these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Such is the power of self-deception, that, when the Scribes and Pharisees heard this declaration, they probably felt those emotions of complacency which they habitually indulged. Perhaps they whispered to their own hearts, "We have nothing to do with this denunciation. The strictness of our principles; the orthodoxy of our faith; the regularity of our religious observances; and the correctness of our lives; place us far beyond the reach of censure; and we are far advanced in the paths of piety and honour. We certainly do not break even one of these least commandments. We" do them" faithfully, teach" them zealously, and " shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." How would they be astonished, and offended, at the very next words which proceeded from the lips of Jesus Christ! "I say unto you,

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that except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven." "What! when the perpetual obligation of the law was allowed, and those who transgress even its minutest commandments censured; was it against us that the censure was directed? against us, the brightest ornaments of the Jewish church? against us, jealous for its authority, warm in its praise, ardent in its service, scrupulous in our adherence to its most trifling forms, constant in our obedience to its most painful institutions? If we cannot escape censure, who shall dare to be secure?"

This, my brethren, was no doubt a hard saying to the men to whom it was originally addressed; but is it not such to many also in the present day? to many quite as selfdeceived, as ignorant of their real state, as ready to apply the declarations of the Gospel to any one but themselves? amidst all the variations of opinion, education, and custom ; even amidst the light of a purer revelation;

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human nature remains essentially the same. We still listen to the voice of self-love instead of the mortifying doctrines of Jesus Christ. We still turn a deaf ear to the warning voice which speaks to us of repentance, of faith, of the painful but necessary discipline which must prepare us for eternity. We still cling to the failing props of worldly virtue, of formal observances, of correct opinion. In the sunshine of prosperity all appears fair and permanent. But the tempest lours; "the rains descend, and the floods come, and the winds blow;" and the fabric is levelled with the dust. "In time of temptation we fall away."

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In taking a short and rapid survey some of the classes of professing Christians, to whom the declaration in the text may with propriety be applied; we shall see both the errors into which they fall, and the nature of that righteousness which the Scriptures require.

Now, in the first place, there is a large proportion of the Christian world, upon whom

whom the truths of the Gospel seem to have produced no change whatever. Indirectly indeed, as having introduced correct habits into general society, and raised the tone of morals, Christianity may be said to have affected more or less all the individuals of whom the visible church is composed. But of the direct influence which it should exercise over the heart and life they evidently appear to know nothing. If we look to their principles of action, we shall find them quite inconsistent with those of the Gospel. If we look to their actions themselves, we shall find them quite incompatible with Christian conduct. To be honest, because they have no temptation to be otherwise; to be honourable, because it gratifies their self-applause; to be correct, because it excites the esteem of mankind; to be temperate, because it conduces to their health; to be diligent, because it advances their fortune; is the sum and substance of their morality. In no one moment of their lives have they a single eye to the approbation of Heaven. In no one moment

moment of their lives do they forget the selfish claims of their own personal emolument, reputation, or pleasure; or despise the censure of man to approve themselves to conscience and to God. What do they know of zeal for the glory of Him, who called them into existence that they might be his children and his servants? What do they know of zeal for the true happiness of mankind? What do they know of personal purity, of solicitude for their immortal souls, of striving to enter in at the strait gate, of climbing with painful effort the steep and rugged path which leads to Heaven? When do they bend their knees in the humility of prayer? When do the thoughts of their unfitness for the pure and holy employments of the blessed, disturb them in the security of sin, or rouse them from the lethargy of pleasure? What tears of penitencé and contrition have. they dropped over the sacred pages, in which the record of sin is traced by the finger of God, in which its malignity is discovered, and its punishment denounced?

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