yourself gladly fnatching at pretexts for depreciating the principles and cenfuring the conduct of religious men; is it not evident that you have not a warm and cordial love for religion? Your heart is not right with God. Delude not yourselves by whifpering to your confciences that, although you must admit the truth and the relevancy of the preceding obfervations, you occafionally make refpectful mention of religion, and pay a decent regard to her ordinances and to many of her injunctions. The Scribes and Pharifees talked, according to their own views of the subject, largely of religion; and in fome points were punctilious obfervers of the law. But you know that their religion was not the religion of the Scriptures. You know that in body and foul they were devoted to wickedness. See that your religion be the religion of Chrift Jefus. See that you love that religion. If you do not feel pain when it is contemptuously treated, if you are not grieved when its followers are calumniated: in the bottom of your heart you love it

not.

Secondly: If, through the influence of divine grace, you have been brought to the love of religion, wonder not, nor bę difcouraged,

difcouraged, when you hear the truths of the Gospel flandered, or yourself made the theme of evil-speaking for their fake. Thus it always has been; and thus, until Chrif tianity fhall have established a more general dominion over the hearts of those who avow themselves her fubjects, it always will be. Evil men, whether regarding the man of piety as a fool and a fanatic; or confcious that he is a far more religious character than themselves, and feeling his fuperiority as a reproach; will affuredly be on the watch to contrive opportunities of degrading him in public esteem, of fixing fome name of obloquy upon him, and of difparaging those views of religion which have conducted him to excellence in holinefs. If you are a zealous fervant of God, prepare to behold many of your pureft intentions mifconftrued; prepare to hear yourself reproved and vilified for actions, which, according to a more equitable interpretation, might have been deemed worthy of praise. Prepare yourself to hear .principles afcribed to you the reverse of those which you hold, the reverse of those which you publicly maintain. Prepare to hear epithets and appellations borrowed from obnoxious fects; fects, it may be,

from

from whofe errors you may have been the instrument in the hand of God of rescuing or guarding weaker brethren; prepare to hear them borrowed for the purpose of fixing the odium of thofe errors upon yourfelf. What is the leffon which this expectation fhould teach you? It fhould teach you * how great is the folly of folicitude for the applause of men. When you deferve blame, encomiums may be poured out upon you; when have the faireft claim to appro

you

bation, you may be repelled with cenfure and contempt.

Let

But let the fervant of Chrift not only be indifferent as to general applaufe. him be jealous over himfelf, if it fhould fall to his lot. Wo unto you, faid our Lord to his difciples, when all men speak well of you: for fo did their fathers unto the falfe prophets. If you are thus praised by the world; examine yourfelf. Is it not becaufe you are conformed to the evil principles and practices of the world? Is it not because you live to the world, not unto Chrift? The world will love its own. Men will praife thee, faith David, when thou doft well to thyself. If you are fuccessful in your worldly plans; if you give the reins

*Luke, vi. 26.

Pfalm, xlix. 18.

to

to vanity and pleasure; if you devote your riches to fplendid and luxurious enjoyment; then it is that the world will flatter you and proclaim you happy. Live to the world, and the world will applaud you. Live to Chrift, and an evil world will not fail to revile and condemn you. How righteous, how rational, is the judgement of Holy Writ! How equitable is the condemnation which the Scriptures pronounce against those who love the praise of men more than the praife of God!

Be not uneafy as Be not depreffed

Be ye, my brethren, fervants of the Most High. Seek His favour. Give no real occafion to others to fpeak evil of you. Abftain even from the appearance of evil. There let anxiety ceafe. to the opinions of men. by the lofs of human approbation. Be not elated nor enfnared by poffeffing it. Let it be your main folicitude to be found among those whose praife is not of men but of God. Chrift is not like the world, an undifcerning, a capricious, an unjust, a forgetful master. The Lord will come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifeft the counfels of the heart: and then fhall every man, every true Christian,

have

have praife of God. That praife is praise indeed. That praise endureth for ever.

Thirdly: Juftify wifdom, juftify true religion, by manifefting yourfelves to be her children. Draw not from the preceding obfervations a conclufion which they do not warrant. If you are cenfured by the world on account of your opinions, or your conduct, refpecting religion; imagine not that the cenfure is a proof that you are religious. The cenfure of the world though often mifplaced, is not always mifplaced. If you are charged with having judged erroneously, it

may be that you have judged erroneously. If

you are accused of having acted amifs; you may have acted amifs. If enthusiasm or fanaticism be imputed to you; perhaps you more or less deserve the imputation. Let the cenfure and the praise of others equally fend you to your Bible. Search the word of truth. Compare your religious opinions, your religious practice, with the doctrines and commandments of your Lord. Consult him, in his revealed word, with an humble, and teachable heart, as a child liftens to its inftructor. It was in vain that John the Baptift preached to the fcornful and hardened Pharifees; that generation of vipers, * Rom. ii. 29. 1 Cor. iv. 5.

who