church now I am going to the facrament. See how pious I am; and how devout! All this he abhors. His devotion is not feated in his eyes and hands, but in his heart. There refide faith, hope, and charity, with every other chriftian. virtue. His communication is with his Al. mighty Father in fecret. He wants no eye upon bis religious duties, but the eye of God.

Again, in his dealings with his neighbours, all is fair, and honeft, and open from the very bot tom of his heart. Have you a bargain to make with him? You need not be on your guard. He is as fearful of defrauding you, as you can be of being defrauded. It is not your knowledge of his fraud, but God's, of which he ftands in awe. It is nothing to him whether your eye is upon him, or not. The eye of God, he knows, is always upon him. Does he profess an intention to ferve you? He does not mean it as the cover of fome deceit: or as a courtly expreffion that means nothing: you may depend upon it, he intends to ferve you, if he can; and is as much difappointed as you are, if he cannot serve you. In his charities too, (if he have where withal to bestow on his poor neighbours,) it is the fame. His left hand knows not what his

right hand doth. He feeks for no praise from men-no teftimony; but the testimony of a good confcience.-In private life, he is equally amiable. His example is a continued leffon of inftruction. It is his great happiness to make all happy around him. His good humour relieves, and foftens the little afperities, which untoward circumstances, and wayward tempers, are continually exciting in families. In fhort, he is, truly and in earnest, every thing that he pretends to be. He is truly pious, truly devout, truly charitable, and truly honeft.-This is the man, who is both called and chofen. He is called as you, and I, and every body else are called; but he answers the call: and therefore he is chofen.

THUS, my brethren, I have endeavoured to fhew you what kind of men are called, and what kind of men are chofen. I have confidered them under the three denominations of abandoned men, of specious, or decent men,-and of truly good men. Not that these three kinds of people comprehend all mankind; but these feem to be the leading characters, of which all others are compofed. People are either outwardly bad;

or

or they put on the face of goodness; or they are really good. But, at the fame time, these characters are variously compounded. All men, for instance, who are outwardly bad, are not equally fo. Some are openly prophane: others are only careless, and indifferent about their duty and this in various degrees.Nor again are all' men equally fpecious. You will find fome men, though the character perhaps is not very com. mon, who may be hypocrites in religion; and yet kind to a neighbour. While again the good man himself is never found without fome little mixture either of careleiinefs, or of vanity, or of fomething that clouds his virtue.But God accepts his best endeavours, clouded as they are, with human infirmities; and efteems him the good man, in whofe character religion makes the principal part.

Some people, one should suppose from their behaviour, are folicitous to know, what degree of goodness will carry them to heaven: as if they did not wish to be a fcruple better than they need be. I fhould verily doubt, whether fuch nice calculators have any religion at all. It is plain, they wish not to have more, than is abfolutely neceffary; and I think a man can have.

very little religion, unless he wishes to have as much as he can.-God Almighty has not balanced things in this nice manner at least he keeps this matter among the fecrets of eternity. The rule he gives us, is, Be ye perfect, as your heavenly father is perfect: that is, do the best you can yourselves, and then truft God, through the merits of Chrift. God will chufe fuch for his fervants, as follow this rule the best.

Let us conclude with one confideration more, (but it is a confideration truly awful,) that if among the many who are called, fo few are chofen-if among the many wanderers through this vale of mifery, fo few gain the true road— how ought we to fear, left we should be found rather among the many, than among the few; and how ought this to awaken every power within us to endeavour to gain a place among thofe bleffed few!

May God, of his infinite mercy, assist us in feeing our true interest, that we may pursue it as we ought; and that as we are among the many, who are called, we may be alfo, in God's good time, through Chrift, among the few, who are chofen.

SERMON VI.

NUMBERS, Xxxii. 23.

IF YE HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD, BE SURE YOUR SIN WILL FIND YOU OUT.

ON entering the promised land, a party' of the Ifraelites made a requeft to Mofes for fome grounds, which they thought lay very conve niently for them. Mofes confented on certain conditions: but was very earneft, that the conditions he prefcribed, should be faithfully ob ferved. In his language on this occafion, he ufes the words of the text. He reprefents fin, by which he means the confequence of fin, under the strong image of a person, who should cer tainly find out every tranfgreffor among them;

who