from the world; for all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.' And besides all this, God our heavenly Father sees it necessary to chastise us with the rod of affliction, of which all his children are partakers, for spiritual good." "Considering, therefore, the nature of Repentance, Faith, and Holiness, we clearly see how properly a true Christian may be said to enter upon a religious life by a strait gate, and to proceed in it by a narrow way." Strait is the gate, and narrow is the way that leadeth unto life.-But is it not said concerning heavenly wisdom, or true religion, that "her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace?" Does not our blessed Lord say, "My yoke is easy, and my burden is light?" And does not an Apostle declare "His commandments are not grievous?" "I answer, the ways of religion are perfectly easy and pleasant in their own nature; the difficulty arises from the depravity and corruption of our nature. Angels do the will of God with entire ease and pleasure; for they have no sin in their nature to oppose it. But, through the power of sin in our hearts, the entrance into religion becomes painful and difficult; and through the remains of it in regenerate persons, more or less of that difficulty is found in the whole jour with the people of God, than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season; esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt,'-and for the same good reason, having 'respect unto the recompense of reward.'" us the Enter ye in at the strait gate.-"Let us, by divine grace, resolve on eternal life at all events. On the one hand, here is a broad road, full of passengers, in which, it is true, the poor, paltry, perishing, but intoxicating, pleasures of sin may be enjoyed for a moment, though not without many a pang: and at the end of this course is DESTRUCTION — misery, pains, torment, without mitigation, without end;—everlasting separation from the presence of God, the fountain of life; and confinement in chains of darkness, with devils and condemned spirits, to all eternity!—On the other hand, God has set before way of life. The entrance is strait, the way is narrow. Difficulties indeed there are; but grace lessens them all, and sweetens them all; so that the worst of Christ's way is better than the best of Satan's way; and, what is best of all, the end is eternal life. And oh, what tongue can tell, what heart conceive, what God has laid up for them that love him! Is there a redeemed soul in glory, who now repents of the pains he took in religion? Does he regret that he believed in the Son of God? Is he sorry that he walked in the ways of holiness? No; each glorified saint reviews, with ecstacy of joy, the rich grace of God, that enabled him to discover the danger of that broad Beware of false prophets, i.e. false teachers. We must be on our guard against teachers of religion who act upon pretended authority (as when men found their arguments upon the authority of the church, instead of the authority of God speaking in his written word, which is the sole rule of faith),—and against those who appeal to the true authority, and yet preach false doctrine, inconsistent with the word of inspiration.-Such teachers sometimes come in sheep's clothing, and “wear a rough garment to deceive" (Zech. xiii. 4); endeavouring, for example, by the sobriety and austerity of their manners, and the meekness of their deportment, to induce us to love their church more than the Bible. God grant that we may never be deceived either by their rough garments or by their smooth speeches! The Bible, the Bible alone, is the religion of Protestant catholic Christians. God will not deceive us; man may. Our heavenly Father is true; but those who have been vainly called fathers upon earth, have been the patrons of innumera ble errors. Every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.—In giving a warning against evil and seducing teachers, our blessed Saviour mentions a criterion of men's real character and true worth, which applies to persons 66 axe is laid unto the root of the trees; therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down and cast into the fire;" ch. iii. 10. (See also Ezek. xxxi. 12, 13; Dan. iv. 14; John xv. 6).-May we, by divine grace, be numbered among those to whom it can be truly said, "Being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye have your fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life!" Rom. vi. 22. HYMN I. BROAD is the road that leads to death, With here and there a traveller, HYMN II. STRAIT is the way, the door is strait, That leads to joys on high; 'Tis but a few that find the gate, While crowds mistake and die. Beloved self must be denied, The mind and will renew'd; Passion suppress'd, and patience tried, And vain desires subdued. CHAP. VII. 21—29. Christ exhorteth not to be hearers, but doers, of the word; like houses builded on a rock, and not on the sand. 21 Not every one that saith unto me, 'Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have "we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: "depart from me, ye that work iniquity. house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand: 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell and great was the fall of it. 28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, "the people were astonished at his doctrine: 29 For he taught them as the scribes. one having authority, and not as t Hos. viii. 2. ch. xxv. 11, 12. Luke vi. 46; & xiii. 25. Acts xix. 13. Rom. ii. 13. James i. 22.-u Num. xxiv. 4. John xi. 51. 1 Cor. xiii. 2.- Ch. xxv. 12. Luke xiii. 25, 27. 2 Tim. ii. 19. y Ps. v. 5 ; & vi. 8. ch. xxv. 41-z Luke vi. 47, &c -a Ch. xiii. 54. Mark i. 22; & vi. 2. Luke iv. 32.-b John vii. 46. READER. Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord.