plead that thy faith should not be rejected as the faith of the hypocrite?" Here the plea must be, “O Lord, my faith was thy work. It was a faith which disposed me to all the good works of thy holy religion. It sanctified me. It brought me to thee, my Saviour, for grace to perform the works. ✓ of righteousness: it embraced thee for my Lord as well as Saviour: it caused me with sincerity, to love and keep thy commandments, and with assiduity to serve the interests of thy kingdom in the world."

Thus you have Paul and James reconciled. Thus you have good works provided for. The aphorism of the physicians, is "Per brachium fit judicium de corde."* The actions of men are more certain indications of what is within, than all their sayings.

But there is yet another consideration upon which you must be zealously affected to good works. You must consider them as a part of the great salvation which is purchased for you by Jesus Christ. Without a holy heart you cannot be fit for a holy heaven-" meet for the inheritance of the saints in that light," which admits no works of darkness: where none but good works are done for eternal ages: But a holy heart will induce a man to do good with all his heart. The motto on the gates of the holy city is," None but the lovers of good works to enter here;" it is implied in what we read -"Without holiness no man shall see the Lord:" yea, to be saved without good works, were to be saved without salvation. Much of our salvation

* By a man's outward acts of vigor, you judge of his internal health.

consists in doing good works. Heaven is begun upon earth when we are so engaged; and doubtless, no man will get to heaven who is not so persuaded.

I shall mention but one more of those principles from which good works proceed; it is that noble one of GRATITUDE. The believer cannot but in

quire, "What shall I render to my Saviour?"the result of the inquiry will be" with good works to glorify him." We read, that "faith worketh by love." Our faith will discover the matchless and marvellous love of God in saving us; and the faith of this love will work on our hearts, till it hath raised in us an unquenchable flame of love to Him who hath so loved and saved us. These, these are to be our dispositions-" O my Saviour; hast thou done so much for me! now will I do all I can for thy kingdom and people in the world. O! what service is there that I may now perform for my Saviour and his people in the world?"

These are the principles to be proceeded on; and it is worthy of special observation, that there are no men in the world who so much abound in good works, as those, who above all others, have abandoned every pretension to the merit of their works. There are Protestants who have exceeded Papists in our days, as well as in those of Dr. Willet. No merit-mongers have exceeded some holy christians, who have performed good works on the assurance of being already justified, and entitled to eternal life.

I observe that our apostle, throwing a just contempt on the endless genealogies, and long,intricate pedigrees, which the Jews of his time dwelt so much upon, proposes in their stead" Charity, out

of a pure heart, and a good conscience, and faith unfeigned :" as if he had said, "I will give you a genealogy worth ten thousand of theirs"-first, from faith unfeigned proceeds a good conscience; from a good conscience a pure heart; and from a pure heart, charity to all around us. It is admirably stated!

IT may justly be feared that we too rarely inquire after

OPPORTUNITIES TO DO GOOD.

Our opportunities to do good are our talents. An awful account must be rendered to the great God concerning the use of the talents with which he has intrusted us in these precious opportunities. Frequently we do not use our opportunities, because we do not consider them: they lie by unnoticed and unimproved. We read of a thing which we deride as often as we behold it" There is, that maketh himself poor, and yet hath great riches.” This is too frequently exemplified in our opportunities to do good, which are some of our most valuable riches. Many a man seems to reckon himself destitute of these talents, as if there were nothing for him to do; he pretends that he is not in a condition to do any good. Alas! poor man, what can he do? My friend, think again, think frequently inquire what your opportunities are: you will certainly find them to be more than you were aware of. "Plain men, dwelling in tents"persons of a very ordinary rank in life may, by their eminent piety, prove persons of extraordinary

usefulness. A Poor John Urich may make a Grotius the better for him. I have read of a pious weaver, of whom some eminent persons would say, "Christ walked, as it were, alive on the earth in that man." A mean mechanic-who can tell what an engine of good he may become, if humbly and wisely applied to it.

This, then, is the next PROPOSAL. Without abridging yourselves of your occasional thoughts on the question-" What good may I do today?" fix a time, now and then, for more deliberate thoughts upon it. Cannot you find time (say —once a-week, and how suitably on the Lord's day) to take this question into consideration

What is there that I may do for the service of the glorious Lord, and for the welfare of those for whom I ought to be concerned?

Having implored the direction of God, "the Father of lights," consider the matter, in the various aspects of it. Consider it till you have resolved on something. Write down your resolutions. Examine what precept and what promise you can find in the word of God to countenance your resolutions. Review these memorials at proper seasons, and see how far you have proceeded in the execution of them. The advantages of these preserved and revised memorials, no rhetoric will be sufficient to commend, no arithmetic to calculate. There are some animals of which we say, "They know not their own strength;" Christians, why should you be like them?

Let us now descend to PARTICULARS; but let it not be supposed that I pretend to an enumeration of all the good devices that may be conceived. Not a thousandth part of them can now be enumerated. The essay I am making is only to dig open the several springs of usefulness, which, having once begun to flow, will spread into streams, that no human foresight can comprehend. "Spring up, O well!" will every true Israelite sing upon every proposal here exhibited; and" the nobles of Israel" can do nothing more agreeable to their own character, than to fall to work upon it. Perhaps every proposal that may be made, will be like a stone falling into a pool-one circle and service will produce another, till they extend-who can tell how far? Those who devote themselves to good devices, and who duly observe their opportunities to do good, usually find a wonderful increase of their opportunities. The gracious providence of God affords this recompence to his diligent servants, that he will multiply their opportunities of being serviceable: and when ingenious men have used themselves to a little contrivance, in pursuing the best intentions, their ingenuity will sensibly improve, and there will be more expansion in their diffusive applications. Among all the dispensations of a special providence in the government of the world, none is less interrupted than the accomplishment of that word-" Unto him that hath shall be given." I will say this, "O useful man! take for thy motto, Habenti dabitur". "To him that hath shall be given ;" and, in a lively use of thy opportunities to do good, see how remarkably it will be accomplished; see what accomplishment