, ye did it not to me. And these fhall go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into life eternal."

O, let us beware of that fort of religion which does not expand the heart in love to God, as well as in fervent kindness and charity to our fellow-creatures; and let us, I will add, beware of that fort of kindnefs which confifts much in foft and civil words, but very little in beneficent and felf-denying actions. "For if a brother or fifter be naked, and deftitute of daily food, and one of you fay unto them, depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled, notwithstanding ye give them not thofe things which are needful for the body, what doth it profit?"

The fum which profeffing Chriftians will have given in charity, will, no doubt, be enquired into on the day of judgment, as well as the walks which they have taken to fee the poor, the attentions which they have paid to the fatherlefs and the widow, the hofpitality which they have exercised towards the foreigners and the ftranger, the condefcenfions towards the prifoner, and the various comforts which they have adminiftered to the afflicted. It is not, indeed, the fum given that will, in their Lord's fight, determine the character; for the widow's mite will

hereafter count for a larger fum than many an admired donation of the affluent; and "whofo fhall have given even a cup of cold water to one of the little one's of Chrift's flock, in the name of a difciple, fhall in no wife lofe his reward."

Alas! how little is true chriftanity as yet understood in the world. There is a flight and fuperficial religion, which, in its fruits, is hardly to be diftinguished from infidelity, and by which, nevertheless, men contrive to quiet their confciences while they are in this world. To expose all this falfe chriftanity to fhame and contempt, will be one effect of the day of judgment; for that is the day in which the hearts of men are to be fearched, their several actions weighed, the motives to them examined, their good works afcertained, and all their fecret fins brought to light. What facrifices did we here make to God and a good confcience? That will be one part of the queftion. How far did we refift the world?"The world," we were told in Scripture, "lieth in wickednefs." We were warned to take heed, "left we be condemned with the world." We were commanded" not to be conformed to it." It is in this manner the reality of the faith and grace that were in us will be enquired into on the Judgment Day. It is the reality of our repentance that will then be tried, the reality of our love to God, and our fimplicity and fincerity in his fight. Vain excufes will no longer serve. The various pleas which we here have made for indulging ourselves in floth Q