—Our Lord plainly declares to us the folly and vanity of religious profession without learn from the first three verses of religious principle and practice. We the passage which has been read, "that a bare name and profession of Christianity, without the practice of it, a profession of faith and purposes of obedience, without actual obedience to the commands of God, will avail no person to salvation; and and miraculous gifts, are not to be also that gifts, yea, extraordinary rested in, or depended upon, as sufficient evidence for heaven and salva tion. Gifts are as the gold which | scriptural than many others have? adorns the temple; but grace is like the temple which sanctifies the gold." Alas, what madness is this! Surely this is building on the sand, or rather on the froth of the sea!-But, suppose I am convinced of this. Yet, am I not building my hope on what is equally unable to support it? cellent a church, reformed after the true Scripture model; blest with the purest doctrine, the most primitive liturgy, the most apostolical form of government.' These are, doubtless, so many reasons for praising God, as they may be so many helps to holiness ; but they are not holiness itself; and if they are separated from it, they will profit me nothing; nay, they will leave me the more without excuse, and exposed to the greater condemnation. Therefore, if I build my hope on this foundation I am still building upon the sand. A wise man, which built his house upon the rock. A foolish man, which built his house upon the sand.-How plain and striking is the comparison | Perhaps on my belonging to so exby which our Saviour, in the conclusion of his discourse, sets forth, on the one hand, the wisdom and safety of those who hear his words and do them, and, on the other, the folly and danger of those who do not obey the dictates of his heavenly wisdom. I cannot hope to give a more appropriate or profitable finish to our reflections on this truly divine and heavenly discourse, than by calling your attention to the words of an eminently pious and practical divine, in which this warning of our Saviour is employed as a topic of selfexamination, and that too with especial reference to the particular duties and habits of piety inculcated throughout this portion of the divine word. "How nearly does it concern every child of man practically to apply these things to himself;-diligently to examine on what foundation he builds, whether on a rock, or on the sand! How deeply are you concerned to inquire, What is the foundation of my hope? Whereon do I build my expectation of entering into the kingdom of heaven? Is it not built on the sand? Upon my orthodoxy or right opinions, which, by a gross abuse of words, I have called faith? Upon my having a set of notions, perhaps more rational or "You cannot, you dare not, rest here. Upon what next will you build your hope of salvation? Upon your innocence? Upon your doing no harm;-your not wronging or hurting any one? Well; allow the plea to be true. You are just in all your dealings; you are an honest man; you pay every man his own; you neither cheat nor extort; you act fairly to all mankind; and you have a conscience towards God; you do not live in any known sin.-But, you may go thus far, and never come to heaven. When all this harmlessness flows from a right principle, it is the least part of the religion of Christ; but in you it does not flow from a right principle, and therefore is no part at all of religion; so that, in grounding your hope of salvation on this, you are still building upon the sand. "Do you go farther yet? Do you add, to the doing no harm, the attending all the ordinances of God? Do you, at all opportunities, partake of the Lord's Supper? use public and private prayer? hear, and search the Scriptures, and meditate thereon? These things, likewise, ought you to have done from the time you first set your feet towards heaven. Yet these things also are nothing, being alone. They are nothing without the weightier matters of the law; and those you have forgotten; at least, you experience them not; faith, mercy, and the love of God; holiness of heart; heaven opened in the soul. Still, therefore, you build upon the sand. "Over and above all this, are you zealous of good works? Do you, as you have time, do good unto all men? Do you feed the hungry and clothe the naked, and visit the fatherless and the widow in their affliction? Do you visit those that are sick? Relieve them that are in prison? Is any a stranger, and do you take him in? Do you even prophesy in the name of Christ? Then go and learn what is written, "By grace ye are saved through faith. Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but of his own mercy he saved us." Else thou art still on the sand. "Lord! increase my faith, if I now believe. Else, give me faith, though but as a grain of mustard seed!— But, what doth it profit, if a man say "he hath faith, and have not works? Can faith save him?" Oh no! That faith which hath not works, which does not produce both inward and outward holiness, which does not stamp the whole image of God upon the heart, and purify us as he is pure;-that faith which does not produce the whole of the religion described in the foregoing chapters, is not the faith of the Gospel, not the Christian faith, not the faith which leads to glory. O beware of this, above all other snares of the devil, of resting on an unholy, unsaving, faith! If thou layest stress on this, thou art lost for ever; thou still buildest thy house upon the sand. When the rain descends, and the floods come, it will surely fall, and great will be the fall of it. 66 Now, therefore, build thou upon a rock. By the grace of God, know thyself. Know and feel that thou wast shapen in wickedness, and in sin did thy mother conceive thee; and that thou thyself hast been heaping sin upon sin ever since thou couldst discern good from evil. Own thyself guilty of eternal death; and renounce all hope of ever being able to save thyself. Be it all thy hope to be washed in His blood, and purified by His Spirit, who himself bare all thy sins "in his own body on the tree." And abase thyself before Him, in a continual sense of thy total dependence on Him for every good thought, and word, and work, and of thy utter inability to all good, unless He water thee every moment. "Now weep for your sins, and mourn after God, till he turn your heaviness into joy. And even then, |