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at one glance, which penetrates the hearts of every indi. vidual of that immense multitude, difcerns the respective merits or demerits of every human being there present, and feparates the good from the bad with as much eafe as a fhepherd divides his fheep from his goats. He next questions them on one most important branch of their duty, as a fpecimen of the manner in which the inquiry into the whole of their behaviour will be conducted; and then, with the authority of an almighty Judge and Sovereign, he in a few words pronounces the irreversible sentence, which configns the wicked to everlasting punishment, and the righteous to life eternal.

Before I prefs this important fubject any further on the hearts of those who hear me, I must make a few observations on the description which has been just laid before you.

The first is, that all mankind, when assembled before, the judgment feat of Christ, are divided into two great claffes, the wicked and the good, thofe who are punished, and those who are rewarded. There is no middle, no intermediate station provided for those who may be called neutrals in religion, who are indifferent and lukewarm, who are "neither hot nor cold," who do not reject the Gofpel, but give themselves very little concern about it, who, instead of working out their falvation with fear and trembling, leave that matter to take care of itself, and are at perfect ease as to the event. Thefe men cannot certainly expect to inherit everlasting life. But they hope. probably to be confidered as harmless inoffensive beings, and to be exempted from punishment at least, if not entitled to reward. But how vain this hope is, our Saviour's representation of the final judgment moft clearly fhows. They who are not fet on the right, must go to the left. They who are not rewarded, are configned to punishment. There are indeed different manfions both for the righteous and the wicked; there are different degrees of punishment for the one, and of reward for the other; yet still it does. not appear that there is any middle or intermediate state between punishment and reward.

The next remark, and which has fome affinity to the laft, is, that we are to be examined at the bar of our great Judge, not merely as to our exemption from crimes, but as to our performance of good actions; fubftantial and genuine Christian virtues are expected at our hands. It will not be fufficient for us to plead that we kept ourfelves clear from fin, we must fhew that we have exerted ourselves in the faithful discharge of all thofe various important duties which the Gospel requires from us.

Laftly, it must be observed, and it is an observation of the utmost importance, and which I wish to impress most forcibly upon your minds, that although charity to our neighbor, and indeed only one branch of that comprehenfive duty, viz. liberality to the poor, is here fpecified,, as the only Christian virtue, concerning which inquiry will be made at the day of judgment; yet we must not imagine that this is the only virtue which will be expected from us, and that on this alone will depend our final salvation. Nothing can be more distant from truth, or more dangerous to religion, than this opinion. The fact is, that charity, or love to man in all its extent, being the most eminent of all the evangelical virtues, being that which Christ has made the very badge and discriminating mark of his religion, is here conftituted by him the reprefentative of all other virtues; just as Faith is, in various passages of fcripture, used to denote and represent the whole Christian religion. Nothing is more common than this fort of figure (called a fynecdoche) in profane, as well as facred writers; by which a part, an effential and important part, is made to ftand for the whole. But that neither charity nor any other fingle virtue can entitle us to eternal life, is clear from the whole tenor of the New Testament, which every where requires univerfal holiness of life. We are commanded" to ftand perfect and complete in all the will of God*;" to add to our faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge, and to knowledge temperance, and to tem perance patience, and to patience godlinefs, and to godlinefs brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charityt. Here you fee that charity makes only one in that + Pet i. 6.

* Col. iv. 12.

large affemblage of virtues, which are required to conftitute the Christian character. And fo far is it from being true, that any fingle virtue will give us admiffion into the kingdom of heaven, that St. James lays down a directly oppofite doctrine; namely, that if we do not to the best of our power cultivate every virtue without exception, we fhall be objects of punishment, instead of reward. "Whofoever, fays he, fhall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all." Nay, even if we endeavor to fulfil all righteousness, yet it is not on that righteoufness, but on the merits of our Redeemer, that we must rely for our acceptance with God. For the plain doctrine of fcripture is, that it "is the blood of Jefus Christ that cleanseth us from all fin*" and that "by grace we are faved through faith; and that not of ourfelves, it is the gift of God." Of this, indeed, no notice is taken in our Saviour's description of the laft judgment, and that for a plain reafon; because he had not yet finished the gracious work of our redemption. He had not yet offered himself up, upon the cross as a facrifice, a propitiation for the fins of the whole world. But after that great act of mercy was performed, it is then the uniform language of the facred writers, "that we are justified freely by the grace of God, through the redemption that is in Chrift Jefust."

We must therefore collect the terms of our falvation not from any one paffage of fcripture, but from the whole tenor of the facred writings taken together; and if we judge by this rule, which is the only one that can be fecurely relied upon, we fhall find that nothing less than a fincere and lively faith in Chrift, producing in us, as far as the infirmity of our nature will allow, univerfal holiness of life, can ever make our final calling and election fure. But thus much we may certainly collect from our Lord's representation of our final judgment, that charity, or love to man, in the true fcriptural fenfe of that word, is one of the most effential duties of our religion; and that to neglect that virtue, above all others, which our Redeemer and our Judge has felected as the peculiar object + Rom. iii. 24

1 John, i. 7. Ephes. ii. 8.

of his approbation, and as the reprefentative of all the other evangelical virtues, must be peculiarly dangerous, and render us peculiarly unfit to appear at the last day before the great tribunal of Chrift.

How foon we may be fummoned there, no one can tell. The final diffolution of this earthly fyftem may be at a great distance; but what is the fame thing to every moral and religious purpose, death may be very near. It is at - least even to the youngest of us uncertain, and in whatsever state it overtakes us, in that ftate will judgment find us; for there is no repentance in the grave, and as we die fo fhall we ftand before our Almighty Judge. "Take heed therefore to yourselves, left at any time your hearts be overcharged with furfeiting, and drunkennefs, and the cares of this life, and fo that day come upon you unawares. For as a fnare fhall it come upon all them that dwell on the face of the earth. Watch ye therefore, and pray al*ways, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that fhall come upon you, and to ftand before the

Son of man*.”

* Luke xxi. 34.

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